Umphrey's McGee, Part 3

TECHNICALLY, THE MUSIC IS VERY COMPLICATED. THERE ARE TIME CHANGES THROUGHOUT. WAS THAT ON PURPOSE?
I can definitely remember some early practices and early sounds where they were straightforward. We would throw in some 7/4's, etc., just to make it more difficult and more challenging. We wanted something more fun to play instead of something so easy we could just get up there and go through the motions.

YOU HAVE AN INCREDIBLE RHYTHM SECTION, WHICH, TO DO WGHAT YOU DO, IS REQUIRED. TELL US KRIS (MYERS).
The drummer is the rock upon which you build you church. Kris was the savior of the band. When the drummer left, we all were kinda freaked out and didn't know what to do. We thought we could find someone good enough or that we liked, but we didn't know if they would be the same guy. To be honest, we were so impressed when he arrived that we were trying to mask our reactions during the audition. We tried to keep our cool. The minute he walked out, we felt this kid was ridiculous and we had to grab him.

HOW LONG HAS HE BEEN WITH THE BAND?
It will be two years this January.

DID IT TAKE TIME FOR HIM TO LEARN YOUR CATALOG?
We had to start over and run though all these songs that we had been playing for five years and teach them to him. None of it was charted. It made us a tighter band It made us go through songs that we assumed we were playing the right way only to figure out out we weren't together. So, it made the sound tighter. You are only as good as who you surround yourself with, so if you have someone who is a high caliber musician, it forces you to step up.

IT WOULD SEEM OBVIOUS TO ME THAT ANYONE WHO JOINS A BAND TENDS TO BRING THEIR EAR TO THE SOUND. HOW DID THINGS GO WITH KRIS?
We made some changes when Kris joined. It's nice to have a fresh perspective. He had never heard of the band. He auditioned based on a recommendation from one of his friends.