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Five Minutes With ... Keith Ulrey, Musician

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Curtis Ross

Published: November 1, 2007

Tampa band Zillionaire features three former members of The Washdown. But where that band's rock tended toward the short, sharp and direct, Zillionaire's sound is more suggestive, atmospheric and at times a little sinister.

Zillionaire drummer Keith Ulrey wasn't in The Washdown, but he has kept the beat for several other popular Tampa bands, such as Pohgoh and The Maccabees.

His New Granada Presents promotes local shows while his New Granada label, run with wife Susie, has released CDs by local and regional acts such as Scrog, Candy Bars and Dear and Glorious Physician.

Ulrey talked with Insider about the band, its debut album, "The Street Lights Have Been Turned Down," and New Granada.

Q. How did Zillionaire come together?

A. Heath (Dupras, vocals and guitar), Michael (Waksman, guitar) and Bryan (Bates, bass) were all in The Washdown. Heath was the drummer in The Washdown, but he'd played guitar and sung in other bands.

We'd been old friends, and when he left The Washdown in spring of 2004, we started working together as a guitar and drums duo. The Washdown split up four or five months after that, and it just felt natural for Michael and Bryan to join, like there was no other choice.

We didn't play our first show until April 2005. We took our time. We wanted to come out under the radar with no preconceived notions.

Q. Did you and Heath have a sound in mind when you started working together?

A. The approach when we started it was anything's game; we don't want a particular style. We've all been in bands like that.

I think when you listen to the record, the mellow songs might be reminiscent of Low and Codeine, and there are also songs that are more upbeat, like Superchunk. We're all fans of '90s indie rock. We wear our musical influences on our sleeves.

Subconsciously, that's what happened, but we never discussed the sound of the band.

Q. The New Granada label seems to have taken on a life of its own.

A. It started in 1994 as a name anyone could use. Later we adopted it for whatever projects me and my wife were working on, like Pohgoh or The Maccabees or for friends' groups, like Isobella. The Candy Bars' album (last year's "On Cutting Ti-gers in Half and Understanding Narravation") was the first time we approached someone we weren't affiliated with. … We'll be releasing more albums in the next year than we did in the previous eight years. I fund the label with the money we make from New Granada Presents shows.

Curtis Ross can be reached at (813) 259-7568 or cross@tampatrib.com.

IN CONCERT

Zillionaire

WITH: King of Spain and Codex Boom

WHEN: 9 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: New World Brewery, 1313 E. Eighth Ave., Tampa; (813) 248-4969.

TICKETS: $8 (includes a copy of "The Street Lights Have Been Turned Down")

MORE: Zillionaire also performs at 3 p.m. Sunday at Vinyl Fever, 4110 Henderson Blvd., Tampa; free; (813) 289-8399

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