MM: Yeah‚ I think that's great - getting all different musicians together and just jamming. I hope this inspires more musicians in the jamband scene to get out and play with each other. I think it's starting to happen more.
Tim: Yeah‚ I mean someone like Medeski is out there jamming with everybody. I guess it's always been that way going back to the jazz age where everybody played with anyone. Everyone would agree to back up their friend when they would go make an album and vice versa.
MM: That's really how I've been thinking about it. Jazz musicians moved from gig to gig and played with everyone. I think that comes with improvisational music - and right now there's so many great musicians in the scene‚ they should be getting out there playing with everyone. I think it all goes back to the Grateful Dead/Phish thing that spawned a lot of what's happening today - but back then it was taboo to jam with each other. For instance‚ "we have this thing going on‚ they have their thing going on - let's pretend that they don't exist." So it's good to see Phil Lesh or Bob Weir jam with guys from Phish‚ or more recently Trey jamming with moe. I think all down the line if everyone keeps doing this‚ it's just going to create more magic.
Tim: Definitely‚ it's all for the better.
MM: Well‚ I don't really know too much about you. I know what you're doing now‚ I know you rip on guitar‚ but I don't really know where you come from and your history as a musician. And also share about how Psychedelic Breakfast came together.
Tim: I've playing guitar since I was 4 years old. My father and my uncle would noodle around on the old guitars playing Beatles tunes and other classic rock. Watching them I just wanted to get into it. So they taught me some chords and I learned my first Beatles tune. Then I took lessons for a few years as a kid‚ then I put it down for a while. When I was twelve‚ I started to take it seriously and got into classic rock and Eddie Van Halen and just explored. I just kept practicing and eventually taught myself how to solo. That pretty much leads up to where I'm at today.
I've been in different bands for a while. I knew our bassist (Ron Spears) and our drummer (Adrian Tramontano) since middle school. We had a band together in '98 and we just wanted to get out and we ended up meeting our keyboard player (Jordan Giangreco) at a jam session. He happened to be from the same town as us‚ he's just a bit older than us. So we were like "let's get a band together" and we went on to play our first gig on Mischief night in 1998. And here we are today.
MM: Yeah‚ I think it's going well. I know Psychedelic Breakfast is starting to get some much deserved attention‚ and there's a good buzz going around the scene. I know you did your first national tour last summer (2002) - so how did the West coast treat you?
Tim: They were awesome! A much different vibe out there - very relaxed. I really dug it. There's an amazing amount of great bands out there. We got to meet a lot of people - I loved the West coast personally... I mean the weather‚ the women‚ the music‚ I mean the whole thing was sweet. All the way up to Seattle‚ I had no problems with the West coast.
MM: So the crowds were good to you as well?
Tim: Yeah‚ LA especially. We played in front of a packed house‚ thanks to Barry Smolin‚ who's been playing our music on a major radio station out there. So he really helped us out. We played to a packed house and people are dying for us to come back. We did the High Sierra Fest‚ which is the equivalent of the Gathering of the Vibes for the West coast‚ and that was great.
MM: I know you played the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco with Raq and Particle‚ how was that show?
Tim: That was awesome. We were the first to play out of the three bands‚ so it was a little early for the crowd to be there‚ but we played a great set. I listened back to the tape and it's awesome. We got to hang out with Raq and Particle in San Francisco‚ and we got to play one of the prettiest places we've ever played.
MM: Yeah that's what I've heard about that place. Well‚ let me pick your brain about your albums - let me just say I think both of them are fantastic. Your first album... well‚ first let me say I love the cover‚ you know that whole Zappa puppet master thing and all the other cool shit going on... anyway‚ I think the first album (self titled) really showed what you guys can do musically‚ and how good you are. Then with Deuce I think the maturity level in the songwriting and the jams in the studio‚ I think it's phenomenal. I just read that Deuce is getting distributed nationally‚ how do you feel about that?
Tim: It's amazing. We still have to do a lot of work in letting people know that our album even exists‚ and that it's sitting in a store at the end of the aisle. It certainly helps. I never thought our CDs would be in stores before. So now we just got to get people to buy them (laughs).
MM: So what's next in terms of putting out an album?
Tim: We're doing a live album that we'd like to have out maybe in February or early spring. Then we'll do a tour to support that. So right now we're just playing a bunch of gigs‚ trying to save up some money and devote our time to making the album right. That's about it - it never stops! (laughs) Play‚ play‚ play‚ record‚ record‚ record‚ tour‚ tour‚ tour... it's non-stop.
MM: Yeah‚ you have to do your time and be road warriors. Did you already record the show for the live album?
Tim: Yes‚ we recorded a show at Pearl Street in Northampton. It's going to be that show‚ we just have to do some minor overdubs and polish up the sound. We're not sure if we are going to keep it in it's entirety‚ or if we are going to put out one disc.
MM: You're constantly on the road trying to get as many people into it as possible - have you recently been able to find any time to write new material together‚ rehearse‚ and just get together to jam?
Tim: Not so much lately... we sort of practiced... I don't even know when we last practiced. We play so much live that we don't get to practice that much. Every once in a while we get a chance to go to the practice space and jam stuff out‚ but we don't explore in terms of jamming‚ we do all that on stage. We're hoping in December that we'll be able to do that and start focusing and exploring more. Since we already have the live recording‚ we would like to start focusing on writing new material. You can never plan too far ahead.