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 Formed
in summer of 1992 with the merger of two popular East Lansing,
Michigan bands, The Verve Pipe released two albums on its
own independent label, LMNO Pop, before being signed by
RCA Records in 1995. Their first major-label album, the
Jerry Harrison-produced Villains, was released a year later,
with the song and video “Photograph” garnering decent airplay
on MTV and a respectable showing on modern rock and alternative
stations.
The following
year, however, The Verve Pipe’s career got kicked into the
stratosphere when Kiss’ Gene Simmons handpicked the group
to open for Kiss on several U.S. dates and the European
leg of its reunion tour. Then in early 1997, the band released
a re-recorded version of “The Freshman” – originally recorded
for The Verve Pipe’s debut indie album – as a single, and
the tune became a national multi-format hit. By the summer,
“The Freshman” had gone platinum, the video for the song
was on constant MTV rotation, and the band was scoring frequent
appearances on TV shows and songs on movie soundtracks.
By the end of the year, The Verve Pipe had played more than
300 performances before sold-out crowds and released four
very successful singles.
In 1999,
the band – comprised of lead singer-guitarist Brian Vander
Ark, guitarist A.J. Dunning, bassist Brad Vander Ark, keyboardist/percussionist
Doug Corella and drummer Donny Brown – released its second
album, simply called The Verve Pipe. The eponymous album,
started with Jack Joseph Puig but ultimately produced by
Michael Beinhorn (Marilyn Manson), is a denser, lusher and
more melodic work than the post-grunge rock of its predecessor.
However, despite stronger critical acclaim, the album didn’t
generate the kind of mainstream commercial success of Villains
– ironic, given that the first albums was wildly embraced
by fans, but often slagged by the press.
Now the
band is awaiting the release of its third album, Underneath,
which will be in stores on September 25. The first single
from the album, “Never Let You Down,” is a catchy, pop-inflected
rock tune driven by layered crunchy guitars, Vander Ark’s
distinctive vocals, and Brown’s powerful drumming. Recently,
StarPolish editorial director James K. Willcox had a chance
to talk to Donny Brown about the band’s new album, following
up a smash hit album, and how the Internet could shake things
up.
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| “The
band has to be competent to a level that the club would consider
asking them back -- and that's all practice time.” |
Starting Out
STARPOLISH: Let’s start out by
talking about how you got your first gig. I know it was a long
time ago, but how did you go about getting those first couple
of bookings, and getting someone to take a chance on you?
BROWN: Well,
if I can recall that far back, I would say that it had as much
to do with getting the band ready and having enough tunes written.
I started out playing covers like a lot of people. I played everything
– I [was in] a punk cover band, I played with a violinist for
a while. But the thing that holds true across the board when you’re
beginning is that the band has to be competent to a level that
the club would consider asking them back – and that's all practice
time. So I would say get the band as tight as you possibly can,
and the simplest way to get a gig to me is to befriend somebody
who’s in a band that is already playing at the place, and get
an opening slot. Or, if you’re just a fan of the band, you don’t
really need to befriend them, you need to make a practice tape,
or invite one of the members of the band who is playing at the
place you want to play to come see one of your practices, and
then offer to open for no money. Put some flyers up, and do some
promotion for the whole gig, and before you know it you can play
your own night at this place and actually make a little money.
And that’s how it happens … that’s really the only advice I can
give the people. You have to be tight, and not burn a bridge right
away by going in with a band that’s mediocre at best.
STARPOLISH: Does it help to know
what kind of music the club attracts, and to make sure you are
playing in the right venue?
BROWN: Oh,
absolutely, I think that’s definitely a factor. There are a lot
of factors when it comes to that kind of thing. You have to take
into account the crowd you want to play for -- you can probably
get a gig playing in a coffee house much easier than you can at
an established bar. And it would depend on … if you’re an acoustic
duo, go play the coffee house, then maybe put a band together
behind that, and when you have a band together behind that, go
play your night at a club. But, mostly I would say it has to do
with the situation that you want to be in versus the situation
you are going to walk into. For instance, the band that you decide
to play with should be compatible with you. You shouldn’t be a
punk band trying to hook up with a funk horn band playing for
fraternity kids. You’re not going to go over, and you’re not going
to do a good service for anybody -- nobody is going to want to
hear you, and so on. So that’s just logical. But sometimes people
get so excited about music, and so excited about their band, that
they forget all logic. (laughs) That’s something that happens
at the early stages. It’s prevalent today, that when you go and
see a young band, they are talking about being signed, and they
are talking about labels, and touring, and its like, “You know,
you guys should really work on your tempos, and you should work
on your chords and harmonies, before you think about any of that.”
Outside Projects
STARPOLISH: A couple of the questions posted
on our site related to Brian doing a movie – we probably should
have mentioned we were speaking with you and not the whole band.
But it does raise an interesting issue: Brian is already the front
man, so he’s being singled out. Does that affect the band at all?
Does it cause any devisiveness or dissention when one member starts
doing side projects?
BROWN: You
know, we try to keep anything anybody does outside the band, whether
it’s A.J. doing a session as a guitarist, or me producing a band,
or Doug doing a jingle for NPR in Chicago, or Brian acting, we
try to keep everything as a positive for the band. We are all
members of the band, and when we go out there we kind of have
to represent. So no, it’s a good thing; visibility for Brian as
a member of The Verve Pipe is only a good for me. And I think
we all look at it that way.
STARPOLISH: It sounds like each
of you have some outside stuff, so its not like you are all just
waiting for him to get done with his thing.
BROWN: That’s
very true, we all do. And in as much as that’s something we found
that we needed more of, because when you get into a band and you
tour for two years, it doesn’t always blossom. What ends up happening
is because the tour is getting larger, and you’re playing more
and spending more time together, things become more embryonic.
