Backstage Pass with

Backstage Pass with... Virginia Coalition

A Good Song is having a lot of fun--

and that is just what Virginia Coalition is doing!

By: Alexandra Harris

Virginia Coalition has been busy. After the release of their fourth album, Ok To Go, in October, and recently signing with Bluhammock, the group has been touring non-stop. Tunedinmusic.com caught up with lead vocalist Andy Poliakoff while the group was on their way to a show in Portland, Maine on their current tour with Matt Wertz and Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers.

Tuned In Music: You were out on the road at the end of 2004 promoting Ok To Go and you’re back again. Have you had a break?

Andy Poliakoff: We pretty much tour most of the time. Ok To Go came out September 21 and we’ve been touring non-stop. We took a little bit of time off in December where we played three or four shows. We did a cool show at the Chicago House of Blues. I also got engaged on New Year’s Eve. I did it on the oldest building in Alexandria, Virginia.

TI: What is the craziest thing that has happened on the road?
AP: [laughs] There’s a guy who comes on the road whose full of happiness. His name is Scott. We like to prank other bands and in St. Louis he got on stage in a diaper and started humping the opening band.

TI: Why do you get such acclaim for your live shows-since they reportedly led to your signing with Bluhammock?

AP: [During shows] we combine a number of different elements. Our live show is entertaining. You have to convince people that they want to hear it. It’s the sincerity of what you do. If you genuinely love what you do, on any given night, the most memorable is the absurd and ridiculous moment of great
sincerity. It stems from being around people. Really, it’s being yourself mostly.

TI: How did you and the other band members meet?

AP: We’ve known each other for 10 years—since junior high school/high school…before that, 13-14 years old and we’re in our mid-20s now. The cool thing was, the school we went to was enormous, part of a larger Washington D.C. metro area…very college-type. You were interacting with so many people that you were able to get to know different people…all the people who were intent on doing the post-college guitar rocking with. It’s a complete dedication of life and time. It’s a combination of things… parts of it are deciding who fits musically, personality-wise. Who has the energy, time to do this?

There are so many people who have 80 to 90 percent but we really need 100. We knew each other for years but there were no distinguishing factors knowing who was going to be around.

TI: When did you guys decide that performing was something you wanted to do seriously?

AP: We’ve been doing full-time for five years. Up ‘til that point, making the switch was kinda a gamble. Performing is something I naturally do. Getting up in front of my grandparents and singing in my undies is something I always did.

TI: Since your writing process is a collaborative effort, how do you start?

AP: The majority of the songs, the three of us write. I’m at home workin’ on guitar, piano and I start singin’ something. I start playing it at practice and everyone ads their own flare to it.

TI: Where do you do most of your writing?

AP: I do most of my writing at home. Often emotion inspires song, which comes from feelings on the road. The songs we write generally deal with soul-searching, moments that you can’t predict when they’re happening. It’s not easy playing five to six shows a week where you wanna write. It comes out all the time. There are no rules about it.

TI: For songs such as Jerry Jermaine, or Abby are you Endless, are those based on people you know?

AP: Jerry is one of our songs that came out of ridiculousness…a wild party. Coming off of Abby, that’s definitely a ballad about someone, using them as expression of a million things. You’re using lyrics to describe a particular person in your own mind. You do it in a way to give it universality. A good song is having a lot of fun.

TI: How has your writing and sound on Ok To Go evolved since Rock n’ Roll Party and even since you started performing?

AP: The biggest difference is that we feel free to express ourselves. At a certain point it starts being an extension of personality and extension of self as grown as musicians and closer to one another. We are able to speak clearly with instruments. [If there’s] any difference, it’s evolving in terms of our ability to communicate our thoughts more clearly and each other’s thoughts.

TI: Growing up, what did you listen to?

AP: I grew up listening to rock n’ roll, and soul. I grew up in the 80s, I listened to a lot of 80s music—Paul Simon, James Taylor, Peter Gabriel. I loved Motown, gospel, just to name a few. I love soft stuff—Allison Krause. I really like female vocalists. Really soft, like Norah Jones.

TI: Besides being the lead vocalist, you also play percussion and guitar. How long have you been playing each instrument?

AP: I’ve been playing guitar for 16 years. Percussion, about 10 years. I’ve been singing virtually my entire life.

TI: Do you prefer one to the other?

AP: If I woke up tomorrow and was told I could only do one thing, I’d choose singing because it’s real, it’s perfect to express your emotions. Recently, I’m learning how to play piano. There’s so much power to it.

TI: You worked with Matt Wallace on your last album. Did the band and Wallace butt heads at all as far as creative licensing is concerned?
AP: There wasn’t a whole lot of butting heads. It’s more like a process where you meet people and work with them easily. Matt was one of those people. We came in with most songs—60 to 90 percent finished. All of us put our heads together, deciding how to finish. The hard thing is deciding when a song is finished. The producer helps with a lot of things. They help you decide how much of each ingredient [is needed] because they have a good ear to move in and out of different parts of a song.

TI: What is your favorite act that has opened for you?
AP: My favorite band is O.A.R [Of A Revolution]. They’re great guys and good friends of ours. We hold them to the highest esteem. When we tour with them, we go out on stage with them. It’s a group effort.

TI: Who would you like to tour with and even collaborate with in the future?
AP: I would like to collaborate with Marc Roberge, the lead singer of O.A.R. We talk about writing songs together in the future.

TI: Rock n’ Roll Party reached #18 on Billboard’s Internet Chart and was #1 at the Aware Store for 2 months. Is the Internet helping get your name and sound out there or are you benefiting more from plain old word of mouth?

AP: After the Tuned In article, sales will quadruple in price. We get a lot of success from the Internet and word of mouth…it’s essentially the same thing. Young people are on the Internet talking back and forth take cues from music from the mainstream. Teeny boppers watch “TRL [Total Request Live]” and love Ashlee Simpson. Radio is done. XM [satellite] radio is where it’s at. MTV doesn’t play fuckin’ videos anymore. It’s all “Cribs” and “Pimp My Ride” and shit. What’s moved away from that word of mouth is tickets. I would love to get my car on “Pimp My Ride.”

TI: VACO received the Washington Post’s readers’ choice award for best DC band. Is it harder to go out in public when you’re home or do you still have the same anonymity before you were signed to a label?

AP: Somehow, frequently, I have to put on wigs and disguises. [Laughs] no…it’s easy. Every once in awhile someone will be like, “holy shit,” and ask for an autograph. People are more likely to go crazy if they see Dick Cheney having a heart attack or something.

TI: What are you listening to right now?

AP: I just got two new CDs. One is Aretha Franklin, “1967: Live at the Fillmore.” The other one is Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro.”

photos: www.virginiacoalition.com