Piebald - Travis
Interview Date: January 29, 2009
Associated band: Piebald
A lot of your fans are wondering…. Didn’t PIEBALD just break up? Why are you coming together for another performance at Bamboozle, and will your hometown in Boston have a show as well?n
TRAVIS: The reason we are reuniting is because we are re-releasing all of our old records. Those are being released in April, May, and June in the middle of the months. We wanted to celebrate that and bring attention to that. We wanted a celebration to get some excitement about the re-releases. We are not entirely sure yet if we may do another Bamboozle, but it would just probably be those two shows, and that’s even if we do one other than Bamboozle in Jersey. All of us work way too much these days, and that’s a part of the reason why all this doesn’t exist in the first place anymore for us. This was just meant to be a celebration for the re-releases, but we’ll see what happens. I don’t think there will be any other shows than the two Bamboozles, and even then, not sure on adding that second Bamboozle.
Will you have some of those re-releases available at Bamboozle, particularly any sort of special “Bamboozle-only” stuff?n
TRAVIS: Yeah, I really hope we have those re-releases all available for the show, plus there is talk of vinyl right now…. I don’t know specifics yet, but I really hope that we have that stuff. I’m sure there will be some cool merchandise for the show, and I assume we’ll have the first two re-releases by that point. Little treats for people!
Why did you choose a festival like Bamboozle rather than a personal headlining show?n
TRAVIS: Well, we didn’t want to do a tour because we are not a band again, just playing a show for those releases. We didn’t want to do our own show because if it’s a festival, it’s a bigger deal. It’s more exciting, and more people can see us that way that maybe have never seen us or even didn’t go to see us. They could be exposed to us for the first time and think, “This is an awesome band,” and get psyched to see us. It’s more like…. There will be an audience already, and then there will be the audience that wants to see us.
You’ll be playing all of We Are The Only Friends We Have at Bamboozle. Why did you choose to play that album only when you’re re-releasing more than just that album?n
TRAVIS: We decided to play that because it's a special occasion so we wanted to do something that we have never done before. We wanted it to be a one-time experience; the one time we have done it, and the one time we will ever do it. We wanted that show to be something special. Yeah it’s true that people may want to hear other stuff, but the guys who put this festival together mentioned, “Why don’t you play that album straight through?” We thought that was a really cool idea, and it would be very unique and a one-time thing. It’s about the unique experience we hopefully have at the show.
Have you started rehearsing yet? Sure you played a lot of those songs all the time, but some you may not have rehearsed in years.n
TRAVIS: We just actually got together and played right around Christmas. Luke lives in Massachusetts on a farm so we all met out there. We played those songs, and it was really fun. Definitely a great time.
Are there any bands you’re excited to check out at Bamboozle?n
TRAVIS: I know MATT AND KIM are playing, and they are pretty cool. They’ve got a lot of energy!
What have you been up to since PIEBALD broke up?n
TRAVIS: Working and trying to make my own music as well. I’m still working with THE DUKE SPIRIT as well as in another band with Aaron from PIEBALD called the HUNTING ACCIDENT. I just released my own album called TS AND THE PAST HAUNTS. It’s available on iTunes. I don’t have a label; I just recorded that all by myself so I figured I might as well be able to have that music available for purchase. It’s available digitally, but there is not a label and no pressed copies. Regardless, I have been making a lot of music.
How has the move to the west coast affected your songwriting?n
TRAVIS: That’s a great question, and I thought of that recently but really don’t know the answer yet. It’s like, I’m sure it has changed the songwriting and who I am, but I can’t put my finger on what specifically has changed. You can definitely tell when a band is from the east coast versus the west coast. East coast would give you a band like FUGAZI, which would NEVER come out of the west coast. Inversely, the west coast would spawn SUBLIME and RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, which could never come out on the east coast. There are definitely differences in music. Even with my own music, I’m not exactly sure how it has affected it, but I’m sure there are changes. Maybe some people who have followed my work could let me know whether my stuff sounds more west coast now…. I’d love to know especially if they can say HOW things have changed. I’m not sure personally, but I bet they are there.
Your move out there also gave you a chance to hear some new bands in an entirely new music scene. What artists do you like a lot from out there?n
TRAVIS: There is a band called DARKER MY LOVE which is a really great band. They have a lot of layers, and you need to think into the music a lot. Who else do we have out here? There’s a new-ish band called HEALTH. They have a couple albums now. Those two are great bands.
