It seemed like a strange billing – one of the most criminally underrated power-pop songwriters of our lifetime opening for a young, up-and-coming female singer-songwriter – a tour that makes a stop in Columbus, at The Basement, on Sunday night.
But, as Mike Viola explained when I talked to him on the phone from Alabama last week, it all makes sense. Viola is currently on tour promoting his latest release, Electro De Perfecto, which came out in October. If I’m doing my math correctly, this is Viola’s 11th release under either his own name, under the name The Candy Butchers, or a combination of the two, Mike Viola and The Candy Butchers. It’s hard to keep straight though one thing is for certain, if you’re a fan of power-pop music, you’ll want to get your hands on EVERYTHING Viola has done.
Unfortunately, though we talked for nearly 45 minutes, I completely forgot to ask him about his contributions to two recently released compilation albums. But, the cover songs deserve to be heard so check out his version the Smiths “How Soon is Now?” from the album Please Please Please: A Tribute to The Smiths and his version of Ratt’s “Round and Round” from Engine Room Recording’s Guilt By Association Vol. 3.
“How Soon is Now?”
“Round and Round”
How did your tour with Rachael Yamagata come about?
A couple of years ago we met and I started writing songs with her for her soon-to-be record. She was going through the ringer with Warner Bros. and eventually got dropped. She called on me to help her make her record – which I did. We put a bunch of the songs we wrote together on there. When her tour came up, she decided to hit the road and plunked down the money herself. She called me and said, “Look, I know you have a record out. Would you want to open and join me on my stage for my set?” I said, “Of course.”
I’ve toured a bunch with friends like Fountains of Wayne, They Might Be Giants, Robyn Hitchcock; it sucks having to play a set for 30-to-45 minutes and then sit around while your friends play music. It’s much more fun to join them on stage. Everyone’s like, “I don’t know how you have the energy to play all night” and I’m like, “This is what I do. I love it.”
Do you have a band with you on this tour?
In Columbus, I won’t. Either way is great. Rachael has commented on that, she’s like “Usually when somebody does their thing acoustic it’s stripped down and kind of just super singer/songwritery but you somehow manage to keep it energetic.” I found some guys in Nashville that are young and hungry and don’t mind doing what you have to do on the road. For a guy like me, it’s not very luxurious but they just want to tour with me so I think in 2012 I’m going to swing back around to all these markets I hit with Rachael and try to do a band show.
What are the audiences like?
We don’t share fans. Her fans are mostly women. My fans are mostly Beatles fans and fans of pop music. Not that girls don’t like the Beatles but my fans are usually dudes who just love pop music and their cute girlfriends. It’s crazy every night, the girls just get jiggy with Rachael, it’s unbelievable! But I’ve been making new fans a little bit here and there.
Do you run across music geeks in each market, people who actually know you and own some of your music?
Yeah, that’s been the most emboldening aspect of the whole tour for me. It’s beyond a couple hundred bucks in merch I make, the money I make to play, or hitting a Godhead-moment for a split second in the middle of a song – beyond all those gratifying things, it’s meeting people that are into it or have been into it. It helps a guy like me. It’s not my ego, it’s more like, “Oh, okay … someone’s listening. I’m connecting with somebody.” I remember loving Split Enz and all my friends didn’t know who the hell they were. I was one of those guys growing up. I still love music that has kind of been marginalized. I feel like the internet has really helped guys like me reaching guys like you.
You were born and raised on the East Coast, right?
Born in Boston, raised in Boston. At a pretty young age, I moved out of my house and I moved to New York and lived there. I started really young and then personal stuff happened. My dad died and I had to take care of my mom so I couldn’t really focus on the music but I grew as a songwriter. Then I got married to my childhood sweetheart, started writing good songs again and then she died. I moved to New York and within 3 or 4 months I had a record deal and a publishing deal and was on my way. It took me a while to break away from some management that wasn’t doing a heck of a great job and some of the hangups I had from everybody dying.
Now it’s like I feel like I’m starting again and it feels really good. I remember when I was younger and Neil Young turned 40 and he was talking about how sharp things become as you get older. Here’s a guy that writes real music, that has had real problems and keeps his shit together and stays original and is able to reach people. He’s always been a real inspiration to me.
Have you always supported yourself through music?
I have. Even though I get down on myself for still being in the trenches, it appeals to me and I’m making money, enough to pay the bills, so what’s the problem? I love it. What’s to be disgruntled about? What’s to be moaning and groaning about?
The biggest thing I’d like to change … not a mistake … but maybe the one thing I overlooked a little too much is that I wish I had been touring a lot more because there are fans out there, albeit humble in numbers, they are out there.
With every job, there are days where you just don’t want to go in, days where you want to throw up your hands and say, “I’m done. I can’t take any more.” Having spent your entire life creating music and being able to pay the bills because of it, do you ever have those days where you want to unplug your guitar and just walk away?
The only time it gets dark for me is when I’m sitting around and there’s nothing to do and then I’m like, “Why am I sitting around? Oh, I know why. I suck!” If you have a 9-to-5 job, I guess there are other things to be pissed off about but for somebody like me who freelances and is an artist to boot, sitting around idol is the only time it gets ugly.
You started writing music at such a young age. Did you always have the gift or did you have to learn to become a songwriter?
It was always there. It was never a conscious choice.
Putting out as much music as you do, where do you draw inspiration from? Do you keep a notebook close by so you can write down lyrics when they hit you?
It’s different all the time. I used to keep a notebook but now I don’t. I stopped writing song ideas down or recording song ideas 7 or 8 years ago. I rely on my memory. I feel like if the hook is good, I’ll remember it. I don’t record or write anything down until it’s time to shape it. Everyone has their own way, I have mine. Somebody called me a “spastic songwriter” which I kind of like. I’m just so enthralled by it, as close as I can stay to the mystery, the happier I am.
Did you start writing music so you could impress the girls? Or did you want to be the next Beatles?
I wish I was that cool. I wanted to be Kevin Cronin from REO Speedwagon! It’s the ugly truth. I wanted to get an afro but my mom said no. The cool thing about them is their songs are really rudimentary, as are the Eagles, so at 10 years old I could play those songs no problem. So I took those chords and very quickly started writing my own songs. It turned out I was a good singer so it happened very quickly. I was called a prodigy but that’s stupid. It’s rock n’ roll. It’s just 4 chords, there’s no such thing as a rock n’ roll prodigy, it’s an oxymoron. It was just the press having fun with a 14-year-old androgynous kid. It was the ’80s as well, so everyone was doing cocaine and freaking out over me. But I wasn’t that good.
Didn’t you get called – or compared to – Rick Springfield when you first started out?
