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the Argument's song Find out more on the |
ALTERNATIVE ADDICTION: So you’re all from West Virginia. How’s that working for you? BRENT: West Virginia is a very good place to be from. CHRIS: It’s the best place in the world to be from. MATT: Because there’s always a conversation at the end of that sentence. SCOTT: Or you have to explain to someone that West Virginia is a different state then “Real” Virginia. People don’t understand... BRENT: “Oh, Dave Mathews is from Virginia.” SCOTT: “Oh, cool I have friends in Richmond.” But that’s like 5 hours away…No, it’s real cool because we can get anywhere we need to for touring in about 3 to 5 hours. MATT: And, we were on the right side of the Civil War! SCOTT: Winners! MATT: Our track record might not be so good since then, but the Civil War, we’ve got that. AA: What’s the music scene like in Morgantown today? BRENT: The Morgantown music scene is pretty eclectic right now. There’s a pretty decent Punk scene going on, there’s little bit of hip-hop (Scott and Chris laugh) SCOTT: He never talks in interviews…Now he’s like “Morgantown was founded in 1863” BRENT: Yeah…there’s actually decent hip-hop scene, there’s hardcore stuff. There’s a little bit of a pop scene with us and a couple of other bands that’s starting to emerge. MATT: It’s lively and involved in a broad range of ages! SCOTT: We are an hour from Pittsburgh, not too far from Cleveland, Baltimore, and D.C. The town that we’re in has about 25,000 college kids. There’s also a program on National Public Radio called Mountain Stage that’s broadcast all over the country and recorded in West Virginia. There are a lot of things going on, so it’s pretty cool. AA: What are some of your first memories involving music? CHRIS: Well, I was under mom and dad’s counter playing with the pots and pans. (Laughs) I was making a reference the other day, that I hate it when drummers say, “It all started when I was under the counter playing the pots and pans with the spoons.” They’re liars! Their parents didn’t let them do that! I do remember mine. I was in second grade and I was the little drummer boy. There were four of us and we were wearing our parent’s bathrobes, my dad is a giant guy, and I had it wrapped around me 3 times. We had bath towels on our heads with belts tied around them… SCOTT: They didn’t let him in any airports either… (Laughter) CHRIS: It was pretty embarrassing. Second grade; I still have the program for it. SCOTT: Mine was more embarrassing then that. My mom and my aunt taught me a whole bunch of show tunes. I had what they called my repertoire when I was six. They would name any show and I would sing a song from it… Yeah. It’s not very rock. BRENT: Mine is pretty lame, though. My dad was always singing around the house. My dad’s a singer and I remember going to see him sing…somewhere...doing the singing…at the singing place. MATT: Oddly enough, mine isn't too far removed from yours (Scott’s). I remember being about three years old and my grandmother used to make me sing songs. My grandmother was a piano player and she tried in vain to make me play when I was younger. I can vividly remember that she would make me go into the bathroom and put on a top hat. She’d introduce me and I would have to come out a sing whatever songs she’d want me to sing. SCOTT: And then she’d cane you. CHRIS: And throw her teeth. SCOTT: She’d swear to you in Swedish and cane you. (Laughter) AA: Would you advise aspiring performers to study only music in college? ALL: No, not only music. SCOTT: I had a professor in school that told me that you need to know that rules in order to break them correctly. We really think that having a good background in music helps us put things into context. We really respect what has gone before us and I think that anyone in a band really needs to have some knowledge of music history in order to really understand what’s going on. If anything, you should at least know the history of music; you should at least know what you’re creating in this long lineage that you’re trying to add to. As for studying music, some people are just naturally talented, but I don’t think they should study only music. I think that knowing the rules has definitely helped us, though. AA: What are your rehearsals like? SCOTT: We rehearse once every two weeks, sometimes once a week. MATT: As often as we can. SCOTT: We go into a studio in Morgantown and use our in ear monitors so we can hear everything. CHRIS: We try and flush out as many ideas, song-wise, that we can and try and remember what we played last time, which is usually half the rehearsal. For a while we were trying to get a tune in per rehearsal, which is almost impossible. It used take us months to agree on an arrangement for a tune. BRENT: We’re so anal. We don’t want to play a song out until we feel 100% comfortable with it. SCOTT: Usually I’ll bring in an idea and everyone will pitch in and have ideas for it. It’s very collaborative. MATT: There’s always some level of…actually, what was I going to say? That was classic. I had a whole idea mapped out, and I swear to God it just left me. SCOTT: You can just put ellipses there. Dot, Dot, Dot. That will be the second part of the interview. MATT: Oh…There’s always at least one stage of the songwriting process that’s involved in rehearsals, be it a very young idea that needs to find the rest of us in order to make its way out or something else that has already been developed to the point where we have an arrangement. Then there are the final stages, where the song is done, the arrangement is done and we’re fine tuning it for performance. SCOTT: Like NYU Girls. It came together pretty fast. MATT: Very fast. The best songs that I think we play don’t require as much rehearsal from beginning to end as others. And I think its magical when something like that can go from idea to fruition that quickly. AA: Tell me a little bit about your first show together as