Students break sonic ground

James Bond movies are formula flicks. The audience isn’t surprised when the spy travels to exotic locations to defeat a mastermind looking to destroy the world and, at the same time, bags a few hot chicks. But Moonraker– the new Boston band that takes its name from the 1979 installment– is anything but a formula band.

Moonraker, composed of Berklee College of Music and Boston University College of Communication students, describes itself as a “trip-hop and drum `n` bass” band, and each of its members draws from an exhaustive array of influences to create a sound that cannot be categorized. The band is currently in a transitional stage with high hopes for the future.

Vocalist Kelli Scarr, a 19-year-old Berklee student from California, feels her band offers music fans a unique experience.

“There are so many bands in Boston doing the same old [thing]. I feel we’re really pushing the boundaries,” she said.

Drum `n` bass has been widely popular in London for about a decade. Only recently have bands begun to play this new style in a live setting. Such bands mimic what a DJ would spin.

Drum `n` bass is forging the path for music, and Moonraker is putting its own name on the trend. The band directs its music toward the listener by putting tunes and poetic lyrics to drum `n` bass beats and blending in elements of hip-hop, jazz and funk.

Moonraker has gathered a sizable BU fan-base. Not only has word spread that the band is worth checking out as a result of packed houses at local venues like T.T. the Bear’s and The Middle East, but a lot of BU kids want to check out the talents of their classmates. The band’s roots can be traced all the way back to Warren Towers.

As freshmen, bassist Kody Akhavi and guitarist Dave Moltz, both juniors in COM, and drummer Dan Mintzer, a BU transfer to Berklee, played in the practice room of the dorm. RAs would allow them to keep the key past when it was typically due and tour guides would encourage them to play loudly and keep the door open. After achieving moderate success, the band decided a vocalist would expand their sound and added Scarr. Recent additions of keyboardist Dan Chen and DJ Nate Greenberg have elevated the band to a new level. The result of reworking the band’s make-up has been a fuller and more mature sound.

Their unique chemistry, marketable sound and hip stage presence has brought Moonraker success. The band recently was awarded 15 hours of studio time by winning a battle of the bands contest sponsored by Jim Beam and WBOS 92.9. This month, Moonraker independently produced a 10-track CD currently in post-production. It will be available sometime in April.

Though producers have taken notice of the quintet, the band doesn’t want to sign on a record label just yet. It has plans to tour the East Coast to establish a fan base so when it does sign to a label, the five can continue to make albums on their own terms and insure that they present their sound exactly how they want it.

The band’s particular sound and style is partially a result of their diverse influences. At any time, band members can be found bopping their heads to anything from Shostakovich, George Benson to Herbie Hancock to Radiohead, to Pink Floyd to Bjork. All five members could be spotted at the House of Blues last Friday grooving to Actual Proof, a band who also got its start in Boston and whom they admire and cite as a collective influence.

Moonraker’s next gig is headlining a show at T.T. the Bear’s in Central Square tonight. The show starts at 9:00 p.m., and Moonraker is set to take the stage at 11:30 p.m. To learn more about the band, check out moonrakermusic.com.

A groundbreaking style of music, an emphasis on originality, the whole spectrum of musical influences, students with a handle on the complex music industry and a lot of talent– certainly not a formula. Take that, James Bond.