Interview with TAB the Band!

Tony (guitar), Adrian (bass/vocals), Lou (guitar) and Ben (drums) of Massachusetts’ TAB the Band are a young group that plays the type of catchy riff n’ roll that ruled the late 60’s and 70’s, and the guys have had a ton of success doing it, playing venues all over the world with the likes of Stone Temple Pilots and Modest Mouse. I caught up with the band through e-mail after their recent Great Scott set, where we discussed everything from exploding guitar amps, the Village People, and why you should listen to more classical music while stoned. Enjoy!

How’s the new album coming along, and is there a tentative release date/title set?
We’ve been recording off and on for the past year. We had two LPs in 2008 so we decided to take a little more time with the next set of releases. At this point we are thinking of releasing a few singles starting in the fall, leading up to the release of an LP in early 2010. The first single (we think) will be a song called “She Said No (I Love You)”. The LP will be called Zoo Noises. We should be done tracking by the end of June and then we’ll start to get everything mixed and mastered.

What can your fans expect on this record this time around. How are you changing things up musically/lyrically etc.?
People can expect the new LP to expand the spectrum of what we’ve been doing. There will be more flavors of T.Rex and Cheap Trick, even some stuff that recalls the roots feel of The Band, and also more of the pop elements of the mod bands of the 60s. Ultimately our band is about songs. Not exactly a mind blowing revelation, but the point is that the song comes first and how you dress it up doesn’t matter. On the upcoming LP we’re going to try to dress things up a little differently than we have on the first two records. We’re basically playing “dolls” with the songs. I’m pretty sure the Beatles were into Barbie too, no?

You guys used to be a power trio. When did Lou come into the fold and what does he bring to the band that you guys might’ve been lacking before?
Lou has been in the group since Summer of 2008 and brings the screwed down hair-do we so desperately needed. As the music became more ambitious with more vocal harmonies and dual-guitar parts, it became necessary to add someone (Lou also plays additional percussion on songs, and also keyboards). Last spring we found out that we were going to open for STP and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, so that really spurred us to want to step up the live show sonically. It made sense to add someone before that tour so we could put our best foot forward in doing the songs justice live. And when it came to who we would add, it was pretty much down to Lou, or Lou. He’s been a friend for years, is extremely talented, and filled all of the holes we had in the band. Like water on pavement. Fills all the cracks.

Describe your band dynamic–who’s the smelly one, the partier, the laid-back one, the nerd. Boyband style.
Methinks an appropriate comparison would be the Village People. Adrian would be the cowboy (penchant for hats, whips). Tony would be the police officer (because of the motorcycle). Ben would be the construction worker (has painted houses in the past; sometimes shirtless). Lou would be the leather daddy guy (he’s into leather).

Based on your roots and your sound, there’s no question you guys love all things rock. Do you have any influences that might be a bit surprising considering your overall sound?
Adrian: There are a lot of things in the pot, so to speak. I grew up playing a lot of jazz because of my grandfather. I also listen to a ton of old R&B and funk, ranging from Sly and the Family Stone, Stevie Wonder and other Motown acts, to Parliament and Funkadelic. I also unashamedly enjoy a good disco tune, particularly the works of KC and the Sunshine band.
Tony: I really love everything from the 80s. Mostly hair metal and rap. You really can’t beat throwing on some Ratt or White Snake tunes once in a while.
Ben: Like Adrian, I have had a very eclectic upbringing musically. My father being a music teacher, he got me into lots of big band jazz, lots of classical, funk, and even Celtic music believe it or not. Back in the day I was way into punk like Toxic Narcotic and Anti Flag.
Lou: I love a lot of doo wop. My mother has a three part vocal group called the Belletones that play a lot of hits from the 40’s and 50’s so I learned to play music while listening to her group practice.

