Bite Me! Voodoo Blue Interview

DAN of Voodoo Blue

By Nikki Neil

The members of Voodoo Blue— Dan Book (V/G), “Clunky” Jacobson (B/V), and Justin Posner (D/V)—have been rockin’ out since they were kids. Despite their young age, the energetic Baltimore unit has shared the stage with major label acts and has received spins on specialty radio stations.

Imbued with maturity and intelligence, Voodoo Blue are a tight, charging outfit whose pop-with teeth sound provides a killer soundtrack to everyday life. The strength of their performances comes directly from their love for music. The band’s musical devotion runs deep through their debut release, Smile N’ Nod. The exuberant offering has the hooks, melodies, and classic songwriting of power pop meshed with younger punk aggression. After just one listen you’ll be convinced that Voodoo Blue is your new favorite band.

How is everything going with the band?

Everything is fantastic. We are in Texas at the moment. We’re playing in Cypress tonight. We were in Louisiana last night.

Is this Voodoo Blue’s first tour?

It is our first full national tour from all the way to the East Coast all the way to the West Coast. We did a tour over the summer that was from Texas back to Baltimore, which is where we are from, and we did another that was really short. This tour is for six weeks. We are going all the way to California and back.

Are you excited?

We are on Cloud 9. It’s a dream come true…being from the East Coast and having the opportunity to go out west is the band’s dream. So, we’re living the rock ‘n’ roll dream. It’s awesome.

The weather is nice right now in L.A. Hopefully it will last until you get here next week.

You’re in L.A.?

Yes I am.

Oh, you are so lucky. Is it nice out there right now?

It’s pretty hot. I think it is about 80 degrees.

I want to go to the beach. Will I be able to go to the beach?

Of course. The place you’re having your show at (The Cat Club) is pretty close to Santa Monica and Malibu Beach. Just drive west all the way down Sunset Blvd. and you’ll hit the beach.

I like Malibu beach. That sounds good.

All three of you are fairly young. I’m curious to know how long the band has been together.

The three of us, who are currently in the band, have been playing together for almost ten years. I’m 22 now and we started when we were about 12 / 13. We added a couple of members throughout high school and college and now it is back to the three of us. It’s been that way for about a year and four months. Technically, we’ve been together for ten years, but for this band, with just the three of us, it has been a little over a year.

Wow, and you guys are still young.

Yeah, but we’ve been doing it for a long time. We feel a little older than we are.

So how did you celebrate your 21^st birthday?

Well, I’m not a big drinker so I had my first beer. It was really bad. I hated it. It was disgusting. I never want to drink one again. I had it at Ruby Tuesday’s, and then we all just hung out, which is what we always we do. We just hang out.

Since you were so young when you started where did you play shows?

It was really hard. We were a jam band when we first started. Mainly because that was the only thing we knew how to play. It allowed us to play because we could play festivals. We would travel to Pennsylvania and upstate New York and do festivals every weekend because none of the clubs at home would let us play. We started to develop a fan base when we were about fifteen, so some of the places would bend. But, for the most part, it was hard for us to get shows until we were about 18. We’d play indie festivals with like a couple thousand hippies dancing in circles and tripping on mushrooms and stuff. It was an interesting time in our lives, and that is how we started.

Given your age at the time it was a pretty cool experience.

I think it’s different than most bands that end up in the rock genre.

I would expect a band from New Orleans to have a name like Voodoo Blue. How did a band from Baltimore came up with such a moniker?

A lot of people ask that question. We made it up when we were 13 and it just stuck. It’s one of those things. We never felt like changing it. I guess it sounds kind of juvenile. I don’t know if it fits the band in the sense that a lot of bands try to make their name fit their style or tell you something about it. Our name just represents the fact that we have been doing this since we were little kids. It just stuck, and we never thought of changing it because every time we gained new supporters we figured we’d lose those people if we changed it, so we never did.

