Published: February 17, 2008 3:02 PM EST
By: Isaac Joseph Davis Junior (Juniorscave.com)
Rock / Americana
Rodney Lynch and Matt Potts have been performing together for a very long time. In fact, the two have established over 100's songs together since beginning their journey together in 1996. Now the two, who met playing in Twin Cities bands, are continually making music that will make you feel good on the inside. Make sure to take a peek at their EPK (Electronic Press Kit) on Sonicbids.com (Music Resource Submission Giant).
In the meantime, enjoy this great spotlight with the band here on Junior’s Cave.
Isaac-Joseph: How is everyone doing today?
Lynch and Potts: We’re fine. Just trying to stay warm. It’s pretty cold here in Minnesota (it’s February.)
Isaac-Joseph: Your music has a nice acoustical feel to it. What I really like
about the music is that when you are listening to it I feel I am listening to a
story being told. How do you approach your music?
Lynch and Potts: Well, the music is a means of self-expression what we would like to have make sense to other people. Sometimes one of us a bit of a lyric lying around that we expand upon and fit to music. Other times it’s exactly the opposite and between us we get a full-blown set of lyrics and no music. What it really comes down to, though, is that we try to write the kind of songs that we’d like to hear as listeners.
Isaac-Joseph: What aspect of making music excites you the most right now as an
entertainer?
Lynch and Potts: One exciting thing is the prospect of creating something and having it available to anyone within a few hours. Technology has been a boon to musicians like us. It’s a double-edged sword, too, since every band has access to the same technology. The whole DIY ethic is (and has been) a pretty exciting philosophy. There is a much bigger outlet for independent music than ever before.
Isaac-Joseph: What aspect of making music gets you the most discouraged you the most?
Lynch and Potts: It’s an old complaint but it seems that music these days is a lot more image than music. Maybe it was always that way and it just never registered until now. In the 70s, a bunch of paunchy hairy guys could get together and make a record. It’s unlikely today, though, that the record would get released on a major label. It gets discouraging, I think, when you finally come to the realization that the recording industry is really just a numbers game more than anything else. When you hear people talking about “units”, it’s like any artistic value has been leached out of the music. It’s not music anymore but a thing—they could be talking about blenders.
Isaac-Joseph: You have some new releases. Expound on your new project and what
can we expect from them.
Lynch and Potts: What we’re doing right now is a shade quieter than music we’ve done in the past with our previous bands (Skeleton Ed, The Loose Rails, Shamus 73.) There’s room to breathe in a lot of the songs. On the other hand, we’re both fans of the Wall of Sound/Beach Boys/Beatles type of production so we do have some songs in which we’ve thrown in everything but the kitchen sink. Because it’s just the two of us we’ve been more inclined to write for ourselves rather than for “the band.” In a band situation,there are more instances where you think “Oh, this won’t work for the band” and never bring it in. So there’s a variety of styles.
Isaac-Joseph: What's the most unusual place you've ever played a show or made a
recording? How did the qualities of that place affect the show/recording?
Lynch and Potts: Most unusual place? An old roadhouse in Caledonia, Illinois. We played with a band in which the singer dressed up like a tomato and the band threw hotdogs and toast into the audience. I’m glad we played before them. The place was big with a big stage; there were a lot of people there (they were all eating hotdogs.) I don’t know if it affected our performance but having a bigger audience was really gratifying.
Isaac-Joseph: In what ways does the place where you live (or places where you
have lived), affect the music you create, or your taste in music?
Lynch and Potts: I’m not sure if a specific area affects how I write except for maybe providing different descriptive phrases that get filed away somewhere. Different memories, I suppose. Most of my youth was spent in the southern U.S. and because of that I still have a soft spot for Molly Hatchet and other southern rock bands. My parents were from the south, too, and because of my mother’s record collection I grew up listening to people like the Louvin Brothers. Moving up to Minnesota at right about the time the Minneapolis scene first gathered steam I got immersed in lots of independent bands and met lots of people who opened my mind up to other kinds of music.
Isaac-Joseph: When was the last time you wrote a song? What can you tell us
about it?
Lynch and Potts: We wrote a couple on 2/6/08—I remember the date because we both took time off from our respective jobs. One’s called “I Can’t Stand To See You See Me Cry” which is a title I had floating around for months. It’s a throwback to the late 60s/early 70s country—what a lot of critics called “countrypolitan.” We were trying for a Conway Twitty kind of feeling and ended up somewhere between Twitty and Tom Waits. The other one is still untitled but it’s got a folk-like feel to it. Very spare.
Isaac-Joseph: As you create more music, do you find yourself getting more or
less interested in seeking out and listening to new music made by other
people...and why do you think that is?
Lynch and Potts: I’m still as interested in new music as I ever was. Sometimes I get overwhelmed by the abundance of choices that we have now with music on the Internet, etc. The sheer volume of choices can be a bit of a sensory overload. Sometimes because of that I don’t initially give music purchases the chances they deserve and instead move onto the next thing. But, then later on I’ll go back and find a gem. I think the reason for still actively listening to new music is that like lots of people in bands/music we both started out as music fans more than anything else and that’s at the core of what we, and everyone else in a band, are. It’s just that feeling you get when you find something really cool; it’s like it’s your own personal discovery that no one else knows about. And simultaneously you want to keep it a secret and tell everyone about it.
Isaac-Joseph: Lately, what musical periods or styles do you find yourself most
drawn to as a listener? (Old or new music? Music like yours or different from
yours?)
Lynch and Potts: For me, it’s a lot of poppy stuff (old and new) in the “70s AM radio” sense. You know? lots of melody and harmony. Also, I like a lot of old country music that my mother listened to when I was growing up that I probably didn’t like much at the time. Plus, I’ve got a turntable that plays 78s so it’s cool to go out to places like Goodwill and find old blues/country 78s. They’re all scratchy but sound like you’ve been transported to another place.
Isaac-Joseph: Name a band or musician, past or present, who you flat-out LOVE
and think more people should be listening to. What's one of your all-time
favorite recordings by this band/musician?
Lynch and Potts: Richard and Linda Thompson, the entire “Shoot Out The Lights” album. Great songwriting, singing and guitar playing. Linda probably has the greatest voice of the past 30 years. It’s a great album to play after you’ve been given the heave-ho by someone.
Isaac-Joseph: What is your favorite song of yours that you enjoy performing on
stage?
Lynch and Potts: “This Is The Way The World Begins.” It’s fun AND it mentions Mike Love.
Isaac-Joseph: This is what we call our Shout Out time. Elaborate on any and
everyone that matters the most to you:
Lynch and Potts: I’d advise everyone to listen to Rufus Harley. He played jazz bagpipes and was phenomenal.
