Live for Live Music had a chance to chat with String Cheese Incident bassist Keith Moseley to discuss the group’s first trip back to the East Coast in three years, SCI’s latest effort Song In My Head, working with Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads), and their upcoming shows at Starland Ballroom (Saturday, Nov. 8th – get tix here) in Sayreville, NJ and the Capitol Theatre (Tues/Wed, Nov. 11th & 12th – get tix here) in Port Chester, NY.

L4LM: This is your first time touring in the Northeast in 3 years, why did it take so long?

KM: We just haven’t been playing that much. We’re doing something around 45 shows this year, something of that nature, and we’ve been playing at that pace for the past couple years. A couple of the guys from the band have new babies, Kang has a brand new one and Kyle has a two year old – so, over the last couple of years, we want to give them as much family time as possible. It’s good, it’s been a good balance for us between feeling like we’ve been playing enough and making sure that we have a lot of good time at home.

L4LM: It’s been 20 years, does it feel like that? How are things different now from the beginning?

KM: Well, it’s similar in that it’s all the same faces in the band, plus Jason – the new guy who’s been with us about 10 years. The difference is the rooms we’re playing – the venues – we’re able to play and headline a lot of great festivals. The theatre run we’re doing now allows to see a lot of great rooms and, of course, top-notch production.

From a creative standpoint, we’re just 20 years in. Everyone has really matured as players and musicians, and it just keeps getting better. I think everyone has continued to push individually to try to keep improving our craft. We’re writing our best songs ever at this point and I think playing some our best shows ever. It’s an exciting time.

L4LM: SCI went from playing 100+ shows a year > taking a break/hiatus > festival appearances, mini-runs. Do you feel the band has, and I hate to use the term “settled in,” but perhaps accepted the current state of the band and individual lives outside of the group?

KM: Yeah, I think we’re at a pretty good equilibrium right now. Again, I haven’t really counted, but I think we’re somewhere around 40-50 shows this year, looking at something similar next year. That seems to be a pretty good pace for us right now. We’re playing enough that we’re feeling like we’re on our game, yet we’re not playing so much that anyone’s playing burnt out at all. It’s a good balance between time on the road and time with the family.

L4LM: A Song In My Head is the band’s first full-length album in 9 years (since 2005’s One Step Closer). How did the recording process between Song In My Head and One Step Closer compare?

KM: For whatever reason, I think this was the easiest and most enjoyable studio experience that we’ve ever had. Some of that is just personal experience, we’ve all reached the point where we enjoy being in the studio more than ever, as a place for creativity to bloom and grow. And we also really enjoyed working with Jerry Harrison.

L4LM: What was it like working with Jerry?

Jerry was great, I think he really got us as a band. He sat in with us a couple times over the past couple years, prior to doing the album, so we’d known him and made that connection, and he was very familiar with our music. His approach was great, in that it was hands-on enough to really make some differences,
but not so much that we were really pushed into doing anything that felt uncomfortable. It still really felt like us, just a more honed, polished version of us.

Jerry was good about making changes. For instance, on a couple of different songs, we changed the key of the song to maximize the vocal components. He said, “I think if you moved it up a step and a half, the vocals would really pop. It’s the sweet spot of your range, so let’s go for that.” He just had an ear for things like that, and some different arrangement ideas that really seemed to make a lot of sense. That’s just stuff that comes with experience, with making music for a long time, having good ears like he does.

It was just a lot of fun to be in the studio with Jerry. We’ve all been fans of the Talking Heads forever.

L4LM: SCI has always been influenced by various genres of music. On Song In My Head, I really noticed some Latin influences (“Betray the Dark” & “Can’t Wait Another Day”) that made their way into your music – was there any one member that brought that flavor in, or was it a group decision? Who brings what?

Well, Billy has been our bluegrass and classic rock guy, I grew up with classic rock and country and Americana. Kyle has a degree in jazz piano. Travis and Jason have been bringing the electronica influence into the band, as well as the Latin and World influences. Both of those guys are into the Latin
hand drumming and African drumming rhythms, so those guys have really brought the World beat as well as the electronic element.

Kang has always been into a lot of different world music as well. We’ve got a wide range of influences coming in, and that’s always been the case, and I think that’s kind of what makes us unique as a band.

We cover a lot of ground musically, from straight-up bluegrass to electronica-tinged stuff, and all kinds of things in between. It keeps it interesting and keeps everyone on their toes all the time. It’s exciting.

L4LM: Was “Struggling Angel” the only song you wrote on the album? I didn’t realize you play the harmonica too?

Yeah, just that one on this album. I have a new tune that we’re playing live now, which will hopefully be on the next recording, called “Sweet Spot.” I’m not the most prolific guy in the band, but I’ll trickle one out every now and then. I’m trying to do some more writing – it’s something that doesn’t come quickly  for me, but it’s very satisfying when something does come together.

The harmonica is something I picked up back in high school, learning to play “Heart of Gold” and stuff like that with other musicians. “Hey I wanna play like Neil Young, or hey I wanna do that Bob Dylan thing.” I’ve been doing that for a long time.

L4LM: After Hulaween down in Spirit of the Suwannee Park – those performances looked pretty amazing – how are you feeling for the East Coast leg? Anything you’re trying to do on the new tour?

Well we’re off and running! This is the first time we’ve strung a bunch of shows together in a couple years, so it’s exciting to be out and doing it day to day to day instead of just a weekend here and a weekend there. When you start to string them together like this, you get a certain amount of momentum that you don’t get otherwise, and so exploring the jams becomes more second nature.

We’re also digging deeper into the catalog; we’re not just out there trying to play a festival set. What else do we have in the back catalog that we can bring up? We’ve been trying to bring out some old gems, as well as some new things every night. It’s great to be on the road, to set up and have rehearsal
time every day. We’re really on our game, bringing out some old nuggets and new treats every night. It’s exciting!

L4LM: We heard rumors that you may revive the WMD’s at some point?

KM: There’s one show coming up on December 20th. That was a really fun project and something that we all keep talking about wanting to do – it’s just a matter of schedules working out. But we do have that one date, so we’re gonna hit that as hard as we can and see what happens there. That’s right on the
heels of String Cheese NYE rehearsal, and Keller will be out in Keystone. Keller and I have been getting together with our families in Keystone for the last 5 or 6 years in a row now, do a little family thing, do a little snowboarding together. This time we’re able to do some WMD shows on the heels of that. It’s gonna be great.

L4LM: Are you working on solo album?

KM: No, all of writing and playing has been Cheese, and whatever other local events come along. There’s always some local stuff happening for me in Boulder/Denver area when I’m not doing Cheese. Between this and family time, I’m pretty much occupied.

L4LM: We heard you’re a basketball coach?

I’ve done a little basketball coaching for 10-year-old girls, played a bunch of soccer with them this fall as well. I’m enjoying the time with my daughter, getting some sports time in at home. I played baseball and basketball growing up, but soccer is new to me. But I can just about keep up with the 10-year-old girls.

L4LM: Anything else you would like to add for fans?

KM: It’s a treat to be back on the East Coast – a lot of fans we haven’t seen in a long time, and I really do feel that the band is hitting on all cylinder. We’re excited to bring it. Some great venues, connecting with people we haven’t seen, got some new material we’re laying out there and digging deep into the old  stuff… it all makes for some exciting shows!

 

– Chris Meyer (@ChrisMeyerL4LM)

 

Check out the Keith penned “Struggling Angel” from Song In My Head: