The Etchings are:
Jesse Rejewski – Drums
Ben Randall – Bass
Nick Randall – Guitar/ Vocals
How did the name of the band come about? When did it form?
Ben: The Etchings formed in the fall of 2009, and the name was taken from an old book of Emily Dickinson poems, the particular poem it was borrowed from is called “Death Sets a Thing Significant.”
Nick: Yeah, that book was full of good band names. We were almost “The Only Ghost I Ever Saw.” I just loved the line “obliterate the etchings, too costly for repair.” I think that’s how it went.
What’s it like to perform in front of a crowd? Give me three words.
Nick: Usually can’t remember.
Ben: Exciting, you see!
JR: Fun, Exhilarating, Batman
When and why did you start playing?
Nick: When I was 8 or 9 years old, my dad rented a VHS copy of Wayne’s World. Something about that movie made me want a Fender Stratocaster. My dad had a piece of junk nylon stringed acoustic in the basement. The neck joint was literally coming unglued, so it wouldn’t hold tune for more than five minutes. Turned out my dad was an expert at playing “Puff the Magic Dragon” and “House of the Rising Sun.” He taught me all three chords that he knew. Once he saw that I was serious, he got me a decent electric guitar that vaguely resembled that Strat from Wayne’s World. I’ve been nuts about everything guitar since.
Ben: I started playing bass when I was 12 or 13 after hearing simple yet awesome bass lines from rock guys like Robert Sledge (Ben Folds Five) and Roger Waters (Pink Floyd). It also made sense for me to play bass at the time because Nick was already playing guitar like a seasoned crusty old blues-rock guy, and my younger brother Adam had just started taking drum lessons. I think I had secret aspirations of starting a Hanson-esque brother-band with a slight edge to it. Maybe our songs would have had swear words and minor chords or something. Adam gave up the drums though and Nick went off to do the Jazz thing in Boston, MA for a while, so that idea never saw the light of day. When Nick moved back home from Massachussetts we seized the opportunity to find a drummer and finally start a band together. There’s nobody I’d rather be playing music with.
JR: I switched to drums from cello in 7th grade I think. Went to a friends house who had a kit and I was hooked from there.
What was the first tune that you remember “really” playing well, when you knew that you would be a musician?
Nick: In 6th grade, some friends and I asked our chorus teacher if we could perform “Stairway to Heaven” for a school concert. I learned that entire song from my mom’s scratched up vinyl copy of Led Zeppelin IV. Three of us got up on stage and started playing- within minutes all of the parents were taking out their lighters and waving them around. That elementary school auditorium felt like Madison Square Garden. We got an absurdly long standing ovation, and I decided right then that I wanted more of that.
Ben: I was taking bass lessons from a really talented local guy. I must have been about 14. He gave me bass homework assignments that I probably actually completed about 20% of the time, and that’s being generous. I must have been a miserable student. Anyway, one of the assignments that I actually sat down and worked on was writing out my own walking bassline to the old standard “All of Me.” He taught me the theory behind walking basslines. I wrote out notes that worked on staff paper, then I spent a few hours learning how to play what I had written. When I brought what I had created into my bass lesson the next week and played it, I saw rare look of approval on my teacher’s face. I knew I had done something right. Now to be fair, I still can’t play walking bass lines on the spot, but I can write something out, learn it, and pretend I’m inventing it on the spot should the need ever arise. I’ll get there!
Did music come naturally to you? Or were you driven to learn and play/sing? What sparked the passion? Do you come from a musical family?
Ben: Nick has always been the natural music/guitar guy in the family for as long as I can remember, and he’s always been a huge influence to me. I picked up the bass to try and keep up!
JR: My parents listened to music constantly. My Dad rebuilt pianos and my Mom worked at a radio station, so that didn’t hurt.
Are you schooled in music? From where?
Nick: I went to Berklee in Boston, MA. All I did was walk around with a guitar on my back- constantly. It was great. Berklee is centered around jazz and pop, whereas most conservatories do not consider the electric guitar to be an instrument at this time in history, which is sad. I got to play with and meet some of the most incredible people on the planet there, and studied everything from jazz to prepared guitar. One of my teachers, David Tronzo, was really into John Cage- he used to show me how you could emulate some of those prepared piano techniques on a guitar with springs, corks, mallets, alligator clips, etc. Fun as hell.
Ben: I had a great chorus teacher in high school.
