See our other photos from the show: Day 1
Left to right: Joe Lally. Brandan Canty, and Anthony Pirog
So you might be surprised to learn that such an accomplished low-ender didnāt always feel confident about his own musical knowledge. āI spent all that time in Fugazi not formally being able to articulate about music very well with the other people in the band,ā Joe says. āIt was very frustrating at times. There were times I wanted to leave the band because it felt like I couldnāt even talk about what I wanted to do.ā
It was only after Fugazi went on indefinite hiatus that, realizing he wanted to keep making music, Joe decided to get some education. āI took a few lessons at Fleaās school in L.A., the Silverlake Conservatory. I studied with Tree, the dean of the school, who showed me some things about songwriting on piano. I was looking at it like I was getting piano lessons, but really he was showing me the sound of major, the sound of minor, and the sound of the dominant 7 chord. Those three chords are the basic beginnings of learning music theory.ā
As Joe learned it, the major sound was āHere, There, and Everywhere" by the Beatles, the minor was Santanaās āEvil Ways,ā and the dominant 7 was āI Feel Goodā by James Brown. āI learned to play those chord changes on piano, and came to understand more about songs and completing my own song ideas.ā
Joe mainly learned by asking questions. āTo a degree, thatās what I want people to get from the lessons I give,ā he continues. āThereās so much you can go into theory-wise, but you donāt really need to to be able to write music, play music, and figure out other peopleās music.ā
Joe went on to write and release three solo albums, as well as two with Ataxia, his project with Red Hot Chili Pepper guitarists John Frusciante and Josh Klinghoffer. In 2016, he formed instrumental jazz-punk fusion trio the Messthetics with Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty and genre-spanning guitar virtuoso Anthony Pirog. Theyāve since toured heavily and released three full lengths. He also joined Ian MackayeāFugaziās and the Evensās singer-guitaristāalong with Evens drummer Amy Farina to form Coriky.
Lallyās humble online flyer.
āI foolishly never picked up a book because I thought it would ruin what I did know. When I told a friend I was teaching theory, he asked, āHas it ruined your playing yet?āā
When off the road, Joe worked different jobs in DCās independent music scene to pay the bills. But when the pandemic lockdown came, he decided to start giving online lessons. He made flyers and posted them on social media.
āIām not teaching formal theory, which I think is weird and abstract and doesnāt show people everything,ā says Joe. āIt takes years of learning formally to see how everything is connected to see how this thing is part of that other thing we learned years ago. Most of my students are adults who have been playing but now want to know more about what theyāve been doing.ā
But music theory is something we all operate within, says Joe, whether weāre knowledgeable about it or not. āWe are engaged in theory. We just may not know it. When youāre playing or writing a song, you might think āthat note sounds rightā or āthat note sounds wrong.ā It's because we are relating it to something in theory that weāve picked up from all the music weāve listened to.ā
Joe recognizes that some people are apprehensive about learning music theory, and he admits that when he was in Fugazi, he was, too. āI foolishly never picked up a book because I thought it would ruin what I did know. When I told a friend I was teaching theory, he asked, āHas it ruined your playing yet?ā
āBut formal study should use your thinking mind, and when you play, youāre outside of thinking. Creativity is outside of thought. You hear about jazz players who practice scales over and over, and what theyāre really practicing is the sounds of these things that they want to hear. But when they play, they let go of all of that. So I realized my playing is never going to change. Iām always going to write the way I wrote.ā
To immerse yourself in Joeās creative world, check out the Messtheticsās 2024 album, The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis, which adds saxophonist Lewis to the trio, bringing together Fugaziās powerful rhythm section with two players from the creative improv world.
To inquire about bass lessons with Joe Lally, contact him on Instagram at @joelally898.
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