Exclusive Q and A: The Early November Are Back…And It's Ever So Sweet
posted in: Exclusive Interviews • Rock
In the early 2000s, Drive Thru Records was the place to be for pop punk, emo, indie rock and post-hardcore bands . The label was home to rising stars like New Found Glory, Finch, The Starting Line, Dashboard Confessional, Senses Fail, Something Corporate, Rx Bandits and Midtown. Also among this group was The Early November, a young group from New Jersey who had perfected their own style of emotional and energetic rock with songs like “I Want To Hear You Sad,” “Decoration” and “Ever So Sweet.” Led by singer-songwriter Ace Enders, the band released two full-length records and two EPs before going on hiatus after a final show at Bamboozle 2007.
During the break, each member pursued other projects and interests. Enders has continued to release music under his own name and his side project, I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody’s Business. Drummer Jeff Kummer released a solo album called Your Best Alternative, and guitarist Joseph Marro signed on as keyboardist for fellow DTR alums Hellogoodbye. Then, in late 2011, the band announced that they would be playing a show together in Philadelphia. The success of this show led the band to add several more dates, and eventually, reunite. We had the pleasure of speaking with Marro about these reunion shows, the band’s upcoming album and when we can see them live again!
OS: You played some reunion shows over the holidays, which were the first shows the band had played together in a few years. Was it strange, initially, to get back together for practice? Was there a noticeable change in the band dynamics?
JM: Surprisingly, there wasn’t, really. It felt pretty normal. Seriously, the same jokes came right back out. The same personalities that you haven’t been around everyday that you used to be around every single day for seven years or so…they’re still the same. Obviously, people are older, but they’re still the exact same people. It was pretty fun, it was like we never really split up. It was interesting, how that was.
OS: How did you decide on a setlist for the reunion shows?
JM: Oh jeez, that was tough! Usually, Jeff, our drummer, is largely in control. He wrote up a setlist that was about, fourteen or fifteen songs long and which we knew was roughly about an hour and fifteen minutes, which is how long we wanted to play. From there, we said, “We really love this song, let’s try to fit it in,” or “this song really isn’t coming together.” Some of the songs we tried to play after not playing for a long time and they just weren’t working or we just felt, maybe, too far removed from that stuff. But we tried to include a little bit of everything from all of the records and I think we did a pretty good job of it. We touched on a lot of the stuff from the last record and we played a good portion of the first release, the EP, and probably six or eight songs from The Room’s Too Cold, so it was all in there, for the most part.
OS: Was there one show, or moment during a show, that sticks out from the others as particularly memorable?
JM: Yeah, the first one that we did, back in September. It was at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, which is the biggest venue that we ever have played a headlining show at. So the memory was that we practiced up for it and we got to the point where we felt comfortable and that we would play a tight set. And then we watched the show from the stage, and watched the other bands and it was good and we didn’t really know what to expect. We knew it was sold out, and then we go on stage and on the first drum hit, we shot off these confetti cannons. At that moment, we went into the song “I Want To Hear You Sad,” which was always a pretty big song for us, as far as the band goes. You could not hear anything but what seemed like every single person in the venue singing. And at that point, all preparation went out the window, all practice went out the window, because it was so emotionally charged…to the point of being almost nauseous. I was just like, “This is overwhelming!” And I just looked at Ace, we looked at each other, he took a step back from the microphone and let the crowd sing. We just looked at each other like, “What’s going on?! This has never been this way, it’s nuts that we’re getting this reaction right now.” I’ll never forget that moment.
OS: I’m sure a lot of that is also from fans who didn’t get to see you the first time around, but are finally there all these years later.
JM: Yeah, it was awesome! We felt like we toured so much that it was just, who would want to see it again, really. We were really overwhelmed after the first show went as well as it did, and then the second show; the third show was in Boston…they were all great, really.
OS: In the midst of all the excitement with the reunion shows, you announced that you were working on a new album. Who first brought up the idea, and how long did it take to get everyone on board?
JM: It took awhile, actually. I would say Ace brought it up first. We had no intention of doing it, so it wasn’t premeditated, there was no plan. We played the first show and after that first show, we knew we were going to do one more and then after that, just play it by ear. After that first show, Ace came to us and said, “I had such a great time, I really do think that I would like to make another record with you guys and kind of pick the band back up,” which at the time, wasn’t what we were thinking of doing. So we had a band meeting and people expressed their concerns, what they would envision for it, and little by little, everyone got involved. At that point, there were no labels involved, we just said we’ll feel it out, see if anybody’s interested in releasing it, and that was it. It probably took about a week for everyone to jump on board and say yes, I think we should do this, but I can only do this amount of touring and I can only dedicate this much time being away from my job, or whatever it is. So it took about a week before we could work it in so that everyone was involved.
OS: Many of the bands that were on the Drive-Thru Records roster seemed to suffer from the way the label was run. You’ve recently signed with Rise Records to release the new album. What made you choose them as your new home?
JM: At first, it was just an idea…there was no music to go around. We knew Matthew [Gordner] at Rise, we’ve known him for a long time. He worked at a label a long time ago that we were friendly with. We also reached out to another label that we were also friends with another guy who is the label manager. We brought it to our friends, first, and we said, “Would you be interested if we were to make another record?” Right off the bat, Matthew at Rise was incredibly enthusiastic. He more or less just said yes, however we need to make this work, let’s do it. I want the record, no matter what. I know you haven’t even recorded a single note, I believe in it, just from knowing you guys and knowing the music, that I want the record. The other label that we’re friends with as well…we didn’t just immediately sign [with Rise], we had to figure out which worked best for the band. But so far, we’re incredibly happy with how Rise is handling it.
OS: The last record, The Mother, The Mechanic, and the Path, spanned a few different genres. Does the new album show a return to the original sound of Early November, or will you continue to stretch into new territory?
JM: I would say it’s more of a return, but it’s more of a return in the sense that we’re older now. It’s a more age-appropriate record for who we are now. So it’s not going to be as up-and-go as the first stuff. We’re older, we’re a little more subdued. On that last record, we were just trying to experiment with a lot of things because we liked a lot of different things at the time. For better or worse, we were like, “Let’s make a song that’s a gangly, alt-country song.” And it came out okay, but it’s not really us. We just really loved that stuff at the time. I think we have a better grasp of what we want to do now because we’ve all gone and done separate things and we’ve all grown up. So it will be a return to the classic sound, but also an updated version of that as who we are now.
OS: So, when can we expect to hear the first single from the new album?
JM: Ooh, good question! Well right now, we’re planning on having the record out in June. So I would say probably say late April or May that we would start leaking stuff out. Not too far ahead of it, because to be honest, it’s not quite ready yet. But about a month or two beforehand, we’ll try to get some stuff out there.
OS: Fans who didn’t get a chance to see a reunion show are dying to see you guys on tour. Can we expect some US dates to coincide with the record release?
JM: Yes, you can! I can’t say any more, really, but there will be some shows in March that we’ve already announced…mostly festival stuff around SXSW, so they’re all in Texas. And then there will be some stuff in early summer. From that point on, there will probably be stuff, but we haven’t worked it out yet. You can expect more dates in the May/June timeline.
Experience Joe’s favorite memory from the reunion shows in this video below, and visit their official Web site for upcoming appearances.
Like this post? You might also like¦