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The Real Be
Easys are a rare breed. Following in the
footsteps of the MC5, Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Parliament Funkadelic, and Hotpinkturtle,
the band has chosen a funky rock road
that many get on but most wreck before
they get a mile down it. The Real Be Easys
are one of the best things happening in
indie music right now so pick up their
new album “Lost Paradise”
and check out what they have to say below.
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Interviewed by Mark Fisher
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Mark: How are things in ‘Easys’
land?
Great, we’re really excited. We’ve
got a bunch of shows this summer, and we’re
constantly trying to experiment and make our live
performance as interesting and dynamic as possible.
Just went to see Live Earth yesterday at Giants
Stadium, and spent the day baking in the sun.
Something about sun tan lotion just never appealed
to me, its way more fun to spend the next week
burnt to a crisp. The beer kept the pain away
(temporarily at least) as we waited through the
early acts in anticipation of Billy Corgan’s
new lineup of the Smashing Pumpkins, Roger Waters
and crew, and the Police. I have to say overall
it was one of the best Concerts I’ve seen
at Giants Stadium.
Mark: Your debut CD is self-produced. I can’t
count how many indie bands I have seen lately
that hired expensive producers to record literal
crap. Since you actually have a great sound and
a lot of talent, why did you decide to produce
this yourselves?
The answer to that is simple. Money…
or lack thereof. We had a very stringent budget
to record the album which would only encompass
the recording, mixing and the duplication. Also,
we had been playing those songs in just about
every club in Manhattan and Brooklyn for at least
a year honing them down to a T. I always had a
very clear picture of what I wanted the songs
to sound like, and with the help of a variety
of different rowdy crowds, we were able to determine
what needed work. Once it was time to go into
the studio, there wasn’t a minute wasted.
With the help of Mike Watts, our Engineer with
the million dollar ears, and owner of Vudu Studios
in Freeport, NY we were able to paint the colors
of each track clearly without them bleeding into
each other. Bob Ross and his happy trees would
definitely be proud. Hah, happy trees…
Mark: This is such a hard style of music to really
put down on CD. What steps did you take to try
and get the sound right? Did you record any of
it live in the studio?
We practiced, practiced, practiced, played
shows, ate, slept, and practiced some more. Once
we went into the studio all we had to do was play
exactly what we did live, and let Mike Watts do
his magic. If there was a fourth Easy, he’d
be it. Watts was the man to suggest that we record
“Jam On” live. It’s the only
acoustic track on our album and was recorded live
at Vudu. In the beginning of the track you can
hear me trying to get Pauly T. to stop day-dreaming
in bass player land. Looking back, I’m real
glad we laid that song down. It always feels like
a nice breathing point when it creeps on after
the much heavier saga of Life With My Knife.
Mark: Since the CD was recorded you have switched
drummers. What does California Leighton bring
to the band that maybe was missing before? Has
it changed the sound at all?
Leighton is a true talent behind the kit.
He’s as Easy going as it gets, and provides
such a substantive groove that its impossible
not to feel what he’s feeling. He’s
also one of the nicest guys I’ve met. He’s
got a great heart and that’s important to
us. The type of person who won’t let you
down and helps out when you need it. All the key
ingredients to being real easy.
Since Leighton has joined the band our sound has
definitely evolved into a higher life form. We
now sing three part harmonies as often as possible
and have been attempting to blur the line between
Psychedelic Jam-Rock, hipster Drones, Funk and
Soul. We’re all very happy with the direction
we are headed.
Mark: It feels like the lyrics are largely dependent
on the way they feel rather than what you actually
say. Would you agree? How important are the lyrics
in the grand scheme of your songs?
I’m glad you feel that way. Feelings are
important. Way more important than dictionary
definitions. The manipulation of words is crucial
to saying anything that hasn’t been said
a million times before. Quite often it’s
a point of view I’m trying to express that
some people just can’t wrap their head around,
and because they don’t understand the lingo
they think what I’m saying has no meaning.
But I can assure you, every lyric has something
behind it, and is meant to highlight a point or
a feeling. If you don’t get it, just look
deeper. After all, what’s the point of talking
if your not saying anything?