Yeah, I totally was. I can’t recall, I’d be paraphrasing. I was compared to Joan Jett as well. We ended up sounding like the Buzzcocks but we were trying really hard to sound like Foreigner! I met this fan in Portland who has all my really early shit digitized and he has it on his iPhone – the early shit, like when I was 13. I don’t even have that stuff. I was just blown away. He brought some records that were really embarrassing, me with spiky hair. I can still listen to REO Speedwagon’s Hi-Infidelty. Foreigner 4 still melts me face. But, that being said, there’s other great music of course that I go way deeper with.
I’ve been a fan of yours since the first time I heard your 1999 album, Falling Into Place. But I find that the only thing I can tell people to have them say, “Oh! THAT’S who Mike Viola is”, is when I say, “Mike was the voice behind the singer who sang “That Thing You Do” (from the movie with the same name).
People our age know me from that. Younger people know me from Walk Hard. Nobody knows me from Falling into Place. The film thing has been mostly how kids know me. Even at the time, I was in my angry 20s and I didn’t want anything to do with That Thing You Do. Now I totally embrace it. I wish I could fill little theaters because of it, but that’s not what I spent my life trying to do. I have a new manager now and he’s like, “Is there anything we can do to tie you to that movie?” And I’m like, “No. It’s all going to be fine. It’s going to be a lot of little baby steps.” I’m pretty happy with the way things are.
How did you hook up with Victor Indrizzo (drums) and Sean Hurley (bass) for your lastest release, Electro De Perfecto? I recognize Victor’s name. Didn’t he play with Beck?
He played with Beck. He was in Redd Kross. He now plays with Sheryl Crow. He produced and wrote most of the Scott Weiland solo record. Sean was in Vertical Horizon. I met them in LA in the studio when we were recording music for Get Him to the Greek. We just were like “Oh shit, we need to get into the studio and jam.” And when we did, that record came out of it. It only took us 10 days to make it. I wrote all the songs for that band because I had songs prepared for my next record. I brought them to the jam session and they just didn’t sound good. So I just wrote songs for the band. That’s why the record feels like it has a cohesiveness to it more than some of my other records.
Mike Viola opens for Rachael Yamagata (and then performs as a member of her band) on Sunday night at The Basement. Tickets are $17 at the door.
And that’s all side hustle really. This isn’t counting all the really huge things, like the smash hits, Hard in the Paint, and No Hands. Or Ferrari Boyz and all of the mixtapes.
Waka is gearing up for a huge 2012. He’s prepping the Triple F Life album, which is slated for an early 2012 release with guests Drake, Tyler, the Creator, BSM and possibly both DMX, Nas and plenty more. I talked him on the phone yesterday, and he discussed the meaning of each of the F’s. I also asked him if would do it to Sarah Palin. Unfortunately, he did not know who Palin was. Well, please read this interview.
Shout out to Prince Kennedy for hooking it up.
ME: My name is Wes Flexner. I am with Donewaiting.com. How are you doing today?
Waka Flocka Flame: I am good. I am on the tourbus.
ME:How is the tour treating you?
Waka Flocka Flame: C’mon man. They love me.
ME: People wilding out. Going crazy?
Waka Flocka Flame: It was crazy.
ME: Can you tell me the name of the new record?
Waka Flocka Flame: My new record is “Round of Applause.” I remixed it with Drake. Shit is serious. It’s like a woman just want to rub herself man.
ME: So when you write a record like “Round of Applause,” do you go to the strip club to do research?
Waka Flocka Flame: Naw, truthfully when I did “Round of Applause” I just think of me with a woman. I rap it to my girl.
ME: The new album is called Triple F Life. What are the three F’s?
Waka Flocka Flame: Friends, Fans, Family
Read more about Waka Flocka Flame after the jump.
ME: I noticed you are really good with your fans. Why are your fans important to you?
Waka Flocka Flame: C’mon man. Why are interviews important? Same difference. That’s a must. Without your fans, who are you? Why are you doing music? I used to think, “It’s just for the money.” It’s cool to get the money. But if you don’t have no fans, shit ain’t fun. It’s cool to smile. I like the feeling of making a person smile.
ME: Me and my friend, we were going through your instagram yesterday and you also do a photoshop with like Squarebob Spongepants. Do you make those yourself?
Waka Flocka Flame: Hey man, hey man. You called me out. I make those myself.
Me: I think it’s really cool you do that… Another F is for Friends, right? You have a bunch of different friends on the album. What is some stuff Suge Knight has taught you?
Waka Flocka Flame: Suge is just a cool person. He ain’t got nothin’ to do with me music-wise. He is just a cool person.
ME: So on the album you’ve got Drake. You have Tyler, the Creator. What’s it like working with Tyler, the Creator?
Waka Flocka Flame: Tyler, the Creator is my bad-ass little brother. Every time you see him. You be like, “This mutha fucka is wild.’
ME: What’s the name of the song with Tyler, the Creator?
Waka Flocka Flame: It’s called, “It’s a secret.”
ME: On the internet, it said it was called “Garden Gnomes.”Who else is on the album?
Waka Flocka Flame: Tyler, the Creator. Drake. I am trying to get DMX, man this guy is so hard to catch up with. DMX. I got some more people, you know. Nas.
ME: You have a song with Nas. Wow, that’s amazing.
Waka Flocka Flame: He is soon to get on.
Me: When is the album gonna drop?
Waka Flocka Flame: I wanted to drop 4th quarter. But I want to put my all into it. So I am dropping it 1st quarter.
Me: Another F is family.Is your mom still managing you?
Waka Flocka Flame: My mother will always manage me. If I get another manager, I am going to have two of them. She will always be the last one to make the decision.
Me: Sorry to get a little personal. But on “O’Le Do It” you said you hadn’t been right since your brother passed. Have you been able to find peace with that?
Waka Flocka Flame: Honestly, I don’t think I will be able to find peace until I close my eyes.
Me: What discussion of family is gonna be on the album?
Waka Flocka Flame: A couple of issues. A couple of life experiences with family I had.
ME: Another word that starts with F is fame. How do you deal with fame?
Waka Flocka Flame:I don’t know about fame. Fame ain’t a word. I drop the E. F-A-M. Family Above Money.
Me: Not Michelle Obama. Sarah Palin. She was running for president. She is a Republican lady. She is kind of a bitch. She lived in Alaska. When basketball players would come and play games up there she would have sex with the basketball players. I guess you don’t know who she is. She likes black guys. I figure it’s very plausible that she would have a crush on Waka Flocka Flame.
Waka Flocka Flame: Shit, you need to hook that up boy… I wish I’d seen her. I ain’t got a picture so I can’t answer the question. She sound like she would be you know.
