Indie Sound Board Spotlight
New Orleans is home base for Generationals. Smart hooks with 60’s guitar/keyboard stylings and enough low-fi reverberation to invoke the feeling of a new sound. We fell in love with the band after seeing them with Ra Ra Riot several weeks back at the Majestic Theater in Madison. Ted Joyner and Grant Widmer are the masterminds behind Generationals. A touring version, with three additional members, will be at the Memorial Union der Rathskeller. Generationals are out on the road behind their second album, Actor- Caster on Park the Van Records. We had a chance to ask Grant Widmer a few questions.
For the Madison indie faithful give a little background on the band. Where are you from and how long have you been together?
Ted and I are from New Orleans, La. We were friends in high school in new Orleans, we started recording our songs in various dorm rooms and apartments that we shared and ultimately began playing in a band together about 9 years ago. We started Generationals in 2008.
We saw you recently opening for Ra Ra Riot. Generationals sound has much more of an edge live than on your recordings. Is that because tours are supported by a full band?
Hard to say. I feel like some of the recordings have more "edge" than the live versions. Even though it's just us recording the songs, we still track all the instruments the we play in the live show, they're just recorded one at a time. When we put the show together, we bring in guys that put their own stamp on the songs and I think that goes a long way towards making the shows punch.
What went into the recording of your latest album Actor-Castor?
Ted and I went back to our friend Daniel Black in D.C. who is our longtime producer and collaborator. We spent about a month up in his studio putting these songs together using his tape machines and a lot of his gear, some of our own. We hung out in his basement studio, hiding from the sun, chipping away at it until we finished it. Then we came back to new Orleans and worked on the live versions while he mixed it.
What would we find in your music collection that you listen to the most?
There's a new record store in New Orleans called Euclid Records that I really like. I have been going there and just picking out random things. I bought a Chet Baker record that I like a lot. Elvis Costello's "Imperial Bedroom" is my favorite record right now. That and Squeeze's Singles record get played a lot at my apartment.
Requisite road story question. What’s the strangest thing that’s happened to you on the road in the last three months?
We saw a lot of people at SXSW in Austin. We played a couple of parties either right before or right after Toro y Mois and a ton of people were trying to get in to see him. We partied with Aziz Ansari who was coming in to see Toro as we were loading out. We gave him some good jokes so if you hear him do any funny jokes this year, it was probably one of ours.
GENERATIONALS Tour Dates
04/27 Little Rock, AR Stickyz
04/28 Lincoln, NE Bourbon Theatre
04/29 Iowa City, IA Gabe's Oasis
04/30 Madison, WI Der Rathskeller
05/01 Hamtramck, MI Small's Bar #
05/02 Newport, KY Southgate House #
05/03 Bloomington, IN The Bishop
05/04 St. Louis, MO Off Broadway #
05/05 Lawrence, KS Jackpot Music Hall #
05/06 Norman, OK Opolis #
05/07 Austin, TX Emo's #
05/08 New Orleans, LA New Orleans Jazz Festival
05/11 New York, NY Mercury Lounge *
05/12 Brooklyn, NY The Rock Shop *
05/13 Washington, DC The Red Palace *
05/14 Philadelphia, PA Kungfu Necktie *
05/17 Arlington, VA IOTA Club & Café *
05/18 Richmond, VA The Camel *
05/19 Chapel Hill, NC Local 506 *
05/20 Atlanta, GA The Earl *
05/21 Nashville, TN The Basement *
05/24 Birmingham, AL The Bottletree *
05/25 Oxford, MS Proud Larry's *
05/26 Houston, TX Fitzgerald's *
05/27 Dallas, TX Club Dada *
05/28 Austin, TX Emo's *
06/25 New Orleans, LA Tipitina's
07/07 San Antonio, TX The Korva
07/08 Tempe, AZ Sail Inn %
07/09 Tucson, AZ Club Congress %
07/10 San Diego, CA Casbah %
07/14 Los Angeles, CA The Echo
07/16 Davis, CA Sophia's Thai Kitchen %
07/17 Portland, OR Mississippi Studios %
07/19 Seattle, WA Tractor Tavern %
07/20 Boise, ID Neurolux %
07/21 Salt Lake City, UT Kilby Court %
07/22 Denver, CO Underground Music Showcase %
07/23 Santa Fe, NM Corazon %
07/24 Oklahoma City, OK The Conservatory %
07/26 Baton Rouge, LA Manship Theatre %
# = w/ Oh No Oh My
* = w/ Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
% = w/ Gardens & Villa
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