Earlier this month, Kali Masi played Chop Shop and we caught up with the band before the show. We spoke with singer/guitarist Sam Porter, guitarist/singer Wes Moore and drummer John Garrison, (bassist/singer Anthony Elliot unfortunately couldn’t be present). We talked about the band’s recent touring experiences, including opening for Less Than Jake for several weeks and their current European tour. We also discussed their latest record, Wind Instrument, in regards to how it was written and recorded. The album combines various genres and progressive songwriting to create a sound that’s genuinely distinctive. It also captures their continuing drive to evolve as musicians and push beyond the boundaries of their previous work. In addition, we addressed their plans for the rest of the year, as well as random topics like Simon & Garfunkel, The Lord of the Rings and more.
Bill – In April of this year, you guys did an East Coast tour with Less Than Jake. What were some of the highlights from that tour?
Sam – Touring with Less Than Jake was really what was cool about it. On that tour, it was us, Less Than Jake, Mest and Punchline, and we were the only band that wasn’t together in the ‘90s. They’re all veterans compared to us. It was really sweet to watch Less Than Jake every night. They’re a lot older than us and have been doing it a lot longer, and have every right to be shitty or jaded, but they’re not that way. They’re so excited to be there. We get tired sometimes and don’t always want to play, but they always want to do it. That’s the attitude to have. That was a big takeaway for me, just the way they run their shows. They’re always happy to meet the fans and happy to be there, because it is a dream for a lot of people to be in a touring band. It’s important to keep that in perspective.
John – It was really cool watching how that band works on a professional level, because we’re still kind of a smaller band. They had a bus, sound people and merch people, so it was kind of a learning experience to just watch it. We all want to do this our whole lives and they’ve been doing it their whole lives and they’re killing it. We got to learn about how to be professional in these settings and what time to get to the venues and how to pace yourself throughout the day.
Bill – Off the top of my head, I don’t think there a lot of bands that have been touring that consistently, both nationally and internationally, for the last 25 years…
John – For sure. We also played a bunch of cities we’ve never been to, which was really cool. We’ve done the East Coast a lot, but this time we got to play Virginia Beach and all these places we’ve never been before.
Bill – Were there any cities in particular that kind of surprised you in terms of the response?
Wes – Lancaster, Pennsylvania. People showed up really early for that one. With us being the opening band, it’s a little unpredictable how many people will show up. I think the turnout was always good, but that one was shockingly good. It was just a packed house from the beginning.
Bill – On a tour like that are you guys able to write very much or is it pretty difficult when you’re in a different city each day?
Sam – I think it’s tough. We didn’t write at all. You could write lyrics and keep a journal and stuff. I definitely try and do that. The grind is so much different on a tour like because the load-ins are at like 3:00 PM. And the drives are pretty long, so it was kind of like drive all day and then load-in. I think if we were a little more diligent, I mean you can have GarageBand on your phone and stuff, but I didn’t really find the time.
Bill – That’s understandable. Let’s talk about your latest record, Wind Instrument, which came out in 2017. Where did you record that album and what was your experience in the studio like?
John – We recorded at Atlas Studios in Chicago with Jay Maas, who lives in Massachusetts. Him and his wife flew out and stayed at Atlas. We spent about two weeks doing it and it was a great experience.
Sam – It was cool because so many bands have recorded at Atlas that we totally love. And it’s gone now, it’s an apartment building. We really like what Jay has done with a lot of records and the music that he’s been a part of. He flew out and his wife was eight months pregnant at the time, and they stayed at the recording studio. We’re close with them now and their son Dean is pretty sweet. We met them at the door of Atlas and we’re still close today.
John – He makes records sound really good. I think he challenged us all individually. It was our first time recording professionally and he did a really good job.
Bill – When you go back and listen to the record now, what are some of the things that stand out?
Sam – When I listen to it, I think of the vocal takes and there’s certain parts that I favor over others. When you look at maybe something you drew or painted, you can see the linework or you can see little marks that you made here or there.
Bill – Like it’s a little more evident…
Sam – Yeah, I think the human aspects, you can hear them more as the human who made them.
John – I think I grew a lot as a drummer since we recorded that album. So, I do listen to stuff and I’m like, “I could’ve done something kind of cool there.” We were kind of new to it though. Sometimes I change some of the parts when we play live, but just small stuff to make it more interesting. It doesn’t change the song that much.
Sam – It’s like the songs are never done. We immediately changed a bunch of stuff after we finished the record, (laughs). I think lyrically there’s more to learn as time goes on. Maybe there was a phoned in lyric or something somewhere and then as time goes on, I end up relating to it more than when I wrote it. Even stuff we wrote way before Wind Instrument, I relate to it more now than I did at 19.
