Instead of being confined to one instrument like members of most bands, the members of 100 Monkeys each take turns playing different instruments. They showed off their multi-musical abilities in Bakersfield at Chencho’s on Jan. 26.

Consisting of Ben Graupner, Jackson Rathbone, Ben Johnson, Jerad Anderson and M. Lawrence Abrams, whom they call “Uncle Larry,” 100 Monkeys is based in Los Angeles and tours all over the country. The band first got together three years ago but has only been a full band for a year and a half, according to Rathbone. In addition to being musicians, many of the members of 100 Monkeys are also actors.

“Ben, and myself met in high school. Then I met Jerad in L.A., and I made a film with Uncle Larry,” said Rathbone, who played Jasper in the “Twilight” films. “We just kept in touch and kept jamming. Eventually the jamming became more organized, and we became more official.”

The band’s name comes from the phenomenon where an individual’s learned behavior is picked up by the rest of its group instantaneously.

“It’s the idea of a collective consciousness, the way an idea spreads subconsciously in a group,” said Johnson. “Music can do that. We jam with so many people. Anyone can get on stage and be a 100 Monkey.”

That collective consciousness is present when 100 Monkeys performs an improvised song, their favorite songs to play at their concerts.

“You never know what’s going to happen,” said Graupner. “Sometimes it’s awesome, sometimes it’s not.”

At their concerts, the band asks the audience for a topic for them to improvise a song about. The topic at the Bakersfield show was “moustache.” The band decided to play a song about a specific moustache: Johnson’s. Rathbone made up the lyrics on the spot and sang about how “you always want what you can’t have,” like Johnson’s moustache.

“It’s really spontaneous,” said Rathbone. “The crowd gets to hear songs that no one has ever heard before and no one will ever hear again, unless someone records it. It’s like a blind date.”

Recently, 100 Monkeys has been playing shows all over California, and in most cities, their opening bands are local, which they said gives them a chance to be “at the forefront of the indie scene” and meet lots of new bands. Graupner said his favorite part about touring is meeting new people.

“Playing these really intimate shows, we get to meet almost every person,” said Graupner. “It feels like you have a million friends.”

While some fans of the band buy their tickets well in advance of the concert, the band said sometimes people will come out on only a day’s notice. They said their fans are always “ready to party.”

“The shows have been so much fun. The audiences are amazing. People come out and always have a good time,” Rathbone said. “If you love what you do, other people will love it too. It’s the 100 Monkeys effect.”

Rathbone said the band’s set list is always changing, as are their hats, so one 100 Monkeys concert is not like another. One thing stays the same for any 100 Monkeys concert though.

“Fun, love and happiness,” said Uncle Larry on what a fan can expect from a 100 Monkeys concert.

BC theater arts major Audraey Torres attended the concert at Chencho’s. She said the reason she came to the show was to see Rathbone.

“Jackson Rathbone is here, and I wanted to hear his music live,” she said. “I loved the concert, it was absolutely fabulous. They have such a different range of different sounds.”

100 Monkeys has been touring across the U.S. since the day after Christmas, but Rathbone said the group is going to be very busy in February.

“We’re taking a pseudo-break in February to record a score and make a music video, then tour again in March,” said Rathbone. “So we’re going to be really busy.”

In April, the band is performing at the Spencer Bell Legacy concert in Dallas. Bell was a friend of the band who died in December 2006 from adrenal cancer. They honor his memory by regularly performing some of his songs, including “The Monkey Song” and “Twenty to One,” which they played at Chencho’s.

“A dear friend of ours passed away. He was a great musician and lyricist. He was a huge inspiration to all of us,” said Rathbone of Bell. “That’s the wonderful thing about music, that immortality.”