Interview date: 05/01/2008
Run date: 05/14/2008
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Our chat with Adam McGill, guitarist and vocalist for the insanely melodic Republic Tigers, was one of those moments where the old school collided head-on with the new school. Is the band worried about their commercial success with Top 40 radio? Nah, not as long as one of their songs is featured prominently on a hit TV show, a notion that was positively alien to the interviewer (13 years the interviewee’s senior). And when telling McGill that their music sounded like late ‘80s pop, should the interviewer explain that he’s talking not of the Pixies but rather Bourgeois Tagg?
Nah. Why get bogged down in semantics when both parties are on the same side? The Republic Tigers’ new album, Keep Color, is one of the year’s finest, chock full of the kind of shimmering pop that music fans from any school can appreciate. McGill, on his way to the airport to catch a flight to New York (the Tribeca Film Festival and David Letterman await), revealed his origins as a punk rocker and how MySpace put his band on the radar of Alexandra Patsavas, the former “O.C.” soundtrack supervisor and the band’s current boss.
Bullz-Eye: Hi. Is this Adam?
Adam McGill: Yeah, this is him.
BE: Adam, this is David Medsker from Bullz-Eye.com. How are you?
AM: Pretty good. How are you?
BE: Good. I understand that you did a photo shoot yesterday. Are those fun for you, or are they unbearable?
AM: It just depends on the shoot. It depends on the photographer, but most of the time they are pretty fun.
BE: Okay, well let me get the sucking up out of the way. I love the record.
AM: Oh, awesome!
BE: It’s actually one of my favorites of the year. The vibe of the album reminds me of late ‘80s pop. Now, is that a fair statement, or is that not at all what you were shooting for?
AM: You know, honestly, we were just doing what we do. I don’t know that anything that happened, as far as similarities with anything else, was intentional or not but I’m sure that there are definitely those influences in there, you know. I mean, what kind of stuff were you hearing? I’m sure you’re probably hearing some Pixies in there, since they are pretty much in everything you listen to today.
BE: Actually, [the Pixies were] the furthest thing from my mind, to be honest.
AM: Wow, that’s crazy. I just assumed because they seem to be a band that kind of influenced everybody that does modern rock.
BE: Which one of you does the wicked impression of A-ha’s lead singer on “Buildings and Mountains?”
AM: That’s actually a combination of me and Kenn (Jankowski, Republic Tigers lead singer). Kenn does probably 95 percent of the vocals on that track and then I do about the remaining 5 percent of the background vocals. So if you’re thinking of the sort of ethereal, angelic backing vocals for the choir sound on there, that’s about the same spilt. It’s more like 80 percent Kenn and 20 percent of myself on that part.
BE: I have to confess, between that and the chorus to Feelin’ the Future, I honestly thought that there was a girl in the band.
AM: What’s funny about that is actually, we had a girl sing on Feelin' the Future.
BE: Really.
AM: But the part she sang is actually lower than any of the parts that we all sang. It was kind of weird, it lent itself to being kind of like…I don’t know, not really confusing when you’re listening to it, but you can’t tell exactly what you’re hearing. You just hear a ton of voices and…yeah.
BE: Now, as a new band, how hard did you have to fight for the right to produce the record yourselves? Most bands out of the gate do not get that privilege.
AM: Oh, actually we didn’t have to fight at all. The record label was all for it, actually. They were stoked about the idea. It’s one of those things, we’ve got some major label resources behind us because of the Atlantic Records attachment, but when it comes down to it it’s still an indie label. So we didn’t have an enormous budget or anything. The self-produced route was definitely good for everybody in the sense that we made sure exactly what we wanted to have happen was happening, and the label made sure we stayed on budget by not hiring some huge name to be attached to the project.
BE: How did you wind up on Alexandra Patsavas’ radar?
AM: MySpace, actually. There was an A&R person at Atlantic Records named Brittany Warfield and she happened to be scoping out MySpace for bands at the time. Ran across us and really liked us so she contacted us, and our drummer, Justin Tricomi, happened to be going out to L.A. for a studio session a week after she sent us the email. So he brought her out some demos and she passed them along to John and Alexandra, from Chop Shop, and that’s just kind of how the relationship started.
