This is the second interview with the members of Piano Moving Company which are currently performing in Berlin with their full band Vermont Joy Parade.
Vermont Joy Parade is a six piece ensemble from Burlington, Vermont, equipped with, among others, accordion, piano, drums, banjo, guitar, a trumpet and a whole lotta energy. By now after almost four years of playing together their music is much harder to pin point. They’ve developed their own special sound that is a joyful blend of bluegrass, cajun, swing, blues, dixieland and anything that inspires them.
They are a unique band, not only because their old school sound, which is often refered to as “suspender fusion” but also for their mission to bring joy to people. Vermont Joy Parade actively works on planting a seed of happiness in each and every one of their audience members. They play mostly acoustic sets in smaller venues and use all their acting and cabaret performance skills to grab the crowds attention and hearts. If I were you I wouldn’t think twice about going to see one of their upcoming shows. They just came back from a tour in the States and are still in Berlin playing shows around the city.
I caught up with five of them Benny, Anna, Ben, Dan and Galen a day after they came into town.
How was the tour?
Anna: It was amazing.
Benny: Amazing.
Galen: Incredible. Most successful under every level. Economically, artistically,
interpersonally, culinarly.
Ben: Geographically.Where did you guys go?
Ben: We went to a circle around the North East United States from Portland, Maine and New York City. We went to Anna’s hometown in New Jersey and Ithaca, New York and through Boston. Stuff like that.
Benny: We went through Portsmouth.
Anna: Where Dan is from. Are you from Portsmouth?
Dan: Nearly.How long did you spend on the road?
Dan: A month maybe.
Galen: And we had the bus going and that’s very fun, and we recorded two albums.
You recorded two albums?
Anna: Yeah, right. A day after the tour was over.
Benny: Galen’s solo album featuring everybody in the band [laughs] and our next album. We actually just got the first mixes.
And you recorded it in the same way as Kicking Sawdust in a more homestyle fashion?
Benny: Kicking Sawdust wasn’t homestyle. It was actually recorded in this amazing studio which was analogue with real to real old equipment from like the 60′s and 70′s, you know, with real reverb boxes and stuff like that.
Ben: In a barn in a desert.
Dan: It was done very quickly and mostly live.
Galen: A day and a half of recording.
Dan: And this one we spent about a week recording.
Benny: We slept in the studio in the actual room where we were recording. We put some serious hours into it.