Any particular song of yours you love playing live, and why? And is there a song you might not look forward to performing?
Adrian: For me, this changes periodically. I’ll be into songs, then go off them. One song I consistently enjoy playing is “Where She Was on Monday.” It’s just an easy going song, a camp-fire song. It still rocks pretty good but it has an easy going flow that is a nice moment in the set for me. I can just sort of relax and sing the tune. “CYT” also has this quality. As far as songs that I (or others) don’t look forward to, we tend to eliminate them from the set. There are a couple of new songs still working their way into the set that are still an adventure at this point, but you have to play them to get them to that comfort level where they don’t feel like obstacles.
Tony: I must say that I love playing anything new that we write. I also really enjoy playing covers – they are fun to throw in once in a while. “My Baby is Fine,” off Long Weekend, is my favorite song we play currently.
Lou: I enjoy playing “Where She Was on Monday” and “Secretary’s Day.”
Ben: I always love getting to “Lookin’ Pretty, Pretty” in the set. The song just has such an aggressive groove and riff during the verse that isn’t really anywhere else in our set. And the “chorus” which is just a barreling riff without vocals comes up and I get to see everyone in the band with their heads down, banging to the beat. It reminds me of the old grunge scene and I feel like Dave Grohl.

On that note, favorite pre-show/during show/after show beverage of choice?
Adrian: I tend to enjoy whisky related drinks, Miller High Life, Campari or sweet wine like Port or Madeira, but really whatever is available and cheap is good by me.
Tony: PBR and Red Bull.
Ben: My drink of choice pre-show is a few J and C’s, no beer pre show for me, It would slow me down way too much and all the songs would be half tempo… Post show? let the champagne of beers flow!!!
Lou: Jack and Coke with lime seems to always do the trick.

Worst/most embarassing onstage moment?
Adrian: I recently had an amp blow up literally 30 seconds into the first song of a show. It was annoying for it to happen right at the beginning because the first moments of a show are so important. Then again, because it happened so early, by the time the set was over no one even remembered it happening. I’m glad I brought a spare that night.
Tony: I realized my fly had gone down at the end of the set…that was pretty shitty. Luckily I play guitar and it was covered most of the time.
Lou: While opening for Modest Mouse I was tuning my guitar before playing our last song on the set list, “Heavy Idea,” which is supposed to be our thundering closer, but I forgot to switch off my tuning pedal, so for the first 15 seconds there was nothing coming out of my amp.
Ben: I remember playing one show in Florida somewhere, not much of a crowd…but there was one very enthusiastic 40 year-old lady that had quite the thing for me. In between every song I got “I want to have your babies.” But let’s put it this way, she was no cougar…

Favorite onstage moment?
Adrian: We’ve been lucky enough to have some pretty cool moments. When we were out with STP and BRMC, I remember looking over during our set in Atlanta and seeing the guys from STP and BRMC watching us, and actually liking it. It was a pretty surreal moment.
Lou: I agree with Adrian’s answer. Also there was the time Adrian and I were supposed to harmonize a verse and we both came in singing different lyrics. While this was happening we both continued singing while staring at each other trying to figure out which one of us was wrong. Then I just started laughing. It wasn’t professional in any sense, but it was pretty funny.
Tony: I must say the same as Adrian and Lou. Also we once played a show at Andrew WK’s venue in NYC and it was pretty cool because he was there rocking out.
Ben: When we were in London two summers ago we were playing the Hyde Park Calling Festival Second Stage. We walked out on stage to get set up and as I started the line check for my drums I noticed the 4,000 people in the audience were filing out leaving only about 300 people and I thought to myself, “4,000 is nerve racking but 300 is easy.” I just assumed it was because no one from England had heard of us. I was looking down for most of the rest of the set up while I warmed up a little bit and we got the green light to start so I started off “Secretary’s Day,” looked up and everyone was back. All 4,000, but with beers in hand. Since we had already started I figured no need to fret now about the crowd and the show went really well and we got a great response.

