3RD ALLEY INTERVIEW
It's been a long time coming, but 3rd Alley are finally back with a new album (Shiny Shady People) and it is ready to take it to the people with a national tour launching next month featuring support by Josh Fischel and Tomorrow's Bad Seeds. Vocalist/guitarist Zack Walters and drummer Todd Elrod sit down for a chat.
The Pier: So 3rd Alley has gone through a lot of line-up changes since your last album. Tell us about the new guys.
Zack: A lot of changes indeed. Luckily it wasn't all at once. We added Todd Elrod (formerly of Bargain Music and The Politicians) on drums, who's killing it. And more recently we picked up Andre Davis (formerly of 4 Minutes til Midnight) and from the first practice, we knew he was the missing link. He came with all the songs down, which was really cool. We're all on the same page as far as touring and all that, which is key.
The Pier: Let's talk about the new album. So why the name Shiny Shady People?
Zack: It just summed up the album, a lot of the songs are dealing with smiley passive aggressive people. We were going to call it Evil Lurks, but thought Shiny Shady People sounded a little more fitting.
The Pier: What was it like working with Josh Fischel (Bargain Music) as producer?
Zack: We argued a lot. Just kidding. He was on point and always there ready to work. I think he has a bright future in producing. He has a lot of good ideas and really is sincere and focused on making the album the best it can be. We worked really well together, he played some melodica on the album, sang a lot of back-ups and played a mean tambourine.
The Pier: You also added Todd Forman on sax and keys for the album. What was the reasoning behind that?
Zack: We picked up Todd Forman (Sublime's saxophonist) as we were putting together the new songs and it seemed time to augment. We wanted more sound and Todd brought it nicely. Mudd brought him in and he was always so pumped to be playing and contributing. He's one talented dude. A few years ago he was a Harvard Medical student, starting pitcher for the Harvard baseball team and on a couple platinum records. I think he might've also been an underwear model too, or something like that.
The Pier: Was there any memorable recording experiences you can reveal?
Todd: We did all the drum, guitar, and bass tracks in about a week, and those were pretty straight forward days. After that we spent the next several months putting all the icing on the cake. We had different musicians come in and lay down tracks, our buddy Donovan Haney (The Expendables manager and dub tech) came in for two nights to lay down dubs on our record, that was pretty fun (a lot of smoke in the air). Trey Pangborn (LBDAS/Shortbus) played guitar on a couple of songs - rad. The last night for me was most memorable ‘cuz we had a lot of our friends at the studio. There were random friends pretty much every night, but the last night we just packed them in and pretty much had a BIG party and listened to the entire album.
Zack: We really let the record sauté over the past year, we did some vocals, guitars and other stuff at my house which was comfy. The last night for sure was most memorable, listening to the whole thing at one sitting in the studio with everyone that had been part of it; it was kind of emotional, just kidding, kinda.
(Zack at Total Access)
The Pier: Now that it is all done, how do you compare this album to your first, After School Special?
Todd: I think Zack has really matured as a song-writer and this record shows it. The first record had a pretty solid vibe to it, this record is a rollercoaster of what has been going on with him since the last record. Another difference is the personnel, Matt Brien who played bass on it was my rhythm partner in Bargain Music. Tyson played bass on Relatively Speaking which is a punk song and our new bass player Andre played bass on Castaway, which is an intimate folk/reggae-ish song that ends the record. So this album has a variety of amazing players on it which makes this one a force to be reckoned with. It’s different but you still know it’s the same band and the songs are just like the next chapter.
The Pier: Did you have any specific influences in writing this album? Any songs you particularly proud of?
Zack: I wrote a few of the songs in Europe, and they have a special place in my heart. I was in Amsterdam at the Bulldog Cafe and I left my friends downstairs, went up and wrote Lies That we Tell." My girlfriend was all, "where'd you go?" I said, "I just went wrote a new song," and she said, "cool, so anyways . .." seemed uneventful but at the same time rad.
The song Galileo is an ode to my favorite historical figure and how he got screwed by the system. I actually geeked out and went to Pisa just to climb the Leaning Tower. I also went to the science museum in Florence, where you can actually see his amputated middle finger in a glass case, hence the lyrics "row your boat of heresy, his middle finger up for the whole world to see." He's been giving a nice gesture to those bastards that gave him hell for like 300 years now, tight! All in all, I’m proud of all the songs from the ground up.
The Pier: I understand you are going to have an all acoustic version of the album available with a pre-order? What a great idea. Do all the songs translate well to an acoustic style?
Zack: The songs were all spawned off of my little nylon acoustic named Betty, so I think they’ll stand by themselves. The acoustic album is gonna consist of demos, and songs that didn’t make the cut for whatever reason. A friend recommended us doing it, and I thought, why not?
The Pier: You have a national tour with Josh and Tomorrow's Bad Seeds coming up. Is this your first national tour and what places are you most excited about checking out for the first time?
Zack: Yes, as 3rd Alley, it's our first coast to coast in a van. We plan on making a habit of it. I'm stoked to go to Chicago, I've never been there. I’ve always heard good things about the pizza, wind, and the city itself.
Todd: I’m looking forward to Canada for the beautiful women and great beer. NYC is always fun! We have like five days or so in Florida, the beach is beautiful as well as the women, and reggae is really big in Florida so the bars and clubs are always fun there with good tunes. New Orleans will be fun no doubt.
(Zack & Todd Live in Seattle)
The Pier: So how would you describe a 3rd Alley show for those that haven't seen you?
Zack: Hmmm, Todd barks a lot, Andre gets down and if Forman's playing, he's known for his dance moves. I've been told I make funny faces when I sing. Besides that, we just try to rock and have a good time and get people to have as good of a time as we’re having. Sometimes we rock too hard. Because we are reggae "influenced" and play elements of reggae we get booked a lot with straight roots reggae bands and we feel bad for rocking. But we can't help it. We kind of made this album to cater to crowd participation, a lot of things people can yell out and we encourage those who come to shows to get down.
The Pier: You did some shows in Europe before. How was that? Any interesting stories?
Zack: We did a two week tour with the German punk band Mongrel, and it was one of the most memorable experiences ever. I guess in parts of Europe it's cool for boys to simulate gay sex with their friends while the band is playing, we saw a lot of that. They really know how to treat musicians in Europe: we had lunch every load in, a regional meal at din-din, sometimes made by the promoter themselves, and always a fridge full of local brew. Besides waking to my daily alarm clock (aka. Tyson's bear-like snore) which always led to him waking up covered with shoes, books, bananas, whatever we could pick up and throw at him, I was sifting through the pictures from the night before on the camera in Austria, and found tons of pictures with Tyson partying with a bunch of naked punkers. Tyson did keep his clothes on though. I guess in some parts when you're partying with your friends it's cool to take your clothes off.
The Pier: Do you have anything else exciting coming up besides the album and tour?
Zack: The Japanese version of Shiny Shady People will be coming out in August on In Ya Face Records. We have our fingers crossed for a tour in the fall. Other than that, hitting the road as much as we can! We are going to be making our first video soon, trying to figure out which song would be best. We’ll see what the crowd response is and roll with it. It’s gonna be a fun year!
Big thanks to Zack, Todd and the 3rd Alley Posse for this great interview and for being strong supporters of The Pier. Make sure you check out the following links: