Matt Davis interview with Umphrey’s McGee
Another trio of shows in North Carolina and a whole new batch of people that swear they’re never gonna miss an Umphrey’s show again. In late February and early March, Umphrey’s blazed through the NC mountains with their token stop at Asheville’s Orange Peel and first ever stop in Boone, at Legend’s Music Hall (as well as an after show surprise at the Boone Saloon, but more on that elsewhere in the issue). Recently, I was fortunate enough to get the chance to sit down and talk with keyboardist Joel Cummins and guitarist Jake Cinninger, and ask them my token slightly less than a dozen questions.VI: So I’ve never gotten to see it in person, but I’ve heard stories of you onstage with a grand piano instead of just the keyboard. Tell me a little about how that changes an Umphrey’s show.
Joel Cummins: Well the guitarists and everybody have it easy, they get to play their favorite instruments all the time. I’m more from the Keith Jarrett school of acoustic piano. I’ve actually trained on acoustic piano for 15 years. Electric keys are nice, but the grand piano can be more of a challenge. I think it actually enables more creativity because the strings make the sound, not electricity. It’s more organic sound quality. As a band we use two amps and not much digital, we try to stick to a classical sound.
VI: The Bottom Half is set for release April 3rd, and I’m sure a lot of fans are interested in some of the outtakes on the album, especially for the acapellas. Just having fun in the studio or gearing up for an Umphrey’s “Bohemian Rhapsody?”
Joel: It’s a lot of stuff from Safety in Numbers (2006 studio release) just more stripped down, kind of to let the fans hear what we were going for a little clearer.
VI: What was the experience like performing on stage with Victor Wooten and Bela Fleck on last years’ Acoustic Planet Tour?
Joel: It was an unbelievable honor, they’ve been idols of ours since high school. The invitation to play on the same level was amazing. We’ve actually got Bela Fleck contributing on a track of The Bottom Half which we’re pretty excited about.
VI: So when I describe your music to people that haven’t heard the band, it usually takes a minute because there’s a lot of different stuff in there. What genre would you call Umphrey’s?
Joel: I’d definitely say we fall under progressive rock. Our live stuff is more experimental because we’re figuring out the gists of songs, but in the studio I’d say we’re prog rock.
VI: Respond a little bit to all this “next Phish” talk.
Joel: Well, they’re a pretty amazing band, so we’re definitely flattered. We’re still trying to go out there and create our own thing. It’s a nice comparison but we’re not intentionally trying to go that way.
Jake Cinninger: It’s definitely a compliment, but the “next Phish” thing might be totally accurate. They may be an influence, but even if we tried our hardest to do it we couldn’t be exactly like a Phish or any band. Everyone has their own music and their own style that they find through their years of playing. Everyone puts their own fingerprint on their music. As an artist that’s all I can hope to do, whether they call us the next whoever or not. If I can put my fingerprint on my music or music in general that’s all I want to do.
VI: You guys have gotten a lot of festival experience over the past few years, with annual slots at Bonnaroo, Allgood and Jam at the Dam. Do you prefer the atmosphere of a tight little club show or having 80,000 people in a field?
Joel: Well, we love both. It’s special to play to an intimate audience, because as cliché as it sounds you can literally see everyone in the audience. Bonnaroo is an amazing experience in itself, but festival season as a whole is really fun for us. We get to play to crazy amounts of people and check out music at the same time. Plus there’s always a lot of new ears out there.
Jake: It’s great because we’re always playing music but we rarely get the chance to check out other bands, and at something like Bonnaroo, you’ve got your one or two sets that you play and then it’s the weekend. Plus there’s always so many new fans from all over the country, you get to play for a lot of people you might not get to otherwise.
VI: Tell me a little about your experience with Storm Thorgerson as your cover artist for the past two albums. Do you say “Hey Storm, we want this…” or just let him take it where he will?
Joel: Well, we got in touch with him before Safety in Numbers. He was our first choice, and it turns out he was into the music we were making. We basically just told him what we didn’t want, and let him go from there. He came up with a bunch of sketches. We went to meet him and hang out in London and he’s a really awesome guy.
VI: What are your opinions of places like Archive.org where concerts, among other things like old presidential speeches and silent movies, are available for download. Some bigger bands like Widespread Panic and Dave Matthews are not fans.
Joel: If it’s all just live music for giving away, then it’s great. Our fans are huge into show trading and we’re not against it. There are pirating effects if it goes too far though. It sucks when money gets taken out of an artist’s pocket.
VI: Favorite bands to play with and favorite places to do it?
Joel: We’ve been lucky enough to play Red Rocks in Colorado a couple times and it’s amazing. Indoor I’d have to say the Filmore in San Francisco. There’s just a certain aura on the walls because everybody has played there for decades. Some of our favorite bands to play with would definitely be Moe. and The Disco Biscuits. We love playing with Bela Fleck and (up-and-coming Sylva/Asheville rockers) Mother Vinegar. They’re great guys and worked with Jake on his Ali Baba’s Tahini side project.
VI: Umphrey’s has a rep for badass covers from The Beatles to hair metal. Is there a method behind choosing them? Because you don’t see a lot of bands out there covering “Sister Christian.”
Joel: Well, we look for songs we all know a little bit. It’s a fun thing for us, a lot of the covers like that are pretty tongue in cheek, but we’re just looking to have a good time. We do serious covers too, it just depends on if we want to do something a little more challenging for a song or less challenging. It helps new fans get into the band too.
Umphrey’s McGee’s latest album, The Bottom Half will be in stores April 3rd. In all likelihood they’ll be back in North Carolina before the year is over.
