Photo by Mary Dennis
This week I sat down with the amazing band The Neighbors, which is made up of by David Crepeault, Tom Cadrin and Alex Rossiter.
Who plays what instrument?
- Cadrin: I play guitar and sing.
- Rossiter: I play bass and do the harmonies.
- Crepeault: I play drums and do some back ups.
-Rossiter-We are working on incorporating more vocal harmony opportunities between the three of us.
How long have you guys known each other and how did you meet?
Cadrin- Dave and Alex have known each other basically forever; they’ve been jammin’ in and out of bands since elementary school and have established a communicable groove between the two of them that is hard to artificially cultivate. They were introduced to me during High School through a mutual friend. At the time, I was recording on a project under the name Automatic Tommy; Alex was recruited to play bass and eventually made his way as a permanent member of the band. Shortly there after, because of their close affiliation, Dave was brought into the band. The Neighbors is the grown up, more educated and matured version of that project.
Where does the name The Neighbors come from? Were they any other band names tossed around?
Crepeault- We wanted to create an atmosphere in which both the audience and the artist feel as though they are part of something larger, a greater community. We thought The Neighbors, with its implications of a neighborhood (fans, street team, audience, etc) and further implying that We Are All Neighbors, something of this nature would begin to take place. Along with that, all of us are from the same town – Grafton, MA – and we have been fortunate enough to have many friends and family members help us out. We have all also studied music in college, making the three of us neighbors in our intellectual and personal pursuits.
Photo by Mary Dennis
What are your influences? What are the influences of each band member? How did they mix to get your own sound?
- Cadrin: I started kind of late in the music game: I didn’t really get into music until High School. The other guys were already writing and playing in more than one band at that point. When I got into college, I tried my darnedest to open up my ears. I started exploring lots of Jazz and Progressive music. Towards the end of that time in my life, I was heavy into Avant Garde classical music. All throughout however, artists like Bon Iver, Medeski Martin & Wood, John Scofield, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Circa Survive and The Dear Hunter really shaped my days. Mason Jennings took up a few months there, as did lots of Death Cab For Cutie and Bright Eyes. I suppose It’s pretty standard for me.
- Crepeault: When I first began to become interested in music, Primus was a huge influence on me. Hearing the playing of Tim Alexander (the drummer of Primus) made me want to learn how to play the drum set. Eventually, I shifted towards prog rock ie Dream Theater, Rush. Towards junior, senior year of high school my private lesson teacher, showed me Jazz, blues and funk music(Louis Armstrong, Kenny Carr, which at first was extremely difficult for me to understand, but over time it grew on me. Tower of Power and Lettuce completely changed how I viewed playing music and focused more on the groove of my playing rather than trying to be continuously flashy. Currently I am into The Dear Hunter and their incredible orchestration of their music.
- Rossiter: I have a pretty wide range of tastes. I find that while a lot of people change their tastes in music, I seem to simply add to my library of likable bands, artists and genres. After my initial love of grunge as a kid, I became heavily influenced in jam bands and progressive rock music (i.e. Primus, Phish, Dream Theater). In high school, I started to appreciate the value of an excellently written pop song which got me into alternative rock, pop punk, and straight up pop music (i.e. Weezer, Saves The Day, Foo Fighters). I also started playing jazz with Dave, sometimes every day of the week both in and out of school. I am also very influenced by funk, blues, metal, hardcore, and classical music.
Photo by Mary Dennis
Cadrin- It’s a matter of whom the demo comes from. For the most part, I have written the songs we currently play. I recorded them on a solo album last year. Technically speaking, those professional recordings have served as our current demos. We’ve taken them, re-arranged some parts and changed feels here and there in others. We try to keep things fresh, so we’re always looking for ways to present ourselves and the audience with something new. In the more traditional sense, a demo can start and end in completely different places; it all depends on how complete and original that first idea was. More recently, Alex has been re-arranging the basic demos I’ve sent him, and he and Dave will come together on a groove. This is where the song really begins to take it’s shape. Then we all talk about the song and make sure it’s something we are all happy with.
What are your songs about?
Cadrin- As I have written all of our current material, the songs tend to take on a more introspective feel. I talk a lot about my inner workings while trying to allow the listener the same sort of introspection. Mostly they are about just making it through the day.
