Audioholic Media

I didn’t mean to fall in love with this band in a day and a half. After listening to their free EP that I downloaded from their website, I kind of got invested. And by “invested”, I mean that I then proceeded to buy their latest album, Everything is Working Out Fine in Some Town, and easily weaved it into my day-to-day routine by having it constantly playing in the background and tricking my iPod into thinking that it was the only album I owned among the other 3,000 songs that were beginning to collect digital dust.

I’m not that efficient of a person at times but felt compelled to put 32 different things in my life on auto-pilot (minus hitting a gaggle of geese) in order to manage time to get this interview while the band was playing in Tennessee. I’m glad I did because it is refreshing to meet a group of young people (I’m not claiming to be old) whose personalities are just as genuine as their music. Comparing this band to a particular genre of music or musician in general is hard for me. It’s hard because I respect what they’re doing, and at times, it’s not easy to categorize music that you respect because there is always that fear that you’re not doing them the right justice. So, with that being said, it doesn’t matter if you can compare them to anyone else out there right now—because they’re the band that people wish to be compared to. They’re that good. There’s my justice.

Audioholic Media: You guys have a very unique style and seem to work well off of each other. Tell us about your process of collaboration. Is there a primary lyricist? Someone who specifically arranges the music?

Josh Foster: A song usually starts off with me either on a piano or guitar and coming up with some kind of lyric or melody and then it usually turns out into some kind of core structure with these guys and they make it…what you hear. They add their creative influence to it and make it listener friendly—opposed to me, I would write the same thing all the time—so it’s nice. That’s where the collaboration really comes in, is in the practice room where I come up to them with basically and essentially a demo. Then they add their parts to it or change the song and enhance it.

Tom Gilbert: I think we all have really strong voices—or unique voices on our instrument—so it’s like we’re putting our layer or our voice on his song.

AM: Your latest album as a whole seems extremely well put together and is what I like to consider polished work. Bands in your position often have to cut corners here and there for financial reasons—which don’t show at all in this album. Tell us about the latest recording process.

JF: It took a long time and I think that’s one of the main corners we cut—was in time. We weren’t able to get the record done in four months. A lot of that had to do with monetary reasons but it also had to do with us making the record that we needed to make. We also had really good people in our camp that wanted to help out however they could. Whether it be financially, or someone like Derek Garten [our producer] who stuck with us for a really long time during the recording process of this album, which took a little over a year. You know, he put into that album as much as, if not more, than we did. It was people like that who allowed us to put out the record that we did. We didn’t have to cut a lot of corners.

TG: You listen to it and it sounds like we didn’t cut a lot of corners but I think we made that album relatively cheaply and it was because Derek [Garten], the guy who produced it, is really good and efficient. He had a lot to do with how it sounded put together and really polished.

JF: At the same time though, we did have to cut some corners with players. We didn’t have the finances to get $2,000 worth of horn players for a day’s session. We ended up meeting people along our way through traveling. We met up with this one girl in Auburn, Alabama named Marie. She was part of the Tiger Band and essentially, by keeping in contact with her, got a band full of horn players who all came up from Auburn. They were all really stellar. We had charts written out that were semi-legible and she had the people come up, and we fed them and paid for gas. That was a big expense that we made affordable.

AM: The band’s first self-titled album was released in ’04—

[Band discussion on when it was actually released. Some say ’04, some say ’05, but everyone came to an agreement that it was a while ago]

–regardless, it seemed like a huge gap in between this last album. What went on in that time frame? There were some additions and subtractions of members in the band, right?

Ben Jacoby: In brief, we were a band in D.C. and kind of, temporarily, disbanded for personal reasons. Josh carried the torch on and kept going ahead of the Parachute and found new players and I think that was a good time of growth for Parachute because his writing was really growing, and the arrangements were growing, while the styles were changing, but I think Tom and I were two of the original guys—and kind of left our fingerprint in the band—and were kind of the right guys for the band. After a couple years, Josh, moving forward, reconvened and now we are the band we are today.

AM: Geographically speaking, you all are in, what I think to be, one of the most competitive areas for independent musicians. Even though you all are doing something innovative, how do you go about making a name for yourselves and keeping that up?

TG: We promote really hard for our shows around here.

JF: I, personally, just don’t expect anything. I don’t expect to walk in to a show that we’ve not promoted for—it’s really important in this town because it’s really competitive.

TG: We don’t really leave a stone unturned when it comes to promoting for a show. We flier everywhere—a lot of people, for some reason, don’t flier for their shows. Maybe they think it doesn’t work, or whatever, but that is one thing we do for every big headlining show that we have. We just do everything we possibly can to get people to come out. Surprisingly, a lot of bands who are trying to make their band successful, don’t do a lot of these things. To us, it’s kind of a no-brainer—if you’re trying to make this your job, then make it your job. We promote hard because of that. Like you said, it’s a really competitive area so we have to do these things to keep up with all these other bands.

