buffaBLOG: Brothers Past started in Philly eventually working with the amazing guys in The Disco Biscuits. What was it like having them as support for a new band starting up?
Tom McKee: The Philadelphia music scene has really exploded in the last 10 years, and I think bands like the Disco Biscuits, Brothers Past and Lotus have been at the forefront of that. It's a very cool thing to be a part of. The guys in the Biscuits have been especially supportive over the years and helped us a lot when we were trying to break out of Philly. Marc Brownstein really took me under his wing when I was in my early 20s and really helped me understand the music business. We used to talk about agents and management and venues and it helped to have someone like that to bounce ideas off of. I remember telling him that I had been trying to get the band booked at Wetlands in NYC and wasn't having any luck and he called Wetlands and said "You should give these guys a chance. They're hungry and they work hard and they deserve to play Wetlands." And Jake from Wetlands called me the next day and we booked a show in the basement and packed it and they started letting us play upstairs and that really helped us build a following in NYC. Little things like that really helped Brothers Past get out name out there and build an audience. Young bands need people like that to open a door for them once in a while. I'm running a School of Rock these days and I have a bunch of really talented kids who have graduated from the program and they're making their own music and I am trying to open doors for them where I can. But the one thing I'll say is that once the door is opened, you still have to do your thing. You have to play a great show, or make a great record, or keep people's attention somehow. For the most part, Brothers Past was always able to do that.
bB: We caught BP at Camp Bisco IX last year, it may have been my favorite set seeing Brothers Past(other then your noon set at Bonnaroo 2006), even though the weather caused the set to be truncated. Will we be seeing a lot of Brothers Past on the festival circuit and possibly returning to finish last years camp bisco set?
TM: Last year's set at Camp Bisco kind of sucked for us. We were hanging out the whole weekend and everyone kept telling us how much they were looking forward to our set. We had the best set time at the festival, on the main stage between Ween and the Biscuits. We were ready to kill. Then the rain came. We actually played for about 20 minutes, with two stoppages in the middle of the set, which is a fucking disaster when you do what we do. Our sets are all about momentum and to have it stopped twice really fucks with your adrenalin. I can't say for sure if we will be at Camp this year. We obviously would like to return, but so far nothing has materialized. If it doesn't happen this year, it will happen soon enough. I'm pretty sure Brothers Past has appeared at more Camp Biscos than any other band in the world, besides the Disco Biscuits. We will be back there soon enough.
bB: Recently Brothers Past celebrated their 10th anniversary. Do you feel the difference in the musical spectrum from 10 years ago rather than now? What aspect of your music do you guys feel has evolved the most?
TM: Every thing is different. When we were starting out, electronic music was no where near as prevalent. We stood out just because what we were doing was unique. Now electronic bands are the rule rather than the exception. Everyone on stage has a laptop. Festival lineups are completely different -- there used to be a bunch of jambands booked and then your token electronic act. Now Bassnectar and Pretty Lights get top billing at just about every festival this summer. We've really gone back to the basics of songwriting in an attempt to make ourselves stand out from the other bands, because that's something that I think we do particularly well. Tom Hamilton is the best producer in this scene. He has a vision for the song from day one. I bring him sketches of songs and together we develop them into something that we both think is unique and fresh and new. We've gone back and reworked a bunch of our older material to release for the Everything Must Go series and we've got a bunch of new tracks in various states of completion that no one has even heard yet. Our live shows are still full of long improvised segments, but we're trying to build a catalog of songs that we're proud of. If we can do that, I think we will always be our own thing, rather than just another electronic jamband.
bB: We ask everyone that comes through here in Buffalo this question, but now that Brothers Past has been here a couple times. Is there anything in Buffalo you wish to check out or possibly eat?
TM: The last time we were in Buffalo was for a late night set and to be honest, we didn't really get a chance to experience the city. We did have some really shitty wings that were a total letdown but I think we just ordered them from the wrong place. I would love to spend a day taking in the sights but it never seems to work out that way for us. Clay was there recently for a Biodiesel show and he claimed he had some of the best pizza he's ever had. I kind of have a thing for pizza so I'll probably give that a whirl this weekend. And I would love to go to Niagara Falls with Rich Steele (our soundguy.) I'd push him over the rail and yell "Yankees suuuuuuuuck!" while he plummeted 10,000 feet. I know it sounds morbid, but I think it would be an appropriate way for the big guy to go.
bB: We are all excited for the upcoming new release. What makes this album different than This Feelings Called Goodbye?
TM: For starters, the songwriting process is very different. Most of that record was written in 2003 and 2004 and at that time, Tommy wrote his songs and I wrote my songs. These days, we write together. We've got literally about 15-20 tracks in various stages of completion. Some of them are finished, some need lyrics, some are in the very beginning stages. But we have pretty high standards for what the next Brothers Past record needs to be and we're taking our time with it. The Everything Must Go releases are kind of a bone that we're throwing to fans who are waiting for the next record. If you think about it, that in itself is another separate record. So we're basically working on two records at once. One of them we're releasing one track at a time over the course of a year, the other we'll be released as a proper album. Another difference is that Tommy is basically engineering and producing the record himself. He really is in a league of his own when it comes to that sort of stuff. We will bring it to someone for the mixing and mastering. But everything else he is handling. It sounds great. People ask when it's coming out. The answer is when it's done. We're in no rush. We're putting out plenty of music for our fans in the meantime, and when the record is done we will release it and hopefully people think it will be worth the wait.
bB: Finally, I know the Everything must go downloads have been a huge hit. What goes in to the selection of the shows that are chosen to go up for download?
TM: To be honest, we don't choose the shows. We leave that decision up to our archivist Tom Bozzo and our soundman Rich Steele. They choose the releases based on a number of factors. Obviously we want it to be a show where the band played well. We look for shows from different tours and different years that have some kind of significance within the band's history. We try to pick shows that have a few songs that haven't been on previous releases -- things like that. I'll give the show they suggest a listen to make sure it lives up to our standards but basically these guys are experts in Brothers Past. They've seen enough shows and spent enough time with us to know what the band is and they choose accordingly. The band members are much more involved in the selection of which song to release next and the recording process. We've got a couple of great releases planned for the next few months. All of these tracks and shows can be streamed for free at www.brotherspast.com and can be downloaded for $5. It's been a cool experiment for us and something we will likely use as a business model going forward.
~cs
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