Tell us about your tour vehicle.
Oh man, it’s going to be a van, probably a rental. The other option was to take my grandma’s old sedan (she’s still living but she stopped driving) and hitch a trailer to the back of it. It’s 12 years old but with very few miles. The problem there is that it would put three people in the cramped back seat and I fear a band mutiny.
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
Taylor Hollingsworth taught me that one can do well to go to Whole Foods. The other trick is to go to Taco Bell and ask for beans instead of meat. Greg Mulkern had a huge thing of peanut butter and a giant thing of bread in the backseat for that tour. I love sampling BBQ in the south and getting breakfast sandwiches.
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
Strings, well, probably one every 3 shows or so. Doesn’t cost much to replace them but I’m no luthier, so when I restring a guitar, I can’t quite do the sweet set up thing and slowly the intonation and action go out. Fortunately, we’re usually on tour for a few weeks and then off so a guitar lasts about that long before it needs real attention. I’m not a guy who uses new strings every show or even every week.
Where do you rehearse?
Generally we rent by the hour in NYC. Trying a new space in Gowanus next week. The hourly spaces in Bushwick always smell likes cigarettes and beer. The ones in Manhattan are really nice and the gear usually works well but they’re more expensive. I’ll keep you posted!
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
Well, I wrote songs as a kid but started writing more seriously in college. I wrote first on piano then guitar. I wrote this thing in A minor then went: “I’m going down to the river, to finish my bottle of rum. I’m going down to the river. If you like, you can come.”
Describe your first gig.
Piano recitals as a kid don’t really count. Probably a show in a dorm common room at college where I did a couple of songs that inevitably included Bob Dylan covers.
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
Music publicity. Only one I’ve had in a long time.
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?
Well, we’re still a growing band so we try not to charge much. Income’s been pretty low but we’ve had a few kind people buy a batch of CDs at different shows for their friends, knowing that they were probably subsidizing a gas tank to the get to the next show.
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
I was afraid to get started for years and then after my grandmother died, I decided to do it. She had been a prolific visual artist and I realized that had she waited to start a band like I was doing, there wouldn’t have been as much of her wonderful art to enjoy. I think I could’ve used more stage time when I started. I didn’t have the songs memorized and used a music stand, which I dropped after a few years. I wish I’d known that if you drink a little less at a show, you can memorize your lyrics more easily!