iNTERViEWED
BY BRiAN LUSH
When I spoke with RYAN LAFFERTY of
MONTANA
1948 he was on the road heading for
San Francisco
and was confidant with the release of the
band’s forthcoming CD ‘PICKET FENCE’. In 2009,
MONTANA
1948 released their debut EP ‘TINY DRAWINGS’ to regional acclaim and
thanks to
its frantic single ‘LIE THROUGH YOUR TEETH’, the band enjoyed airplay
in both
Boston and
Los Angeles.
Now, in anticipation of their debut LP the
band has released a three-song teaser and if these three songs are any
indication, ‘PICKET FENCE’ will – without a doubt – be one of the more
engaging
recordings of the remainder of the year and beyond. Pop music is full
of
three-minute examinations of relationships under the microscope but the
one
that element that sets MONTANA 1948 from the usual pop psychological
heartache
fair is their sharp and literate approach to song craft.
ROCKWIRED
spoke with RYAN LAFFERTY of MONTANA 1948
over the phone. Here is how it
went.
What
do you think is
the big difference between ‘PICKET FENCE’ and the first release ‘TINY
DRAWINGS’?
I think that our new album is definitely more cohesive. We
were able to hone in our sound. When we first recorded ‘TINY DRAWINGS’,
we had
only been together as a band for a few months. Now that we’ve been
together for
a couple of years and have been able to spend a year and a half of that
time writing
the songs on this album, we’ve been able to
find our sound and find the music that we
really wanted to be making. This album is much more dynamic I would
say. It’s
definitely more driving, that’s for sure. The dynamics are much better
than
they were on ‘TINY DRAWINGS’.
How long did it take
for the entire album to be finished?
We started recording last June and the final mix was done in
the beginning of April. So it took almost ten months of recording and
mixing
and everything.
Like an overdue baby!
Yeah, exactly.
Now that it’s out
there for people to hear after the ten months of work that have gone
into it are
behind you, how do you feel about the end result?
I’m extremely confidant about the album. It’s really great
to be able to listen to an album that we put our absolute heart and
soul into.
It’s come out so much better than we ever could’ve imagined it. The way
that we
had originally envisioned the songs and the way that they came out in
the
recording is beyond what we could’ve imagined. We are extremely happy
with how
our album came together.
Talk about the
genesis of the band. How did it all come together?
Through CRAIGSLIST actually! RAZA and DAN met at Berkley when
they were
each getting their Masters in Engineering and they started jamming out
together
and doing cover songs and then they decided that they wanted to start a
band.
They started a band called VEGA where they recruited CHARLIE - who is our drummer now –
and LESLIE MONTERO
was the lead singer before I came on board. When that band broke up,
CHARLIE, RAZA
and DAN decided that they were going to start a new band and get a new
lead
singer and they found me through CRAISLIST. It was one of those dumb
luck
things where you hook up with some really talented people through
CRAIGSLIST.
It’s pretty crazy.
Talk about how music
began for you.
For me personally, I had always been a music lover for my
entire life. I never really expressed it that much. My mom was always
worried
that if I ever got guitar lessons then I would want to join a band and
start
doing drugs and overdose or something. I was discouraged from doing
music when
I was a little kid but when I was in high school I started taking bass
lessons
and then I started playing guitar but I never really did anything with
it
because I was more of an athlete in school. I was pretty much playing
sports
year round and I never really got into playing anything live until my
senior
year of high school. None of my friends knew that I could sing and it
kind of
surprised everybody I guess. From there on I knew that I had a talent
and felt
that I should see it through.
Talk about each of
the members of the band and what you think each of them brings to the
table
that makes it work.
CHARLIE our drummer and he and I are kind of the jokers in
the band. We kind of brings the sense of humor to the band and keep
everything
kind of light-hearted. RAZA is very business minded and handles
everything with
regard to marketing the band and things like that . DAN is probably the
meticulous one of the group. He’s a perfectionist. As far the music
goes, when
it comes to writing the music, we go about doing it organically. Rather
than
someone writing a song and telling everybody what they need to play,
CHARLIE
will started playing a drum beat or RAZA will start playing a bass line
and
we’ll all sort of build
up a song around
that instead of somebody dictating all of the parts.
So songwriting is a
group effort?
We’ll kind of start playing something in our practice space
without thinking anything else of it but if something catches our ear
and we like
it, we’ll start building a song around it. DAN writes all of the lead
guitar
parts obviously, RAZA will write his bass lines and CHARLIE will work
out his
drum fills and I write all of the lyrics.
With that being said
what songs off of PICKET FENCE resonate for you the most personally and
why?
It’s a bit hard to say because every song comes from
personal experiences and personal feelings that I’ve had. ‘HOW TO SWIM’
is more
about being caught in limbo between what you want and what you’re
familiar with
and trying to decide what you want and how you’re going to get there. A
song
like ‘MEXICO’ is about a love that you
feel is so right but
there are circumstances that are preventing it from being. That one hits pretty close
to home. All of
the songs hit pretty close to home. ‘STREETLIGHTS’ is actually about my
insomnia
and how I felt that if I went to sleep I felt like I was wasting time
sleeping
when I could’ve been writing or doing something more productive. I was
staying
up for as long as I could until my mind would force me to go to sleep.
How are live shows
going at the moment?
They are going great! They’re going very well! We have some
shows booked in the San Francisco
area. We’re not necessarily a loud band but we’re a band that is
definitely
going to get your attention in our live sets. We’re always trying to
keep air
out he set and keep the audience interested rather than giving them a
chance to
step away to the bar for a drink.
MONTANA 1948 is an interesting moniker for a band.
Where does the name come from?
There is book called MONTANA
1948. When we were trying to name the band we wanted everything to
relate back
to literature. We wanted our music to almost be literary as well as
musical. We
were also thinking of how we could best describe our music and we felt
that we
have this big open sound much like Montana
which is this big opened space. It’s Sky Country. The band was
wondering how we
could relate that back to literature and I brought up that one of my
favorite
books was MONTANA
1948 and I felt that the name could relate perfectly to the band, not
because
of the subject matter. Eventually we all agreed on it and we contacted
the
writer LARRY WATSON. He was on board with it and loved the idea. He had
actually heard of our music and really appreciated us reaching out to
him and
asking permission for everything. He’s a really great guy and I was
glad that
we were able to help carry on the namesake of his book.
From the time that
this band came together up until now, what has been the biggest
surprise for
you?
I think the biggest surprise is that this whole thing came
together so well and so easily that we all gelled. A lot of times
people are in
a band to make music but we’re all very good friends. It’s surprising
how
easily we’ve all clicked and how easily we click on a friends ship
level as
well as a musical level where all of our different musical influences
can come
together to make the MONTANA 1948 sound.
What would you like a
person to come away with after they heard PICKET FENCE?
I’d like them to come away with something poetic but also
very musical – music that bridges the gap of indie rock and alternative
rock.
It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to make this album and I would
like
them to come away with an appreciation for what we put into it. Anytime
a band
makes an album they’re putting it out there because they want the
appreciation
of a listener and that is all that we can ask or hope for.
What do think is next
for the band musically?
We’re going to try to write some new stuff but I think it’ll
be a long time before we go back into the studio. We’re going to be in
talks
with labels in the next few months and hopefully we will have a label
that we
could sign with in the fall and from there I think we will know more
and that
will determine what the next step is musically.
BRiAN
LUSH (FOUNDER,
EDiTOR-iN-CHiEF)
