Riding Shotgun With the Life and Times
I cannot stress the importance of getting to a show in time to see the opening bands, my friends. Call it the importance of timeliness. For if on that night in April when the Pelican tour rolled into DC, I had not been there early enough I could have missed the utter amazingness that is the Life and Times. Their brilliant noise would not have rocked my world (and my eardrums), and I would not be urging you to go see them at the Rock'n'Roll Hotel on December 4. Allen Epley, voice of the Life and Times, took on the Riding Shotgun challenge. See what floats his boat (Ska-turday! PB&J! Japan!), and then run, don't walk to the R'n'R Hotel for some extremely loud, incredibly wicked music. You're welcome in advance.
Touring is: a chance for us to remember that we're musicians and not day-job robots.
Our first gig was: Admittedly a bit of a blur now, but with this line-up I'm pretty sure it was October 2, 2004 at the Brick in Kansas City, MO., with fellow DeSoto label mates Doris Henson (RIP) and Roma 79 from San Francisco. Good show and well attended, to boot.
Our favorite venue to play is: Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis, the Troubadour in West Hollywood and the Black Cat in DC because every band looks and sounds and gets treated like rock stars in these 5 star venues. The Empty Bottle in Chicago gets special recognition just for being so badass for so long and is more relevant these days than they've ever been. Viva la Bottle!
Hygiene on a tour is: Hit and miss. Chris, our drummer, is one of those guys who (thinks he) can go for a few days without a shower. Every band has at least one dude like this. Most of the time he's fine... but none of us are real stinkers.
Our favorite thing about touring is: Being able to travel and do what we love to do and still get paid for it. We've been literally all over the world and always have made at least some money doing it. Most folks will not get the opportunity to even see most of the US until they're retired, if ever. I think it's a real perk of this job.
And the least favorite: After we've been out for a few weeks I personally get tired of having to decide where to go eat twice or three times a day. The choices get fewer and fewer after a while and I get tired of spending money on every meal. Sometimes you just want a PB and J and a few chips, you know? Maybe chug some milk from the jug. Is that too much to ask?
City with the best audiences: Chicago, without a doubt.
Band member most likely to disappear after a gig: Chris, our drummer. He's a bit of an enigma. He can disappear at the most inopportune times, it seems. It's a good thing that he's such an amazing musician!
The tour bus/van smells like: Pot.
Laundry is: a) washed regularly, b) washed irregularly, c) we go shopping a lot: I'd say it's a), but generally we're only out for a couple of weeks at a time or less so it'll probably only happen once and even then it's kind of near the end of the outing.
What's the most unusual item on your rider? What's a rider? Oh yeah. Uh, maybe tube socks.
Who controls the music in the touring vehicle? And what do you like to listen to while tooling around on tour? We all kind of like a lot of the same things and only have music that we like in the van, so everyone picks out the music. We listen to a lot of The Flaming Lips, Steely Dan, My Bloody Valentine, Doves, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, or whatever iTunes picks out for us on shuffle. ...and on Saturdays we have Ska-turday where it's nothing but ska all fucking day. We also have Smash or Trash sessions with all the new music we get. If we hate it Eric gets to break it.
Your new favorite watering hole after being on tour? Max Fish in NY, where, in one night after a show at the Mercury Lounge, we kicked it with Matt Sweeney from Chavez and David Cross. No shit. In KC I'd say Dave's Stagecoach on Westport Rd. A whiskey and a beer back for $2.75? Of course we'll be there.
And/or the best place to get greasy, hangover-curing food? Bell St. Mama's or Poncho's drive thru Mexican food. You always know the best Mexican places are the ones packed with actual Mexicans eating there. The real deal.
Most amusing memory from your current or most recent tour? When we were on tour with Murder By Death and William Elliot Whitmore in November of '05, we experienced what could only be described as some kind of Dionysian dream while in Columbia, SC at the New Brookland Tavern. It felt like something that could have only happened at Studio 54. Anyway, I guess folks in SC don't really mind showing off their breasts too much. To everyone... all night. "They're just titties!?" was the main quote that I seem to recall as the sun began to rise.
Favorite tour activity (other than the gigs themselves): We usually bring our baseball gloves and baseballs for some catch at rest stops or if we arrive to town a little early. It's easy to transport, fun, gets the blood pumping. We've also been known to sit in the van and watch an entire season of the Trailer Park Boys on the laptop.
Are there any bands you've played with that you'd like to tour with again? And/or bands that you have yet to tour with that you'd like to? Fortunately we have had the pleasure of touring with some great bands, and would definitely like to tour with them again, i.e.: Pelican, Murder By Death, Mono, Sparta, The Jade Shader, Russian Circles. Our touring dream wish-list: Doves, The Flaming Lips, Led Zeppelin. (that's right, my bad)...honestly I think we could fit with a lot of different kinds of bands and compliment the show by juxtaposition or by having a similar type of sound.
Please name the city you wouldn't ever play in again? Or if not a particular city, which venue would you care never to play at again? I've had good shows all over so I hate to alienate certain places. I personally like Cleveland but it's never particularly kind to any of my projects. As far as clubs go, there's one in Columbia, MO called Mojo's and the soundman was such a jackass from the minute we loaded in that we actually considered not playing the show. I don't even want to get into it right now because I'll get myself all worked up and upset and sweating and nobody wants that.
Apart from the obvious cd, what's the merch item of yours you think people should shell out for? One of everything.
How was Japan? Such a great experience and goes back to the other question regarding the best thing about touring. This is a perfect example. We had amazing shows at great clubs that were either at capacity or close to it. People are so respectful. They work hard at everything they do, whether it's running sound at the club, flipping burgers, delivering mail, it's all done so well. Their culture is one of personal perfection and not one of "I'll do a good job if I'm tipped" or if there's some carrot dangling in front of them like we are in the States.
Have you been to the top of the Washington Monument? No. Can you help us make it happen? We'll bring the pot.
What would you like people to be saying about the Life & Times in 50 years? "Damn, for being 80 something, these dudes can rock."
What's the first item of business you would recommend to a first-time visitor to Kansas City? Kansas City is what I would call a "creeper city." It's one of those where you may not be just blown away by something immediately (Chicago's skyline and lakefront, etc;) but instead is a city in which its' many amenities will present themselves over a few weeks time. But if I had to point someone to just one place I would probably recommend the Plaza or one of our many fine BBQ establishments: Gates, LCs, Arthur Bryants, Oklahoma Joes, Jack Stack, Rosedale, Haywoods, and so forth.
My friend Jason is dying to know: what's your favorite U2 album? Tell Jason that it's the Unforgettable Fire and October, in that respective order.
Favorite Life & Times song (either consensus or individual)? Oooh. Good question and a tough one too. It's always changing and we're so close to it that sometimes you hate the music you make (musicians/songwriters know what I'm talking about). But I would say I'm consistently amazed that we wrote "The Sound of The Ground" from the Magician EP.
Please recite a line of poetry: Despite being what I would call a devout spiritual atheist, I'm strangely comforted by "A prophet is without honor in his own land." Matthew 13:57-58.
And finally, it's BigYawn's round. What's your poison? Bourbon and water. Thanks very much.
More on the Life & Times is available at www.thelifeandtimes.com and www.myspace.com/thelifeandtimes.