Posted 4 weeks ago
5 Questions For... The Grownup Noise!
Once upon a time, if you asked me what The Grownup Noise was, I probably would have said, “You mean the sound the adults make on Charlie Brown?” Now enlightened and a better person for it, I now know that The Grownup Noise is a Boston based band that’s played with people like Kay Hanley from Letters to Cleo and whose music has appeared on MTV’s Real World (I was told, not as background music of a bar fight).
Paul Hansen (vocals/guitar), Adam Sankowski (bass), Katie Franich (cello), and Kyle Crane (drums) make what Paul describes as “off-kilter pop music; catchy but earthy and sincere.” Having seen them more this year than some of my blood relatives, I can tell you that their chemistry on stage leaves you walking out of their concerts with a perma-smile. Added bonus— not only are they a talented band, they’re eco-friendly too! For the past 2 summers they’ve toured around in a converted van that runs on veggie oil (which you can totally read about on The Organic Mechanic Blog).
I recently had a chance to ask Paul a few questions and he filled me in on how the group got their name and, oh yeah, why they were accidently hiding from the police this past summer (also has nothing to do with a bar fight).
I feel like I’ve searched high and low.. and by searched I mean on Google.. but I can’t figure it out. Where does your band name come from? And were there any other names you guys threw around before settling on The Grownup Noise?
Our name is the result of a free association game, with some alcohol involved. When I saw the three words scribbled on a piece of paper, it made sense. For me, it means all the things that bog you down as you grow up; bills, aging, death and taxes, random depression and useless competition. So it’s about fighting against ‘the grownup noise’.
Other people have a totally different interpretation, which is great. Before that, we were nameless for awhile, but not called ‘Nameless’.
Who writes the songs in the group?
Me (Paul) actually, the tall goofy guy. I give birth to our babies and then we all raise them up together, hopefully to be productive members of society. If they don’t, we lock them up in our basement and never speak of them again.
Following your Twitter account this summer, it seemed like your veggie van had some issues. Any crazy tour/van stories?
For an afternoon we were fugitives from the law! We weren’t aware that our tank had a crack in it and our van leaked used veggie oil all over a Taco Bell parking lot. And umm…we kinda fled the scene. But we made good and came back and cleaned it all up.
You toured all over the US this summer (20+ dates in just a little over a month), where were your favorite places to play?
Minneapolis, MN and Tucson, AZ were surprise hits. And of course L.A.’s ‘Spaceland’ was exciting to play.
Name three musicians that we should be listening to but probably aren’t. Guided by Voices, Brakes, Brakes, Brakes, and Boston’s own ‘Mission of Burma’
Diggin’ The Grownup Noise? They’ll be playing at TT the Bear’s this Saturday (10/24) as part of the RSL Music Blog’s 3rd Anniversary Party. Not in Boston? They’ve got 3 new tunes (and some old ones too) on their MySpace and of course you can track them on our site to get info on their latest tour dates as soon as they’re announced.
