We The Living takes a field trip
The Wisconsin-based band played 180 shows last year.
Published Sept. 4, 2009
Touring is an essential part of any musician's job. For the pop rock band We The Living, touring is the job.
"It feels like being on an extended second grade field trip," guitarist Matthew Holmen said.
We The Living played about 180 shows in 2008 and plans to finish 2009 with nearly 250 shows under their belts, including a Sept. 10 show at Mojo's.
"We always have the goal of playing more shows than the year before," Holmen said. "All we want to do is play music for people, get people excited and have a good time."
Formed in Madison, Wis., We The Living consists of front man John Paul Roney, guitarist Matthew Holmen and drummer Benjamin Schaefer. The band has released two studio albums, Heights of the Heavens in 2007 and Depths of the Earth in 2008.
We The Living got their name from an Ayn Rand novel of the same name. According to their MySpace, they are strong believers in the idea that everyone needs their own philosophy. The band's philosophy might be a major factor in their success over the past two years.
"The only thing you can do is deal with reality," Holmen said and paused for a moment. "The only way you can deal with life is look at what you got."
We The Living's philosophy keeps the band down to earth and their relationship with fans is unrivaled. The band wants to be the friends with their fans rather than the other way around.
"After we play a show we want to meet everyone that wants to meet us," Holmen said.
As CD sales dwindle, many bands are looking toward touring to compensate for the lack of record sales. Although playing 250 shows a year might be daunting to some, Holmen said he looks forward to it like a giddy little kid anxiously waiting to blow out his birthday candles.
"Music is sort of an advertisement for a band, we are more than just a couple songs that are compiled on an album," Holmen said. "As long as we keep touring, that is what offsets the lack of a multiplatinum album."
We The Living doesn't appear to be in it for the money. The band is releasing a 5-song EP of covers on Sept. 8 free to anyone who signs up for the We The Living mailing list. Radiohead, Bon Iver and The Weakerthans are among the bands being covered on the EP.
"It was really cool doing it by ourselves, without the intent on selling it, just doing it for fun," Holmen said.
Holmen said they wanted to capture the intensity of their stage performances their upcoming third album.
Holmen said big, epic rock songs by U2 and Coldplay directly influenced their poppy sound, but every member has unique interests they bring to the table.
"The first album we basically wrote in the studio," Holmen said. "We were so scattered we didn't know what we wanted to do. We have been playing on stage for three years now, we are starting to play together as a band, not just a couple musicians."
We The Living, now based in Nashville, Tenn., is comparable to The Fray and early Coldplay. Roney writes all of the lyrics and the outline to most of the music for their previous releases.
The band's goals for the next year are pretty standard: an international tour and album release. Holmen has one personal goal he wants to reach that is unique.
"Joe Jonas and I wear the same kind of sunglasses. I'm just not cool with that," Holmen said.
Holmen wants Ray-Ban to create his own, splatter painted white wayfarers, inspired by the T-shirts he hand paints for fans after shows.
These aspirations won't affect the band. We The Living have come a long way and they don't look like they're slowing down any time soon.
"Since we started playing, we became a band," Holmen said. "We've definitely gotten harder working and more concise in our goals. I can't even jam with anyone else, it just feels like I'm cheating on my girlfriend."