Music is something that touches our soul and that often speaks to us in ways that words can’t. In those moments when a musician’s passion for their music, natural talent and creativity combine it makes for something truly magical. That is exactly what I found in the music of Roosevelt Dime, that had recently played at Harmony Presents in Hawley, PA.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Eben Pariser, and in speaking with him it was immediately evident the passion that he and his band have for their music.
From the first song on their latest record “Full Head of Steam” until the end it seamlessly transitioned from one song to the next, each with its own unique style. Although no two songs were quite similar there was an underlying thread that somehow tied them all together. What did stand out was how each song makes you feel, there’s no denying the overall happiness you feel when you listen to their music. It would be impossible to listen to their CD and not be tapping your toes and get a smile on your face. Roosevelt Dime has created feel good music with such an undeniable artistry to it, that it’s almost incomprehensible. To you and me, it might be difficult to understand, but to Eben and the band it’s second nature because it’s their life, their passion and it’s just what they know how to do.
I had a difficult time trying to pinpoint any one or even two genres that I could place you guys into, what are your guy’s influences and how would you classify yourselves?
“Full Head of Steam, our latest record, is sort of a special record because I think it was probably the first time we were all really satisfied with capturing the diversity of sound and influences of each person in the band. You talk about it as if it’s a genre of music we play, but actually we found it pretty difficult to describe what genre of music we play, so much so, originally we even came up with our own name for the music which is Steamboat Soul. It’s sort of funny since it’s a genre that was sort of invented in order to describe it. Part of the reason why we had to do that is because it does have so many influences, there are a lot of things that are familiar in it, and I think that a lot of people that are familiar with various aspects of American music and classic American music, rock, blues, soul, funk you can find elements of those things that really speak to you in the music but it’s not specifically any one of those things. Where we all come from as individuals and how we all came together to create the creole of music that we play.”
It’s refreshing that with all the music out there today that can feel limited at times, that what you guys offer is so unique and you kind of invented what you’re doing, it’s really cool to see.
Well we definitely are taking risks, we definitely wanted to do something different then what other people were doing and to do something that is all our own, and unique and that’s a risk because it’s easier in a lot of ways to go with what you know. And it’s harder to do something different that people might not even know what it is, and therefore not even know that they want it. So we took some risks for sure, but I think the reason it’s working for us is because it’s very much from the heart and I think that’s what translates more then anything.
I think each person in this band brings something that is vital and very essential to them as a musician. So you start to get the mix happening when Andrew (the other lead singer and other main songwriter) very interested in bluegrass/banjo, but he also plays electric guitar in the band. But he brings that knowledge of 3 finger Scruggs style banjo and bluegrass banjo, and he cares a lot about it. And that mixes and melds with my deep interest in blues and soul music and horn music, and Seth’s interest in African brass band music and it gets filtered through everybody else’s passions, and it mixes and tries to find a happy medium.
I’m very proud of the group, especially this past album to be able to traverse such a wide swath of American music and feeling like we can really do justice in a set to everything from stuff that leans more towards the bluegrass side of things to stuff that leads more towards Motown soul. The real mixing pot and event that culminates all this mixing of styles was the time we spent on the street, which again on Full Head of Steam we’ve captured some of that street band stuff the most authentically we’ve ever done, that was a major turning point for the band.
Do you think that crossing so many genres makes it easier or harder to reach people, on one hand you can get your foot into many different doors but, because it’s not so defined is it harder because it’s not something that people may be readily looking for?
I think that in general we have a more challenging road, but no risk, no reward right? Over time we’re beginning to establish ourselves as one of the only bands on the scene that really does traverse the American music landscape as well and as widely as we do. And is it a challenge? Sure, but is it worth it? I definitely hope so. When we have that experience with the audience where they’ve been taken on this journey and at the end of the night they come away feeling like there’s nothing else like it. We’ve had some really amazing moments already and we’re excited for more of that.
We took these risks with doing a non-traditional ensemble and doing a non-traditional sound and all around us we’ve been getting boosts from bands like Mumford & Sons and Avett Brothers just popularizing these non-traditional but classic sounds. In someways it also feels like there’s a movement that we’ve serendipitously found ourselves being a part of. There’s that other energy coming from the general mass of music listeners being more exposed to, and almost returning to, these classic American styles.
There is such a variety on the latest record, is it even possible to pinpoint a specific song on Full Head of Steam that could give an accurate picture that could sum up Roosevelt Dime as a whole?
Some of our music that has gotten picked up on Sirius Satellite Radio (which we’re psyched about that), are “Oh To Be” which is the first song from the CD and a pretty modern sounding sound, but they also picked up St. James Infirmary which is as classic of a standard American song as you can get. So the CD really runs the gamut and although I can try to sort of pinpoint the songs that epitomize the band, but depending on who you are, I think the band is more likely to be epitomized by where your heart is with the songs. For example “I want Mo!” is a heavily New Orleans inspired song, and if you like that sort of R&B, Soul, Revival sound that track is getting radio play in blocks with Lake Street Dive and Sharon Jones and it’s getting played in blocks with them a lot so if you like that, then that can sort of epitomize the band; And if you like the more pop stuff, “Oh To Be” or “Wishing Well” from our previous record is going to epitomize the band. And if you like the rustic folk and trad stuff then St. James Infirmary or Deep Elem Blues, that kind of epitomizes the band.
