UMPHREY'S MCGEE ON AUGUST 23RD 91.9 WFPK Presents Umphrey's McGee - On
sale 3/22 at 11AM
August 23rd as part of the Coors Light Iroquois Amphitheater Concert
Series
Produced by Emporium Presents and Production Simple
The music of Umphrey’s McGee unfolds like an unpredictable
conversation between longtime friends. Its six participants—Brendan
Bayliss [guitar, vocals], Jake Cinninger [guitar, vocals], Joel
Cummins [keyboards, piano vocals], Andy Farag [percussion], Kris Myers
[drums, vocals], and Ryan Stasik [bass]—know just how to communicate
with each other on stage and in the studio. A call of progressive
guitar wizardry might elicit a response of soft acoustic balladry, or
a funk groove could be answered by explosive percussion. At any
moment, heavy guitars can give way to heavier blues as the boys
uncover the elusive nexus between jaw-dropping instrumental virtuosity
and airtight song craft.
The conversation continues on their eleventh full-length album, it’s
not us [Nothing Too Fancy Music]—which was released January 12,
2018. “It represents the band, because it basically runs the gamut
from prog rock to dance,” says Brendan. “We’ve mastered our ADD
here. The record really shows that.” “No matter what you’re
into, there’s something on it’s not us that should speak to
you,” agrees Joel. “This is a statement album for Umphrey’s
McGee. The sound is as fresh as ever. The songs are strong as
they’ve ever been. We’re always pushing forward.”
It’s also how the band is celebrating its 20-year anniversary.
Instead of retreading the catalog, they turn up with a pile of new
tunes. “It’d be easy to play the hits from our first five or ten
years,” continues Joel. “We’ve never been a band to rest on our
laurels though. New music is key to our continued development. We’re
known as a strong live band, but we take so much pride in our writing.
This album distinguishes us because the focus is on that writing.”
Appropriately, this idea gestated on a sunny May afternoon at Wrigley
Field. Six months before The Cubs won their first World Series since
1908, Brendan took in a game on a rare day off. “I can pinpoint the
actual a-ha moment,” Brendan goes on. “My wife was out. My kids
were at daycare. I walked to Wrigley, bought a standing room ticket,
and enjoyed the game. Halfway through it, I thought to myself, ‘If
we can get into the studio by the end of the year, we can have a brand
new record.’ That’s where it all started.”Bringing things full
circle, Umphrey’s McGee entered I.V. Labs Studio in Chicago ready
(and maybe a little hungover) a week after that historic game seven.
For the first time since recording Local Band Does O.K. in 2002, five
of the six members roomed together in a rental condo with Brendan
staying a stone’s throw away at home. “We would wake up, bounce
ideas off each other, and go to the studio together,” recalls Joel.
“We did all of this as a unit. There was something really special
about our group ethos coming together for this project. We decided to
go in for a week, live, eat, and breathe Umphrey’s McGee. It’s the
most fun we’ve had in the studio. It really was a blast. Having that
camaraderie was really cool.”
That camaraderie shines through in their inimitable interplay, which
finds them at the pinnacle of their craft and groove as a band. That
chemistry defines the approach—which sees Umphrey’s McGee hone
their songwriting to its sharpest point to date. “I feel like
we’re getting better and better at writing succinct, concise musical
pieces,” Brendan elaborates. “When we started out, we were trying
to figure out how to fill time. We didn’t have much of a catalog, so
we had to extend things and repeat parts in order to make up space.
Since our catalog is so big now, we don’t feel the need to make
everything ten minutes long. We’ve really trimmed the fat.
Everything seems to be the right length.”
It’s definitely the case with the first single from it’s not us
“The Silent Type.” Powered by a bombastic beat, funkified rhythms,
fiery fretwork, and a chantable refrain, this anthem introduces it’s
not us with a bright and brilliant bang. “It’s super simple,”
explains Brendan. “This character is in the wrong place at the wrong
time making the wrong decisions. Everybody has to deal with
temptation. That’s a part of life. This guy goes out, and he blows
it after a girl offers him a cigarette. You see it all the time.”
