On Thursday night God Street Wine will perform a free live webcast from TRI Studios in San Rafael, CA. The group will follow this up with two nights at Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley, CA and then return to their native Northeast for a three night stand at the Gramercy Theatre from August 16-18. Here in separate conversations the band’s Lo Faber and Aaron Maxwell discuss their return and what the future may hold . These shows represent something of a breather for Lo before he begins a full-time position teaching history at New Orleans’ Loyola University in the fall.
AARON MAXWELL
Isaac: God Street has some shows in the books for August, which is pretty exciting.
Aaron: Yeah! I’ve been immersing myself in our catalogue for the last few weeks. I’m trying to get it back into the memory box. It’s amazing how the stuff kind of comes back. Ill be trying to work it out and it will be like not quite right and all of a sudden I’ll remember how the fingering went on the guitar, then it all comes back. I’m like, “Ah! That’s how it was!” What’s cool for me is that the stuff still stands up. It’s still interesting to me to work on and appreciate after having some time away.
Isaac: I know when you guys got back together in 2010, there was a death of a dear friend and I’m curious as to how the conversations about these shows started and what the rehearsal process has been like.
Aaron: Yeah I guess it was after we did the Jam Cruise, back in 2010, we had Bob Weir sit in with us, which was quite an interesting experience. Just for me personally, I can’t speak for the other guys in the band, I had been a fan of the Dead when I was growing up and learning the guitar and so having that opportunity to play with him was special to me. And then afterwards, I emailed him to thank him and he actually emailed me back and said, “You should come out to San Francisco or to TRI Studios and we’ll have some fun.” So that was always kind of in my mind after that experience like, “Man, that would be a great thing to do!” We all know what God Street Wine is but let’s just do things that are fun for us or whatever. I guess there was some talk about like, we weren’t sure if we wanted to do shows or how we were feeling about it but then I guess we talked about the idea of what if we went out and did that and maybe we should play another show out in New York for the fun of it. We had a Skype session with each other, just talking about would it be fun to do it, and we all decided that it would be. And then we had to figure out if it was actually feasible and it turns out that it was.
Isaac: Is there any new material that you guys have been working on or anything that you’ve been working on personally?
Aaron: Yeah my focus in the last years has been on playing gypsy jazz like the music of Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club of France so that’s like old jazz from the 30s and stuff so I’ve been really immersing in that and writing stuff with this band I have called Metropolitan Hot Club. I have written a few things, Lo has written a few things. For these shows we decided, we had a tendency always to bite off more than we could chew in a sense and we decided we just wanted to have fun with these shows. I think we have about 60 or 70 songs that we’re working from and it’s all the material we’ve done over the years. Some things that we didn’t do in 2010 that we will be doing these shows but as far as new material, I don’t know that we’re going to debut anything new just yet. That is something that we’ve talked about that maybe would be interesting to record some time, some new material, but it hasn’t really gone further than that.
Isaac: Can you talk a little more about TRI Studios gig coming up?
Aaron: Yeah! I mean when we did the Jam Cruise, I was hearing about this new studio that Bob put together that was like state of the art, really incredible HD quality. It just sounded so intriguing. It’s such a crazy time for musicians to get out there and to get their stuff heard; I just appreciate the fact that Bob has put this money and energy into creating that. It’s just a really exciting experience to be able to go and see it and hang out and play.
Isaac: You mentioned that you’ve been working with these other bands. Is it weird to think of playing these God Street gigs or are you in a musician’s head all the time and it’s not a problem?
Aaron: It’s funny, I have four-year-old twins that keep me very busy these days and I play a fair amount with that gypsy jazz group but I don’t, as far as the rock and roll thing, it’s a different kind of head space. I’m sure the neighbors have been hearing me sing loudly lately, getting myself back in shape. That’s the hardest part for me you know? The type of singing and we play long shows, I have to build back my stamina. But it’s not weird! I’m always thinking about music, I’m playing a lot in other capacities. The exciting thing for me, I feel like the five of us, there’s always a nice synergy that we have with each other that is almost telepathic because we’ve shared so many experiences and so many years together so it’s fun to come together and see what happens. And those shows in 2010, I was just very, it was almost like I was witnessing them along with everybody else, how it unfolded. I kind of like that I don’t exactly know what to expect.
