The players in Room3 are keeping busy. After building up a reputation in the past handful of years for electrifying live shows the band has finally released some recorded material and they’re preparing for a performance on Friday, January 31 at First Ave as part of the Best New Bands concert. Keyboardist Eli Awada and bassist Beck Madson stopped by our studios to chat about their new single, Moqueca, and about the big show coming up this weekend.
This interview originally aired on The Afternoon Cruise on 1/29/25
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
It’s the afternoon cruise, and I’m chatting with a couple members of Room3. We just started playing their new single, Moqueca. In fact, it’s our hot local single this week. And you can read about it at jazz88.fm and you can catch them this Friday at first Avenue’s Best New Bands of 2024 In fact, I’ll be there helping with some host duties alongside some other awesome radio people from the Twin Cities in the house today, we got Eli Awada the keyboard player for the group, and Beck Madson the bass player. Thank you gentlemen, for being here, of course.
Eli Awada and Beck Madson (Room3)
Thank you for having us.
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
Let’s also give some shout outs to the other members of the group who aren’t able to be here today. Shout out to RATWHYLA the drummer. What is RATWHYLA’s real name? What does his mother call him?
Eli Awada (Room3)
Yeah, his brother calls him Colin. Colin Mitchell. Colin Mitchell.
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
And then Jovon Williams on saxophone, who couldn’t be heretoday, correct?
Eli Awada (Room3)
Yeah. And we also have a percussionist playing with us at that show. His name is Evan Espinosa.
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
So a band I first saw as a trio, slowly growing to a quintet. At what time are you when you gonna become like a 19 piece?
Beck Madson (Room3)
Well, we’ve, yeah, there’s been talks about the Room3 big band in the works, you know, getting the whole works. But I say probably slowly. We have a our small community of members that we enjoy collaborating with.
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
Beck, I’m not surprised to hear you say community, because when I see room three out in action playing or even supporting other groups, there’s a lot of folks supporting each other, getting excited, getting excited about the music, and I see a lot of you playing for other musicians, playing for other band leaders, et cetera. What has it been like for you, Beck, to be part of this sort of Room3community for the last couple years?
Beck Madson (Room3)
Oh, it’s really beautiful. It’s expanded my horizons so much, and it has taught me an amazing amount through my own artistry and my own musicianship. And I really appreciate all of the people that support us and all of the people that come out to our shows. I’m actually just friends with most of them, and it’s a beautiful thing.
Speaker 1
Now let’s do a hone in a little bit on this tune. Moqueca, this is the first professionally recorded tune, the first one we spinning on Jazz88 from the group, and it’s epic. It’s like six and a half minutes. When I was writing about it for this week, I was thinking hearing a lot of hearing a lot of like Chick Corea, Spain vibes, keyboard opening up amazing grooves, but a lot of stuff that’s very original to it as well. Who wrote the song, who recorded and how did it all come about?
Eli Awada (Room3)
For sure, so I originally wrote the melody. I’m a big Chick Corea fan. I’m glad you brought that up, because that it’s definitely light of a feather, light as a feather. Era chicaria, just, I love his roads playing, and that’s kind of what I was trying to emulate with that. But that’s where the melody comes from, just kind of like that 70s Latin fusion vibes. But then I brought it to the group. Whenever we write songs, any of us brings like a melody to the group, and then people fill in their parts. So Colin brought, kind of his Afro Latin rhythm to it. Beck Jovon, everybody adds their flavors to it. So yeah. So that’s how the song was written, and then we recorded it at the legacy building in South Minneapolis, kind of a makeshift studio situation. Keston Wright was our engineer, great engineer. He did the mixing for it as well. He did a wonderful job on it.
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
Indeed, he did. It sounds wonderful, and I’m looking forward to playing it in a little while. Now. Folks who have not heard of the name room three, that’s who I’m talking with right now. They’re a fantastic up and coming group in the Twin Cities scene. You guys got started, literally in Ferguson Hall. Room three, rehearsal room with Phil Hey, a place I spent many years, probably in the very early 2000s you guys come out of the University of Minnesota. World. You’re now playing with people from all over the Twin Cities scene. Tell me about the genesis of the group, and maybe you finished that last week of class, and you go, maybe we should keep this going. Tell me a little bit about that, Beck.
