 "Photo: Jacqueline Mermea; The Daily Texan")
The idea of the power trio is that a three-dude band can play its heart out and overwhelm a band twice or even three times its size.
Bands like Cream and The Jimi Hendrix Experience found success exploring the outer limits of what a three-piece’s potential can be, and Gian Ortiz, bassist of local rock trio Amplified Heat, is inclined to agree.
“If you’re able to bring out a lot of sound out of three people, that’s an edge right there,” Ortiz said.
The Ortiz brothers that make up the band — Gian, guitarist and vocalist Jim and drummer Chris — were born in California where they became obsessed with rock ‘n’ roll via the radio show “Breakfast with the Beatles.”
They moved to Houston in 1987 and quickly became fascinated with the grittiness of Texas blues guitarists such as Lightnin’ Hopkins and ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons. Gian says that while grit is vital, he prefers “toughness” in his music.
“The [guitar] tone can be very clean, as long as there’s some kind of mean element — rock ‘n’ roll is not supposed to be gay, light and pussy,” he said. “I grew up with rock ‘n’ roll being tough.”
Gian uses this approach in his bass playing. He likes for his tone to be loud and direct, borrowing from players like Jack Bruce and Paul McCartney.
“I think a lot of bass tones that have been goin’ on since the ‘90s ... there’s no tone in bass, it’s just low end and that’s it,” Gian said. “You hear all this low end rumble, but you watch the bass player’s fingers and you can’t hear what he’s doing.”
Having played with each other so long has been advantageous for the band’s dynamics.
“We’re just very comfortable and familiar with each other’s style,” Gian said. “There is a lot of eye contact, a lot of nodding heads and hand symbols to bring everybody back to a focal point or for a break.”
Amplified Heat is a band very much in touch with its musical roots. In addition to referencing Texas blues, the band is heavily influenced by the psychedelic music of the late ‘60s, evident in Jim’s spacey husk of a voice.
Black Sabbath’s bluesier moments and Blue Cheer’s proto-metal heaviness are also evident in Amplified Heat’s sound.
“You’re not the first one to come up with anything; someone’s already done what you’ve done,” Gian said. “Rock ‘n’ roll has — and a lot of people have said this — pinched off of other peoples’ stuff, and you take something off of their music and you do something in your owns style with it.”
The band’s value for history has made finding an organ player a difficult task. A session player was used, but there are no plans for a full-time organist to into the mix.
“A lot of organ players around town don’t know who [Deep Purple organist] John Lord is,” Gian said.
Don’t even think about calling them a retro band, either.
“We’re not throwbacks,” Gian said. “We’re just rock ‘n’ roll.”
