Blues Traveler – Interview

An interview with Blue’s Traveler bassist Tad Kinchla!

What gives you more of a break, live shows or recording?

Definitely recording because you are in one place. The touring schedule, there is always things popping up. You are traveling on a bus and everything gets messed up. With recording you have a schedule and you know when to start and can plan around that.

What happened with Interscope and going to Sanctuary?

We weren’t really happy with how things were being handled there. The record companies are in a different position right now and we didn’t want to be involved with their priority. So we went with a label that fit our schedule better. Our goals and theirs are closer. They understand the live music thing, playing, and getting out there. It’s been a great experience.

Interscope wants to pump out the next big thing, was that the problem because you are established and aren’t looking to be a trend?

To their defense that is what the major labels are doing right now. They have to get their album out there and have it on the charts right away or it’s not worth it. It’s a big machine and a fundamentally different idea than ours. If you have to change the essence of a band to do it there is something wrong with that. There were good things that happened with Interscope, but it wasn’t what we were about. We are in a better scenario right now.

Do you think the hit now machine is a problem?

They are losing their meat and stars. The momentum is there. The fact that I can go online and find some new band ten minutes after a show that some kid has posted is going to change the fundamentals of music. That in itself has changed music because labels want to get the hits out. The bands that really do the work who play the clubs and work hard are getting dropped. The bands are turning around and saying we can put the albums out ourselves and sell less but still make more money.

Pearl Jam is thinking the same thing right now since they are done with their contract with Sony. Why not do it themselves.

Absolutely. It’s not like I don’t appreciate what the record company has to do. It had been a mutual thing where the record company needed the band and the band needed the record label. In my opinion the record label’s system is archaic with how they distribute the money. A band’s standard deal is that the band gets 10%. 10% after all the expenses, and don’t forget the band splits that 10%. That was standard for years. Unless you are moving millions of albums you won’t see anything. You hear stories about lots of bands who made a lot of money but they barely saw any of it.

The record industry is alone in their thinking. If you were a film actor or model or athlete you get 90% and your agent gets 10%.

I know. It is changing. With our new record deal, its not completely standard in its set up, we are working together. We are outsourcing things like distribution and publicity. It’s great because there are creative companies working with us and not just sitting with these big major labels doing everything. I think it’s a really cool time right now.

It’s a funny time in the industry. They are so obsessed with controlling everything and screwing so many artists and it’s going to come back to bite them. A lot of artists are looking to people like Ani DiFranco and doing it DYI. I interviewed Brian McKnight and he talked about doing it himself once his label deal is done. It’ll be interesting.

It’s one of those things where people are facing it all different angles. Right now music is this big hip-hop thing because the labels are pushing that and it’s funny because they always talk about money and you watch in two years a lot of them won’t have any money.

Do you think music is too trendy right now? There really is no boy bands left over from pop right now.

I think it’s like a pendulum. We had grunge and that held on, then pop and boy bands, and now the bands like The Strokes and White Stripes. Now on any given night you go see bands live and three bands suck and sound like The Strokes. There are so many great musicians out there and I feel bad for them.

Do you think the essence of music is being sucked out? For example “punk” bands write pop songs that aren’t very different from an NSYNC song. That is not what punk is really about.

Yeah. It’s funny; I was just back home for the night and talking to this punk kid. I see a lot of punkers who play at this club across the street. This kid is diehard and he says most of his older friends tell him what he is listening to isn’t punk. Punk was a political expression and anti-establishment thing. I think the changes can be good, but the anti-establishment view is punk. If the music varies it’s good, but these kids today are worrying about a quick riff and fast drummer while singing about the prom. I don’t consider that punk at all. The Clash wasn’t the hardest music in the world, but their message was the essence of punk.

You know when you see a great band.

That is the great thing about being on tour. When we see someone like Derek Trucks it’s amazing.

And when you see a Blues Traveler and a Pearl Jam fans know that you’ll be very tight. You make it seem like it’s easy.

