Link: http://www.thefiggs.net

An Interview with Pete Donnelly from The Figgs

Don’t miss The Figgs live, headlining for Scott Silipigni’s CD Release party, THIS Friday February 23rd at The Parlor (1170 S. Broad Street) in Philadelphia as part of their dates to promote their new CD - Follow Jean Through the Sea!

“The Figgs is like, the family. It probably takes maybe half of our time, half of our commitments at this point in our lives. And we have the same, if not more, passion than ever.” (Pete Donnelly, The Figgs)

2006 marked two years since the release of Palais, one year since the release of Continue To Enjoy The Figgs. And now, after being clocked in at having an approximate back catalog of ten records and “121 songs to their credit, not counting their cassette and single releases“ (thank you, Billy Pilgrim), The Figgs have released their latest exciting full-length on New Jersey’s Gern Blandsten entitled, Follow Jean Through the Sea.

Recorded for 5 days in Boston and then brought back to Philadelphia to complete, Follow Jean… begins right where the rest of The Figgs catalogue left off, giving every Figgs fan just what they want – more addictive sing-along lyrics, and crunchy riffs. Their latest album seems to have something more cohesive and mature about it as well, and sporting some fantastic production, new songs like "Jumping Again", "Hobble Skirt (In Erie)", and 70s rock-anthem-riffed starters "Breaking Through These Gates", and "Regional Hits" really come out on top – you’d be mistaken if you thought that this was all that they had up their sleeves, though:

“We’re already planning our next record, right now. When we feel like we have material to make a record, hopefully, we’re already in the process of making it. Either because of all the studios that I’m working at, we’ve been recording. Or, in the case of Follow Jean, we made a real conscious effort with that record to organize the making of it.

Follow up:

For Follow Jean, we cut 40 songs in the studio, as live as possible. But then I went into the tracks for days, editing different things together for master tapes. I’ve used different verses from different days, I swear, we’re talking inspired moments and trying to make master takes out of them. And it was kind of a challenge, but I’ve always felt like when you go into the studio and you record, the singer can be kind of flat. So, I wanted to capture the real songs with the real energy that they need. Because every song lives differently every day, and a lot of bands are forced in the studio – to use the version, even if it isn’t the ultimate version of that song. Just because it’s the one that made it to tape.

So if you record songs …some days they might be a lot better than others – and then, you can sort of, choose the best performance; look for those inspired moments. On some days, we’d have people over at the studio and have kind of a party, some times we’d be chillin’ late and, you know, drinkin’ some wine or something – and get into a different mode.

Every song lives a little bit different in each of those environments, so that you really get the real emotion that the song needs. Then I took it home, and I did tweak it like crazy. You know, and we would do all kinds of different overdubs, but, the point being that – you’ve got to capture that energy from the song’s inception, or you can never create it.”

It’s usually a case-by-case situation when it comes to bands and labels, but in this one I already knew that Gern Blandsten carried a really varied roster with its own brand of intelligent punk rockers (Pilot to Gunner, Rye Coalition, Victory at Sea, The Big Boys) mixed in with a variety of others such as hip-hop artist Dälek, indie experimentalist Ted Leo/Pharmacists and Americana-crooners Canyon. In other words; did the label find the band, or did the band find the label?

In a twist-of-fate kind of scenario, the networking giant MySpace came into play in a very unexpected way for the band last year. “It’s an interesting story,” Pete relates “we put a message up on MySpace saying that if anyone was interested in putting out a Figgs record to let us know, and then this guy wrote us… He’s like, 'Hey you know – I’m friends with Charles [Gern Blandsten]. We were always Figgs fans, and he has a great label. I’m gonna go write to him and see if he’s interested.'

And then he wrote us back saying 'Yeah, definitely Charles would like to do a record,' and then we got together, and we met Charles, and he has a real simple record company. He doesn’t promise anything. He’s just like, 'I’ll put out your record, and I have distribution, and we can hire a publicist and I think it would be cool.' And I was like, okay. You know, we’ve been kind of been independent for a while. I think that, only Palais, actually, was the only record that we completely did ourselves. You make more money when there’s nobody else involved. It’s kind of lonely. So, Charles’ label is pretty eclectic, but Charles’ concept is really straight forward and I feel great about it. As with any label, it’s up to the band to make your career. The big thing for us is that he had overseas distribution.”

Will Blandsten be releasing the next studio album? “We’ll take that as it comes. That’s another reason why I like working with Charles. He doesn’t mess with the art at all. Oh God, I was like, we’re like a frickin’ candy pop band compared to most of his acts... It’s kind of funny!” [laughter] “We’ve even gotten some of those hardcore/punk responses. You know, from people who thought we had some punk ‘cred, back like, in ’94, people who think, we’re like the lamest thing on Earth now – it’s hilarious. But, we just play fast, we were always a rock n’ roll band. We were never tattooed rock-boys, you know?”