a band. BRENT: We actually did an open mic in Morgantown. We were “40 Watt.” MATT: Much like this heater! (Referencing the dressings room’s menacing space heater) SCOTT: We were signing up for the open mic and I looked above me and there was this light bulb that said “40 watt” on it. BRENT: It was the only light on in that room. SCOTT: We packed the place with a whole bunch of kids from our school; we had spread the word in classes. We did like six or seven songs and got a good response. MATT: Most of which wound up on the first record, oddly enough… SCOTT: It was really strange. It was September of 97…and you were like nine. AA: Have you developed any pre-show rituals over the years? SCOTT: Well….No, I was going to say something really messed up. MATT: What, like we burn a goat or something? SCOTT: I was going to say Brent. Actually, we like to burn Brent. And then we put him out. CHRIS: We used to do a lot more vocal warm ups. SCOTT: But we don’t so much anymore. MATT: We never have time really. SCOTT: (Laughs) Yeah, we never have time as we’re just sitting around down here. CHRIS: We sort of just do our own thing. SCOTT: Yeah, we have our own little things that we do. CHRIS: I don’t like to talk to a lot of people before the shows….Except this…This is okay. SCOTT: We relax… BRENT: Try and get into the zone. MATT: Like Britney. BRENT: Just like Britney. SCOTT: We talk about what we’re going to do that night and what the set will be like. AA: How do you approach playing for audiences that may be unfamiliar with your music? SCOTT: It’s tough. BRENT: It really is. It’s tough to tailor your own music to fit someone else’s. So I think you just go out and play your best stuff; you go out there and play your stuff the best that you can, and if they dig it, they dig it. MATT: This is who we are, this is what we do and this is the music we make. SCOTT: We know its cool; we don’t care if you don’t. (Laughs) I mean, we just play percentages: We’ve been doing this so long that we feel that there’s a percentage in each audience that’s going to like us, whether it be one percent or ten percent… CHRIS: We used to get more offended if we felt like everyone wasn’t with us. You can get people and build each time you come to an area, obviously that’s how it works. It was more before that we were offended if someone was like, “I don’t dig this.” They might not even have been there to see a band in general. Maybe the just paid their money to drink and fall down. SCOTT: We played a show with O.A.R.; there were a thousand people in that room. If ten percent of the people like you, that’s a hundred people. We didn’t expect every O.A.R. fans to really understand The Argument, but if just a small percentage does, that’s really good for us. MATT: And if one person likes you, then thirty people will soon like you. AA: Do you feel that cover songs help to bridge gaps between you and these audiences? SCOTT: Yes, but sometimes people don’t get it and they just get pissed off. CHRIS: We used to definitely cheese out the covers a bit more, playing things like Bel Biv Devoe which people took seriously when we were really doing it tongue in cheek. BRENT: A lot of people just didn’t get it. MATT: In the context of an hour or an hour and a half set, I think it’s really nice to give the audience a break from really having to listen that intently. They can just be comfortable. We try and do songs along the lines of what we do. SCOTT: Or the complete opposite. Just for the shock factor. MATT: Exactly. Exactly. And if that helps the audience sort of breathe easy for a while and let us into their world a bit more, then it’s helpful. SCOTT: Sometimes just to make it extra comfortable, we’ll do a cover song and hire a masseuse to walk around the crowd. BRENT: Except in the city (New York). MATT: Right, instead of charging a hundred dollars an hour it’d be three hundred. (Chris says something to Scott) MATT: What? CHRIS: Nothing. MATT: I’m glad I didn’t hear that. BRENT: I heard “smell like urine.” SCOTT: He (Chris) said there would probably be a guy like that here tonight but he’d smell like urine and be talking to his hat. (Laughter) AA: What makes your fans unique? SCOTT: Um, I think they have good taste in music if they like us. BRENT: We have a pretty eclectic fan-base. We have fans from nine years old to fifty years old. SCOTT: I think they can relate to us trying to work, trying to get to the next level and trying to better ourselves. I think people try to help us out because they can relate to that. AA: When you’re in the studio, how do you try to balance time and financial limitations with creativity? BRENT: Obviously, not real well. That’s a good question. MATT: Good question. SCOTT: How do you balance…? BRENT: What you want to with what it costs in the studio. SCOTT: What?? AA: Money and time versus creativity! SCOTT: Ohhh…. MATT: I don’t think money has that much to do with creativity. If we were making no dollars we’d still be making the same music that we’re making. AA: In the studio, though… BRENT: For this new record, we’ve lived beyond our means. We’ve been very fortunate to work with some great people that have been very understanding. SCOTT: I think that they’re all really talented and are in the same boat as we are; they need to make contacts and they need to build their portfolio… MATT: I think that question means when you’re in the studio and you’re trying to get creative with a certain track are you wary about how much time you’re using… AA: There you go. SCOTT: I think that if we have someone that’s equally as talented and willing to work with us…Like Ted (Commerford: Producer of Reccess Serenade) has been willing to work with us in situations where we’ll feel that we need an extra day. He’ll say, “Well, let’s get the song done and than worry about the money. We’ll worry about the money later.” We have people that are really talented that are in the same boat as we are. They’re willing to make some sacrifices for us. MATT: We tried to be as prepared as we can be when we go into the studio so that essentially, for basic tracks and ideas, we can go in and execute. There are those things that Scott was talking about, the “What if” questions...