An Interview with Drug Rug - 8/7/2007 |
Massachusetts duo Drug Rug, AKA Tommy Allen and Sarah Cronin, know a little about bands. Allen, a bartender at Bostons The Middle East worked up the nerve to talk to Cronin, who covers sounds and live recordings for the venue, and the duo quickly got together both musically and romantically. After swapping each others music, the pair recorded some demos together and eventually grabbed the ear of Apollo Sunshine drummer/label head Jeremy Black. What emerged was their self-titled debut, a beautiful, fuzzy mix of blues, folk and lo-fi sounds that sees frequent vocal harmonizing and recalls both Elephant 6 and classic 60s vocalist duos. After getting to know them a bit, Baeble picked the brains of two people who, combined, have seen thousands of bands over the past five years to find out the biggest mistakes bands make.
Baeble Music: You both work at The Middle East, one of Bostons premier live venues. Howd you guys meet?
Tommy Allen: It was only six or seven months ago even though shes been working there for the past three years and Ive been working there for like five. I kind of ignored her for the first two years I saw her. She was intimidating. Finally, I was flirting with her and I was like, Yeah we should switch demos and get together. We did, but I didnt expect her demos to be very good for some reason. I didnt really think too hard on it but it blew me away. And I guess mine blew her away so we got together.
B: Switching demos: the oldest trick in the book.
T: It was, kinda.
B: Which came first, the dating or the musical collaboration.
T: We started dating and writing songs at same time. Ive been playing in Boston bands for a few years now and I had to quit a few bands to start playing with Sarah. A lot of my friends were definitely looking down on me just laughing behind my back about it. Like, thats not gonna turn out great. Its cool that it did though. I knew it would come out awesome cause after hearing her demo, she has such a unique voice. Shes totally weird and funny. I knew it would be a good combination.
B: Theres a very lo-fi sound on the album.
T: That actually comes from me being obsessed with Dr. Dog the last couple of years. I was really into [their first two albums] Toothbrush and Easy Beat. The way it was so lo-fi, it really turned me on to listening to more of those type of recordings and really appreciating them. Everyones using all this digital crap and its really, really boring. I think a lot of people spend too much time listening too hard to the perfect sound that theyre not gonna find.
B: Was there anything else that inspired you to play?
T: Sarah and I were both obsessed with the Paul and Linda McCartney album RAM. Theres a really youth-like vibe on that album thats just amazing and I think we were just trying to capture that. I got it at goodwill for 25 cents. If you disregard the silly, unnecessary Paul McCartney voices, its a really good record.
 B: Working at the Middle East, did seeing so many bands teach you what to do and what not to do or do you try to keep the songwriting and working separate?
T: It absolutely inspires you because it tells you exactly what not to do. You watch so many crappy bands and youre like, Im not gonna do that or this.
With this, Sarah joins in the conversation so the duo can collaborate for:
TOP FIVE (+1) TIPS FOR BANDS (FROM THE PEOPLE WHO WORK AT THE VENUE)
Dont Apologize: Bands will apologize on stage for playing something the wrong way or making some sort of mistake. We hear that night after night and it makes them looks really bad. It takes them out of what theyre doing into this mode of critiquing their own performance while its happening and no one wants to hear that? Bands want to be honest but it backfires. I feel that you can be too honest. If you make a mistake, just work around it and dont dwell on it.
Dont Fool Yourself: Bands will come in and play to ten people and act like theyre playing an arena. That happens a lot more than you think. Theyll give Celine Dion hand gestures and yell Hello Boston! and theres two people there. Or theyll talk really loud in the mic when you dont really need to. Dont have any illusions about who youre playing to and where you are.
Be Yourself Onstage: Dont try to be someone youre not cause its really obvious and doesnt come off well. Theres a lot of bands who will fake English accents on stage. Theyll do that, then go over to the bar and obviously will be from America. My dad plays in a band where they play Irish music and onstage he fakes an Irish accent. So Ive kinda seen that up close and personal.
Also, there are bands you see, and I dont know if their management does this or them, that wear matching wardrobe or dress according to their genre of music. Some bands are obviously matched too well to possibly be authentic.
If You Offer Your CD to Staff, Dont Charge: Tommy has had bands come up to them and ask him if he wants a copy of their CD. He doesnt want to be rude so he doesnt decline, but when he accepts it, theyre like, Well, its $5.
Dont Assume the Sound Guy is a Guy: This happens all the time. Every single night, Ill get there around 5:00 to set everything up and check the house sound. The bands roll in around 6:30 and, not all the time but a lot, will look around totally bewildered. I come up to them and introduce myself and theyre like,
Oh, you work here?
Yeah, Im doing sound for you
Oh really? How long have you been doing that?
Theyre always looking past me looking for the guy. They do a double-take and go, Oh. Wow. It still annoys me, but Tommy thinks I should get used to it.
Be Humble to Staff: Its incredible when bands get free drinks all night and they dont tip at all. Theyre not rock stars, but even if they are, tip better!
Drug Rugs self-titled debut comes out Sept. 18. Check em out at MySpace. - Jason Newman
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