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Guster


A Conversation with Joe Pisapia (continued)

PM: So has this gig taken you all over the world already, Joe?

JP: All over the country, pretty much. We go to England. We were going to England once every six months, just to get something started there. And then with the new record--it's funny, just being in a band that actually has momentum, it's sort of overwhelming when you realize that there are certain things you just have to do. But no, we can't go there, because we have to do these markets, and we have to go back to there because we haven't been there in this long.

PM: Wow.

JP: When you sit down and have a meeting, you talk about things like if you haven't been back to this market in eight months, you have to go back there. I mean, it's weird.

PM: Amazing. And so you're serving accounts.

JP: Exactly. And it's kind of like--

PM: It's like, "They're out. We have to go fill them up."

JP: That's it, right. And whereas it used to be like--or what I'm used to is like, "Hey, if we just--we could play these shows."

[laughter]

PM: Just whenever we want.

JP: Yeah. More like, "Oh, we're so thankful to play anywhere," without any real rhyme or reason.

PM: And it's amazing to have been so good for so long, in several really amazing bands, and then, as you say, suddenly be in a situation with its own momentum.

JP: Yeah, right.

PM: That's incredible.

JP: It's a lot different than I would have expected it.

PM: How much are you home? I remember you bought a house on the east side there.

JP: I'm not home that much. I'm home now. But I leave on Saturday. I've been home a couple months a year kind of thing, not much--I had no idea it was like that. I knew those guys were busy, but I didn't know they were that busy.

PM: Now, for the diehard--and they'll be plenty of them--Guster fans that read the interview, let's talk about the three principals, what they're good at, what they're like, and stuff like that.

JP: Sure.

PM: Because through you, and because of our friendship, some of those people could get a really unique perspective here.

JP: Right, right. Well, let's see.

Ryan Miller

Actually, I got to say that it started with Ryan, because he was the first guy I was really friends with to begin with, just because he's so outgoing. He's real focused about keeping his friendships.

PM: Wow.

JP: Like for me, I'm too overwhelmed on the road lately, because it's like, "Oh, shit, I forgot to call my college buddy from so-and-so to invite him to the show." And Ryan seems to be very organized with all that, and I'm sure he's used to it from having done it for so long. It's almost as if his social life on the road is just an extension of his home life. Because when we were over here in The Basement with Joe, Marc's Brother, they were out there doing that.

PM: Right. The road is his home.

JP: Yeah, exactly. And he's a real friendly outgoing guy. One thing about that guy, and this kind of goes for the whole of Guster, is that those guys are relentless, especially Ryan, about melody. Melody is everything to them, especially to him. And it's unusual like how--and just being around it, I would lose--not interest, but lose perspective. You know what I mean?

PM: Right.

JP: Like recently Ryan was trying to improve this four note melody, spending a lot of time and thought on it. Like what do you try to improve about it?

[laughter]

JP: But he's like a melody scientist.

PM: [laughs] I love these melody scientists. It's so brilliant.

JP: It's amazing. But then when you go to the show and you see everybody singing along, I'm like, well, I guess he knew what he was doing.

PM: Right. As if it's some mathematical metaphysical formula--

JP: Yeah.

PM: --that you say, "No, no, no, these notes in this order produces this effect inside people." And oh, it's amazing. I mean, like Ron Sexsmith writes melodies frequently with no instrument in his hands. He said, "Oh, no, I like to do it walking down the street--"

JP: Oh, that's cool.

PM: --"and then play with it that way. The limitations of my guitar playing do not come into play."

JP: Interesting. I like that.

PM: Now, what kind of a Texan is Ryan? I mean, is he any kind of Texan at all? That's where he comes from, right?

JP: He's a Texas anomaly. Of all the guys, he's the most Northeastern of them all.

PM: Wow. Because when you look at his face, he looks like he's from Jersey. [laughs] You know?

JP: And he's a ball buster and a wise-ass, and everything else.

PM: [laughs]

JP: I mean, he has none of that southern gentility.

PM: [laughs]

JP: And I don't know, his parents--I think his parents met there--I don't know whether his mom is from there, but yeah, it's weird. He grew up in Dallas. But his parents no longer live there, they're in Baltimore now.

PM: Wow.

JP: And they hated the heat. They were saying, "Oh, we got to get out of this heat." So he's an anomaly for Texas. I could never figure that one out.

PM: Wow. Now, this particular trio that you joined, how long had they been together as three?

JP: I think they're going on about fourteen years now.

PM: And they've been like wildly successful, or successful enough to stay together, or somewhere in the middle or--

JP: I think they've just been successful enough to do what they're doing for a living, but not like to get a personal jet or anything. When I came on with them, my idea of success was like, "Oh, this is success."

PM: Right.

JP: But it's a relative thing. Those guys get frustrated with, "Oh, we wish one of our singles would take off, or we wish this and that."

PM: Right. It's all relative, always relative.

JP: Yeah. But to me, it's a great success. And to them I think it's just like--when it comes down to the time that they've put into it, it is like wow, and the sacrifice of being gone just all that time, jeez. I've only been doing it four years, and it's still overwhelming sometimes.

PM: You've been doing that four years already?

JP: That's what I'm talking about. It doesn't feel like it. It'll be four years in March.

PM: Wow. So that's not as many years as Joe, Marc's Brother, but it's getting close.

JP: Yeah, totally. Well, JMD, we were sort of behind the scenes, Marc and I. And we were trying to do it--we started in '93.

PM: Right.

JP: But yeah, you're right, that was probably seven, eight years.

PM: So is it getting to feel like, "Holy shit, I've been in this band half my life"?

JP: No. It feels like four months.

PM: Ah, it's the other way.

JP: It's weird. And when you're on the road on a long tour, yeah, it feels like you've been on tour forever. But in the big picture, you know...

PM: Right. Well, that sounds good, that it feels more like four months than fourteen years. That's a mighty good sign.

JP: Yeah.  

Joe

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