Drums and Tuba – Interview

How has touring life been for you guys?

Long. We play a couple of tours a year. It’s easier now that we all live in the same city (New York) and not all over. Generally we go a month in, then a month out of playing. It takes us a long time to do the work, and makes it a bit difficult to get in the studio to lay tracks, but it’s worth it.

Have you played Buffalo before?

Yes, two years ago we played at the Mohawk Place with a local group, The Waz.

How did that show go over for you?

There really wasn’t any advertising or anything done for the show. The place was pretty much empty. We had a good time though.

Speaking of Buffalo, how are things working out with the release of your fourth album, Vinyl Killer, being on Righteous Babe Records?

It’s different, better. We are now seeing our albums in stores. Before we were doing all that shit ourselves, now we have people doing it for us. It saves us time and gives us more time to practice. We recently got this new van too. Has great space, but it’s amazing with our equipment how fast it fills up.

Why not just drums and tuba?

That’s what people always expect and then they’re like, hey, they got trumpets and guitars too. We have plenty of connectors also. That’s what most of our equipment is, just so we can hear each other play.

The Snowcore Icicle Ball Tour kicks off this month. How are you guys feeling about this gig?

We are excited. Galactic are good friends of ours so it should be pretty cool. Apparently Pringles is sponsoring the show, so we are just hoping to get nonstop Pringles action, all the Pringles you can eat. We’re also really excited to be able to meet Claypool. We hear he’s pretty cool to hang out with.

Your sound has been compared to the sound of a stripped-down marching band. How does that appeal to you?

We hear all sorts of shit. People say we are a cross between this and that band, but personally, and as a band, I consider us unclassifiable. I believe music is better described not by categorizing but by explaining the instruments used. If anything, I’d just consider us rock and roll. Isn’t almost all music in some sense simply rock and roll? Oftentimes if someone asks us what kind of music we play, we ordinarily say we don’t know. Sometimes that seriously pisses people off.

What’s up with the No Early Bird soundtrack you did last year? What was that all about?

This was a documentary film on yard sale culture done by Mike Baird and Stan Steen. We made the music from a rough copy of the film. Basically we went garbage picking and used whatever we could find for our sources of sound. Pots, pans etc. It was pretty fun.

Who or what inspired you three to play what you play or feel whatever you feel when you play?

Brian: A lot of jazz, Gillespie, Spaceheads, Rebirth Brass Band.
Neal: I remember when I first heard the Beatles and definitely Hendrix. I’d have to say they are the artists that paved the way.
Tony: My first record was AC/DC. I was into the punk scene, Minor Threat, Black Flag. I also got heavily into jazz, especially Coltraine.

What’s in store after The SnoCore Icicle Ball Tour?

For the remaining two months of the tour we are planning to do some shows on the West Coast in mid or late March. We are definitely looking forward to that.

+ Rachael Bellanca