History of the Band
Writing & Recording
Playing Out & Boston's
Music Scene
In Closing
IN CLOSING
.
BB: If you could play on stage with anyone
alive, who would
it be?
.
John: Adam Ezra.
Band: Aaawww.
Band: (Laughter)
John: I’m so happy with what I’m
doing that I wouldn’t want do anything else. However, if I had the
opportunity, James Taylor, Sting. Rick Braun, jazz trumpet player.
Adam: Ani. Ani DiFranco.
Jimmy: Paul McCartney and John
Lennon. I’m a big Beatles fan.
Adam: Isn’t Paul McCartney
writing kind of cheesy stuff these days?
Band: (Laughter)
Jimmy: Well you know, back in
the good days. There are so many. Getty Lee. Just too many people
I would love to play with.
Jeff: Well, he took McCartney.
But I would pick Bob Dylan.
BB: If you could be in another profession
other than your own, what would it be?
.
John: Probably a schoolteacher.
Level doesn’t matter. If I could just have an influence on a kid.
Jeff: Before I ever did music I
use to do acting, theatre, and I would probably have to say that.
Jimmy: You stole mine. Yeah, it
would definitely have to be something in the arts. I’d like to paint I
think. Not houses, but paintings.
Jeff: You can paint my house.
Band: (Laughter)
Jimmy: I’m not very good at it
but it’s something I’ve often aspired to. I think you have to die first
before you get good, though.
Adam: I don’t know. An
accountant. An investment banker. Anything where I have to wear sensible
shoes.
Band: (Laughter)
Adam: My cousin Shana is up in
New Hampshire and she’s making pottery and I always thought that was real
cool.
BB:
What do you hope to be doing in a few years? What do you hope the band
will have accomplished?
.
John: Exactly what we want to be
doing. Wherever we are that, that is exactly what we want to be doing.
Touring nationally and have the same sort of creative ability that we own
right now and maintain that and just continue doing what we’re doing.
Just being able to play in front of as many people as possible.
Adam: The hardest thing for me
is I’m a single guy and I can live in very low standards but these guys
have families that they’re all supporting. They’re trying to make ends
meet with a job on the side. With some of the things that are coming down
the line for us, this next year it’s gonna be… we’re all having
discussions right now about what point we drop the day jobs and go on
tour. We have contract negations with a management company in the U.K.
right now and we’re talking to management people in New York. It would be
a great thing to be on the road, but… I would love to be making a living
playing music, but also these guys playing with me and being able to
support their families while we do it. That would make me pretty damn
happy.
Jimmy: Everything he just said.
I’m a firefighter and I love my job. But absolutely I’d want to make a
living with my first love, which is music. There’s nothing I‘d love more
than to be on a tour bus with these guys, traveling all around the
country, playing for whoever wants to listen. That’s what I want to do.
And just to be able to pay the bills doing it. And if you make a million
or two… that’s cool too.
Jeff: Not to be redundant, but
my goal has been the same for the last fifteen years and that’s just to
make a living, for myself and my family, playing music.
BB: What do you hope people will get out of
your music?
.
John: I guess that while their
listening to have a good time and when they leave to be able to have them
recall a song that we played and maybe sing or hum the songs on their way
home. Come out of our shows feeling really good, and energized, and
happy.
Jimmy: I’d like the people to
get the same emotion out of it that was put into it. Music is all about
emotions and that’s as a songwriter, you put a lot of heart and soul into
it. Whether it’s an upbeat happy song or you’re singing something sad, I
hope they can feel that same emotion.
Jeff: For me, when I step up on
stage, it’s an escape. The only thing that matters to me right there is
the music. The traffic on 93 doesn’t matter. The bills aren’t going to
get paid this month, doesn’t matter. It’s like an escape and if we can
kind of transfer that to the crowd where they can get an escape by
listening to us and enjoying us then… you know, just getting out of their
world for a couple of hours at night. That’s a positive thing.
Adam: I kind of react two-fold
to the question. One is as a performer with these guys as part of the
band and seeing our music have an effect on people and in the immediate
sense they come and experience our music and they get an emotional
reaction from it. That’s very rewarding to me. Two, is as a songwriter.
I hear people complain that I try to cram too many lyrics into my songs.
I would love for someday someone to say that you challenged my perspective
about something or made me think about something, or maybe influenced the
way I thought about music and how you can communicate through music.
BB: Lastly, what advice would you have for
aspiring musicians?
.
John: Play what makes you
happy. What really feeds your spirit. Don’t necessarily play what’s the
most popular but rather play what really makes you happy. And practice,
practice, practice. Know your craft, know your music. Just be prepared.
Adam: It’s funny but when you
asked the question my first reaction was, “we’re aspiring musicians,
aren’t we?”
Band: (Laughter)
Adam: But that brought me around
to a good point, which is that you have to set goals. Feeling that you
have set goals and that your not quite there yet. You want to be doing
something with your music. That equation is always going to be there. I
feel like no matter what we do as a band I’ll always be an aspiring
musician, to reach some next goal down the line. It’s really hard to get
caught up in constantly looking towards the future and you can lose
perspective on the art and the beauty that you are creating now and the
need to keep that in perspective.
Jimmy: What was the question
again?
Band: (Laughter)
Jimmy: I would say, musicians or
songwriters, just play. Play everything. Play what you want to play.
Write what you want to write and don’t be afraid to experiment. And study
everybody. Study your friends. Study the pros. Watch other people
because that’s how you learn. That’s what I do and I’ve been playing
since I was in forth grade and I’m still learning. Be true to the music
your playing or to the music you pick. Be very true to it.
Jeff: Do it because you love to
do it. Don’t do it for any other reasons. Not for the money or the fame
or to stroke your ego. And I like what Jimmy said about being true and
respecting the art form.
BB:
Thanks guys. Thanks
for talking with Boston Beats.
.
John:
I don’t
know if you’re going to put this in, but I think I can speak for the band
too when I just say thanks for doing this. It’s really hard for local
bands to get notoriety and to get their name out there and for you guys to
take the time to come here and do this, it means a lot. It really means a
lot. Good luck in your endeavors and we really appreciate it.
Part 1:
History of the Band
Part 2:
Writing & Recording
Part 3:
Playing Out & Boston's
Music Scene
Part 4:
In Closing
To learn more about The Adam Ezra Group, visit their website
at
http://www.adamezra.com/
*Pictures courtesy of
http://www.adamezra.com/
|