Under no influence

It’s the question every musician gets: “What are your influences?”

Whether it’s coming from a record company hack or impatient music writer, the question is a way to identify an artist by linking him to a few popular musicians everyone knows.

But it doesn’t always work so easily. For Nino Moschella, influence goes beyond a few records he bought in high school. His do-it-yourself style arises from his family, his upbringing in rural California, his time spent in the Bay Area and the recent birth of his daughter.

All have led to Moschella’s new album, “The Fix,” an aggressively raw musical fusion of self-made percussion, post-soul beats and self-reflecting lyrics laid over a pop backdrop. Think Jamiroquai meets Jerry Garcia with the cast of “The Jeffersons” on the sound board.

Moschella will be presenting “The Fix” Saturday at a performance hosted by promoter Abstract Workshop at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa.

The 29-year-old multi-instrumentalist said he drew upon his rich collection of musical memories to craft the album, which has been released by Costa Mesa-based Ubiquity Records.

“My dad sings and plays guitar. He started out in the choir and singing doo-wop in the Bronx,” he said. “My mom sings lullabies. I had a great uncle Nino who played the violin, and my grand folks were always singing ? you know, typical loud Sicilian folks always carrying on.”

Moschella said his father put him on a set of snare drums at age 5 because his R&B; group’s percussionist hadn’t showed up for practice. That survivalist session was the inspiration for “The Fix,” which deploys a number of unusual drumming methods.

Moschella recorded most of the album in his “Shop Studio,” a tool shed in the rear of his Central Valley cabin he converted into a production facility.

On a few-tracks, Moschella attempts beat-boxing, laying down a percussion pattern using only his breath.

“It originates from hip-hop. A lot of the MCs couldn’t afford a drum kit, so they improvised,” Moschella said. “It’s fun and you get a lot of different sounds.”

Moschella’s own foray into hip-hop goes back to the six years he spent in San Francisco’s East Bay, a blue-collar enclave of cities centered around Oakland and Berkeley.

Besides being home to rap pioneers Mac Dre and Too-Short, the East Bay has a rich history in funk tracing back to Tower of Power and Sly and the Family Stone, emerging during Oakland’s own rough and tumble days through the 1960s.

While the city across the Bay Bridge was responding to ‘60s with free love, Oakland was the flash point for the Black Panthers and Hells Angels.

“There’s definitely a gritty aspect to the East Bay and East Bay musicians,” Moschella said.

While living in the East Bay, Moschella did studio work for producer Dave Bell and spent his free time working on a four-track demo eventually presented to Ubiquity by Bay Area singer Bart “DJ Greyboy” Davenport.

After six years in the East Bay, Moschella made his way back to the Central Valley, reconnecting with his family and finding a place to raise his newborn daughter.

While he said nearby cities like Fresno aren’t exactly bastions of music and culture, he said he looks forward to getting back on the road and touring to support his new album.dpt.26-happs-1-BPhotoInfoPM1RBGJ920060526iztz16ncCourtesy of Ubiquity Records(LA)Multi-instrumentalist Nino Moschella will present ‘The Fix’ Saturday at a rendition hosted by promoter Abstract Workshop at the Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa.