I recently conducted an interview with Craig Howe, the founding member of brooklyn-based indie rock band The Golden Age of Radio. Craig and the rest of the gang were kind enough to let me film one of their shows last fall, for a scene in my film 'Carter'. The film also stars co-founder and keyboardist Julia Porter Howe.
Here's the exclusive interview:RYAN: How/When did the band form?
CRAIG:The band went through numerous lineup changes, for years, before we had even played a show or recorded anything. I had written enough songs for an EP and was sort of shopping them around to my friends, to see who was interested in helping me record them, for a long time. Eventually my sister finished school and was more available and we were at a place in our sibling relationship where we could get along and be in a band together, and it worked out really well. Dave (drums) is an old friend of Julia's, as is Brian (bass), so she was really the one who solidified the final lineup we have today. If you check our myspace page you can see that there are enough ex-GOAR dudes (mostly bass players) to start their own band.
RYAN:What's the songwriting process (is their a principal songwriter or is it an organic group process)?
CRAIG:Before Julia and Brian got involved I wrote the basics of all of the songs, showed them to Dave and he worked out his own parts. All of the songs on our EP are Craig Howe jams. Now, though, about half of the new material we have has started with Julia's lyrics and musical ideas, and both our song ideas get fleshed out by the entire band. The new record we're slated to start working on in the fall will have a more group effort and a bunch of Julia's songs that are a little more melodic than mine. It'll be a nice ebb and flow sort of thing, I think.
RYAN:Do you have any good stories from a specific memorable show/venue?
CRAIG:I think we have all agreed that our favorite show ever was on the fourth of July last year. We played at an art space in Brooklyn that was only a few blocks from the water (where the Macy's fireworks barge was) and everyone ran up to the roof to watch the AMAZING fireworks. Right after the fireworks were done we turned all of our amps on and whatnot and played this really fun show for a great crowd of people and friends, with all these extra fireworks and cheering and stuff going on in the background. I felt like I was in Kiss or something. The sound was absolute junk, too, and nobody cared. Lots and lots of fun.
RYAN:You play a lot of different shows, some acoustic, some electric, what is your ideal set and how do you prepare for each?
CRAIG:If we could played a mixed set I know I would really like it. We're usually playing with a bunch of other loud, aggressive bands, though, and so we tend to kind of go with the flow and keep our set really high-energy, and loud and fast and fun. I think our vocal harmonies and the subtleties of our songs really get to shine, though, when we play acoustic sets. There's something special about that, to me, because we put a lot of work into that stuff and often when we're playing at a tiny club the audience can't hear it the way WE hear it, and that can be frustrating. I love being loud but I like that we get the opportunity to turn it down sometimes. Maybe I'm just getting old. RYAN:Would you rather be in the studio or on the road?
CRAIG:I get very frustrated and stressed out in the studio and generally don't have a great time so I would pick playing shows over it any day. I dunno if everyone else feels that way. If we had some sort of epic major label-type of unlimited recording time I might feel differently too.
RYAN:What kind of plans do you have for the future of The Golden age of radio (and what shows do you have coming up this summer)?
CRAIG:Well, we're finally in a place, as I mentioned, where everyone is really contributing and we're having fun and sticking to a regimen for practicing, all of which are very encouraging. I want to have a new full-length album done by the end of the year, which is very exciting, and then I'd like to have us start branching out of our tri-state comfort zone a little. As for shows, we have an AWESOME one lined up for July 27th at the Gramercy Theatre in Manhattan. It's the first time we've ever played a venue that large so come out and bring a friend because I think we're all a little nervous.
And that concludes my interview with Craig Howe. Please make sure to check out their show at the Gramercy Theater, if you are in or around New York City. They never cease to rock my socks off. Their live show is guaranteed to provide a great time had by all!
For more information on the band, check them out on myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/thegoldenageofradio
Thanks again to Craig for taking the time to do the interview with me, and a big thanks for letting us use their music in 'Carter'.
-Ryan Andrew Balas
ryan@ryanbalas.com
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