If you've followed my blog for a while, you probably know I like lots of different stuff that falls within the punk/hardcore/DIY spectrum, but I have a definite sweet spot for screamier type stuff. When I was in college the main kid who booked shows in Grand Rapids definitely gravitated toward that style, so I saw a lot of those kinds of bands, and was always drawn to their sense of urgency and intensity.
Anyway, I checked out Whenskiesaregray a couple years ago when they released their LP on Mayfly, ordered a copy from the band direct, but had to miss them when they came through Michigan on tour. I was psyched when they came through again this past Fall, now as Leveless. While I dug WSAG, the live experience of seeing Leveless definitely exceeded my expectations.
There was a different heaviness involved from what I was anticipating, pulling from noisier, metallic hardcore while at the same time still being rooted in the sonic geography of WSAG. I loved it, and thus decided to reach out to bass player Eric Dudley to learn more.
Leveless will be on tour much of the year, and have a new record coming out this Spring on Broken World Media. Don't sleep.
I'm
always interested in people's roots, so talk a little bit about your
background...family, childhood, etc. and how you eventually got into music
stuff.
I grew up in
Brookeville, MD - a suburb of Montgomery County in between DC and Baltimore
with my Mom, Dad, and Sister (older). I wouldn't necessarily say I grew up in a
musical family, but music seemed to be always around. Whether it was riding in
the car with my mom listening to top 40 or my dad using a Pink Floyd song to
start the outgoing message for our answering machine. My whole family played
instruments in the school band, but that didn't last any longer than when they
graduated. I attempted to play saxophone in 4th grade, but that was short
lived. They wanted me to practice all summer? Not for me. I was more interested
in playing Goldeneye for N64 with my friends.
Fast forward to
about 7th grade. I'd say that's when music really started to become a big part
of my life. I had just given up on my dreams of becoming a professional
baseball player and consequently that's when I started to become exposed to
alternative music that spoke out to an audience of those who felt unaccepted.
My sister was consistently listening to alternative radio stations while I was
in the car and I liked what I heard. Korn, Linkin Park, and Papa Roach were in
constant rotation in my portable CD player.
As my sister’s
musical tastes grew, so did mine. The Offspring, Blink 182, and Good Charlotte
were gateway bands to more of the punk rock side of things. Bad Religion, Less
Than Jake, and Rancid were introduced in to my life. I knew I wanted to play
this type of music that I was listening to. So, one Christmas I asked my
parents for a bass guitar. I got lucky and they got me a black Squire P-Bass.
Ever since then I've been in a band of one form or the other for the past 14 years.
What
lead you to want to pick up a bass as opposed to guitar or drums? Did you take
lessons or did you just start figuring shit out on your own?
I think there were three reasons why I picked up the bass.
1. My sister had attempted to get an electric guitar, but my
parents would only allow her to get an acoustic. I knew the only way I could
get an instrument at the time was through my parents purchasing it for me. I chose
the bass because although there are acoustic basses, they are way less common
than acoustic guitars. So, there was less likely a chance of my parents saying
I needed to get an acoustic bass before I could get an electric
2. I feel like a lot of people don't realize the bass guitar is
different than the guitar. It felt like a unique instrument that not many
people in my area were playing. I knew of 5-6 guitarists at my school and maybe
one bassist. Supply and demand. Little did I know that in the future drummers
would prove to be a more difficult position in a band to fill than bass.
3. Mark Hoppus
I took lessons for
about 2-3 years at a local music shop. It was a lot of learning other bands
songs once I got the basics down. The lessons helped me out when I started
messing around playing jazz.
At what
point did you start learning about the more DIY side of punk and hardcore? What
were some of the first shows you went to, bands that you really connected with,
spaces you spent time at?
I actually got into
the DIY side of punk and hardcore right around when I started playing music. A
lot of the first shows I attended were of local bands made up of kids around my
same age. I became big fans of those bands and since I couldn't drive to DC or
Baltimore it was much easier to get a ride to a basement show that was 20 minutes
away from my house.
