411Music Exclusive Interview: Dub Trio

Posted by Tim Johnson on 05.26.2006

Want Mike Patton on your album? Just ask.

Back in the early part of May, I had the pleasure of speaking to two-thirds of the rising band, Dub Trio. I was originally slated to interview drummer, Joe Tomino, but guitarist, Dave Holmes, happened to be in the right place at the right time.

My conversation with the "duo of dub" lasted about a half hour, and we touched on everything from the creative process, the role of "dub" in today's music scene, and what it's like to work (or not work) with Mike Patton.

Joe and Dave are a couple of down to earth guys, and their band is going places. Fast.

Jump on the bandwagon, and check out the exclusive interview here at 411mania.com!

Tim Johnson: Joe, how ya doin?

Joe Tomino: I'm well man, how are you?

TJ: Hanging in. What are you doing up at 11:00am? I didn't think rock stars even went to bed until then….

JT: Yea, sometimes we don't, but today was the exception. I got up for you Tim.

TJ: That's awesome. That's what I like to hear. What's going on?

JT: Not much. I just got myself an "Ice Americana" with sweetened condensed milk and I'm going to have a party. I got Dave over here, the guitarist from Dub Trio, and we're ready to talk to you. I'm going to put you on speaker here with Dave.

TJ: Fantastic

Dave Holmes: Tim, hi!

TJ: Hey Dave!

So let's go over this; tell us about the band. How long have you been together, how'd you meet, all that stuff…..

DH: We've been together as Dub Trio for about two and a half years, but the three of us have been playing together for the past six years under different names, and in different projects. Stu (the bass player) and I both met in Boston and we moved to New York, playing in a band together.

We lost our drummer and we had heard about Joe. He had just moved to New York as well, so Joe joined our band. And after that band broke up, we formed Dub Trio.

TJ: Now, how long have you guys been playing your instruments? You don't look that old…..

JT: We're all in our mid-twenties or so. I'm not sure about Stu….

DH: Stu's been playing for about eleven or twelve years. I've been playing eighteen or nineteen years.

JT: I guess I've been playing for about sixteen years.

TJ: The reason I ask is because New Heavy is a very intricate sounding record. I've been listening to it for about two weeks.

DH: Do you enjoy it?

TJ: Yea, it's great. It sounds a lot different from the first EP you put out. (Exploring the Dangers of) What kind of approach did you take to New Heavy?

JT: It's funny because when we started out as Dub Trio, we were basically playing improv gigs. There wasn't really any, "dub-reggae" in the sound we were playing. We just had ideas for grooves, almost like electronic style grooves. Then, all of the sudden, we started listening to a lot of "dub."

We all kind of fell in love with the music. We've all heard it before, but we really began immersing ourselves in that genre. We developed this affinity toward the music, and this love for what it is as an art. All of the sudden, we started learning rhythms, like a bass-line or a groove…..and we just developed the concept, if you will.

So basically, we wrote some songs for our first record, and it was very rootsy in "dub-reggae." And as a year and a half went by, our concept was developing. The new album is a little more "hip-hop," a little more "metal," and a little more "punk."

As artists, and as a band as one, I think we're constantly growing, which is a good thing about this band. It shows on the new record. It's not like we set out and said, "Alright dudes, we're gonna fucking make this killer punk/metal/dub record." It was more about trying different ideas.

TJ: I definitely noticed elements of "punk," "metal," and "club music" to an extent. Were all the songs finalized and completed prior to entering the studio, or did some of it develop while you were there?

DH: We pretty much had a really good idea of what it would all sound like before we went in. But Joel, the engineer, helped with guitar layering and stuff like that.

JT: The songs were written, but even so, when we do the post-production, we kind of approach it like a traditional dub record in a sense that we do multiple passes on the same take. We try to do what the older guys did, like King Tubby or Scientist, but do it the way we do it. We do digital editing, we do some editing to tape, and then we mix back to tape. It's sort of improvised in that sense, like a real dub record. We try to keep it real.

TJ: With each of the tracks being instrumental, with the exception of "Not Alone," how do you determine the titles for each song? And who's the 24 fan?

JT: (laughing) 24 is on tonight!

DH: We're all 24 fans.

JT: We're all die-hard 24 fans.

DH: The title, "Jack Bauer's Day Off" was thrown around for a little bit.

JT: We actually had a concept for a video and the whole thing, but uh, we just scrapped it and went with, "Jack Bauer."

We're a kind of band that waits till the record is going to press before we come up with titles.

DH: Last minute.

JT: We could tell you alternative names for every one of those songs. Some of them have relevance to the music or the moment, like "Table Rock Dub" for instance. We had some time off, and we went on this hike upstate, and there were these huge fucking table rocks on this trail. These bastards were gigantic. They looked like they've been there for millions of years.

