Some Q & A with Eric Rottmayer
RFT: What kind of reactions do you get to your band name? I know the first thing I think of is the tiara in the "Pretty Pretty Princess" game.
Eric: Trust me, I've gone through all forms of like, you know, are you guys an all-gay band? "Are you-", this happened on the phone, "is this an all-girl band? Are you the manager?" You know, stuff like that, you know. So, I've been through it all and I don't know what to say, I don't even know why we kept that name, but we did, and it's been ten years now. It actually started out as my solo recording project, I was doing like four-track recording. And it developed into the band.
RFT: You guys record a lot of your own stuff right? I read somewhere that you bought all your own equipment?
Eric: Yeah, I'm really interested in audio stuff and have been for ten years, and hadn't really invested too much money until just the past few years. And now I have a 24-track studio setup in my basement. And that's what we did half of the album, the new album on. We did the other half at Workbook, the new Workbook. Which was a return, because the album before that, we had recorded half of it ourselves and the other half at another studio in Columbus called The Diamond Mine.
RFT: So how do you choose what to record where?
Eric: Well, the last album, we chose Diamond Mine because we went to the studio and it was really cool. It had a nice big room for drums. We wanted to have a big sound, for live recording. And that's what we did, we recorded all the tracks with all of us playing together at the same time, and then overdubbed with vocals guitars and keyboards. And we did that with this album as well, except for the home-recorded tracks. We did those sort of in layers, starting with drums, building up with bass, adding guitars, and then doing vocals. But with the Jon Chinn stuff, we did that live too. And I think that's one thing you can have in a studio, a big room and a nice sounding room. Because they record bands all the time and they know how to make it sound good. So that's, yeah, that’s why we chose there. And we wanted to record with Jon Chinn again, because we hadn't done it for awhile and we really like him. He's familiar with our sound and he knows, you don't really have to communicate a whole lot.
RFT: Do you still like your old music?
Eric: Yeah, I still like it. I barely ever listen to it. I listen to the Metronome stuff more because I like remixing it or something, you know. I mean, it's weird going back and listening to that stuff. I was just starting out and trying to write songs. The first record, me and Brian co-wrote some of the songs together, so that was kind of cool.
RFT: What do you think is Tiara's niche (as a pop band) in the Columbus scene?
Eric: It's hard. I mean, I think a lot of midwestern towns, there’s not a lot of pop music. Because they're either like, a rebellion going on, or whatever. There's a lot of punk rock, I think. There was a lot of punk rock. And now there's some hip-hop, which is getting really really popular. And then there's like, a couple of metal bands that are really doing it. But there's not a whole lot of like, straight pop-rock type stuff.
RFT: It seems to me like a lot of people listen to it, but there aren't a lot of people playing it.
Eric: Yeah, I know. I don’t really know the reason for that, but that’s how it’s always been. The Columbus scene has always been kind of strange, I think. For us, at least, we started playing in a totally straightedge, punk rock house, and that’s where we played our first show, it's called the Neil House. And that was strictly out of necessity, I mean, that was the place we could play. We made friends with some of those people because they accepted us into that scene. We weren't playing punk rock at all. But it helped us get out foot into the door, meeting a lot of people. We were sort of accepted even though we were playing a lot of pop things. We would have people boo us. I mean, we don’t really fit into a lot of these different things, so some night we would be booed, and some nights someone would come up, out of the blue, some crazy punk rock kid would come up on stage and be like "I really understand what you’re doing". And that was really cool. So, it's hard if you’re really trying to do something that’s not typical. It wasn’t that we were really trying to do something that wasn’t typical; we were just doing what we liked.
RFT: Is Austin as full of hipsters as I’ve heard?
Eric: Austin is a very hip city. It’s the only thing in Texas that we like besides just driving through it.
RFT: How did that happen?
Eric: I don’t know! It’s the college, it’s a college town. Four of five years ago, it was a lot like Columbus but even more advanced in the scene, a lot more happening musically with bands than Columbus.
RFT: What do you think the overall mood is of Chained to the Crown?
Eric: I think it's really hopeful, for me which is kind of strange. Because after Matt (Weaver) left, we weren’t really sure if we were going to want to continue as a band, because he was such an integral part of the band. I didn't know if I wanted to do it. A lot of the songs came out of that, they’re sort of hopeful in that we'll keep doing business.
RFT: How would you say that’s different from other albums?
