{"id":4093,"date":"2021-07-14T18:49:13","date_gmt":"2021-07-14T22:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/315music.com\/?p=4093"},"modified":"2021-07-14T18:49:15","modified_gmt":"2021-07-14T22:49:15","slug":"interview-marco-benevento-on-his-new-quarantine-record-his-love-of-upstate-ny-gearing-up-for-the-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/315music.com\/index.php\/2021\/07\/14\/interview-marco-benevento-on-his-new-quarantine-record-his-love-of-upstate-ny-gearing-up-for-the-road\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Marco Benevento on His New Quarantine Record, His Love of Upstate NY & Gearing Up for the Road"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Editor’s note: 315 Music sat down with Woodstock resident and multi-faceted musician, Marco Benevento<\/a> on the eve of his latest release. Benevento is opening for moe.<\/a> at Apple Valley Park <\/a>in Lafayette on Aug. 8. Tickets for that show and moe.’s show the previous night are available here<\/a>. Read Sean Nevison’s interview with Marco below.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sean Nevison:<\/strong> So this all began for you at a very young age.\u00a0 Can you describe how important making music was in your formative years after you began playing piano, through high school bands and then winding up at Berklee?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marco Benevento: <\/strong>Yeah, music has always been in my life.\u00a0 Just on my own putting on headphones and playing with synths and a four-track recorder and a drum machine.\u00a0 Piano was fun but at a young age could be boring so I added everything to it with the synths and such. Then played in high school bands and really started experimenting.\u00a0 Right now I\u2019m sitting in my home studio in Woodstock as this has obviously grown, looking at 20 synthesizers and four tape machines, and a whole lot of other gear I\u2019ve collected.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I definitely fell back in love with the piano, but growing up you want those colors and sounds.  I got deep into jazz at Berklee and basically wanted to be a jazz musician. I moved into New York and met so many musicians and just played.  The jazz side escaped a little and I wound up getting into improvisational music down there and adding funk and rock and started touring and playing out a ton.  It\u2019s still evolving for me and that\u2019s what is so special about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SN: <\/strong>How important do you think it is to start young?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MB:<\/strong> That’s a good question and funny because I saw that Bill Withers didn\u2019t start playing until he was 30, so after hearing that today I was like, I guess it doesn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 It’s almost like a sport though.\u00a0 Like tennis for me, I grew up playing tennis at a young age and was really into it and even played in high school.\u00a0 Then it kind of slipped away with the music taking over my life.\u00a0 But five years ago I started playing tennis again and fell back in love, and it was easy to pick up because it was kinda ingrained in my DNA, ya know.\u00a0 So music-wise I really do think it helps with your comfort level.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So when I\u2019m playing a gig and sit at a piano, I just feel like I\u2019m in the living room on a couch with my friends.\u00a0 It feels comfortable and all the studying I did really helped.\u00a0 It\u2019s not make-or-break either way.\u00a0 There are so many songs too that aren\u2019t that hard to play, but it doesn\u2019t lessen the quality.\u00a0 I think with improvisation and jazz and all the harmonic realms, having all that from 15-21 years old really was helpful.\u00a0 So if I was learning that now it would be more difficult.\u00a0 It\u2019s like learning a language, it\u2019s easier when you are young.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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SN:<\/strong> Your own band started in 2006, can you speak to the progressions you went through as a songwriter and the various players along the way?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MB:<\/strong> I have seven studio records now and one live record. I wanted to start a band with Matt Chamberlian on drums and Reed Mathis on bass.\u00a0 I knew Matt from touring and him producing a Benevento\/Russo record.\u00a0 When working with him we went to the Club\u00a0Largo in LA and saw John Bryant play his one-man show.\u00a0 He was playing Thelonius Monk, the Stones, a crazy version of a Beatles song, and bringing in modern pop from that time period.\u00a0 I love John because of all the soundtracks he did and seeing him live was so cool.\u00a0 Then he asked Matt on stage, who in turn asked me onstage and I was just like, this is awesome!\u00a0 This is what I want to do!\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So that first record we were improvising and we had ideas for songs and that became the record Invisible Baby<\/em>.\u00a0 It was inspired by a Swedish band, Esbj\u00f6rn Svensson Trio, hugely too. Those guys are amazing. We liked what they did having jazz chops, but playing rock.\u00a0 Songs without a singer and the melody was the voice.\u00a0 So that was the beginning.\u00a0 Along with that moment at Largo, it just fell into place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then we made a couple more records of originals and covers.\u00a0 The third record was more \u201cdancy\u201d and we were playing bigger rooms by then.\u00a0 We had the stand-up dancing crowds now and we had a piano with pickups and my good ole Silvertone amp and I would trigger drum loops with pedals.\u00a0 Then we made the fourth record and Kalmia Travers from Rubblebucket sang with us and I fell in love with that idea of my lyrics being sung and then I just wanted to do that.