Photograph by Thatcher Payne

A band without a bass, mostly: Unnatural Numbers

Clayton Payne and Ryan Fischer met when they were both serving as drummers for The Liquorsmiths, a folk-rock trio led by singer/guitarist Drew Thams. After that band’s run came to an end, the duo continued to play together. “During the pandemic, when people were starting to create bubbles, Ryan and I loved double-drumming,” says Payne. “By day, I’m a school teacher, and my classroom was empty and void of furniture. So, while I was teaching on Zoom, I would bring my drum kit, and then Ryan would come down and we would just jam into the night on drums.”

The two began to consider allowing another player to enter the fold. Payne felt that Dennis Sheridan, a singer/guitarist who had played in Blue Goat War and Follow That Train, would be a good fit. “I had met Dennis previously,” Payne says. “Both of our children went to the same school. His own material is awesome, and one time I was fortunate enough that he had asked me to record some drums for a solo thing he was doing. So when Ryan and I got going, I was hoping Dennis was gonna say yes, because I really couldn’t think of anybody else that I wanted to make music with.”

Sheridan did say yes, and Unnatural Numbers was born at the tail end of 2020. Sheridan was immediately thrust into an unusual setup that required him to think fast as a musician, especially since the band had no bassist. “A lot of times in groups, it’s the bass player whose role is to act as translator,” Payne explains. “How do I translate the drum language to the guitar player and the guitar language to what the drummer is doing? With two drummers, poor Dennis. Us chatting away behind him doing God knows what, making our own little jokes and references and inverting beats and doing things that are well within the vernacular of a drummer, but which can be terrifying to lesser musicians.”

Unnatural Numbers EP

Art by Mike Bigtime

Sheridan says he embraced the challenge, even though it did generate ample anxiety in him. “The thing that I love the most about the band is actually the thing that stresses me the most about it,” he says. “There’s an element of adventure to our music. With the stuff we recorded, we dialed it in enough that we knew what we were gonna do and what to expect from the music. But there is still a lot of unexpected stuff. What I love is that there is a little bit of excitement about it. It can also be a source of stress, but I like that the music is not always the same. It’s always moving in a direction towards a vibe that we contribute to together.”

Added to the mix are the facts that Fischer often plays organ on a rig he has set up with his kit, and that Sheridan makes ample use of a looper pedal to fill out the band’s sound. “The looping is great for me because I really love the bass,” Sheridan says. “We sort of compromised. I got a baritone guitar, which gives me something in-between. I can loop the basslines on the baritone and then solo and do some really fun explorations, especially in the live show. It’s also very stressful. It’s like playing one of those old platform games where you only get so many lives. You get really far and then if you die, the game is just over. You are just trying not to die.”

The band has recorded an EP and is planning on releasing it this year. A full-length may or may not be in its future as well. “The one good thing about the current music release environment is that you don’t have to put everything out all at once,” Fischer says. “We are going to try to take advantage of that and do two to three songs at a time when they are worked up to where we want them. If that ends up being an album’s worth at some point and we cut a vinyl, that would be really cool. But I don’t think there is that same pressure to save up all your best material to put out 45 minutes of music at once.” Besides that, it’s just more shows as they come along. “We’re open to playing as often as people want us, but we don’t feel the need to go hustle for gigs. We have been there, done that.” The band is playing at the Pour House on Friday, February 16.