You know how sometimes you go out for a night on the town, you’re dressed to kill- and then like a bolt of lightening it hits you- lust at first listen.  Welcome to my last Saturday night.  I’m at the Troubadour (check correspondent Claire’s coverage here) waiting for Hellogoodbye to storm the stage and I’m instantaneously music-blocked by You Me And Everyone We Know- which I now consider an insanely awesome musical addition to my life.  (Literally, their latest CD “Some Things Don’t Wash Out” is holding its ground in slot six of my in car CD changer.)

So there I am standing in the Troubadour already planning on a little cyberstalk sesh when I got home to find the details on the band that blew me away when I realize I’d forgotten my all time favorite accessory at home (an MP3 recorder) and never had I felt so naked.  So in an effort to try the whole minimalist thing out I’d brought the clutch that can’t carry an essential- that’ll teach me.  Thank god for technology because the blackberry I often curse came to my immediate rescue and I was about to get up close, and very personal with Ben Liebsch, frontman of my sudden obsession.

LN:  Alright let’s dive right in and talk about this name for a sec- where’d you come up with that?

BL:  We were on the porch of a pizza joint in Valdosta, Georgia

LN:  Right around the corner.

BL:  Yeah!  About five and a half years ago I was in a different band with the guys I started this band with and I just threw it out there- and we were like na- but I always liked the vibe of it- kind of like a Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band- back up singers, a horn section- the whole feel- and it kind of brought that to life.  In addition I was very avid about using group vocals.  So when we started the band we were like well, we need a name.  So we said oh, we’ll just use this one for now and then we’ll change it up later.  But it stuck!

LN:  So clearly you guys go way back- consider yourselves family?  You have the whole brothers from another mother thing going on?

BL:  Yeah you know- we’ve always been gypsies in a kind of way, so you kind of become close really quickly.  I’d say this band has had kind of a changing cast over the years- but that’s just because we’re a really blue collar band.  We do everything ourselves.  If the band can’t afford it- you know- it’s us succeeding on our own resume.

 

LN:  So let’s get back to Bob Seger- does he top your list of musical influences or what?

BL:  It’s tough!  We have so many different things going on musically- we go from old sort of boot stomping to two step country sounds to Motown and stuff like that!

LN:  Yeah- you guys were all over the place in a great way- and it seems your hair paid the price for it!

BL:  Yeah- I didn’t get a chance to wash it today.

LN:  Morning after hair.  You carry it well.

BL:  HA.  So yeah, it’s tough to say- I like a lot of music from the early ‘50s to Muddy Waters and the rest if the band is really into the Beatles.  I also happen to be one of the only dudes that listens to pop punk on a regular basis.

LN:  Does that mean you’re a regular at Warped Tour?

BL:  I don’t get to go as often as I like.  Well…I was there the year before.  And the year before that.  But still- it’s a really cool environment.

 

LN:  Alright so you guys kicked off your tour last night and your morning after hair indicates it went off with a bang.  What are your pre-show vices or rituals?

BL:  Well there’s usually a little drinking involved- some nights more than others- but we try to maintain a respectful boundary.  I don’t like being drunk during shows- it just doesn’t work.

LN:  Respectable.

BL:  Albeit I use to go to my office- I worked at a law office- with a drink or two in me.

LN:  I did the law office thing too- is that what made you go into music because that damn well did it for me!

BL:  Well, my bills were piling up and my friend was like you can either keep doing this or you can join this band.

LN:  Peace out.

BL:  Peace.  I mean well sh*t, I didn’t have money to survive so I just hopped in a van!

 

LN:  So you just finished a set- what’s up next for you, me, and everyone we know- backstage shenanigans?

BL:  Well actually you’re sitting in where we normally hang out!  We’re a very independent band and so green rooms are a new thing to us.  We’re not really a groupie band.  You know guys in bands didn’t used to be cool.

LN:  Well that’s news to me.

BL:  The popular kids in school weren’t starting bands- we’re still the weird kids so I guess that makes us a little old school- so we’re not really a groupie type band.

LN:  Alright well speaking of freaks and geeks, and since social networking is the new black- any crazy cyberstalking stories?