Me: Yeah, it’d be funny. It’d be great.
Me: I read somewhere that you are going back the old Waka. The ’09 Waka. What does that mean?
Waka Flocka Flame: I am back to that 09. It means I am not conscious what I do. I am do it because I wanna.
In an interview with Baeble, The Postelles lead singer Daniel Balk describes his band’s sound as “influenced by late ’50s rock n’ roll, ’60s retro and ’70s punk”. I can’t think of a better way to describe it myself and tossing out comparisons to the likes of The Strokes and The Black Lips seem appropriate.
With a gig on Friday night at Outland on Liberty (opening for The Wombats) to promote, bassist John Speyer checked in on an off-night from New Orleans last week, the night after the Cardinals won game 6 of the World Series in dramatic, extra-innings fashion.
You can’t escape comparisons to The Strokes. Do you think people check The Postelles out because of your connection to The Strokes’ Albert Hammond Jr. who produced “123 Stop” on your debut?
A lot of people know us because of the Albert thing. It’s a huge compliment for us, we were obviously huge Strokes fans growing up. It’s humbling to be compared to them.
Was it cool to work with him? Was it like, ‘We’re working with Albert from The Strokes!!!!’?
It was a pretty big deal, I’m not going to lie. We were fanboys. I was pretty psyched.
You’ve done a lot of touring. What’s the longest drive you’ve had? What do you consider to be a tolerable drive and, if you had your way, what would be the ideal driving distance between shows?
We did Vegas to New York in 45 hours. To be honest, they are all tolerable, we have to do them all. I spend so much time in the van, I dread anything more than 20 minutes. My ideal would be a 3-hour drive every day but that never happens. We try not to do the overnight thing but sometimes we’re forced to. You play 25 shows in 30 days, if you’re going crazy and staying out until 3am and then driving, you just lose your mind right away.
You’re playing in Columbus on a Friday night. If you’re not out on the road, where would you typically spend a Friday night?
At some dive bar with a bunch of close friends, drinking beers and talking shit.
If I ran into you at the dive bar and wanted to start a conversation with you, what are some of the topics that I could bring up that would keep you talking for a while?
I’ve got a couple areas that I can talk endlessly about – baseball, music and you’d probably rope me in with books too. The World Series game last night (game 6) was crazy. We were in some bar with some Queen cover band. It was an unbelievable game. The Cardinals are just such an exciting team to watch. And I like Ron Washington as a manager – he’s crazy, he’s so excitable. See? You roped me in, it worked.
As a book fan, how do you consume books?
I have a Kindle but I like sharing books with my friends. In the van we have 20 books that we rotate, so the Kindle doesn’t work.
Ten years ago, what did your typical Friday night look like?
I was in 8th grade! I probably wouldn’t be doing anything but my homework. I didn’t start going to shows until I was in high school. New York City is great because you can get around by yourself when you’re pretty young. But I don’t think I was cool enough to be hip to bands, but that was when the first Strokes record came out so it was a pretty exciting time for New York music. Every kid who lived during that period was like, “Holy shit, something is happening. This is happening in our backyard.”
If I gave you the chance to live one day of your life over again but you couldn’t change anything at all about it, what day would that be?
September 4, 1993. It was my birthday and Jim Abbott pitched a no-hitter at Yankee Stadium and I was at that game. The one-handed Jim Abbott pitched a no-hitter and I was there. I would love to go back, being older, and have that experience again. It was really cool. I was really little and I didn’t know exactly what was going on but the stadium was going nuts. If I could go back now and do that again, it would be pretty sweet and I wouldn’t change a thing.
What song do you hear that takes you back to very specific time and place in your life?
Every record is like that for me. Music is all a time and a place for me. The first time I ever heard The Stone Roses was in Dan’s bedroom. We were in high school and just hanging out and Dan was like, “Hey, come check this out. “ It was a live video of The Stones Roses doing “Waterfall” and I was like, “What is this? I need this!” I borrowed the CD and burned it right away and then listened to it like for a year straight. I can’t ever listen to it without thinking about the first time.
Another one. I got Let it Be – Naked, the remastered Beatles CD. I obviously knew the album. We were on a rooftop, just hanging out on the roof, being dumb kids and probably sneaking 2 beers and I brought the CD up. I had a Discman back then and I had a great pair of headphones and I just blasted it full volume, looking at the New York City skyline hearing remastered Beatles for the first time and I was blown away. I was like, “Everyone, stop talking. Come over here and I’ll pass you this most amazing thing ever.”
What one band would you love to see reunite so you could see them live?
I had a good answer to that question – The Stone Roses, but they just announced they were reuniting. I’m going to still say The Stone Roses because, until I see them on the world tour they supposedly are going to do, it hasn’t really happened!
The Postelles are performing in the middle slot on a bill with The Wombats and The Static Jacks. CD101 is sponsoring the show at it’ll only cost you $5 to get into Outland on Liberty for this show. Doors are at 7pm and the show starts at 7:30 so arrive early.
I interviewed RJD2, and Aaron Livingston a few weeks ago about their new project Icebird, and asked them about a few songs on Icebird’s album the Abandoned Lullaby. The conversation got pretty intricate. I was convinced RJ should review records, and Aaron should teach history after this interview was over.
In what way do film scores influence making instrumental records?
RJ: In general what kind of influence do they have? Even before the The Insane Warrior record I had kind of internalized a not quite… I hesitate to say more poppy there are aspects of things like obvious stuff like Star Wars or something like that that you can apply the theme to more traditional song writing. So it’s definitely something I’ve internalized in the same way I would a Gangstarr record or a James Brown record. It was until the Insane warrior record that i really got into the aspect of film scores to really push out from song writing. In a way it’s kind of anti song writing. Super monotonous and most people would probably consider it really boring. Think of the sorcerer or even some of the Goblin stuff it’s super repetitive and super fucking boring to most people but as music I actually find it really interesting inspiring and a welcome break from verses and chords and bridges and intros and everything being in tune and all that kind of shit.
What was the process of the Icebird record?
RJ: It’s tough to say because Aaron by in large would have dominion over the vocals, he was the guy writing all the melodies and lyrics but there wasn’t this really clean division. Cause on a lot of rap records theres this really clean division in terms of opinions on things. When you’re working with a rapper they’re like, I either like the beat or I don’t. But they’ll never say change something, I like the beat but that snare is weird change it. That never happens to me, it’s either take it or leave it. We both considered each others opinions on things. I would add things to a track and he’d say I’m not diggin that I like it better without it. We would work it out. And the same thing applied to the vocals. In terms of how the record was made, for the most part it was a back and forth, I would turn Aaron in an instrumental. I’d write something, cut it and then send it to him and he’d demo up vocals and from there we’d just start adding or taking away stuff both on the instrumental and the vocals until with got something that was working.