Yeah, and like Radiohead.

I better ask about the record.

Yeah. (We both laugh)

When did you record Truth Be Told?

Originally we went to Austin a year ago in March. We were doing about a song a day and did fifteen tracks. They were rough. We went through the summer and fall touring. Following that we went in this past winter around January to California to do some more writing. It was about ten miles from the ocean somewhere between L.A. and Santa Barbara, which is basically God’s country. We were going to record in the studio there but it just didn’t work out. At this point we still didn’t have a record deal. There were four or five deals on the table so we were funding it ourselves. We wrote a batch of songs and then went down to Santa Barbara and recorded the songs.

How do you balance jamming and cranking a song straight through?

We wanted to make these album songs, you can probably hear it. It’s not about the jam. The studio albums we try to keep the integrity of how the song is written and then live we jam around. We like to improvise live and we’ll probably release a live album every year. I think the band has changed somewhat from the first one. I think there are various opinions when people hear “jam bands”. Being lumped into certain groups will disappoint certain listeners. Some don’t want to hear certain songs, but you walk a fine line between some fans who like certain songs.

You dangle the carrot with a shorter album song and basically say ‘come to the show to see a different version’.

Yeah, and it’s weird because the songs have changed. We had a lump of songs that we played live and have changed up the songs since then for the record.

What were you doing before the band?

I went to college at Brown and graduated in ’95. I played all through my youth. My brother Chandler, who is also in the band, joined during high school. He went from there to New York. I was playing through high school and then joined a band in college. We moved to New York and played. We released an independent album and got some radio play here and there and did the touring band thing. Three years in the drummer decided to go to med school. So I was doing some studio stuff and playing in some other bands. I was freelancing as a graphic designer. The money was great. I was able to work and gig three nights awake, but I was starting to get these great offers to work fulltime as a designer. I was at a crossroads. At that point Bobby passed away. The band decided to keep on going so they were looking for a bass player. Thankfully I had been playing and was fresh. They had these series of corporate gigs and they had these guys play the gigs. It was about as nerve wrecking a try out you could do. It was like if you want to be in the band then play a gig with us.

You have a unique perspective of the group because you watched your brother rise through this and saw them through the hard times and now becoming a member. What was it like watching your brother and the band?

I went through all the same trial and tribulations of all these crap bands and shows. They grew organically from clubs to colleges and so on. I saw all of it and I really loved Bobby’s bass play. Then all of the sudden there is no one playing the bass. I was used to hearing them and now I’m in the band. The called me and told me I was a great fit. But they told me right up front that they didn’t want me to imitate Bobby’s work because that was his. That would never be recreated. When that was said it made for a better starting point. It really helped me because I wouldn’t have felt right trying to imitate him.

Growing up did you pretend you were any groups?

We would crank The Clash and The Police. Our parents filled our old baby crib with LPs. They would always be playing music. It was a really nice environment. They would listen to the White Album, Coltrane, Chet Baker, and the Woodstock album.

I had to grow up listening to Kenny Rogers.

You had to rebel against that. (We both laugh)

What is the feeling like every night being on stage?

It is awesome. The strangest transition was going from an old Dodge van with four guys in a van sleeping in it. You crashed where you could. All of the sudden we are on tour and we have a tour bus. You go from venue to venue and stay in the hotel. Things changed like that. It was great having things set up for me. It wasn’t natural so you went from black and white. I have guys changing my strings and tuning my guitar. It’s wild. But it has to be that way because you can’t sit and fix your rig because fans won’t wait around for it. I was nervous at first playing in front of the fans. I put more pressure on myself than anyone else. I just wanted to fit and make music that people would appreciate. It took me a month to get really used to it. I was nervous for a while about how people would accept me. But now it is amazing and I’m comfortable with the band and being on stage. It’s a dream job. And the payoff is such a reward to get out and play. To think that is my job, I just can’t believe how lucky I am.

+ Charlie Craine