Reemerging from a short recording hibernation, Guster's latest album, "Easy Wonderful," dropped in the beginning of October. Tufts alumni Ryan Miller, Adam Gardner and Brian Rosenworcel (all LA '95) have remained the three core members of the group since its inception here on the Hill.
The band has gone through many changes in the past few years, including but not limited to having children, swapping members and pushing the boundaries of their musical styling on their new album.
The Daily spoke with drummer Rosenworcel via e-mail about all of Guster's recent developments, the band members' lives on the road and their experiences as Jumbos 15 years ago.
Allie Dempsey: What about your music appeals so much to our generation?
Brian Rosenworcel: Maybe it's because when you listen to our music, you can tell that we're just piecing together chords we learned in a dorm room. Or maybe it's because we've played like a zillion Spring Flings over the last 15 years. Somehow we fly under the radar of the mainstream enough that people call our following "cultish" — R.E.M. was a "college band" for years before "The One I Love" [1987] became a huge hit and everyone discovered them. Now we just need to write a song as good as that one.
AD: Hand drums have been a Guster staple for a really long time, and on "Easy Wonderful," they are conspicuously absent. Was this a conscious decision to move toward a new sound? You have your first song that uses a synth. Is electro-pop the future of Guster?
BR: I've been leaning on the traditional kit since "Keep It Together" came out in 2003, when we realized that there were lots of exciting places we could take our music if we got rid of the "rules of instrumentation" that governed the first chapter of our band. Still, I try to use hand drums whenever I can, but ultimately I remove them if they sound forced.
AD: Has having children influenced and shaped the new style of your sound?
BR: We all made the first batch of babies within a three-month window — I know, that's creepy — so we were all going through the same thing, and we adjusted the way we write in small spurts rather than one excruciating chunk. As for the kids, I don't think they really affected the music that much. We went more upbeat on this album, and the lyrics aren't "dad-rocky" at all. I think we consciously wanted to avoid that.
AD: What are the best and worst parts of living on a bus while you're on tour?
BR: I think when you're in your 20s, and after four years touring in a van, you finally earn yourself a tour bus, you hit a state of euphoria that never really wears off. It's a great way to tour because you drive/sleep overnight, and then you have your day to yourself. It gives you your life back. That being said, when you're entering your late [30s] and your back hurts every morning, and you need pills to sleep, and there are 11 people farting above and below you in a small bunk environment, the euphoria is sometimes more elusive.
AD: Lots of rumors float around the Tufts campus about how you all met and where you lived. Care to debunk those?
BR: I used to get emails from people saying, "I toured Tufts, and the tour guides mentioned you!" — which was flattering. Ryan and I decided to room together sophomore year in 217 Bush Hall, which was cool because it was attached to the dining hall without requiring that you walk outside. When we got a house together off campus, it was 139 College Ave., right on the Powder House rotary. We had ridiculous parties and did pre-production for the album "Parachute" [1995] in that house. As far as how we met, I remember talking with Ryan and Adam on the bus home from our Tufts Wilderness Orientation trips 19 years ago.
AD: Did you ever imagine you would be where you are today?
BR: None of us expected to be musicians. We weren't good at our instruments, and none of us had aspirations beyond making a demo tape or playing some campus parties. But we did really hone in on songwriting together, and by the time we graduated in '95, it became clear we had something going.
AD: Any chance we can get you guys to play at our Spring Fling this year?
BR: I'd do it. Even though Spring Fling is "Ignore The Band Day" at Tufts and I wrote a road journal about how the crowd was more inebriated than most community college Spring Flings last time we did it, I think it'd be fun. Maybe we just need to drink more next time.
