This incarnation of hubris is defunct due to Matt's savagely
unkind personality. You are reading history. It is possible that Matt and
Eric's next project will be called hubris, it is possible that it will be
called something else. Stay tuned for further developments.
hubris was born in November of 1998, formed by the collision
of an experimental project called Shibboleth comprised of the same personnel,
with Matthew Mairs's apparently infinite supply of more-trouble-than-it's-worth-music.
Shibboleth still plays in fact, there just aren't exactly set songs and
they may never get a chance to play out (but they do have some recordings
and will likely produce a CD eventually). So, with influences from
Bela Bartok to the Subhumans, from Cream to Sam Ang Sam, hubris staggered
fairly quickly back into unexplored realms, taking Matt's more-trouble-than-it's-worth-music
into a space that almost makes it seem worth the trouble. The term more-trouble-than-it's-worth-music
refers to the amount of practice required to perform the piece as compared
to the audience's enjoyment of it. While the odd meters and twisted modes
of Mr. Mairs's and now also Mr. Snyder's music are sometimes quite a lot of
fun to play, and usually at least interesting to the audience, the six hours it
often takes to get the feel for a three minute piece hardly survive a
cost/benefit analysis. Watch
out for what Michael and/or Cynda will bring! Luckily for all of them,
this is art, not business, and the members of hubris have turned out to be very
understanding, dear and now quite indispensible friends.
Cynda Cated: Drums and vocals. Cynda has a lot
of experience banging on things for various musical and quasi-musical
projects. Ms. Cated has helped create some of the near-eastern flavor so
dear to hubris without losing the ability to rock. She mixes the
ability to funk out with the ability not to freak out when Matt, Mike or
Eric alls for yet another meter change.
Michael Henderson: Violin and vocals. Long time
Mairs friend and co-conspirator, Mike has a strong background in ethno-musicology
in addition to thousands of hours of experience playing all kinds of music.
He combines a virtuosic technique with an unimpeachable musicality, and
his perfect pitch and impecable counting almost keep Matt honest.
Matt Mairs: Guitar-like object and vocals. Michael
is a virtuosic guitarist. Matt is not. As Matt did not want hubris to be
a guitar band, he has effectively accomplished this by playing the guitar
himself and not doing it too damn well. His vocal-chords, on the other
hand, are respectable. You may, of course, evaluate his song-writing
skills elsewhere on these pages.
Eric Snyder: Bass and vocals. One of, if not the
finest electric-bassist in Tucson, Eric really does honor hubris with his
presence, having come out of a semi-retirement from bass to make the band.
His years of experience and his rock solid heartbeat literally keep hubris
together. 11/8? 13/8? Like a duck in water, Eric creates the bottom end
even when Matt can't figure out his own parts.
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