Chicago band The Differents to release new album, will perform Nov. 21 at Schubas Tavern

By ERIC SCHELKOPF

The title of Chicago band The Differents' new album, "It's All Too Beautiful," is a nod to a band considered one of the most influential mod groups of the 1960s – Small Faces.

The Differents, which has carved out its place in the Chicago music scene, will celebrate the release of "It's All Too Beatiful" with a show Nov. 21 at Schubas Tavern, 3159 N. Southport Ave., Chicago.

The Safes, Baby Money and the Down Payments and The Marcatos also are on the bill. The show starts at 8 p.m. and tickets are $12, available at Schubas' website at lh-st.com.

I had the chance to talk to guitarist and vocalist Lou Hallwas about the new album, which will be released Nov. 23.

 

Q – Great talking to you again. Congratulations on the release of your new album, "It's All Too Beautiful." Is the album's title a reference to the song "Itchycoo Park" by Small Faces? How has that band influenced your music?

Of course! Ha ha! To me, the Small Faces were the perfect band. They just had everything!

They weren’t contrived. Their output is just incredible! Just under four years together! Insane!

Their inspiration for us is the concise songwriting. An R&B foundation – Black American Music!

No matter whom I’m influenced by, it’s going to come out like me no matter what I do, so I don’t dwell on “Am I copying so-and-so?” I just let things come and shape them as I do.

Our drummer, Dan Garrity, came up with the title and already had the album cover in mind before we even started recording! I don’t think he was aware that the lyrical content in a lot of the songs would be perfect for his vision.

I love how things like that work out. It’s going to provide returns when you don’t overthink or over-control!

Q – In sitting down to make "It's All Too Beautiful," what were your goals and do you think you accomplished them?

The goal was to record a great album. We had a few new songs and picked tunes that were in the arsenal that weren’t recorded yet and a few songs we had recorded before, but we wanted to give those a new look.

To me, ten songs is the perfect length for an album, and I think this record is just about half an hour long. We’re really gelling as a band these days!

We’ve been writing tunes together and we just need to focus and finish them. I’m more excited about getting back to recording the new stuff!

Q – The Differents have been around since the early '90s. What's the chemistry like between the members?

Dan and I have been playing together since 1994. It just works. For as different as we are as people, we have similarities and hearts that bind us together.

When we play music, it’s just total feel and instinct and we just happen to lock in together without much effort. We’ve played together long enough to trust it.

Gary Stier came in to our sphere back in 2002, I want to say. We even joined his band for a time. A few years back, Dan and I were in our usual place of needing a bass player, and he volunteered. It was a no-brainer to me.

We’re like family. We don’t take each other’s friendship for granted, even though there’s not much said about it. We have each other’s best interests at heart.

Gary got us to the next place we needed to go, and he’s a songwriter and singer himself and I look forward to him getting more of his songs in there, as well as writing tunes together.

Q – The album was recorded by Adam Yoffe, the drummer in one of your other bands, Penthouse Sweets. He also is the director of broadcast and studio operations for WBEZ, correct? What do you think he brought to the project?

I love Adam like the day is long. I would hope WBEZ loves him too!

We have an instinctual musical relationship from playing in the Penthouse Sweets together. We’re like a comedy duo sometimes. Ha ha!

I love his drumming, and he’s a great bass player too! You would think that the rhythm section would be his main focus, but he’s more well-rounded than that!

He’s such a great arranger of ideas! He really helped me trim the fat! Recording the last Penthouse Sweets record was such a joy and a really great overall experience.

It was easy to decide on Adam as the producer and engineer for our album. He’s basically the fourth member of the band on this record.

He’s playing percussion and he and I even played piano together on “Read The Rights” – he covered the bass end of things and I was in the higher registers.

Q – Speaking of Penthouse Sweets, do you think both bands complement each other? It seems like strong melodies are an important part of both bands.

I think both bands have the same focus. It’s all about the song!

It’s the song you’re serving. That’s the most important thing! Having fun with stretching out and extending things in a psychedelic manner became the playground for the Penthouse Sweets. It was a natural evolution we went with.

Andy Hansen’s songs allowed us to add or subtract things that boosted the feel of the songs he was bringing in. With The Differents, we’re still growing together. We’re all about economy – hitting and running.

Hopefully leaving people wanting to hear more. Though I’m the main songwriter in The Differents, that’s evolving too! Gary and I have been writing together, and he’s started to bring in his own tunes.

Q – Of course you are also part of a honky tonk/rockabilly band, Decoy Prayer Meeting. Does each band satisfy a different part of you?

I love to play. That’s really the bottom line. My role differs in all the bands I’ve played in.

Decoy Prayer Meeting was and is a real educational thing for me. I’m no piano player, but I can contribute to the songs we do.

I’m not flashy by any means, but I can provide solid rhythmic support as well as melodic support in the higher registers. It’s a gas to learn all of these songs by Web Pierce, Hank Cochran, Jimmy Webb, Faron Young and the like; excellent songwriting, and that’s what I’m all about trying to do and be.

A Fab Songwriter man!!!