“Half Delayed” builds from airy guitar into an iridescent refrain
that serves as “a reminder to stop and smell the roses.”
Meanwhile, the bass strut, anthemic beat production, and percussive
wallop of “Looks” could be the love child of Nine Inch Nails and
Talking Heads. Then, the metallic shredfest outro of “Remind Me”
bleeds effortlessly into the gorgeous acoustic love song “You & You
Alone.” “We called the record it’s not us, because it’s really
not about us,” adds Joel. “This is for the fans.” Over 2,200
gigs and 5 million tracks sold later, they’ve enjoyed countless
milestones. 2002 saw them perform at the first-ever Bonnaroo and sell
more CDs than any other act on the bill. They became the “first
group to launch its own single artist streaming service” with
UMLive.net, which houses recordings of every gig since 2005. The
service has since grown and now lives on through Nugs.net, which is
used by the likes of Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen and more. They
recorded ten tracks in one day at Abbey Road for The London Session in
2015. Notably, 2016’s ZONKEY mashed-up the strangest of bedfellows
into a critically acclaimed collection that unites Radiohead and Beck,
The Weeknd and Fleetwood Mac, Talking Heads and Bob Marley, Metallica
and Gorillaz, and more.
That adventurousness extends to their legendary audience immersion
experiences. From their initial bar gigs in 1998 to three-nights
playing to packed crowds at the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre in
2017, the group have simultaneously remained intensely committed to
their fans. Beyond intimate backstage encounters and ski trips with
their most diehard fans, Umphrey’s McGee instituted the
groundbreaking “Headphones & Snowcones” program, granting fans
access to professional headphones and a soundboard-quality mix at
shows. At their UMBowl, they empowered the audience to vote on the
setlist in real-time and choose favorite improv themes via text
message. In 2017, they stepped into another realm altogether by
integrating themselves into the VR Platform Endless Riff.
Most recently, Umphrey’s McGee dropped a 10-track surprise album,
it’s you, which serves as a companion piece to it’s not us. The
band's virtuosity and encyclopedic knowledge of diverse styles is
front and center once again, punctuated with snarling guitar riffs and
teeming with crisp acoustics. By harnessing the world-class
musicianship and energy of their live performances into the precision
of their studio craft, it’s you encapsulates a range that is rarely
found in a single band. From the fresh and vibrant opening single
“Triangle Tear”, to the ACDCinspired rhythm chiming through
“Attachments”, to the iridescent personal tune “Push & Pull,”
the album offers something for Umphrey’s McGee’s legion of fans
and newcomers alike. “It was almost like we had two of
everything,” said Joel. “I feel like “You & You Alone” [from
it’s not us] and “Push & Pull” [from it’s you] are these kind
of nice, more pastoral, acoustic-based songs. We have “Dark Brush”
[it’s not us] and “Nether” [it’s you] these sort of heavier,
more aggressive pieces of music. Once we got to the point where we
decided we were gonna do two, we felt like we wanted to break these up
so that there was a balance between the two albums. “Speak Up”
[it’s not us] is something that’s a little bit funkier and
dancier. I don’t know if we really have something that goes along
with that on the new one but with “Hanging Chads” you can tell
that we’re having a good time being ridiculous in the studio. It’s
just nice that there’s an element of levity there. This is 20 years
into Umphrey's McGee, and not only do we have one new album of music,
we have two albums of music. We’re more fired up than we ever have
been about the stuff that we’re putting out.”
“There’s something uniquely Umphrey’s McGee that could never be
mistaken for another band,” Joel concludes. “I hope it makes
people think a little bit or shed a tear or two. Maybe, you smile or
laugh. Life is hard. We still believe music can heal and motivate.”
“We’re here,” Brendan leaves off. “We’re not going anywhere.
We’re starting to find our identity. I think if you give it a
chance, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”
music
1552
Views
24/08/2019 Last update