Bill – What inspired the record’s title?
Sam – I think we had a big list of names and that was on there and I liked it a lot. It was kind of a double entendre, but not really. Fugazi had the song “Instrument” with the line that said “We need an instrument to take a measurement.” Wind can also reference change, so it was kind of a record about a lot of changing stuff that was going on. It just kind of felt fitting and it seemed cool to name a rock record Wind Instrument. There’s a trumpet on one of the songs. That’s a brass instrument, right?
Wes – It is actually a wind instrument.
Sam – Oh yeah? It falls in that category?
Wes – Yeah. You’re thinking of woodwind.
Sam – We are musicians, (laughs). Wes plays trumpet on the record. Wes was really new to the band when we went in to record. He crammed a lot of the songs and did a really great job. He played trumpet and did guitars and vocals.
Wes – I could honestly not play guitar that well when we did the record. I play on like a third of it and I’m fine with that. And I’m pretty proud of that third I played on, (laughs).
Bill – Tell me about the writing process for the album and how you kind of challenged yourselves to write from a different perspective and try new things.
Sam – Yeah, all the songs are pretty different and I think they came from really different places. We took so long on that record. Lots of bands spend a lot of time on their first record. That record was just very cumulative of a bunch of stuff that we had been working on. We just hammered away and some of those songs were really old when we finally felt finished with them.
John – We played some of them over and over in the practice space for three to four years almost. We honed in on it, grew as musicians and changed things up when we could. I’m glad that we were patient and felt like we had ten strong songs to put on a record, instead of rushing to put something out.
Bill – One of my favorite songs is the opening track, “Some Friends.” How exactly did that song come together?
John – It was one of the last songs written and Sam just brought it to practice one day.
Sam – It wasn’t like we were trying to fill a gap, like “Oh, let’s write a short punk song.” But, you kind of miss playing stuff like that when you’re playing four-minute songs that are a little more intricate. We just had the little riff, which I stole from a Simon & Garfunkel song called “Old Friends.” It was just the little intro chords and then we made it a fast song. It wrote itself pretty quickly and usually it’s not that easy for us.
Bill – Tell me about the video for “Sputter” and what inspired its creation.
John – That’s an old one. We drove around and we decided to play in the van and pick up some of our friends over a day or two. Our friend Devin filmed that and had a camera in the center of the van.
Sam – We literally just told all our friends, “Hey, we’re gonna call you. Let us know where you are and we’re gonna pick you up.” We filmed them getting into the van and blasted the song and just played with them in the middle of the van. It was really fun. The next day my legs and back were so tired from bracing myself all day.
Bill – You can tell you guys were having fun when you watch it.
John – It was natural responses too. I don’t think anyone really knew what to expect. Some people were stoked and some people are kind of awkward about it, but we included all of it.
Sam – We didn’t get pulled over or anything. He’s actually drumming too, no CGI, (laughs).
Bill – What are you looking forward to most about your upcoming European tour?
Sam – I’ve never been there. So obviously going to new places, but I’m really excited to see what it’s like touring as a band in another country. We’ve been doing this for a really long time and this is first time that I will be completely alien. It’s like that part in Lord of the Rings where Samwise is like “If I take one more step, I’ll be the farthest away from home I’ve ever been,” (laughs). You know what I’m talking about?
Bill – Yes, (laughs).
Sam – It’s like that, kind of. We have our little routines at home where we go to work and let the dog out or whatever, but this is all new.
Wes – I think we’re pretty good at touring the U.S., so now we’re just checking our egos a bit and seeing if we’re up to it.
John – I’m just going with the flow. We’ll see what happens. We have little control at this point over how it’s going to go. I’m sure it’ll be hard at times and really fun at times. Hopefully we meet some new people and learn some stuff. Ever since we started this band, I’ve wanted to tour Europe and now it’s happening. And we’re playing a couple booze cruises, so that’ll be cool. We’ll see how everything goes.
Bill – After you finish that tour, what else do you guys have planned for this year?
John – We’re about 70% through our next record.
Sam – Yeah, we’re getting there on our second LP. We’re making plans to get that out into the world. We’ve got some fun stuff coming up that you’ll see. We’ve got a lot on our plate kind of coming for the rest of the year. Exciting stuff. It’s gonna be good. We’re going to keep being a band if that’s the question.
Bill – (Laughs). That wasn’t, but I appreciate the clarification.
Sam – What if that was the answer? That we’re going to break up.
Bill – I’ve had some weird responses over the years…
John – We don’t necessarily have any tours planned. We’ll be home for a few months, so we’ll probably practice a bunch, work on the new songs and then record them when they’re ready. We’ve got some shows lined up later this year too.
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