Eric: It's definitely a contrast. A lot of the other stuff is a little more emotional. I wouldn't say emo, but a lot of people put that tag on it. It's just something I that’s from, like, when I write, I'm writing about things that happen to me. I mean, sometimes, I write about other people, but it's something that’s moving me to write about something. And a lot of the time it's not something pleasant. I think it’s really hard to write happy songs. I think it’s hard, for me at least. I have a lot of respect for people who write happy songs.
RFT: How have positive reviews in various music media outlets, such as All Muisc, affected your songwriting?
Eric: It didn't pressure me or anything. Touring is really difficult for me, so I think if anything, that has a lot of influence on the songs. I mean, I think getting press is good and it has its place, but for me, it's not a huge influence or anything. It's not much of a boost. I mean, it's definitely cool, like when we got the CMJ thing. We were getting added and we were in the top five adds in the CMJ charts, and they sent out an article in the press version of CMJ that goes out to all the labels and distributions and things like that. And that only lasted for a while. We went back to square one.
RFT: What's in the future for Tiara in the next few days/months/years?
Eric: Well, I mean, weeks, we’ll be practicing, you know, playing that show at Used Kids will be really cool. Used Kids is a place I've gone to for 15 years. Some of my fondest memories getting music is at Used Kids. So that will be fun. And for months, we'll be working on some new songs. We pretty quickly go to the next batch of new songs. I'm constantly trying to move on. I get bored of something really quickly. And then years, I don't know about years, you know? We'll see. Three-fifths of the band are married now, and my wife has a ten-year-old daughter, so that's because a big part of my life. And it's great, and I love it, but it makes things difficult with touring for a long time. I don’t think that’s going to stop us from making the music, so I want to keep doing as long as it's fun, years from now.
RFT: How old are you anyways?
Eric: I'm 32. I'm going to be 33 in December.
RFT: I was going to guess about five years younger.
Eric: Yeah, a lot of people say that. My mom and dad both look young. My wife looks younger too, so people see us together and think "aww, a new couple." And we’ve been married for like three years. I mean, it doesn't matter. It's probably a plus for me, how I look younger. I can still get out there and trick people.
RFT: What would you be doing with yourself if you weren't in a band?
Eric: Well, we all have full-time jobs. We're not really living off our music at all. We're lucky if we break even. But still, if I wasn't doing music at all, I'd probably be doing something involved with art. I went to art school. Music started being a creative outlet for me after I got out of art school. I might be working in a art school. I mean, I like coffee a lot (points at coffeemaker).
Eric: Trust me, I've gone through all forms of like, you know, are you guys an all-gay band? "Are you-", this happened on the phone, "is this an all-girl band? Are you the manager?" You know, stuff like that, you know. So, I've been through it all and I don't know what to say, I don't even know why we kept that name, but we did, and it's been ten years now. It actually started out as my solo recording project, I was doing like four-track recording. And it developed into the band.
RFT: You guys record a lot of your own stuff right? I read somewhere that you bought all your own equipment?
Eric: Yeah, I'm really interested in audio stuff and have been for ten years, and hadn't really invested too much money until just the past few years. And now I have a 24-track studio setup in my basement. And that's what we did half of the album, the new album on. We did the other half at Workbook, the new Workbook. Which was a return, because the album before that, we had recorded half of it ourselves and the other half at another studio in Columbus called The Diamond Mine.
RFT: So how do you choose what to record where?
Eric: Well, the last album, we chose Diamond Mine because we went to the studio and it was really cool. It had a nice big room for drums. We wanted to have a big sound, for live recording. And that's what we did, we recorded all the tracks with all of us playing together at the same time, and then overdubbed with vocals guitars and keyboards. And we did that with this album as well, except for the home-recorded tracks. We did those sort of in layers, starting with drums, building up with bass, adding guitars, and then doing vocals. But with the Jon Chinn stuff, we did that live too. And I think that's one thing you can have in a studio, a big room and a nice sounding room. Because they record bands all the time and they know how to make it sound good. So that's, yeah, that’s why we chose there. And we wanted to record with Jon Chinn again, because we hadn't done it for awhile and we really like him. He's familiar with our sound and he knows, you don't really have to communicate a whole lot.
RFT: Do you still like your old music?
Eric: Yeah, I still like it. I barely ever listen to it. I listen to the Metronome stuff more because I like remixing it or something, you know. I mean, it's weird going back and listening to that stuff. I was just starting out and trying to write songs. The first record, me and Brian co-wrote some of the songs together, so that was kind of cool.
RFT: What do you think is Tiara's niche (as a pop band) in the Columbus scene?
