Rusted Root: Leave It in the Hands of the Music Because the Music Knows Best

Was there ever a time when you weren’t getting along?

Well, think about it this way. A band is very much like a family with all the great stuff about having a family and all the really nit-picky, aggravating things about having a family. So just imagine being with your family on a bus for months at a time. Think about that? Think about what that would do? And that’s exactly what happens with us and I’m sure with a lot of bands. Whenever you’re with people all the time, you get to know them. You get to know all their shit and experience it first hand and right back at the em with their own. It can be hard, but at the same time, the other side exists. It’s a family and you have all the hard stuff, but all the great stuff is there too. And that’s part of being human, having relationships. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be a relationship and you wouldn’t get that incredible energy.

When will you enter the studio?

Early next year.

From now till then, will there be additional Rusted Root tours?

I imagine — and there’s no plans to do it — but I wouldn’t be surprised if there was another week. Traditionally, we’ve done the week before New Year’s, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we did that this year. What are your favorite new Rusted Root songs? Something that you know is going to CD the light of day.

I don’t know. I couldn’t say at this point because we’ve played so many but we’ve only played them once. There’s some songs that Jenn has worked on and there’s some jams that we’ve all come up with together — which is also a new thing — that are really exciting and sound like us but are very much showing off everyone’s new-found skills. It’s just beautiful.

Last time I interviewed the band, there wasn’t the technology to ask this question, but will there be any MP3s folks can check out before the record drops?

If I anything to do with it there will be. I love that stuff. I’m a computer geek. I think it would be foolish to not do something like that.

How do you feel about the whole Napster thing?

At risk of pissing the record company off, I think that the whole industry needs a big shakeup, something to get them honest again, get the industry refocused on music and not the hyper-millions of dollars. I don’t know if Napster’s doing that or not. The press says so. I don’t know if in a year what will shake out to be, but I think anything that puts the consumer first and the music first is a good thing. I do think that there’s going to be people that Napster’s going to hurt, particularly songwriters who don’t make a living off touring income. That’s the downside of it. I definitely see that. I don’t really have a solution to it, but I think the essence of it is the industry itself has become very greedy. It’s always been money-motivated but now more so than ever. If I was king of world (laughs), I would love to see an industry that helps foster more kinds of music and more openness to different things instead of spoon-fed pop, instead of the industry dictating what you’re going to like. I think that’s the reason Napster’s so popular. Not only is it free, but it’s such a huge, diverse cross section of stuff that you would never hear because the radio stations aren’t going to play because they’re controlled by the record companies. They’re paid by them. That’s the sad truth of it.

The Rust Tribe is 66,000 strong. They chatted about the band the whole time you were on hiatus and now are really excited that you’re back together. Comment on how that following is very positive and more supportive and reliable than such aspects of the music industry as radio and label support.

One of the benefits of the spiritual and political consciousness in our music and the ways we try to carry ourselves is that you end up attracting people that are either like that or working towards that. In the big picture, we’re all working towards that. None of us are perfect, especially us (laughs). When I’ve read the Rust Tribe I’ve noticed that they are sensitive and conscious about communications and being clear with each other. If someone’s out of line, instead of slamming them, they talk it out in a more civil, human way than just violently shooting words at each other. It’s a little society that seems to work really well. A lot of the folks that have been there for a while I’ve seen take the time to educate the ones that are new about different etiquette and things that are cool and things aren’t so cool to do, like offering to purchase bootlegs. Things like that.

Over the years, we’ve spent a lot of time on the road. When you put yourself and your work in front of people and give them an experience, they become attached to it. That’s how they come to relate to the music they hear on a CD to an experience. The reason anytime we go out we’ve always got a place to play and we’ve always got a lot of people showing up is that we’ve always worked to give people an experience, something they can actually feel and take with them. Humans by nature I think, when they get something good, first they take it for themselves, but then once they realize there’s so much of it, they want to spread it around. That’s the advantage that we have with this community. They want to turn other people onto it.

There’s always those folks who want to keep you small. You know, ‘Oh, you’re selling out. You’re big time. You don’t play the clubs anymore.’ But I think those people are a minority and are on a different wavelength.

The first time you were on the HORDE Tour was the third HORDE with The Allman Brothers Band in 1994. Comment on how since then, the jam scene has exploded, what you think the main reason is for that explosion and how you feel about that explosion.

It’s so funny that folks think of us as a jam band because we’re so not solo-oriented. It’s not improvisation except for the drumming, which is why I think we get classified in that because we do long, extended improvisational things (with the drums). But as far as a band like The Allman Brothers, who have three guys that can solo their asses off, we don’t have that. It’s never been what we’ve done. But it’s an energy. I think the reason that we get put in there, like Dave Matthews or Phish or the Dead, is we give people an experience. Jerry Garcia said something like, ‘ We create this sonic backdrop for the community that’s out there.’ And that’s powerful.

So much of music today or yesterday is based on numbers and getting people buying all the records and not really fostering any sense of community. This is just my editorial, but in today’s world, people are starved for that kind of togetherness. We’re creating a place where people can come together and dance and have a good time, meet each other and make friends and all that stuff. That’s like a service within a band. We’re providing this thing for people to experience. That’s at the heart of the jam band phenomenon’s success. All these guys are creating a similar kind of energy. Sonically it’s different. We sound different than Widespread Panic and all these people and they all sound different from each other, but there’s a similar cross-section of folks that come to see all of us. And there’s a lot of them. The bottom line is that people are looking for something real, something that’s not prefabricated, something that’s changeable, something that’s sometimes on the edge and maybe makes a mistake once in a while. It becomes more real to them. Sometimes when you make a mistake on stage, that’s the fans’ favorite moment because it was special and it’s real. And it’s rare.

Well, I won’t comment on that (laughs).

My last question for you, you pretty much answered as far as the moment. But should Rusted Root not stay together, what is it about having been involved with the band that has satisfied you most?

I don’t know about the most. There are just so many things that are satisfying. The first thing is the relationships with the people, the different members and the friendships and getting into each other’s lives and having an effect on each other. I value that the most. And then right beside that is the music that’s happened. There’s a kind of music that’s never been heard before on this planet and we made it. I’m really proud of that. I’ve seen it affect people. We’ve gotten letters telling us that we’ve saved lives or whatever crazy things that get written that people write to us about. But just knowing that you’re having some kind of positive effect on a person’s life and remembering how I, personally, was affected by music when I was a kid. I know that music saved my life. I know what that feels like and I can relate to that, and I’m glad to be of service and at the same time, just getting to meet people. I really like people. It’s one of the reasons why I teach. I like to get with people and look at their faces and play drums with them and create an experience. It’s the same thing.

And obviously there’s all the opportunities I’ve been afforded and all the side projects. I’m happy to have made a living. We’re not millionaires, but I’ve made a nice, comfortable living. I’ve got a beautiful family. I’m glad to not be flipping burgers. I’m not really sure what else I would do in life if I wasn’t doing some kind of music.

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Bob Makin is the entertainment writer for the Courier News.

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