east coast romper eastcoastromper.com INTERVIEWS :: REARVIEW MIRROR :: Matt Olson REARVIEW MIRROR by Stephanie Stevens www.rvmonline.com REARVIEW MIRROR is the first band signed to Gobstopper Records, thanks to Steve Lillywhite (producer who has worked with U2). The band who hails from Cresco, IA and consist of T.J. Kammer-drums, Matt Olson-guitar, Adam (vocals) & Jason (bass) Ptacek and each member is still under 21. With determination, family support through the early years and lucky breaks along the way these guys have been able to make music suitable for radio and that have attracted a multi layer of fans around their area and across the nation thanks to the Internet. My first introduction to them was through a mass e mail about their first single/song IN THE BEGINNING. I downloaded it, listened and liked it and got the opportunity to chat on the phone with guitarist Matt Olson a few weeks ago. SS: Working with Steve Lillywhite and having him so enthused with your band, how did you guys all react? MO: We were pretty excited to work with him because other people in the industry that we had met seemed to have a big ego or something, he was really down to earth and excited to work with us. We were excited to have someone who was interested in our work like we were. SS: Was there any pressure on you guys, where he worked with U2, were you a little scared at first? MO: Not too much just because like a lot of the bands he got big with they're sort of like more the bands we grow up around, there not the bands we grew up listening to. We didn't even like know his name before we met him. SS: Did he tell you what he liked about your music, was there like one certain thing or the whole package? MO: I think it was the whole thing, I think he was just looking for a young band that had the same guys who started, not people who played in a lot of other bands. SS: Growing up in Iowa, what is there to do? MO: Nothing (laughing) SS: So, what got you started into the whole music thing? MO: We lived in a town of about two thousand people still, there wasn't that much to do besides play sports in high school or do something else. So, we decided to play music cause none of us were all that interested or good in sports, I guess. SS: So, were you guys outcasts? MO: Not really, we still had friends, like people when we first started the band, they made fun of it, but artists are misunderstood (laughing) having a band when your just starting high school. We had posters and people would draw on them (laughing) SS: All right. When you guys first started out, I read somewhere you were heavier and more into like the Korn influence and everything? MO: Yeah, yeah I guess when we first started we were trying to sound meaner, I guess, before we realized we wanted to write a good song, if it ends up heavy that's fine but if it doesn't that's fine too. SS: Did you start when the whole Korn thing exploded? When did you guys actually form? MO: We started around '97 but actually our big influence has been like Pearl Jam and Nirvana, then a couple of years later bands like Bizkit and Korn became more popular, so we were into them but we're not anymore. SS: Is your family into the whole music scene? MO: Nobody in my family really played music, my sister played a little bit of piano growing up. I just kinda picked up the guitar when I was in junior high, fourteen or fifteen I started playing, SS: Why choose the guitar more than say drums or bass? MO: I don't know, looking back, I wish I had chosen the drums SS: (laughing) Really? MO: (laughing) I don't know, I think because that was the most accessible, ya know what I mean. SS: Did you learn by listening to records or did go for lessons? MO: I had lessons on and off for two or three months in the past, I had this good teacher who ended up moving away, so I didn't have lessons after that. I'm pretty self taught. SS: Your band name, was it TJ's Mom who actually came up with that name? MO: We had a show scheduled and we were trying to come up with a name one afternoon like band names and on the way home she was like naming everything in the car, speedometer, steering wheel, all these terrible things. REARVIEW MIRROR just happen to be a Pearl Jam song we all liked, so we said let's just go with that. SS: Has she been a big supporter, has she been behind you guys since you started? MO: Yeah, a lot of the parents helped a lot in the beginning just like when we tried to call places for shows, we were too young, so they booked shows for us and we played bars when we were too young so some of the parents had to come with us. They were pretty helpful in doing that, helping us out with vehicles to carry our gear in. SS: Well, that must have been tough then? MO: Yeah, when we started there weren't any clubs, we just played in bars, we were pretty much like a jukebox. (laughing) SS: (laughing) OK. No, cause I know that around the Boston area, if bands are too young to get into clubs, they make whoever is young wait outside until their sets up and then they go in and play, then they have to get right back out. MO: Yeah, we've had experiences like that but usually like they'd let us stay in there if we stayed in back or something. SS: How was it playing the bars, there must have been an older crowd there? MO: Yeah, when we started playing the bars we were all like thirteen and fifteen, we played four