bourbon & ginger, hot fuss: an interview with Phourist drummer Scott Boice
Name: Scott
Occupation (outside of Phourist and the Photons): Online tuxedo rental concierge
Current mood: Tired. F*ck daylight savings AND working Sundays.
Last Thing Eaten: Two ginger chicken tacos from El Lobo Bailando (the food truck outside of Kaiju)
Favorite drink: Adult beverage? Bourbon and ginger beer. Normal? Probably Ale-8.
Now that the essentials are established, we can get to the real "meat and potatoes" of the interview. (Unless you're a vegetarian - in which case there will only be hearty potatoes to follow)...
Q: How do you feel about the words "your release show is in two weeks?"
A: AAAAHHHHHHHHHH haha. Truthfully I've been stressing out about it a LOT lately, but I trust us to come through and pull it together. I'm mostly excited though. I've been itching to play a show for almost 3 months, and this signals the start of doing that again. Plus I'm ready for people to hear the tunes we've been whipping up.
Q: What do you generally do right before a show?
A: Depends on where we are playing. If it's a bar, I like to have a small bite to eat, maybe a drink or two. Right before we play, I grab a (patent pending) Stage Beverage™ and set up. If it's a normal venue, I don't really do too much. Watch the other band(s) if we're not opening, find a way to dick around. Mostly I'm building internal energy. Stuart suggested that before each show we should find a place to yell.
Q: You've been playing with the Photons since 2014, but tell us a little about your Drum Quest. How long have you been playing drums? What made you pick up sticks as opposed to bass / guitar / oboe / etc. ? What else do you play?
A: That's a lot of questions. My Drum Quest (I love that, feels like a DnD campaign) began after a viewing of the famed percussion super show STOMP. I think I was 8 years old? I was totally blown away by the sounds. My parents bought me a pair of sticks with the stomp logo on them, the first pair I ever owned. I still have one of them next to my kit. Soon after, my parents bought me my first drum set and I immediately set to work trying to play Immigrant Song. My mom swears my Quest began at age two when I pulled out all the mixing bowls and set them up in a semicircle on the linoleum and wailed on them with a wooden spoon. I remember at one point picking up a guitar right around age 9, but I couldn't figure it out so I stuck to drums, and woodwinds never made sense to me. These days, I play guitar, (poorly, I should add. Mostly just walls of sound.) and synthesizers. I've been pretty into synthesis for the last couple of years. That, and effects pedals. I couldn't have picked a more expensive hobby. I'm going to go into diorama building instead.
Q: Musically speaking, who is your biggest influence?
A: This depends on when you ask. Right now it's probably Brian Chippendale from Lightning Bolt, which sounds nothing like Phourist. Also Greg Saunier from Deerhoof. Five months ago it was Zach Hill. Going back a few years, it was mostly jazz drummers. Max Roach, Art Blakey... Of course when I first started it was the law offices of Bonham and Peart.
Q: Who would you love to open for?
A: Does it have to make sense musically? Either way, The Killers. I love the Killers so much, I'm not ashamed to say it. Their drummer goes in the list above. MMJ would be fun of course, I feel like we can get a similar ambient vibe going on. Dr. Dog would be another huge one. Pretty much anyone on Anti Records (please be our label, I'll do anything. I mean anything.). I'd open for any band I want to see pretty much. Aby Laby Land.
Q: Describe yourself in three albums.
A: This one is also a matter of "when" but right now....
-Hot Fuss (the Killers)
-Wonderful Rainbow (Lightning Bolt)
-Best of Chuck Mangione (Chuck Mangione)
Q: In your personal opinion, what makes a good performance? When you go to see a band play live, what are you counting on seeing / hearing?