The Figgs’ Pete Donnelly is giving me a bird’s eye view into his hectic life. He’s dropping off his daughter [just recently having become a new father] at the nanny’s place, “She’s just this amazing lady,” talking to me as he walks - then later; as he drives on his way into one of the many recording studios that he currently works through (MilkBoy, Miriam, and G. Love’s studio, among others) to begin another day. I take a moment to ask Pete if becoming a new father has affected his writing at all:

“Your view of the world really does change when you have this vulnerable little thing depending on you. It’s weird, but I haven’t really written anything since the baby’s been born. This is the longest period I’ve ever gone, by far, without writing. You think I’d be inspired by the baby. I’m very inspired - I just keep telling myself that I’m letting it build up! I’ve been so busy, but I’m just collecting for the time when I do write. It’s really true; that having a baby changes your state of mind. You can say, ‘Oh – people get soft,’ or whatever… but the whole world, feels a bit softer, and you also have this soft, new little baby to take care of as well…”

Even sounding like he talks – with a bounce in his step and a genuine happiness that seems to bubble over and blend itself into the conversation; easily infectious when he’s being asked about his life, his new album, and his career.

And it is a career, even though Pete himself is aware that the music business is a finicky (albeit exciting, and fast-paced) environment to work in. For being so young (still in his early 30s!) already having a massive complete (and incomplete) discography, and having so much opportunity to work with more artists than you can shake a stick at (Graham Parker, Death Vessel, Mike Viola and The Candybutchers, The Pawn Shop Roses, Bad Veronica, Jim Boggia, and The Capitol Years, to name just a few); I have to wonder if he thinks about this, and gets a little…overwhelmed at times.

“I’m overwhelmed in the day to day activity – trying to get done all of the work that’s there to do. There’s still the reality of the dollar. You’ve got to make money. I’m hustling to always make it to the next level. Career-wise; it is an objective of mine. My career and my family – and making sure that I am going to survive doing this. I had a great head-start. The Figgs got me totally launched into this business when I was young. I’ve been able to take full advantage of it – I took the Jack-of-All-Trades route, you know; be a player, be a writer, be in a band, learn how to engineer, start producing records. And now, it’s like – engineering is just a decent trade. Production is something different. Production is managing records, managing artists; to help them make the records they need to make. So, I’m not overwhelmed. I’m always excited – you know? I’m really excited about; what’s the next level – what are the next records that I’m going to be able to make?”

If you’re one of the lucky ones, you might have an old and most-likely, well-loved copy of Pete’s solo album (the originals were cassette only, and limited to 50 copies – sorry folks!). The 10-song cassette entitled, Another Day On You, was released in 1999, after the Figgs relationship with Capitol dissolved. Pete was living in Providence at the time, and thinking of ways to reinvent himself and keep afloat at the same time. Song to song, Another Day On You comes off as a very personal and reflective album; even if it was never meant to be its own permanent release. There’s almost a scratchy, frenetic energy and even a pained sound to Pete’s vocals on these songs that remind me of a mod Rod Stewart – a cooler, mod Rod Stewart – who’s gone through a LOT. And the songs themselves, are almost bridge-like in extension of the ones written and played with The Figgs.

“What is this love about? / Is it just a game? / This could be our way out / I want to break / Yeah I know that this is love / ‘Cause I have you on my side / I’ve gotta feel you in my blood / I’m rushin’ all the time / We’re rushin’ all the time …” ("Rushing All The Time", Pete Donnelly)

“I made them because I was going through this thing where I was like ‘I’m going to start doing some solo shows to try to make some bread.’ I was like, ‘What am I doing, I’m getting in debt here.’ You know; what’s my life all about? Partly, I wanted it to be impermanent too, because I had reservations about the material…it’s all stuff that was never completely realized. They’re just, you know; sketches, ideas. Putting it on a cassette was kind of like saying, ‘Hey, this stuff isn’t to be displayed as a real permanent work of art,’ It’s just kind of like a, I don’t know – a view of what I’ve been up to. I think that every once in a while, I get this feeling I’m going to put together all the music that I’ve recorded over the years – you know, release a double-CD, probably put some of that stuff on…and there were a few tracks that didn’t fit on the cassette.”

Can we look forward to a solo Pete Donnelly record? “It kind of gets back to the unfortunate reality of the dollar. One of the goals of mine is to find more time to be creative on my own. I have so little time, whereas when I was younger, you have too much time – and you scare and you explore yourself and your own psyche in your own studio or whatever. And, yet, Another Day On You is such a home recording record, that "Rushing All the Time" is from a studio in Conshohocken [PA] as a matter of fact. But you know, it’s really personal because of the state of mind that you’re in when you’re alone, and by yourself… You’re much more vulnerable than when you’re working with other people.”

Not far from The Figgs’ beginnings in Saratoga Springs, NY, but with members of the band all living in separate places now: Mike Gent (moving between Boston/Providence & NY), Pete Hayes (in NY), and Pete Donnelly (currently residing in Collingswood, NJ “which is actually closer to downtown [Philadelphia] than when I lived in Roxborough!”) and each working on separate side projects inbetween when they can as well (The Gentlemen, Graham Parker, Candybutchers, Death Vessel), the band still makes sure that The Figgs is their main gig.

