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You know you're rock stars when you get to perform alongside Biff from the Back to the Future trilogy on The Tonight Show. "(Thomas Wilson) actually played guitar with us last time we were on The Tonight Show," says Relient K's Jon Schneck about playing their Christmas cover "Sleigh Ride" alongside Michael J. Fox.
Relient K, whose first gig was in December 1997, has released several albums including MMHMM and Five Score and Seven Years Ago and is planning another CD release later this year. The group will make a stop at Water Street Music Hall on Friday, June 26. Schneck — who plays guitar, banjo, bells and some vocals — talked to us while taking a break from recording the new material in a Nashville, Tenn. studio.
I heard that the name of your next album was first announced on Twitter, is that correct?
Yeah, I was with Matt (Thiessen), our singer, when he did that. (The album's) called Forget and Not Slow Down.
How has the change in technology, since you guys first started playing in the late 90's, effected you as a band?
The good (part is) it's super easy to be assessable for our fans. We can put up lots of content really quickly and do the Twitter thing and Facebook, and keep all that stuff updated. Which is cool (and) it seems like the fans are really involved in that. The bad thing is that our record, since it's mostly digital, can get released a little early and people can download it easily. But, overall, I think (the newer technology) is a good thing, it's way easier to stay in contact with our fans and get more music out there quickly.
You said you're at the studio now, I saw on your Web site that you guys have Webisodes from the studio that track your progress on the album. How is that going, have you gotten positive responses from that?
Yeah, this was the first time that we actually hired a professional video guy to come in and kind of document our process of making a record; it turned out pretty cool.
Looking through your catalogue, I noticed that you guys did something for the Veggie Tales soundtrack ...
Yeah, that was a song called "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything." It turned out to be a fun song, we actually get requests to play the song live all the time but we've never actually played it.
Are you going to play it on this tour?
I highly doubt it [laughs]. It's possible, anything's possible.
Do you have any good fan stories from one of your past tours?
There was a girl during our west coast tour, who came to all nine (shows) and it was all the way from San Diego up to Seattle and then down through Idaho. So, it was a pretty hefty trek she made. It was awesome, we really appreciate all our fans, but that was a little out of control.
