By COURTNEY GUTTENBERG
Staff Writer
The progressive rock collective that is the local band Ampevene has an eclectic sound and an exciting future.
Influenced by multiple different acts, like The Mars Volta, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pink Floyd, the band formed originally as a project by vocalist/guitarist/primary songwriter Gabe Stallman to translate his thoughts and feelings into music “he could show his friends” (courtesy of the band’s Facebook page). They recently played the staple Albany street fair and festival, Larkfest, and are gearing up to do a nine show long tour.
The band consists of Stallman, keyboard and synth player Ava Smith, bassist Mack Hogan and drummer Bob Morris. I was able to sit down with Gabe, Ava and Mack to talk about their writing process, current focus and their upcoming tour.
Q: How did you guys meet?
STALLMAN: Mac and I have been very close friends since ninth grade, and Ava and I were both music majors at Schenectady.
Q: What made you guys want to start a band?
STALLMAN: We’ve all been playing out with all different people. Mac and I had separate high school bands and after my high school band disbanded, I was like, “Alright, I need something that I can take control of,” so I’ve been just gathering musicians.
SMITH: Kinda rotating.
STALLMAN: Yeah, all the members are rotating just as needed, pretty much.
Q: What made you guys want to play your specific genre?
STALLMAN: It’s the only thing that makes sense to me, just because it doesn’t make sense. It’s all just totally random.
Q: What made you to start playing music in general?
SMITH: I remember I loved to sing when I was a little kid, and I got piano lessons as a little kid. That’s how it started.
HOGAN: For me, I just came from a musical family. Pretty much everyone in my immediate family played instruments, my cousins all played and stuff. I got into it through that.
STALLMAN: I was just forced to play at an early age. I took violin lessons and piano lessons and I hated it. I found a teacher that taught me improvisation and I was like, “Oh, so it’s not what you have to do, it can be expressive.” It then became fun.
Q: What’s your current focus?
STALLMAN: Right now, we’re focused on doing shows and trying to get out of Albany. Writing is also constant.
Q: What’s your writing process like?
STALLMAN: I’ll just play at my house until I have something cool and then I’ll teach it to them and have them learn it.
Q: What is your favorite song to play live and why?
SMITH: I guess one of them would be “Tumultuous” and the other one would be “Florida.”
HOGAN: I would probably say “Kong.”
STALLMAN: My favorite is probably “Goliath,” which is the only cover we do, and it’s from my favorite band. My second favorite is “Tumultuous” also, because that’s the one where it gets to be straight jazz and straight free-form kind of towards the end of it. That’s fun.
Q: What is your favorite song you have ever written and why?
STALLMAN: “Rometheu” is my favorite. It’s the new one, we’re in the studio for it right now.
Q: What is the biggest goal you hope to accomplish as a band?
STALLMAN: The immediate, realistic goal would be filling our summer with festivals and stuff.
Q: What is the biggest goal you have already accomplished as a band?
STALLMAN: Playing Larkfest.
Q: What’s your favorite thing about the Albany scene?
STALLMAN: Just how passionate the promoters are.
Q: What is your favorite venue that you’ve ever played at?
STALLMAN: If Larkfest counts as a venue, then Larkfest. After that, The Hollow, just because we’ve played with so many great bands there.
Q: Have you guys played outside of Albany at all?
STALLMAN: Yeah. Connecticut twice, Nyack, New York City, and then we’re doing Vermont, Syracuse, hopefully Boston soon.
Q: Do you have any venues outside of Albany that you could say are your favorite?
STALLMAN: The Acoustic was pretty cool – anybody who plays there, they do a live web broadcast of the show.
Q: If you could sum up your band or band experience in one word, what would it be?
HOGAN: Party.
Q: If the world was ending tomorrow and your band had to be remembered for one thing, what would it be?
STALLMAN: Almost as good as The Beatles. That would be pretty high praise. [laughs]
SMITH: The music, the feeling that people get when they listen to our music. It’s a very different kind of feeling.
Be sure to check out Ampevene on tour this winter. For the remainder of the year, the band will be at different New York venues- New York City at the Delancey on 12/20, Funk N Waffles in Syracuse on 12/23, Pianos in New York on 12/27. In 2016, they will be at Radio Bean in Burlington, Vermont (on 1/24).
They will then be in Providence, Rhode Island at The Spot on 1/27, the Black Oak Tavern in Oneonta, NY on 2/12, and back in the local area at Dinosaur BBQ in Troy on 2/20. Their last show of the tour will be on 2/25 in Winooski, Vermont at the Monkey House. Be sure to like them on Facebook at facebook.com/Ampevene and stream their EP on Bandcamp at gabestallman.bandcamp.com.
Thank you to Gabe, Ava and Mack for sitting down with me, and thank you for reading! Localized Noise will be back in the spring with more interviews with local bands of all different genres. If your band is interested in being interviewed next semester, please contact me at guttenbergc126@strose.edu.