Ok, I’m gonna ask you about a few songs on the album. Tell me about ‘Going Going and Going’?
ALiv: There’s something about the rhythm and the attitude of that track that was really playful to me and saw it from the perspective of just sort of playing around and just having fun with it. A lot of times when I’m writing a song I just start writing and see what happens and a lot of cases things get rewritten, rewritten, rewritten until I have something. In this case a lot of the off the top of the head stuff I came up with when I first listened to it almost all of it is that because I thought it really suited the rhythm. But at the end of the day I kept looking at it, it’s got this hard, distorted guitar thing and then the break towards the end which is more mellow, kind of psychedelic and it just got me thing about opposites in a yin and yang type of way. The more you think you know about something, probably the further off you really are and I think if there’s anything that that song is about a wise man realizes he doesn’t really know much at all. But you know you wake up this morning and put your clothes on and you keep moving.
What can you tell me about ‘King Tut’?
ALiv: Was that the title of the beat?
RJ: No, you came up with that. That was all you.
ALiv: I don’t even know. There’s something to it. It might have been the scale you were using there. It had this mystical tone to it. That’s probably the basis of it. The synth drop, I just got a feeling, it has this old feeling for me.
RJ: I was going over this tune today, and that particular song is one of the best things I will ever be a part of when it comes to music. Literally one of my most favorite, I just can’t, I’m just thrilled about that song. On the chord side, without getting too technical, the tracking and the writing are relatively, kind of complex. There are a lot of finished chords throughout the whole thing, it’s kind of half way between a riff style of writing, when you think of Black Sabbath, Tony Iomi didn’t write songs with chords he wrote songs with riffs, but then Bob Dylan would write songs with chords and not riffs. It’s kind of like it drifts in between them. You wouldn’t be voicing out the chords on each pass, you would split the thing up and be playing a couple notes on each pass, so this is all kind of technical bullshit. But what I think is interesting about this song is that in edition to the outro which im very happy with the whole thing was not recorded with a click track. it was recorded live. I played the drums. as i was cutting the drums I was basically writing the arrangement in my head. and then I would have to go back and hopefully hit that arrangement. anyway when the whole thing was done there’s this instrumental track and what i think is so fascinating about music and this is kind of an exemplary tale about it, is Aaron’s completely right. there is this thing about the instrumental, the instrumentation and the intervals in the song that has this feel like the old Egyptian. when this song is done it makes me feel like I’m looking at a fucking mummy and it’s like 2000bc and I’m in Egypt or some shit. I don’t think in a million years i would have made that connection myself if i was the guy writing the tune and it’s a testament to Aaron’s ability to have insight into the pride or feel of an instrumental and write around it.
ALiv: It’s actually really funny to me because I almost bailed on that like probably five times. But I was really determined to have something but everytime I tried to do it I’d end up in the same place which was basically me writing from the perspective of a dead pharaoh and it was like bugging me out. but that’s one of the things I love about it because if I was doing this on my own I’d probably end up shelving a song because it was bugging me out that i was writing from the perspective of Tutankhamun you know what i mean. because i gotta at least run it by RJ and i gave the little bit that i had and he was feeling and just that gave me the confidence to just let it go, let it breathe.
RJ: I don’t even understand why these things make sense together but they totally do. Like they absolutely 1000% work completely in tandem and I don’t understand why I just know that they do.
So what did you do for inspiration? Did you watch the History Channel while googling stuff about it on the internet?
ALiv: I’m really fascinated by ancient cultures so I’ve read a lot of history and I’m a deep nerd. I’ve read a lot of text books on ancient civilizations so i have a lot of that kind of imagery and knowledge just floating around in my head and although I’m not sure why, but i guess in a way I kind of chose Tut and that’s the thrust of the song. And that’s the name that everybody know. You know when you talk about Egypt and your talking about 4 or 8000 years which is kind of hard for people to comprehend and we all remember this one name and that’s kind of what i was playing around with i think, in a way. There’s this one name that everybody knows, you know 5,6,8000 years later. when you talking about this range of time some of the stuff I had to refamiliarize myself with this particular story cause there are things about Egypt I found more interesting.
Does his name ring the most because in the 70s he toured america – he was more marketed?
ALiv: That’s part of it. I also has to do with the story itself. That a) he died young, you know which our culture has a huge fascination with. You know this sort of like rising sun that dies on it’s way up, you know he also kind of signifies a shift from people believing in many gods to people believing in one god. and so I think that that’s part of it too that our culture is dominated by religions involving one god – supposedly. I think people attach themselves to him because of that. On one hand he’s got the whole James Dean, Tupac vibe as this young dude that got killed in his prime and people speculate was he poisoned and that kind of thing but aat the same time it’s kind of this political thing, he’s not some heathen, he worships the sun only and all that so I’m sort of playing with all that sort of stuff. Sort of a combination of me just knowing shit and learning shit and also just feeling at the same time. Feeling like, ‘what’s it like to be this dude?’ But when people are on their knees, when people think you’re made up of light, and I sort of wanted to use that. People looking at you like you’re like a (unintelligible). It’s a crazy thing in a way. Especially when you’re talking about just a man walking around on the earth.
Yeah, yeah, a young man.
ALiv: A young man who probably, in a way, didn’t know anything about anything. 18, I mean I think about myself at 18, pretty juvenile shit for the most part.
RJ: Dude we have no songs about pounding the vag. We failed.
ALiv: I think I might have slipped a few in. We have no straight concept pound the vague songs. Volume two will be strictly vag pound songs.
People can pound the vag to the album and it can become an interactive thing.
ALiv: Yeah, maybe that can be the next video.
That’ll be your next user submission thing: amateur porn?
What can you tell me about Return of the Tronson?
RJ: That was on of those things, like, the track started out I got it down to giorgio mirrodor tangerine dream, people making sequences on synthesizers, like some of the early kraftwork stuff. A lot of 70s electronic music, we have sequences and what ends up happening is becomes this super repetitive music that has no swing to it and it’s really straight rhythmically. But because it’s so straight and no swing to it there’s no james brown groove thing that I normally gravitate to, i’ve never really tried to explore that, it was kind of like my first odyssey into that type of thing or that type of production theory. I tried to stick to the parameters of don’t make the beat “funky” make it angular and robotic. But then try to do variations where the synths get pitched up and down because there should be some textural changes throughout the tune just not the actual feel.
What can you tell me about ‘In Exile’?
