By ERIC SCHELKOPF
Conor and Ryan Ashe have come a long way since they first saw the movie "School of Rock."
The movie inspired the brothers to put together a band. Their current band, Common Allies, has a new EP and will perform May 11 as part of an EP release party at The Original Mother's, 26 W. Division St., Chicago.
Captain Coopersmith also is on the bill.
I had the chance to talk to Common Allies singer/songwriter Conor Ashe about the new EP.
Q - What were your goals for completing your EP and do you think you accomplished them?
When
we were discussing an EP release, I didn't know if we would have enough
time to make our dreams a reality. However, with the show at Mother's
coming up, I figured we could push to make it an unforgettable event for
the band and all those associated with it.
Whenever we manage to get in
to the studio, time is of the essence. We needed to make sure to
operate on an efficient schedule, all while ensuring that our songs were
materializing in the way I initially planned from the second I first
began humming the basic melody in my head.
We went in with the intention
of recording a five song EP, which would authentically and stylistically
convey what it is that we have to offer as both musicians and
songwriters. I would definitely say that we accomplished these goals,
for we were all more than satisfied with the outcome.
Q - What is it about "School of Rock" that made you want to start a band?
Funny
you should mention that movie. I love it and have always loved it!
"School of Rock" was the musically inclined "Rocky" for my brother and
me.
We were only in middle school when it was released and were still
very impressionable. It inspired us to no end because the characters
were exactly like we were. They were unremarkable, conventional,
ordinary grammar school kids, whose greatest concern was fitting in with
others.
At least, this was the case at face value. Once exposed to an
expansive list of game-changing rock 'n' roll classics by the illustrious
Ned Shneebly, the kids established community with one another as well as
personal identity.
The realization that something as seemingly simple
as music could accomplish this blew us away. As preteens, we didn't
realize all of the great music we were missing out on, due to limited
access to millennial audiences.
There seems to still be a misconception
that younger generations won't have any appreciation for genres and
artists that brought popular music to the forefront. I can't understand
this! The second we heard groups such as Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Crosby
Stills and Nash, and Led Zeppelin, our lives would never be the same
again.
What we ultimately took from "School of Rock" was the fact that,
if you are truly passionate about anything you do, you will thrive at
it, regardless of who you are or how others perceive you. Plus, we
associated the guitar with being cool.
We wanted to be among the cool
guys who played the guitar!
Q - What was it like opening for Huey Lewis and The News as Runaway Freight Train, and what did you learn from this experience?
Man,
what a blast from the past! Yeah, we were awarded that slot at
Naperville's Rib Fest after taking first place in the local battle of
the bands way back in 2009. Runaway Freight Train was more or less a fun
after-school activity.
Four close friends with a similar taste in music
got together once a week to learn and rehearse a plethora of classic
rock covers akin to what's played daily on Chicago's Top 40 "rock
classics" stations. In retrospect, we probably wouldn't touch most of
the material we covered back then nowadays!
We had a few sub-par but
catchy party rock originals. My brother and I were still building our
musical identities at that point and being able to perform on the main
stage in front of a wide array of people was the opportunity of a
lifetime!
Given an event like Ribfest's multitude of offerings for
entertainment, we were just excited that people were choosing to listen
to us. The crowd reception was great and their energy definitely rubbed
off on all of us.
We each got a little more experience with a
professionally executed stage setup and truly learned the importance of
engaging with the audience. A performance is a social event and there
needs to be less of a divide between the performers and the listeners.
A
bridge in the gap, if you will.
Q - What do you think of the Chicago music scene and where do you think you fit into it?
This
is a great and yet puzzling question. I will do my best to effectively
express my thoughts! The music market in Chicago is like any other,
saturated.
The behemoth that is Chicago is naturally the home of myriad
painters, actors, comedians, and musicians, all of whom have the same
goal in mind; to stand out from the rest. My brother and I had a
conversation not too long ago with Erich Awalt, one of the founding
members of the '90s nu metal outlet, Disturbed.
He helped to shed some
light on the matter from his experiences. According to him, before the
evolution of technology and skyrocketing increase in accessibility,
original music had more prominence in the Chicago scene.
Now, with an
even larger and more diverse population, more people than ever are
producing their own music. I'm not trying to sound condescending here,
but a considerable sum of these individuals have the means to do this,
but don't necessarily have the talent or creativity.
As a result, those
who frequent venues with live music assess risk in going out to see an
act they've never heard of perform. There's tons of terrific new
underground local music in Chicagoland. However, at this point, it
seems like the casual concert goers prefer what's familiar to them.
Therefore, the Chicago music scene is full of tribute bands, many of
which take precedent over a group who plays original material for a
given weekend slot. I should know, my brother and I are also in a Janis
Joplin Tribute band and venues don't think twice before booking us when
we reach out to them.
Yet, when I'm trying to break into a new venue
with Common Allies, they will proceed with caution and ask us to provide
a great deal of information to ensure that we can meet their
expectations and actually keep an audience's attention. So, after all of
that rambling, this brings me to your question of where we fit into the
Chicago scene.
Unfortunately, I don't quite know. Chicago has loads to
offer in hip hop, blues, funk, and jazz. We're a singer-songwriter jam
trio with roots in the psychedelic '60s, both in America and Europe.
I'm
sure there's room for us somewhere in the Chicago scene. However, once
we get enough of a following to start touring, we may find that there's
more of a demand for what we do elsewhere.
At this point in time, the
sky is the limit!
Q - Who are your major musical influences and how have they shaped your music?
This
is a question that I love being asked, yet is so hard to answer! I
typically keep the list to a top three. Among the big three would have to be
Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead, and The Beatles, with Pink Floyd at the
top.
The Grateful Dead taught us that each musician in a given group is
just as important as the next. Each performer must be in tune with the
others and should never try to make it about him or herself.
The Beatles
inspired us to write music that dabbles in many different genres,
placing emphasis on explosive instrumentation and to use vocal harmony
to make it sound its absolute best. Pink Floyd taught us the most
important lesson of all, take a chance and be weird. Write music that
challenges conventions and embraces the unique.
They taught us not to be
afraid to express our darkest feelings, even if it may make the
audience feel a bit uncomfortable. There's always a light at the end of
the tunnel and we never hesitate to express this in an eruption of an
instrumental climax.
We want to do more than perform our recordings for
people. We want to provide a true escape into the most hauntingly
beautiful areas of the mind's domain.
I'd like to think that we've
started to do this, but we still have a hell of a long way to go.
Q - What are your short term/long term goals?
I'll
keep it simple. For the short term, we just want our music to be heard.
For the long term, my brother and I want to play music for a living.
It's what we've always wanted to do and it's a journey upon which we're
currently embarking.
We've gained and we've lost. Each loss has been a
blessing in disguise, for we've bounced back a bit stronger with each
fall. I don't know what the future holds, but with enough determination,
I can say confidently that it looks bright.