And you forget about yourself as an entity.
STARPOLISH: So you can sort of
being subsumed within the context of the band?
BROWN: Exactly,
and that’s happened to all of us. We all have to break out in
our own way, and I think the big thing for some people is to do
something non-musical. For instance, Doug, our keyboardist, is
a photographer, and he has had numerous exhibits in the Chicago
area in different galleries; he does that and it’s a great outlet
for him. And he is very good at it. A.J., our guitarist, is consumed
by music alone. He has a couple of hobbies, but music … he’s very
good at it, so he’s like a gun for hire. And he has played on
numerous people’s albums, just going down to a studio and copping
something. And Brian does his acting and has his label, and I
write with other people, and have produced some bands. It’s all
good, because everyone comes back more refreshed, a little bit
more believing in themselves, a little bit more knowledgeable,
ready to give more to The Verve Pipe.
STARPOLISH: I also think that just
in terms of writing, the broader your experiences the more you
can bring into your writing.
BROWN: That’s
very true.
STARPOLISH: One StarPolish member
wrote in saying that “Reverend Girl” is the standout track [on
the first album] for your drumming, and asked if you had one from
the current album, or if there was one we can look out for in
an upcoming album?
BROWN: I
think the reason I said that about “Reverend Girl” is because
it was a chance to branch out; it had a time change in it and
some other things. Now I haven’t been that adventurous in the
drums because the songs haven’t had time changes. I don’t know,
I think instead of looking at standout tracks for drumming, I
think the drumming would be more in the sounds, because we’ve
gotten more into sounds and less into chops. Like there’s a song
called “Underneath” on the new album that has just a really nice
groove that just coasts along. I really don’t change much in it,
but the sound of it is great and the feel of it is great. So I've
achieved everything I needed, you know, being able to emulate
some of my heroes like Bunny Carlos from Cheap Trick. I put in
a couple of Cheap Trick-isms, on a song called “Wonderful Waste”
that’s going to be out on the new album. I off the last album,
I would say, the “F Word” is a unique drum part, “Generations”
is tasteful, and I think “Half a Mind” was played really pretty,
well, very groove-oriented, so that would be it.
STARPOLISH: I noticed that your
producer on this album was credited with doing some drum loops
-- is that something new? And does that change how you’re doing
songs live -- I mean, do you have a drum track that you actually
trigger?
BROWN: Yes,
absolutely. It got me into electronics for the tour, which was
good and bad because when we would be playing a place and we would
be drawing too much power and wouldn’t be able to hook up to an
outside telephone pole, my gear would inevitably be the first
to shut down. But I knew how to get around that always. Thanks
to Doug Corella, our keyboardist, who has enlightened me to the
world of samplers and thing like that, I think the band played
better on the last tour then it ever has, because I was playing
to a click, we were tight and consistent every night. We could
get things tighter and work well within the framework of the tempo.
And not just that, but learning to play with a click and really
make it groove is not an easy thing when you are playing in a
high-volume, high-energy situation, so I learned a lot and I think
it made me a better drummer. And the band, I think, has never
sounded better.
A Sophomore Slump?
| "We
are all members of the band, and when we go out there we kind
of have to represent." |
STARPOLISH: You had four hit singles with your first
RCA album, Villains, which was produced by Jerry Harrison. For
the second album you changed producers, and some people have called
that album your “sophomore slump.” I don’t know if you agree with
that or not, but it seems like it hasn’t been as successful as
the first album. So the question is, what happened with the second
album, and why change producers given the success of Villains?
And how does having a different producer affect the album?
BROWN: I think that we had
a good time working with Jerry, and that it was obviously fruitful.
The song that was the biggest for us was a song called “The Freshman,”
and “The Freshman” was actually produced by Jack Joseph Puig,
who we originally…
STARPOLISH: He mixes for you, doesn’t he?
BROWN: He does. But he was
going to produce the latest album, The Verve Pipe album; we began
working with him and ran into scheduling conflicts. He wanted
more songs, he wanted us to write more, and there were those in
the band who felt we had written very good stuff and wanted to
move forward. Unfortunately, after moving forward with Michael
Beinhorn, the music climate changed more from alternative rock
to more rap metal rock -- I think we were victims of timing. And
I don’t know that we had an overwhelming smash hit single. I think
had we had something like that, that was undeniable, at least
for the sound of the time, the label would have been jumping up
and down. But with the time and money that it took to make the
album, and the time and money that we put into touring and everything,
I think we gave it an incredible shot. And for whatever reason,
it didn’t pan out.
STARPOLISH: There is a question related to that, about
how the first album raised expectations, and sort of raised the
bar for you guys in terms of how you look at an album. And yet
it sounds like from all the press that I’ve read, you guys are
really happy with how the album came out. Were you happy with
how the album came out?
BROWN: You know, I have
my happiness and I have my disappointment … whenever you are that
close to anything… Villains, which sold 1.4 million copies, I
still had my unhappiness about that album, and my disappointments,
as well as my happiness. You know, success heals a lot of wounds,
but I try not to dwell on the negative and try not to dwell on
the disappointments -- only to learn a lesson from it, is what
I really want to do.
STARPOLISH: Looking at your last album’s artwork [a
surgically opened frog], I’m surprised you didn’t call it Dissection.
It brought me back to 8th grade biology class.
BROWN: Yeah I really liked
that layout. Our friend Brett Kilroe at RCA came up with that
idea, and I remember having mockups of the album cover and putting
things side by side and having friends look at it, and [I’d] ask,
“What’s the most eye-catching, the most interesting thing that
makes you scratch your head the most?” And every single one of
them said the frog. And I liked it immediately.
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