That was a smart decision. I do like the name but, I’ll admit, when I first saw it I envisioned something a little more on the jazzy side.

A lot of people say that, and we actually were at the time. We were young, and it didn’t really mean anything. Over the years we’ve said, “How can we tell a meaningful story about our name?” but what it comes down to is that we were young. Whatever. We embrace it.

Voodoo Blue went from a four piece to a three piece. Did you feel the band benefited from that change?

The one person we had since we were fifteen left last year. It made everything really easy because up until that point we had not made a record. We made a bunch of EPs, and we never toured. It was like dropping a dead weight of the last person that is kind of holding you back. It allowed us to really give up everything and just go for it and it enabled us to get our indie deal and make a record. Without that we would probably still be in Baltimore trying to play local shows and trying to figure out what we wanted to be. As a band it was a really important step in our evolution. It allowed us to take it to the next level of giving everything up. It was crucial. If it had not happened we would still be sitting in Baltimore in our parents’ basement trying to figure out what the hell we wanted to do with our lives.

How did the band land its record deal?

The label D’Cide is in D.C., so we both knew about each other. Actually, our manager was at a music conference five years ago, and he gave the guy (who ended up signing us) our demo. He was the first A& R guy that we gave a demo to. We were about 16 at the time. The guy said I really like the band, and at the time we had a lead singer. That is who the other member was. He said, “I really like the band a lot, but let me know if the lead singer ever leaves.” So, five years later the lead singer leaves and we get a phone call from them saying, “We heard the lead singer left. Can we come see the band?” They came to see the band. We talked for six months, worked out a deal, went to the studio and made a record and here we are.

I’ve heard stories about A&R reps telling a band to contact them if a certain member left, so it’s nice to know that sometimes they do follow up.

It’s a really cool story. It really worked out well for us. It’s kind of like a fantasy story.

I’m sure it is difficult when someone says, “Tell me when your singer is gone,” especially if there is a bond between band members.

It’s a hard thing to deal with, but eventually you have to realize that if everyone tells you the same thing they are probably right.

I’ve reviewed some demos where the band was great but the singer was the weak link.

That is the most important thing. The first thing you hear is the singer. If your band doesn’t have a great singer you’re done. I always kind of wanted to take out Roy. Throughout the years we had him I always said, “Is this really the right thing to do? I really feel that I should be taking on this role. I take it more seriously.” Eventually, it just ended up working out. We started out as three, and we ended up as three. It kind of came full circle.

Do you enjoy singing?

I love it. I always wanted to do it, but I was a little shy in the beginning so I never quite got into it. I love singing. I’ve sang my whole life. All three of us sing now so it is a lot more pleasant. It’s a little more musical. I like being known as the lead singer because I like taking that role. I like being able to put my message out there because I felt it was a little shallow before. I feel like we made a deep record – a record that has something to say. I feel we were able to do that because we dropped that weight and we were able to get our ideas in and actually have a band message.

Do you write the lyrics yourself or is it a collaborative effort?

The three of us write together, which we didn’t do with the old band. It was half and half where one person would write a song. In this band we all sit down and write together. It’s very collaborative. I write most of the music and Justin, our drummer, writes most of the words, but it is very collaborative. It would be impossible to tell you exactly who writes what because everyone contributes to everything.

In ‘Whatever Happened to Spencer Shipley’ you address the issue of suicide. A lot of the topics on the album deal with real life experiences, but suicide is pretty common among teenagers. Have any of your fans turned to the band for help with this issue?

Actually, it has been quite a few times. There was one scenario, a few years ago, where a girl posted a suicide note on our message board. It was when on-line message boards were not as popular as they are now. It was before myspace and anything like that. All three of our moms saw it and called the guidance counselor at the school because she went to the same high school that we went to. They got her taken care of and she ended up going to a hospital and got help. There have been a lot of instances where people have come to us. For some reason, when you are in a band people feel like they know you so well, and when they see you at the show for five minutes they want to tell you everything. They tell you what they have been doing in the three months since you last saw them, whether they’ve gotten engaged, or whether they have done this and that. They feel so comfortable. They feel like they have known you their whole lives because they listen to your records. We get that a lot. I felt it was important to address that topic on our record because we had a number of friends who committed suicide throughout our high school years. It’s such a big topic and a lot of bands touch on it but they don’t really come right out and say it. It affects everybody, and it has been a real concern of ours for a long time. We try to direct people to the right places for those types of things.

