Good Old War

Jerry recently sat down with Good Old War to discuss the band's recent self-titled album, the nusic industry, and all that the future may hold. Light, camera, action....

Jerry@RRR: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. How are you feeling today?

Dan Schwartz: Feeling great. Feeling great, I’m in LA.

Jerry@RRR: How has your stay in LA been so far?

Dan Schwartz: It’s been awesome. It’s been very very busy, as it always is whenever we come out here because our whole team is out here so they keep us working.

Jerry@RRR: So have you gone sight-seeing or anything like that?

Dan Schwartz: I wish. We a lot of…I guess you could call it sight-seeing but it’s a lot of meetings. We drive all around the whole place. I don’t get to…I mean I had like five minutes on the beach yesterday because we were in Santa Monica. That’s about as much sight-seeing as we get to do.

Jerry@RRR: You’re currently on tour with Yukon Blonde. How has the tour been so far?

Dan Schwartz: This has been the best tour ever. We chose them based on what we heard on the internet basically and from their album—same thing with Audra Mae—and they are so ridiculously good. We knew they were good but we didn’t know they were mindblowingly good. We’re all huge buds now and we’ve all gone camping together and spent the whole night just singing songs and hanging out; we’ve become very close. It’s the dream come true tour. This is our first headliner and we know what we did and didn’t like about being treated—you know the way we were being treated as openers. We wanted to treat the bands that came on tour with us as well as they could possibly be treated. It’s helped the whole tour out so much, to give them as much as we possibly can.

Jerry@RRR: There are many different interpretations on how Good Old War got its name. How did your band’s name actually come about?

Dan Schwartz: It came about because we wanted our name to be parts of all our names. That was an absolute stipulation for us; we wanted to have our names in the title. So we tried all these different combinations and our names just didn’t work on their own. Keith’s wife actually helped and just started breaking our names down into a whole bunch of pieces. In the end, they took Keith’s name Good from Goodwin and Tim—as in Tim Arnold—so we got Old and I’m Schwartz so we got War out of that. We couldn’t believe that it actually worked into something. We liked the way it sound, it meant something and it was our name. So, that’s the story. It was sort stumbled upon I’d say.

Jerry@RRR: It’s still a great name.

Dan Schwartz: Thank you.

Jerry@RRR: A couple of weeks ago, you released your self-titled full-length. Guide through the recording process.

Dan Schwartz: The recording process was very interesting. It’s definitely the strangest way we could’ve made a record. We rented a house in the mountains where we could be alone and there was really nobody there and we recorded for awhile—a month on our own with nobody—and laid a lot of the groundwork for the record but then we ran out time and had to go back on tour. Every time we’d come home from tour we’d spend a week or tour working on it, then we’d have to rehearse and then we’d go back on tour. Then, we’d spend a week or two or a month. Throughout the year, we’d have to do it. So we really just didn’t have a choice but to do it ourselves because how would we even schedule the time to do record anywhere else, you know? So, the recording process was very guerilla style I’d say.

Jerry@RRR: How would you say the album differs from your debut Only Way To Be Alone?

Dan Schwartz:: I’ll let Tim take it. [Enter drummer Tim Arnold]

Tim Arnold: It differs because there’s these three short songs we’ve built with one melody in mind and then we just kind of built on it. And I think the writing process was more the three of us rather than just Keith and Dan.

Dan Schwartz: The arrangement process.

Tim Arnold: [Agreeing] The arrangement process. I don’t know….I think they are just deeper, a little bit deeper maybe. Maybe not the words per se, but what went into the music.

Jerry@RRR: How do you feel the record has been received by fans and critics alike?

Tim Arnold: I feel like it’s been great. I’m pleased as punch about it.

Dan Schwartz: Pleased as punch.

Tim Arnold: Yeah I like the response. It’s good. It’s positive.

Jerry@RRR: How do you feel about music criticism in general?

