You guys all met in high school?
Benj: Four of us knew each other in high school. We met Jerry when we got to school at Ohio State. And that was in what, 98? JD - '97.
So, how do a bunch of Maryland guys end up in Ohio?
Benj: How could we not want to go the greatest school in our country? First of all, Columbus is an ideal place to go to school. You can get a great education there. It's easy to get distracted, with everything the school offers. For us, it was a place we could go to expand on the whole music thing we were trying to do at that time. It was a pipe dream at that point. You know, we were high school kids playing in the basement. So it was really attractive because there are a lot of people there. And culturally, there's all kinds of music, all kinds of art and things to do. There are a lot of music venues, and it just seemed ideal… you know, it seemed like a fun place to get an education so we followed our dream there.
So how about you Jerry, how did you meet up with this group of guys from Maryland?
Jerry: I lived in the same dorm as Mark and Chris my Freshman year. Through our circle of friends, we met and became friends. From there, I discovered they had a band. I walked in one day during their soundcheck, and wiggled my way in there so I was part of the sound.
Did you guys spend all of your time in college focusing on music, or did you go to football games, or hang out?
Jerry: I think the college experience for us was unique because we really toured almost every weekend. So it was certainly different from everyone's norm. You know, a lot of the time in college for me, was playing with the band and playing music, waiting tables... and when I had time, going to school. So I didn't quite make it to the football games. I waited until after school.
Benj: It was tricky, because like Jerry said we were touring all the time. It would be like a weekday, and we would travel 100 miles away for a show. And we'd be driving back that night studying in the van, and going to class the next morning... having a test the next morning. So it was challenging, it was a good environment for us to sort of rise to the occasion and make everything happen in our lives at that point. It wasn't exactly the normal college experience, but it was definitely a great one.
One of the interesting things about your band, is there was never any formal marketing. How big do you think the internet was in creating the buzz around OAR?
Benj: I'm sure it played a really large part. Actually, a friend hit me up today, apologizing for back then... you know, Napstering our music. Now he feels bad, so he threw us some money for our latest CD, All Sides. But the internet was huge. You know, in '97, '98... we were leaving Maryland. But so were all of our friends who had our first album or two. And so they brought that music to all of their colleges. And because of that, with Napster and all of the other internet media... we were big in the college market. So that was definitely a huge component in how we grew ourselves and how we marketed ourselves. Whether it was intentional or not, it's what happened.
Tape trading and bootlegging also must have been huge for you…
Jerry: Yeah, it was certainly a great opportunity for us to get our music out on a peer-to-peer standpoint. And I've always said... and I say to this day, no marketing dollar in the world that can touch a friend giving a friend a CD, saying 'you need to listen to this.' Nothing can replicate that. And the tape trading community allowed us to do that. It's something that continues to help us today.
What are some of your favorite venues?
Jerry: That's a really hard question. There's not one in particular that stands out as the be all, end all venue. But for example, here in St. Louis, you have The Fox Theatre.
Benj: I was going to say that too, it's beautiful.
Jerry: ...but I was doing an interview the other day, and I mentioned it there too. It's one of the most visually stunning venues in the country. So, be glad that it's in your city… I always kind of feel bad after we play it, because we always trash it. Well, not the band, but the audience. It's a young, energetic audience, and it's a beautiful little theatre, and sometimes those two don't go too well together.
What's been the biggest career highlight for you guys? I think I may know the answer, but I have to ask.
Benj: For me, it was when we went over to Kuwait and Iraq to play for our troops on the USO tour. That was just so meaningful. There was no place where I felt our presence somewhere had more impact on the people who were watching the show. There have been shows where they're more interactive, more high-energy... we've played the garden a couple of times in New York, and that was amazing. There have just been a lot of shows along the years that stand out, but as far as something that resonates with me personally was going overseas to Iraq.
Jerry: I bet you were thinking the Garden, right?
Yep.
Jerry: It's the trump card. If anyone asks what I do, I tell them I'm a musician. And they say, 'oh, so you play in local bars and stuff.' And you go no, I've sold out the Garden. At the same time, the highlight for me of all this is we play music for a living. And to be honest with you, I know it's a broad, generic answer, but it's really the truth. We go out and play music for a living, and we're pretty darn good at it, and we have a lot of fun doing it. And we do it the way we want to do it. We're all very fortunate.
You guys have been together a long time. 12 years! Do you ever get sick of each other?
Jerry: No, I don't think we get sick of each other. Literally, we live and sleep about this close to each other 9 months of the year (it's actually closer... something like this) we live as close as people raelly can for 9 months of the year, and we've been doing that for 12 years now. So it's nice to go home, have a break and experience your home life. It's a nice little breather, but then you miss everyone when you're home. You just want to go back on the road and do it again. Sure, I think we all get a little tired of each other after 3 months of touring, but we're home for a week and we want to get back out and do it again.
Benj: We're like brothers out here. We're loving it, having fun, we always say it's like summer camp. It's a good time, we get along together. We enjoy it all together.
How has touring changed over the past 12 years?
Benj: Well, we're not driving my station wagon anymore. That's one thing. We have a huge crew, production value, really talented, wonderful people that make everything happen. You know, you see us on stage for a couple of hours, but all of these people are working really hard so that the show happens smoothly. And you don't see all of that hard work, that grease that it takes to make things happen. So things have changed in that respect, in terms of how many people help us do what we do. But also all of the places we get to go now. That's changed. We used to tour as far as we could drive to a show. Now, we're fortunate enough to travel on buses, and sometimes planes and stuff like that. So it's really just like a whole new ballgame now. We're playing all over the country, and all over the world. We're doing what we love. We still look at it the same, we're still just playing a show. We're still enjoying it and having fun. But things around it have changed.
So Benj, you said you're familiar with Metromix?
Benj: Metromix is a great spot to get info about things going on in your city. I've researched restaurants, bars, clubs... places to go out, cultural events, all kinds of stuff that permeate in my everyday life. I live in New York, and half of the Google links I end up clicking on Metromix. So it's a solid source of information.
