As a follow up to my previous post on Ten Ton Man, I had the pleasure of interviewing the frontman and creator of the gritty Americana trio, Paul Livornese. Known for his signature baritone vocals and bowler hat, Paul happily regaled me with his stories of how he came about forming the band and how their sound has evolved over the past three years. Surprisingly, Paul comes across as a very upbeat and positive, very much unlike his dark song themes of depression, inebriation and revenge. Read further to follow the journey that the three Pauls of Ten Ton Man have taken through their last three years together all the way to their forthcoming album, expected later this year.
AL: What is the meaning behind your band name, Ten Ton Man?
TTM: Originally we were called Rocco’s Midlife Crisis. I had reached the age where I was looking for something to be personally passionate about after the death of my father. Out rang the “Life is too short” mantra. I was feeling very overwhelmed during that time with a lot of responsibility to make sure my father passed with love and dignity.
I rediscovered creating music as my therapy and revisited my guitar and started writing. I needed that spark to give me personal creative fulfillment and I had a lot to express. It was a heavy time. Ten Ton Man became that metaphor that resonated with me, and the band for our name.
Not to bring anyone down but that’s how it all happened. I am generally a very happy, optimistic person.
AL: Who or what are you biggest inspirations for your music?
TTM: I didn’t really find the music and storytelling of Johnny Cash until my 40s. Of course I was aware of his work. I did a Johnny Cash deep dive. I couldn’t believe I never gravitated to his work before that. Tom Waits got me through a divorce and I found his work and his sound to be very unique and liked how something so fresh to me—Swordfish Trombones, Franks Wild Years, Bone Machine, etc.—sounded so timeless. As a kid growing up I always was listening to the bands creating music to a different beat—early Todd Rundgren, 10cc—while one foot was always in the rock world. I was always a big Jimmy Page admirer and when the Clash broke out, I couldn’t get enough of them. I don’t really listen to one genre but appreciate and take note of things that I’m attracted to.
The fundamental process of creating music is really the driving inspiration for playing and recording and because the inspiration comes from a lot of different places, I sometimes have a hard time describing our own sound. Right now, we’re sticking with “Gritty Americana”.
AL: Your music seems to be very lyrically driven, telling personal life stories. Would you say the lyrics shape the melody more than vice versa? How do you typically go about writing a song?
TTM: The process, for me, is very organic. I’ll play guitar, work on some interesting rhythmic patterns, work out the structure of the music. Sometimes it’s with lyrics or a line in my head. The lyrics come to me almost as poetry. I’ll come up with a phrase, write a story around it. My emotions come in play and I’ll want to write about how I’m feeling or a story that happened in my life.
In a song like “Dearly” I was thinking about how I had been pushed out of a band situation due to a relationship forming in the band. A band I had written most of the material for, and all of a sudden, the two went on their own way. It’s my revenge song loosely based on how I felt, maybe somewhat exaggerated but it makes a good story.
When I get comfortable with what I have down, the lyrics and demos get presented to the rest of the band, Paul Dugan and Paul Triff, and from there they really help put the meat on the bones. The end result is truly a band effort.
AL: How has your music evolved since your debut self-titled album in 2012? Is there any particular track(s) that you would say best represents the Ten Ton Man sound?
TTM: In 2012, we had all just met. We were playing the songs live in NYC. We went into the recording studio really not knowing what the end product was going to be until we got down to working on the basic tracks. Needless to say it had exceeded my expectations not having been in the studio for a number of years.
We were lucky enough to have Kelly Pratt play some trumpet on “Yes Sir” and “Fall Down”. He’s played in Beirut and Arcade Fire and most recently arranged the brass parts for David Byrne and St. Vincent’s album “Love this Giant”. It really added to the TTM vibe.
From that album there are a few tracks that really represent our vision, “Dearly” and “Ditty” for sure. After that recording, I realized how to use everyone’s talents better. I was better informed. Now when I write the material, I know what each person can contribute and keep their talents in mind.
I think listeners will hear an evolution in the songwriting and how we put together the music. Everything we’ve learned with the past recordings will help push and evolve our sound. We definitely like the brass parts and are going to incorporate more of that. But we also think the way we used banjo and accordion have a place too moving forward. We definitely like creating organic textures.
AL: I read in your recent Huffington Post article, “Striking the Right Chord by Starting a Band after 50”, that you came to pursue music later in life and that all your band members are over the age of 50. What drives you to keep making records?
TTM: It really is the need to be creatively fulfilled. It was something that was missing for me for many years and wherever this music takes me, it has been so far, my greatest personal creative achievement.
AL: Tell us about your latest track “Mary”, the first single from your upcoming new album. This is an upbeat rock song but with an obvious dark theme of dealing with a “drunken lover”. Was this juxtaposition intentional?
TTM: The latest song Mary, were some basic tracks leftover from our first album’s recordings. We had some time and I wanted to complete the song. Whether it makes it onto the next album or not will remain to be seen on how it fits into the landscape of the rest of the songs. It’s not a typical TTM sound but we had fun doing it. The final touches were inspired by “Last Train to Clarksville” with its upfront tambourines in the recording, and the heavy bass lines in “Hang on Sloopy”. Thank you Little Steven’s Underground Garage. It was a long drive and a great playlist.
As for the juxtaposition, you are completely correct! “Mary” was certainly a very fun person to be with. A wild partier, an all night rager, but it was an unsustainable relationship. I couldn’t move my life forward stuck in that environment. All that partying and dealing with her got very tired. I was trying to represent her in the music and my frustrations in the lyrics. The name has been changed to protect the guilty.
AL: What can Ten Ton Man fans look forward to in the coming year?
TTM: I think the ideas that are unfolding for the songs being crafted for the upcoming album, will really solidify our sound. I think the story telling is stronger, the way we weave our parts together and the arrangements have all evolved. We have a couple of years under our belts playing together. I think fans will really enjoy what’s in store.
Creating compelling videos has also been a big part of what we do. There will be more of that. The ND article about us really got me stoked with the headline, “The Surreal World of Ten Ton Man” and the write up about our videos.
And lastly we’d like to tour and bring our live show out to more locations. That would be one of our goals after we release the album. To play live for everyone who has supported our music along this journey.
You can find more information on Ten Ton Men at TenTonMan.com.