Nick: Yes, I had that same great chorus teacher, Norm Zogaib. And a great guitar teacher back then too, Tony Scozzaro.
JR: I took snare drum lessons for a season. I had a short attention span.
Which famous musician(s) do you admire?
Nick: I admire famous musicians who still write their own songs, actually have something to say, and appreciate that music is a human artform and inherently imperfect to some degree. As a fan I like to be challenged, but I also like to see common threads woven throughout an artist’s career as they evolve. Country-crossover doesn’t count as evolving… in fact I think that might actually be cheating.
Ben: Guys like Tim Lefebvre and Anthony Jackson. I’m working every day to get on their musical level. That’s definitely the level I should be playing alongside Nick. Those guys are masters of their instrument.
Where is your favorite place to play/sing in Buffalo? Where would you most like to play/sing in Buffalo?
Nick: My favorite place to sing is in any
tiled bathroom. School, church, whatever, if it has tiles it’s going to make me start singing. That guy impersonating Jim Morrison at the urinal next to you making you feel uncomfortable is probably me. I do love playing the 9th Ward. It always sounds great in there.
tiled bathroom. School, church, whatever, if it has tiles it’s going to make me start singing. That guy impersonating Jim Morrison at the urinal next to you making you feel uncomfortable is probably me. I do love playing the 9th Ward. It always sounds great in there.
Ben: I’m not sure that I have a favorite, there are so many great places to play in Buffalo. We’ve got a show coming up at Mr. Goodbar in the fall and I’ve never played there before. I’m really looking forward to it!
JR: I like small stages and a packed house.
Nick: I’ll take any size stage if it comes with a packed house.
What’s your day job?
Ben: I make fancy clay facades for famous buildings in a factory from 7:30 to 4:00 every day.
Nick: I teach guitar lessons and make guitar cables. I also play in some other projects.
JR: I do show production. Sound, lights, and recording audio.
How would you describe your music style? Influences?
Nick: I like a lot of different styles. I’m realy into improvising, which I don’t get to do a whole lot of with this band- which is good for me. My experience with The Etchings has really helped me to focus on my composition. And restraint! My style…. hmmm. I like to play a lot of wrong notes on purpose. I love pointy, angular, and rhythmic sounding lines. I like 2 and 3 note chord voicings a lot. I like funk music more than Ben. I love jazz, but I wouldn’t dare call myself a jazz musician. My version of Stella by Starlight would probably remind people more of a Kandinsky painting than a….painting that looks realistic. I’ve always been obsessed with great songwriters as well, Lennon/ McCartney, Elliott Smith, Bob Dylan, Kurt Cobain, Nick Drake. My ipod is a beautiful mess.
Ben: I grew up surrounded with 90s alt rock, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Stone Temple Pilots, Rage Against The Machine. I was lucky. I was really into that, as well as the greats like Floyd and Zeppelin. Then my friends introduced me to punk music and I learned all about bands like Bad Religion, Black Flag, The Ramones and Operation Ivy – though I was certainly late to the party, by the time I had made it out to a punk show in Buffalo, The Continental had been torn down, punk had merged with pop sensibility and had forgotten to sing about socio-political issues. Then I used to go visit Nick a lot when he lived in Massachussetts, and he would teach me all about these wild modern jazz cats like Kurt Rosenwinkle, Brad Meldau, Wayne Krantz, Nels Cline and Cuong Vu… that’s when my mind was really blown. Oh, I forgot there was also a point in there somewhere when I was listening to a lot of Phish. That happened too.
JR: When I started playing, it was alot of Greenday and Nirvana. I’ve been trying to play slower and quieter ever since.
What was the last live music performance that you caught? What was the best show you ever caught? What was the show that got away – the one that you never got to see?
Ben: The last live performance I caught was my friends’ band rehearsing in the back of Frizzy’s on Elmwood on a Monday night. They’re called Telescope and they have a violin and a megaphone and a song about how important high school is. It was pretty great. The best show I ever saw was probably Radiohead at Bonnaroo in 2006. They played for 2 and a half hours and they hadn’t added a 2nddrummer to their touring lineup yet. The show I wish I could have seen would probably be Nirvana at University of Buffalo in 1993. I couldn’t go because I was 5 and I didn’t know what Nirvana or a concert was yet. Or maybe Elliott Smith, I got really into his album Figure 8 and then learned that he had passed away a few months before I found out about his music.
