PLAYING OUT
BB:
What makes a good show?
Chad:
So many things. From obviously your performance, and the attendance,
and how much the crowd’s into it, but the people at the club, the venue
itself. So many things. I think a lot of the behind the scenes stuff
helps in making it a good show. You can perform well and have a great
audience there, but if the people at the venue are a bunch of dicks or
are not helpful and make you feel unwelcome then it hurts the show.
BB: What do
you guys think was your best show so far?
Mike:
Actually, we had a really good one at the Muddy River the other night,
believe it or not. It wasn’t a huge show because it was in a smaller
venue, but there was something just right about the energy that night.
We were all clicking, just reading each other really well, and playing
off each other musically. The crowd was reacting to it and we were
reacting to the crowd. Everyone was kind of in the zone that night and
it was just a really good show.
Matt:
I think the answer to that question changes every month. The Muddy
River show he’s talking about was our last residency. We did three or
four of them in January. It’s an energy thing. The ones that feel
right are the best shows, regardless of whether there’re fifteen people
of fifteen hundred people.
Chad:
Other highlights have been playing with
the Goo Goo Dolls. Opening for the Bare Naked Ladies and Guster at the
Tsongas Arena. The Fox-25 thing we did the other morning. Supposedly
there were fifty to seventy-five thousand people watching.
BB: Do you guys have
any pre- or post-show rituals?
Chad:
We try to punch each other in the nuts.
BB:
Is that to help your falsetto?
Chad:
It helps mine. And it helps Stuart focus.
Stuart:
Nice.
Mike:
Pre-show, we just try to get a little quiet time. Everybody just
relaxes and does their own thing well before the show. And then around
ten-fifteen minutes before we go on everybody just kinda settles down
and we talk about the set list, and that type of thing.
BB: Do you do guys
any interesting covers?
Chad:
We’ve done covers before, but interesting ones? I don’t know. We used
to do “In the Air Tonight,” by Phil Collins.
Matt:
“Signed, Sealed, Delivered” by Stevie.
Chad:
“Land of Confusion” by Genesis. “With or Without You” by U2.
Chris:
“Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears.
Chad:
“3000 Miles” by this guy Ellis Paul, who’s a local folk guy. And we did
a Bill Withers song for a little while, “Ain’t No Sunshine.”
BB:
Tell me about your audience. What are your fans like?
Chad:
I’ve never liked the word fan, but the people who have supported the
band, and like what we do. I don’t know. We’ve lucked out, and have
had a lot of people who’ve been very gracious with their time and energy
as far as supporting the band and spreading the word. As for as the age
group goes, I think it errs on the younger side. College.
Matt:
Infant.
Stuart:
Like 16 to 26.
Chad:
But it’s nice. You’ll come to a show and see people older than my
parents,
down to 18.
Matt:
And a little estrogen-flavored.
BB: Any crazy stories
about your audience?
Chad:
I had a girl come up to me and dare me to make out with her hot friend
once. I said okay.
Matt:
Finding out how far people come to see us sometimes is always amazing.
I’m a freak about a bunch of bands, but three hours was a big deal for
me to commit to. But someone who drives six hours to see a band, i.e.
us, is amazing. But it’s cool.
THE BOSTON MUSIC SCENE
BB: What are your
favorite places to play?
Stuart:
The Paradise.
Mike:
The Avalon. The Roxy was fun.
Stuart:
Yeah, the Roxy was a good room.
Chad:
The Paradise feels like home, though. There’s a “returning home”
quality about the Paradise. Just from the people that work there, like
I was saying before, and the room itself is one of the cooler rooms in
the town. It’s not as a big a room as an Avalon or a Roxy, but its got
its own little quality.
Matt:
And we got to some of the shows there, too. So we’re like Fans of the
venue, fans of what comes into the venue. So we have an all around
appreciation for it.
BB: Who are some of
your favorite people to play with?
Matt:
We played a bunch of shows with this dude named Michael Tolcher. He
just a really cool dude, and his band’s real cool.
Chris:
We’ve played a couple times with Gavin DeGraw, who despite his success
is still very humble and grounded. Just a cool guy to play with.
Matt: All our friends’ bands broke up.
Chad:
We’ve played with just a bunch of real great bands at one time or
another.
