*Noise Pop Special-performing 2/22/05 at the Great American Music Hall
The Joggers have one of those odd names. You don't know what to expect. They
could be any type of band. I saw them play with The Black Keys last year and
thought they were pretty unique. They release their first album, Solid Guild,
in Fall 2003. It's almost two years later since they recorded it. The band
broke up and reformed, and seem to be saying. One member left and was replaced by
a new guitarist, Ron Lewis. The original members are Ben Whitesides
(vocals/guitars), Darrell Bourque (vocals/bass), and Jake Morris (vocals/drums). In
their music they combine a lot of musical forms including rock, folk, hiphop and
experimental music. The Joggers have been using samples on their recent tour
with Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. Most of the Joggers have their origins on the
east coast but found each other in Portland, Oregon. They are now veterans of
the music scene there. I spoke to leader Ben Whitesides a few days before
Noise Pop. The Joggers and Ted Leo will be playing the opening show of Noise Pop
on Tuesday, February 22nd, at The Great American Music Hall.
* * * * * *
AL: You first record came out a while ago. It did receive an 8.0 score from
Pitchfork Media. That must have been helpful?
Ben: That's funny. Is that the barometer of success these days? Everyone
seems to read it nowadays. People who pick up on these very early on seem to check
Pitchfork very rigorously.
AL: How do you feel about people downloading music?
Ben: It's weird. I have done it myself. I download stuff that I hear about
because I don't want to spend money on a record that I don't like. If I like
the record, then I will go out and buy it. It's changing the way bands can make
money. Bands can only make money through playing live shows and selling
merchandise.
AL: Some people don't even buy CDs now. They just download everything and put
it on their Ipod.
Ben: It's too cheap. You just save so much money by not buying CDs. It's
moving money from record companies to internet and computer companies. You can
check out a million of bands online. The bands will figure a way to make the
situation work out for them.
AL: How long has The Joggers been together?
Ben: We have been playing since 2000. We are all from the east coast. We
moved to Portland. We met independently through friends. We were playing under the
name ÒStateside.Ó There was another band called that. The Joggers is not a
good name either. It was an in-joke. We thought it was a name of an activity
that would be considered lame by the vast rock aristocracy types that are in
Portland. We thought that they would have a pity for it.
AL: What is this rock aristocracy?
Ben: Portland is an interesting town. There's all types. It's hard to find
Portland natives in their twenties and early thirties. It's all people who have
moved there. It has a real vital music and arts scene. It's great. But it
very jaded too. Everyone is in a band. Most people go see bands that are their
friend's bands. There's a lot of venues. There is a lot of apathy and
non-participation. It's a town where people spend a lot of time in their basements and
apartments and do their own thing.
AL: Portland has never defined itself in terms of music?
Ben: No. People have tried. I have lived there five years, and I would hear
that Portland is going to be this thing. There is no scene of bands. It's
stupid when group bands together with a certain esthetic. How close where The
Talking Heads and The Ramones?
AL: Not much. But they had more in common than they did with what was played
on the radio at the time. What sort of background did you guys come from? Did
you study music or literature in college?
Ben: Yeah. I was an English Major in college. Our drummer Jake went to school
to sing opera for a year. He dropped out. We have all been in bands since we
were twelve or thirteen. This is the first band we have all been in that has
put out a record on a label. My musical training was in classical trumpet. I
picked up the guitar later.
AL: Do you read music?
Ben: Not really. We do it all by feel. I can't read music at the speed, which
you are supposed to play it. I can fudge and get through it. If you heard the
shapenote singing on the record, we can cheat and get by. Shapenote singing
was an old form of American congregational music that evolved in England and in
New England. Alan Lomax taped it and my parents used to play those records
all the time. They are not Christians but they loved the music. I loved the
music. I like to borrow music from different sources.
AL: That is one thing The Joggers are known for: the vocals.
Ben: We are definitely fans of bands that use vocal harmonies. That showed up
on our first record. We didn't want to overdo it. I am not too happy with our
first record. Maybe every band says that. It's a fine recording. I am just
looking forward to doing new stuff. We had a shake up in the band. Our guitar
player left. We have a new member. His name is Ron Lewis, and he lives in
Seattle.
AL: The band is going to continue?
Ben: Yeah. We are going to record the next album in the next few months in
Portland. We want to put out a new album in the summertime.
AL: Some of these songs must feel really old to you? You must look forward to
putting out a record every year?
Ben: The songs are so old. Exactly. We would love to be more prolific.
AL: It's hard for bands because they have to succeed always.
Ben: It's competitive in a way that it hasn't been before. There are more
opportunities. People say that it's not competitive, but if you look at the
papers there are a bunch of shows going on in any city every night. Every one of
those bands wants people to go to their shows. You are trying to make
compelling music for yourself but you are hoping that people will want to listen to it.
If you use the internet, traditional CDs, or street theater, however you do
it, you have to get people interested in what you do.
AL: How do you promote yourself in unconventional ways?
Ben: Honestly the last year we have been on hiatus. I had a bad experience in
Atlanta in December 2003. I had a meltdown. I didn't feel like touring
anymore. We took some time off. I didn't know if I wanted to be in a band anymore.
But we started to write music again and we started to have fun with it. If you
go on long tours you have to quit your job. If you are 18 or 20, you are more
willing to sleep on floors for six months. When you are hitting 30, you are
not ready to do a shit eating tour. There is no guarantee that if you sleep on
floors for six months that your band is going to be self-sustaining at the end
of it. Some bands are not willing to try. That is an impediment.
AL: How does the songwriting go in the band?
Ben: I come up with most of the ideas. We all arrange the songs together. I
bring the basic idea for a song, Jake will work on a beat, Darrell and I will
work on a bass line. Everyone brings in their ideas. I hope that I am not too
much of a nazi about things. I have an idea on how it will sound.
AL: This record was recorded live?
Ben: It was an interesting record. It was recorded at two different sessions
a year apart. The two producers had different styles. Half of the material was
a year older. On the new record we want to have that feel of it being one
session. It should be a snapshot of one moment.
AL: So you are involved in the Noise Pop festival this year. It's the opening
night. How do you feel about that?
Ben: We are involved in that, as far as I can tell, because Ted Leo is
borrowing our gear on his tour of the west coast. They are being nice to us by
including us. There seems like there are some good bands playing there, so we are
stoked to play.
AL: It's a very high profile gig.
Ben: It's impossible for me to say how important it is.
AL: What is your set going to be like?
Ben: It is different that Solid Guild. I was working on things that were more
quieter and more abrasive for the past year. It was unclear whether we were
going to do this tour due to the shakeups in the band. But now that we are
already on the road again, the remaining members do want to continue on being the
Joggers. We are listening to a lot of fake World Music. Darrell is a big fan
of the Sun City Girls. My mom sends me some Middle Eastern music. I have been
sampling some of that. I love that band Polvo. They use weird tunings, which is
similar sounding.
By alexander laurence
