Sep. 24-----

IF YOU GO

WHAT: KUOI presents James Pants, Rhythm Memory and Yarn Owl

WHERE: Mikey's Gyros, 527 S. Main St.

WHEN: 9 p.m. Saturday

COST: $5

---

James Pants likes to keep his audience guessing when it comes to his performances.

"It's different every time; it's always a challenge to connect with people, I give them a good show," said the Spokane-based musician. "I like challenging things, keeping them super fun and letting go of any preconceived notions of how the show is going to be."

Sometimes Pants brings on a full live band, sometimes he DJs, sometimes he's a one-man band.

"I did two shows this weekend where I sang karaoke," he said. "I keep it so people don't know what to expect."

Pants will bring his one-man act to Mikey's Gyro's at 9 p.m. Saturday and will perform along with Rhythm Memory and Yarn Owl. The show is a presentation of the University of Idaho radio station, KUOI.

Pants mainly plays drums and keyboards, and every other instrument he plays, he describes as "making noise." He started playing music in garage bands at age 11 or 12.

"I played jazz on drums up through college and then got serious about producing my own stuff," he said.

He started out with more of a hip-hop sound, but he couldn't rap.

"I had to find people to rap for me, so I started making the kind of music I could make, it's kind of me just having fun in my crazy little studio," he said.

His latest album, "Seven Seals" will be released in November on the Stones Throw record label.

"It's less dancey, with a more psychedelic influence (than my previous albums)," he said. "It's more '60s with crazy sounds and arrangements, it's more creepy."

After first meeting Stones Throw CEO and DJ Peanut Butter Wolf after his high school prom in Texas, Pants completed an internship with his dream label. Seven years later, he was signed with the label.

Pants travels across the country and world and just got back from playing shows in Russia and China.

With a wife and new daughter, Pants said he is happy with where he is.

For "Seven Seals," Pants said he was inspired by records of really early electronics.

"I like every genre, anything from crazy '60s rock, like the Silver Apples, to The Doors, to early '80s reggae, early '80s hip hop, and '70s and '80s disco," he said.

www.myspace.com/jamespants

Omie Drawhorn can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 238, or by e-mail at odrawhorn@dnews.com.

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Copyright (c) 2009, Moscow-Pullman Daily News, Moscow, Idaho

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