BB: If you could play on stage
with anyone alive who would it be?
... Pete: Like five years ago I was having big dreams about being on
stage with
Phish. I was having vivid dreams about being on stage with Trey
and Mike and Page. That band is totally evolved. There are four guys that
are playing real music. You may not necessarily like what they’re doing,
but you know that it’s real. When they’re playing they’re really creating.
From 1992 to ‘96, that band set a lot of things straight for me. Really
influenced me. Josh: Like Pete, I have vivid dreams too. For me it’s
U2. I think I
had my first “on stage with U2” dream when I was 10 years old. I had a
dream recently that “Where The Streets Have No Name” was starting and I
had to get out on stage and play the guitar. Larry’s clicking his sticks
and I’m like "Damn.” Adam: I’ve always had the idea that if you could put a band
together that I would want to be a part of it would have
Bob Dylan's
songwriting,
Van Morrison’s voice,
Bruce Springsteen's energy and U2’s
band production. U2 is a great example of a band that is greater than the
sum of its parts. None of them are the leading player at their instrument,
but they manage to create something that goes beyond. But I guess the
person that has been the biggest influence on me would be Bob Dylan. Jordan: I don’t feel like I would ever want to play in a band with
anybody besides these guys. But I have dreams of being on stage with the
guitar and singing with my favorite singers backing me up and singing
behind me.
Gillian Welch.
Patty Griffin, she’s my favorite, by far my
biggest songwriting and vocal influence.
BB:
What do you hope to be doing in music in a few
years, and what to you hope to have accomplished by this time next year?
... Adam: I would just say a year from now, as a small goal, to be
doing this full time. Pete: To be able to quit our jobs. Although I love being a
carpenter. Josh: Some of the greatest people who every lived have had to
abandon carpentry for a higher calling. (Laughter) Pete: I’ve said it before, the goals I have for this band are (1)
Platinum Album, (2) Grammy, (3) Hall of Fame. Those are the lofty goals. Adam: The guy we’re working with in Nashville said to us, “If you
guys want to sell two or three hundred thousand albums, have a cult
following around he country that’s great, but it doesn’t involve me. I
want you guys to be the last band that I work with. Our goal is to have
those six little platinum albums up on the wall and just sit back and
collect checks.” Pete: Now that it seems that this band is on the brink of something
stellar, I actually have a son to consider. So ideally, if I could quit my
day job and play a couple of gigs and sell a million albums, that would
just give me more time to be with my family. There’s a balance with daily
life vs. being a musician. Because I for one am not the animal to go out
on the road forever and just say “screw everything, lets go.” I think this
band has come this far because none of us have had to sacrifice our lives
to be in it.
BB: What do you hope people will get out of your
music?
... Adam: I think hopefully what we have gotten out of everyone else’s
music that has affected us and changed our lives. I was a politics major
in school and at some point I realized that the things that had affected
me most were not the laws that people had made but the things I’d read and
the music I’d listened to, and those were the things I wanted to be
involved in. And to be a part of that tradition. I’ve said this before but
the first time I broke up with a serious girlfriend I don’t know where I
would have been without Bob Dylan’s Oh Mercy album and Van Morrison’s
Enlightenment album, I might have just jumped off a bridge or something.
It’s those types of things that get you through the pain train; it’s the
type of thing that helps you to enjoy the good times more and helps you
get through the bad times. That’s what music has done for me, and that’s what
I hope it can do for other people. Pete: That’s the kind of stuff as a musician that you don’t always
hear about. Bob Dylan doesn’t know you broke up with your girlfriend
freshman year, and wouldn’t have gotten through life without his album. But for
me, if our music can inspire other music, if my drumming can inspire kids
to want to play drums, then that’s the greatest gift. If I hear some band
cover a T song on the radio, that’s the biggest compliment you can ask
for.
BB: What advice would you guys have for aspiring
local musicians?
... Josh: If you don’t have anything to say. Don’t play music. Do
something else. If your goal is to play because you think it would be
“wicked cool” to play the guitar, just do us all a favor and do something
else. Jordan: I’d like to see some more girls out there. Having been
involved in the Boston Folk scene, and seeing all the hundreds of girls
out there doing exactly the same thing, I’d like to see some girls who can
actually play an instrument, and do it well. Adam: I think that’s one thing that makes Jordan unique is that she
is a female bass player who is more than competent, just outstanding at
her instrument. You see female musicians sometimes, almost as a gimmick,
but there’s something so cool about what Jordan does. Pete: Keep dreaming. Keep trying. And don’t quit your day job until
you can. Adam: Don’t play gigs you hate, because it’ll make you hate the music. I’ve
seen more bands break up that were really good because they began to hate
playing music. We’ve known a number of really great bands and musicians
and the grind can really wear on you playing clubs, clubs, clubs, for no
money no money no money, with other bad bands. Pace yourself, and pick and
choose what you play so that you can continue to love what you’re doing.
That’s why all of us do it.
BB: Thank you all for talking to Boston Beats.
... Pete: Thank you, and thank you for coming to my house.