Imagine receiving course credit for being in a rock band.
Such is the case for Zero Element. The self-described "rock/funk/jazz fusion group" formed in late August 2003 as part of the Music Department's Jazz Ensemble Combo class.
With a free concert at Baird Hall on Monday, Jan. 26 at noon, the band is getting ready to show UB just what they're made of.
The four-piece band is made up of Yohan "Yo" Ku, a sophomore double majoring in business and music performance (piano and keyboards), Jon Britt, a senior geology major (guitar), Eric Stachewicz, a sophomore music major (bass) and Jeff Hy, a sophomore undecided major (drums).
"Yo, myself and (Jon) were in Jazz Combo, and my friend Jeff played the drums, and we made a hybrid of what we wanted to do and it ended up with what we have now," said Stachewicz.
"Eric heard me play and he liked my chops," said Britt. "One night at Big Shotz he asked me to play 'All Along the Watchtower' with him and his band. I never played with a band before, and after that, we got a class together that ended up as Zero Element."
According to Stachewicz and Ku, the basis of Zero Element's sound comes from their eclectic tastes.
"If you want to talk about influences, I would say Joe Satriani, Our Lady Peace, King Crimson, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Oscar Robinson and many others," said Stachewicz.
"We played a version of (Herbie Hancock's) 'Chameleon,'" said Yu. "We downloaded about 20 different artist's versions, and made our own hybrid."
"You can hear a lot of influences through our music," said Stachewicz. "A lot of people can listen and it's not like they're just sitting through a lot of jazz or just one thing. It is just good music."
Despite a wealth of original material, Zero Element has not yet released any official recordings. According to Britt, the lack of recordings is a result of the members' conflicting schedules.
"It's a matter of finding time to get together and record," said Britt. "We will probably record sometime in the next two weeks ands we'll probably record the Baird Hall gig.
"Computers have made it so guys like us can record ourselves for cheap. It's like a sanctuary for independent musicians."
Before they record any of their songs, the members of Zero Element look forward to their upcoming Baird Hall show, which is part of the music department's open house for prospective students.
"There are going to be high school students, transfer students and any students who want to get into UB's music department," said Stachewicz. "We're showing them what UB is made of."
Despite the fact that Zero Element has been together for just five months, they are not worried about their upcoming performance.
"I learned a long time ago that you can't do anything unless you're completely relaxed," said Britt. "If you're nervous, it'll only end up bad."
Another aspect of music that Zero Element embraces is improvisation. Stachewicz and Yu insist that change is the foundation of interesting music.
"When it comes down to it, you have a basic (song) structure," said Stachewicz. "But when there's a solo, we go off. The songs are never performed the same way twice."
"Even our practices are interesting for ourselves," said Yu. "Everyone thinks it's boring to play (songs) the same way as before."
As the band prepares for the future, Stachewicz said they have always wanted to stay interesting to their listeners.
"We've only had one previous gig," he said. "It was at Slee Hall right before Halloween and it went really well. We wanted to get people's attention. We don't want to bore the hell out of people."
For information about the band, email Zero_Element_@hotmail.com.