“What if” we use this guitar sound on this track…if you’re prepared enough, those sort of “X” factors that go into the process of recording aren’t really going to factor in to the final bill, so to speak. BRENT: When you go into the studio, you’ve always got to factor in some sort of trial and error. It’s always going to take longer than you expect. MATT: Like the last four songs that we recorded were in various stages of completion when we went into the studio. We had a pretty good idea about what we wanted to do and what we wanted them to sound like. But some days amplifiers sound good and some days they don’t. You’ve just got to deal with what you’re dealt with essentially and get the best sound that you can on that particular day. Good lord willing, things will all work out. This last round, we were all apprehensive because we’re not as comfortable going into the studio when we don’t feel as prepared as we should be. With respect to the last four songs on the record, it worked out for the best because we were able to get our producer a little more involved with the arrangement of what we were doing and a little more involved sonically with what we were doing. It turned out much better at the end of the seven days than we thought it would going in. AA: What are you looking for in a record contract? MATT: Money! SCOTT: We’ve got a good foundation and have done a lot of legwork. We really need dollars behind us for marketing and getting the word out. CHRIS: We need to get in front of more people and get on bills that are very consistent fan wise. We’ve just finished up a record that we’re very happy with. It took two years but we feel like we actually got an album that represents exactly what we’re doing. AA: How do you plan to put your reps to use when it becomes time to release the new album? SCOTT: It’s kind of tough because there are only four of us doing everything. BRENT: Four reps. MATT: You’re looking at it. (Laughter) SCOTT: It’s hard for us to keep our hands on everything as far as reps. We do as much as we can over the Internet with fliers and handbills, banners for e-mails and forums, and IM icons. We try to get people to spread the word; it’s real grass roots. We’re going to try some things in our home market first that we’ll try to carry over in the fall like listening parties and sampler discs and “New Listener” programs where we actually have people out on campus with headphones saying, “Listen to this.” We’re going to try high school things. We’ve got a pretty big high school following back home so we’re going to offer them free concerts if they sell CDs in their schools. We’re going to try a lot of things on our level that are affordable. What works, we’re going to try in other places in the fall. AA: What artist has a dedicated play list on your digital music device? SCOTT: I don’t have a digital music device. CHRIS: Is 8-track digital? MATT: It’s close. SCOTT: We’re broke. BRENT: I’ve been listening to the Thrills a lot. SCOTT: The Thrills, Hot Hot Heat, Elliott Smith recently… CHRIS: Phantom Planet MATT: Wilco SCOTT: Aimee Mann MATT: Although Jellyfish is pre-digital, they’ll always have a place on my play-list, no matter what the format. AA: If you were able to oust one recording artist or group off the radio forever, who would it be? BRENT: Rush. MATT: For way too many reasons to name… CHRIS: Because they’re Canadian. BRENT: Rush, Creed, Limp Bizkit SCOTT: Oh man, we could go on and on. Anyone who’s on the radio today, pretty much we could do without. MATT: Just leave Fountains of Wayne. SCOTT: Yeah, you can leave Fountains of Wayne. And you can leave Foo Fighters. MATT: Actually, that’s probably a better question, who would you leave. AA: If you could give one song the same airplay that “Hey Ya” receives, what would it be? BRENT: Actually, I like that song. MATT: That’s no good for indie cred, buddy. CHRIS: I think it’d be “They Way You Move.” It’s not getting enough. (Laugh) CHRIS: Mexican wine. I haven’t heard that on the radio. AA: Ok, last question. What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were younger? SCOTT: What are you saying? When you were younger? MATT: I am 12. BRENT: Take care of your teeth and feet. (Laughter) AA: With respect to the music industry… BRENT: When we started out, we were definitely more naïve. We thought that good music would take you there. Now we know that there are so many other variables that go into it. It’s not just good music; there’s marketing and there’s image. A lot of it comes down to luck. There’s so much that goes into it that we didn’t really take into account when we were younger. SCOTT: I just think that being out on the road and being together for six and a half years has really matured us as a group. I wish we knew how to play with each other…um. CHRIS: Oh, we know that. MATT: Rephrase! SCOTT: I wish we knew how to interact and inter-fluence…which is a new word that we’re going to start using in the English language after this interview, once people see it. MATT: Inter-fluence. I like that. SCOTT: Interact and influence each another the way we do now when we started. I think we’ve done everything at a normal pace; we just had to grow up. MATT: I wish we would have known… SCOTT: Barry Manilow MATT: That too. I wish we would have known as much about the recording process when we started off. Because when you’re young and naïve and you go into to make a record, you settle on things that sound good to you because you haven’t experienced things that sound better yet. Just being exposed to that on the last record has been really eye opening. SCOTT: Now I have a question for you. Do you have any paper I can write a set list on? |
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