(Oct. 2007) PCM's Kristyn sat down with Charlie, Greg, and Cory from the band Blue Sinatra. Read below to find out the band's history and some fun with "Inside the Actor's Studio" type questions. Also check out footage from their live performance at Grape Street Pub in Philadelphia.

 

Kristyn: For the record, can you all state your names and what you play in the band?

Greg: My name is Greg and I play keys/vocals/percussion/ and guitar.

Charlie: My name is Charlie and I play guitar.

Cory: My name is Cory, and I am the new bass player in the band.

Greg: Then we have Mike and Steve who play drums and sax.

K: So, they are our missing links tonight (laughs). Can you guys tell me a little bit about the new CD that you are working on?

G: The new one we are working on, we try to take pretty much what we used to do and then add whole entire new level to it. We have Cory coming in, and we are also going to be working with a producer, we are not really sure who yet, but we are looking at a few people. We are trying to get a really new sound, something that our old albums are kind of missing.

C: Yeah, our first two CD's were kind of like demos, but you have to do them, because you have to get people out to your shows and you have to keep building your following and you have to have something to sell. That is pretty much what we have always done and now we are at the next step, where we have to invest money and get people to invest money and have a really good sounding album. So that is what the next thing is!

K: I can tell by listening to the "Move" CD, that obviously you bring a lot of different styles of music to the table. Can you tell me some of your main influences?

G: How long is your tape? (laughing)

C: Is this a sixty banger or a 90 min guy? (laughing)

G: I don't know, probably everything sixties R& B to like seventies funk and eighties hip-hop and new wave. Without a naming a name, that is the best thing I can come up with.

C: I'll name drop! I obviously I can say we are all diverse, each one of us comes from completely different places. Like Greg was playing at places like CBGB's when he was like twelve or something like that.

G: I was fourteen.

C: Okay, fourteen then.

G: Twelve sounds better!

C: Mike our drummer has played a whole bunch of R&B and hip-hop stuff, then also a lot of rock stuff. I went to school for jazz performance, as did Cory for a little bit. And Steve our sax player is just one of those guys that plays all the time with everybody, so he brings a lot of random styles in.

G: He's like Flavor Flav,

C: and he has a bigger clock (laughs)

G: He is like our hype man.

C: But I think a lot of people that influence us would be like "Under The Influence of Giants", to new stuff like that, to all the way back to people like "Curtis Mayfield", "Led Zeppelin", and "The Beatles". I think we are playing a Beatles tune tonight.

G: We're not going to tell anybody it's "The Beatles", we're just going to say it's our song and see if anyone notices. No one's ever heard of "The Beatles." (laughs)

K: Oh, yeah it will be soo hard to figure out (laughs).

G: We did that at the XPN festival, The Beatles tribute,

K: I read about that actually!

G: They didn't believe us when we said it was ours, it was weird (laughing), but we are hoping it goes over better tonight.

K: I read that you guys have played with Gym Class Heroes before, how was that?

Group: It was awesome!

G: We entered this college showcase thing and these colleges book you throughout the year, so this one college happened to have Gym Class Heroes playing and they needed an opening act, so it just worked out that we got this awesome show, in the giant stadium. They had just kinda hit, kinda broke, so it was a really good crowd, it was kinda awesome.

C: What sucked for me is that I broke my arm, it was a bad few months in there for me, but it was cool because we actually got to hang out with some of the people that were working with them and whatnot and they were just totally awesome guys, they were just really down to earth and kinda cool, and you could tell that they were all about furthering what they were doing.

G: Yeah, they were cool.

K: That's good. Another one of my questions is where do you see the future of music heading and where do you see Blue Sinatra in the picture?

G: Aww, man! That is a tough, good question!

C: I am going to skip out of this one (laughing).

G: Man, the future of music I think in general, I don't think people care too much about, not even longevity, a lot of people can digest, people don't listen to an album, and I am guilty of the same thing. I do download music; I know I am a bad person (laughing). A lot of my favorite bands they download music also and they are like indie bands and they make their money off of touring. I think people can't stay with an album more than a couple months they would rather download something, a whole bunch of other albums and start listening to them; they don't even want to see an album sleeve, if they like it they'll go see it live. I don't think all the other stuff matters, it is just the way it is, I mean it is sad, but it is also, I mean you just have to keep putting out music, and putting out more music, for bands like us, we don't have a lot of money, it takes awhile to get an album out. I do not think we will have the time to get into a whole album at least for a couple of months. You have to be really good, you have to have a good show, and you have to constantly put music out there.