When we were up there, we felt this vibe like we should write a song about it. And the song, "Table Rock Dub" is really sort of huge and deep, old and heavy. And that ties into the title.

DH: A lot of titles come from inside jokes and stuff like that.

(At this point, Joe leaves and begins talking to someone in the background.)

TJ: Who's there now?

DH: Oh, that's Joe's landlord.

TJ: You guys aren't getting kicked out are you?

DH: No no no. He's having a problem with one of the downstairs apartments leaking. New York apartments…..

TJ: I've heard from a lot of people that a Dub Trio live show is really the best way to experience the band. What can we expect at a show, and how much equipment do you have to lug around?

DH: We definitely have a lot of pedals and effects boxes and stuff. I also play keyboards and a sampler. Joe has a sampler with a lot of effects and he dubs his drums live. Stu has effects, and he does different things. So each member goes back and forth between the main instrument and dubbing. There's a lot to watch.

TJ: What's the biggest show you've played?

DH: I think probably "The Metro" in Chicago. We were on tour with Gogol Bordello a month ago. I don't know how many people it holds, but it seemed pretty big.

(Joe returns)

DH: (To Joe) What's the biggest show we've played?

JT: Ok, I'm back. Sorry about that.

TJ: You aren't getting evicted are you Joe?

JT: Almost, for a second. He heard I was talking to you, and shit hit the fan……

Biggest show we've played….shit.

It's so hard to think back to all the shows we've played. I guess it was "The Metro."

TJ: What's the goal with "New Heavy?" Are you trying to bring instrumental music to the mainstream? What would make this album successful in your eyes?

JT: Being a realist, and knowing what this business is all about….I think we are trying to bring instrumental music to the forefront. We're in a good place in the sense that the music business is changing so quickly with the way records are being sold….songs are being sold in digital formats…iTunes and the like.

It's a good time for new, independent music…for people to have access to easily. But I still feel the way "pop" music is being marketed, instrumental music is never going to be on "Hot 97" or "K-Rock." I can't even remember the last time I heard an instrumental band on pop radio. But we would love for as many people to hear the record as possible.

We had the song with Patton, but it's not like we put it on the record so it was approachable. Our label suggested we do a song with a vocalist. We were also into the idea of doing it on the last record, but we finally made it come to fruition on this record. So if that brings in new fans, great. But it's not like it's on the record to bring in new listeners or make it more approachable.

The goal is to just to make music that we like to make, and share it by touring and doing interviews like this. Sell as many records…do as many shows…keep writing as a band.

I would love to hear one of our songs on pop radio, but do I think it's going to happen this year? No.

TJ: Have you ever thought of bringing a vocalist permanently into the mix, and calling yourselves the "Dub Quatro" or something?

JT: No, I think as a band, we're an instrumental band. For better or worse, we are who we are. I think we have a future of working and collaborating with singers and artists, but I don't think it's ever going to be "The Dub Trio" with this guy singing vocals, or this girl singing vocals.

TJ: How did you guys hook up with Mike Patton?

JT: Cold call.

TJ: No shit?

JT: We came up with a list of people we wanted to work with. We wrote a song that might be the one that we would want to have someone on vocals…..We looked a list of artists, and it was so fucking blatantly obvious….It was like, "Yea, Patton is the cat."

A mutual friend sent him an email, he emailed back, and oddly enough, it just so happened he had heard of the band, and was possibly interested in collaborating with us and was maybe going to reach out to us...kind of thing. And it was like, "Fuck! This is perfect!"

So lo and behold, we made it happen…really quickly. He was great.

We never even met him in person till last year. We basically did all this stuff through mail. We sent him files, he recorded the vocals out in San Fran, he sent it back, and we mixed it. Everything was all via email or snail mail.

TJ: So you guys didn't actually even meet until the song was completed?

JT: Yea, that's fully it.

TJ: You guys wrote the music, and he wrote the lyrics?

JT: That's correct.

TJ: Dub Trio and Mike Patton are appearing coactively on Conan O'Brien on May 26th. How did that come about?

DH: Mike called us and asked if we wanted to back him up on the show. It's not the song that we did with him, but it's a song from the Peeping Tom album.

TJ: Which one? I've been listening to that album too.

DH: It's a song called, "Mojo."

TJ: That's a little risqué for network TV I'd think.

DH: (Laughs) Totally. That's why it's the late late show.

JT: We're kind of stoked playing that one on television.

TJ: You guys have some shows in New York throughout the month of May. Are you planning to take it national, or are you going to stick around New York for awhile?

JT: I think toward the end of July, or August, we're gonna try to do some larger runs…We're definitely going to tour behind the record in July or August, and just keep it rolling from there on.

TJ: What's the best way to get the album when it hits?

JT: The best way is to come to a show, buy it from us directly, shake our hands, and give us big hugs.