“The Figgs is like, the family. It probably takes maybe half of our time, half of our commitments at this point in our lives. But as far as, having that comfort zone, knowing that this is already something that is established, that it’s real in our lives, that’s really clear. We don’t necessarily – it isn’t the end-all for us. It’s kind of like at this point our families – you know I’m the only one with kids, but everyone’s married – but you have; your priorities change as you get older. It’s not like ‘Oh god, making a gig is everything,’ where, when you’re younger – the band was like the ultimate priority. It’s not really like that anymore. It’s more relaxed. It’s like; this is something we do, and we’re comfortable with it. And we have the same, if not more passion than ever.”

Like any large family with extended relatives, The Figgs family has just as many bands sharing the space. “There is something really unique about The Figgs and the other groups that we’ve connected with and surrounded ourselves with, because we’ve been together for so long – and for the fact that we’ve met some really great people – I think that what you find in every scene, is that… there’s a lot of bands that develop similar things. But the thing about us, is the comfort level of the stuff – amongst everybody, just because we’ve been in it so long versus the sort of competitive attitude with a lot of younger bands.

It’s about being unsure of yourself in the World. People tearing eachother apart. I just really feel lucky to have met – you know, the Gravel Pit became The Gentlemen with Mike, and The Candybutchers doing stuff with the Figgs. And you know, these bands have all sort of, enveloped each other. It’s been really…pleasant. And there haven’t been any real issues or anything. Like, a lot of the times when someone goes to play with someone else, there’s would be a weird issue like they’re being abandoned, or they’re not getting as much time with the other band. It’s just like dating and fucking, you know? … We really, established something really cool, between a bunch of bands, in various instances – and I think that it’s a good way to be.”

Speaking from the standpoint of a true lover of all things music, Pete gets genuinely excited when asked about his influences and favourite instruments. “It all started with The Beatles and The Beach Boys, and then, it was like, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and AC/DC. And then: Black Flag, Husker Dü, and The Replacements. And all the while, it was an all-consuming state of mind – I needed to discover everybody. I got really into jazz music.”

Jazz music? At a young age, Pete was lucky enough to take lessons in bass playing from a true master of jazz and world-renowned photographer, Milt “The Judge” Hinton (Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Sir Paul McCartney) while Milt was teaching at the same school where Pete’s mother worked.

“He’s one of the greatest bass players ever… jazz bass player. His effect has been HUGE on me – I didn’t even realize the effects when I was younger [that he was having on me]. He’s like, the most recorded bass player in the history of the World. I swear, he’s on so many records, and he’s a famous photographer. So that was a huge experience for me.”

He doesn’t hesitate to tick off his favorite instruments either, “I have a 1968 Gibson Hummingbird; it’s like my favourite acoustic guitar. I have a ’64 P-Bass, my B-15 bass amp, and I have a green L-48 Gibson Archtop Acoustic: that’s like my “couch guitar”. That’s pretty much it, I have few other cool pieces too, but I’m always looking for some more stuff.”

Photo Credit: Mary O’Neill (Pete @ World Café Live)

But when asked about his warmly worn, and tenderly loved ‘65 Fender Jazz Bass that has made just about every single Figgs all-star appearance known to man; Pete gets a bit sentimental and almost chuckles, “It’s crazy…You know what’s crazy, is that I have no idea what the story is behind that bass…I got it in, like 1993…when we first got our deal [with Imago]. It’s a really expensive instrument. I mean, it cost me three grand at the time. They’re worth ridiculous amounts of money now, just because there’s so few of them. But, it was, most of that wear was on it when I got it, and I can only imagine the belt-buckle that that person wore, y’know? It’s fun to think about the history. I would looove to know. Since I’ve had it, that bass has been with me everywhere I’ve been. And there’s just thousands of pictures of it in every city, in every country that we’ve ever been. It’s got such a history with me – what was its history before? That’s so cool, no one’s ever asked me about the bass either!”

Get The Figgs latest album Follow Jean Through the Sea at Amazon, or at one of their next shows!

Follow Jean Through the Sea

UPCOMING THE FIGGS' DATES:
Feb 23 @ The Parlor / Philadelphia PA
Mar 10 @ The Middle East (upstairs) / Cambridge MA
Mar 16 @ Dog & Duck Pub (SXSW) / Austin TX
Mar 17 @ Twangfest (SXSW - 4PM) / Austin TX
Mar 17 @ Red 7 Patio (SXSW) / Austin TX
Mar 30 @ Muddy River / Portsmouth NH
Mar 31 @ Muddy River / Portsmouth NH

*Huge thanks to Pete Donnelly for the great interview and to NY's Sam Price for sharing his Figgs knowledge and very well-loved copy of 'Another Day On You'.