K: It is funny, because I was talking to another band earlier today and they were saying the same thing, just about touring and getting out there and reaching the crowd. They are really starting to take off now.

G: I mean, I still buy vinyl, and I still listen to vinyl. I mean I probably own more vinyl than I do CDs, but I still listen to MP3's I mean it is easier, and quicker, its just sad and that is the way it is, it is the future. People don't care about how good something sounds on the vinyl record, they just want to get the song and move on.

C: That is a good answer I have to say.

G: We should talk sometime, you never talk to me, you never know what I have to say Charlie (laughing).

K: So, can you guys give me a little history behind the band? How did you meet?

G: Our drummer and I, start playing and working out songs. We got this keyboard player, I just played guitar, and then we auditioned our bass player whose last show in Philly is tonight. He has been with the band since we started. Then we had member changes, different guitar players, horn sections, now this is the real lineup. This is the best lineup we've had so far, even with our bass player leaving, the new guy is awesome.

K: What do you guys like to do in your spare time?

Group: Uhhhh! (laughing)

C: Spare time?

G: What is that? (laughing)

C: It is rare!

G: Give an artistic answer!

C: I like to sit and contemplate, sometimes about…nevermind! Just hang out with a few close friends, not to mention everyone in the band; we hang out a lot outside. And we are big drinkers (laughs).

K: Is music a full time thing for you guys, or do you have other jobs?

G: No, we all work day jobs, unfortunately.

C: That is a rough question sometimes, I mean I run a music department at a school in the city, and to me music is full time, it is just supplementing different parts of my musical career with other parts of it.

G: I mean you are working 40 hours at a day job, you probably put in 80 in a band.

C: The amount of emails that Greg and I go through in one day, is more than what I get at my school,

G: Yeah, it is pretty crazy, fan mail ya know? (laughs)

G: Kids, in Japan, they want their CD.

C: We are big in Japan that is not a lie

K: How do you like educating?

C: I dig it; I mean I really dig where I am at, because my school lets me do a lot of what I want to do. I work in a really rough area of the city, so it is kind of like, they trust me to pretty much do my own vision, so a long as I follow through, they let me roll which I really dig. I got thirty electric guitars for my school, I run a whole guitar based program, all my middle schoolers in Kensington are learning to play guitar, I mean it is crazy, one time this kid came over to me and said "Hey, you know that funky white boy music song?" "Can you teach me that?" yeah, keep in mind he was arrested two nights earlier for beating up a cop, I'm like sure man, "Let's do it".

G: I mean it is weird; I always went to shows when I was a kid. I always went to City Garden, the Troc, and Pontiac. These bands I would see would probably tour 6 months out of the year, and I just felt like they were famous, because they had packed shows, but I realized, and I learned when I got older, that they work the other 6 months out of year landscaping and stuff like that, and I was like Wow, that sucks! And it is not what you think it is.

K: What is your favorite track of the new album?

G: Cory, new guy, you take this one (laughing)

Cory: Off the latest album, I definitely dig Afroheaven.

C: Really?

Cory: Yeah, I like that tune man

G: I hate that sh*t, no, no I like it (laughter)

G: That is the bands very first song ever; we auditioned Fran on the song, that is how old it is. Moses played that song with us, that is how old it is (laughter)

G: What about you Charlie.

C: Off of "Move", honestly I like all of them for different reasons. I like "Dominos" because it is just so aggressive, and I think it is really something we can just dig ourselves into, especially when we play it live. I love "Afro" because I think it is just a really refined song, and I think everyone is playing really precise parts on it. I like "Seaside" because it was the first song I kind of wrote on my own when I came into the band. I mean, I wrote my part over what they had already had, so it was kinda like the first time I collaborated with all of them and it was a lot of fun for that. So, everything is for different reasons, it was a crazy time making that album. I think my first week in the band, we were in the studio.

K: So, tell me a little bit about the writing process. How is the chemistry work with everybody?

G: Well, it has changed over the years. Basically, I write a lot of stuff, I write all different types and styles of music. So, the newest method we have, which I think is the best method, is that the new songs that we have are real, just the way the chords are structured, Charlie knows a lot more about theory than I will ever know. I usually show Charlie a bunch of songs that I haven't worked into the set, and then we either just pick certain ones and then play around with them and rearrange them. Charlie is really good at arranging. I probably never told him that!

