According to Lucas Sienk, guitarist for progressive post-jam band Pia Mater, college kids aren't affected by the weak economy. "(College kids) spend their money on booze and fornication — sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll ... so in the fall, we're gonna hit up a lot of college towns," he says.
But before venturing into the world of frat houses and beer pong, the band will play The Club at Water Street on April 15 as part of the venue's Groove Nights in The Club.
The band members — Sienk, 24; vocalist/rhythm guitarist Tom Montagliano, 28; drummer Matt Blauvelt, 23; and bassist Jay Gilly, 28 — are excited to play their first gig at one of Rochester's most prestigious music venues.
"Water Street is like a rite of passage for us. That's the venue to play ... to show you're really coming of age," says Montagliano. "Hopefully we can work our way over to the other side [Water Street Music Hall] eventually, but it's gonna be a long road to get that far."
In advance of the show, we sat down to talk with the band in its St. Paul Street practice space.
How often do you guys practice here?
Sienk: We've been known to practice seven days a week.
Montagliano: We get drunk and then we think, 'Hey, I'm better now,' and I usually record it and listen back and we do not sound as good as we thought.
Do you record all of your practices?
Blauvelt: We try to record everything — practices, shows ...
Montagliano: It's a really good learning experience
Sienk: We'll record them and listen to them and send them out to our fans through Facebook.
During your live shows, how important is improvisation?
Montagliano: It's extremely integral to the band. It's probably the defining characteristic.
Sienk: And it keeps us from getting bored. We played a residency over the summer, and if we wrote a set list with too many composed songs I'd start to twitch ... We like to joke onstage. Matt's got a mini-drum pad onstage and he puts classic sitcom theme songs on there. He did The Golden Girls one time, (and the) last couple of weeks it was Full House.
Your Web site says Matt enjoys saving abandoned kittens.
Blauvelt: That's not relevant at all. It's just something stupid I put on there.
Montagliano: That's funny, though, because I was hanging out with Matt the other night and we were just sitting there, and all the sudden this cat just walked into his house, and I was like, "Just let it be."
Blauvelt: The cat was so hungry and I was like, "I don't know what to feed cats."
Montagliano: He wouldn't eat the Fruity Pebbles that I tried to feed him. I don't know what else to do.