Dan Schwartz: I think it’s bullshit. [Laughs] I’m just kidding. I think everybody has a right to their opinion. I understand why people do it. I know people like to read reviews; I think it’s entertainment. The only thing I think is strange about the whole idea of it is that I think people who write about bands and will say negative things don’t realize that these bands are real people who put their hearts and souls into these products. You don’t just stumble upon it and be like, “Oh we finished a record! Here it goes!” You put your heart into and you love it. You love it in a way that when people say anything it can be hurtful to the people who worked really hard on it. It’s hard for somebody in a band because we are naturally sensitive people to handle music criticism. It’s perfectly understandable. I personally love to read reviews of albums I’m interested in getting. They don’t always do much for me, but it’s just interesting to hear what people are saying about stuff.

Jerry@RRR: When you read reviews, how much of it actually influences your opinion?

Dan Schwartz: Zero.

Tim Arnold: I mean if it’s good—if it’s like a five star review—I’m going to get a little more excited about the record that I haven’t heard but that’s pretty much all it is. Pretty much it just describes the record.

Dan Schwartz: A lot reviews these days are more like, “I like this song. I didn’t like this song. The album overall is pretty good.” Ok, I learned nothing about this album. They’ll tell you their opinion but they’re not saying what it sounds like at all, which would be the reason why you’d want to read a review. What’s the album sound like? It’s not as good as the last one? It doesn’t really tell you what it sounds like. I don’t know maybe the next movement of journalism went a little more towards describing what they’re hearing. I think that would be a little more useful than just criticizing it.

Jerry@RRR: In its debut week, Good Old War was #2 on the New Artists Billboards list and even charted the top 200 list at #133. How do you feel about that?

Dan Schwartz: Surprised.

Tim Arnold: Yeah.

Dan Schwartz: We love that people bought our album, especially since we know it leaked really early. The fact that anybody likes us or knows who we are…you know we’re just like any other band that practices in a house and does everything by ourselves. To have anything actually happen out of it is a dream come true for us.

Jerry@RRR: Speaking about leaks, what are you thoughts on leaks and filesharing in general?

Tim Arnold: It’s ok. It’s not good for the record companies, but if people want to hear it they’re going to get it. Just make sure you come out to the shows.

Dan Schwartz: And the truth is, there are ways to support us. We have things like: you can get our album for $2.99 on the day it came out or the week it came out. It’s still $6.99 or $5.99 on Amazon. Bands are coming up with ways to make it really cheap, so it’s so little—just that little bit will make a huge difference for the bands. It’s not that we care that people want to take the music—because it’s perfectly understandable—but if we don’t have a label then we don’t have a way to put music out for everybody. So, somehow figure out a way to support the bands or else they won’t be able to stay together. They’ll have to get jobs and quit music and that’s a bummer.

Jerry@RRR: Who do you think is affected most by filesharing and leaks?

Dan Schwartz: Definitely the labels.

Tim Arnold: In our case, people are listening to the record and coming to shows, so it’s ok. [Laughs] It’s cool with me.

Dan Schwartz: You can’t blame anybody. It’s really hard to be upset about people wanting your music. You gotta feel good about that at least a little.

Jerry@RRR: Thom Yorke recently said the music industry is going to change really soon. What do you think the new industry is going to look like?

Dan Schwartz: Wow. I have no idea.

Tim Arnold: Really, it’s changing already. It already has changed a lot. It’s all digital sales. I don’t really know. I can’t predict anything.

Dan Schwartz: We don’t really think about that stuff too much. We never really talk about that. We talk about music and the making of it. We try not to think too much about the business parts. I wish I did because I think it would help us to be a little more business minded.

Jerry@RRR: Your style of music is markedly different than most bands in the scene. How did you come to formulate Good Old War’s folksy sound?

Dan Schwartz: We did demos. We demoed a lot. I wouldn’t say we formulated our sound as much as we knew it was going to be acoustic because that’s why Keith wanted to play with me; that’s what I do. We knew that the drums were going to be more on the softer side and Tim was going to play with brushes. I think we really sat in a room and played.

Tim Arnold: It just kind of formulated itself.

Dan Schwartz: Yeah. We’re not doing anything different to worry about like, “Oh that doesn’t sound like us!” We’re literally just being ourselves. We’re just so lucky that it works out into a sound that we all love so much.

