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How
are you doing?
I’m
doing good. I’m actually doing really good.
I’m walking the streets of my favorite city
on the planet.
Aww.
You guys are on tour right?
Yes,
we are.
Did
you guys perform tonight or not yet?
We
do perform tonight, but we haven’t yet. We
are in that sacred time between sound check and
performing so we are wandering and exploring.
(Laughs)
So is that what you guys do to prepare before the
concert?
It
depends on the city. Sometimes we can’t really
get out, but we are in Seattle tonight and the venue
is right on the edge of a cool part of town so we
are just out roaming around…
Nice…
…Enjoying
life.
Cool..
(Laughs). Well why don’t we start off with
you introducing yourself to our BandNation readers.
I
am Jacob Marshall and I play drums in the band Mae.
We are from Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Virginia and
we are about four years in now traveling the country
and the world playing music.
I
know you just mentioned that you are on tour right
now so what is the best and worst thing about touring?
The
best thing about touring is also the worst thing
about touring (Laughs), it’s just being away.
Being away allows you to experience the world which
is awesome and that’s why we do what we do.
Touring also keeps you away from stability and family.
At the same time, you get to meet people all over
the world that become part of like your extended
family…emotionally being able to connect with
people all over the world. Some of the people on
staff at our record label here in Seattle are like
family so we can come out and see them on a regular
basis. So it really just extends the concept of
home, but keeps you away from your immediate family
and loved ones.
Is music something
you always wanted to do?
Actually,
it’s not. My dad was actually in a band for
10 years. So the first part of my life was traveling
with them on the tour bus like in the early 80’s.
It’s funny because as much as I love those
early memories, it wasn’t a very successful
business for them per se. I was looking for something
a little more stable. I went college and did that
whole thing, but I couldn’t get away from
it. I love music more than the idea of any other
profession other than film making and telling stories.
I produced a few documentary films. Everything about
it from the traveling to the creative process, making
moments for people each night and making moments
for ourselves. We are able to catalog or journal
our experiences and perspectives in life where in
100 years people could (if they wanted to and cared)
can see what our lives were like. That is the greatest
part of all this. When I’m 60, I can look
back at the season of my life that I was able to
create something that captured how I felt and how
I saw the world at that point of time.
My
all-time favorite song is the acoustic version of
“Sun” on your Destination: B-Sides album.
What is your all-time favorite song from all the
albums you have put out so far?
That’s
a great question. Umm…hmm...That’s a
tough one. There are so many stories behind each
song. The one that captures the soul of our band
the most is the song “Anything” off
“The Everglow” album. I love that song.
Another song on our B-Sides album is Tisbury Lane.
I like that song a lot as well.
Earlier
this year, you released a special edition of “The
Everglow” album. What made you guys re-release
that album and how did you decide what additional
songs to add to it?
Well
re-releases are weird because it’s usually
something your label wants to do to re-spark sales
(laughs). One of the things that inspired us growing
up being young musicians is that bands that we looked
up to giving us insight into the process. From the
beginning that is something we wanted to give back.
We tried to expose as much as our creative process
as much as possible. We wanted to put into existence
something that wasn’t there before and every
member has something to contribute to that. The
re-release has a DVD with it that comes with about
two and a half hours: a 50 minute documentary about
the making of “The Everglow”. Also,
me and my production partner, got to direct a music
video for Mae so we did a whole making of the video
to show the creative process of that. It also has
footage from our hometown show. The DVD also has
lots of interviews that explain what songs got on
the record and why they got on the record.
Is
their a specific message or overall them you are
trying to convey with “The Everglow”
album or your music in general?
Well
with this album--absolutely. Overall, the message
is more of exploration and more of not settling
for what’s comfortable because you know where
that ends. I think each and everyone of us comes
to a crossroad in life where—like the famous
poem “the road less traveled”…and
we have that opportunity so it’s scary, but
it’s also rewarding and fulfilling in a way
you would never know if you don’t take a step
in that direction. So we were raised as the 5 kids
growing up in small town in Virginia. We never believed
that making music for a living was possible. So
“The Everglow” was definitely about
taking that step and not settling for what we thought
was possible…daring to believe that something
bigger and better was possible. The message we are
trying to leave with that record is that it is possible
and if you have a passion or gifting for something—you
shouldn’t trade your life for something less
than what you want.
I
was going through your MySpace and a lot of comments
were from fans saying how much your music inspires
them or helps them through tough times. How do you
feel when you hear stuff like that?
Validated.
That’s the biggest honor. Humbled. That is
the most ambitious thing you have to inspire someone.
It’s a shot of energy to keep pursuing and
do what we are doing because it’s impacting
people.
So
who inspires you musically?
Wow.
The list goes on and on. As a band, we have a foundation
of 3 bands in particular: The Beatles, U2, and The
Police. The obvious. We like to immerse ourselves
in music that is timeless. We don’t want to
be part of a “fad” or a “cultural
movement”. We want to create music that will
transcend the test of time. That’s the goal
of any artist trying to leave a mark.
So
what’s next for Mae after this latest tour?
Are you recording another album? When can we expect
that to be out?
As
soon this tour is finished we will be going a recording
studio out in California and we will probably be
out there for the rest of the year. Hopefully it
will be released in March or April of this coming
year.
We
also feature a lot of unsigned bands on BandNation.com.
What advice would you give the unsigned bands out
there who hope to be at the level you’re at
someday?
The
only way to make it happen is to start doing it.
Don’t wait on someone to believe what you
are doing. If you believe in what you are doing,
buy a van and a trailer and start touring. Get buried
in the process--make it happen. I think too many
people wait for someone to discover them, but in
reality, there are already a lot of bands out there
working on building a fan base on their own and
you can’t really compete with that. So just
start…that’s how it happened for us
and most of the bands we know.
So
where do you hope to see Mae five years down the
road?
Hopefully
just continuing to chronicle the journey we are
on. Just allowing our perspective on life to come
out in the music we are creating. We hope to do
this for as long as possible.
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