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So on the fifth record I sang all the songs and we were just becoming more of this experimental rock band. Adding the lyrics, stories, and moods was so powerful.\u00a0 The last two records are all singing tracks with like one instrumental. We kept the jazzy vibe but it wasn\u2019t traditional so that when we play live, we sing way more now at the shows and my bass player began accompanying me as well. So as a band we just evolve and evolve.\u00a0 20 years of touring and we are still evolving together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SN:<\/strong> During the pandemic, what was it like not to be able to tour, connect to an audience and how do you feel you might have changed as a person?\u00a0 How did you use this pause in life?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MB:<\/strong> A lot of my friends had different experiences.\u00a0 Some people were miserable. Some got stuck in not the greatest places and it was so tough.\u00a0 It was situational. For me, though I was stuck on 80 acres of land here in Woodstock with peacocks, goats, chickens.\u00a0 I also have my recording studio separate from my house.\u00a0 My kids and my wife and we get along so well.\u00a0 There\u2019s a pond with a canoe.\u00a0 It couldn\u2019t have been a better place to be quarantined.\u00a0 I was nervous about getting sick and my parents’ health and obviously money not coming in.\u00a0 My family looked at it like we were all on the boat together and we said how do we make this work together.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t spend money, we stopped eating meat, we made our own bread and we saved.\u00a0 Otherwise, it felt like paradise.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was weird not seeing or playing for anyone.\u00a0 But I recorded an entirely new record.\u00a0 I\u2019m getting ready to launch that.\u00a0 I played tennis a lot with friends.\u00a0 Then I started doing outdoor deck concerts for local folks and felt that crowd energy again and that was so great.\u00a0 I fared well these last 15 months and it was definitely strange.\u00a0 I felt for my friends that couldn\u2019t play or even rehearse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also 20 years of touring, that’s a lot.\u00a0 So this was my break and I didn\u2019t have to do anything.\u00a0 Getting on an airplane, a cab, hustling from show to show\u2026 It was nice to take a break.\u00a0 I\u2019m a road junkie, don\u2019t get me wrong, I\u2019m so excited to play shows again. I did a stream with these guys called Stage It which was cool.\u00a0 You could see people commenting and encouraging you and it was pretty cool.\u00a0 You\u2019re playing and in the moment but then you see these compliments and people leaving you a tip and I thought it was a cool middle ground, but ultimately so strange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SN:<\/strong>\u00a0 Now you\u2019re going back on the road, you come up to our area playing with moe. And this all must be very exciting.\u00a0 Are you swept up in the moment as venues switch to full openings and indoor venues in the fall as well?\u00a0 Or are you still concerned with the unknowns?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MB:<\/strong> I\u2019m still a little hesitant and I worry about the variants.\u00a0 It seems like an experiment.\u00a0 We are all vaccinated, my family, my friends.\u00a0 So I feel that is good and we are headed in the right direction.\u00a0 I\u2019m hoping that as a whole, like starting with NYS at least, we will know when things are dangerous again.\u00a0 It seems looser now with all the rates down so that feels good, but packing people in a room makes me feel nervous and who knows what will happen.\u00a0 All we can do is everything we can to make it better.\u00a0 I feel like I know, with my bandmates, and we all talk all the time and we will know if we don\u2019t feel safe.\u00a0 I\u2019m so excited to play.\u00a0 We have shows booked through the spring, but us artists still don\u2019t know if all of them will happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SN:<\/strong> Can you speak about The Royal Potato Family record label you began and the relationships you have formed through that and what records you are most proud of?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MB: <\/strong>The best thing about RPF, is its total transparency between my manager and me.\u00a0 We know every cent and every effort going into the records.\u00a0 Kevin runs it and has really done great with it since we began it.\u00a0 He is so great to work with and has made some amazing records.\u00a0 It supports our community of musicians and friends and it feels like a Royal Potato Family and it brings me joy.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can go to Kevin and be like, “Let’s put out a record,” and he\u2019s like, “Cool. Simple.” It\u2019s different now. Record labels changed so much.\u00a0 But making music with your family and friends is so meaningful. Right before Needles and Nightfall<\/em> the jazz label Verve was going to do our record and it felt great, and I thought it was cool.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were courting my band and we thought it would be great, we all thought it was.\u00a0 But then radio silence. It was that time where labels were scaling down, budgets for albums were going down, in the 90\u2019s they would give you $200k to make a record. This was the beginning of them disappearing.\u00a0 So then Kevin and I just said, let\u2019s just do this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SN: <\/strong>Wearing so many hats, a more human question: As so many struggled during the pandemic, and so much was brought to light regarding social and political problems in our country, did you find yourself learning more about any certain issues or championing any causes?