interview with EOTO/String Cheese Incident’s Jason Hann

March 11, 2010 marc 1 comment

Thanks to Jason for taking the time and for being a great interview subject. Looking forward to the EOTO show in Bloomington April 25th. visit their myspace for more info on the band

full interview after the jump

MJF: the name EOTO is an acronym for End of Time Observatory – how did you come up with that?

Jason: Travis came up with End Of Time Observatory. We went through a bunch of names and that one seemed to click for both of us.

MJF: music critics are having a hard time pinning down the genre of your group: is it Breakbeat, House, Drum n Bass, Trip Hop, Electronica, Fusion, Dubstep etc. Obviously you two are very musically inclined, which contemporary artists along these genres do you two listen to to get inspired for a show?

Jason: We get a bunch of our inspiration from DJs and producers in those genres. Some of these artists include: Excision, SPL, Rusko, Nero, Datsik, Bassnectar, BT, DZ, Carl Cox, Ben Watt, Derek Carter, Dave Tipper, Shpongle, and lots more.

MJF: you’ve both played music spanning several genres, what music on your iPod would people be most surprised about?

Jason: I listen to a bunch of different stuff. Maybe the most surprising on my ipod would be: James Taylor, Phoebe Snow, Seals and Croft, Minutemen, Sonic Youth, Vinx, Dwele, D’Angelo, Brian Blade, Victor Manuelle, Karim Ziad.

MJF: having composed and studied so many different genres of music, how do you feel the improvised deconstruction of sounds has made you better as musicians?

Jason: I think it’s huge. In the world of improvisation, there’s such an emphasis on speed, fluidity of thought, harmonic tension, and how you lead other musicians and audiences in that journey. Our method of improvisation is focused more on improvising themes and song forms. It’s a tricky thought process for the solo virtuoso instrumentalist to think in terms of parts and simple melodies – most are too busy trying to “wow” the audience. One is not better than the other, but being in the mode of making up entire songs and sets, on the spot, has an amazing amount of creative reward – feeling like you’ve really explored texture and the craft of writing and improvisation.

MJF: as a fan, not just a musician, what has been your favorite concert experience?

Jason: I’m a huge Joe Zawinul fan. Seeing his band live at the Catalina Jazz club just before he passed away was one of my top concert experiences of all time. Here was this 75 year old man burning on the keys and still challenging his band to keep up. His band happened to be smoking, so those forces being at play lent itself to a phenomenal night of music.

Another was seeing Earth Wind and Fire in the early 90s down in San Diego.They made every one of my hairs stand on end the entire show. So “on” and tight at the time.

Another was when I saw Jimmy Buffet in Miami when I was around 14. It was Columbus Day and he was playing at an outdoor stadium on the water. The whole day was incredible as I went with my dad and a great crew of people on a sailboat, through Biscayne Bay, to the concert. There were hundreds of boats anchored behind the stage and everyone was swimming to each others boat to party before the show. There was also an area between the stage and the audience, that was part of the bay, and I swam there to see most of the show. Hard to beat Jimmy Buffet in a place so designed for doing his thing. At one point he turned his back on the audience, went to the rear of the stage and sang a song just for the boats on the water. That was a great concert experience.

MJF: you guys perform more or less every day. how do you like to unwind after shows to you keep your sanity with the grueling demands of touring?

Jason: Sometimes we unwind and sometimes we keep the party train rolling at an after party. All in balance, but the most important thing seems to be trying get naps in during the day- usually during the drive to the next city, or after soundcheck or dinner. That way, the show feels fresh to play and we’ve got enough energy to hang out after the show.

MJF: i’ve gotta ask: i understand SCI is reuniting for a few summer dates. the fans are really looking forward to that and i’m sure you must be too. what’s in store for those shows and what is the future of String Cheese?

Jason: Those shows are going to be epic. One weekend at Red Rocks and another at Horning’s Hideout. These were really supposed to be the first shows we were going to do since the decision not to play back in 2007. There’s still a feeling out process as to how many shows we want to play a year. The thing that was inspiring about playing Rothbury last year is that we practiced hard, knowing that we were going to have one show for the whole year. That’s a lot of pressure, especially for a touring band that likes to settle into doing shows on the road for chemistry. We felt like we delivered a high quality performance and want to do that for every show we play. Not play just a good show, but play a memorable one, and treat it as if it’s our only show. That could mean playing just a handful of shows each year, but everyone in the band is feeling like it’s about the quality and not quantity of shows.

MJF: and what else is coming down the pike for you guys?

Jason: In EOTO world, more touring is in our future. We’re always looking for more opportunities to go overseas. We think there will be a whole other level that we’ll get to once we add more international dates. If we balance things well between road time and home time, we should be able to keep rollin.

MJF: is there anything else you’d like to add or share?

Jason: People curious as to what we’ve been sounding like can go to livedownloads.com to see what we’re up to. Our sound evolves pretty quickly on tour, so people who haven’t heard us in awhile can go there to catch up.