There was a time, 20 years ago, when a big band/swing revival seemed to be everywhere at once, and the band
I talked to one of the band’s founder, Jimbo Mathus, last week about the band’s new lineup, the rise of the big band/swing trend of the mid to late ’90s and where he sees music going now.
Q: With your lineup changes, do you think your sound has changed at all?
A: You know, when I was getting the band put back together over the last winter and spring, I wanted to keep the energy, the vitality, the sort of anarchy of the original band, but also have a more mature sound, a more developed horn section. We’ve added a wonderful pianist, so ... I’m kind of trying to split the difference between being too good and being too crazy, but definitely keep the stage show very rambunctious – keep the energy and the vibe of the original concoction, but add more levels of skill, stagecraft and all that good stuff. I think it’s a great new band, just a fantastic band.
Q: How many people usually are on stage?
A: I have a nine-piece, generally: Three horns, I’ve added a pianist ... I’ve got the most happenin’ cats from New Orleans, basically. The young – 20s and 30s – a lot of them grew up on the Zippers. It’s a real cool full-circle-type scene to have them in the band, have them contributing.
Q: How do you explain the huge popularity that the big band sounds, swing sounds, that kind of stuff had in the mid to late ’90s? Can you explain it?
A: I think it was just an oddball; I think we were one of the last kind of wild cards to get through in the music business, the music industry, so to speak. I think it’s telling we were actually able to get through before it become completely commercialized, completely on lockdown. Pretty much now, you know what you’re going to get on commercial radio; it’s gotten reduced even more to certain formulas. I think we were kind of last of the oddballs. I think the Zippers’ song “Hell” and the energy we brought to it was the thing that kicked the door open for the other bands, you know, we were the first one not to be working in a retro vibe, although we didn’t realize anyone else was doing it; we were working in isolation, but it was our song, our energy and our talent that kind of kicked that door open and let some other bands come through. Why it took off the way it did, I’m not sure. I don’t think it could happen again, though, I don’t think it could happen in this day and age.
Q: That was my next question: Do you see any kind of trends now or on the horizon?
A: I’m not a trend-watcher, so, if it happens, it happens. We didn’t set out to move mountains with that band; we just set out to have a cool art project, to explore our passions and learn about this unique form – forms – of early American music, early American popular music, so really, our goals were not commercial in any way, they weren’t trendy in any way. We thought we were the complete opposite of trendy and we thought that was cool, so we were more of a punk rock band in that regard. But who knows? Anything can happen, you know? Times like these, stranger things have happened, so I think somebody like us – it’s a very joyous, skillful band that brings a lot of energy, passion, love and caring into what we do, a lot of humor, satire – who knows? Stranger things have happened.
Q: Do you have plans for a new album?
A: Yes. We’re recording it now, and it’ll be out in 2017, along summertime.
Q: You’ve reissued “Hot” – do you see interest in that? Do you see people discovering it for the first time? It’s a really solid album.
A: Yeah. You know, it’s a mixture of both: I think it’s a lot of people who some of them were too young to see us when we were back in the heyday in the ’90s, 20 years ago. They’re grown up now, they’re bringing their kids, so we get a lot of younger kids and teenagers that are just discovering us. You know, when it was released and we charted on the jazz charts, and that was really exciting, and the concerts have all been over the moon, well-attended, joyous events, so, I’m very optimistic it’s really just a dream come true to be able to bring the music back, to take it off the shelf, dust it off and have the talent I have on stage with such passion and care we put into it; it’s really a dream come true.
Q: What’s your favorite Squirrel Nut Zippers song?
A: Oh my goodness (laughs). They’re all so fun to play in their different ways. They’re all written for certain purposes, you know, as part of the show, so really the whole show is kind of a piece, and so once you kind of launch into it, it’s just goes by in a flash, so it’s really the whole show more than any one composition.
Q: What can people in Durango expect?
A: Well, just a full-tilt boogie and a lot of fun, a lot of laughing, a lot of smiling happy people. A lot of joy – one of my things is bringing the joy back, just a top-notch show.
katie@durangoherald.com
If you go
What: Squirrel Nut Zippers.
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Where: Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College.
How much: $36/$46; $32.40 for seniors 65 and older. Tickets are available by phone at 247-7657 or at www.durangoconcerts.com.
