iNTERViEWED
BY BRiAN LUSH
We are almost at the halfway point of the first year of the
new decade and musically, it seems as if subtlety is lacking. The
airwaves these
days are inundated by the manic electro-pyrotechnics of LADY GAGA or
KE$HA or
by the middle of road consensus hard rock sounds of NICKELBACK and the
like. It’s
hard to figure out where the easy-going and decidedly unpretentious
sound of
DUC’N IT EASY falls within the current pop firmament but one thing is
for sure –
their debut CD ‘OCTOBER’ is just the ticket for music lovers who don’t
want to
bang their head s or tear up the dance floor. While they are billed as
a jam
band, DUC’N IT EASY boasts a sense of songcraft that would make a
random
listener pause and take notice. FALLING FROM GRACE is a gentle
toe-tapping
acoustic romp with a JIM CROCE-styled swing. The wistful ballad OCTOBER
couldn’t
depict the story of lovers in love more beautifully, especially when
the song
kicks into fifth gear two thirds of the way through with power chords
and
heavier percussion. WHISKEY AND PEANUTS is the most playful track on
the EP. Its
plaintiveness recalls the fratboy-meets-guitar strum-a-long approach
that
endeared HOOTIE AND THE BLOWFISH to millions.
ROCKWIRED
spoke with ANTONIO CASASANTA of DUC’N IT EASY over
the phone. Here is how it went.
You
guys have a great
CD. It’s probably one of the more mellower CDs that have come my way in
a
while. Now that
it’s out there for
people to hear, how do you feel about the finished work?
I think it sounds great. I think given the time that we were
given to do it with the funds that we had, it sounds the best that it
could
possibly sound. We’ve been getting feedback from everyone and they
really enjoy
it and they like it.
I think it is kind of
amazing what you can do these days without a lot of money. One of the
amazing
things about your story is that this is really your first band. How
does that
feel?
It’s confusing at times. We don’t know how to approach each
other in regards to certain things but because we are friends first, it
makes
it easier. We’re friends first before we are musicians in a band. We
have that
attitude where we are in it to have fun. If it’s not fun, then what’s
the point
in doing it?
How far back do the
friendships go in this band?
Some are longer than others. The drummer STEVE PADDOCK and I
went to high school together. STEVE RICE is the lead guitarist and he
is a few
years older than me. I didn’t know him that well and didn’t really hang
out
with him that much in the beginning but him and DAN BEAUCHAMP, the bass
player
were really good friends. They lived together for a little while. We’re
connected in one way or another.
What has surprised
you most since putting this band together?
I think the fact that people actually like listening to our
music. I’m not surprised by our ability to play with each other. We
know each
other well enough as people and it helps us understand where each of us
is
going to go with that next note and what’s going to happen next in the
song. We
like to improvise a lot. That’s what we base our live shows off of. We
don’t
strive to make our songs sound like they do on the EP. We have fun with
them.
How did the band
begin?
It started off when I was in college. I got interested in
playing guitar after hanging out with these kids. I started writing my
own
tunes around this time. When I graduated I came home to Massachusetts
and had nobody to play with.
Not many people knew that I had picked up the guitar when I was in
college. I
saw STEVE RICE at the bar one night and I knew that he played and I
felt like I
wasn’t good enough to ask him but I asked him if he would jam with me
some
time. He said yes. I went to his house one time and we played and I
showed him
some of my original stuff and he just really dug it. He could really
groove to
it so we started playing after that for about a few times a week. We
started
doing some open mic nights. Then my friend STEVE PADDOCK played the
drums but
he hadn’t played them in a while. We called him up and we came over and
the
whole thing kind of clicked. We needed a bass player and BEAUCHAMP
wasn’t even a
bass player, he was guitar player. I kind of felt bad about that
because he had
played guitar longer than I had. We had to kind of beg him to play bass
for us
and he gladly said yes. We were very thankful.
