Post by LS on Jul 2, 2006 20:30:01 GMT -5
The Skeeters Set To Invade!
Alabama based band The Skeeters released their sophomore album Easy For The Takin’ earlier this year, and shortly thereafter started creating a buzz. The album quickly shot up the Americana charts; their songs were in rotation on Americana radio stations across the country, as well as on Sirius’ Outlaw Country channel. Amidst the whirlwind, I got a chance to talk with band members Matt Martin and Bert Newton to bring us up to date on the album, the momentum it’s brought the band, their experiences and pretty much anything else that came to mind.
TCB: Ok, how about if we get the obvious out of the way first? The ‘Waylon’ comparisons. After listening to The Skeeters for, oh say 20 seconds, there’s a certain similarity that jumps right up and smacks you between the eyes, and then come the inevitable comparisons. Does that bother you?
Matt: You know it’s a great honor to be put in the same category as a great man like Waylon, or to even be mentioned in the same sentence. I don’t think anyone’s said we’re the ‘next Waylon’ or anything, and I hope they don’t, because we never will be.
Bert: I have to agree. It’s an honor to be in the same sentence as, or compared to. We do outlaw country like Waylon did outlaw country.
TCB: I’m guilty of the same thing, but the way I look at it is that Waylon was my idol, he was an idol and influence to a lot of people, and when he passed on, he left a huge void. I’m sorry, but Bert your voice is sometimes too uncanny, and at least on my part, it’s meant as a compliment…
Bert: I have gotten that a lot and I say thanks…I guess. I’ve got a lot of albums of his, I loved the way he stirred things up. Now mainstream, what they’re doing up there, I think some of those music executives have to take a chance…Waylon was different and that’s what made him Waylon. Just like if Sam Phillips never took a chance on Elvis Presley, then that would’ve been a damn shame because we’d have never known Elvis Presley.
TCB: Do you find the comparison tends to box you in?
Matt: You know I don’t, because we’re gonna play what we feel, regardless of what people say. It’s true, Bert does have a baritone voice and Waylon had a baritone voice, and Johnny Cash had one, Kris Kristofferson at times…I think it’s just that there’s not really anybody else out there that has a baritone voice that’s comparable to those people. And I think that’s where people draw the conclusion and similarities. It’s a great honor for us, it’s not something we’re trying to be or trying to sound like Waylon. I’m sure some of our music does, because Waylon was a huge influence on us and he was a hero of ours, as is Cash and Kristofferson, and a whole host of others.
But no, it doesn’t make us mad; I hope it’s something that over time we can…that we can make our own moniker, you might say.
Bert: But yeah, I think it’s because I’m a baritone and that’s why we get compared so much. And I guess there aren’t a lot of people to compare me to so…
TCB: You can’t help it- that’s just the way it comes out… [Laughter]
Bert: Right. [Laughter] And of course he has been a big influence musically, along with a lot of others…but I don’t think I sound anything like him- he sounds a hell of a lot better than I do. [Laughter]
TCB: I do hear a lot of other influences in your music. I hear Billy Joe (Shaver), Kristofferson…I guess it is just Bert’s voice, that there are few baritones out there and it’s kind of like ‘word association,’ just that in this case, it’s with voices.
Matt: Right, absolutely.
TCB: As a band, you guys started out as more or less a Top 40 cover band. When you started doing original songs, did you start getting resistance as far as getting gigs?
Matt: Oh absolutely, yeah. I mean we could still get gigs, but they didn’t pay anything all of the sudden. [Laughter] That’s a tough thing, especially I find in the Southeast. There aren’t a whole lot of venues that support original music. It’s a sad thing, but I think it’s a natural chain of events that evolves and develops like anything else.
TCB: So then, if you want to be a band that has it’s own identity and plays it’s own original music, how do you break through?
Matt: Any way you can. There’s no formula, you just have to get out there and take any gig you can get and utilize the people that are there that will play your music. You take it to the people. That’s what you have to do. As far as mainstream country radio…they’re not a big help. [Laughter] It all comes down to the listeners. Just like we seek out ways to get to them, when people get tired of being spoon fed stuff, they will find ways; adapt, to find real music. You just find each other.