Eric: It's hard. I mean, I think a lot of midwestern towns, there’s not a lot of pop music. Because they're either like, a rebellion going on, or whatever. There's a lot of punk rock, I think. There was a lot of punk rock. And now there's some hip-hop, which is getting really really popular. And then there's like, a couple of metal bands that are really doing it. But there's not a whole lot of like, straight pop-rock type stuff.
RFT: It seems to me like a lot of people listen to it, but there aren't a lot of people playing it.
Eric: Yeah, I know. I don’t really know the reason for that, but that’s how it’s always been. The Columbus scene has always been kind of strange, I think. For us, at least, we started playing in a totally straightedge, punk rock house, and that’s where we played our first show, it's called the Neil House. And that was strictly out of necessity, I mean, that was the place we could play. We made friends with some of those people because they accepted us into that scene. We weren't playing punk rock at all. But it helped us get out foot into the door, meeting a lot of people. We were sort of accepted even though we were playing a lot of pop things. We would have people boo us. I mean, we don’t really fit into a lot of these different things, so some night we would be booed, and some nights someone would come up, out of the blue, some crazy punk rock kid would come up on stage and be like "I really understand what you’re doing". And that was really cool. So, it's hard if you’re really trying to do something that’s not typical. It wasn’t that we were really trying to do something that wasn’t typical; we were just doing what we liked.
RFT: Is Austin as full of hipsters as I’ve heard?
Eric: Austin is a very hip city. It’s the only thing in Texas that we like besides just driving through it.
RFT: How did that happen?
Eric: I don’t know! It’s the college, it’s a college town. Four of five years ago, it was a lot like Columbus but even more advanced in the scene, a lot more happening musically with bands than Columbus.
RFT: What do you think the overall mood is of Chained to the Crown?
Eric: I think it's really hopeful, for me which is kind of strange. Because after Matt (Weaver) left, we weren’t really sure if we were going to want to continue as a band, because he was such an integral part of the band. I didn't know if I wanted to do it. A lot of the songs came out of that, they’re sort of hopeful in that we'll keep doing business.
RFT: How would you say that’s different from other albums?
Eric: It's definitely a contrast. A lot of the other stuff is a little more emotional. I wouldn't say emo, but a lot of people put that tag on it. It's just something I that’s from, like, when I write, I'm writing about things that happen to me. I mean, sometimes, I write about other people, but it's something that’s moving me to write about something. And a lot of the time it's not something pleasant. I think it’s really hard to write happy songs. I think it’s hard, for me at least. I have a lot of respect for people who write happy songs.
RFT: How have positive reviews in various music media outlets, such as All Muisc, affected your songwriting?
Eric: It didn't pressure me or anything. Touring is really difficult for me, so I think if anything, that has a lot of influence on the songs. I mean, I think getting press is good and it has its place, but for me, it's not a huge influence or anything. It's not much of a boost. I mean, it's definitely cool, like when we got the CMJ thing. We were getting added and we were in the top five adds in the CMJ charts, and they sent out an article in the press version of CMJ that goes out to all the labels and distributions and things like that. And that only lasted for a while. We went back to square one.
RFT: What's in the future for Tiara in the next few days/months/years?
Eric: Well, I mean, weeks, we’ll be practicing, you know, playing that show at Used Kids will be really cool. Used Kids is a place I've gone to for 15 years. Some of my fondest memories getting music is at Used Kids. So that will be fun. And for months, we'll be working on some new songs. We pretty quickly go to the next batch of new songs. I'm constantly trying to move on. I get bored of something really quickly. And then years, I don't know about years, you know? We'll see. Three-fifths of the band are married now, and my wife has a ten-year-old daughter, so that's because a big part of my life. And it's great, and I love it, but it makes things difficult with touring for a long time. I don’t think that’s going to stop us from making the music, so I want to keep doing as long as it's fun, years from now.
RFT: How old are you anyways?
Eric: I'm 32. I'm going to be 33 in December.
RFT: I was going to guess about five years younger.
Eric: Yeah, a lot of people say that. My mom and dad both look young. My wife looks younger too, so people see us together and think "aww, a new couple." And we’ve been married for like three years. I mean, it doesn't matter. It's probably a plus for me, how I look younger. I can still get out there and trick people.
RFT: What would you be doing with yourself if you weren't in a band?
Eric: Well, we all have full-time jobs. We're not really living off our music at all. We're lucky if we break even. But still, if I wasn't doing music at all, I'd probably be doing something involved with art. I went to art school. Music started being a creative outlet for me after I got out of art school. I might be working in a art school. I mean, I like coffee a lot (points at coffeemaker).
posted by tobias at 12:20 PM
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