Runaway Cab: No Brakes Needed
What sounds huge, anthemic and rocks your socks off? The answer? Runaway Cab. The Raleigh based band, featuring Ned Clark, Matt Cloutier, Erich Brunk and Jeremy Bone, hails from various parts of NC and has been doing their thing to the fullest for a few years now. Constant touring, recording and national placement (having their songs played everywhere from every major television network to the radio) has put these guys in excellent position to reach the top of the game. Runaway Cab’s sound is pop laden, powerful, soulful and catchy as they come. I checked these guys out a few years back and did not expect what I was to witness. Even though the gig was at a venue in tiny Wendell, NC, they put on a brilliant big-time show. It was as if they were performing at Madison Square Garden. Now that’s true showmanship and the utmost in professionalism. Lead singer Ned had the crowd eating
out his hands. The dudes in attendance were actually dancing around and all the ladies were grooving too. Grinning like satisfied Cheshire cats. Meanwhile, the rest of the band laid down a tight, powerful and cutting groove that could not be denied. Erich gave me the scoop on the bands history and how they have been keeping themselves busy.How and where did you guys form?
Back in 1998 while attending UNC-CH our original keyboardist and drummer decided to start a band…a few flyers later and some very interesting tryouts the band was formed. In the early days a few of the guys had a house in Mebane NC of all places and we had some fun nights practicing in the living room…that is really where we began to bring things together.
We have had a few changes in our lineup over the years but overall we are all still a big crazy family…
When did you realize that you were on to something?
I think the first time we thought that this thing could actually be something was when we stepped into the studio for the first time. Our first recording was a very low budget quick demo. Even though it had some serious flaws in it, we could tell that there was something there.
Tell me a funny story from the road?
There are so many to choose from….There is one we still laugh about…we were heading to NYC and we left pretty late…Ned and Jeremy decided that they would stay awake and drive so the rest of us could sleep. For some reason they thought taking NoDoze would be a good idea and to wash it down with Mountain Dew would be an even better idea. They had some music on and I recall waking up around 4:00 in the morning and they were in the front of the van both head banging and playing air drums…they were both kind of wired so we pulled into a rest area to take a break…the only thing left in the vending machine - Mountain Dew…
Are you guys on a label?
We are unsigned at this point and would certainly welcome any collaboration opportunities for recording, etc. but so far we have been very blessed with being able to accomplish all of this independently.
How did you get your song onto TV shows?
A company out of Los Angeles named Ameritone Entertainment dug our songs and has been helping us with television placements. We have been fortunate enough to have our songs on shows like The WB’s One Tree Hill, CBS’ Cold Case and NBC’s Las Vegas. Let me tell you, hearing something you worked on airing on national television is a wild experience.
Has success changed your life?
We would probably say that any success in all this has certainly been matched with some failure. Probably the best thing this has taught us that in life and in music you better enjoy the highs because there will be some lows. Without the lows though there would be no highs so learn from them as well and certainly don’t get too down during those times.
What is your coolest gig thus far?
We have had such a wide variety of shows; G105’s Big Shindig at Walnut Creek was really a ton of fun, got to hang with Vertical Horizon, Nelly Furtado and Barenaked Ladies as well as play though that PA. Headlining the First Night in downtown Raleigh was a blast as well. It was cold but there were thousands of people there to keep us warm! CBGB in NYC ranks up there too…it is a shame that it no longer exists, that stage, as small as it was, sounded like a million bucks!
Ned has such an amazing voice. Was he classically trained?
Actually he was not classically trained, but he has done some work with vocal coaches.
How are your songs born?
Typically someone comes in with an idea for a verse or a chorus and we work around that for a while. Then as a unit we try people’s ideas for where it needs to go. 9 times out of 10 we hit one…A few songs have been born just by hanging around at the house and playing some riffs…Ned will hear something he likes and starts throwing some ideas he has been working on into the mix. It is hard to describe how you know when you hit something that works but we all can just tell.
Is there a new record in the works?
We are currently writing some new songs, some of which we have performed live, some we have not…we do hope to get into the studio soon though…studio for us is like a huge vacation and literally a re-birth.
What is one thing the band would like our readers to know that may be of interest?
When we started this project we never in a million years would imagine that we would one day get a check for a song being aired on television in Japan so never underestimate your ideas or dreams.
What is your opinion of the NC music scene?
I think the NC music scene and really music in general has an opportunity laid in front of it that is unprecedented. With the digital music age upon us there can be some amazing opportunities for bands to share their music, distribute their music and even record their music in ways that musicians have never seen. The biggest hurdle will probably be filtering all the projects out there. With this type of technology the music market can literally be flooded by every garage band out there. I worry that people will then turn back to the mainstream media to influence their musical tastes…however, hopefully where the scene ultimately goes will be entirely up to the music fan which is where it really needs to be in the first place.
Christopher Wells
Runaway Cab is working in a new guitar player, writing/recording their next record and will be shooting a video for the records’ single in two months in Wilmington.