One venue that
really stands out was called Blondeshells. It was basically a venue in this
ladies (Mrs. Jones) basement where she would host shows. It was her response to
needing a safe space where her daughter (Charlotte) could attend shows. What's
safer than your own home!? I must have played 30 shows there and attended
countless more. I saw bands like The Max Levine Ensemble, The Flaming Tsunamis,
Valencia, etc. play in that basement. They always had Twinkies and Kool Aid
which was an added bonus.
Haha
that bass story is so sneaky and awesome! Also, 2017 goals: Twinkies and
Kool-Aid have to become widespread expectations for all promoters!
So
what were some of those first bands you were doing down in Mrs. Jones's
basement?
I had two bands
that played Mrs. Jones basement. The first was a ska punk band that probably
played there 30 + times. We would play a mixture of originals and Choking
Victim/Aquabats covers. The other band that played was a weird combination of
genres ranging from post hardcore to electronic. We only played one show there
and I don't believe we were very well received.
At
what point would you say you started to become more "serious" with
stuff in terms of trying to tour, release records, etc.?
I'd say the goal
for me was always to tour and make records with all of my bands since day one,
but I believe things really clicked in about 2007 right after I graduated high
school. I joined a new band that was pretty established in the local Baltimore
scene. They had decently recorded demos and were playing some of the more reputable
clubs around town. They were already doing things that I wish my previous bands
could have accomplished. I think it really helped that everyone in the band had
either graduated high school or dropped out. None of us were attending four
year universities and were just working and playing in a band. That band is the
one where I got my first taste of recording in a professional recording studio
and the one I did my first tour with.
Talk about the
formation of Whenskiesaregray. How did you all meet one another, and what were
some of the shared influences you guys tried to build upon?
I can't talk too
much about the initial formation of Whenskiesaregray, seeing how I was the
third bassist to be a part of the band. I believe they were a band a couple
years before I joined. I would like to think that when people look back on
Whenskiesaregray they will hopefully think of the lineup with me in it. When I
joined they were currently playing shows without a bass player. My band had
just broken up and I had heard of WSAG through mutual friends and the internet.
So basically, one
day I commented either on Brandon's Facebook wall or the band's if they needed
a bass player. We jammed for about a month and then they asked if I wanted to
be a permanent member. This was right around the time when the "screamo
revival" was really popping off, so we bonded over bands like Pianos
Become The Teeth, La Dispute, and Loma Prieta to name a few. The more we
practiced/hung out, the more we found common interests musically. Groups like
Saves The Day, Strike Anywhere, and Poison The Well were all band favorites.
I'd also like to note that one of Brandon's main song writing influences is
Modest Mouse. I was not necessarily a fan when I joined WSAG, but after working
with Brandon for years I have grown an appreciation for them.
I noticed several
WSAG releases were recorded by Mike from Pianos Become the Teeth. I
sometimes see bands talk about a particular engineer almost as if they were an
additional member; what kind of chemistry did you develop over the years with
Mike?
When I joined
Whenskiesaregray recording with Mike was already scheduled to take place within
a couple months. I'm not 100% sure on why he was selected to record the first
WSAG album, one would have to ask the other members, but I'm glad we went with
him! Early on, recording with Mike provided a sense of confidence that I think
we all desperately needed.
If someone from a
band that was on the rise, playing a somewhat similar genre, liked our songs
then we must be doing something right. As the years went on we recorded two
more albums with him. Despite his obvious musical talent and knowledge of recording,
I think we kept going back to him because he did become like a fourth member.
He had a devotion to our band that we couldn't find anywhere else. We knew
going in to the studio that he would be striving to put out the best possible
end product. He knew how to push us, so we could progress.
How did you wind up
connecting with Mayfly for the release of the LP? Doing an LP feels like such a
huge ordeal...is there anything you would have done differently in terms of
writing, recording, etc.?
It's actually a pretty interesting story on how we got hooked up
with Bob and Mayfly Records. During one of our earlier tours we played a show
in Cleveland at this venue called The Tower. We had hopped on the show last
minute and were given a 15 min time slot. I think there were maybe 8-10 bands
on the bill. There were two other bands on the bill like ours, our tour mates
Tigerscout and another touring band called Apart.