It’s good that you realize you are in a position to help and hopefully the band will continue to help.

I think it is important. I think it is one of those things you have to do in a band. You have people’s ears. It’s really hard to get people to pay attention to you. So, when you’re in a band it’s kind of like your duty to say something good because you have the gift of having people listen to you. Not everybody gets that.

That is very true. How has myspace helped the band?

Without myspace we wouldn’t be doing much of anything. Myspace has enabled us to tour. It’s enabled people to know our songs when we go to other towns. The internet itself is amazing, but myspace in particular has really enabled our band to reach a ridiculous amount of people. It gives us major label marketing with an independent budget. There are a lot of people on there looking for new music, so you can reach out to them. They best thing is that the kids on that site want to be the first to know about a band. They’re the cool kids. They hear about a band that no one else has heard about, and they want to tell everybody. They want to be the mouth piece. It’s worked out to the tune of us playing to at least 30 – 40 people in every market that we go to and sometimes we’ll end up with 100 – 150. For an unknown band without an album out that is not horrible. It wouldn’t have happened in the 80’s. We’re lucky to have that much. We’d be screwed without myspace.

As an indie band what other outlets would you like to see to assist bands that are starting out?

It would be nice if there were more indie bands that weren’t so lifestyle, label oriented. We’re on an independent label, and our label hasn’t really had a lot of drive in the markets of what indie pop music is today. It’s hard for us to break in because we have to do all the touring ourselves. It would be nice if bands…there is more safety in numbers. It just hasn’t worked out that way. If more bands would tour together. It’s the best way to take the music to the people.

If a number of indie bands got together and organized a tour it would allow them to expose themselves to a new audience and it may even cut down on costs.

You don’t even have to be on the same label. Bands tend to tour with bands that are on the same label. We don’t have a booking agent, so we do all the booking ourselves. It is really hard for us to network with those bands because everyone has their clique. We’re definitely not a part of any clique. We’re a loner band. It would be nice if it was easier, but as far as what I’d like to see in the indie market…it’s just cool that indie music is cool right now. You don’t have to be on a major label to be a cool band right now.

It’s a very good time for your band right now.

It’s a beautiful thing. We’re very lucky. It’s a great time in music. We were miserable five years ago because everything sucked. Now things have really changed.

I noticed that the band’s webpage counts down the days until the album comes out. Is it safe to assume you are all excited about the release?

I’m very excited. It’s our first record. We’ve done about 6 EPs. If you’re a musician you know that the biggest thing ever is going into the studio. Going in and making a real record and sitting for four months writing songs in the studio. The 18 hour days every day, pretending to be the Beatles that is a dream come true. We finished the record in October. I’m not a patient person. No one in the band is patient at all. We’re having a hard time just sitting back and waiting for the record to come out, so we are going crazy with anticipation. We would have put out the record on October 3^rd if we could have. We were ready to put it out as soon as we were finished, but welcome to the music business.

Do you have anything special planned for the day that Smile N’ Nod is released?

We’ll be home so we’ll probably party with all our friends. We will get home from this tour on March 5^th, so we’ll be home the day the CD is released. We’ll probably all get together and just listen to it from top to bottom. We’ll talk about the album out work and take the plastic wrapper off and put it in the CD player and hang out with some friends.

Did you encounter any problems while recording the album?