What do you do when you’re not playing music, do you guys have part-time/full-time jobs?
Adrian: I’m a lawyer in NYC. It’s a lot of work doing both right now, but the legal knowledge does come in handy in the music biz.
Tony: I work at Apple. It is really awesome. They are a great company to work for.
Lou: I work for a Media company: Rock Media. I’m the main video editor, and motion graphic designer.
Ben: Currently I am looking for a job and teaching drum lessons. Drum lessons are going well, but the whole finding a job thing? In this economy for a recent music school graduate is kinda tough.

You’ve toured with some pretty big name acts, any artist or group stand out in particular and who would you love to tour with in the future?
Doing the tour with STP and BRMC was awesome. Great guys, great bands. Spending time out on the road with those guys was such a blast because there was a lot in common musically between all three bands, but each has its own take on rock, so for us it was a great learning experience, besides being an absurdly good time. Modest Mouse was another huge highlight. Isaac is an amazing performer and personality, and he and the whole band/crew were really nice. We got a great response from their fans, which was icing on the cake. When we found out Isaac was a big of fan of ours and wanted us on the bill, it was a huge compliment. In the future we’d tour with any of those three bands again in a heartbeat, but there are others we’re gunning for as well, none moreso than Jack White. We’d tour with any band Jack White has. If he put together a puppet show for kids that was set to traditional carnival music, we’d open the show. We’re all big fans of his various projects. Another band we love is Oasis. Big time rock. Big time personalities. Big time songs. They don’t make bands like that anymore, so it’d be great to cross paths with them some time. We’re big fans of Queens of the Stone Age too. MGMT is cool as well; that’d make for an interesting show.

What are you guys currently listening a lot to at the moment?
Adrian: The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. Brian Eno’s Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy. The Very Best of Badfinger. Pusswhip Bangang. Also Casey and his Brother.
Tony: AC/DC, Black Angels, The Cool Kids, Pop Levi, Ratt, The Raconteurs, T. Rex, The Tim Heidecker Masterpiece, The Dead Weather, The Who, and The White Stripes.
Lou: Rolling Stones, Iggy Pop and the Stooges, Mando Diao.
Ben: Beck – Midnight Vultures, The Cool Kids – Bake Sale, The Mars Volta – Frances the Mute, Outkast – Southernplayalisticadilacmusik, The Yardbirds – Five Live Yardbirds, The Who – Live at Leeds and… Beethoven’s 3rd and 5th symphonies to make it a well rounded collection. Seriously more people need to just get baked and listen to some classical, open your ears for an hour and listen to the whole thing, I say get baked because people won’t have the attention span without a little pot.

Tony and Adrian, if you had to choose one single piece of your dad’s [Joe Perry of Aerosmith] music, maybe a song or a solo as your favorite, what would it be? On the contrary, is there anything from his back catalogue that you guys might’ve given him some old fashioned father-son teasing about?
Adrian: Lots of great stuff obviously, but my fave is “Draw the Line.” On one hand, it’s a killer guitar hook, catchy as hell, but on the other hand it’s completely reckless and dirty. If I had to pick one song/riff, I’d pick that one. As far as back-catalogue teasing, there may be some tracks from the late 80s/90s that are a bit too produced/poppy for my taste, but he would tend to agree I think.
Tony: I really like a song called “Combination.” It rocks pretty hard and has some awesome riffige (real word?) in it.

Are you guys planning on touring in support of this upcoming album/any future plans people should be aware about?
As far as future plans, we’re going to be spending the summer finishing up the recording of the singles and LP and getting things lined up for those releases. We’ll likely shoot an ‘official’ video for the first single and we may actually do some other short films along the lines of the mtvU Dean’s List we hosted. We’re going to try and open the doors a little more so that people can get to know the band better. We’ll be doing one-off shows during
the summer but won’t plan a real run of shows until the fall when the first single comes out, and then we’ll try and do more extensive touring when the LP comes out. It should be a busy year for us.

Anything else you guys want to say or plug?
Just keeping checking tabtheband.com or www.myspace.com/tabtheband for updates. You can also follow us on Twitter (tabtheband). We’re all about the internet superhighway.

Thanks again guys!