Good Old War @ Middle East Upstairs 6.27.10
July 4 2010
In between bites of hummus-less pita, waiting for their complementary lunch at the Middle East Restaurant, the three members of Good Old War welcome conversation from their three Tastemakers counterparts. Singer Keith Goodwin picks my brain about World Cup happenings. Guitarist Dan Schwartz shows our photographer, Chrissy, a photo of cupcakes a fan recently made them, featuring the artwork from their new album as frosting. Drummer Tim Arnold questions if he truly looks like Russell Brand – Madi, who held my Flip cam with expertise, wholeheartedly sees the similarity. As their meals arrive, the band reflects on their first headlining tour.
TM: What were some of your favorite moments from this tour?
Tim: We all went camping in Wyoming.
Dan: We had the day off and it was amazing. We’ve never had the experience where every single person on the tour was friends like that, and we stayed up all night just singing songs and drinking. It was just pure friendship. This whole tour was like summer camp.
TM: What are your plans for the rest of the summer?
Tim: Tour tour tour tour tour tour tour.
Dan: Oh yeah, and then we tour.
Tim: After tour we tour. Then after those tours we tour.
Dan: There’s a bunch of stuff we’re excited about.
The day after this interview, it was officially announced that Good Old War will be heading out on tour supporting Brandi Carlile at the end of July. Then a run with supporting Xavier Rudd Aug 25 – Sep 14, ending again in Boston, this time at the Wilbur Theatre.
Tim: One thing I’m super excited about is the Philadelphia Folk Festival. Taj Mahal’s playing. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy is playing. It’s on this farm in the suburbs of Philly and there’s camping. All the campsites have these beautiful canopies and everyone gathers around in a circle and just write songs and jam. It’s so much fun.
TM: Speaking of camping festivals, the editor-in-chief and I are going up to Maine this weekend for Nateva. What is in the Good Old War camping survival guide?
Tim: Here’s what I would bring to a camping trip – festival camping right? This is not in the middle of the woods?
TM: Correct. We’d never go somewhere without our phones, we have a reputation to keep up.
Tim: Haha, alright: Sunglasses…
Dan: That’s the first thing?
Tim: In no particular order! I say a case of beer, sunglasses, maybe a tent – you only need kind of just a shade – Sleeping bag.
Dan: Someway to still be able to watch internet porn.
Tim: Yeah, a nice WiFi signal is the key to camping.
Laughter…Keith returns to the table and his meal
TM: What about you Keith?
Keith: ummm…Shotgun.
TM: What state is this in?
Keith: For the bears!
Tim: This is for camping festivals…
TM: So for Grizzly Bear…Barry White…
Dan: You definitely need a guitar.
Tim: Yeah, you need a seat for outside, like a lawn chair, and your guitar.
The conversation then turns to new or upcoming releases from bands such as Dr. Dog and Arcade Fire. Eventually we find ourselves discussing MGMT’s polarizing sophomore album.
Dan: (The criticism) is so unfair because those new songs are amazing. I feel like sometimes people just don’t give bands a chance to grow.
TM: It’s funny you bring that up. Recently on The Short Round Sound I discussed the idea of a veil being taken away between a band and their audience between their first and second records. Did you guys face any pressure from expectations of those anticipating your new album?
Dan: I guess. Sort of. When people got a chance to actually hear the whole record, all that initial nervousness went away. We never had any nervousness about it, we were so excited about the record from the beginning. I think no matter what, your second record has a phase where some people may say ‘this stinks.’
Tim: It’s funny because, the way we got started was just the mentality of ‘alright, we gotta play a show.’
Dan: We didn’t even have a band, a name, or anything. We didn’t have any time to figure it out. We toured before we even knew what we were going to name ourselves.
TM: Do you think you guys have a different approach, focusing on what you bring to the table in your live performances?
Tim: Yeah, we’d like to be able to play every song live and make it sound as close to how it sounds on the record as possible.
Good Old War’s live show has played a large part in somewhat of a growing mystique. Most notably, they were recently praised in the widely-followed industry commentary of Bob Lefsetz on his blog, The Lefsetz Letter.
The tickets were ten bucks. T-shirts fifteen. Price wasn’t keeping anybody away, it was like going to a movie.
But for so many damn shows, you’ve got to give the tickets away.
But these people wanted to come, they needed to come.
The night was invigorating, it put a smile on my face. This is the future. The doom and gloom of the major labels and Live Nation? There’s no pulse there, it’s not about music, but money.
And no one wants to hear Bon Jovi’s new material. They’re going for nostalgia’s sake.
But Good Old War played no covers. They existed in their own bubble.
How did everybody know?
Cathy (owner of GOW’s label) tried to explain it to me, but really, if something’s good today you can find it. That’s the power of the Internet and cell phones and texting and social networking.
People are looking for good, they want to rally around quality.
They found Good Old War.
TM: You guys are now ‘this band that goes into the crowd and sings without amps.’ What is this new idea? What’s this revolution that’s happening? You guys aren’t going to be rolling around on your fans in inflatable balloons anytime soon are you?
Keith: I think we’re doing the opposite.
Dan: It’s funny that you call it a ‘mystique’ because by (joining our fans on the floor) we have lifted the veil. We want to be (thought of) as actual human beings as possible. We don’t want people to think of us as – I don’t know..- different. We want to people to know that we’re a band that works hard and practices hard, that anybody can do their thing. Anybody can do what they love if they just work really, really hard.
Keith: All I want is to give people music and have them enjoy it. All I care about, the message I’m trying to send is ‘Good Tunes.’ The whole acoustic thing, going out in the crowd, we can have just an acoustic guitar and vocals and still have a good song. The whole goal is to have a good song.
Tim: We want our fans to not see us on the stage and put us on a pedestal. They can sing the songs with us being right there with them.
Dan: We decided to bring our show (to the floor) because it just doesn’t feel right to have a barrier between you and your fans.
Our waiter visits the table, commenting on the drink choices on the table.
‘That’s a good band. You’ve got one guy drinking Budweiser and the other drinking coffee. You’ve got business and rock’n’roll.’
Dan: That’s funny, Keith’s nickname for me was ‘Business’ for a while.
The band eventually finished their lunch, and went straight to business, sharing the stage with their tourmates across all three sets of the last stop of their shared journey. The blending of Good Old War’s energy and harmonies with the vintage rock of Vancouver’s Yukon Blonde, the deep and soulful singing of LA songstress Audra Mae seemed a combo rehearsed over a period of years, not weeks. As Chrissy shot a group photo in the post-matinee afternoon sunlight, the bands shouted “Best. Tour. EVER!” repeatedly for each snap of the lens. This tour wasn’t about Audra Mae, Yukon Blonde, or Good Old War. It was about you, the person who bought a ticket to see a band you’d never listened to. It was about you, the fan at the front of the stage, singing louder than anyone else in the room. It was about a bunch of otherwise strangers, loving music and loving each other. It was about coming away with a feeling like you were part of something bigger than just yourself.
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