BL:  Well actually- I just found out last week that some girl in Chicago told her friends- albeit she’s seventeen and I’ve never met this girl, but I was informed via the internet that this girl’s been telling people that we’ve been having an affair…

LN:  Well congrats on that!

BL:  Yeah, thanks!  And that I don’t care that she has a boyfriend and that I played a bunch of private shows for her…and I never viewed us as a band that attracted that kind of attention!

LN:  Any advice for Ben, please comment below.

BL:  I mean I don’t know- I guess we’re hitting a whole other level of existence!

LN:  Well I’ll definitely be on the lookout for that story in the tabloids.

 

LN:  Alright we just kicked off the tour- what’s currently bumping in your transportation vehicle?

BL:  Curran our tour manager is of a different breed so when he’s driving he’s playing Nickleback and stuff like that.  I can’t tell if he’s playing it ironically or not.

LN:  Is he singing along?  That’s an indicator.

BL:  He’s definitely singing along.

LN:  Alright say it was a magical day and you had control of the radio- first up on the listen to list?

BL:  I’ve been really into Muddy Waters recently and I’ve also been listening to a book on tape by Bill Bryson- he wrote a bunch of cool books.  The one I’m listening to now is called A Walk In The Woods.

 

LN:  Goals for twenty- eleven?  Any new year’s resolutions?

BL:  I’d like to be filling a 300 capacity room- or headlining.  That kind of thing- and really, I just want to break 15,000 records.

 

LN:  Craziest show/tour story to date?

BL:  Craziest?  Well, I got arrested after playing a show!  We played a midnight show at a bar and the deal was, we’ll give you $400 and you own the bar tonight- you can go behind the bar, you can serve people, you can have as much as you damn well please- and it got pretty crazy.  And I got arrested for being drunk in public, outside of a bar, five minutes after they closed.

LN:  And how’d that turn out for you?

BL:  Well I woke up in the hospital- and I woke up and I was like, handcuffed to the bed and first of all I was like what’s going on?  And I see two cops sitting there and I was like, I’m under arrest aren’t I?  So I asked did I do anything to provoke being arrested and they said No- you were just drunk in public- so I said to be fair, I appreciate you guys taking care of me.

LN:  So it had a happy ending!

BL:  Well, they took me to jail.  But two of our fans were also arrested that night.

LN:  SAME CELL?!  A LITTLE IN-CELL SERENADE!?

BL:  Well, the next one!

 

LN:  Ok, serious question.  Valentine’s day is around the corner- if you had to design a candy conversation heart- what would yours say?

BL:  Definitely it would say “not a roofie!”

 

LN:  Alright now I don’t usually ask bands about their accessories- but I need to ask you about the friendship bracelets going on right here.

BL:  I woke up after a heavy night of drinking with one on, a fan gave me one, and I bought one for myself in New Mexico- this Indian beaded bracelet while I was going through some hard times and I’ve kept it on and it’s surviving- JUST LIKE ME!  *The More You Know*

 

LN:  So let’s talk about your new CD.

BL:  Our CD just came out on Doghouse Records, called Some Things Don’t Wash Out and after this tour we’re going to do some recording and we’re going to release an EP and a 7 inch within a month of each other.

 

LN:  Closing remarks?

BL:  Thank you to all our fans- you know, we’ve always been a blue collar band and hopefully we’ll be around for a while longer!

 

LN:  On that note- words of wisdom to struggling bands out there?

BL:  Be okay with being broke for a long time.

 

You’d think I’d be a little more cautious when accepting in-van invitations from pseudo strangers, but hey- this wasn’t my first rodeo.  We hung out for a little bit and these dudes sans a star persona we’re super fun, the whole rockstar thing was just an added bonus.  I left them to their well deserved chill out time and headed back to the Troubadour floored that just when I thought I knew the music scene’s hot or not list, I was surprisingly shocked.  To keep updated on the latest and greatest happening with you me and everyone we know check back at www.myspace.com/youmeandeveryoneweknow.  And don’t forget to check the tabloids- Ben’s virtual relationship should be front-paging in the near future.

PS- Their CD Some Things Don’t Wash Out is chalk full of lyrics applicable to any quarter-life crisis casualty.  And it gives you a little get up and go, and even more ways to tell off the man.  Rock On.