BJ: Actually, this is my only form of employment.

TG: There you go—Ben has made it his career.

BJ: [jokingly] Yeah—I’m already there. I’m looking into getting myself health insurance.

AM: Well, congratulations.

BJ: Thank you.

AM: It’s all about getting your name out there. I totally know what you mean. Fliers never hurt. My partner and I have been doing the same thing for our website, in terms of throwing fliers wherever we can. Last summer we hit random places on the West Coast.

BJ: You have to start somewhere.

JF: There is always someone else doing more; I like to look at those people and be like, “Let’s do more than what they’re doing.”

AM: How important do you think it is for musicians to be categorized in a particular genre of music? Because when I try and describe your music to people I know—I’m in a way speechless—I can’t really place you guys in one particular spot. I’m sort of just like, “Here, listen to this,” and I play your music for them.

JF: To an extent, I think. I mean, if you’re trying to get someone out to a show, and we’re rock-based, and they like rock and roll then…to an extent.

TG: Personally, it makes me happy that you can’t describe us to someone—in a good way, I guess. I think that’s sweet.

Kyle Cornett: It’s good not to be labeled because people don’t come in with preconceived notions. If you hand them a CD and are like, “These guys sound exactly like such-and-such,” then they’re just not going to think of that the entire time.

JF: We do get that kind of stuff.

TG: We actually get grouped in to a lot of different people, which is why I’m excited to hear you say that you can’t describe us, because it doesn’t happen that much.

AM: This is going to sound weird, but will you guys give me your definition on pop music?

BJ: No.

[Group laughter]

TG: I’m sure we all have some definition.

JF: Taylor Swift? Music that my mom likes…and my brother likes?

BJ: I think that pop music is the most common genre for white people to make babies to.

TG: Slash, think about their feelings too.

BJ: White people don’t have feelings.

AM: Very true—I’m only asking that because people seem to be categorizing your music as “pop” in all the reviews and press releases that I’ve seen. Although, when I think about “pop”, I think about two things:

1. songs that are manufactured for a particular audience, in terms of generating music for a mainstream audience—which doesn’t fit for you all because you’re not quite mainstream yet.

2. traditional structure to a song.

Songs such as “College Degree”, “Dear Jacksonville”, “Instead”, and “Everything is Working Out Fine in Some Town” are getting this “piano pop” and “best pop” stamp, and to me, are the songs that stand out the most because they’re not traditional in structure.

So, what I’m trying to ask is, where do you think the intent of classifying your music as “pop” comes from?

TG: I think they just hear it, and they hear hooks, and like you were saying, the recording is polished and it sounds good. While sometimes, there are song structures that are kind of left-of-center, or whatever, there are still hooks and stuff.

JF: Thank God for pop music. If pop music didn’t exist, not to get all philosophical or anything, but if the true essence of pop music did not exist, I don’t think bands like us or other indie bands would thrive because there reaches a point where the listener just gets tired and I think that we bridge the gap between very left of center and radio mainstream, and we’re right on the route of people who are tired of that and are kind of just looking for something else. I think that’s why we have a generally wide accepting audience. I think that’s what makes our general demographic quite large. So, thank God for pop music.

BJ: Without Michael Jackson I wouldn’t know how to dance.

AM: You can’t really help what people say about your music—

JF: [In a threatening tone] Yes, I can.

AM: You can’t really help what people say about your music but what is being said can affect a first-time listener’s perception. For example, I have read and heard people compare you guys to sounding “just like” Rufus Wainwright or Ben Folds Five, which, to me, doesn’t seem exactly right. I think to myself, “Not really, I mean, there is a piano in the band.”

TG: We have brown curly hair—

AM: Exactly—that’s the degree I’m talking about. Do you guys worry at all about people comparing you to different bands or musicians solely on the fact that you have a piano in your band?

JF: As long as we’re not compared to The fucking Fray. I’m sorry.

[Group laughter]

BJ: It’s basically unavoidable.

TG: Maybe someone who really likes Ben Folds will come out to the show and be like, “Oh, they’re like Ben Folds?” Then they’ll listen to us—and be a new fan, regardless.

JF: You know, a lot of this, too is much to our own fault. In the earlier interviews we did, we were grasping at something that we could compare ourselves to so we can find an audience that has similar likes—and I would pick Rufus—I like Rufus. There was a time period where our writing was influenced by Ben Folds, and I think it was a short time period right when I first moved down here. Then we went in a little bit of a different direction but a lot of that is to our own fault, and our own press releases, and stuff like that. You kind of have to list some similarities—and honestly, it doesn’t kill me to be compared to or say I’m influenced by Ben Folds—I respect a lot of what they’ve done.

