In August, internet radio station WTYT960 hosted an online event where a photo of a band in it’s “hottest moment” would be voted on by fans. Boston area band, 51 Shortfalls came out on top, winning some free promotional material. Well, it couldn’t have come at a better time. In September they announced the release of the upcoming album: “The Age of Empty Hearts”.
We “sat down” with lead vocalist and guitarist, Jonathan Rusk (Rusky), to get the inside scoop on the guys and the dynamic sound being created by Rusky, fellow guitarist: Kenny Parker, drummer: B, bassist and backing vocals: Sean Yabba.
You’ve been working together since about 2009, right?
Rusky: Yes, the last week of 2009 to be exact. We had met through the jungle of underground music in Massachusetts about a year or so earlier. Our community of music is quite an eclectic and sometimes chaotic scene, but it’s a great place to find musicians who are open to new ideas. Kenny and I had played together for a couple months before 51 Shortfalls, B a couple weeks, and Sean completed the line-up. The strange thing is, we never had try-outs — as soon as we all played together it just fit.
How did your band name come about?
Rusky: We came into rehearsal one night in late December with a list of names we had compiled [throughout] the week. Hoping we had the right fit somewhere on the scraps of paper in our beat up old notebooks. As we read the names out loud, 51 Shortfalls struck a chord. We then started writing a new song after agreeing the name and its meaning suited us. The song “The Life Left Behind” was our newest song as the band named for the weeks that had come to pass earlier that year, our 51 Shortfalls.
What does 51 Shortfalls mean to you?
Rusky: To us it means: Hope, family, friends, support, collaboration, artistic expression, and much more. This band has so much to offer us and, we hope, anyone listening.
You just finished recording & mixing a new album called “The Age of Empty Hearts”. Tell us a little about the recording process.
Rusky: The process took tons of time and patience. A true labor of love, we all became better musicians from the experience and feel very grateful having done it.
How long have you been working on it?
Rusky: We started pre-production on our own about two months before we left [for the studio] in February. Sean got a do it yourself recording set up that was much better than the [microphone in the middle of the room technique] we were used to. We recorded, re-recorded, re-re-recorded, and we wrote, re-wrote, and re-re-wrote fifteen songs till we thought they were awesome. Then we re-wrote them again! Once we got to Florida we picked ten and got down to business. Matt LaPlant, our producer, started recording new demos of the songs with us and the process began again, [laughs]. After everything it took us — seven months writing rough songs, two months in our studio doing pre-production 4-5 days a week- along with a few all-nighters, and a month in Bieler Bros. Studios pre-producing, engineering, and recording the album, 6-7 days a week, 10hrs a day.
Are you re-releasing any tracks that you’ve previously recorded? Or is “The Age of Empty Hearts” all new stuff for you guys?
Rusky: There are a few on there we have been playing live for quite some time — “Go Back for It”, “Broken Boundaries”, a version of “The Better Part of Me” — but for the most part it’s all new. Even those songs have changed in pre-production a bit. “Broken Boundaries” is the only one we have recorded previously. It was never officially released but there are some rare digital copies floating around out there on the interwebs.
You all have a hand writing the songs. What was it like developing your sound together as a group?
Rusky: It was like “buttah” sometimes, and other times it was not so easy. All of us have very different ideas and backgrounds in music; this can make it hard to come to agreement on where a song should go. We have to allow each others’ strengths to shine, and trust each others’ abilities through the process. Every part of the song needs a point and finding that point is where it gets tough. We tend to shift focus during songs quite a bit, I mean foreground and background instruments/ dynamics… It all comes to this — as long as a part in a song is from the heart and is memorable, we are all in. For our sound that’s it — Keep it from the heart, and memorable.
It’s easy to tell you have a strong sense of community. What does your hometown of Malden, MA have to say about all your hard work and success? What’s the general feel of the music scene in the area?
Rusky: This area is where B, Kenny and Sean grew up, so there is a very strong root for the band here. Being from the south shore of MA I got to a warm welcome up north of Boston with these and other musicians. The town has been good to us, especially our neighbors at the studio, who always listen, never call the cops, and come to our shows! The pub’s, restaurants, Packy’s, take out’s, even Dunky’s knows us! It’s a tight community here. In Boston we have our hang outs, its just as tight. This whole area has a growing rock scene. All of New England does, actually. Thanks to the music enthusiasts mostly for wanting local music, but without the bands, clubs, booking companies, and everyone involved in building it we wouldn’t be so fortunate. Its hard to do music these days. It always has been I suppose, but these days you can live your whole life behind a computer screen waiting to be fed “the next thing” it takes the discovery of local talent out of the equation. There is a building scene of people who live life on the outside, and we have seen their: outgoing, enthusiastic, and contagious personalities out at our shows. They are the rock scene right now in New England, the start of something new for our area. I’ve seen them down at Occupy, over at the Freedom Rally, Earthfest, Salem Haunted Happenings, the Walk for Hunger. Our growing success is due to our fans and our involvement with our community has made us as well as the community stronger.
What advice would you give other artists looking to impact their community as strongly as you do?
Rusky: Do things for your community! Haha We volunteer everywhere we can. There are walks, marches, benefits, every area has them, donate your time, play for them, promote for them, people will see you and your cause will be stronger. Some benefits we try and do annually like: The Walk for Hunger, Walk for Cerebral Palsy, Autism Speaks Benefit, any and all Community Day’s, the list goes on… The point is you have to give to your community if you want it to be there for you. Take part in community causes and they will take you with them.
How have all the various changes to the music industry affected the way you’re able to provide music for your fans?
Rusky: We love the instantaneous free vine of info and entertainment that we all drink from called the interweb. Providing music has never been easier, it’s amazing what downloading and such has done for us all, it’s also amazing how much it has taken away. This is a crazy hard question… [laughs] I think the whole industry is broken, but still better than before. That’s the short answer. Bands can record at home now and it’s become a much more level playing field because of it, so that’s rad… We have our sights set a bit higher than recording in the bedroom though. Instead of recording a rinky-dink album at home we decided to go to Bieler Bros. Studios for a quality product. Playing music for peanuts beats humping crap around a construction site all day, which is one of the ways we are proving The Age of Empty Hearts. We hope people like the album enough to buy some T-shirts so we can pay it forward and record some more music.
Where can all your fans find you online?
Rusky: Other than 51 Shortfalls.com you can find us on the big ones: Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, and Tumblr. You can also Google us for some cool interviews and reviews.
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