RJ: I can tell you a funny story about it. I remember when we cut that tune I couldn’t, that was thing I completely ripped off one day and whatever I did I completely screwed the pooch on the engineering of that, and when i cut it was super mic hiss and it sounded majorly shitty. But we decided to use it after Aaron wrote to it. We went back to we tried to find a different mic, every mic ended up sounded like shit on the guar or something. I tried to retake or something and it didn’t work. For whatever reason i just remember it was one of those things it was hellish engineering struggle. It sounded like it was recorded on a 4 track and dubbed 18 times.
Do you like how it came out?
RJ: I don’t know if I like the way it came out. I like the performances, I like the chords its one of those things where you make an executive decision, ‘well i’d rather have this performance with this shitty engineering than have a different performance with better engineering.
I asked about these songs because they were all different. The progression of the album was surprising to me.
RJ: Good.
What’s your live show gonna be like?
ALiv: In a weird way it’s gonna be a lot like the record. but also it’s gonna be made up of parts that are not like the record. Cause we’re kind of approaching it from we’re putting a rock band together to play it. It’s a rock band made up of really capable individuals. RJ and I are both intimately involved with the whole thing start to finish but you know, the other guys in the band are all producers in their own right so their really sensitive to working with the material so even though there a lot of things on the record that we couldn’t probably produce without spending a huge amount of cash by hauling all of these, RJs 3 ton synthesizers but I think the feeling of the record is going to be evoked in a really good way and i think that’s what you;d ultimately want from something like this, in someways is kind of advanced. And actually the other day I was very pleased to find myself, we would get to the end of some of these songs and I’d be like damn, i wish we could put this on the record. You know like, ‘damn, let’s go back. Can we push this back 4 months?’
RJ: I am happy that, for the most part, except for Guns for Hire, which really needs to be sequenced. We’re not doing a thing where we’re like playing to a click track. The general approach is to play as far as we can and get as far as we can on our own. I think we all feel good about that decision because it’s so much more fun to play music like that and it will also mean you won’t come out with super squeaky clean performances but what you do get is you get this feeling you don’t get when you’re playing to a click track or a backing track. every show is different and so you constantly have to listen. It’s five people in a room listening to each other and keeping time together and this might sound corny but the older i get the more i realize that is a very special experience. It’s something that I really feel good about and strong about and reaffirming to me about how I feel about music.
Donewaiting had some early coverage of this locally born, Ohio-centric festival a few months back, but as details have emerged and the hour drawn near it’s time for an excited reminder. The festival kicks off tonight (8PM) at Bourbon St Cafe with a series of short documentaries and live footage from several historical Columbus and Dayton bands. Following the screenings, the first of three nights of live music shows begins next door at The Summit. The bills for all three nights of music are excellent, showcasing some of Ohio’s premier homegrown talent. Of note is the live debut of RJD2′s Icebird project, a resurgent Kelley Deal in R Ring, and a return to the motherland by Heartless Bastards. I doubt any folks around here need to be introduced to New Bomb Turks, Nick Tolford, Blueprint, EYE, or Envelope, but yeah, they are all (along with others) performing as part of this over the next three nights.
While the collection of musical performances is going to be great, the film offerings are proving to be the real rare treat. There is more happening than I have time to highlight, so I really encourage a review of the festival website for a thorough rundown of what’s showing. Highlights for me will definitely begin on Friday with The Garage Tapes, three never-before-screened short films featuring a musing and performing Tom Waits, as shot by Jim Jarmusch. In the vein of music-related films, the documentary Outside In delves into the often difficult life of Akron artist Alfred McMoore, who was befriended by Dan Auerbach and was the source for Auerbach’s band name- The Black Keys. 45365, a winner of the Grand Jury Prize at SXSW, is a portrait of Sidney, Ohio and describes both the simplicity and depth of life and relationships small-town America. Columbus ex-pat and festival co-founder Eric Mahoney is screening is own contribution- North Dixie Drive, about the eccentricities of one particular Dayton neighborhood and the characters found within it. Also on my must-see list is Oscar-nominated The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant and 4192: The Crowning of the Hit King about the career of Pete Rose. Tickets are still available for all these events, check the festival website or Facebook page for showtimes. Movies will be screened at the Arena Grand Theater (they have beer) downtown. Get on it!
Columbus’s favorite son Envelope‘s upcoming EP, This Could Go Either Way, took a page from early Wu-Tang during the recording and editing process. The analog Hip Hop record was produced by Jacoti Sommes, and recorded/engineered by Adam Smith at Columbus Discount Recordings so the three of them detail the #rare technology, process, and reasoning used for making an analog rap recording in 2011.
If you’ve over the age of 30, you’ve heard Mr.Big’s 1991 chart-topping, power-ballad “To Be with You”. Some 20 years later, you can still hear the song on a variety of satellite radio stations, from the ’90s channel to the hair metal channel to the lite rock channel. It’s also featured in the Broadway musical Rock of Ages.
The original lineup – Eric Martin (vocals), Paul Gilbert (guitars), Billy Sheehan (bass) and Pat Torpey (drums) – released 4 albums between 1989 and 1996. After Gilbert left in ’97, ex-Poison guitarist Richie Kotzen joined the band and played on two Mr.Big releases before the band broke up in 2002.
A 2009 reunion – to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Mr.Big’s self-titled debut – proved successful and in 2010 it was announced that the band would be releasing an album of new material. What If … was released earlier this year and Mr.Big hit the road to promote the first new album in 10 years.
On Saturday night, Mr.Big will play at the Alrosa Villa with Lynch Mob (featuring ex-Dokken guitarist George Lynch). This is the only date on Mr.Big’s tour where the two bands are playing together so it’s sure to be a memorable evening.
Paul Gilbert took some time last week to answer some questions I sent via his publicist.
The venue in Columbus where you’ll be playing, the Alrosa Villa, is billing the show as it’s “37th Anniversary Show”. When you see the tour itinerary, are you aware of these types of things? Not that you’d necessarily plan anything special, but there might be a little bit of additional buzz because of the anniversary.
PG: Well, first of all, a hearty congratulations to the Alrosa Villa for keeping it together for 37 years. That’s a long time to survive in the entertainment business, so they must be doing something very right.
My job is to play guitar, and I’ve been practicing and playing my guitar like a madman for over three and half decades, so hopefully that will give people something good to remember about their experience in the venue.
Also, Lynch Mob is on the bill and the Alrosa is billing it as the only show where the two bands are playing together. I haven’t really done my research, I’m not sure if you and George (or any of the Lynch Mob guys) are friends but seeing as how the two of you are very well-respected guitarists, I’m sure your paths cross on occasion at guitar shows and things like that. Seeing as how this is a one-off date, will you be hanging out in the crowd watching Lynch Mob? Any interest in seeing what those guys sound like in 2011?
