Little John
Derailer (EMI)
An interview with Seth Freeman, Brenden Taylor, and Stephano Copobianco
by Sheril Stanford
Big things are happening for Boston’s own Little John. The band has been drawing crowds in Boston and New York for several years now, but with their recent signing to EMI, Little John’s horizons just got a whole lot broader. The band signed a seven record deal with the major label, including a re-release of their first full length CD, Derailler, initially out on their own Crane Mountain Records. Although a number of major labels had expressed an interest in Little John in the past, EMI’s overture came one night when the band was playing at a favorite Boston haunt, the Causeway. The label’s A&R guy watched the show, sat the band down and said, “I just want you guys to know that you can consider yourselves having been offered a deal from a major label.” The band’s guitarist and vocalist, Seth Freeman, says “We thought it was going to be some strange mating ritual, but it’s a blunt ‘Hey, you wanna sign with us?'” Two months later, they had the deal in writing.
The band says that the new deal hasn’t created added pressure or made the creative process feel more like work. Far from it. Rather, says percussionist Brenden Taylor, it’s like work in the sense that they’re getting money for it, but it’s not like work in the sense that they actually enjoy what they’re doing. “It’s like a dream come true, I think for anybody, to have a source of income from something that you enjoy doing.” The first thing the band did after getting the offer? Quit their day jobs, of course. Seth and Brenden abandoned the copy police and Stephano had two jobs to quit, one as a temp at Harvard University and another at a head shop where the biggest seller was Jerry Garchia Pets.
In some ways, the deal gives them greater creative freedom because they no longer have to work, says Brenden. Seth says that a lot of the songs he’s been bringing into rehearsal have actually been less commercial sounding than the first album. While the band says they have no reason to complain, they do point out that there is a certain level of stress associated with putting the business aspect of Little John in someone else’s hands. In the past, if something didn’t get done, they had only themelves to blame, but now every decision needs to go through certain levels of bureaucracy.
The re-release of Derailler is the same as the initial release, except the album’s first single, “Shoelace,” was re-recorded. The single is getting decent airplay, especially on college radio stations, but Little John knows that they need to get the kind of exposure that being on the road provides. The band is still an unknown entity, so setting up a tour is easier said than done, even though the band is on a major. But Little John is raring to hit the road, and right now, it looks like they’ll be coming to a venue near you starting in June or July, when they’ll head down to the South Carolina area and take it from there. Europe is a possibility for August, although nothing’s certain.
Besides the new label, there’s also a new lineup. Stephano Copobianco is the new guy in the band, replacing John Bosco on bass. Stephano and Seth grew up together in New Jersey. Stephano started teaching bar chords to Seth in junior high, before Seth even had a guitar, and by high school, they had a band together. Brendan, a Long Island native, started taking drum lessons when he was in seventh grade. Both Brenden and Seth started their musical careers playing the clarinet. Seth says his desire to play the drums or trumpet was vetoed by his Mom. Thanks, Mom.
When bassist John Bosco left the band (amicably; the guys are all still friends), Stephano, who had just begun playing bass, stepped in to fill the void. Initially, Stephano’s services were to be temporary. The band was looking around for a bassist, and at one point, pal Jonny Polonsky (who recently released a full length CD on American and has been touring with Frank Black), filled in at a couple of shows. Stephano heard that John was leaving the band and offered his services as a fill in. Stephano, then living in New Jersey, came to Boston on a couple of weekends and played some gigs with the band. When Stephano offered his temporary services, he little suspected he was embarking on the road to rock stardom. Seth, of course, wanted his old pal to join the band, and when it turned out that the chemistry was there, it was settled, and Stephano reluctantly left New Jersey to join Little John in Boston.
A number of things changed with Stephano’s addition to the line up. From an onlooker’s perspective, Stephano brings a certain energy level that was sometimes lacking in the band’s past configuration. And although Seth still does most of the vocals, Stephano has a mean set of pipes (and good lungs, too, not to mention a good voice) and the addition of background vocals gives the band an added dimension. Steph is also a writer. Seth wrote most of the lyrics on Derailler, sharing lyric writing credit on some songs with John Bosco. Now, with the addition of Stephano to the band, the whole band writes both music and lyrics, and Stephano’s writing skills have spurred the the band in new creative directions. Both the band and fans pretty much agree that the addition of Stephano has allowed the band to move on to a new level.
Seth and Stephano have fallen easily into the collaborative process since they were writing songs together even in high school. And for awhile, they were living together and had the convenience of songwriting together in the comfort of their own homes. Now what usually happens is that each of the guys, including Brendan, who was not much into writing in the past but who now contributes equally with the others, brings his ideas to rehearsals and they work it up from there as a group. Seth says, “When I first started writing songs, I used three chords and that was it. There was no melody, there were no words, and I’d be like, ‘Listen to this song I wrote!’ ” Then for years he’d work on writing a verse, but he couldn’t come up with a chous. Now, Seth has pretty much got that down, too.
If Little John gets any shit from the friendly yet competitive Boston music scene, it’s for being a bit too lightweight in the lyric writing department. Seth agrees that his lyrics on Derailler tend to reflect a desire to the see the world as a happy place and run away from the bad stuff. “The lyrics definitely reflect a viewpoint that I have that life is so frustrating; it would be so simple for things to just work out perfectly… If eveybody would just do what I told them to!” Humor aside, Seth is unappologetic about his lyric writing approach. “I write lyrics about running away [when life gets complex], because that’s what I feel like doing. I think that’s what most people feel like doing. When they’re confronted with a problem, most people don’t think, ‘Oh, great, a problem. Let’s tackle it!’ What you really want to do is run away… When I’m writing lyrics, it’s not reality, it’s just an emotion, it’s not advice. Lyrics for me represent an emotion that I have.” Seth says that although he sometimes writes songs just for the fun of it, most of the lyrics on Derailler were therapeutic. He refers to the song “Weighted Down” and says that, for him, writing about that feeling helps to dispel it.
Brenden agrees that playing the drums is cheaper than therapy and is totally into the physical aspect of wailing away on the drums and winding up drenched in sweat at the end of a show. “At some point,” Brenden says, “our songs took on a markedly faster tempo and it was a real struggle to learn to play really fast.” But as anyone who has seen the band live can attest, all those childhood drum lessons must’ve held him in good stead, because Brenden is no slouch behind the kit.
Brenden says, “Our focus in life right now is making this record happen.” Seth agrees: “We’re just ready to go out on the road so we we can promote the album.” Meanwhile, the band has decided, with the blessing of the record company, to stage what they call a “commando tour.” They plan to rent a flatbed truck and show up at high schools, parking lots and beaches and play until the cops come. They also pondered a strategy involving an airplane, but it proved a bit unwieldy, so they abandoned it.
The band is currently doing a lot of rehearsing and writing, although they have a significant backlog of radio freindly material they’re ready to record right now. They intend to continue working with well-known Boston producer Mike Denneen of Q Division. Bostonians, watch for Little John’s video on BNN (check out Seth’s bleeding hands – rock ‘n’ roll!).
