A Conversation with moe.’s Chuck Garvey – HuffPost 2.22.12
Mike Ragogna: So? What happened to the La Las?
Chuck Garvey: They temporarily went “bye bye,” then we got sad and asked them to come back. They were in the outro of “Suck A Lemon.” When John Travis, who produced/mixed, took them out of the first mix of the song, Rob asked where they went. It was funny and then it stuck!
MR: You’re familiar with the group The LAs? Was this also some sort of unconscious tribute to them as well?
CG: Not at all. Nothing against them, it just came from the silly la la chorus…
MR: How did it feel having a producer helm this one?
CG: Great! We needed someone else to bounce everything off of…and to mix. We know how to do all this stuff, but having that objective, capable outsider to help get something new, while taking over the workload that “producing” entails, let us just be musicians and work on our immediate tasks. Creativity in the studio can get steamrollered by the technical workload, scheduling, etc. He really enabled us to get it done quickly and keep the quality high.
MR: Let’s get into some of the songs on What Happened To The LA LA’s. Your song “Suck A Lemon” has something to do with Halloween. Can you go into that?
CG: We asked our fans to come up with a theme for our Halloween show two years ago. They ultimately voted in favor of “The Electric Lemoe.nade Acid Test,” one of many submissions. We said that each band member would write a song specifically for this show, so I wrote “Suck A Lemon.” It went over ok, I guess! I like the newer, heavy treatment we came up with in the studio.
MR: Lyrically, Al Schnier’s song “Downward Facing Dog” is a very personal song. What’s the story behind that one?
CG: He has said that it has a lot to do with his ties to family, having parents as well as being one. Realizing his place in a continuum, perhaps? I also get a sense of mortality that is maybe fleeting, but also rewarding.
MR: You’ve been performing “Bones Of Lazarus” for like ten years. What’s the story behind “Lazarus”‘s studio resurrection?
CG: It started out life as “Lazarus,” then Rob’s brother John wrote a story called “The Bones Of Lazarus.” After the new arrangement for this album, Rob brought out the new title. This new version has an added verse, as well as a section of an instrumental segue we call “Ricky Martin” grafted in.
MR: How would you describe moe.’s sound these days?
CG: We have resurrected our own straight up rock sound for many songs, but there are always a bunch of tricks up our sleeves. Plus Jim plays xylophone, vibes, and other crazy synth sounds and samples that can easily help alter the overall personality of any song! No one stays in one spot for very long…
MR: Are there any bands out there that moe. feels most akin with and why?
CG: Hmmm…that’s tough. We haven’t reinvented the wheel, by any means, but it definitely has a unique, funky-ass Mad Max spinning rim on it! I guess there are touches of Allman Brothers and The Grateful Dead, but with King Crimson, The Who, Kiss, and Gram Parsons mixed in. I am fulla s**t. Really, I think we are just trying to condense a lot of influences and forebears–too many to really acknowledge–and have distinctive, unique voices as instrumentalists and vocalists. It’s not easy! We are all a bit schizophrenic, so sometimes the result is anarchic, but pleasant.
MR: WIll the LA LAs really ever come back?
CG: They are back, baby!
MR: Chuck, what advice do you have for new artists?
CG: You can do it all yourself, but you have to put in the time, tour a lot and build your fans one at a time. It’s hard work, but it will last longer than if you get there through false hype.