Be ready to be surprised, if you are looking only for music at a House of Floyd concert. Popular for its accuracy in recreating the nuanced musical complexity and powerful visual imagery of Pink Floyd, the House of Floyd, perhaps, pays the best tribute to the original. From note-perfect renderings of Pink Floyd’s hits to classic album cuts, lasers, computer graphics, animation, video and the inflatable pig, the band takes one into the live Pink Floyd concert in the 60s.
Formed in 2005, the band is the brainchild of Mark Showalter, a Pink Floyd fan. Sheri Showalter, his wife, has been associated with the band as its vocalist and percussionist since its inception. Sheri recalls that Mark decided to start off something like this to give back what he learnt from Pink Floyd. “Mark Showalter has been in love with the band and its music since his college days. He always loved the amazing music, the great lyrics that talk about life. He was very much influenced by every person on the band, be it Roger Waters or David Gilmore. And not just their music, he even loved the band productions,” she explains.
Considered one of the most musically influential groups in the history of popular music, Pink Floyd ruled the hearts of people for over three decades with their Psychedelic music. “Their songs help you express your state of mind through music. Their choice of words makes the songs more relatable and something you need right at that moment. Floyd has done a good job in helping speak up emotions in life, be it confusion, joy or love. They have a magical way of tapping words which hit you straight. My heart can relate to it and more importantly, audience respond to it,” she says.
Before getting on board the House of Floyd, Sheri had been the lead vocalist of quite a few bands. But shifting to this kind of genre was completely new to her. “Mark wanted me to sing for the band. But, I have always been a lead singer in all my bands, this was something new to me.
He asked me to listen to one of their songs, after which even I fell in love with them,” she says and adds, “When you are listening to Floyd, as a musician you think you can perform it. But when you actually attempt it, it’s quite difficult and deceptively challenging. Though you keep listening to it over and over again, often you miss out on a lot of things. But, what keeps you going is that one never gets bored with them and their music keeps challenging us. We have over 600 recordings of their live performances, studio recordings and many more for our reference,” she explains.
Pink Floyd have sold more than 250 million albums worldwide, including 74.5 million certified units in the United States. “Every album has been a stepping stone and they are just so amazing. Over the past seven years, we have been true and sincere in portraying what Floyd tried to do and putting all of this together was a huge task,” asserts Sheri.
A seven-member band, House of Floyd consists of Mark Showalter on keyboards, saxophone and vocals, Pat Potter on guitar, lap steel and vocals, Lou Portela on bass and vocals, Greg Studley on guitar, keyboards and vocals, Eddie Berman on drums, tape effects, Sheri Showalter and Mellissa Harley on vocals and percussion.
The India Tour
House Of Floyd is on an all-India tour and has already performed in Pune, Lucknow, Chandigarh and Bengaluru. They made a pitstop in Hyderabad over the weekend and played at the Secunderabad and at the Rajendra Sinhji Institute. “Performing in India is lots of fun. People come with their families and each one of them is so excited to hear our music. We always walk away with huge smiles at the end of the concert. All the crowds have been very receptive and enthusiastic,” a happy Sheri says.
“They come up to the stage and tell us how much they love Pink Floyd and how much they appreciate it. The audience in the United States loves the music, but they are not very expressive. But in India, people motivate us and we have as much fun as they do,” she points out.
When it comes to choice of songs, the band always want to give the audience a little variety. “Everybody has their own favourite. So, from the core albums we try and put in the Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall, Astronomy Domine, The Division Bells. We also have been taking some requests on our website and Facebook and stick to about 25 songs,” she says. The Dark Side of the Moon and Comfortably Numb have been popular at every gig. And talking about their stage acts, Sheri informs, “We have been using beautiful props like painted Pink Floyd album covers on nude backs of maniquins, a huge guitar, a wall with all the different albums of the band and a giant inflated pig, signifying their animal tour.”
Their tryst with Hyderabad and India has been brief. But, Sheri says that they fallen in love with it in a very short span. “Everybody is very friendly kind and generous. If we had a choice, we will live here. But we have to go back. We have had the best time and are hoping to come back soon,” Sheri signs off.
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