About the band:
The Rugs are an awesome garage band. Full disclosure: Rug’s bassist Lou Whitney recorded my junior high band’s first demo. I doubt he remembers that because we sucked and because he recorded Wilco, the Urge, and Jonathan Richman. Since then, I’ve been a fan of all of his bands--especially The Rugs--largely because their live shows are always really fun and really tight, as are the albums. But that’s a given, considering every guy in the band could conceivably write a Wikipedia article about studio microphone placement.
OK, I’ll shut up. Just go to the show.
About the show:
Who: The Rugs with special guest Kyle Dickson Praise Project.
When: Saturday, 9 p.m.
Where: Patton Alley Pub
Interview:
Here’s what singer Matt Dampier had to say about the Rugs, cereal, and the greatest guitar solos of all time.
Describe a typical Rugs show for people who have never seen you.
Matt Dampier: We all have this insane fear of downtime between songs so there's not a lot of conversation. It's loud and sweaty, but the songs are short and catchy. I've been told a time or two that ladies find the tunes very danceable. Plus we've got the multi-generational thing going for us. We're like a traveling family band that got into garage rock.
How does the Kansas City music scene compare to Springfield?
MP: I don't even know if there is a scene because I never go out. In Kansas City you're always thirty minutes from everything. What I love about Springfield is that you can just walk wherever you want to go. There's something really unique about being able to go on foot to all of your favorite bars and friends' apartments. You spend so much time in the same couple of blocks that downtown can take on this multi-dimensional image in your mind. The best show I've seen in Kansas City was when Sweetwater Abilene played in my basement. They really worked it. You can download some acoustic songs they played after the show at Moodring Records.
How did you and Eric start playing with Springfield music gods Lou Whitney and Richie Rebuth?
MP: Eric does a lot of sound. He interned with Lou and did a few gigs for some of Richie's other bands. He started telling me about this New Yorker that played amazing guitar and one night he came into the studio and blew our minds. Along with Richie, Eric convinced Lou to play a "one time" Rugs show to celebrate our first record, to which he contributed generously, and we just kept playing. We were also lucky to get Donnie Kraft who can play anything--any style, any sound. After losing Eric's brother, Jimi, and Donnie Thompson, we stole Brian Azevedo for drums.
Who writes most of the songs?
MP: Most of our songs come from demos I make at home. After Lou, Richie, Donnie, Brian and Eric get done with them I'll go back and listen to the demo I made and it's complete crap. It's like if you took a preschooler's Crayon drawing of a house and built a mansion. You might give them credit for inspiration, but really it's all in the execution and production. They rock.
Eric has his own side project now called Shook Na Na Na. He's pulling together some local talent to play on his songs. He's also beginning to record some other projects with bands like Sweetwater Abilene and the Crop Dusters for our little label we've started up, Moodring Records. The generous producer/sound engineer he is, he's also offered to bring a rig up to my house in KC to start working on my solo album.
What's your favorite thing to do when you're not playing rock n' roll?
MP: I like to update my Netflix queue. I'm really into TV on DVD.
What's your favorite Springfield bar?
MP: I split my time evenly between The Outland and Patton Alley Pub. They both have their own unique flavor. The Outland tastes like a cold Coors Light. Patton Alley Pub tastes like a Guinness. They both get the job done. Saturday night will be interesting since we've never played the Pub. So maybe it's going to taste like boxed wine.
What's your favorite cereal?
MP: I have eaten an entire box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch on more than one occasion. This was before kids started getting fat and they took all of the real sugar out.
What are the three greatest guitar solos of all time?
MP:
1. Weezer “Say It Ain't So”
2. Bruce Springsteen “Adam Raised a Cain”
3. Alice Cooper “Cold Ethyl"
