Self-proclaimed ambassadors of Brit art-school rock, The Good North’s debut full-length effort An Explanation (Primary Voltage) is packed with loud three-chord variations and intense indie vocals. Based in Boston, they continue to earn critical acclaim for their music since their formation in mid-2001, and on April 5 they will invade Maxwell’s for an intimate evening of loud beats.
Self-proclaimed ambassadors of Brit art-school rock, The Good North’s debut full-length effort An Explanation (Primary Voltage) is packed with loud three-chord variations and intense indie vocals. Based in Boston, they continue to earn critical acclaim for their music since their formation in mid-2001, and on April 5 they will invade Maxwell’s for an intimate evening of loud beats.
The Good North is led by frontman Luke O’Neil and he is accompanied by guitarists Johnny Healey and Mick Taggart, bassist Dave Riley, and drummer Mike Morrissey. We recently caught up with O’Neil.
EM – Who are your influences?
LO – As a band I would say our favorite contemporary group would be Idlewild. They are definitely a big influence. We also love the Smiths, Oasis, and the Stone Roses. As far as other new stuff, Interpol is pretty cool, and Longwave. I am influenced by bands like Kent, Muse, the Sheila Divine, the Verve and a lot of really emo-pop. For real. Can’t get enough of it. Anyone who says it sucks is probably too old to have fun anymore and is really into classic rock.
EM – Why did you become a musician?
LO – Because the turnaround on audience reaction for poetry was too long. And Johnny and Mick from the band sort of twisted my arm. This is my first band, so the concept of playing in a band that people care about was pretty alien to me. I thought musicians were magical creatures. Now I know that they are just charismatic scumbags. Just kidding. We’ve slogged it out in the trenches for a while now, and now that things are starting to work out for us, we are psyched. Most of us met in junior high and have played in a lot of crappy bands. So to have finally gotten to a point where people are paying attention, people are buying records and coming to shows and interviewing us – it’s really pretty cool. Not that we have anything of particular value to say in this traditional context of the Q&A. I am ashamed of everything, ever. Besides our album, which is hot.
EM – Where have you performed?
LO – We’ve played all over in the New England and tri-state area and everywhere in between. This summer we’ll be doing a much more extensive national tour if the stars align, so that is pretty sweet. Bitter sweet. Depends on whether or not we sort things out with the handful of bands we want to support. The road is absolutely amazingly sweet, but it’s tough at the same time. Just ask my good friend Jimmy Jaxx from the soon-to-be indie superstars the Damn Personals. As he always says, "You know how the road is." We do really well in Boston and New York City at the moment because that’s where we’ve played the most. But we’ve had some luck playing with bigger bands like the Dismemberment Plan and Ted Leo, and Mark Gardner of Ride.
EM – What is your favorite day of the week?
LO – Definitely not Tuesday, because that is the one day I have to get up early (9:30 a.m.). Tuesday can eat a bag of crap. Sunday is shaping up to be the top contender. Ideally, I get up a little late, go out for coffee with the special lady, come home and read the paper and watch TV with my stupid roommate Leo. It’s such a relaxing day. Then we talk about what to do for dinner for like three hours. These are the things that get me excited! Sunday is the best day to listen to the radio too. Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me on National Public Radio is our program!
EM – What are the last three CDs you bought?
LO – I don’t buy CDs these days because I am the music editor of a magazine called The Weekly Dig. Sort of works out great for me, since being in a band makes you poor. Let’s see then, the last CDs I bought would have to be imports. Last few things I listened to that were sent to me were by a band from Boston I really like called Araby. Uh, someone was just playing Zwan around here. And, I just got sent another copy of the Idlewild’s CD, so I plan on listening to that again to make sure it is still is better than everything else ever.
EM – How would you describe your music?
LO – This past weekend at a show in New York City a lot of people told us afterward that they could really see our hardcore influence coming through. And that was a shock, because I don’t know if any of us could even name a hardcore band. Do they still have that stuff? But anyway, I think I will take that and run with it. Sort of a mix between Britpop and post-hardcore. Maybe just because I do a little screamy thing on a few jambos, and I don’t think anyone’s heard the cat from Travis doing that stuff in a while. We get a lot of comparisons to bands like the Smiths. I suppose it would be pretty safe to say if you like British rock you will like us.
EM – Are you looking for mainstream exposure?
LO – Yes. Being in a poor indie band sucks. I’ll sell out the second I can. There is no integrity in rock anymore, so the way I see it, indie bands are just bad businessmen.
EM – What professional plans do you have for the future?
LO – If the band doesn’t bring me fame and fortune (and why wouldn’t
it!?), I have my music journalism career going pretty well at this point. I’ve been doing a good amount of freelancing for local and national magazines. Not to mention I have to get around to writing my master’s thesis soon so I can finish graduate school. Not that having a master’s in literature makes my career prospects much better than being in a rock band.
EM – What is the best part about your job?
LO – Being in a band is really a lot of fun, despite the fact that it is bad for my health, and my personal relationships, and my self respect, and my sense of good will and decency in the world. But to tell you the truth, there are few places I would rather be than making music with The Good North, and we’ve gotten to do things that so few people ever have the chance to do, even at this early stage in our career.
The Good North will perform at Maxwell’s at 1039 Washington St. in Hoboken on April 5 at 9 p.m. Tickets are $7. They will play with The Blakes, Alfonso Velez and Val Emmich. For information visit www.thegoodnorth.com or call (617) 791-8432. q