PG: A few years ago, I put together a short tour called “The Guitar Generation”. It featured Richie Kotzen, George Lynch, and myself. We did our own sets of music, and then a nice long jam session together at the end. I was a Dokken fan when I was growing up, so it’s always an honor to play with George. I’ll try to catch some of his set, but I’ll have to get backstage at some point to warm up my fingers. I’m sure George will set the bar high, so I have to spend some time warming up backstage… and warm up my voice too. Mr. Big has a lot of singing as well as guitar playing.
For those of us who have been around Columbus since the late ’80s/early ’90s, the Alrosa has always been known as an ’80s hair metal venue. Of course, that tour circuit isn’t as busy as it once was but the club still brings in the likes of Great White, Winger, etc. I’ve never considered Mr. Big to be a hair metal band (though you did have the long hair and wore the right clothes – at least in videos) and I don’t think you ever claimed any allegiance to that particular scene and yet you showed up in all the magazines I read back in the day (Metal Edge, etc.). Was that a blessing or curse, now that you are 20 years removed from those days?
PG: It was a lot of fun to walk onstage with giant hair in those days. I would still do it, but it just won’t seem to grow as long these days. And mostly, I’m more and more interested in my guitar and learning new musical things. Music really is a lifelong passion, and I hope I can play well enough where people can see past any haircut that I might have. I’ve got a lot of notes and phrases that I didn’t have in those early days, and I’m ready to blast them out of my amps for everyone.
I love all sorts of music, but the late ’80s/early ’90s hair metal scene is the one that I always fall back and I still will go see just about any band from that era when they roll through Columbus. Most of those bands only have one or two original members (LA Guns, Faster Pussycat, Bang Tango all come to mind). When getting back together as Mr. Big, did you go into it with the mindset that it had to be the original band or it wasn’t going to happen? If one of the other guys had said, “Thanks but no thanks”, would there have been a new Mr. Big album?
PG: I think it had to be original members. That’s where the sound comes from, and that’s what I love about the band. Everyone has a really unique approach to their instrument, and of course Eric has incredible character in his vocals.
I don’t necessarily want to call them your peers, but some of the bands who put out music back in the same era that you got started have continued to put out new music with varying degrees of success. Personally, I’m a nostalgic sort of guy so I really appreciate – and will get behind – an album that sounds like the same band I remember from 20 years ago. Night Ranger put out a CD a few years ago that didn’t really sound like Night Ranger to me and I was pretty disappointed although their new CD sounds much more like what I had hoped for. Warrant put out a new CD with new singer Robert Mason and while Warrant was probably my favorite band from that time period, the new album does not sound like Warrant at all to me. When writing material for “What If …”, did you go into saying, “Our fans want to hear stuff that reminds them of the first time they heard us” or was that even a factor?
PG: Mainly, we thought of our live show, and what kind of songs we could use to add to the set. Our reunion tour in 2009 was really successful and took us all through Japan, Indonesia, and Europe. Those shows were fresh in our minds, and we had a clear picture of what it was like to rock in front of thousands of people. That really is the best fuel for writing songs and getting good energy into the music. I’m proud of the records that we did before, and since the band has all the original members, it’s easy… actually it’s inevitable that we have a similar sound. And in the years that we were apart, we all grew as musicians, so we have more ideas and depth that we can bring to the writing and performing.
“What If …” was a bit of a surprise, to be honest. Not that I didn’t think Mr. Big had it in you to make a great CD, but, as mentioned in the previous question, it seems like “old” bands coming out with “new” material is hit or miss. There might be a handful of songs that I can really get into but then I find myself going back to old material (see: Queensryche as an example). While I really liked the early Mr. Big stuff, I’ll say that “What If …” doesn’t sound like just a cash-grab to me. It’s really, really solid stuff. I know that you’ve got to appease your longtime fans by performing old material because while that stuff sold tons of copies, the new CD probably isn’t as familiar to the casual Mr. Big fan. But, I would be just happy seeing you play a set that is primarily new material as I would old material (in fact, I’d prefer to hear the new stuff).
PG: We do a pretty long set, so there’s plenty of everything. And thank you for liking the new record. It worked! The songs rock live!
I have to admit, it sounds so stereotypical but after the first time I heard Nirvana’s “Nevermind”, my interest in ’80s hair metal was put to the side so I didn’t keep up on a lot of the music coming out in the mid-90s. I actually had no idea that Mr. Big continued on after you left with Richie Kotzen. Did “grunge” and the ’90s alt.rock movement have any effect on you? I mean, it must have to some degree but did you feel like you had to do anything to adapt your music to stay relevant or did you just think, “I’m going to continue to do what I’ve always done and if people like it, awesome”?
PG: If anything, there was pressure on me to be more of an Yngwie-style guitar hero. When I left Mr. Big, my manager went to different record companies in search of a solo deal for me. They said, “If he plays like Yngwie, we’ll sign him.” I love Yngwie’s playing, and there are parts of my style that probably overlap what he does, but at that time especially, I was really into pop music. I was listening to a lot of Cheap Trick, Elvis Costello, Enuff Z’Nuff, Beatles, and Todd Rundgren. I wanted to try singing lead on my records, and I don’t have a voice that’s suited for operatic heavy metal, so I adapted the music to fit my voice and my taste. The result was sort of a mixture of shred guitar and pop/punk songs. This was probably a horrible marketing decision because I was basically changing my “product” from what people knew and expected from me. But it’s what I was passionate about, so I did it anyway. Fortunately, I did pretty well with it in Japan at that time.
As a music fan, the 90’s were a weird time for me. My favorite rock band was The Wildhearts, but besides that, I found myself listening to a lot of female singers. Mariah Carey’s first record stunned everyone when it came out, and I loved it too. I even dug Janet Jackson! My favorite singer was k.d. lang. Her “Ingenue” record is amazing.
How in tune are you to your guitar-playing peers? Is there a “fraternity” of sorts, guys you see all the time either at guitar shows, clinics, on tour, etc.? Who do you consider to be your peers/friends as far as other musicians go?
PG: I know a lot of people a little bit. But even though I might spend a short time with other musicians, we all share similar experiences, so it bonds us quickly. But let’s see… I’ve cooked Japanese food for Nuno Bettencourt and Warren DeMartini, I jammed with Zakk Wylde and changed my setlist when he commented that one of the songs was “one gay-assed motherfucking song”… (It was “The Kid’s Are All Right” by The Who. I changed it to “My Generation”.) As a personality, I don’t know how well I fit in with the typical crazed rock and roll maniac. I love the music with a passion, but I tend to think more scientifically. Today, I had a day off from the tour, so I called up a fan who happens to be a paleontologist. He picked me up and gave me tour of his laboratory. I got to hold a knee bone from a duck-billed dinosaur in my hand! Oh, and I should mention that some of my best friends in the music business are on the instrument side of things. I love working with the guys at Ibanez, Marshall, DiMarzio, Ernie Ball, and all the other companies that make the equipment that I use.
