Photo credit: Alysse Gafkjen
Tell us about your tour vehicle. Any notable breakdown stories?
We’ve been touring for a very long time, so we have graduated from 15 passenger van to a Sprinter with trailer to one tour bus and two tour buses and a semi hauling our gear. So we have gone through all the various different issues you could have with a vehicle. But when we were younger and on the road for almost 300 days a year putting hundreds of thousands of miles on a variety of vehicles that’s bound to happen. We’ve had major repairs that had to be done like when we put the wrong kind of biodiesel in a Sprinter that then blew up the engine. We’ve been hit three or four different times in different years in our old sprinters and then one time we actually hit a deer in Ransler, Indiana and that totaled that ride finally. The wildest one, that for the sake of our drivers licenses I won’t get to into, is one time we drove from Baltimore to New York City without brakes….
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
You know, it depends on how we’re traveling. We often try to stop at a Whole Foods to stock up on snacks and hit the salad bar when we can. Since there are 8 of us it’s always been a good way to keep costs down. But in the past, I found the I could get away with a banana and a protein shake to hold me over, which can fit in almost anyone’s budget. Hitting at least one healthy meal day and snack around is usually what I try to do.
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
Well, being a bass player I don’t normally break lots of strings but I have in the past. I want to say I haven’t broken a string in a few years, maybe three, four years luckily. As to how much it costs to replace, bass strings are not cheap so a good set can go for 50 bucks but they tend to last longer than the guitar strings so I’m fortunate in that aspect. I’m also thankful I don’t have to do as much maintenance as Zack and David when it comes to changing their guitar strings, sometimes as often as between every show.
Where do you rehearse?
So we have been in a location in New Orleans called Fountainbleau since basically the inception of the band. We have moved around in various rooms and floors and for the past handful of years we settled on a corner floor studio that has various parts of it for our touring operation. So we have the ability to record demos in there but there’s also an area that holds gear and merch, and it’s been kind to us over the past 15 years.
The issue with it is it’s not the most hospitable place, and it’s not the most conducive to getting a creative mindset just because it’s an old rundown building at its core. It was built in the 60s originally as like a fancy upscale hotel and since we’ve been there it’s gone through numerous owners. It’s just been the mainstay of a place for people to want to have a space to create music and there really is nothing else of its size and magnitude in the city to help people that want to have a place to play.
But having said that, you know, I’ve really enjoyed the time we spend there because when we’re in there I know we’re working hard at trying to make the best music possible. An exciting update in the life of our band is that we are looking to move out soon and create a space of our own where we and other musicians can find an environment to grow which should be a cool adventure.
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
I can go way back to high school when I was in a band called Derringer in which I played bass and helped sing and write songs for. And I can give you a riveting lyric from the song “Spot on the Wall”.
And this lyric is, “Look at the spot on the wall where the picture used, where your picture used to hang. Girl, why can’t you stay? Stay for some time. Girl, why can’t you stay? Stay for some time.”
Really top-notch stuff there from a 15-year-old.
Describe your first gig.
So I grew up in different concert and jazz bands so I’m not sure how much that counts because we did talent shows and concert series but in high school I did a Battle of The Bands with my friends and I just remember that specific day, that moment, playing in front of people it just felt so good and so right and I knew from that first time there that’s what I wanted to do the rest of my life. It’s just that feeling of performing in front of people that is the best.
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
So earlier on, before I was fortunate enough to become a full-time musician, I bartended in New Orleans for about 10 years which had lots of ups and downs. I actually bartended across from a hospital so there would be lots of people coming in and telling me, a complete stranger, about the greatest thing and worst thing that has happened to them in their life. I always joke that I received a master’s in psychology by bartending there for a decade because I got to talk to all walks of life about a variety of different things and it definitely helped hone in my skills on how it be interpersonal. I would say that that was my last job and my favorite job which I wouldn’t trade it for the world, I even made a ton of friends that I keep in touch with today.
How has your music-related income changed over the past 5-10 years? What do you expect it to look like 5-10 years from now?
I am just incredibly grateful to be able to make a living as a musician. When I was young and it was just me it was something I may have taken for granted but now I’m a father of 2 and I have more responsibilities. I’m incredibly blessed to take care of my wife and family through music, it’s something I couldn’t have imagined when I was younger.
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
What I wish I knew back then, what I know now is that everybody is talented in their own right. There are millions of great players, performers, songwriters, singers, arrangers, managers, agents, every facet of the industry. And while recording and performing music is amazing that’s only a small % of what goes into it all as a whole. I don’t think it’s stressed enough that getting the right people working with you is what makes it all meld and become magical. And when you get the right group together and find the folks who can help you in the right way, which takes years, is what takes it to the next level.