In honor of Summer Meltdown, Dan’s Tunes will drop a new Q&A with artists playing the festival for one more Thursday. Get excited, and then head to Darrington for the festival, from August 1st – 4th. Check out the first installment, featuring Whitney Mongé, the second installment, featuring Pheso, and the third installment, featuring Miranda Zickler of Kuinka. This week, we’re excited to bring you Sam Lax, vocalist and saxophonist of Acorn Project, a jazz-funk sextet from Bellingham.

Q: What’s the most memorable show you’ve ever played?

A: That’s a big one. Geez. In 15 years as a band, there’s a lot of shows to draw on for that. And there’s been a lot of different renditions of Acorn. It’s a really tough one to answer, although what pops to mind is the one time we played a late-night set, actually at Summer Meltdown Festival, and it was probably as far back as 2008 or something. I felt like it was this show where we all just became one for a moment. We became this one entity. It was this weird thing where everybody was just really deep in the zone together, playing together. It felt like a real breakout show for us. I think this one took us from the moment of feeling like we were a post-college garage band, doing it local, to, wow, I think we should run with this and take to the road and see what we can really do with this project.

Q: You clearly have a wide range of musical influences. Can you give me your top five?

A: If you were to ask all six of us in the group, it would be completely different answers from everybody, obviously. I myself would probably pull from Pink Floyd, Coltrain, some big band and jazz outfits. I like to go and just buy records from the record store. I don’t even know who they are. Like, oh here’s some big band jazz music from the 50s. I don’t even know who this is — just put them on. I’m trying to think who else without being too cliche. [Laughing] Phish, The Grateful Dead.

I want to try to give an idea of what everybody else would say. It’s a tough answer because our drummer, [Kevin Chrys], is a huge jazz-head, Andy [Pritiken], our lead singer, loves rock ‘n’ roll, and our keyboard player, [Oskar Kollen], is into big jam band stuff … it’s a huge wide mix, just like you said [laughs].

Q: How do you think being based in Bellingham affects your music?

A: You know, we all went to college in Bellingham when we originally started the group, and it was just the time in life that was free-spirited, and the town embodies that vibe. Music and art were a big part of the culture of the town, and we fell right into it. I don’t know that if I didn’t move to Bellingham that I ever would have actually ended up in a band. That’s what the weird twist of fate might be there.

But it sure is interesting, because after now being in the band and having it go through all these changes over 15 years, it’s crazy to look back at everything we did and have done and continue to try to aspire to do. And then wonder, too, if where you live in this little, small town in the Northwest, far off the radar of most of the major music industry epicenters and easier regions of the country to tour — you wonder if we had a blessing being out here in terms of being influenced and having the project start, and also a little bit of a curse, being like, wow it’s certainly difficult to run a touring operation from way out in the Northwest. It’s very challenging, but we did it.

Q: Acorn has played Summer Meltdown before. What will make this year different?

A: We’ve played Summer Meltdown, gosh, I don’t know, 10 times probably. I’m not sure. We did not play as a group last year, and I think what’s going to make this year a lot different is — first of all — we haven’t played a late-night set for quite some time, which is where we really tend to get into our world that we love. We gotta kind of have no restrictions. [With a late-night set], we have plenty of time to stretch out and do our thing, which is great.

But, more than that, I think we’ve moved into a different place as a band. Like I said, it’s our 15-year anniversary. The last couple years, some of the guys have had kids and gotten married, and things have changed in our personal lives to the point that when we do have the opportunity to get together and play, it’s a pretty special moment for us, since we’re no longer touring 100 shows a year. It’s only a few times a year. Especially in the summer, with something like Summer Meltdown, which played such a big role in our history as a group, I think people could expect to hear the best and a lot of new feelings coming through the music.

Q: I saw on your Facebook that people wanted you to play in the forest, so I’m sure your fans will be excited about your late-night set there.

A: We’ve played every stage at the festival, and I would say late-night in the woods is very fitting to Acorn.

Q: How come?

A: That whole stage kind of came out of our old crew, our old Acorn camp that used to be down in that area for many years. We would play a set, say, on the beer ground, at 9 p.m. or something, and then we wouldn’t have had enough, so we would renegade sets out there in the woods. We’d just set up generators under easy-ups and play a set late-night. And then they’d come and shut us down. And then, slowly, over the years, it’s kind of just grown into an actual stage and an actual part of the festival production. So I think we have a little bit of roots in our old renegade antics of that stage even existing. It makes sense for us to be out there.