Michael Wu, Rob Lipari and Todd Evans comprise “One Click Culture.”

‘One Click Culture’ steps out of the Rat Race

In the 1930s, musician and inventor Paul Tutmarc from Seattle, Wash., developed the first electric string bass in its modern form. And as time progressed into the 1950s, Leo Fender, with the help of his employee George Fullerton, developed the first mass-produced electric bass.

But this was just the beginning, and following Fender’s lead, Gibson released the first short scale violin-shaped electric bass with extendable end pin in 1953, allowing it to be played upright or horizontally. Gibson renamed the Electric Bass in 1958 as the EB-1.

With this evolution, the instruments were perfected along the way, incorporating Magnetic, Jazz and Precision Pickups. The vibrant blend of the bass into today’s music grew in popularity, and prompted the emergence of some of the best players in the industry along the way to include Les Claypool from Primus, John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin, and Geddy Lee of Rush.

But the bass players, according to former Tioga County, N.Y. resident Rich Briere, who was employed by Fender Guitar from 1988 through 2001, are the thread that holds everything together.

“Bass players are, without question or doubt, the highest form of musical life,” said Briere in a recent interview.

To elaborate on this philosophy, Briere spoke of his many years in the music business, and how he has had the pleasure to work with many bass players to include Chris Squire from Yes, Geddy Lee, Tony Levin from Peter Gabriel, Victor Wooten from Bela Fleck, Mike Rutherford from Genesis and John Lodge from the Moody Blues.

“Each of those players creates bass lines in a very different way and each has a signature sound,” Briere added.

But Briere also had an opportunity, while residing in Tioga County, to work with a local bass player named Michael Wu. Briere said of Wu, “Despite currently being known primarily as a local player, he also belongs on that list.”

The story behind Michael Wu’s renowned local attention is his ability to balance his work, family and music. His commitment to all of these things, blended together, now solidifies his new band, “One Click Culture,” and the meaning behind the lyrics and workings of the group’s current repertoire.

Each member of this band, consisting of Todd Evans, who is the lead guitar and vocalist, Wu on bass, and Rob Lipari on drums, share these same concepts of balancing all the elements of home life, career and music; elements that they each agree are equally as important.

Working formerly as a software engineer at Lockheed Martin in Owego, N.Y. and now for Hewlett Packard, 38-year-old Wu has been playing the bass guitar for 26 years, and touts his latest accomplishment as being a Michael Tobias Design (MTD) endorsee since 2007 — an endorsement that he states Briere helped him to achieve.

Making up the rest of the band, Evans and Lipari have 60 combined years of playing under their belt, and are both graduates from Berklee College of Music — Evans with a degree in music production and audio engineering and Rob with a degree in movie scoring.

Forming in 2008, Evans and Lipari began working on material for “One Click Culture.” But it wasn’t until 2010, when they found Wu, that the band solidified.

“We went through bass players,” Evans said, “but we didn’t really come together until we found Michael.”

The most interesting aspect of their coming together to form the band is their similar lifestyles. Evans and Wu both work, in their professional careers, as software engineers. Lipari, they added, is a drum instructor at the State University at Oneonta.

“We’re glad he teaches music,” Evans said, “that way he is practicing all the time.”

So when finding a name that would suit the band and direct their lyrics, they utilized an online band name generator to come up with “One Click Culture.” The name, they added, represents the world’s need for instant gratification.

“It’s all about instant gratification,” Evans said, “wanting it now.”

“Click one button and like it now,” he added.

Evans writes the music, and the band is continually working on new material. But each band member, according to Evans, contributes.

“I’ll bring a song, and let them do what they like with it,” Evans said. “Everyone has creative input.”

Evans is no stranger to the music industry. The Southern Tier resident performed for several years with Tempest, a Celtic group. Touring across the United States and abroad, Evans described the group as eclectic, with its uniqueness being the addition of an electric guitar.

“It’s a Kansas meets Jethro Tull,” he described of Tempest.

After his studies at Berklee, Evans moved out to the west coast for a short period of time, where he worked as a sound engineer to include working on concerts for Metallica.

“It was cool,” Evans said. “It was nice to rub elbows,” he described of his introductions to Les Claypool, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Neil Young and Jerry Cantrell from Alice in Chains.

Working as a sound engineer at the Record Plant, the same place where Fleetwood Mac recorded Rumours, Evans also talked out how he was able to improve his own abilities to write and record music.

“You’re on the outside, and part of your job is to get to the inside of what these musicians wanted their music to sound and feel like,” Evans said. “You have to get into the artist’s head, they don’t want to think of the microphone or the buttons.”

In 2001, Evans left that job in San Francisco, and headed back to the area for personal reasons. With no regrets, Evans stated this experience influenced him greatly, and showed him the steps of making a record.

Since that time, and once formed as “One Click Culture,” a record has been produced by Evans and the band — Rat Race. And its title song, according to Evans, is about trying to slow down in a world of instant gratification — a philosophy that the band’s members try to mirror with their own lifestyles today.

“That’s what we’re trying to do,” Wu said. Speaking for Todd, he added, he left on his own to be with and take care of his family.

With family at home, and careers that consume much of their time, the band members get together once or twice a week to perform together, and each individually in their spare time.

The band, as described by Evans, is pop, rock fusion. “We lean heavier towards pop,” Evans added, “keeping our songs catchy and memorable.”

While all three come from heavy metal backgrounds, they work upon the written lyrics, and then blend it together for a unique sound.

“We grew up on heavy doses of metal,” Wu said. “Our stuff is really running the gamut ... a blend of jam, while retaining our individual styles.”

Evans himself talked of starting out into metal, and then described a period of following the Grateful Dead as well. But his music soon became diversified following his studies of jazz at Berklee, and then dabbling in fiddle music with Tempest.

But now, at a point in their lives where they are focused, as well, on family and career, they are hoping to build on their creative music and become a name in the Southern Tier.

The band’s vision is to stick together for the long haul, and build a following in central New York.

“We hope to become fixtures in the local music scene,” Wu said.

And none of the band’s members see a life or future without music. After spending 20 years trying to make a living solely by working in the music industry, Evans is please with the balance he has found in his life today.

“I want to continue to write,” Evans said. “I will always do it.”

When people ask Wu what he will do, he asks a question back to them, stating, “Do you play golf or tennis? How do you find the time?”

For Wu, it is similar. He practices twice a week, and puts in time at home. He also talked of the support from his wife. “It’s all about how you choose to spend your time,” said Wu.

And for those who know Wu, and his talents, they can’t say enough. Briere, upon learning of Wu’s recent record release and his continued work on building his fan base locally, chimed in.

“Watching and listening as Michael plays his MTD Bass is an experience unto itself and one not to be missed, especially while this monster player and songwriter is still able to be seen in area performances,” Briere said.

He continued, “He’s a chameleon as far as I’m concerned; one second he’s caressing his bass as slow, melodic, low-end lines intertwine with the other musicians on stage or in the studio and the next instant he’s attacking the instrument he adores and racing back and forth across that stage like a madman. Many seem to feel that because most basses have four strings (Wu plays one with six) they must be easier to play. They are wrong.”

Working to build on their hometown crowd, “One Click Culture” will be performing at the John Barleycorn in Owego, N.Y. on Feb. 11 with special guests The Brian Wolff Band. The show starts at 9 p.m. and there is a $5 cover.

For the band’s members, there is only one thing they stated they need to be smart about, and that is the arrangement. Otherwise, they added, they are looking for a good, hometown crowd.