Matt:
We played with The Argument a bunch of times, we played down in New York
with them a bunch of times. We’re gonna be doing a southern tour with
them soon.
BB: How would you compare the scene in
Boston compared to some other cities you’ve played in?
Stuart:
Boston’s pretty supportive. It seems as far as the scene goes, people
are more apt to go out and check out music and see the shows. It’s just
cool.
IN CLOSING
BB: If you could play
on stage with anyone alive, who would it be?
Chad:
I probably would have said Michael Jackson a few years ago, but I don’t
know about the current Michael Jackson. I’d be afraid he’d want to
touch me in some bad places. There’s this guy Matthew Goode from
Canada, that’d I’d love to share the stage with, just to pick his
brain. But probably Phil Collins. He’s come out with some shitty
records as of late, but his older stuff is just fantastic.
Mike:
Probably James Brown. I think he’s just he ultimate performer, and his
energy on stage is unmatched by anybody out there, so I would definitely
love to share the stage with James Brown.
Matt:
I guess Stevie Wonder, but if Stevie couldn’t make it, I guess… we
could call up Prince and see if he could come down.
Chad:
I think Prince would be pretty pissed if he found out he was your second
choice. He was the back-up…
BB:
I don’t know, if he’s after Stevie
Wonder, he might not be pissed.
Chad:
That’s true.
Chris:
I would probably have to go with Metallica. Where they are in their
career right now, it’s just amazing. I’ve followed them from the
beginning, and to see a band like that, a bunch of drunks, kids, causing
trouble, bashing out heavy tunes. And now look at them, kings of the
rock world. It’d be pretty inspiring for me. Just to be able to share
with them, I think that’d be really cool.
Stuart:
I think Eric Clapton for me. That’d be pretty awesome.
Matt:
Cyndi Lauper? … Ace of Base…
Stuart:
And definitely maybe Rush.
Matt:
Is Thomas Dolby still alive?
Stuart:
Tough crowd, tough crowd…
BB: If
you could be in another profession other than music, what would it be?
Chad:
I’d either be a teacher or a doctor.
Mike:
Yeah, probably a teacher.
Matt:
Furniture is my first love, so it’s kind of tough. I’d like the
teaching thing too, but I don’t know if I’d be a very good teacher, so I
probably shouldn’t say that. Professional wrestler. There you have it.
Chad:
Dude, you’d be awesome, the kids would love you.
Chris:
I would love to play in the NHL.
Stuart:
Nice one. Definitely a teacher.
BB: What do you hope
to be doing in music in a few years? What do you hope to have
accomplished one year from now?
Chad:
To still be doing it.
Stuart:
That’s a good answer, right there.
Chad:
I think if in a couple years if we’re able to pay for the food we eat,
and the clothes we wear, and the houses we live in from playing music,
then I think that’s where I’d like to be in a few years.
Mike:
Yeah, I agree.
Chris:
And definitely get to a more national level as well.
Chad:
To see the world.
Matt:
Lately we’ve been hearing so much about people buying our CDs from all
these weird places. I think a cool thing would be to be where these
people are, that’d we’ve never got to meet, on the west coast and
overseas.
BB:
What do you hope people will get out of your music?
Mike:
I hope they get whatever they’re looking for out of it, I hope they get
whatever they want out of it. Especially the way Chad writes, you could
try to take a real literal stance on it and try to figure out what he
means by a song, or you can kind of take from it what you want. It if
makes you real happy, if it chills you out, that’s great.
Chad:
Personally I’d like the stuff that we do
to evoke some kind of emotional response, whatever that may be, that in
itself is success. As a lyricist, you hope people take a listen and
connect in some way, that they can relate.
BB: What advice would
you have for aspiring local musicians?
Chad:
To never forget why you’re playing music, and to get your music in the
hands of as many people as possible.
Stuart:
Be persistent.
Matt:
Quit. Sell your equipment…
Mike:
Don’t give up. Just keep pushing through, because there’s a lot of
stuff that gets thrown at you, and it’s just like an obstacle course.
If you can make it through it, often you can end up safe on the other
side.
BB: Thanks you guys
very much.
The Band:
Thank you.
Stuart:
Yeah, thank you, that rocked.
Chad:
I don’t think I swore as much as I wanted to. Maybe you can throw in a
couple of more expletives in there.
BB:
Fuck yeah…