Re-published from southlandserenade.com.
By: Diane Gershuny
Ironically, The Record Company Agreement, doesn’t have a record label behind them, but that minor snafu hasn’t served as a speed bump for this newly formed, LA-based band. TRC takes its musical cues from the electrified, rough ‘n’ tumble resonance of classic Chicago blues artists ala Muddy Waters and Jimmy Reed, with a tip o’ the hat to early rock ’n’ roll renegades such as Chuck Berry and Freddy Cannon, and a dash of modern roots rumblings from bands like The Black Keys.
Comprised of Chris Vos (vocals, guitar, pedal steel, lap steel), Alex Stiff (bass, vocals, piano) and Marc Cazorla (drums, vocals, piano), the trio has rustled up a slew of impressive gigs, from a month-long residency at the Harvard & Stone in Hollywood, to upcoming festival slots at the Silverlake Jubilee and the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal this summer.
With their first indie 45 due out on Record Store Day in late April, look for a subsequent single this summer, followed by a full-length outing later in the year.
We traded Q&A’s with frontman Chris Vos.
Diane: What’s the genesis of the band; how did you come together?
Chris: When I first moved to Los Angeles two years ago, I didn’t know anybody, so I put up an ad on Craigslist in hopes of finding a bass player. The ad caught the attention of Alex, who just happened to be looking around on Craigslist. He liked the list of influences so he gave me a call. We didn’t end up playing together then, but we did end up hanging out a lot listening to records on the weekend. Marc and Alex have been friends since college so I met Marc through Alex on our weekend hangouts. Whenever we’d get together, we noticed that we all had a tendency to want to listen to old Chicago/Detroit blues and early rock’n’roll. One late, drunken evening we were listening to Hooker N’ Heat, which is a John Lee Hooker record with Canned Heat, and we decided that we wanted to play something that drew from that kind of a vibe.
How about the band name… What’s the story?
We started recording the first day we got together last October, and as a matter of fact, one of those songs will be the B-side to our first 45. Once we had been recording for a couple of weeks we started to realize that we needed a name because our sound was clearly coming into definition. However, we didn’t want to rush the band name. Our solution was to make lists of horribly embarrassing names until we found the correct one. Nothing was working and I really thought we were never going to find the right name for what we were doing. Alex texted me one night when I was out to dinner with my wife and said he had come up with a simple name that nobody was using. He wrote, “Band name search over.” So I replied, “Oh yeah, what is it?” He then wrote, “The Record Label Contract.” My reply? “Done.”
Tell me a bit about your musical background.
I actually grew up in Wisconsin and was raised on a dairy farm in the southeastern corner of the state. My whole family is very musical, so I was exposed to it from way back as something that brought people/families together. My mom would put on her old 33′s or my Dad would have a cassette playing in the tractor cab while we would work a field, so I loved music from my earliest memory. Moving to Milwaukee for college, I got into bands and toured from there for a long time before moving to LA.
Are you able to make a living making music?
I would love to say that I make music full-time, as my whole life revolves around it. Currently, I play, teach guitar/voice, and also work for an awesome company called Real Rock N Roll Movers that hires only musicians. There’s nothing like lifting a couch and carrying it up three flights of stairs to make you feel like writing a tune!
How would you define The Record Company’s sound?
I guess I’d describe us as more ‘roll’ than ‘rock’… kinda like Boogie Blues and Sock Hop music. A couple of my all-time favorite artists are Jimmy Reed and Muddy Waters. I love the Muddy Waters’ “Hard Again” period, and all the records that followed. That was the first blues record I ever owned and it got me hooked immediately. I also love the sounds from Detroit like John Lee Hooker. Chess Records is very sacred to me, as is all the music that came out of the Midwest from that early electric era. Music from all those artists and eras are a huge influence on us as a band, too.
We also listen to a lot of early rock and roll. We are currently doing a cover of Freddy Cannon’s “Tallahassee Lassie” because we love that raw, early rock sound so much.
Do you write collectively as a band? What inspires the music, is it a lick or lyric?
I will usually come in with an idea for a tune—with or without lyrics—and then we turn it into something that is reflects us all. The music is almost always inspired by our late night sessions, after a couple of beers and listening to records, but it is also just something that happens from a wanting to play new tunes all the time. Nothing beats the thrill of having a new recording finished for us, so we’re constantly trying to create new music to play. Lyrics, for me, have to come from a place inside where you have a story or statement that needs to get out. I love listening to lyrics; they always elevate my attachment to any song.
What recordings does the band currently have available?
We have a 45 that we’ll be releasing on Record Store Day, April 21st, at High Fidelity Records on Hillhurst. It features an up-tempo number on the A-side called “Don’t Let Me Get Lonely,” with a slinkier track called “Born Unnamed” on the B-side.
Right now we have 16 songs recorded—14 originals and 2 covers—and are adding more all the time, so another 45 will follow soon with a full-length, to be called Super Dead, out later in the year. Our 45s are available at our gigs or as digital downloads on our website.
Both of the covers just kind of happened on days that we were in the studio. I was messing around with Jimmy Reed’s “Bright Lights, Big City” and the guys liked the way it sounded. We had never played that song before, but liked the sound of it in playback so we decided to mix it down. We also recorded a cover of “Tallahassee Lassie” by Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon that is a live staple of ours.
How extensive has TRC toured to date? Was SXSW the first big outing?
SXSW was the first time that we’ve taken this band out of state. We formed in October of 2011, so we haven’t been around that long as a group. We played our first show this past January 5th at Harvard and Stone. It was awesome to pack up the Jeep and roll down to Austin. Each of us has done a lot of touring with other groups in the past, and we will definitely be doing more of this over the remainder of the year.
What’s on the horizon?
Releasing the 45 will be sweet! We have some gigs, too, that I’m really looking forward to! We’re booked at Pappy and Harriet’s in Pioneertown (4/12), as well as for the Moon Block Party over Coachella weekend in Palm Springs (4/14). We have a residency at Harvard and Stone in Hollywood every Tuesday in May, and we’re on the bill at the Silverlake Jubilee (5/26), which we are psyched to be playing! I used to live on Lucile when I first moved here, so playing that festival was something I’ve wanted to do since my first days in LA.
The band is also confirmed for the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal in June, and we couldn’t be more excited about it. We’ve just signed the contracts so we’ll be announced as a performer soon.
I am really thankful to be playing out here in LA with this band, and really appreciate all the new people I have met.
http://www.facebook.com/therecordcompany
