On The Road With JamBase: The Weather Underground
Are you ready for the next Cold War Kids or Kings Of Leon? The Weather Underground tap that same vibe and are sitting right there on the edge of something big. This L.A. quartet is just one break away from busting out of bars and into beautiful theaters. That’s not to say folks aren’t already taking notice. The band’s passionate shows, ability to write a hook, and impressive albums (check out their Bird In The Hand EP released through reapandsow earlier this year) have already earned them slots at the High Sierra and Bonnaroo Music Festivals, but one gets the sense that the best is certainly yet to come. Named after the revolutionary late '60s and early '70s counterculture icons the Weathermen, the band pays homage to heroes like Neal Cassady, Bob Dylan and Jack Kerouac with absolute sincerity. This might just be the Weather Underground’s secret weapon: In a world where sarcastic, cooler-than-thou, pretentious pricks are rising up the not-so-indie rock ladder, the Weather Underground are honest, down to earth, good dudes who talk about love as they let their hearts bleed for all to see. Oh yeah, and they’re just a damn good band who kill it night after night. The Weather Underground is on tour now, dates available at JamBase.com.
Name: Harley Prechtel-Cortez
Band(s):The Weather Underground
Instrument(s): Lead Vocals/Guitar/Piano/Harmonica/Balladry of the unwanted and unkempt
Nicknames: Huck, Haz, Hi-Fi, Harlito, H.P., and Mono (monkey in Spanish)
Place You Call Home: Los Angeles, CA
Last album to flip your lid: The National’s The Boxer
Album you always take on tour: Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited
What would someone always find in your van or tour bus?
Lots of random books, notebooks, loads and loads of music, socks, toothbrushes, phone chargers are really vital.
What personal rituals do you have to help keep your sanity while on tour?
We invent stories about certain lives of people in certain towns that we’ve never met before and give them names, a love life and a residential address. We later miss them and hope to visit them again soon.
Speaking of rituals, does the band have a pre-show ritual to help prepare for the stage?
1. We make sure everyone has used the bathroom for all its purposes.
2. Jameson on the rocks or hot tea (Yerba Mate) for dry climates.
3. A Bad joke (to ease the nerves).
Usually in that order… but not always.
Audiences come in all shapes and sizes. What's the screwiest fan encounter you've had?
The screwiest encounter by far is when a guy ripped off our suitcase with all our merch in it and we chased him down. Ryan [Kirkpatrick – bass] caught him and we talked to him and later had drinks with him and believe it or not he has become one of our best friends ever since.
What's a great, positive fan encounter you've had?
One of the most positive experiences is when a certain fan, who now has become like a band surrogate mother, brought the whole band a pair of shoes. She’s an amazing fan and she owns a shoe store. When we meet fans we’ve never met who are genuinely affected by what we do it is quite humbling, especially when on the road.
What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen from the stage while performing?
In a forest, a couple consummating our set whilst a flame thrower shot six foot flames in the air and a silver painted women danced feverishly. This was not a hallucination, I promise.
What’s the first thing you like to do after a show?
Drink water, wash the face and talk with the band about the sound.
Tell us about a great road food stop you've discovered in your travels.
There is a place in Tucson down the street from the Hotel Congress where the pancakes are as big as trash can lids. I don’t know the name of the place but the waiter treated our hangover blues with the right remedies. It was our last show on tour and the breakfast of champions that one was.
If I weren't a musician I'd probably be a (fill in the blank) because (fill in the blank).
If I weren't a musician I'd probably be a Shoe Maker. I would live in a villa in Italy and write about my life in shorthand whilst I make shoes for my lovely wife and twelve children.
(Fill In the Blank) is the baddest motha on the planet.
The Three Lees (Arthur Lee, Bruce Lee, and Lee Scratch Perry) are the baddest mothas on the planet.
Your band mates will often reveal strange things about themselves during a tour. What stuff have your fellow musicians shown you that took you aback or delighted you? Feel free to change the names to protect group unity!
Chip is a reverend. Chad likes women taller than him. Chet is addicted to social networks and gossip sites. Chandler worked at a woman’s department store, for kicks.
Name a few things we'd find on your rider.
Sierra Nevada, vegetarian food, red wine, Jameson, water, Pico de Gallo, Tapatio, tea, a few sauce pans BUT... we’re very content with what we usually get: water and the cheap beer.
What was the musical highlight of your last or current tour and why?
At SXSW there were great people there to see us and amazing souls we got to play for. We got to hang out with some of the bands and musicians that we admire and to do so on such equal footing was very special to us.
Get more at JamBase.com…
I am so stoked to see them! just went to their site and saw that they are coming to Georgia!!