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Sister Hazel - Part 2
Going for it
ANDREW: The hardest thing was
making that final commitment to really go for it. You can half heartedly
go for it… maintain your job that is actually making money, and
work hard in school and still have a band going where you're practicing
a couple nights and you go out and do a gig maybe every weekend,
if you're lucky. I think the hard transition was going from having
things that you kept a hold of "just in case" and letting those
things go and saying, "I'm going for it." It's learning to walk
for the first time… it's letting go of the table and you're just
going to go for it. If you fall, you have to get up and try again.
For me personally, I remember thinking back to that and saying,
"You know what? I'm going to give this a year of nothing but my
full attention. I'm going to give it everything I've got." It's
scary to commit 100% to being a musician, because a lot of people
don't make it…[but] a lot of people do. But the thing is, you have
to be willing to make that commitment and go for it, or it's not
going to happen.
Full Time or Bust
KEN: I think one of the keys
to [Ryan] joining the band, finally -- besides the fact that we
had a lot of musical opinions that were very similar and we like
a lot of the same stuff and wanted to work together -- was when
we did commit to saying we were a full-time touring band -- because
you had already been in a full-time touring band and didn't want
to get off the road.
RYAN: Right, well… I was right
out of college, and I wanted to go on the road with a band. At the
time, Sister Hazel was kind of half on the road…day jobs, that sort
of thing. So I was on the road with another band for a while, and
when I got the news that they were going to go for it 100%, I definitely
wanted to be a part of it.
Keeping Motivated
KEN: I said to myself that
I have these songs, and I want to surround myself with people that
get it and can take it to another level.
When I was 20, my younger brother was 18 and he died from cancer…and
one of the biggest stamps that was left on my life from that was
don't look back and say, "Man I wish I had…" So I did some different
things, but there was always music in my life. I believed in the
songs. I believed in the way people were reacting to them when we
were going out and playing. I still knew there were things that
had to happen…I knew we still needed a Ryan to take some of that
pressure off me in some of those ways. And we needed everybody to
be on the same page and finally commit. When that did happen, things
finally started to happen for us. But for me there was never a doubt
that I was gonna give it that shot. Fortunately for us, things worked
really well, really quickly. We worked hard. We're all proud of
how hard we all worked.
Fun vs. Survival
ANDREW: I remember when [Ken]
and I were playing together, it was fun. I had been in little bands
before. When I was in middle school, I had a little thing where
we played Rolling Stones songs, and just played in the garage. And
then…
KEN: Don't forget Gun Hill,
man!
ANDREW: Right, Gun Hill! I
played in a club that had a 6-foot ceiling. We had to lean over
to stand up in the club!
But when we did our thing, it was fun, and when [Ken] said, "I want
to increase this into a full band thing and I want to go on the
road," to be honest I said I didn't want to do it. I was graduating
from college, I was engaged at the time, I was going to get married,
I was going to get a job and do that…
KEN: And she's gone, and here
I am… (laughs)
ANDREW: I kind of went, "marriage?…on
the road single?" (laughs and shakes head) But - we kept going,
and I stuck with it, and it became something that I needed. It went
from fun to almost survival. I loved it. I thrived off of it. That
was when I decided, through a lot of changes in my life, I went,
"Man, I'm going to go for it. I'm going to give it a 110% for a
full year." And looking back, a year isn't anywhere near the amount
of time you should really have to do it. But I gave it a year, and
things started taking off. One of the main things I have to say,
with the time that's passed and looking back, and looking at other
bands -- if it hadn't been for the four other guys that are involved
with the project, and the way that we got along and traveled together,
and the music that we play together, and how much fun we have on
stage when we're playing our music, there's no way I would've stayed
in it. But it's continued to be fun, and I've gotten great friends
on the road…that's a good thing. I see a lot of bands out there
that struggle internally. Not only from a personality conflict kind
of thing…
KEN: Or gastro-intro-lumpinal
disease
ANDREW: Right, they've got some
of that, in the van. That can really ruin ya. (laughs) But also
on stage…if you're not gelling on stage… if you don't enjoy the
[most fun] part of your job, which is getting on stage and playing
music, then you're going to have problems. But for us, it's never
been a problem. That is our favorite part of what we do.
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