Are there any newer bands that you really dig? Guitarists that you think are amazing? It seems like rock music has done away with the guitar solo and off the top of my head, I can’t think of any modern guitarists that I think are really all that amazing.
PG: There are some great YouTube guitarists. Guthrie Govan has stunning control of the instrument. I like Sam Coulson a lot. He’s got great vibrato and some face-melting fast stuff. There’s a young girl named Alicia who plays fantastic blues. Kid Andersen is a true blues and rockabilly monster.
I’m not as familiar with newer bands. Because of my hearing loss, I tend to listen to music that is quiet and without big drums. So I love new artists like Melody Gardot and Justin Currie. And I keep searching back in time for music that I haven’t heard before. Lately, I found so many blues guitar players that I dig. Earl Hooker, Magic Sam, and Big Bill Broonzy are all on heavy rotation on my iTunes. But don’t worry, that first Dio record is firmly embedded in my musical DNA, and every night I strap on my headphones and rock out with Mr. Big like there is no tomorrow.
Last year, I interviewed Waka Flocka Flame. I told him that punk rock and metal kids love his music because its rowdy-as fuck.
And I asked him if he fucks with punk or metal
This year Odd Future blew the fuck up because of the same sentiment. I think Tyler’s record Goblin is damn near 100,000 on an indie(bout it like Master P in ’96 indeed). Mellowhype’s reissue on Fat Possum of Blackendedwhite broke the Billboard Top 100. Breakin’ the Rules is cool again.
So I am really stoked that Interview Magazine had Waka Flocka Flame interview Odd Future’s Tyler, the Creator.
In this excerpt Waka Flocka asks Tyler, the Creator if he considers himself punk rock or metal:
FLAME: So would you describe Odd Future as a hip-hop heavy-metal group? Or a punk-rock rap group? How do you describe what you and your crew do?
TYLER: I don’t like either description. I don’t like being put in a box. I just make music, you know? When you’re put in a box, people have a set mind-state of what your music could sound like before they even look into it. Like, if no one ever heard of me, but I’m hip-hop-metal-rock, then they’re already gonna have an expectation of what the music will sound like. Then, when they go in and finally listen to it, it might be different from what they thought, and they could automatically hate it because they already had expectations.
FLAME: I dig it. You gotta create your own genre.
TYLER: Yeah.
FLAME: So what inspires y’all then?
TYLER: When I’m on stage, it’s, like, Ian Curtis and Sid Vicious—like, real punk rock and shit. I’m like a big 10-year-old when I’m on stage. I just go up there and do whatever I think is cool at the moment. And then, when it comes to rappin’, I like watchin’ a lot of cartoons and movies and shit. Usually, when I’m rappin’, I’m creating a big story or a concept song that sounds like a movie to me.
While the indie/DIY scene continues to over saturate itself day after day with “really cool bands”, I can’t help but feel that most of these bands are missing the point. These days you can be hard pressed to find artists putting more effort into the quality of their music than their general aesthetic.
Thankfully, gems like London-based Let’s Wrestle (vocalist/guitarist Wesley Patrick Gonzalez, bassist Sam Pillay and drummer Darkus Bishop) shine through all the flimflammery and leave you with charming, unpretentious rock.
Upping the ante since their first full-length in 2009, In the Court of the Wrestling Let’s, the trio recorded their sophomore album with Steve Albini at Electrical Audio. Nursing Home was released last month on Merge.
I caught up with Wes last week to find out more about the band and their experience with Albini.
Wikipedia tells me (and genuine sources confirm) critics have compared you to The Fall and early Wedding Present. While I’m sure it’s partially because they must be influences of yours, how do you feel about comparisons like this when you read about bands?
I think these are reviews of early singles or something before the 1st album. People haven’t really said this much recently. I will analyze each reference way too much. For instance, with those two Mark Smith can’t sing. I think I can. the guitar sounds on early Fall records are really cool but I don’t think my guitar playing is like that and they also may be talking about the last Fall album which would be horrible. As for being compared to The Wedding Present, I don’t like them I think they are lacking songs. I don’t give a shit about how we sound. I mainly want people to acknowledge that it is pop music.
What does Let’s Wrestle sound like to Let’s Wrestle?
If you mean the records, I can never figure out what I think of them. I always think there is a lot wrong with them. I was worried that the new album wasn’t at all catchy for a long time. I would also keep on playing people certain songs going “look doesn’t it sound like Cheap Trick”, which it doesn’t. As for what I think my band sounds like, not concerning records, as in my head as a general thing, I always think of the records I am listening to at the moment and the songs I’m writing and the people I’m trying to write in the style of. At the moment it is all west coast late 60′s stuff. The 3rd album will be very different if we can do it in exactly the way we’ve been talking about it for a while.
How old were you all when you started recording together?
I think we were either 15 or 16. Me and Mike (who has now left) started the band when we were 13 or something, just messing around with four tracks and dictaphones. 15-16 was when we did the first single.
If there was one song that made you want to make your own music, what would it be?
I dunno if I could ever answer that. I mainly have a couple of songs a year that make me continue making music and not killing myself. One of those would be “Such A Night” by Dr John which I listen to all the time. Its just amazing. Or “King Of The Rumbling Spires” by T-Rex. That song is bizzare!
Is it true the band is named after a David Shrigley book? Is he also an inspiration of sorts for drawing your own album art?
The Shrigley thing is true. I used to be very into him when we first started. I think there must be a subconscious album art Shrigley connection, but I don’t ever think about trying to draw like him. I would think more of how Dan Clowes or R. Crumb draw.
What’s your favorite Shrigley image?
I like that Parts Of The Fist one. I dunno what its from, but I remember it being good.
You guys just released your second LP, Nursing Home, that you recorded with Steve Albini. What was it like to work with him? Was he as humble and “hands off” the band’s creative processes as he’s reputed to be?
Yeah totally! He made a couple of suggestions, but not many, in the same way any good engineer would. He didn’t go too far with it to the point that I would’ve gotten pissed off. He was a cool guy. I’ve been finding it hard answering this question because a lot of people see him as an Angsty Punk God, and I was certainly in that camp before doing this record and spending time with him. He just seemed like a regular Nice Guy with some really cool opinions on things and some things I really disagreed with, like anyone.
While I find that English bands tend to do a good job of intertwining charm and wit into their lyrics, you particularly do so. What triggers such cleverness for you when writing?