hours at a time then, we played a lot of covers and some originals but I don't know it was hard to try and get a bunch of drunk people to get involved in a band. SS: (laughing) All right. Did covers go over better than your original stuff? MO: When we first started we thought we should do covers but as we went along we thought if we really wanted to do this seriously we should make an album. So, we made our independent CD and we started playing those every night, in twenty-four hours we actually played them twice, we'd play them at the beginning of the night and at the end of the night, usually the same people weren't there. SS: How was that with school, did you guys play during the week or did you just play on the weekends? MO: We did some during the week, mostly we did two every weekend, two or three every weekend, like Friday and Saturday and sometimes another day. SS: Did you do any school functions? MO: Yeah, a few of us were involved in bands and choir, we tried to stay very involved. SS: With you guys being so young and getting into the business so early, is there anything later in the future you will say you missed or has this been a passion for you guys since you started? MO: No, we're just really excited to make records and getting a lot of people to hear them. We're a young band so we'll probably be obviously physical growth will be noticed and we just want to keep practicing and playing so that we can be good at it. SS: Now, the first album you were talking about, was that BLOWN OUT? MO: Yes SS: With that album, did you actually go into a good studio or was that recorded somewhere else? MO: There's a pretty good studio in Cedar Falls, Iowa called Cat or Mouse, I think we recorded the album in like four days and then remixed it which took a few more days. SS: You sold that on your own? MO: Yeah, we just sold it at our shows. SS: I read that for this debut album, this was your actually first recording session, which isn't really true because you had already been in the studio recording for your first album, but were they talking about like a real studio? MO: I think it was a real studio, maybe they were saying we actually had time, ya know what I mean. We didn't actually have time to work in the studio, we just got them done as fast as we could, we didn't have time to work on anything else. SS: So, what was the differences besides having more time, did you guys get to learn a lot for producing and for mixing? MO : We learnt a lot from Steve, like just having various parts even if it's the same chord like the second verse of the song, change it up a little bit, ya know what I mean. So, did you guys have a long preproduction? Well, we had this practice session and Steve came up twice and listened to a lot of songs we had and gave suggestions, the ones to work on harder or the ones not to bother with, that took us maybe a few months. So none of the songs from BLOWN OUT are on this album? There's two that are on there but they're a little bit changed. Which ones are those? ANIMAL and GUILTY are on there I enjoy ANIMAL because it has that little heavy vibe to it! Yes, that was the first one on BLOWN OUT and Steve liked that one also. That's pretty old, when did BLOWN OUT come out? '99 I think Oh, so there are some older songs on the debut then? Yeah I read that you guys don't like the song GUILTY? Not that much, no (laughing), Our least favorite on the CD Is there a reason for you guys not enjoying it? I don't know, I guess that's the reason we got signed so we should probably like it more but it just seems a little to cheap, a little too straight forward. (laughing) All right. We're getting used to it, we have to play it quite a bit. In the studio was there any way you could have changed it up to like it better? We changed it up a little, it's not as stupid as on the last CD, but Steve really liked that a lot, it was one of his favorite ones. He has a little better perception on what makes a good song. A lot more than we do. (laughing) Well you never know, once your out on tour, you might be able to spice it up on a live show. Yeah When is the actual disc coming out? June 4th, I think I know the label, I don't know if this was just for press, but they sent me a seven song sampler. Yeah the EP Was that just for press or are you guys selling it? We're selling it at shows right now to get people interested, something they can take home at least. Are you on tour now? Pretty much, we have this week off until Saturday, but pretty much we try to play five days a week depends how far out we are weather we drive back home or not. Is this just your tour or are you playing with other nationals? We usually play at colleges and headline or we play at clubs and headline or open for local acts. Do you think more fans are understanding your music and you guys because you are so young and more around the same age of the fans? I think so, yeah. I suppose they would better than anyone else, they're not going through the same things we are but it's interesting because I think we have a little different perspective on things. So, do you guys think later on down the road, that you might go to school and do something other than music? I don't know, possibly I guess, all of us are really into different things but it probably be awhile but I think if this is a success and we get the time and money some of us would probably