BE: So what is it like being the first band signed to a record label? That’s pretty cool.
AM: Oh, it’s amazing. I mean we’ve got the best of both worlds, you know. But really, I mean it’s just stupid cool. We wanted to be with them because we knew we would be their flagship artist. We had the choice of signing to a larger label and just possibly disappearing or being the only act signed to a smaller, start-up label that had a lot of potential and we would be like their baby.
BE: Is it strange that the measure of a band’s success has gone from “Our single just cracked the Top 40” to “Our single just appeared in an episode of ‘Gossip Girl’?”
AM: You know, it’s not that strange. I don’t know, because that’s the time that I was kind of raised in, you know. I realize that I just turned 26, so I’m not exactly like a spring chicken or anything, but even when I was like 14 or 15, there were bands that I thought were cool doing stuff on…like the Flaming Lips on “90210” or every once in a while, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” would have bands come on the show.
BE: Aimee Mann went on once, I remember.
AM: Yeah, yeah, exactly. So it’s not like it’s a new concept or anything. It doesn’t feel that strange to me, I guess, because I’m not from a time period where that wasn’t a thing that happened.
BE: What kind of bands were you in prior to meeting up with Kenn?
AM: Me? I started off in punk rock bands, actually. The first band I ever started was…I was 14 years old, I think and it was a punk rock group called the Excuses. That lasted so long, until Radiohead crushed everything that anybody had ever done and punk rock was not satisfactory, so I broadened my horizons and then played in a lot of other bands. The band that I was in just prior to this was called the Black Presidents. It was actually like…I don’t know, I was playing music with a bunch of guys that just took way too many drugs. They really, really were way into basically any ‘60s or ‘70s rock band and any free jazz album that you could imagine so it was sort of a combination of all that stuff. It was crazy. Marc (Pepperman, bassist) was in a band called Burial at Sea, they were an alt-country act, sort of.
BE: I’ve heard of them.
AM: They were pretty good, actually. Ryan (Pinkston, guitarist) was in a band called Giant Sequoia and he’s really young, so they were just like a party band, actually. He was writing all this great music on the side and we heard some of his demo stuff and just immediately asked if he wanted to play with us. At that time, when we first met Ryan, me and Kenn were just basically passing demos back and forth to each other, hashing out songs. Then we ran into this other person that had all these great demos so we asked him to come along and join the process. It was kind of the same way with everybody else.
BE: What albums from the last year have you been listening to that you’ve gotten into?
AM: Oh, from the last year? Air, “Pocket Symphony.” Well that’s actually a little more than a year old, but that album still is pretty amazing. Gosh, I’m trying to think. I’ve heard so much cool stuff. MGMT, they’re pretty dang cool. I saw them play with Of Montreal a few months ago. I mean, I’ve heard their album, like, nonstop because people are always playing it. I’m enjoying that a lot. Outside of that, we’ve pretty much been in our own world. I don’t get a chance, all that often, to check out everything that’s new because I’m kind of always in the studio working on our stuff or on the road playing.
BE: Here’s a fluff ball question for you. What three songs do you wish you had written?
AM: (laughing) That’s a good one. CRAP! Okay, Let Down by Radiohead; that song is amazing. I wish I had written it. Man, you really…that’s a tough one. Elephant Girl by Blonde Redhead. That song is pretty amazing. And, let’s see, what’s another good one? Once Upon a Time by Air.
BE: Is that on “Pocket Symphony?”
AM: Yeah, it is.
BE: I need to go back and listen to that, then.
AM: Yeah, that song is badass. Once Upon a Time, you have to listen to it.
BE: Will do.
AM: I think it might be their best song. It’s really good.
BE: Wow, okay. Do you guys have any tour plans lined up for the summer?
AM: I don’t even know what month the summer is. I know that we’re going out with Nada Surf in a couple of weeks and we’re doing about a two-week stint with them.
BE: Well, I don’t want to keep you from missing your flight. That was actually the last question I had. I just appreciate you taking the time to talk with us.
AM: Oh, it was my pleasure, man.
BE: Well best of luck with the album and have fun in New York.
AM: Yeah, thanks.
BE: We’ll see you on “Letterman.”
AM: Well, thank you. Have a good day.