07.11.06

A few words with Scott from The Avett Brothers

Posted in avett brothers, talk to us - July 11th, 2006 at 11:33 pm by Cricket

If you’ve been hanging around these parts for a while you probably already know how much we at HCT love The Avett Brothers. I’ll pretty much do anything I can to keep them at the front of your minds, get you buying their albums and keep trying to convince you to see them live. Recently I had a chance to ask Scott Avett a few questions about the band and music. Maybe if all my raving hasn’t yet convinced you, you’ll like him enough to give The Avett Brothers a chance?

Hard-core Troubadours: I’ve had a hard time defining your sound and I see every reviewer saying something different. How do you define your music? Is there even a label you can put on it?
Scott Avett: This question is asked all of the time and we don’t have an answer. I am not sure if we are even qualified to name what we do. I do believe you can label it, I just don’t know what that label is. What label would you place the Violent Femmes in?

HCT: Your music has continuously evolved throughout your albums. Is this a conscious decision you made or just a natural occurrence born out of how much you clearly love playing?
SA: This is a natural and conscious decision on our part. Everything we do should evolve and improve in some way as time passes. If not, I think we need to rethink what we are learning and doing.

HCT: How do you feel about fans pulling songs down off MySpace? (I’m mean, it must be flattering to have fans love the songs so much, but do you feel that filesharing etc. hurts the band?)
SA: The only problem we see with file sharing is when we have new songs, unheard songs and we want to play them live, which is what we live for, we can’t because they will get “released” on line before we can release them properly.

HCT: You have huge summer tour schedule ahead of you. Are you excited for it? Do you feel like you get more out of playing music for/with people, rather than just in the studio?
SA: We don’t get enough time in the studio, a lot happens when we go in the studio in a very short amount of time. I would like to see us in the studio more in the next couple of years. However, playing for people is a very big part of what we are and what makes us…us.

HCT: What’s the craziest thing one of your fans has ever done?
SA: Well, I don’t know if it is crazy but a couple named their child Avett. That might be considered crazy to some. We’ve had lots of things happen on the road and the craziest are probably best kept in the past.

HCT: What music are you currently listening to that you really love?
SA: You can’t beat the sounds of the everybodyfields from Johnson city, TN. You can’t beat the Beatles. That new Gnarls Barkley is pretty sweet. I also love AC/DC but mostly live footage. Mastodon is a great band with great concepts. Hall & Oats are of my favorites and there‘s a fellow by the name of Justin Gordon hiding out somewhere in CO that writes beautiful songs and plays some of the best acoustic guitar out there. Today I have been listening to demos that Seth and I are working on and Paleface’s new record, Play Guitar.

HCT: Are there any bands that you’ve played with or seen that you think deserve more attention, either from fans or record labels?
SA: Daxx Riggs, the singer of Deadboy and The Elephantmen is one of the best singers of rock music alive today. Also, Paleface from Brooklyn NY.

HCT: How do you go about writing songs? Is it something you all do together, or do you each bring pieces to the table and then fit them together?
SA: Both ways are useful for us.

HCT: What’s your favorite part of live performing/touring? What’s your least favorite part?
SA: Traveling can sometimes be hard on the body, sitting and waiting for so long. But, that is a minor complaint; we see a lot of things and are going to have a lot of stories to tell. I can’t count the people that I meet that are absolutely amazing.

HCT: I saw you guys perform live and I noticed that both Seth and Scott have heavy key chains that hang down and sort of work with them while they are playing. Is this intentional added percussion or do y’all really coincidentally have that many keys and just keep them around?
SA: Sometimes I think a man can be judged not by his possessions or money count but by how many keys he has. More keys, more doors can be unlocked. As we get older we have more doors to go to etc. This may not be true but it sounds like it could be.

HCT: What songs would like to cover? Song you love so much you’d want to share them in your own individual style?
SA: I like old Charlie Poole songs for covering and I am always planning to do more of them, since now we don’t do any. I also would like to cover “Rich Girl” by Hall and Oats. Seth really likes covering Sam Cooke songs.

HCT: What are the biggest influences on the current incarnation of your music?
SA: Traveling, heartbreak, guilt, shame, love, happiness, and sadness.

HCT: I know there’s a lot side projects going on with each of you, and other artistic endeavors, do you ever feel stretched too thin?
SA: YES

HCT: Do you have any advice for bands starting out?
SA: Play as much as possible and write songs about what you know. Avoid worldly issues. TAKE CHANCES and don’t be afraid of embarrassing yourself.

Even if you aren’t in a band, take Scott’s advice and take chances: check out The Avett Brothers tour schedule or go pick up an album or two. And then come back and tell me how much you love them.

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