Harmony-infused acoustic rock/pop trio Guster just wrapped up their fourth album and has embarked this week on a spring tour. Adam Gardner and Ryan Miller, both vocalists and guitarists, and percussionist Brian Rosenworcel will hit the University's Mad Bowl on Saturday as Springfest's headlining act. Main lyricist Miller phoned from rehearsal in New Hampshire to shed some light on the band, the tour and the as-of-yet untitled new album.
Cavalier Daily: First of all, you've been in the studio since November, and the new album's almost a wrap, right?
Ryan Miller: Technically, it's done, but we might do a couple things here and there.
CD: Do you have an album name yet?
RM: We have like 500 names, but no one really likes any of them. What do you think of "Ocho Mule?"
CD: Hmm.
RM: Yeah, I don't really like that one either. "Appetite for Liposuction?"
CD: What about "Hell's Not Full?"
RM: That's mine! That's what I'm pulling for.
CD: How'd you end up with producer Roger Moutenot?
RM: He produced Yo La Tengo's last five albums and Josh Rouse's, and we really liked the sounds and textures on those albums. Then we met him through some friends in Nashville, and we liked him a lot. The album is done now, and I think it went very well. It was sort of a long process, and the band changed a little bit. But we were in the studio so long, I don't really have any sort of perspective on the album we made.
CD: I know you tried to stay away from relationship-based songs on your first two releases, and your lyrics are usually pretty dark in contrast to the music. What's the new batch of songs like lyrically?
RM: Well, I was breaking up with my girlfriend of two years right in the middle of writing this album, so that might have affected it either consciously or subconsciously. Generally, not a ton of optimism on this one. I do kind of like having a contrast between the lyrics and the music - I like having the darker lyrics over upbeat music or vice versa. On this album, it's mostly relationship stuff, not a lot of political stuff, raging against capitalism, etc. I kind of shy away from that stuff lyrically - it usually rubs me the wrong way when I hear it. I tried to stay away from the typical relationship, boy-and-girl songs, but it's hard.
CD: One of Guster's distinctions is that Brian, the percussionist, only uses his bare hands. I saw a photo of Brian with drumsticks - is it a vicious hoax?
RM: Yeah, Brian plays drums a lot on this record. I play bass and keyboards. We've had drums and bass on our other albums, but ... well, we didn't have drums on the last one. But we wanted to have those parts come from us. So that was part of the new Guster thing we wanted to try out, just using some new "colors." I don't really know right now, but I think it still sounds like our band. We're writing the songs, we're singing them, our melodic instincts are 100 percent intact - I hope. We just didn't want to limit ourselves to hand drums and acoustic guitar. For this one, we decided not to care about our live sound. We just wanted to make a really good studio album. And I definitely think it's the best Guster album to date.
CD: Did you get any backlash from your original Guster reps and oldest fans after the move to a major label in 1998?
RM: No, not at all. Major labels are bad mostly because of the crap music they promote. If you want to point fingers, it's not really the labels that are "bad." Labels only sign the bands they think they can sell. If you want to point the finger at someone, you've got to point it at radio and MTV - and the consumers that are buying it! We've had a pretty positive experience with labels. We haven't been co-opted at all. They haven't had anything to say, not a lick, about our creative process. We've been pretty lucky so far, considering what the climate is right now.
CD: How do you feel about the constant marketing of your band as the one without a bass and drumsticks? Does it get annoying, especially now that you've added bass and drumsticks?
RM: (Laughing) I guess it won't be the case anymore. I don't think we're going to use drumkit on this tour, but maybe this summer. I'm more curious if there'll be a backlash against us picking up a drumkit than about the major label thing. I don't think our real fans will care. Brian will still spend the majority of the set hitting bongo drums with his bare hands, which is what all the kids love. I think people like our band because of our songs, our melodies and because we don't take ourselves too seriously. If anyone says we're selling out because we're using new instruments and trying new things, well f--- them. I'm very unapologetic about that - unless this step makes us a more generic band, which hopefully it didn't do. I think it's a step in a more mature and accomplished direction, but still very much in line with the "Guster" sound, whatever the hell that means.
CD: Your albums are great, but to me your biggest strength is playing live. You just gel so well, and you really try to get the crowd into it. How do you manage to connect so well?
RM: We haven't played in a year - this is the longest we've taken off - so I've been thinking about that myself. What did we do? Why did people like us so much? I've been in a bubble, but I'm out, I'm seeing a lot of music almost every night. I think what people might like about our band is that we don't take ourselves so seriously, we're not pretentious. Well, we are, but ... I like the idea of breaking the fourth wall. Hopefully there's a certain earnestness, a certain authenticity that's there.
CD: Are you looking forward to this new tour?
RM: Well, we finished the album last Saturday and started the tour Sunday, so there's really been no time to think about it. But I am. I'm excited to play, I'm excited to see what people think, if people care anymore. This past year there have been a lot of new bands that have gotten really big, and I'm interested to see how we'll stack up. I hope the enthusiasm for the band is still somewhere near where it was when we left.
CD: How do you guys work as a group? What's the dynamic like? Do you agree on most things?
RM: We've known each other since we were 18, so we've basically grown up together, and we've seen each other pretty much every day for the last 11 years. We've lived together forever, we run a business together, we make music together, we've grown up together, so it's hard. We're all growing as people. The more you get into the psychology of bands, the more you realize that every band is a functioning dysfunctional family. We manage to make it work because we want to, and because we all really do love each other, even though I never want to see them again.
CD: Could you give me some dirt on the other Gusters?
RM: What, like Brian sneezes into his T-shirt? Hygienic stuff? Hmm ... Brian's lactose intolerant and if he eats anything with cheese, it gives him extraordinarily noxious gas. Adam is very clean.
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