go to college. Is there anything else in the music biz you would like to do, like have you ever thought about producing? Yeah, I'm really interested in that, I really like studios, playing the sounds and stuff So you like all the knobs and everything? Yeah (laughing) I'd like to learn a lot more about it. Well, I'm sure Steve would help you out too? Yeah Being on the road, do a lot of kids come up to you with demos of their bands? We get a lot of local acts CD's now, I think a lot of it is usually we have some local press. I think a lot of bands once you get signed, think you can help them out in any way you can, but Maybe if you sell five million records Right. (laughing) Not where we're at! (laughing) Well, I have to tell you, the first time I heard you guys was actually by accident, somebody E-mailed me or brought me to a site and I heard the song IN THE BEGINNING Yes and I was addicted and that's how I actually got into Palm Records too because I E-mailed them and asked them about you guys, so it was cool. How do you feel about the Internet and how word of mouth can spread so rapidly on there? I think the Internet is essential now especially for us, we're trying to get a lot of traffic that way, get people to sign up for a street team and a mailing list. Do you see out of state that a lot of people know you or are they pretty clueless? Outside of the last four or five months we haven't really played out of state that much or out of our area. Is anybody treating you guys differently now being from such a small town, like do they look at you as rock stars now? We get a little bit of that, none of us are there at all, none of us live in Cresco anymore so we don't have look at it like that. We're so far away from being rock stars anyway (laughing) (laughing) Are you living in bigger towns now? I live in Crosses County, our drummer went on to Minnesota, the bass player is in Minneapolis and Adam is in Lime Springs which is where he grew up close to Cresco. A little more spread out now. So you guys are not even in the same states? Yeah, not really Wow! All right. It must be hard, do you guys practice or when you go to shows is that when you do the set? Lately like in the last four or five months we haven't had a practice because we play so often. We want to write some more and we really don't have the time to do it, so we're going to get some acoustic guitars on the road and write like an all teller, but for now we've just been playing, we play the songs so much, we don't need to go through them anymore. (laughing) (laughing) Do you think in the future you guys would move to a more music scene like New York or California just to be in the whole business aspect of it? Yeah, I think if we could afford it, we would all like to at some point but I think for the next couple of years we'll stay close in case something happens. Unless you blow up and then you'll have mansions in Beverly Hills! Yeah (laughing) When you do write do you write all acoustic and then turn it into electric or does it differ? Sometimes, usually I just try to come in with a variety of ideas almost every practice. I write a lot of those on acoustic guitar that I play at the house, then I let the guys pick out ideas they like, whatever, we all sort of put them together and Adam starts working on the lyrics. So it's really the whole band process to write a song, it's not like your the main music writer? Usually we all have our parts, I try to bring in parts I think would be good, like main parts of the song, tell everybody how I would like them to go. They may agree or they may have some other ideas. If you had to pick one song off of the debut album that would represent REARVIEW MIRROR, what would it be and why? I think I would actually say IN THE BEGINNING because it has a lot of things we want to do, it's more in the direction that we want to go than all the other songs do. Was that one of the later songs that you guys wrote? That was the last song we wrote actually. Really? Are you guys doing anything for artwork for the CD or is it going to be a basic CD? It's pretty cool, we actually worked with the graphic designer at the label, he actually went out and took photos, we think it's going to be cool. OK. Is there anybody you would like to go out on tour with? Anybody! I think maybe Incubus or Our Lady Peace, Deftones, whoever wants us. With those influences and those bands that you like, when your writing a song, do you try to incorporate their influence into your songs or do you like not listen to anything at that time so you get your own vibe? Sometimes it will be like that but sometimes if I'm listening to an album I like, then sometimes I'm inspired to write, in my head it might sound like a Deftones song or an Incubus song, but by the time everybody has their two cents to say, it doesn't. Being with Gobstopper Records and being one of the first bands on the label,your like top priority now, is it a good feeling or do you feel with more bands they get in that they might neglect you later on down the line? No, I don't think so. I know Steve's really excited about the project and that's pretty much why we signed this because we would be alone and get all the attention, they're really good. You guys passed on other good labels, Island and Interscope, right? Interscope offered us a demo deal. They wanted to pay for four or five songs