Experimenting with change

Yoda's House is an experiment.

"It's very much about the process of the whole thing and writing as you go," member Hannah Frasier said.

The group will perform Saturday at q-Staff theatre.

Joe Annabi is the only member who has been in every show. He sings, plays accordion, musical saw, cello, violin and harmonica. He said the band's music never has lyrics and constantly changes.

He said he advertises the band as a different genre for each show.

"Every time, I try to write something a little bit different, because no two or three word description can really convey it, because it's so weird, and it's also changing depending on who's playing with us at that time," he said. "One of the times, it was called haunted house music because I really like Halloween. It's kind of scary, sometimes kind of creepy."

Frasier, also in the band Olive Drab, sings and plays keyboard, drums and children's instruments.

"I guess I just like the sound of children's instruments," she said. "It's really simple, and it sounds different. I think general guitar - everybody's heard it. You don't feel like the instrument is controlling you. You can do a lot of things with kid's instruments."

The group played its first show in July 2006.

"It was just my roommate Nick and I," Annabi said. "It was just keyboards, and it was a totally different thing entirely."

The band performed that show with the Fertile Crescent.

"We became instant friends and started hanging out a lot, and then we started jamming a lot," Annabi said. "That's where this newer version of Yoda's House came from."

After that, the group became a collective that includes members from bands such as Olive Drab and Mammal Eggs.

Annabi said the band changes its sound according to who's performing.

"If it's a freak-out psychedelic kind of band, we'll play along those lines and be loud. But if it's a quieter act, we'll do something prettier and lower key," he said.

Bryce Hample, a member of Fertile Crescent, said the group has played shows with four to 13 performers. He sings and plays trumpet, guitar, bass and melodica.

"I'd say we played a few shows where the lineup was consistent," Hample said. "The most amount of shows where the lineup was consistent was, like, three."

The band wears costumes, as well.

"I have a couple of cool dresses," Annabi said. "One of them looks like an old-school Trojan warrior but with sweeter colors with green and blue."

The costumes add a visual element to the performance, Annabi said.

"We were all having fun, and so we wanted to convey that and be a little different, be a little weird and freak people out," he said.

Yoda's House

Saturday

following 8 p.m. theater performance

q-Staff theatre

4819 Central Ave. N.E.

$9 students, $12 general