Not really. It was a pretty smooth transition because our team around us is really supportive of the band, so we really didn’t have any problems. The only problem was when we started to doubt ourselves – wondering if it was going to be a great record. We wanted to make a great record and so we wondered, “Are we making a great record?” “Are we making the worst record ever?” “Are people going to like it?” We’re not that experienced, so we worry about a lot of those things. The only problem that we incurred was wondering if we were going to have a great record because you have all this stuff riding on it and for once someone is putting money into you because when you get a deal there is all his money on the line and it is a lot of pressure. I’ve never sung before in this kind of position. All of a sudden we were thrown into…we have a deal, what kind of songs are we going to write…it kind of all happened very fast. It was a very quick thing. We got a deal and had to make a record. But, other than that it was all fun. We had a great time making the record. The producer was amazing, the label was great, and everybody was perfect.

It sounds like it was a good learning experience.

Oh yeah. I can’t wait to go back and make a second record.

I’m sure you have a list of things that you would do differently now.

Absolutely. You learn so much. You learn a lot about how to work with people, and how to construct songs that people will like. Every night on the road we’d see what people reacted most to. Before we made the record we never toured or did anything really. We didn’t even have the songs finished. But now we play our songs every night so we can see what they like. “Okay, people like that. Oh, they like ‘Turn Away’.” So when we make our second record we kind of already know what people want to see from us. It is all about giving the people what they want. Now we know going in “People like this, so we’ll do more of that.” We know who we are now. It’s all about finding yourself. We’re pretty solid now. We’re excited to go in and make our second record. We’ve been writing like crazy. We love to do that. We write constantly.

I saw the “Bobby Know It All” video contest winner on your website.

How cute were those kids?

They are so cute. Do you know them?

We met them three times. We played at this camp last summer. It’s a camp for kids. We do it all over the country. It’s called K-JAMS. There are probably 150 kids at the camps. We played the Baltimore one, and there are these kids that come to a lot of our local shows. I’ve met them a few times. They all have shirts. The whole family has shirts - the dad, the mom, the little sister…. The kids are nine years old, and they have a little band. They are the most adorable thing in the world, so they were the winner by far. No one came close.

They were so cute. Maybe I’ll be interviewing them one day.

(Laughs). They would appreciate it. I don’t think they are even in middle school yet. They’re cool kids. They are really smart. They don’t really play music, but they tried so hard. They tried and that is all that counts.

Has a fan ever done anything strange in order to get your attention?

Oh gawd, lots of strange things. Only run of the mill strange things ranging from the basic loud hillbilly to anything. Sometimes when we are driving around our town doing things people throw golf balls at our car and things like that. It’s weird. It gets kid of strange. Nothing dangerous though; however, we do have a few stalkers.

Do you really?

Yeah, we have a stalker named The Rooster. They leave massacred baby dolls outside my house and once they put a big sword and a rubber chicken in Justin’s mailbox. It’s pretty bizarre. Oh yeah, and a piñata. I got a piñata. And they leave us weird notes.

That is crazy.

It is crazy. That person has been around for about three years. They always show their head. It’s a little scary.

It is a bit scary. Hopefully, they don’t mean anything too serious.

They’ve been peaceful for two years, so I’m hoping they won’t cross the line. We’ve called the police about it. Just to make sure.

Just to be safe. I don’t blame you.

Yeah, you never really know how crazy people are.

What has been one of your most memorable show experiences?

The most memorable show…. We played at RFK stadium in DC last summer, and that was in front of 40,000 people. That was the most memorable show ever because it was like the coup de grace of a musicians life because we could die happy after that. It was nuts. The stadium was full. The Cure played and New Found Glory played. It was ridiculous. That was the most memorable show, but it’s hard to pick because I remember every show very specifically. Even the littlest show with two people. It is very bizarre. I chronologise them in my head - one show at a time. They all get stored in there. I find every show memorable. I can tell you who was there and what they were wearing for every show that we have played.

That is impressive.

At least I think I can. Do test me though.

If you can still do that a couple of years from now when you have twice as many shows and ten times the number of fans I’ll be very impressed.

