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An Interview with Mike Vitali, Jim Feck, and Brandon Slater of Greatdayforup...
 
So last May, I got to spend a couple of hours with the guys in Albany, New York�s Greatdayforup. They were at Mad Oak Studios, recording a cover for the upcoming Sucking the �70�s II compilation. While vocalist Mike Langone laid down some vocal tracks and pounded away on a cowbell, I shot the shit with band co-founder Mike Vitali (guitar), and new guys Jim Feck (drums) and Brendan Slater (bass). What follows is an in-depth discussion on the art of finding the perfect cover song, the woes of poaching new members from other bands, menacing hair, and child labor laws as they pertain to rock �n� roll.

- John Pegoraro

 
Interview By: Arzgarth Date: 6/4/2006 1:04:01 PM

John: So which song are you doing?

Mike and Jim: �Super Stupid�

John: By?

Jim: Funkadelic

John: So how�d you pick that one?

Jim: Oh my God. How much time does that thing have on it?

John: You can just keep talking and talking.

Jim: We went around � what � five, six, seven different songs before we finally decided on the stupidity. What were some of the other ones that we thought about? (To Mike) I�m talking to you.

Mike: I thought Brendan was in here too.

Jim: We had like some Pink Floyd tune that was God awful�

John: God awful because of the Pink Floyd tune or because of you?

Jim: (laughs) Well, I just hate like Pink Floyd.

Mike: The way we got to Funkadelic is we tried to decide on a song that everyone wanted to do. So, this was the only one we could come up with that everyone was cool with.

John: Now, why did that rat bastard Hamilton (Scott Hamilton from Small Stone Records and in reality a real good guy) shit can the Zeppelin cover?

Mike: Is there any way we can make that sound a little cooler? Say that we diplomatically found a song that we all liked. In a cool way.

Jim: (laughs) Oh, that�s bullshit.

Mike: Wait, that�s what we did. We went back and forth �

Jim: In some hugely passive/aggressive way.

Mike: What did we start with?

Jim: We started with�

Mike: Zeppelin.

Jim: Yeah, we started with Zeppelin.

Mike: �Kashmir� was shit canned because Senor Hamilton said the drum sound wasn�t good enough.

Jim: The drum sound on this one is excellent.

John: Go figure. So he didn�t think it sounded good?

Jim: Right.

Mike: He was like, �Hey, you guys wanna go back in? Hope you�re not bummed out about it, but you got a whole new lineup, blah blah blah.� So it wasn�t even that �Kashmir� sucked, although it did.

John: It was more like the debut of Greatdayforup Mk IV.

Jim: Redux.

Mike: Right. Exactly.

Jim: So after that, we had some other Zeppelin tune. �In the Light� was in there.

Mike: It was something we were actually learning.

Jim: �Living Loving Maid?� I can�t remember. There were at least seven or eight...

Mike: Zeppelin, Floyd, Cactus�

Jim: Wasn�t there a Queen song?

Mike: The only thing we could come up with was Funkadelic.

John: We know that Dave, the old bass player, had some personal issues he had to work through. Who�s the new guy playing bass?

Mike: The new guy is Brendan Slater.

John: From?

Mike: He was in the Clay People.

John: Hey, there he is.

Mike: (to Brandon) You were in the Clay People.

Brendan: I was.

John: So why did he decide to join your group?

Mike: We gave him an offer he couldn�t refuse.

Jim: Cut off a horse�s head, put it in his bed.

Mike: We were playing with this other band, Idols Never Die. We needed a bass player, and we said, �Come to Texas� (for South by Southwest). So he went, and he had so much fun that he quit the other band.

John: Now wasn�t Idols Never Die your other band? Is that done?

Mike: It wasn�t my other band. I was asked to play in a band. It was some of the guys from Clay People, and it sounded good at first, but then it quickly sounded�

John: Not good.

Brendan: It went from like a little bit more cutting edge, harder version of Stone Temple Pilots and got more and more radio as it progressed.

Mike: It completely became just about the radio.

Brendan: I wanted to play metal. Not pop-rock.

Jim: And metal we have.

John: Now what about this guy over here? Now (noting his Greatdayforup t-shirt and DrumArt hat) it�s not quite as bad as wearing your own band�s t-shirt to your own gig�

Jim: (laughs). I know, dude. It�s all I had.

John: Thinking, �Just in case the press stops by, they�ll know what band I�m in.�

Jim: And look what happened. The press stopped by. You know who you�re talking to.

John: I�m more like a gadfly with a keyboard. So how�d this guy get in the band?

Jim: I got begged.

Mike: We had played together a couple of years ago. Like a little side project.

John: When he�s not running DrumArt�

Jim: Dot com.

Mike: I played with him a couple of times a couple years ago. And we were drummer-less, or becoming drummer-less. I think we asked you more than once.

Jim: I was doing Secret Guy at that time.

Mike: We needed a record contract before Jim would join.

Jim: That�s right. I wasn�t interested in talking to them until I could see the contract (laughs). Y�know, we played together and obviously hit it off and just waited for the right time to come along. And the right time came along. Although I was in another band, and those guys didn�t take it very well.

Mike: They took it well at first, because you were going to do both. I went to the show to see that other band, and was, �Oh cool, hey what�s up?�

Jim: And they were, �What�s up with that?� So, whatever.

John: Was this when Mike had long hair?

Jim: It was.

John: Do you think it was because of the long hair?

Mike: I was very intimidating when I had long hair.

Jim: You looked at least six feet tall.

Mike: You weren�t planning on leaving those guys.

Jim: No, no. Things just got to busy. I had to make a decision.

Mike: We had to say, �Do you want to be with the good band, or the not so good band?�

Brendan: Mike had a conversation with that other band. Said there was going to be some damage done to their kneecaps.

Mike: They were pissed too.

Brendan: I think this is my sixth band in ten years since playing in Albany.

Jim: So you�re on your way out?

Brendan: Well, if we�re not touring on a bus�

Jim: With groupies�

Mike: Strippers and cocaine�

John: Tires filled not with air but with hookers� Now when are you guys gonna start thinking about the follow up to Flores De Sangre.

Mike: The plan is to start writing in September. Dick around in Jersey and Boston over the summer. Got some shit coming up.

John: What are your touring plans? You guys going nationwide?

Mike: We�re gonna give away all our kids.

John: Your kid isn�t even out yet and you�re already selling it.

Mike: We�re gonna sell our kids and go on tour.

John: Can�t you take the kids with you and have them work the merch table?

Brendan: Set up gear.

Mike: Mine�s gonna be my guitar tech.

Brendan: I told you my fucking pedal goes RIGHT THERE! That�s a distortion pedal � it goes in the MIDDLE!

Mike: Maybe for South by Southwest. We�re going to try to not do anything and set something up for 2007. Record, go out on tour for a little bit.

Jim: Get a bunch of good gigs in. Maybe do CMJ.

(We stopped to listen to playback of �Super Stupid�)

Jim: That�s a whole lot of cowbell. This is gonna be the �Need More Cowbell� track.

 

Greatdayforup�s albums are available for purchase in our All That�s Heavy Online Music Store.

 
 
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