Guster’s four-year hiatus ends with new album, tour
Guster has been known for taking its time. For example, the band is averaging three or four years between albums. But with the release of its sixth studio album, “Easy Wonderful,” fans are thrilled to see the band back in action. Still, drummer Brian Rosenworcel says “don’t call it a comeback.”
The Boston-bred band—rounded out by lead singer Adam Gardner, singer and guitarist Ryan Miller and bassist Joe Pisapia—has become a constant fixture in the underground alternative rock scene since its debut in 1991. The group quickly became known for its unique instrumentation and theatrical stage presence. The release of “Lost and Gone Forever” in 1999 finally put Guster on the mainstream map, and they’ve been riding that wave ever since.
We spoke with Rosenworcel by phone a couple weeks ago just before the band was set to head back East to continue its highly anticipated fall tour, which includes a stop at Newport on Oct. 7. Rosenworcel dished on the band’s return, going green and what it’s like being a new dad on the road.
It has been a little while since we’ve gotten an album from you guys. Some are calling this a comeback. What do you say to that?
It’s kind of like what that rapper once said … “don’t call it a comeback.” We never expect to have a four year gap between albums but the last couple times it’s just turned out that way. … Four babies were born to members of Guster since the last album, so we’ve been kind of busy [laughs]. We also didn’t want to make a sloppy daddy album. We somehow brought up the energy on this one, even though we’re getting older.
Where’d the inspiration come from for this album?
We just get into this creative run when we’re together. Someone will bring in an idea, and we’ll all work it out. We don’t really have rules as to the process of writing a song. [Miller] wrote a lot of the lyrics this time, and they are real thoughtful. … After you’ve been touring for a long time and been with family for a long time, you get this itch to be creative. We got together and the music just started pouring out of us.
Can fans expect anything from this record that maybe they haven’t heard from you guys before?
Every record for us is kind of unpredictable. We reinvented ourselves a couple albums ago. We started with a very fixed instrumentation, but then we opened it up and broke all the rules. You can get inspiration from any source. This time we really honed in on the songs. The last record was my favorite until now. We went down certain roads and tried on a bunch of different hats, which was fun.
How do you go about juggling your family life and your life with the band?
It’s not easy. We used to be able to tour eight months a year in our 20s; now we have to be more creative about it. My wife and kid are actually flying out to Atlanta to be with me. I’ll probably take the stage after changing a diaper, and then change a diaper when I get off stage. Every second you’re not on the road you have to make up for lost time. I do a lot of iChats, and I’m often caught singing “Itsy Bitsy Spider” to my Mac.
Your concerts are known for adding a bit of the theatrical element. Can Columbus expect any fun surprises?
We don’t really plan anything when we do a show. If anything theatrical develops that’s great, but we don’t do any choreography or these big things. We just don’t have those kinds of skills. We’re always not taking ourselves too seriously; you can connect with the crowd better that way.
You guys are also at the forefront of a popular green initiative. Tell me more about Reverb?
Reverb is a non-profit our guitar player, Adam Gardner, started. It started out as a reaction to experiences on the road and just discovering all the waste that’s happening in the touring industry. So we started promoting putting biodiesel in trucks and buses and put more of an emphasis on recycling. We’re also offsetting energy at shows through using wind power. And it’s not just us—bigger bands like Coldplay and the Red Hot Chili Peppers have gotten involved. We’ve also just started a car-pooling initiative. There’s info on our Web site, where you can find people in your area to car-pool to our concerts with. There’s also our Campus Consciousness Tour that’s happening in April. We’ve always wanted to name it something better but never did. We don’t want to be preachy from the stage, but we want the fans to know what we’re passionate about.
I saw that bassist Luke Reynolds is replacing Joe Pisapia for the tour. How’s the new lineup going?
Today is actually [Reynolds'] first show. It’s kind of like he’s spent the last four days in Nashville cramming for a test because he had to learn over 50 songs. He’s an amazing musician and awesome dude. He’s pretty much the only guy we knew of that could do all the things that [Pisapia] did for the seven years that he toured with us.
Why is Pisapia no longer available to tour with the band?
[Pisapia] has been working with k.d. lang. He produced her new album that’s coming out next year. He basically has built a studio in his backyard; you can see he’s got a bright future ahead of him. k.d. lang is a hero of his, and it was just time for him to move on. He’s an amazing musician and a great guy. We couldn’t have separated on better terms, I actually crashed at his house last night. He will continue to be in the studio with us, but he just couldn’t do the road thing anymore.
Guster has a very different kind of connection with their fans, with a cult following now a big part of the fan base. Is that something that you guys have actively pursued?
Some of that just happens organically. For us, we started off making demo tapes and sent them out of our living rooms through fans, called Guster Reps. They would sell a few CDs for us. That spirit never left after we were signed to a label. … For us it’s not something we think about much, it’s just the way we’ve always done things. We wouldn’t really know how to do it any other way.
The band seems to be teetering on that line between “underground” and “mainstream.” You’ve definitely cracked the Billboard charts enough to be considered legitimate in garnering mass appeal, but not to the point of mainstream fame. Is that orchestrated?
There’s nothing real deliberate going on there. We kind of just do our thing. People may see that we’ve been on a few different labels so that might bring on the description of us being mainstream, and we’ve been building our fan base DIY-style for a while, that’s why our fan base might be more cultish then some. But we’re happy with it either way. We just do our thing, and anyone who wants to come along can. It’s not deliberate or preconceived. The sound of our band is not particularly cultish, but we haven’t had much of a national spotlight.
Guster takes the stage at Newport Music Hall, 1722 N. High Street, Friday, Oct. 8. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $22 in advance and $25 day of the show. For more information visit PromoWestLive.com.
~from Metromix.com
