Celebrating their two decades together as a band, O.A.R. will be releasing “XX” on August 5th. The new album will include the band’s favorite tracks throughout their career, live recordings and never-before-heard studio material. Adorama had the chance to catch up with them at the Adorama Live Theater in New York City before they kick off their North American tour next week.
Adorama: You’ve been together for 20 years, what is the secret to band’s longevity?
Marc: I think the secret to being in a band for 20 years plus has got to be communication. You have to be able to tell each other everything, not be embarrassed by anything because you’re living in the bus, you’re on the road throughout the entire year. You have to be able to trust each other and the only way to do that is by communicating.
Adorama: What advice do you have for aspiring musicians trying to break into the business?
Chris: I think we’ve always felt most proud, and I think people have reacted the most to stuff when we are just writing what we know. When we’re honest and we write stuff like that, I think, if it resonates for us, it resonates for other people. And I think really, at the end of the day, it’s just being yourself. Finding yourself and being able to communicate that in a way. And that doesn’t have to be through lyrics alone, it could be the way you play any instrument. I think your personality comes through that way. That’s what we love about our live stuff, and I think that’s what we really captured well on our “Evolution of a Song” series this time that documented the creation, the writing, the recording, the whole process that went into our new single “I go through” kind of shows that a little bit.
Adorama: You are known for your live shows and extensive touring, what do you think is the secret to a successful live show?
Jerry: The secret is to play every show like it’s your last show because you don’t know if it or not, to be honest with you. That’s our secret recipe, we want everyone to feel better when they leave than when they got there, so we go out there and we give them everything we got.
Adorama: You came out the Ohio music scene, who were some of your contemporaries or other Ohio bands that you admire?
Jerry: There’s a lot of great music that’s come out of Ohio from our day to even recently from the Twenty One Pilots who are on top the world right now. A little band called the Black Keys, probably heard of them once or twice…Trent Reznor grew up as an Ohio boy. Rascall Flatts, Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters grew up in Warren Ohio. We’ve got some long, long musical ties.
Adorama: You’ve toured all over the world – favorite place to play live?
Marc: We could probably go down the line. My favorite place to play has been Red Rocks outside of Denver, Colorado in Morrison. It’s my favorite venue, you have to go!
Chris: Marc stole my answer. I would say venue in Grand Rapids, Michigan that’s an outdoor small sized amphitheater, that’s in a garden. It’s just an amazingly cool, unique location and it usually involves wine and everyone hanging out. It’s kind of a membership thing, so people come to the show and they are really involved in the day, the whole picnicking and partying and everything like that. It’s just one of those places that stand out for me because it’s a little off the beaten path. We play some awesome major cities, places like Red Rock and stuff, but this one’s a little different that always sticks out for me.
Benj: My favorite venue is going Merryweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland right outside where we grew up in Rockville. Just going back there we get to connect with our family and friends, and it reminds us why we do all this. It’s just one of those days on the door that’s just absolutely because there’s a lot to do and a lot of people you want to see. The shows are so energetic, we just have a great time that night every time we are at that venue so I look forward to it every year.
Jerry: My favorite is Summerfest in Milwaukee. We’ve done it for ten or eleven years now. If you haven’t gone to Milwaukee during Summerfest, you are missing. Our summer doesn’t start until we play Summerfest.
Richard: Jerry stole my answer! My favorite venue that we ever played is Madison Square Garden, just because it’s a legendary venue and because of all the history and all the talent that’s played there.
To find out more about O.A.R. and buy tickets to their upcoming XX Tour, go to their website at: http://ofarevolution.com/
