Brad

Brad has just released their second album and they are planning to visit DV8 on July 7. This paper may or not be out by then depending on how late this article makes the paper. Brad is comprised of Stone Gossard, Jeremy Toback, Regan Hagar and Shawn Smith. With the exception of Toback, they all record for Epic as members of other bands. The history of Brad goes farther back than the 1993 release of Shame, their first album. Green River and Malfunkshun shared rehearsal space in the early ’80s. Stone Gossard was in Green River and Regan Hagar was in Malfunkshun. Today Gossard is a member of Pearl Jam and Hagar is in Satchel. Along with their other projects, Gossard and Regan run the record label Loose Grooves. Shawn Smith is in Satchell with Hagar and sometimes he gets together with Steve Fisk to record as Pigeonhed. Jeremy Toback has his solo career to worry about. I spoke with Regan Howard about Brad and actually Loose Groove.

Shame was released with a Loose Groove logo, but Brad is not a Loose Groove band. Loose Groove was not in business when Shame was released. The label was formed shortly after and Loose Groove worked on the Brad record for about a year and a half. Weapon of Choice is probably my favorite Loose Groove band and Howard told me that they hope to have a new Weapon of Choice record out before the end of the year.

The band is rehearsing for their tour, but when I spoke to Howard James Hall, who will tour in place of Toback, they hadn’t yet arrived in Seattle. Howard, who is obviously well-educated and not at all like most of the musicians I speak with, was supposed to be the most talkative one of the bunch but he didn’t start to open up until I asked him about “Upon My Shoulders.” The song is a ponderous, dark piece with keyboards reminiscent of a pipe organ and a stunning cello interlude played by the Seattle Symphony‘s Wendy Sutton. Smith‘s vocal is like Neil Young at a funeral. The song isn’t close to rock. It’s a hymn. Do they plan to play it live and if so how are they going to do the cello part? “We are doing that song live and Stone is doing the cello part on guitar. He’s gotten a sound that is amazingly like a cello. It really has shocked us in rehearsal. James (Hall) plays violin and we thought about him doing it, but Stone is doing it so well that he’s going to do that part.”

I love to ask about radio, it’s about my favorite question because the radio is so narrowly formatted and I enjoy the different responses. Does Brad hope to use the push tactic and force radio to play the music by touring? “Hopefully, although, I don‘t really anticipate that. Radio would be an asset in getting this record to people, but it hasn‘t happened in the past and we think we‘ll be okay if it doesn’t happen this time. We’re going to make our attempts at radio.” 

Referring to Shame’s lack of radio play, the lack of a tour and the sales created mostly by word of mouth, Hagar said, “That’s how this one might end up, although with touring hopefully we’ll turn some new people on to it. We anticipate people who knew the first record being the people at the shows.” The Salt Lake City date is the first show of the first ever Brad tour. According to Hagar, “That will be the most nervous show, but that might be the most special show because of it.”

Opening for Brad is Verbow. Verbow is another story altogether. Maybe Brad could ask Alison Chesley to accompany them on cello. She was working on her master’s degree in cello performance when she met guitarist Jason Narducy. What is it with these cellos anyway? There are cellos all over the place in rock music right now. Verbow is one of those critically praised bands with enticing music that is too intelligent to gain mass acceptance. Sorry. I love your album, but “art” doesn’t attract money in America at the present time. Go ask the man who produced Chronicles.

Read more interviews from the SLUG archives:
Vallejo
The Muffs

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