By Henry Lipput
Last month, CoodDad previewed a single from the, then, upcoming EP by Adam and the Plants. I was really taken with “Madeline” and looked forward to hearing the other songs. Now that the Born With the Gift of Magic EP is out, it’s my chance to review the whole thing. I also had the opportunity to interview Adam Copeland, the band's leader, by email, and ask him about the new release and some other things that interested me.
The first track on the EP is "Side Man." To me, Adam sounds a bit like Roy Orbison at the beginning of the song. The song rocks, but there are lots of things going on as well. There's an early 60s guitar playing at one point (Think of the opening to Del Shannon's "Runaway."); and, at the end of the song, things slow down as wordless vocals, crunching guitars, pounding drums, and fine bass work finish off the song.
"Madeline" is a really cool pop song about a woman who dresses down: "Corduroy was your finery" (what a great line!). There’s some jangly guitar and an excellent solo (shades of Peyton Pinkerton). The whole thing reminds me of the songs on Pernice Brothers' Yours, Mine & Ours album. Take it from me, that's high praise indeed.
I really like the slow-burning "Mystery Song," which could have been written by Lou Reed for The Velvet Underground or Loaded. Like "Side Man," there's a coda, this time featuring a lot of terrific guitar, drums, and keyboard.
Born With the Gift of Magic takes a left turn with "The Marquis." It's a bit of a heavier rocker than the other tracks, showcasing the dark side of Copeland; but, based on the other songs on the EP, perhaps a bit tongue-in-cheek. Asking the musical question: "Do you love me?" the song has become a live favorite for the band and allows Adam to, as he says in the interview, "yell like an old dog howling at the full moon."
So, on to the interview:
Henry Lipput: Hi Adam. Congratulations on the Born With The Gift of Magic EP. It's terrific.
Adam Copeland: Thanks! It's humbling that other people are getting excited about these things that have been rattling around in my head for a while.
HL: How did you come up with the band name?
AC: I came up with the name because I felt like I needed to force myself to be the front person. In other bands, I either took a backseat role or collaborated democratically with other members; so' even when I wound up the singer' it was more of a de facto role and not explicit.
I wanted to put all of the pressure on me, and I think having my name at the front was a good way to do that. The "plants" is supposed to be from pro-wrestling, where the word means something like a ringer. If you see an angry grandmother in the audience trying to punch Hollywood Hulk Hogan, she's probably a plant, paid by WCW to be there.
I thought that was funny in the context of my "Plants" being a rotating cast of whomever I could rope in to help me out. Though, I can't pay them.
HL: It's been two years since you released The End of the World album. Is the EP a taster for the next album or a different musical animal? If so, when do you anticipate another album coming out?
AC: The EP is four songs that we recorded in late 2015. I had a bad panic attack around the same time, and it made me think about a few lifestyle changes and reevaluate why I was making music to begin with. While I was working that out, I recorded a little electronic music EP in my apartment under the name U.N.SPACY called MAX + MILLIA FOREVER. It was a medium to play with ideas I thought were fun without the pressure of bringing other people into it. I think it's nice to listen to on sunny days.
When I was ready to come back in the summer, I thought it'd be a good idea to release the four songs we recorded to wipe the slate clean. I also wanted to put the idea out to friends and family that I was doing well enough to release something, sort of to say, "Hey, I'm still alive!" Before I got a chance to self-release it, the Sniffling Indie Kids label reached out to me and were kind enough to help us put it out.
I've got the next album about 75% written at this point, and I'm hoping to have it recorded and out before the end of 2017. I made an effort on the EP to make the songs more compact, as the album sort of sprawls all over the place at times. The idea was to try to leave the listener wanting to hear the songs again and again.
HL: Is the band on the EP the same as the band on the album? Who's playing which instruments?
AC: The band on the EP is: me doing vocals / guitar / keys, Gary Laurie on guitar, Henry Prol on bass and vocals, and Lloyd Naideck on drums. The last record was done sort of piecemeal. I put the songs together by myself and brought friends in to record whenever they could. So, some tracks are me messing around by myself, and some are the whole band. The EP, on the other hand, is the same four guys the whole way through.
HL: Have you been playing the songs on the EP when you play live? What's the response? Is there an audience favorite yet?
AC: Yeah. Since the songs are all over a year old now we play them out whenever we can. Believe it or not "Mystery Song" is my favorite to play, but "The Marquis" seems to translate really well to a live setting and get people fired up. Probably because I get to yell like an old dog howling at the full moon.
HL: Will the band be touring to venues outside of New Jersey / New York area?
AC: Since we've got two dads in the band, any extensive touring is probably out of the question. I'm doing my best though to try to set up some nice drives for us on weekends so we can meet some people in other towns. On March 3rd, we're going up to New Paltz, New York, for a show. In my admittedly limited experience I think people outside of NY/NJ respond better to music that's new to them. So, I want to have more of those trips if I can.
HL: What are your vocal and musical influences?
AC: Alex Chilton, anything Brian Eno worked on in the 1970s, a Japanese shoegaze band called Kinoko Teikoku, Spencer Krug, Sharon Van Etten, Neil Young. I've gotten a few comparisons to Morrissey and people say I look like Adam Scott. I don't see either.
HL: Thank you, Adam. Good luck with the EP.
AC: Thank you!
Born With the Gift of Magic is out now on Sniffling Indie Kids.
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