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Papadosio takes a new approach
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
Papadosio is playing it close to the vest regarding its next album.
The band usually tests its new material in concerts in the months leading up to an album release.
But this time, fans will have to wait until September to learn the direction the jam band is heading.
“When it comes out, the bubble will burst, and we will tour on it in the fall,” said Mike Healy, the band’s drummer and one of the original members.
Healy talked about the album in a phone interview from his home in Asheville, N.C.
“We are pushing new boundaries musically, as we do with every album,” he said. “We had some great song ideas finally leaving our pockets.”
Papadosio has become a pillar in the touring-centric jam-band universe. It has created an inimitable style by starting with a musical structure and filling it in with hypnotic, swirling, groove-oriented improvisation.
That much, said Healy, won’t change, although song lengths might.
“Papadosio is such a hard band to describe because we are all over the board with styles,” he said. “Every song is different— folky, electronic, rock ’n’ roll, jazzy, funky, heavy. We stayed true to that with the new album.”
But the collection also contains a few two- and three-minute songs, which is a departure for the band.
“There are still some eight-minuters, but for this upcoming album, we had a lot of concise ideas that didn’t need to be much longer than a few minutes,” said Healy.
Nevertheless, fans should expect those short numbers to get a full workout in concerts. Healy said each one has room for expansion.
“We have somewhat of a formula, and we leave a lot of space for creativity [during performance],” he said. “We take most of our songs on a wild improvisational ride, then eventually get back to the song and it’s like, ‘Oh, I remember that riff from five minutes ago.’”
Papadosio — formed in Athens, Ohio, in 2006 — also includes Anthony Thogmartin (guitars, keys, vocals), Billy Brouse (keys, vocals), Rob McConnell (bass, vocals) and newest member Sam Brouse (keys, vocals). All members are Ohio natives.
The band is one of the headliners at The Ville festival, May 21-24, at Clay’s Park, near Canton. It will perform May 21 at 9 p.m.
Papadosio partnered with its legion of fans to produce the as-yet unnamed new album.
The band recently completed a successful Kickstarter campaign that far exceeded its $30,000 goal. Depending on their gift, donors will receive the album as either a digital download, CD or a vinyl copy.
The Kickstarter campaign is in keeping with the band’s home-grown philosophy.
“We didn’t have much capital, and we wanted to go bigger than ever,” said Healy. “Our last album [“T.E.T.I.O.S.”] was a great release, but we didn’t have enough finances to advertise it. We want to get to the next level, but we can’t do it without help from fans or an investor, so we geared toward getting a huge pre-order. We have an incredible fan base that supports and follows us.”
Healy said the band submitted its work to record labels but ultimately decided to retain the rights to its music, and eventually start its own label. “We want to be a grass-roots, family operation,” said Healy. “We want the fans to feel like they are a part of this album. We want them as involved as possible so that when the album is released, they feel an inner connection to each track. We’ve self-released every album we’ve ever done, and we are staying true to what we’re doing.”