Guitarist Al Schnier and his friends in moe. have been through a lot together during their nearly three decades of existence as a band. When word broke recently that moe. would be taking a hiatus while bass player Robert Derhak undergoes treatment for oropharyngeal cancer, the band rallied around their thumping man in the middle. At this point in the band’s trajectory, guitarist Al Schnier has assumed most of the group’s managerial duties. Schnier is also preparing for shows with the Grateful Dead‘s Phil Lesh at LOCKN’ and with members of Aqueous and more at Brooklyn Comes Alive, so he has plenty to keep him occupied. Our own Rex Thomson chatted with the guitarist on a wide range of topics from learning the ropes to his feelings on garlic bread and all points between. Check out their fun chat below.
Live For Live Music: Let’s get the obvious question out of the way. Anything you can share on Rob’s condition?
Alan Schnier: It’s funny, I just spoke to him a few minutes ago. It’s not my place to go to into too much of his story, but I will say he is staying really positive. His attitude has been amazing. Honestly, he has been inspiring me. He has been dealing with the headaches of doctors and insurance and all of that fun red tape. He was in a holding pattern for awhile, but now he is working on getting things right again.
L4LM: It looks like you are using your unexpected free time wisely. I see you and your wife had yourselves a little vacation in France recently. How was that?
AS: It was planned for awhile, but with everything going on, I started to think maybe we shouldn’t go. Like, as a band mate, a friend, and a band manager, I was worried about it and thought I should be here, but when I spoke to Rob, he said to go. The trip was great. It was fun to just go see beautiful sights and be a guy in love.
L4LM: Any of that travel inspire you to put pen to paper and write some tunes?
AS: Definitely, but not yet. I’m not one to relax very well; I tend to fill my free time up pretty quickly. There are a lot of songs in varying stages of preparation. At the moment, I am getting ready for the LOCKN’ show. It works out great though because I’m listening to a lot of Grateful Dead to get ready for that show. So I am just sitting around the house, playing guitar, and listening to my favorite band right now. Not a bad way to spend the day.
L4LM: Over the last year or so, you and your moe. band mates have done a lot of fun collaborations with the next wave of bands like Turkuaz, Twiddle, and now, at the upcoming Brooklyn Comes Alive event, Aqueous. What do you think about this next wave of bands. Is the future of jam safe and sound?
AS: Definitely. I’m just so happy to see Turkuaz get so much love from Rolling Stone, them and Cabinet. Turkuaz is just such a good band—such talented players, good people. They are just so good and so hungry. Knowing how much they put into what they do and seeing them rewarded is just awesome. It’s great seeing these bands who are working so hard getting national recognition, like Aqueous is. It’s fun to see the passion and effort these guys put in. In the end, I like seeing people succeed.
Check out moe. and Turkuaz working together to rock a classic Talking Heads cover from earlier this year below!
“Life During Wartime”
L4LM: At the upcoming Brooklyn Comes Alive event, you are pairing up with Aqueous for a set. I know those guys are huge moe. fans. What can we expect from that collaboration?
AS: Lots of fun. Those guys have come really far, and they have done it through hard work. It’s interesting to think that, for them, we are a band that inspired them. We’ve been doing this for what, twenty-seven years now? Even so, I still don’t really think of us as being that old. [Laughs] But I guess we are. It is nice to realize we’ve had a positive influence on bands like Aqueous. They came up being inspired by things we did and have incorporated their influences into what they do. It’s a good feeling.
If this Aqueous sit-in that moe. drummer Vinnie Amico and from Summer Camp is any indication, their collaborative set at Brooklyn Comes Alive should be incredible!
“Kid Charlemagne”
L4LM: What do you think of the BCA musical model of mixing and matching artists?
AS: I love it. It really speaks to something that is a big part of our scene already. It’s like having all the best players step outside their usual stuff to just have fun.
L4LM: One last collaboration question. You’ve played Jerry’s guitar, and now you’re playing with his bassist, Phil Lesh, at LOCKN’. Is this like a musical Pokemon thing with you? Do you level up if you play with all of the remaining Grateful Dead guys?
AS: That’s a good question. When you are out in the crowd dreaming about it, you never really think it will happen—but here it is. As a guitar player, I was watching those guys and thinking what I would do. Now, I’m getting to do it. It really is mind-blowing and humbling. I think I have played with all of the remaining guys now. I guess I haven’t played with Donna. It’s like a dream in a way. That’s why I am working so hard to be ready to do these songs justice.
L4LM: moe. recently went fully independent, and you took over managing yourselves. Have you had any problems with whiny band members yet? I hear that one guitarist who is always jumping around onstage can be a pain…
L4LM: How gratifying was it to not only have moe.down return, but to see the fans ignore the muddy conditions and rage through the lightning and thunder like that?
AS: All in all, the whole experience was immensely gratifying. It was great to be back in Turin and to pull it off. It was a challenge. We retooled the festival, and we weren’t sure it was going to work, but it did. All of the feedback has been positive. Just seeing the response from everyone, even the times when the weather didn’t cooperate, was fantastic. People just didn’t care. People came for the music, they came for each other. They didn’t let anything get in their way. I loved seeing everybody come together to spread all that straw on the hill. It took like five minutes thanks to everybody pitching in. It was just fantastic to see. That little window of human interaction said everything about our fans and the people who come to see us.
Watch Schnier take the moe.down crowd on a trip down to “Mexico” from this years triumphant moe.down return below:
“Mexico”
L4LM: Last question from me. How do you think the new mayor is doing? Hopefully he’s not trying to insert himself anywhere he doesn’t belong.
AS: Not yet. Fortunately, he is resting at the moe.ment.
L4LM: Okay, time for a quick lightning round of fan questions. Ready?
AS: Sure.
L4LM: Okay, here we go! Garlic Bread, yes or no?
AS: No.
L4LM: Any side project shows like the TransAmericans or even some Floodwood sit-ins on the horizon?
AS: Why not?
Al & The TransAmericans Song – “Ain’t Wastin Time No More”
L4LM: Any chance of another electronic side project?
AS: You never know!
L4LM: Last one, and it is actually serious. There is a period of time from early in the bands history under represented in the terms of available soundboards. Any hopes of getting the vaults opened and releasing those through nugs.net or some other service?
AS: I would think so. This down time that we have will give us an opportunity to go back and look at some of those things. I think we have that whole time period multi-tracked. Or a lot of it anyway. There’s a strong possibility that we have a lot of that period ready to be fully mixed. There is potentially a lot of work we could be doing behind the scenes during this down period.
L4LM: Well, I am sure that will make a lot of diehard fans very happy. Thanks for taking a few moments out to chat with us. Pass along our best wishes to your bassist for his speedy recovery, and we’ll see you soon!
AS: You’re totally welcome!
