Home > Interviews > Averi

 

Part One

Part Two

 

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…

 

PREVIOUS SECTION
 

Part One

Part Two

 

To learn more about Averi, visit their website at
http://www.averimusic.com/

*Pictures courtesy of http://www.averimusic.com/

Merchandise | Advertise With Us | Legal Information | Contact Us | About Us

©2003-2005 Boston Beats

.....

   

Advertising

 

 

Boston Music, Boston Artist Interviews, Boston Bands