C: Yeah you never have (laughing)

G: He has got a really good ear for like melding chords and doing crazy chords you never heard of and numbers I don't even know how to count up to, but yeah, that is the new system and it works pretty good. Then we take it to the band and play it for everybody, and then everybody, just writes their own parts to add to it. So, it is still like a collective thing, if somebody in the band were to say "I really hate that song" then we wouldn't play it, no one is playing anything they hate, everybody likes what we are playing. It is still a collective effort.

K: Okay, I am going to get you guys now!

Group: Uh-oh (laughing)

K: Let's have a bit of fun.

G: Wait, those weren't the tough ones? (laughs)

C: I need to get another drink! (laughs)

G: yeah for real

C: Is this game going to include shots? (laughing)

 

K: Okay, we are going to play the "Inside the Actor's Studio" questions. Ready? To each one of you, what is your favorite word?

G: Cory!

Cory: Plethora

G: No, that was my favorite word, my favorite word is "Cory" (laughing) Nah, go ahead Cory.

Cory: Umm, I am going to go with tour

K: Alright, what is your least favorite word?

G: There is no offense, to this guy next me, but it really is "Charlie"

(laughter)

G; I am just messing with ya, I guess I would have to say failure.

C: Yeah, that is the first one I was thinking of also

Cory: Yeah, I was thinking that too

(laughter)

K: Alright, next question, what turns you on?

G: Uh, Charlie, I'm just trying to keep this professional (laughter)

C: At the end of a show, when I feel really confident about the entire band and the entire show and the audience is totally feeling what we are doing.

G: That is awesome!

Cory: I kind of go along with that, it's kind of that high you get when you reach the climax of a show or performance.

K: Along the same line, what turns you off?

G: This has never happened to us, but playing in a gymnasium, to nothing but the maintenance guys sweeping up.

C: Definitely for me, it would be having something fall apart, no matter what that would be.

K: What sound or noise do you love?

C; John Coltrain

G: Good answer!

K: What sound or noise do you hate?

C: Silence

G: Definitely, silence

K: What is your favorite curse word?

C: F**k, and I use it all the f***ing time.

(laughter)

K: What profession other than your own would you most like to attempt?

G: Spelunking

C: Based on my experience with this band, I am really curious to know what it's like to be a manager of a band or a producer. I think that would be really cool.

K: And finally, if God really exists, depending on what your beliefs are, what would you like to hear about your existence as you enter the pearly gates?

G: I would like God to say "The legend is here" (laughs) in a sarcastic way

C: That regardless of failure or success, that I followed my heart.

K: Well said! Thanks guys! So, tell me where did the name Blue Sinatra come from?

G: That is a very popular question. Well, blue because it was a jazz and funky term and it can be used to describe a lot of the music we meld with and Sinatra because everyone knows who Sinatra is, he is an icon.

K: What message are you hoping that your music speaks out to fans and audiences?

G: We don't try to get too deep, sometimes there are a lot of hidden references in there, but I really like it, when someone asks me "What does this mean? And What does that mean"? Cause there are little hints of stuff in there, like little code words, and a lot of eighties references that is for sure. We are definitely not a deep band, not a political band, just having fun.

C: To me, it is not an intellectual thing; intellectualism is overrated when it comes to music. I just want someone to walk away feeling good, feeling like they got something in their gut.

K: Well, it looks like you guys have a lot of fun; I was watching some of the video clips on your website.

G: Yeah, we do some silly stuff sometimes.

K: I was not really sure what I was expecting, but so far I am quite impressed.

C: You thought, what a bunch of idiots (laughing)

K: (laughing) Of course not

G: We try to convert people, there are a lot of people that come out to shows and we're always trying to make a new believer. You might not even like our CD, which actually doesn't really represent us honestly. People come out to the shows because they can dance, get drunk, and have fun. Some people do actually listen to the lyrics, but whatever.

K: Well that is all the questions I have…

G: Now we have questions for you, Charlie get them down (laughter)

K: Is there anything you guys would like to add?

G: Keep an eye out and see us on Myspace. We have a lot of new stuff in the works.

C: Not even just us, support local music! Support music, support live music.

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