By Carolyn Heneghan

     After an impressive first year – 52 recorded songs, a debut album, performances at local and national festivals and growing acclaim – the only thing more obvious than this group’s band name is the persistent effort and dedication put toward their music. The six-piece now includes Joe Bourgeois on bass, Leo DeJesus and Eric Rogers on percussion, Richard Dubourg on guitar, and Cory Schultz on trumpet, though several members have proven to be very capable multi-instrumentalists during their recordings and live performances. I sat down to chat with the band’s namesake, John Michael Rouchell, about winning bets, plans for the future, and geeking out over local marching bands.

Where Y’at: So what first inspired you to take on the rigorous recording schedule of 52 songs in 52 weeks?

John Michael: I was at Loyola at the time doing music business, and I started thinking that in order for people to take notice of things, you’d really have to go above and beyond the call of duty. It was really a dare, actually. A friend of mine said I was lazy, and that I couldn’t record a song a day for a year. So I said, “Ok, how about a song a week?” And I was looking at guys like Lil Wayne who do all the mix tapes and stuff. I just thought that was really inspiring, so I decided to do it.

WYAT: Did you always think this would be a solo project, or had you anticipated the massive expansion?

JM: I’d been in bands before. And bands are really hard. They’re like relationships, and there are a lot of egos. Originally it was myself and two of my audio engineer friends who swapped out so they didn’t get worn out. At first it was gonna be like an anti-band, with a lot of people just sitting in on songs, with no commitments or hang-ups. Then Eric Rogers started sitting in more regularly, and by week three he and I became really, really great friends. I started to realize that bands weren’t so much inherently evil, but that it was just the people that you surround yourself with, and if it’s good, it could be great. So I got Eric to put together his favorite musicians and friends, and now here we are.
WYAT: So did you win anything from the bet when you finished The People That Come and Go?

JM: [laughs] Yeah, he still owes me a piece of fish for dinner. But he lives in Los Angeles now, so he skipped town on me. But what was really cool about the record was having people vote and pick certain songs [out of the 52] that they liked, and they liked what we like, so that was really nice. It wasn’t like we were going into this making a record that we hated. I’m really proud, it was definitely worthwhile.

WYAT: After a whole year of intense recording, you must be itching to get this album on the road.
JM: Yeah, the record came out in March, and then the road’s been good. It’s a lot of work, but it’s a lot of fun. It’s a band, so you’ve gotta keep everybody happy. And this two-week East Coast tour is the longest we’ve been on.

WYAT: Any favorite shows so far?

JM: I really enjoyed Jazz Fest ‘cause we got the St. Aug. drum line to play with us, which was really, really cool. I love St. Aug. so much, I’m such a geek for marching bands. Also the Circle Bar and Saturn Bar shows, the really small and intimate ones, where you put a bunch of kids in there and it gets really sweaty. Our last Circle Bar show was so sweaty I think everyone but me and Eric ended up with their shirts off. We tried to keep it classy, but it was intense. We all looked like we’d jumped in a pool. On the road, South by Southwest and Bonnaroo were really fun. And I’m really excited for Voodoo Fest too this year.

WYAT: Speaking of Voodoo, do you have anything special planned for your debut performance?

JM: Yeah, we’re working on some stuff now, but nothing’s confirmed yet. But we’re working on trying to make it a spectacle, I guess. A lot of us did musical theatre and that when we were younger, and a big, absurd production is something we really strive for. We’re basically trying to figure out how to beat the chandelier that crashes in the middle of The Phantom of the Opera without a chandelier.

WYAT: On your performance, how has this city affected the styles of music, the way you perform, so on?

JM: There are things in it that are very New Orleans, but it’s also not in a lot of ways. We’re a rock band, you know? We’re a pop-indie-rock band, whatever you wanna call us. So that’s immediately sort of different from a lot of the music that goes on here. But that being said, we all grew up here and we hear trumpets constantly. So Cory plays the trumpet, and that’s a big part of our sound. When we go to other places, everybody’s like, “Oh wow, you have a trumpet. That’s cool. That’s different.” But to us, it’s sort of a common sound. And then there’s Eric and Leo both on the drums, with Leo on the floor tom. The double drum polyphony between Leo and Eric going back and forth goes back to the marching band sound. Like during Mardi Gras, you hear a lot of beat drums, so they’re very New Orleans to me. So that seems familiar to me, of New Orleans, especially the colors that go into it. But at its core, it’s different.

WYAT: Touring. Voodoo Fest. What’s next?

JM: We’re working on an EP right now that’ll come out at some point. It’ll probably just be a digital release. We’re actually talking about printing the record on vinyl, which I’m really excited about ‘cause I love listening to records. I think we’re gonna record the next album next summer, but until then it’s just touring, touring, touring. Hitting the road, and just, you know, getting the music out there and pounding out more music. We put free songs up on the blog all the time whenever we put something together. It’s been a little more interspersed than the 52, obviously, because we’re on the road. But the EP will come out, and it should be great. It’ll be some B-sides from the record that didn’t fit. Not that they were bad songs or anything, but the story we wanted to tell fit, and then these other things didn’t. So we’ll put those out with some new stuff.

WYAT: And finally, you went from one to six members in a year. Do you think there will be any more expansion or have you found a good fit?

JM: No, I think this is as big or as little as we go. We have a ton of people who come record with us. But as far as the band, I think this is it. It’s the best of the best, and I love these guys. I don’t see it getting bigger as being all that practical. It becomes increasingly difficult the bigger you become, with scheduling and everyone having different and busy lives. And then getting smaller would be like we weren’t doing the music justice. So yeah, I think we’re at the perfect spot.

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