In the time you’ve been away from the jamband spotlight, have you been going to shows or sitting in with people? Have you stayed connected?
Aaron: To be honest, in the last years, like I said, I have four-year-old twins and that has kept me really busy. I live upstate near New Paltz and I’ll go check out stuff here and there but I haven’t really immersed in the scene so to speak. I’ve been amazed to see, it seems like there is a much more solidified scene and ability to be recognized now than there used to be like with satellite radio and social networking. I wish we had those tools when we were doing our thing intensively. I’m trying to think of some shows. I’ve definitely gone to see some shows here and there. After those Gramercy shows in 2010, Lo and I started playing some acoustic duo stuff and so we got a chance to play at Gathering of the Vibes and we did a bunch of shows here and there so that was a fun experience. Those were fun.
Isaac: You kind of answered it but have you seen the music scene really change over that time in the hiatus?
Aaron: Yeah. Some for the better, some not. First of all, the major record labels are a dying breed and that may be for the better. When we were really pursuing and playing in the late nineties, that was our goal, to get on a major record label for distribution. But now, I would never recommend that. There are many more avenues to get your music heard to a larger amount of people than there used to be. The ability to make very good recordings for cheap is more available. But now the industry, you know like I look back on people like Frank Zappa, his first record was a double album and you had record companies that were really supporting artists and developing them and nowadays there’s no such thing as that. You have to be a Justin Bieber or rely on one person to sell tons of records. It’s a different kind of scene. And also, there’s so much available to anybody at any time that I’ve noticed, people have less attention span. I teach middle school kids and they don’t have to latch on to anything. They just download a song here, download a song there and so they don’t have an allegiance to any one thing. They’re not fans of one band. A lot of them are just into songs here and there. Back when I was growing up, the only way I knew of a band was to be in their fan club or to see them live or buy their record and so that’s changed a lot.
Isaac: You mentioned the Grateful Dead earlier. We’ve been asking people to share their favorite moment of Jerry Garcia or in some way how they’ve been influenced by him…
Aaron: He was one of the reasons I got into playing guitar. One memory stands out for some reason. I was in San Francisco in the late 80s and I saw him play at this place called The Stone in San Francisco, which was a little club. It was a very intimate setting and I had only ever seen the Grateful Dead in Madison Square Garden or big places and to see him in that small place, and then afterwards, I saw him outside the club just like standing there and it was one of those experiences in my life where this larger than life figure was real to me. It was inspiring in that moment. So much of his music just came from a real soulful, truthful place and I really appreciate that whenever I think about him or if I’m trying to think about my inspiration, that’s where I want it to come from, a truthful place. I can look to him for that.
LO FABER
Isaac: You got some shows in the books for August and you did some in 2010. I’m just wondering how that decision came about to start playing shows again and what those conversations were like.
Lo: I’ll tell you exactly how it came about. It came about in ’09. It was really a tragic thing that brought it about. There was a guy named Paul Ducharme and when we started out in the late 80s, early 90s, Paul was sort of singlehandedly the reason we were able to built a following. Paul was the proselytizer for the band. He was this little sort of surfer and skateboard guy who we used to drive around to Grateful Dead shows in this beat up old VW Fox and he was the pied piper. He would bring dozens of kids from all over New Jersey, introducing them to the world to live music. He was at every show and he taped every show. He was totally crazy and from time to time, he would have a big hissy fit and get mad at us for something and stop seeing us for three weeks and then go back to we were the greatest band that ever lived and so on. In the years since GSW broke up, we had all sort of lost touch with Paul.
Long story short, Paul died very tragically and accidentally in the spring of 2009. And even though at that point, the guys in the band, we hadn’t really seen much of each other for eight or nine years at that point, we just kind of knew we would all have to get together and play for Paul’s memorial service which we did which was a very nice occasion and then we sort of played outdoors in the park with about a hundred of ours and Paul’s close friends. We all flew to do this with no notice and no rehearsal. That night, we played, they set up beer for us in the basement of a neighbor’s house and we played till about four in the morning.