but they wanted to wait and see what they wanted to do after that. But we were a little more excited about working with Steve. For Island and Interscope, they are good labels, but you guys were thinking more of the attention and what Steve could give you more than just the corporate crap. Yeah. We're really excited about the album with Steve. Have you guys ever been out on tour for a long time or has it been playing shows and going home? We've been out for a few weeks before. Do you guys enjoy it? Yeah, I really enjoy it, I'd prefer to be out longer (laughing) (laughing) I'd like to be out a while and then have a week or two off instead of being out five days and then having a day off. I think that might happen more this summer. How do you guys do at a live show that would make you stand out more than the other bands your playing with? We just try to play every night with the same emotion whether there's a crowd or nobody's there. That's what we usually strive for not look out to see whose judging our performances, ya know what I mean. Being so young and under twenty-one, does anybody give you any slack for that or do they respect you more for how far you've gotten all ready? Well, we're almost getting to that age where it doesn't make any difference anymore, but when we were young we got a little bit, but not bad. No, I just see that there's a lot of younger bands coming out now, a lot of rock bands with members under twenty-one, my theory on this is I think before a lot of bands used to slack off and now I think with how the world is becoming and everything that you guys are more aggressive and you want what you want and your going after it stronger, so that's why a lot of younger bands are coming out. Do you feel the same way? Yeah, yeah, I guess there are a lot more friends that keep playing all through school and they end up getting a break early. How do you think REARVIEW MIRROR is going to stand out five years down the line, what are you guys going to do to stay in touch with making great albums, writing new songs? Are you guys going to progress, are you going to experiment with different things? Oh yeah, we're already talked about making the next album totally different. We have a lot of ideas of how we want to change things to have a different vibe to it all, hopefully we will be able to do that with every album. Is it still going to be the REARVIEW MIRROR sound or is it going to be a whole 360 that we won't even know? I think we just want to do really good rock songs but add a lot of different things. What would your influences be? I like Radiohead a lot, I like Tool a lot too. Maybe you'll be able to go out with Radiohead one day! That would be really nice, I'd love to. That would be really good for you guys. Did you guys actually play at the Viper Room in LA? Yes, twice actually. How is that whole venue? Pretty neat, a lot smaller than we thought it would be, it's definitely got a real mystic to it. We just played for a bunch of suits there so we didn't get to really experience it like on a regular night or anything. What's the first single coming out? IN THE BEGINNING I think it's supposed to be going to radio pretty soon I think, a week or two. Are they talking about doing a video for that or are they playing it by ear? Right now I think they want to wait to see how it does on radio cause that's a lot of money for a video. Are you guys into it if they say that's a go? Yeah, it will be an interesting experience. That's not something I really thought about like how I want it to be. You could be actors for a little bit! Yeah How is it working with brothers too? Pretty good, they actually get along pretty well. They get along better now than they used to when they were young. You know all the things you do to a brother, now we don't think about being brothers, we're like roommates and friends. I would think you guys have been together for so long now, you would all be brothers! Yeah No, it just amazes me that you guys started at thirteen and fifteen cause a lot of guys don't even have a clue of what they want to do, ya know, it's like a garage band and that's it, so Yeah, we always wanted to have a good time and make a record, but we wanted to learn how to play and write great songs at the same time. When you actually got together, were you all in school together? Yeah So, that's how you all knew each other and knew you all wanted to do music? Yeah, like Jason plays bass now, he was a friend of mine and he started playing guitar, he started doing that and his brother Adam took up bass and we found TJ our drummer at school too. Your whole families are supportive with everything? Yeah, they've all been of great help, they're all getting more excited as things get more interesting. I think they're more excited than we are (laughing) (laughing) Are you guys in shock still or have you been able to sit back and realize what's been happening? I don't think any of us think we're anything special, we just like to play. Are you having a big release party? I don't know yet, I haven't talked to anybody at the label that knows about that yet, hopefully, yeah. Any last comments? I think that's all I got. All right. Well, you tell the guys that I enjoyed the EP that they sent me and I can't wait to hear the full album. All right Hopefully I'll see you when you come to the East Coast. All right, yeah, great.