Rising rock band gains new following
Hilltop Views: How did your band get its beginnings?
Scott Terry: I wish that I had some really magical story to tell you there, but I mean for me, it is magical, if starting a band in college is magical. As soon as I got to school at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, I formed the earliest beginnings of what is now Red Wanting Blue, and I graduated and moved the band from our base in Athens to Columbus, Ohio and we sort of reformed and said, “We’re going to make a career out of this,” and began touring the country and making records. It’s been about 13 years of doing that, touring and being on the road.
HV: What did you major in?
ST: I majored in theater. I still play on stages, except I do not do theater, I play music.
HV: You’ve had nine albums right?
ST: That’s right.
HV: So, how do you feel about this final rise in popularity?
ST: I would say, speaking candidly, it’s about time! We feel great about it. But, you know, music is what we love. We’d do it no matter what, you know, whether there be a pot of money there or a giant tour bus or just a small vehicle, whatever it is. A lot of the material stuff and a lot of the popularity–these are all great things that can help you move forward, but at the end we all share the same thing, which is the love to play music and that’s what matter most to us. There’s an old line that Willie Nelson used to say, which is, “Ultimately, the world’s gotta get around to guys like us.” If you stick with something and you do it long enough, you know, ultimately, they’ve got to get around to paying attention to you somewhere at some point.
ST: “From the Vanishing Point” is our latest record. It is our first album that will be made start to finish from Fanatic Records, which is our record label. You know, historically, when we made albums, it was as an independent. You make the album, you bring it from town to town with you, you play, you tour, you try to sell as many as you can. You also have an online presence. For years, we sold stuff on iTunes, but your digital reach is only as far as your band’s reach when you’re out touring.
HV: Right.
ST: So to have other avenues of advertising and networking, it’s very helpful. And I don’t think we would have gotten onto “The Late Show with David Letterman” this summer without the help of Fanatic Records and the help of our management. I’m looking at the vanishing point of the highway right now as we’re driving. It’s the most common thing that we see, which is where the road and the sky meet, so that’s why the record is called that.
HV: So how was performing on “Letterman”?
ST: It was, umm, it was great! It was scary, exciting, really fun, and at the same time, you’re like, you’re in the studio where there’s so much history. That room we played in, that’s the Ed Sullivan Theater. That’s the room that the Beatles came on and sang “Twist and Shout” and the whole world exploded. Jim Morrison and the Doors sang, when he wasn’t supposed to, “Girl, We Couldn’t Get Much Higher.” Michael Jackson moonwalked on that stage! It was really cool. And David Letterman was great, very nice, the people were great, the staff, we loved it. It was a real milestone for the band, and it was a pleasure to play the show. We’d love an opportunity to go on there and play again some time.
HV: Alright, one last question: What advice would you give to aspiring musicians, which we have plenty of here in Austin?
ST: I don’t know, they’re probably smarter than me! Hmm, I don’t know, that’s a tough call. (Greg, you got any advice for young musicians in Austin?) Greg’s going to throw out to “play, play, play,” just to keep playing, and when you’re done playing, just play some more. I would say that to be a musician, at the end of the day, if you stick with this long enough, you see that it’s not a gig of those who can talk the talk and those who walk the walk, this is really, like, how long you can walk the walk. It’s not for everybody, that’s for sure. If you like nice things, this is probably not your line of work. We like nice things, but we like our instruments nice and nothing else matters. But I don’t know, I think that the definition of insane is when someone keeps doing the same thing over and over again except they expect different results. There are so many parallels between that definition and being in a rock band, where you do the same thing night after night and expect different results. My advice would be you’ve got one life to live, so make it count. Do whatever it is that you want to do. Except if you’re planning on robbing liquor stores, I would highly recommend not doing that. Try not to break the law.
HV: Well, robbing a bank would be frowned upon. It is definitely something to avoid.
ST: Yes, I don’t want this to be recorded as “Scott Terry wanted me to rob a bank.”
Red Wanting Blue will perform at Stubb’s on Sept. 27.