AM: Definitely.

BJ: I think at the end of the day, we’re just accessible enough that anybody who likes any of those bands—if they took the time to listen—there’s a decent chance that they might like us and that’s all that really matters is that new people are listening. I don’t really care where they come from.

[A group consensus that equates to an “Amen”. Shortly after, a squealing sound is heard outside the building we’re in. Eyebrows rise. Shoulders shrug.]

AM: What was that?

JF: It was a screeching car about to crash into us.

BJ: Zombies. It was zombies. Zombies don’t like our music. I think we need to start a human-flesh-flier.

[Somehow we start talking about Phyllo dough. Don’t ask, just keep reading]

AM: The musical breaks, especially the ones in the songs I just mentioned, are very textured and compliment the style of that particular song. Does having a piano in your arsenal of instruments make it easier or harder to personalize or give identity to songs such as those?

JF: When it comes to this band, to my own fault, I think I play very similar style of the instrument. I do the [imitates a particular style and rhythm popular in their songs] that I try to get away from, then I do something else, and I try to latch on. I think the only thing that gets inhibited is the bass, you know. There is a lot of bottom end to this instrument. Kyle is an upbeat portion of the bottom end of the band. So it adds a lot of low end—when you’re in that low end, it doesn’t leave a lot of room for various between the two low-end instruments because it gets muddy. Either I’m following him or he’s following me for most of the time. Does that answer your question?

AM: Yeah, I guess it does. Basically, what I’m getting at is that your music is different as it is. Like I said, I can’t really describe you guys to people when recommending the album, so with those already unique arrangements how do you go about making those “different” songs different?

BJ: Instruments are vehicles. You can drive them wherever you want them. I don’t think there’s a conscious decision to make a song different or similar. No decent musician that I know of is going to want to play the same song every day of their life. You just naturally write new things; it’s all about growing. Any instrument or art is about progressing and going forward—that’s what art is.

JF: I guess that’s kind of what I was getting into but more on the technical side of things. I get into a style of playing that I vibe with for a little while and then it becomes monotonous and I want to do something else. Like Ben is saying, it’s all about growth and doing new things.

TG: In “Dear Jacksonville” there is that whole Latin part at the end, and in “College Degree” there is like, that whole jazz thing in the middle of it—it’s not like we were like, “We’re going to write this song today and there needs to be Latin groove in it.” When he was writing the beginning parts of that song, that’s what he felt—or that’s what we were jamming on. You know what I mean? It’s like that’s an influence shining through.

AM: The record business is in a pretty weird spot—do think that because it’s so shifty right now that it has offered musicians such as yourselves more creative opportunity and freedom?

BJ: Absolutely.

TG: I think now more than any time, a band can make their own way and be creative, as far as promoting their name and getting their music out there.

JF: At the same time though, a band is a business and a business needs capital. I guess it’s a kind of blunt way to look at it, but if you’re making it your career, your band is essentially your business. Fortunately there are a lot of ways of growing and getting capital and touring is one of our main ones. It helps a lot to do the types of things that independent bands do without any support. It’s kind of magical to me, it’s what makes people starry-eyed; it’s a phenomenal thing. I think it’s awesome that [independent artists] have that opportunity and jumped on whatever they could to be able to do the types of things that they do.

AM: You guys just got finished touring in the Midwest. How do you go about finding venues or areas that your music would do well across the board?

TG: A lot of our touring is finding a band in a city that we’ve never even been to. Right now we’re touring with this band called Oh So Close, who are in Texas. Our music meshes well and hooking up with them is an opportunity to play in cities they’ve played in before and to play for their crowd. That’s really our main way of getting a lot of different audiences is just by show trading with other bands.

JF: We do have a lot of help from other people and our manager— what is that screeching?

[The mysterious screeching sound returns]

KC: We talk to other bands, too and figure out where the good venues are to play at.

JF: I think a lot of it is also trial and error. You’re going to go out and find a lot of places—

[More screeching]

—that you do not belong at.

[Everyone looks around for zombies]

AM: I guess that wraps it all up. Anything else you guys want to add?

JF: Are we signed now?

AM: Yes, that’s exactly what this whole interview was actually for.

BJ: Thank you, but we’d like to decline now.

[Group laughter…and more screeching]

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Visit Parachute Musical on MySpace at myspace.com/parachutemusical.
Their album, Everything is Working Out Fine in Some Town, is currently available on iTunes.