TCB: Ok, with all the advances in technology, recording music is now within the reach of a lot more people today than it was even 10 or 15 years ago. So, because people can now make and put out a good quality recording at a fraction of what it used to cost without the need of a major label (or even any label), more performers are doing that. You’ve just released you’re second CD. The main problem seems to be in the distribution- getting it to the people. Is that what you’ve found too?
Matt: There are sources of distribution that support Americana, all country in the genre. Web sales have been good for us. People have heard us on Sirius and the Americana radio stations. The people, they’ll seek you out on the internet and they’ll buy your records, they’ll support you. On the internet, there’s some websites that support it. Texas Music Roundup has been real good for us; we’ve sold quite a few CDs through them. There are avenues out there, you just have to search and find them. It’s a slow process, but what I tend to find is that once people do discover you, and they embrace your music, you’ve earned them the hard way…or they’ve earned you the hard way, whichever way you want to look at it. They tend to be long-term fans and they’re great, they support you. It’s just kind of a grassroots type of situation.
TCB: And speaking of albums, how about all the success that your new album, Easy For The Takin’ is having?
Matt: It’s great…I hope it has a lot more! [Laughter] We love all the success we can get.
(Note: Since the interview, The Skeeters’ latest CD, Easy For The Takin’ has made the first round of nominations for the AMA awards)
TCB: I see there’ve been some personnel changes in the band since the first album came out.
Matt: Yes there has. We lost our original drummer, Slash. He just decided music wasn’t what he wanted to do. And our old keyboard player, Dan (Barker), kind of came to the same conclusion so…Bert, Rick (Eller) and me are the remaining originals. We have added (drummer) Chase Armstrong to the band, he’s done a great job, and he’s been with us several years now and a full-fledged member of the band. Paul Crawford’s been playing with us for about a year on steel guitar, harp, saxophone and any other instrument that somebody might throw up there on the stage- anything but the kitchen sink…and he could probably play the kitchen sink if you gave him a couple days to get used to it. [Laughter] He’s a pretty incredible musician.
TCB: Was there an adjustment period or did it all come together quickly?
Matt: It kind of was hard. We come from a small town, we’re not in Austin, and we’re not in Nashville with a whole slew of great pickers to choose from. Chase and Paul are hometown boys and we had known them for years. What we do is not something that people of our generation have grown up trying to play. I didn’t even grow up playing what I play, I grew up playing rock & roll and listening to stuff from the 70s & 80s. So it takes somebody with an open mind, a little ‘want to,’ but it’s been great.
TCB: Along with being the band’s lead singer, Bert, you’re also the chief songwriter of the band’s original material. What first gave you the inspiration to think this was something you could do?
Bert: I would say listening to Kris Kristofferson gave me that inspiration. Man, he blew me away. My dad and mom were big on Waylon and Willie, and Kris as well, and I got to listening to them, and The Highwaymen, and then I started following Kristofferson’s music, and he just blew me away with his lyrics. Of course he’s a genius…but I guess that was the challenge- it challenged me to want to write.
TCB: How old were you?
Bert: Oh shoot, that would be hard to say. Maybe around 10 or 11…I was writing songs before I was playing the guitar.
TCB: And did you just sit down and was happy with the way they came out, or were you like ‘I never want anyone to ever hear these songs’?
Bert: A lot of them are still like that today. [Laughter] Sometimes, but everybody says you’re your own worst critic. Sometimes they’ll come out and I won’t like them, but the boys will like them. I’ll write one I don’t like and Matt will like it, and then it’ll grow on me.
TCB: When you bring a song to the table, does the rest of the band say ‘oh yeah, that’s really good,’ or ‘well, this would sound better like this’ or ‘that totally sucks, just throw it away’?
Bert: Well I leave that up to the music geniuses in the band- and that ain’t me. [Laughter] Matt’s really good at writing music, of course so is Crawford and Rick, our bass player. They create something more than just a little old blues riff or whatever, they’ll take it in a completely different direction.