Besides that, all the bands were tough guy hardcore. At that time,
Apart was a band on Mayfly Records, so Bob had come out to the show to check
them out. We played our short set to an unresponsive crowd. We didn't sell any
merch and didn't get paid. Our drummer ended up getting kicked in the stomach
by someone in the pit and the show ended with people throwing glass bottles
from the roof onto people hanging outside the show. We packed our things up and
headed to the next city writing off that show as a bust. A few weeks later I
believe Bob contacted Brandon via FB asking about the band and future plans. I
believe the conversation continued for months here and there. We just kept in
touch and kept him in the loop of our plans and one day he asked if we wanted
our record to be released by Mayfly, so we jumped at the opportunity. It's the
perfect example of play hard no matter what the gig is because you never know
who is watching.
One regret
regarding the LP is that I wish we would have recorded it in one location. Due
to scheduling/financial issues we ended up recording instruments in several
different spots. Guitars were done at a dog grooming shop (shout out to Phil!),
vocals were done at Charm City Art Space (RIP), and only drums/bass were
recorded in an actual studio. Mike and Dan did an amazing job mixing/mastering
the record to make it sound cohesive, but I still think it might have sounded
better if all done in one place. The only other regret is that we didn't tour
that much in support of it.
What ultimately led
to the dissolution of WSAG?
I would say what
lead to the dissolution of WSAG was member changes. There was also always this
cloud hanging over our heads that we thought people might be turned off to our
band based on the name.
Alright let's bring it to the
present.....a year or so ago WSAG sort of transformed to Leveless, you picked
up a couple new members, etc. Talk about how that transition all went down.
The transition from
Whenskiesaregray to Leveless has been smooth, but also rough. I'd say it was smooth
in the sense that we were basically starting a new band, but had connections
that most new bands would not have right off the bat. I don't think most new
bands are able to get merch fronted to them for tours. We were starting off
right where Whenskiesaregray left off.
On the other hand,
it was rough getting friends and fans on board. Everyone had become so
accustomed to WSAG. With Leveless not playing many shows/not having any music
out, people were really unsure what to expect. We're still working on that, but
the more and more we play out and post content online, I think people are
starting to get into it. At least I hope?
When
I saw you guys back in October, there were definitely a lot of similarities
sonically to WSAG, but I was also picking up some Breather Resist-type noisy
hardcore vibes as well. What kind of influences are currently in the mix and
where are you hoping to move things sonically?
The goal when
starting to write for Leveless was to sound like early 2000's post hardcore.
You hit the nail on the head with Breather Resist. We were also channeling
bands like Poison the Well and Hopesfall. I think we ended up accomplishing
that goal, but with each member having a wide variety of musical influences, we
ended up with a final product that I feel is pretty unique. This was the first
time for most members writing together, so I think we were searching for our
sound. I expect the next record to be a more mature/polished version of the
previous album.
In
the video teaser you guys posted the other day I think I only noticed 4
members, with vocals coming from a member who was also playing guitar...however
in October you were a 5 piece with a standalone vocalist...has the line-up
evolved more since the Fall?
We've been
working on Leveless for about a year now. That includes
writing/recording/branding. When we first started, we were a four piece. About
eight months into the process we added another guitarist (Nate) and Brandon
moved to just vocals. A lot of things had been in motion for months before Nate
joined. We spent a lot of time, energy, and money on the video/photos, so we
didn't want them to go to waste. We will be represented as a five piece moving
forward.
Related
to the video, it would obviously appear that new material has been recorded.
What can you tell us about the writing/recording process for those songs, when
they might see the light of day, label stuff, etc. Was the new stuff recorded
by Mike as well or did you guys go elsewhere this time?
The writing
process started to really get going in February of 2016. It was very sporadic
though. With a member living out of state, school, and work scheduling
practice/writing was a bit difficult at times. Some weeks we'd be able to get
together 2-3 times and others we'd have to share material via videos through
the web. Despite the limitations, I'd say it was the quickest writing process I
had ever been a part of.
We recorded
during the summer, split between two sessions. Both sessions were done at
Developing Nations in Baltimore. Kevin Bernsten engineered/mixed the album.
We're going to be releasing the album via Broken World Media on
Vinyl/Cassette/Digital formats the Spring of 2017.
What
else is in store for Leveless this year?
We plan to tour throughout 2017 and
work on new material for the next album.
Video for "Discontent": https://www.facebook.com/levelessmusic/videos/1375435429175766/