Nick: Best show was Page/Plant Unledded tour in I think around 1995. I was young, my dad took me, and we stood in the 3rd row. The lights dropped down and all I could see was the burning ember from Jimmy Page’s cigarette as the band took the stage. It was fantastic. I’ll never forget it.
JR: The last live show I saw was a Buffalo band, Big Classic. I thoroughly enjoyed their performance. Best show? Probably traveling across NY to see Yolk back in the day, they always delivered. I would have liked to see Sublime.
Do you play/sing covers or all originals? Ar a combination of both?
Nick: I’ve been anti-cover for a long time. I’d rather not do it unless it’s going to be better than the original. I’ve been feeling this weird urge recently to give it a shot. I just feel like adding too many covers can make your set sound like it’s having an identity crisis. Usually a cover is like giving your audience a soft, familiar teddy bear. Then in comparison your original songs seem like the monster under the bed, or just boring to some people. I’m more comfortable knowing that whether or not the audience loved every one of our songs, at least they know for sure what we’re all about.
Ben: We have actually never played a cover live as a band, though it’s probably a good idea and it would be really fun. I’m open to the possibility. I’d love to cover the song Friction by Television.
JR: 99% originals
If you could play/sing for one famous person (alive or dead), who would that be?
Nick: I think it would be cool if Tesla came to a gig. In fact, I would hire that guy in a second to do lights for us.
JR: Rocky
Nick: ADRIAN!!!!!!
If you could play/sing with one famous person/band (any time in history), what would that band be?
Ben: I really don’t know, anything but Limp Bizkit at Woodstock 99!
What are your strengths?
Ben: Playing bas
s.
s.
JR: Porch plants
Nick: My intermittent confidence gives me necessary time to contemplate my actions. And my left leg is super strong because I just started driving manual transmission a few months ago.
What are your weaknesses?
Ben: Buying gear and forgetting to practice!
JR: Laziness
Nick: Songwriting procrastination. I won’t write for months, and then I’ll sit down and in one weekend finish ten songs. I’m trying to spread things out now since I’m terrified of deadlines.
Do you have a label? A recording studio? Have you recorded a CD?
Nick: Our first record, Kindling Theory, came out at the end of last year. We’re about 1/4 of the way through our second album which we’re releasing as a series. Two tracks are already up at theetchings.bandcamp.com. We don’t really need a label until they prove to us that they a.) still serve a purpose and b.) can do something that we don’t already know how to do or c.) are willing to provide catering and bounce houses at every one of our shows. My friend’s band is touring now, and they get cases of beer, veggie trays, and all the cheese they can eat. Still no bounce houses, that’s just my thing. I would consider Jesse’s attic to be a state of the art recording environment- at the very least with his talent and technical knowlege we’re able to get some great sounds up there- and it’s free.
Where and when is your next gig?
June 20th, 2013 at Nietzsche’s with Casino School and A Hotel Nourishing. After that, we’re playing the Labatt Concert series on July 5th in Lockport. We’re opening up for Malcolm in the Middle, and I think some other bands are playing.
**************
See more Sounds of Buffalo: Free Henry!, Mari McNeil, Davey O, Theresa Quinn, Jim Bohm, Chae Hawk, Nikki Hicks, Flatbed, Whiskey Reverb, Djambossa, What would Mingus do?, Prime Example, Will Holton, Genkin Philharmonic, The Andrew J. Reimers Country Punk Extravaganza, Suzanne Fatta, Janice Mitchell, Poindexter, Michael Civisca, Michael Oliver & The Sacred Band, Skiffle Minstrels, Buffalo Tago Orkestra, The Waz-Davis Duo
If you play in a group/band (or solo) here in Buffalo, and have an upcoming gig at a venue(s) in the city, consider sending Buffalo Rising an email requesting to be emailed a Q&A interview that we can then post, along with concert dates. It’s a fun and easy way to get your name in front of another audience that is interested in learning about the local music scene.
The requirements are:
-You must be living in the Greater Buffalo region… or you must be plotting your return
-You must have a public show coming up in the city of Buffalo, as our focus is the urban landscape
-You must have a photo of the band
-Solo acts are also welcome
-Video is a plus
-CD/Album/poster art is welcome
-Include links to Social Media sites
-Ability to take accept both praise and/or criticism is a must
It is up to the discretion of Buffalo Rising whether or not to publish the interviews depending on nature of content submitted, or lack thereof.
Please send requests here. Include “Sounds of Buffalo” in the subject box of the email.