Mark: “Bullet” has a bit more bite
to it than a lot of the other songs on Lost Paradise.
Can you tell our readers a little about that song
and the thoughts/inspirations behind it?
We were in this long drawn out battle of the bands
competition that lasted about 8 months, started
with 50,000 bands and ended with 10 of us who
got to play the finals at Webster Hall in NYC.
As the competition went on it became clear to
us that the winner had less and less to do with
actual talent, and more to do with factors way
beyond our control. As a result we worked our
aces off selling thousands of dollars worth of
tickets which had to be paid directly to the aces
who ran that competition, who gave absolutely
no compensation to the bands. Needless to say
it was a disheartening experience. I wrote the
song Bullet as the true colors of the competition
began to rear its ugly head. That’s where
the chorus comes from. “You know I, will
not stay, and its never been so easy… Number
one, with a bullet.” The whole song has
this angry tone of angst and confusion caused
by the peaks and valleys of the struggle to be
up and on top. Who wants to be number two anyway?
Mark: Since this style can be so loose in a live
setting, do you prefer long, improvisational live
jams or tighter, more funk oriented ones? Why?
While we all grew up listening to the
jam nature of classic rock like Led Zeppelin,
Jimi Hendrix, and the Doors we try not to go too
far with our Jams when we play live. We love to
jam, but we love to play new songs more. Since
they only give us 45 minutes to play (most nights
anyway) its hard to get in all the songs we want
to play if we decide to jam for 15 minutes. But
truthfully, it all depends on how we’re
feeling that night. If we’re down to space
out you might hear a drone sort of jam. If we’re
feeling old school we might funk out. Its all
about the crowd, we take our cues from them. After
all, we’re out there to give… period.
Mark: When you play these songs live, how much
do they change?
As little as possible. Our goal is to
give people what they’ve come to know and
expect from our album cuts, and throw a few curveballs
in when we experiment with newer material.
If I see a new band live and I’m really
feeling one of their tracks; when I buy the album
and listen to that song I want it to bring me
back to the place I was when I first heard it.
Although the memory of the live performance is
often untouchable by any man made CD player. I’m
currently talking with a crew of Aliens who are
building me this brain wave channeling, turbo
charged electro harmonic memory access system,
which is supposed to be bombastic. I’ll
let you know how it sounds.
Mark: Since you are all relatively young, how
have you been accepted by your peers? The media
makes it seem like all twenty-somethings are about
is emo and pop.
Well all twenty-somethings is a lot of people.
I can’t tell you that everyone in their
twenties has good taste in music cause its just
not true, for those people, Emo and what is now
called Pop exists. But lets be honest, how many
times can you see the same slanted hair cut dude
crying about nothing. For everyone else who dares
to like something new, you got us. Some people
need to be told what to like by constant intrusion
into their daily lives via Television, Radio,
Internet and itunes. And we’re working on
that. That’s the beautiful thing about pop;
it changes. Ever so slowly, but it changes.
Mark: If you could sum up Lost Paradise in a sentence,
how would you write it?
Its like you find yourself in a high-speed
chase with imaginary bats, driving a flying yellow
convertible which you can’t park anywhere
on a street with no name in Outer Space.
Mark: Thanks so much for your time. Lost Paradise
is great, I have been listening to it for a week
straight- and that’s saying a lot. Do you
have any thoughts to leave our readers with?
Yeah, music is back. Its time to go out
and buy yourself some new CD’s cause the
Independent scene is making way for some real
mind expansion. It won’t exist if you don’t
support it. Currently I’m listening to Grizzly
Bear’s album Yellow House, Panda Bear’s
album Person Pitch, and The Liars’ album
Drums Not Dead, and all the classics especially
Sly and the Family Stone and Curtis Mayfield.
Take a second to appreciate the beauty of any
CD in its entirety. The Artwork, the booklet,
the music, it all plays a crucial role in painting
a vivid mental and emotional picture. It’s
all part of the “art.” If you don’t
respect it, it won’t soon exist.
Oh, and always…Be Real Easy.
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