Jerry@RRR: How did you decide to play together?

Dan Schwartz: That’s a long story. [To Tim] You should probably tell it.

Tim Arnold: Keith and I were in band called Days Away before this one. And I was actually in a band with Dan called Unlikely Cowboy. Days Away broke up and I was playing with Dan. I knew Keith was getting into recording stuff so I told Keith he should record with Dan. Keith heard him play and was like, “Wow this is so cool. We should all play together.” That’s pretty much how it happened because we didn’t have the rest of the band anymore.

Dan Schwartz: We did a little moment of meshing everything too. I played with Days Away on a couple of tours and we just sort of just forced all the things we didn’t want kind of thing. We all wanted to agree on, since the three of us had a very clear vision of the same thing that worked really well. Hey! [Enter Keith Goodwin] He’s Keith.

Jerry@RRR: That’s funny, the next question involves Keith. Many people consider Keith’s voice to bear similarities to Paul Simon. Have you ever thought of covering a Simon & Garfunkel song?

Keith: Yeah. We actually play “Cecilia.”

Dan Schwartz: “Obvious Child.” We do a lot of Paul Simon’s solo stuff.

Keith Goodwin: I love him.

Dan Schwartz: You get to learn the people’s songs that you love. You know what I mean?  You kind of figure out what they’ve been doing.

Jerry@RRR: What are your plans for the rest of the year?

Dan Schwartz: Tour.

Tim Arnold: Tour. Write more songs.

Dan Schwartz: We’ve got a lot of tours. It would be nice to figure out how to do a little bit of recording. We have some writing projects we want to work on. Stuff like that. We’re probably going to be on the road almost all the time, maybe see mom every once in a while, if that’s possible.

Jerry@RRR: Have you had to any definite plans with bands for touring?

Dan Schwartz: We’re definitely going to be on tour with Brandi Carlile, and there’s another one we’re about to announce really soon.

Keith Goodwin: We’re not sure totally. So…

Dan Schwartz: There’s two that are on the verge of being confirmed, so we’ll let you know as soon as we’re ready.

Jerry@RRR: Is it as a headliner or as support?

Dan Schwartz: Support for the rest of the year, I think. Maybe something late in the year we might do another headliner tour.

Jerry@RRR: Tell us a crazy tour story. It can be as crazy or inappropriate as you want it to be.

Keith Goodwin: We were just talking about that, and that we had a couple but…what were they?

Tim Arnold: We always get something.

Dan Schwartz: I think…I don’t know about crazy, but an awesome tour story would be—from this tour—when we were in Wyoming, everybody on the tour—every single person—partied together at a campsite—on a river—and just spent the entire night drinking and singing…and partying. It was a love fest I’d say. Everyone just being buds and that’s just a rare thing for a tour I think.

Keith Goodwin: We got jacked up at a stop by the police one time and got messed with so bad. They didn’t find anything or do anything to us. They thought we were doing illegal things, but they were wrong. That was pretty wack. It was like a hundred twenty degrees in Arizona.

Dan Schwartz: They certainly ruined our day.

Keith Goodwin: Yeah! [All laugh]

Jerry@RRR: How do you feel about the touring life in general?

Dan Schwartz: I love it so much.

Tim Arnold: It’s fun.

Dan Schwartz: I spent time in the van sometimes—like if somebody else is driving—and I’ll be in the passenger seat and I’ll be like—I’ll look outside and I’ll see the road going by and these beautiful landscapes—“I am so lucky that this is what I do. I think this is the coolest thing in the whole world.”

Keith Goodwin: You meet good people. It’s cool to have friends in every city.

Dan Schwartz and Tim Arnold: [Agreeing] Yeah.

Jerry@RRR: Thanks again for doing this interview. Is there anything else you’d like to add? Anything closing thoughts?

Tim Arnold: Stay positive.

Keith Goodwin: Yeah stay positive.

Dan Schwartz: Smile and love each other.

Keith Goodwin: Smile!

 

Good Old War's self-titled title album is now out. Pick it up, and be sure to catch the band on tour.