Soundboard – Jeffrey Osmon (Evansville)
1. Talk about the bands you've played in and when/where you played your first gig.
2. When did you first decide, "Hey, I want to get up in front of people and play music?
3. Try to narrow it down to three - which bands/artists have you been most influenced by in your playing and why?
4. If your routine before a show had a theme song, what would it be?
5. Give us a story of the most memorable thing you've seen happen from the stage at a show.
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1. When I was in high school and first learning to play the guitar, I played in the praise band at my church. I don't want to give the vibe that I'm a sort of Christian musician by any means, but I did have a lot of fun playing in that group and I don't think that we sounded half bad. I also played a handful of gigs with Skelton's Montourage, though I think that jazz/funk/fusion wasn't really my style. I suppose my first real gig was with them at Deerhead. Now I'm the frontman of Piasa. We have a bit more of an indie rock/singer-songwriter sound, I suppose. It definitely better reflects what I'd like to be doing musically.
2. I think that I've always wanted to do something different. I mean, every little kid dreams of being an astronaut or an actor or something, but I think that I was really disenchanted with the idea of living a typical life. I think there was a lot of external and perceived pressure that I should become a doctor or a lawyer or something respectable like that. When it comes down to it, though, I think I just like living in a house with four other guys and making music with them. It took me a very long time to accept that my songs were really worth anything, but there has always been a desire to get them out there to see if someone else could relate to them. I suppose that if someone does relate to them, then they are worth something.
3. First and foremost there is Wilco. I've never been able to pinpoint what it is that I love so much about Wilco, but I feel that there's something in there that I seem to have an understanding with. I'm a big fan of their use of noise and soundscapes, as well as dynamics. If I had to pick something that Piasa directly takes from Wilco, it would be those aspects. I also like the way that their sound evolves from record to record, and I think that their influence on us would become more noticeable once we were placed in a studio environment. The musicianship present in Wilco is definitely something to aspire to; Nels Cline and Glenn Kotche are absolute monsters. Also, I think that the band's attitude towards music in general tends to reflect how I approach music. I like to joke around that Jeff Tweedy is my musical paradigm, though I just can't seem to grow the beard.
Another band that I would say has a heavy impact on the way that I listen to and make music would be Eels. We don't use a lot of toy instruments in our playing (maybe someday), but I think that I take a lot from Everett's lyrical style. He's very straightforward and matter of fact about things. I think that my lyrics tend to be very literal as well, as opposed to Wilco and their tendency to throw strands of cryptic metaphors your way that you have to sit with for days and days to understand. Not that there's anything wrong with that. There are times where I've sat down and tried to write songs a little more in that style, because there are only so many ways that you can say “I'm feeling kind of sad today” in a song.
In the past couple of months, I have been listening to The Mountain Goats obsessively. I sort of get the feeling that not only am I the only person I know that likes them, but I think that the rest of the guys in the band are pretty much annoyed by it. It's one of those strange musical love affairs where I've just fallen for something that's very bare bones and simple. There are aspects of the band that I know I just shouldn't like, such as the singer's voice, but for some reason I really like it. I think that it's absolutely perfect for the type of music that they're making. It just sounds honest. The music is very visceral, but the lyrics are extremely literate and intelligent. I did not know what an autoclave was until I listened to the album _Heretic Pride. They also work this storytelling aspect into their music that I think is great. I mean, most songs tell stories, but not about the same things that The Mountain Goats speak about. I have to say that I'm not any sort of die hard fan, though. I haven't checked out a lot of their earlier lo-fi recordings; I've mostly been listening to their post-Tallahassee albums.
4. Some sort of dubstep arrangement of “Flight of the Valkyries” featuring guitar work by Pat Metheny, a cacophony of chainsaws, and mixed by Jim O'Rourke. I'm just a tad bit anxiety-ridden.
5. I don't have any particularly interesting memories of things I've seen from the stage. I suppose the only thing that comes close would be the expressions that people often make when we go into the “breakdown” section of certain songs, also referred to as “pulling the insanity switch.” Some will laugh; some will cry. I'm still waiting for the day that someone actually becomes physically ill from my music. I think I'll be pretty happy about that.