TCB: Besides Kristofferson, you mentioned Waylon as an influence. Do you keep him in the back of your mind, as far as drawing in various influences when you’re writing?
Bert: Yeah pretty much. I wish I could write like Billy Joe Shaver, they come out for him about 4 or 5 times a day in spurts, I guess. [Laughter] I think if you sit down and try to write a song, it’s not gonna be as good as one that just hits you when you’re going down the road and a song just comes to you. That’s the way it happens for me. And when that happens, I usually do write 2 or 3.
TCB: Like you wake up at 4 in the morning from a dream and start jotting things down?
Bert: Sometimes that’s the best time to write. The morning is the best for me, I think your mind’s fresher. Or you’ll be riding down the road and bam!
TCB: So how did you get to know Johnny Sandlin?
Matt: Ah, Johnny. Well I have been a fan of The Allman Brothers for years and years, I listened to my mother’s records growing up and everything. I was raised in Georgia, over in Dalton, and he was in Macon. His name was just sort of synonymous with music in the south, so his name was available to me. After I started making a serious career in music, I just sought him out. I sent him copies of some demos we had done, a couple of songs off our first record, and he just really liked it. He called me back and wanted to know if we’d be interested in recording for him, so we just jumped at the chance because he’s such a…
TCB: A legend!
Matt: A legend, and not only that, but also a sweet person, a sweet hearted person. He just really cares about music and people…and he’s just a master at what he does. And a lot of people don’t know he’s not only a masterful producer, but a great musician too. It just worked out really well.
TCB: Yeah, I would say. In the studio working with Johnny, did you guys do the arrangements, or did Johnny say, ‘we’re going to do it this way’?
Bert: Usually we did it the way we had it laid down, but Johnny would definitely rearrange some things, [Laughter] I guess that’s what a producer does.
TCB: He more or less just sat back and let you guys loose, and just came in with suggestions?
Bert: Exactly, yeah. He would let us just go ahead, lay it down and some thing’s he wouldn’t change and some thing’s he might suggest. He’s had me write more verses before. “That’s too short Bert, go add another verse.” [Laughter] Yeah, great…
TCB: [Laughter] No pressure there!
Bert: [Laughter] And that’s the way it was. Of course I got that from Waylon, he has a lot of 2 verse songs, very short songs. Hell, he said it all in 2 verses, nothing wrong with that! But Johnny’s more of a ‘that’s too short.’ [Laughter] But when Johnny speaks you listen.
TCB: Given his amazing reputation, working with the great Johnny Sandlin, were you nervous at all?
Bert: I was, before I went in there, but you know, Johnny really takes all that away. He’s so down to earth. You look at all the gold records on the wall and, of course it’s intimidating, yeah. You’re just like ‘wow.’ And you’re in a booth, you’ve never been in a booth, and he’s like ‘we’re rolling!’ [Laughter] so the first couple of songs- yeah there was some of that. But Johnny’s just so easygoing and laid back. We just love him to death; he’s like a family member to us.
TCB: How did Billy Joe (Shaver) come into the picture?
Matt: Actually, we were over at Johnny’s one day and worked on the first record, and we just got to talking about our idols and influences, and we mentioned Billy Joe Shaver. Johnny said ‘ah, I used to work with Billy Joe Shaver at Capricorn.’ He said, as matter of fact I have an old reel-to-reel tape of a song that he gave me one time. So he started rummaging around boxes in closets and pulled out this old reel-to-reel tape that said ‘Honey Child” on it. Billy Joe had given it to him in the early/mid 70s I guess, he’d been out in California working on a record and Billy Joe had stopped in and said ‘hey man, you might want to cut this song.’ So it hadn’t been heard in 20 some years, it’d just been sitting there so…but we thought it was like opening up a treasure chest for the first time. So Johnny called Billy Joe and asked him if we could cut the song and he didn’t even remember the song. He said, ‘yeah, I’d like to hear it- I can’t even remember it!’ [Laughter]
So we cut the tune and Billy came over to Atlanta to play at Smith’s Olde Bar, and we opened up for him over there, and we just really hit it off. It’s been that way ever since. He’s turned out to be a really good friend to us, another great legend we’re just real honored to be associated with…and probably don’t deserve. [Laughter]
TCB: What’s it like working with him?
