Monday, October 20, 2014

First/Last-The Quick & Easy Boys


"On their fourth full-length, Portland, Oregon-based psychedelic rock/melodic-pop outfit The Quick & Easy Boys make a record you can shake your hips and move your feet to, all courtesy of Los Lobos keyboardist/horn player and producer Steve Berlin. Berlin recorded Follow Us Overboard at Modest Mouse mastermind Isaac Brock's private studio, where Modest Mouse has been recording their next record for the past two years; The Quick & Easy Boys the first outside band to record there."

The Quick & Easy Boys are a power rock trio from Portland, Oregon who's latest release is entitled "Follow Us Overboard". I want to thank Sean Badders (Bass/Lead Vocals) for taking the time to participate in this edition of First/Last.

The first album you ever bought?
When I was in 4th or 5th grade I bought my first two albums at the same time: Naughty By Nature's "19naughty3" and Anthrax's "Attack of the Killer B's". Looking back it seems kind of a weird mix, but I think Anthrax did a track with Public Enemy on that album which is probably what sold me. The song ‘Starting Up a Posse’ was mind blowing for a 9-year-old. It went from country to metal and was filled with so much good profanity. I later learned they did it in response to the PMRC being assholes -- I did a 100 page research project on the PMRC and profane lyrics in college -- as the song is very unlike everything else I heard from them.

Your last album bought?
The last album I bought was Future Islands' "Singles". Awesome, awesome synth-pop. All the songs are really catchy and nice, if you're into that kind of music.

Favorite album of all time?
Very tough question, but my answer today is "Pet Sounds" by the Beach Boys. Brian Wilson is a musical beast and you hear new instruments and parts every time you listen. Carl Wilson's vocals are so soaring and just have that trademark sound. We play it a lot in the van and after every listen I end up with the whole album stuck in my head for like a week. Random snippets of lyrics or music will just pop in my head at any given time, which can be pretty rough when you're trying to sleep. I will also use this opportunity to publicly state The Quick & Easy Boys' hatred of Mike Love.

Least favorite/most disappointing album?
I'm having a hard time thinking of any album that I genuinely don't like, but I'll go ahead and say I probably wouldn't like late '80's/early '90's Richard Marx albums, or any Richard Marx albums for that matter.

First concert attended?
My parent's brought me to a show at the Oregon Zoo when I was 9 or 10. I don't remember the band but Jerry Garcia came out and sat in with them. I thought it was so bizarre the way all the people were dancing, and at one point my then 4 year-old cousin ran down to the front of the stage and my friend and I had to go find her. The hippies were so scary and bizarre to us, and I remember they grabbed my friend's hands and danced with him. I love the Grateful Dead now, but at the time those hippies scared me. They still do...

Last concert?
It's hard to get to see concerts because we gig so much when most good shows are happening, and I'm totally drawing a blank on it... The last event I saw was Neil deGrasse Tyson do a speaking-concert/lecture which was pretty awesome. We have a little down time before our next tour in November so next week I'm actually going to see Jungle on Thursday in Portland and Phish on Friday in Eugene. I'm not the biggest Phish fan, but I do dig them and I haven't seen them in 10 years, and it's happening at this brand new, crazy Nike-money basketball stadium at the University of Oregon (which is where we went to school and started the band) so it's kind of a sentimental show for me. Stoked for both but for totally different reasons.

Favorite concert ever?
This is a question that can change on any day for a million reasons, but I'm going to go with the first time I saw Lady Gaga. I went by myself, got blackout drunk and danced like a maniac with my shirt off. People were giving me food because I was in such bad shape. I don't remember much but I know I had a great time.

Least favorite concert?
The least favorite show I've seen was Modest Mouse in 2000/2001 in Eugene, OR at the WOW Hall. I was/am/will be a Modest Mouse fan and I love all their albums, but it was such a mellow show I remember standing there thinking "I could be laying in my living room listening to the albums and it would be more exciting than this." Hopefully this isn't taken in bad form as we used Isaac's studio and instruments to record our new album, but it just didn't seem like a particularly inspired performance. Compared to how lively/exciting they can be.


Any thoughts, experiences about Pittsburgh?
We played Pittsburgh once like 6 years ago. It was our first time on the east coast and we played a spot called the Black Cat Cafe or something like that. The show was unexceptional, but the streets were all closed around it for a huge Italian street festival going on. It was massive and at the time I had never seen such Italian pride in one place. We had some amazing food and it was a great people watching experience -- so many characters.

Thanks, Sean. Hmmm... not sure if we have a Black Cat Cafe, here. If there was an Italian Fest, you are probably talking about Bloomfield... Howler's Coyote Cafe, perhaps?

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