(Oct. 15, 2007) PCM's Melissa got to interview George Stanford a native Philadelphian singer/songwriter about his musical influences, recent tour, and upcoming album release.

 

George Stanford: Hello? Is Melissa there?

Melissa: Hello, this is Melissa. How are you?

G: Good. This is George calling.

M: Hi! Nice to meet you. How are you doing today?

G: I'm doing great. How are you?

M: Pretty awesome.

G: Alright. Pretty awesome is better than bad.

M: That's very true. Where are you right now?

G: I just got into my hotel here in beautiful Beverly Hills, California.

M: Nice, Nice.

G: Yeah. I'm here for a couple of days, and it feels good to be back in LA. I've got a nice little hotel room here, so I'm just chilling out and watching some TV for a little bit.

M: Sounds pretty fun.

G: Yeah, it's pretty good stuff.

M: How's the weather there?

G: You know it's really weird. It's like super gray and cloudy and very un-LA-like

M: Wow, well in Delaware it's freakishly warm and sunny for October.

G: Really? Where are you in Delaware?

M: We're in Wilmington.

G: Oh, Okay cool. I just flew out of Philly this morning.-where I live when I'm not on the road now.

M: Yeah, I heard that you also used to live in LA. How do they compare to each other?

G: I'm back in Philly now, but I lived in LA most of this last year, and they are very, very different places. But I got to say that I love both of them very much.

M: What area of Philly did you live in?

G: I lived in South Philly, like the Italian Market neighborhood.

M: Oh, cool.

G: LA is a much different place. There's a lot more going on out here, I would say in general.

M: So, you would say it's more fun?

G: Well, when I'm home I'm with my family all of the time-which I love-and they're all lots of fun. But if you had to kind of categorize it, yeah, I would say it's more of a quote unquote fun town out here in LA. Nobody really has a real job, and Philly, as I'm sure you know, is a working class kind of a town. So that, in itself, creates a lot of differences.

M: Okay, so I have a couple of questions for you. Growing up what influenced your interest in music?

G: I would say, first and foremost, my family. I come from a really musical family where there would always be something playing in the house. My dad and mom would always kind of be singing, and my dad would be playing guitar. So they introduced me to a lot of kind of really old classic American music like old country and old R&B records and stuff like that. Then my older brother started playing guitar when he was probably 13 or so which opened a whole other world. He got really into Hendrix and classic rock and stuff like that so he turned me onto lots of good music. I would say that my musical influences definitely started within my own house.

M: I heard that you actually started playing the trombone first?

G: Yes, that's as I call it, my "gateway" instrument, because it kind of peaked my curiosity to get into playing other forms of music and other instruments. But yeah, I'm like a band geek I guess you could say. I started playing the horn (the trombone) when I was 9, and I really played it everywhere I could. I played in jazz bands and brass ensembles and orchestras and anywhere that the trombone was needed, which when you're at that age, it's kind of hard to find a spot in rock and roll bands and stuff. So I played wherever the trombone would kind of classically fit in. Then I started gravitating towards rock music and songwriter based music, and I kind of realized it was really difficult to sing and play the horn at the same time. So then I decided to learn the base guitar, which kind of led me to be interested in learning the guitar and the keyboards and the piano. So the trombone was kind of first love, I would say.

M: What's your favorite instrument to play now?

G: Oh, that's a tough one. It depends what day you catch me on. I actually still love playing the horn. I find it very relaxing, and it's what I do to unwind. It takes me back to remembering why I started playing music, and it's just very meditative. But because I love singing so much, probably the guitar or the piano because I can sing and accompany myself.

M: I read that you were originally part of a band called Townhall for five years. What motivate you to move on from that?

G: Well, it was a really, really good band. We toured and we made records together, and I learned so much playing in that band. But it just kind of came time when everybody wanted to move on. It's just really tough to A) be in a band and then to B) have just that really basic standard of living where you can pay your rent and that kind of good stuff. It just got to the point where the time demanded too much. Where we were either in the band full time, or at the same time, we had to basically get full-time jobs just so we could do it, and the whole struggle of it got too much. Beyond that, we all wanted to go in somewhat different musical and creative direction, so it was pretty difficult. It was like a really close relationship breaking up, but inevitably, it was really a great thing for everybody and we remain to be great friends. I work with a couple of the guys on different musical projects still, so it ended-up being a good thing.

M: How does performing solo compare with being part of the band?

G: Well, I was always the primary song writer in the band, but one of the reasons I wanted to go my separate ways from the band was I felt that a lot of the stuff I did best didn't necessarily have a place in what the band presented. So now I have the opportunity to move on and really pursue my solo projects. I do play with a band now, but it's much more focussed on my voice and my songs than anything else, which is always kind of where I wanted to go, so it's great for me.

M: I heard that you play all of the instruments on your album?

G: I do. I love to play the drums, but I can't say that I'm very good at it. So I would generally get a drummer to come in, and in some cases a base player, and have them in the studio to play what's called the basic tracks. I would generally take the recordings home and work on them in my hotel studio, and I did end up playing a lot of the instruments on the record myself. This kind of streamlined the workload for me, because I didn't have to go to anyone else. So I ended-up playing a lot of guitar and piano and keyboards and actually a lot of trombone too. There's trombone sections all over the record.

M: Well, that is your favorite instrument. I heard also that your five track EP was recently released. I was wondering when you're writing a song what comes first?

