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REAL CHEMISTRY
Simone TB answers the phone late in the afternoon, after a rehearsal and official meeting with her bandmates in The Highest Order. While late afternoon meetings generally leave those in attendance weary, TB speaks in an upbeat and agreeable tone. As she details how she became involved with The Highest Order, the truth of the matter becomes abundantly clear: TB views band meetings as more of an exchange between friends than an exhausting business venture. The drummer, who joined the band after filling in for the critically-adored country outfit, One Hundred Dollars, on a past tour, immediately found chemistry with the other members and plans were quickly hatched to begin a new venture. The Highest Order was soon born and If It’s Real, their engulfing debut LP, wasn’t far behind.
“It was happenstance,” says TB of how the band got together, adding that “…it was so easy, we all enjoyed ourselves so much.”
The palpable chemistry within the band wasn’t without obstacles however. In her past work with Tropics, a two-piece scuzz punk act, TB had never played formally with a bassist. And yet, the rhythm section on If It’s Real is a standout of the record, emanating a powerful groove that keeps the record afloat.
“Chemistry doesn’t come from just having a bass player, you can still have a rhythmically solid band otherwise,” notes TB. She’s quick to give respect and credit to her bandmates — The Highest Order is as much an equal opportunity arrangement of like-minded friends as it is a collection of talented musicians.
“I’m always interested in working with other people and with Kyle [Porter], we had an opportunity to make both of our sounds bigger,” she adds.
Blending distinct elements of country and psych with a brooding depth, The Highest Order is a noticeable step forward for the musicians. There’s a level of trust that shouldn’t have come as easy for the band as they welcomed in a new member, though according to TB, the timing was right for a change of pace.
“(Guitarist Paul Mortimer) played a giant part in forming a vision for this band,” she says. “He put us together with an idea of being the band he’d always wanted to play in and we were happy to be part of that. He had a lot of sound and tone in his mind that he hadn’t been able to utilize in other bands. He worked very close with (producer) Jeff McMurrich and then we all worked closely afterwards to make it a real thing.”
Still, If It’s Real is not without other influences beyond Mortimer’s vision for the band. The Highest Order originally discovered how well they worked together by jamming on old country songs by artists such as Gene Clark.
What started as a simple endeavour has grown exponentially, and If It’s Real features a startling amount of depth. As far as Simone TB is concerned, the amount of texture on the record is a product of the trust they have in each other. Without that trust and the chemistry that ensued, The Highest Order might not be where they are today.
“Being able to have the ability to show each other what we love and having enough trust in others to emulate that, that was important,” says TB with confidence. “We wanted to make a country record, we wanted to make a psych record and we just said to each other, ‘Let’s do what feels good, feels right.’”
Catch ‘em at the Ship & Anchor on June 20.
By Joshua Kloke
Photo: David Waldman
