Interview with Umphrey’s McGee

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Umphrey’s McGee is what would happen if King Crimson, Steely Dan, and John Coltrane collaborated on a magnificent bronze statue paying tribute to Frank Zappa and then returned the night after the grand unveiling to blow it up using an extremely small, homemade thermonuclear device. Umphrey’s McGee is a jam band according to many, a prog band according to some, a jazz combo according to a few, and a rock band according to themselves. Umphrey’s McGee is also the proud owner of a bouncing new baby album, Anchor Drops. It is the album the band has always wanted to make but never before had the equipment, the time, or the funding to realize.

Gamestar recently had a chance to chat with bass player Ryan Stasik about life on the road, video games, and being called the next Phish.

GS: I was reading Rolling Stone the other day, you guys got a great write-up by David Fricke talking about how you guys were the contenders for the next jam band crown. How’s that feel? It’s got to be good.

JS: You know, his word is pretty solid in the music scene, but as far as the next Phish, not sure about that. We’re just trying to do what we’re doing, and hopefully people will enjoy it. We usually get that Phish question a lot, you know? And ultimately, I think we come from the same influences: We like Zappa, we like Zeppelin, and we like the Beatles. Sometimes, there are certain similarities, but we’re just trying to do what we do. I don’t think there will be another Phish so to speak.

GS: I was going to say I was listening to CD when it was sent over and it didn’t really strike me as something you could classify in the same genre as The String Cheese Incident or Panic. You guys definitely got a unique sound going on under yourself.

JS: Yeah, the word jam band—it’s hard, because we listen to a lot of different things. We listen to hip-hop, we listen to a lot of fusion, we listen to Latin music, and classical, too. We’re very diverse, it’s not very jam-band oriented, I don’t think.

GS: It’s a word that kind of gets thrown around a lot lately I guess.

JS: Yeah, very loosely.

GS: But in a true sense, are you guys pretty heavy tourers? Are you on the road quite a bit?

JS: Yeah. We tour a lot these days. We usually try to go out three weeks a month, just Wednesday through Saturday or for the weekend. But we don’t try to burn ourselves out even though we do play a lot. We’re road whores.

GS: That’s another story for another time.

JS: (Laughs.) Yeah.

GS: When you’re on road, what do you guys do for entertainment?

JS: Depends on what city we’re in. If we’re in Colorado, we climb a mountain. If we’re in Vegas, well?hat happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. But we’re pretty adventurous. Just depends on what each place has to offer. Which is great, because everybody’s kind of an adventurer, so you can gather up all your brothers to ride around with you. You can all go out and check out what the city has to offer.

GS: You guys are set when you’re out on the road like that. It’s got to be a lot of fun checking out some scenes. What’s one of your favorite cities to stop through?

JS: I’m going to say Regent. That’s in the southeast.

GS: Is it the people?

JS: The people, the food, the weather, the women—everything.

GS: There’s something about the southern women. You just can’t go wrong with that.

JS: Southern hospitality.

GS: Absolutely. Do you guys play any video games at all while you’re rolling around on the road? Are you in a bus?

JS: For the road, we’ll bring a PlayStation 2. But when we’re at home, a couple of the guys have Xboxes. I’m old-school, man, I'e got the original Nintendo, and I have a Dreamcast with, like, four games.

GS: Wow, you’re like one of the last five guys with a Dreamcast.

JS: Yeah. My girlfriend bought it for me like five years ago. Well, my ex-girlfriend. But that’s what she got me one year. It just sits there and collects dust. But we’re big fans of the PS2 mainly.

GS: What do you like to play on the PS2?

JS: A lot of sports games. On the Xbox we do Fusion Frenzy. And Halo. And Tony Hawk.

GS: A lot more of the sports and action games on that for sure.

JS: Yeah.

GS: Anything coming out that you guys are looking forward to, like the new Grand Theft Auto?

JS: Oh, I think everybody’s just waiting for that. That’s stuff’s fun, so definitely.

GS: It’s cool that you still have the old-school Nintendo. We used to come home from the bars at two in the morning and throw in Tecmo Bowl and go to town. JS: I’m a big fan of Joust, to be honest.

GS: This being an election year, are you guys making any push towards any political sides? Are you making any political statements when you’re out on stage or on tour?

JS: Nah. We travel with a crew of 11. Everyone’s registered to vote. We’re definitely going to vote. I can’t necessarily tell you who is going to vote for who. But we are all registered and active.

GS: Right on. Anything in the world right now that’s kind of got you guys fired up in particular? Does it get integrated into the music?

PS: To be honest, we’re not that much of a political band as far as how we voice. We have an issue and then we take our side on each issue, one at a time. But we’re not political activists or anything.

GS: Anything you want to say about your newest album?

JS: Well, you can look forward to a new one being recorded in January. We’re ready to unleash more material on you.

GS: Are the album sales going strong with this last one?

JS: Things are going really strong. We’re really proud of this album. It was our first real studio debut, and that we’re proud of. So, things are good.

GS: I haven’t seen you yet, but I got u circled for October 22, here in San Francisco.

JS: Yeah. The Great American Music Hall.

GS: It’ll be awesome; I read you guys are really action-oriented on stage. That you guys are really animated and running around.

JS: We’re a fun loving band. We'e got a lot of energy and we bring 100% every night. We all have wirelesses now, so we do a lot of running around. Rocking.

GS: Ryan, I appreciate you taking some time talking with us. I hope everything goes well with the album and the tour. Good luck with everything!

JS: Thank you!

Check out Umphrey’s McGee’s web site at umphreys.com.