Bert: Oh gosh it was great.
TCB: Was he in the studio with you when you cut the song, or did he add his vocals later?
Bert: We were in the studio together when we did it, so we did it together. He’s quite a card; he’s a wild man. [Laughter]
TCB: I keep picturing those stories about when Waylon was doing the sessions for Honky Tonk Heroes, with Billy Joe stomping around the studio…was he like that at all or has he mellowed?
Bert: [Laughter] No, I think his mean and wilder days are…well, his mean days are over, he’s just wild now. [Laughter] He can tell some stories, he’s a storyteller. But I wouldn’t want to piss him off. I have before and I don’t want to see that again. [Laughter] We were playing out in Texas, it was like our first show in Dallas and we opened up for him. We cut the show short or something, we were walking out and Billy Joe was walking in and he goes “Hell, are you done already?” I said, “well I didn’t want to step on your toes.” He goes “Good God, I’m just gettin’ here!” Boy, he was mad, he didn’t have a damn thing set up. I was like oh that’s nice, uhhh no, I pissed him off…[Laughter] But he got up on stage and bragged on us, and then we did a show with him the next night, and I said Billy Joe’s gonna have to come out here and drag my ass off the stage, ‘cause I’m not cutting short tonight! [Laughter]
TCB: Besides Johnny and Billy Joe, you’ve worked with another music great, Donnie Fritts.
Bert: Oh man, that was great. Donnie Fritts is one of my heroes. He played with Kris for 30 years or whatever. Kris told me once he spent more time with Donnie Fritts than he has anybody else in his whole life. [Laughter] He’s just really nice and it was just wonderful working with him. Kris’ Live At The Philharmonic is my favorite album, and Donnie’s on it, so he’s gonna stand high with me.
TCB: And you walked in there and you weren’t the least bit intimidated?
Bert: Of course, of course I was. But I just don’t let it show. [Laughter]
TCB: Did you learn anything from watching and working with these guys?
Bert: Oh yes, absolutely. Energy. I learned a lot of energy from Billy Joe. I’m like this guy’s had two heart attacks and he’s still up there swinging his fists around, veins popping out of his neck, his face is turning red…and he’s up there singing “Try and try again…” and I’m like, good God, he’s gonna have another one! [Laughter] But seriously, that’s the kind of energy you need to bring to the stage every time, and that man does it.
That’s what we try to do in our live shows. That’s so much different from our albums. Our albums are great, but we try to put a lot of energy in our live shows, because people are coming out there to see you. That’s the most fun about the whole experience for me, is when you’re standing up on stage singing and performing. I’d rather do that than anything else…I’d rather do that than travel, I’d rather do that than make albums, but all that goes with it. [Laughter] You have to load in and load out every night, and that’s not why you do it. And if you ever get paid, when you get paid, which is good, but that’s not why you do it either. The most fun about it is when you’re doing it.
TCB: Do you think that’s what’s missing in a lot of today’s music, that energy?
Bert: I do. I think today a lot of them spend more time on their hair than their act. Yeah, that energy is rare up in Nashville I think…I’m not scared to say that- the hell with them. [Laughter] Not all of them, but some of them- I mean, good God. You spent 2 hours bleaching your teeth and 2 hours on your hair and you’re up there playing 3 chords maybe, the whole song.
TCB: What if somebody walked up to you and said, come on, let’s make a music video?
Bert: I’d say, let’s do it!
TCB: Yeah? You’d sit there and let people put make-up all over you, blow-drying out you’re hair…
Bert: [Laughter] Now I don’t know about that…I don’t need any make-up anyway. I don’t need any- you’d just be covering up a good thing. [Laughter]
I think videos are important though, especially since millions of people watch that stuff. Some of them are just ridiculous, they throw tons of money into them and they’re just silly. But some of them are really good. If you do one that’s more down to earth, like what you’re about, what you’re doing or if the song has a story and it tells the story…But yeah, I think that helps, and I’d say sure, we’d do one.