\u00a0 What is most important to you as a person when it may come to the challenges our country and human species faces?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MB:<\/strong> I learned so much and tuned into the world.\u00a0 I was never a \u201cnews\u201d guy. Before the pandemic, I didn\u2019t get involved.\u00a0 I am and have always been concerned about our society, but over these last 15 months, my wife and I watch Democracy Now when we cook every night.\u00a0 I watched so many moving stories.\u00a0 BLM, LGBTQ rights, the Dakota Pipelines\u2026I just feel so much more knowledgeable about what\u2019s happening.\u00a0 We did donate to voter registration causes and the fight against the pipelines.\u00a0 We really donated to those causes specifically and there are so many problems happening, but we tried to focus on a couple of specific ones that meant so much to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SN:<\/strong> You have several side projects, playing with Joe Russo as a duo and also playing with JRAD.\u00a0 What do you love about those projects? What do you find yourself listening to?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MB:<\/strong> Bustle in the Hedgerow, that\u2019s just fun, it\u2019s basically JRAD minus one guy and we play like one show a year doing these Led Zeppelin songs.\u00a0 JRAD though we had no idea it was going to get that big.\u00a0 It\u2019s a wild ride and we\u2019ve played so many cool venues.\u00a0 But I\u2019ve known Joe since seventh grade.\u00a0 But all those guys I\u2019ve played with forever.\u00a0 JRAD is a really fun thing.\u00a0 However, my focus is on writing my own music and becoming a better singer and songwriter.\u00a0 I love writing lyrics now and preparing this new record.\u00a0 It\u2019s been very exciting for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love Bowie and Kraunghbin is a favorite newer band.\u00a0 I have a huge collection of vinyl too.\u00a0 Sometimes I get really into record labels too and discover artists that way\u2026like Big Crown, Secretly Canadian, Light In The Attic. Now And Again Records is a great label.\u00a0 All sorts of stuff from Somalia, Ghana\u2026Florida, Italy, and I just love going into a record store. I love that vibe.\u00a0 I listen to Harry Styles and Billie Eilish and things like that because of my 14 and 11-year-old daughters and that\u2019s been cool too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SN:<\/strong> As an Upstate New Yorker, what do you find special about the area you live in?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MB:<\/strong> First of all the nature, the trees, the rivers, reservoirs, mountains.\u00a0 It\u2019s beautiful and picturesque.\u00a0 I mean just sitting outside seeing bald eagles.\u00a0 Even a simple thing like doing errands I am always just amazed at the beauty here year-round.\u00a0 I grew up in Northern New Jersey in the burbs.\u00a0 Being from the East Coast, I know the beauty and I love the seasons.\u00a0 I love it all and my roots are here around the Hudson River.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Musically, Woodstock has so many venues Levon\u2019s, The Colony, Cafe, The Pines, Bearsville Theater, and more and there are amazing recording studios up here as well.\u00a0 It\u2019s a musician’s paradise.\u00a0 Coming into this scene, I was like, “Oh, dude you are here, let\u2019s do something.\u201d\u00a0 I immediately recorded with AC Newman of The New Pornographers, and Amy Helm, right when Levon passed.\u00a0 So posthumously I am on a song with him on drums and it was unreal.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We did anti-fracking benefits and really got involved in the community.\u00a0 Then you have John Medeski and Donald Fagan and Larry Campbell and it\u2019s like everyone can play and sing.\u00a0 That was helpful for me to feel confident about singing.\u00a0 If you live in Woodstock you sing.\u00a0 Otherwise, people look at you funny, haha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SN: <\/strong>Can you give any hints about your new record or is it top secret?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MB: <\/strong>No, I\u2019d love to answer that.\u00a0 It\u2019s a crazy experimental record.\u00a0 It was like me playing the piano to a drum machine, then a song with me singing, then an experimental one with drum machines.\u00a0 It\u2019s a weird home recording record with all the worlds you want.\u00a0 You can dance to it, and I think it\u2019s a record that you can listen to front to back and really enjoy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SN:<\/strong> Ok, now to end with a couple of fun ones:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a fan of music, what would be your dream moment if you could teleport through time and drop into any concert or musical moment ever whether as an audience member or to join the band\/music going on?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MB: <\/strong>Wow. I thought about this the other day.\u00a0 I wish I was at Trident Studios in London when Bowie was recording those two records, Ziggy Stardust or Hunky Dory.\u00a0 Man, that woulda been the place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SN:<\/strong> As a father do you have something that you bonded with your children?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MB: <\/strong>The Simpsons!\u00a0 They love the Simpsons.\u00a0 I love that I turned them onto the Simpsons.\u00a0 I love that at one point they were like oh it\u2019s kinda an old show, but then they came back to it. Now, they love it again and we watch it together.\u00a0 Even the current episodes are awesome.\u00a0 My oldest always brings up that the Simpsons predicted the future and we have fun talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out Benevento’s video for “Let It Slide” from 2019 below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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