Thank you. I don’t know if there is ever a trigger. I hate writing lyrics. I don’t get why people think I’m so good at them. Most of the time I don’t even pay attention to what I’m really saying and it won’t be until quite a long time after writing the song until I realize what its about.
I heard that you were going to name this record Trout Mask Wrestlica. Did Simon Trought have anything to do with that (as you recorded your first LP with him), or was it totally an homage to Captain Beefheart? Why the change of heart?
In The Court Of the Wrestling Let’s was an idea I had for years because of the King Crimson LP. Also cos I loved the Butthole Surfers Hairway To Steven record. Darkus Bishop came up with Trout Mask Wrestlica when we finished the 1st LP and we started talking about 2nd album names. Trout Mask Wrestlica is a far better name than In The Court… but we didn’t want to have to carry on the whole parody album names forever. I don’t want us to be looked at in the way a band like Half Man Half Biscuit are, a Joke Band.
If “Je Suis Un Rockstar” is the best thing ever made by one of the Stones, what’s the worst thing ever made by one of the Beatles?
Thats a hard question. First off I want to say that The Stones have done way better stuff than that. I actually really like the early Brian Jones era stuff. When I said that “Je Suis En Rockstar” was the best thing any of them did I think I just get angry that The Stones get used in the same sentence as The Beatles because It’s not worth comparing. It is so obvious who is better. I’d understand more if it was The Stones or The Faces, people just shouldn’t bring The Beatles into it. I can’t think of anything I hate by The Beatles or any of its members cos even the naff stuff is brilliant. Me and my friend Merida had this conversation where I would play her Beatles songs that I could live without then every time I played “Honey Pie” or something I’d go “No it is Brilliant!”. The closest ones we came to were “Three Cool Cats” (which is a Coasters song anyway) and “The Long And Winding Road”, which I just think is a bit too soppy and unremarkable. But then again if any other band did this song, I imagine I would say that it was brilliant. Any bad Beatles is song is still gonna be better than the best Stones song.
What kind of advert would you hear a Let’s Wrestle tune on?
None, knowing our luck. I’d love to be on an advert. I am sick of being poor and any money would be amazing. There was talk before where we nearly got a lot of money for a Reese’s Peanut Butter cups advert, which would of been perfect but we lost out right at the end. I was devastated.
Finish this sentence. Making music in London…
Is sometimes interesting, sometimes terrible like anywhere else. You can get disenchanted or inspired by anywhere, even Hull.
Riding high on a wave of Southern California sunshine and smooth harmonies, Dawes is no stranger to Columbus having graced the Rumba and Basement stages a handful of time during the last 12-18 months. With a sophomore album set to hit stores and the internet the day before the band opens for Bright Eyes at The LC (indoor stage … BOO … this type of music is made to be heard under a starry sky), Dawes already has a summer full of touring plans including opening for the likes of My Morning Jacket, Brett Dennen, and Alison Krauss and Union Station.
Nothing is Wrong is a mature sounding album for a group that’s only been together for about five years. Already, comparisons to artists ranging from Crosby, Stills and Nash, Jackson Browne, and The Band have littered reviews in magazines and on the web and all are justifiable. Without a doubt, there’s been a lot of care put into crafting these folk-rock-inspired tracks and just as you could spot a grunge band from Seattle in the early ’90s after hearing a few guitar chords, you can tell that Dawes hails from the Laurel Canyon area of Southern California within moments of hearing the sweet and warm harmonies on Nothing is Wrong’s opening track, “Time Spent in Los Angeles”.
It’ll be interesting to see how this band that, at least in Columbus, has been confined to a small stage area fills out a bigger stage like the one at the LC (not to say they haven’t performed on big stages, just not in Columbus … yet) though there’s little doubt Dawes has a rich enough sound to fill all the nooks and crannies of venues much larger than the LC as they’ll be doing sometime in the near future if they continue along the path they’ve already started venturing down.
Doing email interviews with bands is always hit or miss, especially when they are already in the midst of a tour and have better things to do than answer silly questions from a writer for some website in Columbus, Ohio. That being said, I did fire off some questions to Dawes’ youngest member, drummer Griffin Goldsmith, last week. The results may not be fabulous, but if the band continues making music that people love, I’m not worried.
Touring: a necessary evil or a great adventure? Be honest :)
Every day is a new adventure to be had.
You pull into a highway gas station to fill up. What is your snack of choice and your beverage of choice from the mini-mart?
Raw almonds and some lemonade and green tea if it’s around.
The city that reminds me most of Columbus is ______ because _________.
Madison because they share a college town vibe
I’ve got my own answer for this question. Let’s see if it matches yours. “If I stepped into a time machine and set the dial for 2031, I’d discover that Dawes has become the (**INSERT BAND NAME**) of Generation Facebook.”
Little Feat. We’re you perhaps thinking the Grateful Dead? They would be my second choice, but it’s farfetched. (Chip: No, I was thinking of – and, this is not an insult but, rather, a compliment – The Eagles)
Probably impossible to answer, but do you think Dawes would have the same sound had you grown up and formed in Boston?
Possibly if our father had led the same life and ended up there instead of LA. Maybe similar, but definitely not the same. The community of musicians that we have grown up with, and around, has definitely had a lot to do with shaping our tastes and choices as players. Without them I don’t think that any of us would play exactly as we do.
Compare the feeling of looking out into a crowd and seeing lots of people singing your lyrics back to you with something else that gives you goosebumps (and choosing something sexual is probably too easy; also, saying it doesn’t compare to anything is a bit of a cop-out).
Having my scalp massaged. It is not as gratifying, but the physical stimulation compares.
Of all the people who have come up to you – or passed word on to you through a publicist, a manager, a family member, etc. – and said they love your music, who has been the one to make your jaw drop and have you ask the nearest person, “Am I dreaming? Can you pinch me? Did he/she really just say that Dawes is one of his/her favorite bands?”
The fact that Jackson Browne likes our band is pretty surreal. Joey Waronker is one of my favorite contemporary drummers, and means a lot to me that he likes our band.
What song, band or album brings back very vivid memories from high school? When you hear that song, band or album, what event in your life can you tie it directly back to?
Think by James Brown is one of those records for me. I started getting heavily into James Brown right around the time that I started to play drums.
What will you do on your next true day off from touring? (Not a day where you catch up on laundry, answer emails that have been piling up, etc. I’m talking about the next off day that you can truly enjoy for yourself.)
Probably seeing a movie because I will most likely be in the middle of nowhere. I am looking forward to that day…. Hopefully we will be at a college. If we’re lucky the college will be in Columbus.
Dawes will open for Bright Eyes at the LC (indoor stage) on Wednesday night. Doors open at 7pm. Tickets are $30 in advance / $32 day of show.