A: I try not to count on seeing anything. The key to happiness is low expectations. I think Chuckie Finster said that. I do expect to be entertained or something. If not entertained, I want to be full of questions, I want them to provide an experience. A good performance is all about attitude. And movement, which is all about attitude. You'd be surprised how much "getting into it" can change your sound. If you're building up a song, get low, go higher physically. I saw a band recently that did a really long build to basically nothing. It felt like the same level the whole time and they were static. As a performer, you've got to get into it. There's no other way. You have to be 100% in the zone. If you're not, the audience can tell. I've seen mediocre bands that have completely blown me away with their performance. They're not mediocre in the slightest, but Daikaiju put on one of the best shows I've ever been to. Shit was on fire, drums and drummers were held above the crowd, the energy was primal. I couldn't hear right for a week but it was worth it.
Q: What are your feelings on drum machines?
A: I like them. I don't want to be replaced by one, nor do I think they have the capacity to replace a live drummer. However, I have seen some people (Tony Robot, Atomo) play them live instead of as a backing track and that's always cool. I personally have the Korg Volca Beats and that thing is a blast. There's a time and place for them, which is whenever and where ever you want. It's your music.
Q: Describe the best gig you've ever had:
A: Best or my favorite? Best phour us is usually Poorcastle. You can't beat that crowd and the album sales that follow. Headliners was also a good one because 1. we got to play that level of venue and 2. we drew a crowd. “Drew?” I guess. You know what I mean. Our first album release was also cool as hell. Something like 100 people showed up, we had never had that happen before.
My favorites are a little different. Phat Bites in Nashville is definitely on that list. We were the last of four band, two of them sucked. The place was a deli during the day and a bar/venue at night. When we got up to play, everyone else just went outside. We sat through two hours of shit garbage and they just go outside. The room was empty. I think anger fueled (what I remember to be) a fantastic show. I was a little drunk. I remember yelling something about Kenny Chesney and George Strait. Nick and Stuart are probably tired of hearing me say Be Here Now, but sweet fuck I love that venue. The place has a great vibe and they put our name up on a marquee, which as it turns out, is the way to my heart.
Q: Describe the shittiest gig you've ever had:
A: Melody Inn in Indianapolis. It was on the way home from Chicago on our tour last winter. It was maybe 12 degrees outside, ice on the roads. Immediately when we got there the door man told Stuart he had to wait outside and we were dude, no. That's not going to happen. The bartender was really cool about it though. Coincidentally, those were the only two people that saw us play, minus Phil Brown of course. The opening band sucked ass and left immediately after their set. It was horrible but at least I got to go home and sleep in my own bed afterwards.
Q: Who do you think is your biggest fan? (Besides, like, your mom. Hi Jennifer! @jenlynmed)
A: Oh man. Probably Annie from Talkupy. And the Flies on the Wall guys. We've got a pretty solid fan base, I'd say. They're really supportive.
Q: Where would you love to go on tour? (The sky’s the limit with this question. France? Spain? Muncie, IN?)
A: I'd love to tour up and down the West coast. I think it'd be cool to go play a bunch of islands that don't get outside live music too often, too. Also the ISS.
Q: In a parallel universe, what are you doing right this second? In life, in general?
A: I'm definitely dead. That or I have two dogs and minimoog and my life outside of that is largely the same.
Q: #1 thought that keeps you awake at night:
A: It doesn't make sense that animals are "alive." What the hell is that all about? That, or I become conscious of my breathing and that keeps me up for another hour.
Q: Where do you see yourself in 10 minutes?
A: Finishing up Nightmare on Elm Street 3. And this interview.
Q: This time [March] next year, what do you want to have accomplished? A: in my personal life, or the band?
With the band, I'd love to be working on our next album and my solo stuff. In my life, I'd love to have my new place decked out, have some terrariums built, have all my shit together. And I want to own a Bitquest by Dr. Scientist.
Q: “Why you dressed like ‘at?” -Nick
A: I gotta upstage you somehow.
Q: Parting words / closing arguments:
A: Buy our album, come see us live and follow us on social media! Also do whatever you feel in your heart.
Be sure to check Terrestrial Daydreamer for more upcoming interviews – including those of a video’d nature – as well as more behind-the-scenes intel about the Photon’s upcoming album, While We Still Have the Morning.