G: Well, it definitely, for me, comes personally. There's no real one way to do it. I can be inspired from a melody, like a melodic hook, which will lead to me writing words over. Or a lot of time, I'll work form a lyric and with the concept and kind of design the music around that. A lot of time, actually, when I'm in the studio I like to create a beat and write a song around that kind groove or that beat. So it really happens in a lot of different way for me, and I try to mix it up. I try to keep it fresh and to do it in different ways so that it's less formulaic, and it feels fresh and new every time.

M: What do your lyrics tend to be based on?

G: I would say personal experience more then anything else. I mean you got to write about what you know about. Generally, those are the artists that for me have the most impact, rather than someone who's talking about something they know nothing about.

M: So are you excited for the upcoming release of your debut album?

G: I am ecstatic about that. I'm just really thrilled to have the opportunity to get my songs out, and to get my music out in a way that it's never had the opportunity to be yet. So it's really exciting for me that a lot more people will be able to hear my music. Hopefully, they'll enjoy it.

M: I'm sure they will. How has your recent tour schedule been going?

G: It's been going great. I've actually just finished a tour with Sara Bareilles and Jon Mclaughlin, and it was awesome. I've been in the studio for most of the last few years, so it was great to get back to performing for people and to get people's reactions from being on stage. It's like really kind of food for my soul in a lot of ways. I'm finally kind of starting to play in front of people which is good, because I played for years for rooms full of nobody.

M: Well that sounds like an improvement.

G: Yeah, it's really a thrill actually to be back on the road.

M: Has that left you any time for a personal life?

G: Well, not much, but you make it work. Like I said, I love being back in Philly, and I'm kind of based out of there now. I'm on the road a lot, so my personal life is just really my family time. When I'm not in the studio or on the road or on the stage, I'm pretty much always with my family. So, it's nice.

M: That is nice. Do you have a favorite performance that you've had?

G: Favorite performance ever?

M: Ever.

G: That's tough. I've had so many great experiences. They all kind of honestly melt together into one great mega-performance.

M: That's a great way to look at it. Have you been able to meet any of your icons since you've started touring?

G: Well, let's see, I met Jay-Z a couple months back.

M: Really? That's cool.

G: I'm a big Jigga fan so that was pretty awesome. One of the coolest people I ever met, actually, was Levon Helm of The Band. He's the drummer from The Band, and the singer on a lot of those records. I don't know if you're familiar with that stuff, but they were a hugely influential act. You know they say never meet your heroes, but he was really just cool and calm, and really how I hope to be holding myself and performing when I get to be his age.

M: Have you ever had any other jobs? I heard on your site that you had a back-up career of folding laundry.

G: Yeah, right before I signed my deal I was working at like a wash-and-fold type service in South Philadelphia at the laundry mat. I lived right upstairs from the laundry mat, so it was a pretty convenient commute to work. That's kind of what I was doing, and making my music full-time as well, but that was how I paid the bills. I had lots of different odd jobs though. I was a food runner and worked at the gas station and all kinds of stuff like that.

Joe (interjects): Hey, George. I'm Joe, and I work down here at the office too. I lived down at 6th and Catherine for a while, and hearing you're from South Philly, I had to ask you is it Gino's or is it Pat's?

G: You know what, I got to say out of the two, I'll say Pat's, but I'm not a huge fan. I'll walk down to like Jim's or something like that. You know, I like might get shot for saying this, but I'm just not a big fan of their sandwiches. Beyond the roll. The rolls are always good. In my opinion, if you walk into most any pizza shop in Philly you'll get a better cheesesteak.

J: That is daring to say. Actually Pat's appeals to me because they have cherry soda on tap.

G: Oh, there you go. You know another reason, again I'll probably get shot for saying this, but I don't like too many politics involved in my cheesesteaks. I would rather have an apolitical cheesesteak.

J: Fair enough. Well I'm going to turn things back to Melissa, I just had to interrupt for a minute.

M: That's great. I was wondering about your MySpace page and your official site and how involved you are with designing those pages?

G: Well, I do my own MySpace page, and so that's all me. I did my own web site as well until just a month or two ago. I just needed help, and I had way too much on my plate. Fortunately, one of the benefits of being on a record label is that they have people to help you out with that, so I was able to just pass it off. I'm still directly involved with pretty much everything that goes up. I need to approve stuff before it goes on, so it's all content that should be good with me.

M: So how involved are you with your fans? I know you write a blog on MySpace.

G: I'm as involved as I can be, which I think is pretty involved. I think now, more than ever, it's imperative that you have connection with the people who listen to you and appreciate your music, with all of the different ways that you can. I've been trying to do even more stuff. I just started posting some video blogs on my MySpace because people would be like, "Well, what do you do on your days on the road?"

M: Right I saw some of those.

G: I just kind of hold the camera up in front of my face, and let everybody know what's going on, what's on my mind. Whenever anyone writes me on MySpace I'll try to write them back and say thanks for listening. I like to think that I'm pretty involved with the people who show me love.

 

M: Can you tell us something about yourself that we might not already know? Something interesting please.

G: Oh, jeez you got to put me on the spot. Well, I like reading books about history.

M: Oh, cool what kind of books?

G: I'm reading this book right now called 1776 that's about the American Revolution which is pretty awesome.

M: Nice. Well, I guess I'm out of questions. Thank you so much for the interview. This was actually my first interview ever, so you were very patient and I appreciate that.

G: Well, I'm glad I could be your first.

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