This was a seminal year for Akron/Family as they released their fourth record, Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free in May, followed by a non-stop tour schedule playing many big festivals and headlining their own shows in the U.S. and abroad. The record chronicles a journey of searching for a renewed identity, while staying true to the euphoric spirit, style and ideology that has garnered them a solid fan base. There is a thread of self-examination found amongst the layers of experimental composition, no surprise for a band that’s known for digging deep and tapping into the emotion of extended instrumental jams and audience participation. Though it’s been about two years since singer and guitarist Ryan Vanderhoof left, they have chosen to remain a three-piece band. It’s easy for them to do since all three play several instruments and sing.
I spoke with Miles Seaton, bassist, multi-instrumentalist and sometimes singer from Akron/Family. Though the band has been in high demand this year with invitations to play almost daily at different venues in North America and Europe, Seaton was humble, sincere and even a little self-deprecating. He opened up about their experiences making and playing their music and what’s next.What do you think of playing the big festivals?
Festivals are cool. People are excited and interested. We usually have the 25 to 35 demographic and the festivals have younger audiences. Our own shows are 8 times less people. But our own shows have a little more direct contact with the audience. This kind of stage is that fourth wall. The height gives you a certain voice. But in our own shows, addressing the audience directly makes it a more dynamic experience.
How do draw the audience in?
After our Pitchfork review, the audiences were ready. We had a big increase… During a three hour show, you lose some people by the end. But, we want it to be a communal, harmonic experience.
Speaking of which, some people describe your music as a religious experience or transcendental.
(Laughs)
Not in the sense of religion, but feeling.
We’re less esoteric now than before. The music and the level of communication are more…simple now. There’s something about being surrounded by other voices as well as your own that’s really special. It levels the field. You can connect on a different level with a large group of people.
What are you trying to achieve when you’re writing the songs? Is it more about a feeling or a concept or is it the music?
River was inspired by falling in love with a person…there was a big picture of Bob Marley that reminded us of an abstract idea of reaching people like he did. We wanted to remove the political and esoteric messages and reach people on a more simple level. We wanted to make something relatable on this album.
After Ryan left, it was hard on the band. We had to regroup. There was a moment of truth when I realized I wasn’t ready to leave music behind. It reaffirmed our dedication. We recorded 30 songs and just allowed ourselves to spread out. There are references to a lot of different kinds of music…we went to Japan and saw these guys playing garbage cans on their heads…But we’ve developed a style, so it ended up sounding a lot like our other albums. We just want to have fun now.
Did you feel there was more pressure before?
There’s less pressure to produce a lot now…it’s ridiculous to expect a linear progression…we’re not in it for an end-gaining experience. We don’t want to fit into a chess game. You wanna be cool, so bad reviews can hurt, but now that’s less important. We will be even closer to being the profound us on the next record.
So you are driven more by your personal fulfillment than commercial success?
Being true to ourselves is important. We want to be happy, it’s not a big goal to be commercial. I was 23 or 24 when I started this and it was 180% all the time. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Now we all have relationships and it’s more balanced. It might lead to success in a way that suits us, not the “suits.”
There’s a lot of debate about what your style is on the internet. Some people call you a jam-band or folk or influenced by classic rock. How would you characterize yourselves?
There’s a lot of improvisations on “Never Say No.” Psychedelic or folk? It’s hard to characterize. There’s folk storytelling like Neil Young or African Folk, also. I’d say Folk if it means a story of the people, from the people. We’re not branding ourselves. People read too much into that.
I noticed that your website [formerly had] only a video for “Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free,” and no other information about the band or purchasing music. Is there a reason for that?
Yeah, that’s kind of the way we are. We get excited about something and just act on it. We were excited about that video, then we just threw it up there. The website will change and we’ve got a blog now.
Anything you care to share?
Our Blog is akronfamily.tumblr.com and our Twitter is @akronfamily. We want to be able to share more unrecorded music, too.
How has the change in the music industry business model affected you? Radiohead is giving away albums, people are using the internet more…
We can reach out more to our audience with less touring via technology…Music is being returned to the people. Our tickets are the same price as our albums, anyway…though the change in the business model is hard on the artists because of the download culture and the ADD quality that it creates. I came from Punk Rock bands before this, so I understand that.
We were in the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor, where the E power chords sound awesome…I saw this poster from Nirvana who played there in the 90’s. I thought it would be cool to be able to sell massive albums like Nirvana, but now it’s different. The internet helps us be able to tour and be heard…More people have a voice… I want to validate people and let them speak.
Anything else you’d like to express to your fans?
Yeah. We’re happy to play music for the people. We’re smiling and really happy. Sometimes we’re perceived as being very serious, but really we’re just happy to be playing music.
What are your plans for the rest of the year?
We’re touring until the end of the year and we’ll have new stuff, a new album next year.
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Hear clips, see photos and get tour info at Akron/Family’s Myspace and at akronfamily.com