We’ll see if I have all my brain cells left. At least for today, mark it down, I remember every show up until this point.

Okay.

There are a few hundred, but maybe when there are thousands I won’t.

Do you have any pre-show rituals?

Lots of them. I pace. I’m very nervous – we’re all very nervous people. We get out of the van, we do our warm up, we all sing together, then we all get out of the van, pace around, think about things for a few minutes, and then go rock the show. We try not to warm up or do anything right before we go on stage. We just like to psyche ourselves up and jump right into it. We play all day, so we ready to play at any time. We’re a very musical band, so we’re pretty much playing on the road all day any way. We’re ready to go. I just like to listen to some really heavy music before we play. That is what we like to do.

Do you find that your closeness as friends helps you deal with the small confines of being on the road?

Being together is not that hard because we have been around each other 24 hours a day for the last seven years, so that is not the hard part. The hard part is dealing with business. When business decisions need to be made, or when someone in our crew needs to be let go. That is hard because everyone around us is our friend. We’re friendly people, so we want to be friends with our label, we want to be friends with our manager, we want to be friends with our crew. That is the hard thing. The three of us are fine. We rarely ever fight and when we do it is about music choices and things like that and we never fight really badly about it. Our problems come from when our crew or people around us are doing things wrong. When you are in a band the only people you can trust are people in the band. You’d like to think you can trust everyone around you but to be brutally honest the only people you have are the people in your band. We feel like we have two people beside ourselves that we can trust and, as for everyone else, hopefully they are in for the right reasons.

Is there something that you absolutely have to have with you while on tour?

Lots of things actually. I have to have a few pairs of boxers. That is very important. As far as an item goes…I don’t really have anything like that. I’m not that sentimental. All I have to have is my life. That is all I need…and water – lots of water. Lots of bottled water. We take so much water with us on the road. It’s ridiculous. Oh, and I have to have my own pillow. I can’t sleep without my own pillow.

What artist do you respect most musically?

We’re fans of classical styles of music. Not really classical music, but more like classic rock music – music from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s like the Police, Paul Simon, Elton John. Elton John is probably the greatest song writer of all time. Respect wise it has to go to the singer/songwriter people who did it by themselves with a backing band. I guess that is why Elton John is my number one favorite because he’ll get out there in front of 60,000 people and just play by himself. It’s intimidating to play by yourself in front of so many people. I’d have to say that he is my favorite songwriter ever. In terms of what we listen to every day…we listened to the last Yellowcard record every day and we listen to the Motion City Soundtrack record and New Found Glory’s ‘Sticks & Stones’. We also listen to our own record a lot. I know that is pathetic but we do.

It’s not pathetic. It is a fun record. I can see why you enjoy listening to it. I enjoy listening to it.

I’m glad. Thank you.

What is in store for Voodoo Blue over the next couple of months?

We are going to come home from this tour in March, and we’ll be home until March 25^th. Then we are going to go out and do our CD release tour. We’re going to be out for eight weeks and we’re going to try to hit at least one city in every state. We’ll be out on the road until the end of May, but we are going to fly home from California to play one show because we have one show in Baltimore at the end of April. The record comes out on March 7^th . Everything pretty much has been gearing up for that for the last year. You build up and you build up and then the record comes out and then we’ll start trying to sell records. We’ll sell as many as we can and try to make a splash. Hopefully people will like the record, and they will tell their friends about it. That is all that we can hope for.

What are some of your favorite places to hang out in Baltimore?

We don’t really hang out anywhere. We kind of just chill at my house. Playing shows is really our only need to be around people. We’re around people at shows and that is great. We don’t really drink, so we don’t go to bars. When we’re home I just want to chill with my family and my friends. We’re not home very often. We’re only home a few weeks, so when we are we just want to be with the people we want to be with. So, I’d have to say that my house is our favorite place to hang out.

For more on Voodoo Blue check out: Vdbmusic.com or myspace.com/voodooblue