There’s too much boring music these days. The radio is gushing over-churned unoriginal pop music. Most of the “real” rock and rollers seem too unsatisfied and tortured to get along with each other long enough to keep a band together for more than a few albums. Even Oasis, the longstanding kings of Brit pop, just broke up.
But rest assured, great music is still out there. You just have to look a little harder.? Right here, in our own little city of Portland, live The Leftovers – four very talented USM students who are steadily making a name for themselves as up-and-coming rock musicians.
The band’s songs are not too serious, but they are seriously catchy.? They’ve got an energetic sound that’s reminiscent of classic punk bands from well before their time, like The Ramones and Buzzcocks. You might even say, the band’s music is as fun and unique as the members themselves.?
Kurt Baker, Andrew Rice, Adam Woronoff and Matt Anderson, despite being perpetually goofy, have clearly worked incredibly hard to get where they are. Since forming in 2002, the band has played over 400 shows spread across Europe, Canda and every major U.S. city. Their fifth album, “Eager to Please,” came out earlier this year.
Just days before heading out on tour alongside Bowling for Soup and The Queers, bassist Kurt Baker sat down with the Free Press to talk about the band’s song-writing process, their history together and his life as a part-time student and full-time rock and roller.?
Sunny Hubler: First off, tell me a little bit about yourself and your fellow band members!
Kurt Baker: We are the Leftovers… four early 20 something guys from Portland Maine, and we are non-stop party animals who eat pizza everyday!
I play bass and sing lead vocals, love cheese and fine wines, Alfred Hitchcock movies and the Billy Joel album “Glass Houses.” Andrew Rice plays guitar and sings backup vocals. He enjoys MacGyver, history, and saltines. Adam Woronoff is our drummer and handles a lot of the business end of things and is very good at math and most everything else. Matt Anderson is our newest member, and he plays lead guitar and backup vocals. He rides a Harley Davidson Motorcycle and sells you nice shoes.
SH: So, how did the Leftovers get started?
KB: In 2002, Andrew and I were playing in some bands here and there, and we would always go see shows at this local all ages club called The Well. We saw some great bands there, and we really wanted to start up a simple punk rock/rock n roll band. We played our first show in November 2002 at the Well.? The Well was a great place for young kids to go back in the early 2002’s. If it wasn’t for that club, we probably wouldn’t have met Matt and Adam.
SH: Do you guys write your own music? If so, who does most of it?
KB: We do write our own music. I’m in charge of writing most of the material. Then I bring the ideas to practice, and we all arrange the tune together.
I try and write music as much as possible. I get some of my best ideas when I’m out walking. Usually I write songs with a vocal melody line first and then put chords under the melody. Lyrics always seem to come last in the process. Whenever I’m out walking and I get an idea, I always record it as a voice memo on my cell phone so I don’t forget it.
SH: What’s the biggest thing that makes you guys unique?
KB: We have heard so many serious musicians go on and on about how making music is an art tragedy and all that blah, blah, blah. We are very serious musicians, and we love to write, record and play music for people. But we have the time of our lives doing it! There is no sense in playing in a band and writing music if you’re not going to have fun doing it.
The Leftovers’ music can be found online anywhere else that sells MP3s or in local stores like Bull Moose Music.? To check it out for yourself or find out more about their upcoming tour, check out http://www.MySpace.com/TheLeftovers.