Cellar On Treadwell Mixes It Up On Monday

Music on stage. Art on the walls. Pizza and drinks on the table. Pickles in the corner. The latest installment of Mood Maker Mondays at The Cellar on Treadwell in Hamden featured all of the above, mixed together for a healthy-sized Monday night crowd who came out to hear experimental musician Parlay Droner and veteran surf rockers the Vulture, partake of Jam City Pizza’s Detroit-style pizza, check out the fantastical art of Thomas Drew, and sample the vinegar delights of Mo Piklz.

Thomas Drew pulls his inspiration from comic books, horror movies, fantasy, even a little folk art. But the subject matter is informed by ​“my thoughts on life and death, magic and the language in between,” he said, ​“the connective tissue of experience — whatever fancy way one can say that,” he said with a laugh. ​“Whatever comes to my mind about certain things, the gray area between absolutes. I am expressing what I am constantly looking for in my life, which is balance, peace, integrity, and presence. I’m just trying to keep my mind focused, as much as I can, and not get stuck in a narrative.” 

The art is thus part catharsis — getting out the stuff Drew needs to achieve that balance — and also a way to communicate ​“without words,” Drew said. ​“Though sometimes I’m just messing around,” he added with another laugh. ​“Sometimes it’s just meaningless. I just like it.” But even then, he thinks, ​“there’s always the subconsciousness speaking.”

Sometimes a piece is only finished for him when he names it, and some of those names (Blissness Is Blooming) are obvious jokes. ​“Sometimes a clever name makes the whole thing for me,” he said. ​“If I can’t get a good name it may never be finished.” He plays with the edge that many comics and horror movies walk between comedy and terror: one person’s circus is another person’s nightmare. ​“We’re all just telling a story about our experience,” he said, while ​“to be present is the most difficult thing. This whole conversation is already in our memory,” he pointed out; it’s already gone. ​“Once I started thinking that way” — meditating on the fleetingness of the present — ​“It kind of became everything for me,” though he added, ​“outside of just trying to live a normal life.”

“I’m just trying to walk the middle path, the straight and narrow,” he said. ​“I’m a simple dude who’s thinking bigger things, but trying to make it simple.”

Parlay Droner — a.k.a. Mike Miglietta — started off the music for the evening with a set of inviting experimental music. Miglietta built his music from ambient loops, live percussion, and found sounds ranging from chants and gongs to static, creating a mood for the room that felt contemplative and relaxing even as it also rewarded close listening with layers and textures. The room steadily filled with people during his set, with Miglietta’s music providing the backdrop for friends reuniting, conversation, and laughter. But just when it seemed that maybe nobody was actively listening, at the end of Miglietta’s set, the entire room burst into applause. They’d been vibing with Miglietta’s sounds all along.

“The Vultures are on next. They’re legendary, dude,” Miglietta said. ​“Stick around. You didn’t come here just to see me play around with my toys.” He didn’t have to be self-deprecating; his music had set the tone for an easy-going yet energetic evening.

The Vultures — Warren on guitar, Will on bass, and Dave on drums — then took over the club with the band’s tried and true blend of heavy surf rock. The band hit hard right away with a dark, sinister number full of throbbing bass, driving drums, and echo-drenched guitar that conjured, simultaneously, visions of big waves and sweaty mosh pits. As the set progressed, the crowd became more entranced, drawing closer to the stage and growing louder. By the time the Vultures reached the halfway point in their set, people were screaming for more in between songs, calling out the band’s name in bird voices, and making actual bird sounds. A slow, hypnotic song built on a steady bassline from Will, precise, huge drums from Dave, and spaced-out guitar from Warren sealed the deal. That number was met with a cacophony of bird sounds from the crowd, so many that someone in the audience laughed: ​“All birds sound like vultures.” At the end of the set, many in the crowd weren’t ready for the Vultures to finish playing, but the band members were. The band had taken the stage, mesmerized the crowd, and departed without saying a word. Always leave them wanting more.