Beck Madson (Room3)
so we started in a jazz combo group during COVID 19, when we all had to be six feet apart and be wearing masks. And I think we started online where we all just sent in our own parts to make a song together. And then after that, we got to be in like an actual room together, playing me, and then our previous drummer, who moved to New York, Parth, we just started jamming. Then we invited Eli, and we, the three of us were just jamming, and Eli heard of the battle of the bands at the University of Minnesota. So we like, Okay, we just had some Google Drive files and we sent those in. Like, okay, maybe we’ll maybe we’ll get in. Who knows? We started that up and we were practicing in room three. We were like, wow, if we’re gonna be in the battle of the bands. We need a name, so we just kind of took a very literal approach to it, like, I don’t know what if it’s room three, like, that’s where we’re saying we’re always practicing. And it’s like, All right, cool, sure. And then we picked that did Battle of the Bands. Parth, moved off. We got a new drummer, ad members, and now we’re here.
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
Did you win?
Eli Awada (Room3)
We did win. Okay, yeah. Well, so yeah, I mean us winning, I think was just kind of affirmation that we should keep going, like as a jazz band. I mean, we’re not necessarily like a straight ahead jazz band. We’re playing like Thundercat and stuff, but as a jazz band to win and Battle of the Bands, that was like, wow, you. We are pretty good together. We should keep, keep going with this.
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
So, yeah, we have a one one question trivia competition. It’s called, is this a fact or a country song lyric? Are you ready? Yeah, I first saw y’all in the summer of 2022 playing on a flatbed truck in a funeral home parking lot on Grand Avenue.
Beck Madson (Room3)
That’s true. That’s very true.
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
So I’m walking with my kids checking out grand old day, and I happen upon Tanner Montague from Green Room, and he’s standing in front of a truck alongside a crowd of 17 people or something. And you three, this is you. You two who are here, Eli and Beck and RATWHYLA are playing so incredibly well and so clearly enjoying each other. I’m not saying you aren’t involved in the crowd, but you have that thing where you go, Oh, those three are thrown a party, and it doesn’t matter if I’m invited, because it’s an amazing party, and I’m gonna stand as close to it as I can. It’s not a country lyric, it’s a fact, but you guys have built this reputation on your live show, on that energy, right where, if you’re at Indeed, if you’re playing at icehouse, if you’re playing at Berlin, people go, did you see them? They’re throwing a party on stage. I don’t care if it’s a funeral home parking lot, a grand old day in front of 17 people. Tell me about how you got that chemistry live where it just seems like y’all are unstoppable and are there for each other?
Beck Madson (Room3)
Well, it’s really infectious. And our drummer, RATWHYLA, I think he is the best in the world at having fun while playing the drums. Number one, you look at him whenever he’s behind his kit, he has a big smile on his face. That’s his home, and I feel that personally, base is my preferred method of communication. And with all of that combined and Eli’s structure, it just is a great chemistry for us to have a good time, whether we were in a performance or not, or whether we’re in a random jazz practice room or on a massive stage, it wouldn’t be any different, because we this is what we love to do, is jam with each other, and it is so special to be able to infect an audience with that same feeling that we have, and I’ve heard that compliment the most of it looks like you guys are having a lot of fun and we are. We are. You started during COVID 19, and now you’re infecting people with Eli a lot of the keyboard player for room three, alongside Beck Madson, the bass player and overalls enthusiast for the band. And shout out to Jovon Williams and rot Weiler, two members who weren’t able to be here today. They got a show coming up on Friday night’s best new bands of 2024 going down at first Ave, I’m going to be there hosting. I’m excited. I actually get the opportunity to introduce y’all on stage, and we’re going to give away a pair of tickets to that show coming up. So I’m going to give out the phone number figured room three. Let’s three. Let’s give it to the third caller. Does that feel good? That sounds good, all right, 6125295236, you and a guest can check out room three and many, many other great bands at best, new bands of 2024 which is going down at First Avenue on Friday. Room three is a quintet for that show. Who’s the percussionist? Espinoza. Evan. Espinoza man, it is so exciting to talk to people who are doing cool things, stepping on new stages, releasing new music. The full album is coming spring. Ish, 2025?
Eli Awada (Room3)
yeah, we have a date. It’s coming out on 4/20. 2025, all right.
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
All right. Well, jazz 8 can’t wait to support it, because the first taste we’re getting is very good. Moqueca is the first tune. This is a stew that involves shrimp from Brazil, correct?
Eli Awada (Room3)
Yep, it’s a Brazilian stew. Our drummer, Colin, he’s a big food enthusiast, and he named the tune. We were struggling to find one.
Beck Madson (Room3)
But he’s the best at naming things
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
he’s the best at having fun and at naming things. Yeah, absolutely. And then all you get is structure. Eli,
Eli Awada (Room3)
gotta have structure!
Sean McPherson (Jazz88)
We love you all. We’re so excited about this new project. Can’t wait to catch you on Friday. I will be giving out those tickets the phone number 612-529-5236, have a great rest of your week, and we’ll see you on Friday.Gentlemen.
Eli Awada and Beck Madson (Room3)
Thanks, Sean.
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