You’re kind of a late
bloomer if you picked up the guitar in college. What moved you in that
direction?
I think I was just in awe of my friends who played. I really
loved the acoustic guitar. It resonated for me more than the electric
guitar. I
don’t really understand the electric guitar all that well. It doesn’t
make that
much sense to me. I can get a lot more rhythmic with the acoustic
guitar. It
became something that I could pass the time with when I was bored out
of my
mind.
When did songwriting
begin?
That started after I became a little more comfortable
playing in front of my friends. I just started playing some random
stuff and it
just took off. Lyrics always come last. I try to come up with something
that
doesn’t sound like everything else because everything sounds like
everything
else these days. At least that’s how I feel. I try to come up with
something
that isn’t typical. I usually write the music first and depending on
the mood,
I’ll write lyrics around that.
So
the music dictates
everything and then content comes later.
Yeah.
Talk about your band
mates and what it is you think each of them brings to the table
musically and
personality-wise?
I’ll start with STEVE PADDOCK who is the drummer. He is just
one of the goofiest, funniest kids I’ll ever meet. He says off
–the-cuff kind
of things and he’s always making people laugh which is a good thing
because
being in a band can obviously be stressful. It’s good to have him
around. He
doesn’t take things so seriously. DAN BEAUCHAMP is the bass player and
he’s a
Marine. He’s also got OCD really badly. He doesn’t want anyone touching
his
cables or anything. Everything is perfectly put in place. He’s very
serious but
if you get him in a good mood he is a funny kid as well. He just loves
playing
music. I think he’s been playing guitar and playing out and singing for
like
thirteen years. It was kind of insulting for me to ask him to play bass
but he
really didn’t mind and that says a lot about his character. STEVE RICE
is the
one we call MR. WISE because he always knows best. He’s well traveled
and he’s
a great writer. He is probably the most musically talented in the band.
It’s
always a pleasure to be around him. He can take a song and turn it into
a
masterpiece. Right now, we added a new band member – a saxophone player
and her
name is REBAL CANARIS. She’s from Texas
and
has moved to Massachusetts.
She plays alto and soprano saxophone. She’s not on the CD but its great
having
her play with us live.
I can imagine.
Yeah. It’s unbelievable. We just came up with this new songs
and it’s my favorite out of all of the songs that we have. Its all
built around
the saxophone so it’s pretty cool.
You
talked about how
you get songs initiated. How does the band contribute to the
songwriting
process?
I had written five songs before the start of the band. The
majority of them had lyrics. I brought them to the band because we
really didn’t
have any material and collectively, everyone decided that we wanted to
be an
original band. We wanted to pursue writing our own music. I brought in
these
songs and they evolved into something that I am completely happy with.
A lot of
those songs in the beginning didn’t sound like they do on the CD now so
I am
really pleased with the way they turned out. I bring the song to a
practice and
the band adds their touch to it.
With
that being said,
what songs off of the EP resonate for you the most and why?
I would have to say that LITTLE GAMES stands out for me. I
wrote that one about a family member and that one really hits home. It
means
the most to me. I relate to it the most. It’s a dark song about a
person coming
to a realization that they are going to be all right on their own. Even
musically, it’s a very powerful song.
How have live
audiences reacted to the music?
We’ll play shows were we have like a forty-five minute set
and during that set we get to play all originals which is nice and
we’ll play
two hours shows were we’ve got to play a bunch of covers. The fans have
been
great. They actually prefer that we play our originals.
It sounds great to have
that kind of support for original music.
It is. We’re very fortunate to have that kind of a
following. It grew from a small group of friends who used to come to
our shows
and now it’s gone beyond that.
What would you like
someone to come away with after they’ve heard this album?
I would like them to come away feeling good and wanting to
groove to it and wanting to hear more from us and maybe want to see us
live.
The CD is great but we love to play live.
MAY 8,
2010
BRiAN
LUSH (FOUNDER,
EDiTOR-iN-CHiEF)