It was an amazing experience and of course a very sad experience because of the reason that we were all there. And adding even more to the intensity of all this was the fact that in the months before he died, Paul had been posting on Facebook, “God Street Wine needs to get back together.” And of course we were like, “oh yeah Paul, right sure, whatever,” but then when you suddenly die, things like that start to get taken very seriously. So that really led to thinking, “god, it’s really fun to play and there are people out there who still remember our stuff and so let’s really do some gigs for the public in 2010.” It also came about that our former tour manager, Michael Weiss, has multiple sclerosis and he’s very active with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society so we did those gigs as a benefit for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and they were very successful. It was really a great experience for everybody. No one should have the impression that we’re sort of back doing this full time because it’s still a very much once in a great while thing. As long as there are people who are willing to come out and see us, we’ll try and get together every so often.
Isaac: What about the prospects for new original songs?
Lo: You know, we sort of flirted with that idea. I have some new material. I guess it was sort of a close thing but I guess we decided not to do it this time around. On the other hand, we have some very old material that is so obscure that many of our audiences have never heard of it. We’ll pull a lot of that stuff out too. We won’t just play the greatest hits that are on our albums and stuff.
Isaac: And you’ve really had a successful and busy academic career. You’ve been in school. Has it been weird to come back to the idea of playing gigs after that or has it been natural?
Lo: Yeah in the first four years of working on my PHD, I barely had time to pick up a guitar. I was perfectly happy with that to be honest with you. I was very wrapped up in the academic setting. There was one time when moe. was playing in New Jersey, this was ’06 or ’07 I think, and Al had tendonitis or something and so they were inviting guest guitar players. So I played a show with moe. and that was really great fun. Little things like that. I sat in with a bunch of other bands, I played a few solo shows during that period. For the most part, I was full time on my research and writing and some teaching as well. It is hard to get back into it. I am very much a perfectionist about my playing so I have to practice an hour a day at least just to get my hands feeling like I’m good enough to be seen in public.
Isaac: So you have this date at Bob Weir’s TRI Studio…
Lo: That’s a really cool thing. Although I haven’t been there in person yet, I’ve checked out all the pictures and it looks just awesome. It’s like state of the art recording system, state of the art Internet connection and broadcast facilities and each musician gets to have an iPad at their station with their own monitor mix software set up on an iPad. We have a very special plan for this broadcast also. I don’t know if I am allowed to tell you.
Isaac: Have you stayed a part of the jam scene during the hiatus?
Lo: I haven’t been as involved with it as I ought to be which is really a shame because when I do see bands, I think they’re really awesome. When I sat in with moe., that was the first time I had seen them probably since when they opened for us like fifteen years ago or something. And Phish, I love Phish, and we have the Princeton connection as well. I’ve only seen Phish three times in my life. I’ve only seen the Grateful Dead three times in my life as well. I’ve never been a very much “go out to see music” kind of person, one reason is because I’m short and I always end up standing behind someone who is six foot eight and looking at their back. I just don’t have time honestly. I love to play so much and if I’m an audience member at a great show, all it does is frustrates me. It’s like “I wish I could be up there playing,” or “I just wanna go home and write a song because I’m so inspired by this.” I can never just sit back and enjoy the show. It seems like the jamband scene has really taken off since when we were doing it. It was really kind of marginal when GSW was together back in the nineties. There was the H.O.R.D.E. tour and that did pretty well but it never grew to the same scale it has now. There was no such thing as Bonnaroo. That’s huge.
Isaac: In the time you’ve been away, have you been surprised by the way things have evolved?
Lo: I think there’s no question that social media and streaming and downloading and all those basically technological changes over the last twenty years have made a huge difference in bands’ abilities to reach niche audiences and specialized audiences that really care about them. When we were together in the nineties, we were really ahead of the curve on technology and we could see where it was going. None of this is a surprise. It was frustrating that it wasn’t happening fast enough. In the nineties, it was still the World Wide Web and everyone had a dial up connection and if you wanted to have video, it took 45 minutes to load. We were really psyched for all of these developments to happen but they didn’t really happen in a way that made much difference to us before we broke up in ’99. It is awesome. It’s a great time to be a music fan. There are so many ways to connect with bands and find new music.
Isaac: It has gotten huge.
Lo: It seems like the Dead and Phish are still the big anchors of the scene but there’s room for hundreds of other bands and genres. It’s definitely not one monolithic thing.
