Scientists and philosophers often characterize human beings as the universe realizing itself. One philosopher, Alan Watts, best summed up that sentiment when he said, “We do not ‘come into’ this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree. As the ocean ‘waves’ the universe ‘peoples.’” Little did Watts realize (or maybe he did), that a band would realize itself through his words.
Introducing, Southern California’s Universe Peoples: drummer Garrett Morris (formerly of The Higgs & Red Elvises), guitarist Nathan Reinert, bassist Paul Hiller accompanied by keyboardist Albert Margolis. Morris and Reinert linked up through a Los Angeles musicians Facebook group, the drummer and guitarist had a moment reminiscent of The Doors’ Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek’s legendary beach run in.
“After the first show we played together, we went to the beach and sat there for a few hours talking about this and that,” Reinert recalls. “We both have a mutual admiration for Alan Watts. I had a book by Alan. There’s a line in there: ‘As the ocean waves, the universe peoples.’ We didn’t think of it at the time, but as we were going back and forth through texts, Universe Peoples stood out.”
The Watts quote continues, “Every individual is an expression of the whole realm of nature, a unique action of the total universe.” The individuals in Universe Peoples are an expression of the band. As the drummer, Southern California native Garrett Morris is like gravity. Holding the Universe Peoples together through rhythm and his vision for the group as its initiator.
“I was looking to meet musicians and I found Nathan on the LA Phreaks group, which is a jam band type group on Facebook. I did a search for guitar players and a video of him popped up. So I reached out to him. We started talking and eventually met up. So Nathan and I started jamming first and then I found Paul through Facebook as well. I kinda knew about him already from a local band in LA. So I reached out to Paul. Then Nathan, Paul and I got together. Albert’s in the scene too. I actually met Albert at a show of his at a place called Cook’s Corner. He was playing with a band and I just went up and talked to him. So that’s how it all came together.”
The cosmic connections are myriad. Reinert hails from Reading, Pennsylvania, just up the road from the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area, where Margolis grew up. The latter attended Towson State, along with another keyboard whiz, The String Cheese Incident’s Kyle Hollingsworth. Margolis would pick up Kyle’s gigs when Hollingsworth moved to Colorado to join SCI. Colorado is where bassist Paul Hiller first moved after leaving his native Los Angeles, cutting his teeth on the Front Range in a handful of bands before returning to California, where Margolis had been jamming with the legendary guitarist Leo Nocentelli of The Meters.
“I came to LA and hooked up with some people from The Meters and played with Leo Nocentelli for the last 20 years,” Margolis says. “In fact, we were supposed to do Jazz Fest this May but you know what happened there. Then I hooked up with these guys and it’s been totally killer. The energy, the vibe, the camaraderie. It’s been a whole lot of fun.”
Universe People’s has already begun their journey through the sky, with a handful of socially distanced dates under their belt and future outdoor concerts on the books at Mugs Away Saloon in Laguna Niguel, CA on Saturday, February 20; Seasalt in Huntington Beach, CA on Saturday, March 20; and Costello’s Neighborhood Tavern in Mission Viejo, CA on Friday, April 9.
“As far as song and genre selection goes, it definitely varies a lot and we’re starting to introduce a lot of our own originals along with some cool covers kind of spread across classic rock and jam stuff,” Hiller says. “It’s such a new endeavor, but we’re getting together a lot and writing a ton. So the sky’s the limit.”
But this is just the beginning for Universe Peoples. “We’re excited to rehearse, write music, play shows and do all the stuff that a band should do,” Morris adds. “Then spread it as far and wide as we possibly can.”
Follow and check out music by Universe Peoples below:
Live Recordings Available Here:
https://archive.org/details/UniversePeoples
