Russ Lawton is enjoying a late summer harvest in Vermont; some relaxing time in his garden before he’s back on the drum kit. Between his work for nearly twenty years and counting as a timekeeper in the Trey Anastasio Band and his pairing with Trey band keyboardist Ray Paczkowski in their duo Soule Monde, Lawton keeps the grooves moving. He recently took a few moments away from the drums, and the vegetables, to talk to us about his band, Trey’s band, and about being a guy who just loves being in a band.
Let’s clear up any confusion: The what and how of the name?
Ray came up with Soule Monde. Soule, S-O-U-L-E (pronounced soul), is my middle name. We called it Soule (SO-lay) because people look at it and see the letter E, and it throws them off. Monde, as in Raymond. It was a combination of both of our names, and is one of those things that is open for interpretation.
How did this get started?
I was playing this little club up in Sugarbush. The guy had a Hammond B-3 in the club. Ray lives about ten minutes from my house. I asked him what he was up to, you know, “Do you want to get together on a Thursday night at this guy’s club and have some fun? Just bring your clavinet. It’s really simple.” So, we started playing. We’d also get together and do these little home recordings, write little songs. It started up very organically. I said I’d book some other gigs. People got interested in it. It kept snowballing. I’ve been in many original bands. When you find something special, you just keep going with it.
What’s the songwriting process?
Ray would have some songs, and I’d put my personality into it. I write a lot of beats, but I’m a songwriter, as well. With Ray, it was mostly instrumentals, I’d add maybe some beats and a bassline. He’s a really great collaborator. Or I’ll have a groove, or write an A and B section- a verse-chorus kind of feel- and he just comes in and takes it to another level. It’s pretty cool. I would say 90% of it is collaborative.
What I liked when I saw you perform is this sense that you two are zeroed in on the music at all times.
We’re going for it. Whether we play in my drum room or, obviously, when we are playing live, we are going for it every time we play. When we are improvising, we are trying to make it all balance together.
I think the way you set-up on stage, facing each other and almost parallel to the audience, accentuates that.
We set-up like a V (shape), almost. We started doing that as we were playing bigger rooms. There was space to do that. We can look at each other. We have songs, but Ray is a serious improviser. He starts pushing me, and I pull it back a little. We definitely communicate that way. He’ll take more chances because he’s not worried about another melodic instrument’s space. He can just give me a look.
You talked about this growing organically. Have there been or are there now any stated goals?
It has organically grown, but when you get into something you believe in, something that is special, you know there is something there. It’s a creative thing, too. I’m always thinking of beats that would be good for us. When you get that creative outlet with another person, it’s pretty special and you want to keep doing it. It’s cool when you are not forcing it.
Will it always be a duo or do you ever see expanding?
Someday we may play with somebody and think, ‘Oh, my god, it hit another level.’ We just played a couple of dates with Trey, and Cyro Baptista played with us. We were in the band room, warming up, and Cyro and I were grooving. I thought, wow, it would be cool to add a percussionist into this. Right now, though, it’s the two of us and I think that’s really good. We’re getting shows and we’re happy to be out there.
Speaking of Trey, in that band you have Tony Markellis on bass. With the duo, I imagine the basslines come from Ray’s left hand?
He’s got the left hand, and it’s more of my nature to be a “Tony,” as well. That’s kind of why it works. We both kind of do that role, but it varies from song to song. We want to keep people’s heads moving.
What kinds of things migrate from the Trey band experience to Soule Monde?
Trey’s a great frontman. I’ve thought that always. Doing shows without a setlist, calling out songs- I love it. You get cooking when you’re on the road for a couple of weeks. I try to do that with us.
Are there any other ideas that cross-pollinate?
Reading the crowd. Changing it up. Trying different songs. Always thinking. It’s really cool how things are always developing, and always improving, hopefully.
In both bands, you have a lot of genre-hopping to do. That seems like a challenge you embrace.
I’ve always enjoyed it. I have always been intrigued by different styles. I’m a kid of the Led Zeppelin era, The Beatles, all that stuff. But, as you keep going as a musician, you check out other stuff. So, definitely blending all these different styles is what I love about this.
Is it ever hard to find the balance between your style and what the song is calling for?
Depends on the song. If it’s a new song, I’m going to put my influence in. I’m always practicing. When I go out with Trey, I’m practicing heavy for two weeks or more on all those songs. I have a “trouble” list; like, five songs where maybe the tempo I have to nail down better or whatever. I’m always reaching for new influences, checking out new styles to come up with new beats. There is always something kicking my butt.
Do you ever listen back to your own performances?
I listen. Sometimes I get busy and don’t get to listen as much. Sometimes when you give things a rest, and then listen, they surprise you even more. We’ll talk at rehearsal about that, too.
You’ve been with Trey a long time now. Would you say the spirit is the same as when it began?
The spirit’s there. It’s like a family band, now. Jen’s been there from 2001. Tony and I since ’98, ’99. The personalities are all right-on.
How do you view Soule Monde? As a side project to your work with Trey or as its own entity?
We’ve been playing together eight years now. It’s a serious thing. Today, I woke up thinking about updating our website, see what’s going on with T-shirts. I’m thinking about all this Soule Monde stuff all the time.
Sounds like this is right where you want to be.
I’m a band guy. That’s always been my goal; waking up every day and getting to play. I’m so happy to get to do that. I take nothing for granted. I feel pretty lucky.