How do you describe your music to people?
Rossiter- We describe our music as a blend of pop, rock, prog, and funk. We like to compose intricate pop songs that take people for a ride and deviate from traditional forms.
What kind of gear did you use in the studio? Live? What’s the difference?
Crepeault- The tracks found on our current demo were recorded at UMass Lowell’s recording studio in Durgin Hall. It’s got some state of the art equipment. Most of the gear we used to record is the same equipment we use at our live shows. We hoped that this would best re-create our performance sound in the studio. That said, there was still a lot of mixing and post-production work that was done to make our recordings sound professional.
What has your tour experience been like?
Photo by Mary Dennis
Crepeault- Tour experience for us has been limited. We have been on little stints not too far away here and there; however, Alex has toured extensively in other bands. He went to Europe for a few weeks and toured throughout the East Coast and Midwest regions of the US. Right now we are putting together a tour for late winter/early spring.
What live performance experience have you had?
Cadrin- Alex and Dave have had the most live experience as they’ve been playing together since 4th grade. Together we have played such places as The Middle East (Upstairs and Downstairs, Cambridge, MA), Harper’s Ferry (Allston, MA), Arlene’s Grocery (NYC) and Higher Ground (South Burlington, VT) as well as a plethora of venues throughout the Northeast.
Where are your up coming shows?
Rossiter- The next two shows that we have coming up are The Middle East Upstairs on December 5th and Ralph’s (Worcester, MA) on January 16th.
What are your rehearsals generally like? Do you have a set time each week in which you practice or are rehearsals more spontaneous?
Cadrin- At this point, rehearsals are whenever we can fit them in. With Alex living in NYC, it makes things a tad bit more difficult to schedule regular practices. However, Dave and I practice at least once a week to keep the juices flowing and Alex generally comes home a day or two before gigs so we can fit something in. Our music however, is something that has some fairly regimented parts; it is because of this, with a commitment to personal practicing, we can stay on the same page.
If you guys were to describe yourself in simple word choice what would you say?
Rossiter- Fun, smart pop
What’s your most embarrassing experience?
Cadrin- Probably when I quoted the movie “Training Day” on stage in NYC. I brought up “getting wet” in terms of smoking angel dust, which was completely irrelevant. I tried to tie it in with my normal stage banter, but failed epically. Dave and Alex both looked at me in confusion as they hurried to start the next song. I laughed it off at the time, but in retrospect I realized how ridiculous I sounded. I guess that’s not too embarrassing, but it’s something I think about before each show.
Who screws up the most live?
Crepeault- After almost every show, one of us ends up apologizing to the others about one thing or another and the other two band members are like, “Huh? Oh, we didn’t notice anything”. It usually leads to conversations that help us facilitate better performances in the future.
How can fans-to-be gain access to your music? Do you have a website with sample songs or a demo cd?
Rossiter- Fans-to-be can gain access to us through Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Neighbors/150457631484?ref=nf), Myspace (www.myspace.com/weareyourneighbors) or at our band’s website, (www.theneighborsmusic.com) which is currently being built. We do have a demo that we give out for free at shows and send via email to anyone who is interested (email: weareyourneighbors@gmail.com for one.) But ultimately, Facebook is easiest at this point: everyone uses that website, and so do we.
What has been your biggest challenge as a band? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?
Rossiter- Currently, the biggest challenge for us is the distance between band members. We tend to work best when we are all together in one room, but those moments are hard to come by these days. We do our best to overcome this obstacle and continuously work together via email and/or phone conversations.
What was the one song you wish you had written?
- Cadrin: Circa Survive – Kicking Your Crosses Down
- Rossiter: Between The Buried And Me – Selkies (The Endless Obsession)
- Crepeault: Lettuce – The Last Suppit
Photo by Mary Dennis
Anything you would like to add?
Cadrin- Thanks to everyone who has helped us out in the past, and to reviewartists.com for this interview! See you on the road!
Post by Jameson - Meet Me
After graduation Jameson moved to Boston Massachusetts, where he now works at Brigham and Women's Hospital. When He is not going to shows and listening to music he enjoys playing the guitar, which he practices almost every night and he has an interest in photography.
