An Interview with The Evening Rig on 3/25/09
By: David Rachac
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How Was The Show: When did you get started playing music? Who were your earliest influences?
Jake: I picked up the guitar at the tender age of 13. Wow, so it's been 21 years and I still really haven't learned how to play the damn thing! It was shortly after my Mom dropped me off at the old Civic Center in St Paul to see AC/DC. Forever changed, man! Just saw them on their last tour here. They were a little slower out the gate, but still got it. I don't think I paid 93 bucks to see them the first time, though. My influences then and now don't veer too far off the rock and roll highway, although I'm secretly hoping to get on the guest list for Katy Perry coming up!
Josh: Because of my mom, I used to listen to a lot of classical music as a kid, and still do. My parents tried to get me to play the piano, but I refused, a decision that I regret a bit today. After quitting the piano, I played drums on various Tupperware containers around the house. I had a few friends over occasionally and we covered Starship's "We Built This City" non-stop. Then I think I tried the clarinet because all the saxophone positions were already taken in the school band. You know, it was the 80s, Huey Lewis? Of course, I quit that, because you can't rock with a clarinet. Anyway, I remember an older friend in the neighborhood showed me Metallica's Ride the Lightning and I was hooked. I wanted to play the guitar just so I could learn how to play metal. My dad was the one who got me into listening to great rock n' roll, though. Something awesome was always blaring in the 1983 Chevette on the way to hockey practice.
Jason: I started playing in a band when I was in the 10th grade. It was a band called Peeping Eddie with Jason Cook and Geoff Thiel. We totally rocked the faces of the northwestern suburbs. Bad/Good 80's mainstream pop was and still is a major influence. I can't get enough of that crap.
HWTS: What kinds of bands did you play in when you first started performing?
Jake: My first band back in high school was called Konkeydong. Pretty much your standard, three-chord punk rock stuff, although a little more on the poppy side. Nothing else has really mounted up since then. I've been trying to contact everyone for a reunion show, but no one will answer my calls.
Josh: My first band consisted of my friend Mike LaCasse who played drums and I who played guitar. Considering the serious lack of high-school musicians in the Circle Pines area in the early 90s who played metal, we mostly ended up being a two-piece. I think we wrote maybe three songs and covered almost every Megadeth or Metallica songs at one point, or at least tried. We did end up getting a singer for a short time, and played a few "talent" shows for the school. Our talent show highlight was our original "I Hate You,” about the popular kids in school. They all loved it. Suckers!
Jason: Peeping Eddie was my first real band. But you should talk to Dan Cote, owner of Heart of a Champion, about the band Annibel Lee -- if only I could get my hands on those old demo tapes.
HWTS: What do you enjoy most about the Twin Cities that makes you want to live and make music here?
Josh: Shit, I'd move anywhere if I could be a successful jingle writer for beer commercials. They have some ripping guitar solos and I bet they pay in free beer. Seriously, though, we have a lot of pretty darn good music history here and there certainly is something to be said about the "Minneapolis sound.” I dig living here, though I'd rather not have to suffer another fucking winter. I think there was talk of moving the band to LA on the ride back from Austin last week. I'm not sure why...
Jason: What's not to enjoy about this place? I love it! I wouldn't want to be anywhere but here. I do have to say the winters do seem to get longer and longer year after year. Global warming isn't happening fast enough.
HWTS: How did the line-up for The Evening Rig come about?
HWTS: Tell me about your songwriting and recording process -- how does a song go from idea to finished form?
ALL: Well, if we did it the same way twice, we could tell you. That said, we record pretty much the standard way. We each go in and record the parts separately, very few if any overdubs, mix it down, master it up, and that's it. We usually write a ton of songs at practice. The problem is, we can never remember them all. Either we're too drunk, the song is too boring, or Josh couldn't figure out the fucking 8-track again. It's a combination, really. But really, the best write themselves and don't require much work. Those are the ones we play.
HWTS: Pretty much every review of your CDs or your live show invokes the word "Westerberg" somewhere - like it, hate it or somewhere in between?
Jake: Like it, although I think Jason's vocals are more on par with Bryan Adams. I mean that as a compliment.
Josh: I don't care. I'm just glad they're not Hasselhoff comparisons. I'm of German descent and even I don't get it.
HWTS: Your CD release party for Is Doin' Stuff will be Friday, March 27 at the Seventh Street Entry. What are we going to see there?
HWTS: Do you have any plans for the road this summer?
ALL: We just got back from a week that stretched through Austin, Memphis, Chicago, and Green Bay -- 3000 miles. It was fun, but grueling. We'll be doing a lot of weekend out-of-town shows this summer in lieu of booking a tour and don't plan to leave again for an extended amount of time until late fall or early winter. That said, we're always down for taking off on short notice when opportunities arise! We're going to try to get another full-length written and we're also flirting with the idea of recording a 5 song EP at Sun Studios in Memphis. The rates are surprisingly affordable and how cool would it be to cut a record where all the greatest musicians have?
HWTS: Thanks for taking the time to answer all these questions. Any final comments?
The Evening Rig play at the Seventh Street Entry on Friday, March 27th, with special guests The Dynamiters and The Millionth Word. $6
Artist Info: The Evening Rig
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