It’s too hard to pick one or even three or four songs, “Oh To Be” is clearly the single and has the most general appeal and it’s a nice demonstration of that creole and mixture of sounds. You have a template which is based on sort of a bluegrass style banjo with a great featured performance by one of the true young greats of bluegrass guitar, Chris Eldridge who plays on it, but it’s also got the pop thing of having drums(which bluegrass music doesn’t have), and then we add in the sort of New Orleans Horn riffs and that sort of is a bit of a template for how the sounds all mix together. But it leans pretty heavily towards the pop-bluegrass sound and if you’re more into the rustic street sound and soul and Motown sound that’s most likely not going to be your favorite track, so it really depends on your personal preference.
So if people want to catch a glimpse of you guys, what are your upcoming touring plans?
We kick of our CD release tour in March in Maine then Vermont and continue on through the Northeast, Connecticut, New York City, Massachusetts, Philadelphia and those areas and continue on into the summer.
They will be in the area again in NYC on Thursday, April 10th, Philadelphia on Sunday, April 27th and Lancaster on Friday, May 2nd. For full tour dates you can visit their website: http://rooseveltdimemusic.com/tour/
Do you guys have any plans of heading down into the New Orleans/Louisiana area? Would you feel as if your music is more embraced in those areas?
Although we’ve been playing in the Northeast and it’s naturally more appealing to the South, we’ve been playing in Virginia more and it’s a slow process but we’re making bigger tours through the country. We did our first California tour last year and actually one of our songs “Crazy About You” is charting #8 in South Carolina so hopefully this new record will make some new waves and get us new fans in the Southlands because by all means we are dying to go down through Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Louisiana, South Carolina, North Carolina and all that area. We are dying to get down there, but we have to be a business too and it has to grow on its own accord, so the best we can do is start building up here in the Northeast and hopefully this interview will help to spread the word.
So you guys just came out with your first music video?
Yeah the music video for “Crazy About You” was just featured in Performer Magazine with the premier and that’s our first official video and we’re actually working on another official video for a folk song which I won’t reveal just yet. And sometime before the end of the year we anticipate releasing a video for the single “Oh To Be” as well. We’re really trying to up our video presence and get more into that side of the art form as so many people are discovering music through YouTube these days.
You can checkout their video below, and be sure to share it and spread the word.
Thanks so much for taking the time for this interview, is there anything else you’d like people to know?
We’re just really excited for these CD release parties all through the Northeast especially our hometown in New York and also the Lancaster and Philadelphia shows, all really through the Northeast there’s a whole bunch of good ones. And the CD release is March 4th, so that’s when the CD will come available.
You’ve brought up this idea of “good feeling” stuff, and even if the music spans a lot of different genres and transverses the American landscape a great deal I think you’re absolutely right that the big unifying factor is the energy that the people bring to the music and the excitement in doing this, and in doing something different and in doing something that other people aren’t doing. So we’re just so glad that it translates in the songs and we’re just going to keep trying to work from that place of good energy and the excitement of working with one another and that great vibe. And I think that’s what you can expect when you come to a show is to walk away with a real good feeling of a great experience.
Speaking with you and listening to the record I can tell how enthusiastic and passionate you guys are about the music, and I feel like it’s the way music should be. Your songs are so organic and original, and with so much of music today feeling auto-generated it really is refreshing.
Yeah, we’ve found ourselves in the midst of a bit of a movement towards where there is a real talent culture and a lot of bands are kind of going back to reassembling what you might call authentic or classic American styles that are much more organic and interested in featuring people that play real instruments.
It’s sort of off the beaten path of what you’re calling inorganic stuff, computers are amazing tools and people across the board have made fantastic revolutionary music using the technology that is available, but I don’t think that you can ever argue that it feels the same as when you get that experience of listening in on a band that is playing all of their own real instruments. And there’s a big movement, most prominently Mumford & Sons sort of bringing that back to pop music, bringing real instrument sounds back to pop music and being incredibly successful. We’ve gotten our roots from that and that’s how people maybe see it not as some throwback thing, because we sure as hell don’t feel like it’s a throwback. We’re taking the influences and just playing the music that we love through a very modern filter, through the filter of our lives, through the filter of all the music we peruse and 90s Alternative Rock we grew up with and Punk Music and Hip Hop and Jazz, and you know we’re just people doing what we feel is now and not a throwback thing in any way. I think it’s nice to have more people aware and be open to this as modern music, as the music of today.
Through the variety of the album you can definitely tell that you guys pull from such a wide range of stuff because but each song is so different. And although at times some songs have an older feel, they also seem so modern in their own way. The songs don’t seem old by any means, it’s kind of a refresh, it’s new, and it’s inventive.
I like to imagine that it’s very connected through our influences, but very much through our own very current filter. We’re just people doing the same thing as anybody else who’s ever tried to create a band based upon what they know, and our band ended up sounding like this.
Full Head of Steam is was just released and is now available on CD as of March 4th, 2014, you can purchase it on their website at: http://www.rooseveltdimemusic.com
You can check out Roosevelt Dime’s website for their upcoming shows: http://rooseveltdimemusic.com/tour
You can purchase their digital album here: http://rooseveltdimemusic.bandcamp.com
Connect with & Follow
Website: http://www.rooseveltdimemusic.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RooseveltDime
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RooseveltDime
[…] You can check out our previous interview with Roosevelt Dime to learn more about them here: http://www.poconotalk.com/steamboat-soul-an-interview-with-roosevelt-dime/ […]