Photo credit: Emma Delevante
Tell us about your tour vehicle. Any notable breakdown stories?
Bob Delevante: Right now we don’t have a touring vehicle, but our first was a mid 70’s Chevy Van. It broke down on the highway on our way to the first gig we ever used it for. No one thought to bring a flashlight so we used a big crash cymbal to reflect the headlight into the engine compartment. As we looked at the motor we realized none of us were mechanics, so we got towed off the Garden State Parkway but only as far as the exit ramp. (The Parkway tow services could only take you that far.) Then we were picked up by a local tow company that towed us to the show. We played our set and then were towed out from the gig and to a local gas station. They repaired the van and we headed home the next morning.
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
Bob: I always feel like it ends up being one or the other. I used to start a tour with good intentions and then as we went on…well, you know the rest.
Mike Delevante: We usually start out pretty well…loaded up with the good healthy stuff and then slowly it devolves into truck-stop snacks. I love a good truck-stop….the general store of the interstates. Where else can you get a Moon-Pie, buy new windshield wipers, and take a shower? (I never tried the shower.)
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
Bob: I used to break a string every show. I could never hear the acoustic guitar in the monitor mix with the full band. I then learned to tell the soundman to turn my guitar up in my monitor and I stopped breaking strings!
Mike: I never break strings. I just start out loud.
Where do you rehearse?
Bob: Our rehearsal space in Hoboken was above one of the last handmade wallpaper factories in the United States. There were many times that it smelled very bad when they were cleaning their screens. We were on the second floor and we’d get back from a show and more times than not the elevator would not work. Try bringing a full drum kit, guitars, several twin reverb amps and a Hammond B3, and Leslie up the stairs at 3:30 in the morning.
Mike: 37 Jackson Street in Hoboken was the address. It was the second floor of a factory building that had a handmade wallpaper company. The chemical smell made you think the place would blow any minute. Bob mentioned the elevator. I can’t remember if I ever got in there even once. I don’t mind elevators at all…just the ones that were built in the 1930’s that aren’t serviced. I would rather carry a B3 and a Leslie up the stairs than sleep in an elevator.
We had a few legendary New Year’s Eve parties up there we’d play at…it felt like the whole town showed up. One in particular, if you looked around the room at about 2:00 am, every couple was breaking up at the same time.
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
Bob: “Dancing Across The Water”
Out on the waterfront I stand alone
Lost and forgotten, nowhere is my home
To leave the world that I once know
Dancing across the water babe is all I’ve time to do
Mike: “Surrounded”
Lying in the valley I hear the noises far away up on a hill
Lying there without a sound I’m thinking, waiting, asking myself why
I’m surrounded.
Describe your first gig.
Bob: Our first gig was with our bluegrass band, Wreckless Abandon. We had no PA so that afternoon we, and a friend who became our soundman, cobbled some kind of system together. We had 3 mic stands-an artificial Christmas tree center pole, a birdcage stand, and the stand from a film strip screen. We didn’t know enough songs to play the required 3 sets so we ended every set with “Foggy Mountain Breakdown”, and then we got an encore and decided we should play “Foggy Mountain Breakdown”. Supposedly there’s a cassette of the show somewhere but I’m afraid to even look for it.
Mike: I think we may have began, and ended every set with “Foggy Mountain Breakdown”.
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
Bob: I’m a photographer, designer, and illustrator so I’ve always done that kind of work along with songwriting and touring. Although I’ve loved all the jobs, one of my favorites is working with Oh Boy Records on John Prine projects.
Mike: Having gone to art school in NYC, I’ve always done art and design as well. It’s the type of work you can freelance or do all hours and still play music. In NYC I worked for a number of magazines: Rolling Stone, High Fidelity, National Lampoon and Time. Nowadays I do strategy and design in Nashville. Some of my favorite clients that I’ve done work for are the great nonprofits of Nashville like Room in the Inn, Thistle Farms, The Contributor and the Belcourt Theater.
During my college years my favorite job was delivering for a local liquor store in Rutherford NJ. I might do 50 deliveries in a night with 45 of them being to the local college, Fairleigh Dickinson University. Drinking age was 18. A Lot of interesting stories.
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?
Bob: My music-related income has always varied as to when new music is released and you start touring so, stay busy!
Mike: I think for a lot of folks, money isn’t generally the focus of work like this. I never really thought about it then and I don’t think about it much now.
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
Bob: Don’t get caught up in the details of just one show…good or bad. There are going to be lots of them so just keep going, and getting better and better.
Mike: I would say don’t get caught up in the details of a lot of things. Don’t dwell too long. Get good advice from people around you but make decisions quickly and move on to the next thing. Use your instincts and take some chances but mostly put your head down and do the work.