Tallahassee. (Not the city in Florida.)

Tallahassee

by Courtney Kelly

With a constantly evolving sound (ranging from folk/Americana to a blues-influenced rock) and a stage presence that makes you feel like you’re in their living room, everyone can find something to love about Tallahassee. Hailing from various points in and around Boston, this foursome just recently wrapped up a tour of the Southeast, promoting the release of their newest album. Between Charlotte and Baton Rouge, on their way to Austin, Texas, where they played at the prominent South by Southwest (SXSW) music and film conference, we were able to sit down with these guys before their show at The Underbelly in Jacksonville...

First of all, how long have you guys been making music? I know being musicians wasn’t always the plan for all four of you… How did this all come together?

Matt(percussion nerd): uuuuuuhhh… Scott should take this one.

Scott(guitar god and lover of cats): … You want the long version, or the short version?

Let’s hear the long version!

Scott, lover of cats.

Scott: Alright. Well. In 2007, I was going to Rhode Island School of Design in Providence and a friend of a friend introduced me to Brian one night and we kind of hit it off… actually it was the first and last time I’ve ever played beer pong... Brian and I were a team… and we dominated. … We talked a bit, informally, about putting something like this together, playing music together… but I was still in school and was super busy at the time.  Anyway, a few weeks later I called Brian up and said, “Hey man, if you still want to play music… I can do this at, like, eight AM on Saturdays, otherwise, uh… I don’t really have time…” [Basically], Brian was totally down with that. We actually wrote our first song that first morning. So, we wanted to play a party at the end of the year, at our mutual friend’s house. We just wanted to write enough songs to be able to [be able to play a house party], like… that was it. That was our biggest aspiration at that point. And then Shawn, our bass player, who I sort of knew from school, approached me after class one day and said that a mutual friend had suggested that he get in touch with us and, uh, he was willing to come to our practice that Saturday at eight AM… [laughs a bit]… and we just… we had that shared, musical chemistry with him and he was like, “alright. That’s it. We’re a band.” And Brian and I were like, “uh, okay, yeah. Sure.” A few months later, I moved to Boston, but we kept practicing and we kept it up… Flash forward a year later, Brian also moved to Boston and we decided we needed a drummer, so I put out, uh, a Craigslist ad and we met Matt.

 

Did you just meet Matt and think, “Oh my god- He’s the one!” …or was there a process involved in that decision?

Matt, percussion nerd.

Scott: Well...

Matt: Let me tell you! [laughs] Let me just … I was so excited to meet them… and I could kind of tell… I mean, I had an idea of who they were and what they were like, so I set up my basement all nice… I made tea for them… you know, it was cold out! … And uh, I had been doing almost strictly classical music, so this was a whole brand new thing that was, hopefully, going to happen and I just wanted to create this sort of environment…[laughs]

And if all of that hadn't happened… if you had never met what would you be doing right now?

Scott: Actually, right after we formed the band, Brian’s contract went up and… the Giants had just won the Super Bowl and they called him…

Brian, NFL player turned musician.

Brian(front man and former footballer): Yeah, so… I had taken a year off [after the Patriots]…to, you know, just… figure shit out. [And …that’s when I met these guys.] We became really good friends, we were making music. I got a call from my agent and he said, “Hey- The Giants want to sign you to a post-season contract…” and I was like, “I’ll call you back…” I thought for a while about what my life was at that point, versus what it was before… and [making music] is just SO MUCH BETTER. So, I called him back and said, “You know… no. I’m officially…done. I’m over this.” [laughs] and then I was like, “and don’t ever call again! It’s not you, it’s me…”

Were you torn at all?

Brian: Well, I was torn between, like, an obvious stability and this completely unknown world. I mean, I moved to [Boston], this city I don’t know… with people I don’t know, playing that- I mean, I taught myself some instruments, but I… didn’t really know how to play music- versus doing something that I really disliked, but made me a lot of money. And I just decided, you know what? That’s not me. So… no. It was, surprisingly, the easiest decision I’ve ever made. … OH, but… If Shawn hadn’t met us, he would be a Heely free-style artist.

Shawn(resident graphic artist and bass extraordinaire): … Yes.

Matt: Um, I guess I would... well, hopefully, be in an orchestra or-

Brian: …He’d be a cab driver.

Your sound has evolved considerably from your first album [Wolfe Moon] to the album you're about to release[Old Ways]. Was this a conscious move away from your original, folky sound?

Brian: Well... yeah. I mean, basically, we just decided that we wanted to play some rock n' roll. And that's what we're doing. ....Plus, it's kind of a pain in the ass to tour with a stand-up bass and all that other stuff.

Annnnd now for the question that you knew was coming, because you’re talking to a Floridian who knows that most of you have probably never even been to Tallahassee… Why do you call yourselves ‘Tallahassee’?!

Brian: uhhhhh… who wants to take this one? You guys wanna pull straws? Sean, you take this one…

Shawn: uuuhhh….

Scott: Well, uh… as it turns out… ‘Boston’ is already a band.

Tallassee’s latest album, Old Ways, will be released on May 7^th. You can find this and their earlier work and their website , and also on iTunes, Spotify or Soundcloud. …We highly recommend a listen.

 LISTEN NOW!