Interview with Carver Commodore
Shot by: Abby Cagle
Carver Commodore is a rock n' roll band based in Florence, AL. Playing at WoodLawn Theatre Saturday, April 6, 2024.
Will Mason: OK, I know I should know this - but where’d the name come from?
Payton: So I had a Great, Great Uncle named Carver Commodore. He was born in the early 1906 and seemed to live a pretty normal life until he was outside one night in1957 (pretty sure he was peeing off his back porch) and he *apparently* saw an orb of light come down from the sky, come over to him, sit there for a minute, and go back up. He went and told his brother what he saw and that he thought this orb of light was telling him that he was about to die. He got all his stuff in order and three days later he was hit by a car while walking home and was killed instantly. I’d heard this story a few times growing up but didn’t pay much attention to it until myearly twenties when I was looking for a band name. My dad told me he wanted to name me Carver Commodore but my mom wouldn’t let him because she thought it was bad luck. I thought Carver Commodore was a cool name attached to a cool story and I figured there wouldn’t be any other bands pop up if our name was googled, so I went with it. Maybe it is bad luck, maybe it isn’t – who knows!
Phillip: It’s a name that’s steeped in Alabama folklore, and I love that.
WM: Y’alls music videos are so rad - Now that MTV has been dead since 199... well, since reality tv killed the music video - not as many up and coming bands take it upon themselves to create music videos. Is this something the whole band has always wanted to do, or is there a creative director in the group that had a vision for doing cool music videos? Basically, who’s idea was it?
David: Music videos are such a massive part of music for me. Some of the first ways I discovered bands I connected to when I was getting into music (MCR, Young the Giant, Hawthorne Heights, Manchester Orchestra) were through watching music videos on Fuse and the early age of YouTube! VH1 pop-up video marathons influenced me in so many ways from watching Foo Fighters' unbeatable energy on the Best of You video to feeling some type of way seeing the video for Whitesnake’s Here I Go Again. It’s such a cool, creative way to put visuals to the sounds and show the personality of the band behind the music. We love movies and cinema as a whole and also love the creative process outside of just songwriting – making music videos is another fun way to create something special as a group.
WM: Drown Me in Emotions, Queens, Too Late to Get Out, If Nothing Happens - these all look to me like high-budget professional (record) label-produced music videos - how long does it take y’all to make these things happen? Are you spending all your merch money on music videos? What gives?
David: All self-produced/directed by us in-house! We’re our own production team at this point. A lot of it is DIY and very much put together on a next-to-shoestring budget! In the case go the music videos for “If Nothing Happens...”, we flew out to the West Coast and shot 5 music videos in 5 days taking advantage of just about every stop along the way. We brought some friends we trusted to be our DOP and grip and made it happen. Budgeting just came from saving up touring payments and merch sales, but was very much low-budget. Vision, passion, sheer Alabama-boy strength, and collaboration go a long way in the creative process for music videos. No label is required for these!
Phillip: Blood, sweat, and tears. But mostly buckets of sweat.
WM: Followup question - can we get a cameo in the next one?
Phillip: Please! I’ll need a flash mob-style approach, though. Like what you used to seen the YOLO swag era of malls, circa 2009.
WM: I *think* y’all self-produce most of your records - is that correct? What does that look like? Are you renting a studio and engineering/producing/mixing top to bottom? Do you bring someone in to help with any part of the process, or is it all Carver all the way? How has your creative process evolved over the past couple records and EPs?
Payton: We’ve worked with producers on pretty much all of the projects we have out so far! Brendan St. Gelais produced our first two records and the ‘Too Much’ EP (except one song). We recorded our first album ‘Tell Me What You Want’ at The Smoakstack in Nashville over a few 3-5 day sessions in 2018 and Brendan Produced and Engineered pretty much the whole thing. Our friend Chris Bethea mixed and mastered that record and we released it through a quasi-label thing our first manager had put together. The second album ‘Welcome to the Modern World’ was recorded in Brendan’s home studio over 6-8 weeks worth of sessions in 2020. We were rehearsing some new songs when Covid happened and the world shut down, so I called Brendan up and asked if he wanted to make an album and he said yes. We started right away – that first week of Covid lockdown – and wrapped up the album in December of that year. We ended up finishing 17 songs during those sessions. 13 of them ended up on WTTMW (which was released in 2021) and 4 of them ended up on an EP we put out in 2022 called ‘Too Much?’. Another song from that EP called “Devil May Care” was the first fully self-produced, self-engineered song to be released. We recorded it in your basement studio one day in January 2022! Our friend Parke Cottrell produced our latest EP ‘If Nothing Happens’. He had co-produced a couple of tracks from WTTMW – “Choose Your Own Adventure” and “Take Time” (which he also co-wrote with me). He ended up playing bass on a bunch of the songs on that record too. I wanted to try something different, so I reached out to Parke in 2022 to see if he’d want to produce an EP for us. We ended up tracking it at Sundrop Sound in Florence, AL, which is home for me. Most of the engineering on that EP was done by Austin Motlow with some help from Ben Tanner on a couple of tracks. Chad Copelin mixed it and Voyager Mastering took care of the rest! Funny you mention it – we just finished our first fully self-produced record, which we’re pumped about. I feel like it comes naturally to us for many reasons – we’re very much DIY control freaks and we’re full of big ideas. I guess the way I write songs kind of comes from a producer mindset as well. I usually end up making full demos of the songs as I write them, and a good bit of the tracks from those demos end up in the final product – especially on this latest album. We came back to Sundrop Sound here in Florence and had Austin Motlow take the helm as an engineer. I’m excited for people to hear it!
David: We’ve just recently ventured into completely self-producing an album (more on that in the future!) at Sundrop Studio in Florence AL with the amazing Austin Motlow engineering and making everything sound cool!
Phillip: I’m enjoying this “self-producing” era that we’re currently in. It’s been an absolute blast (and learning process) bringing in external producers on our previous records, but I think those experiences have set us up for the phase we’re currently in – which is the five of us in the studio working together with a unified goal and sound. It feels very cohesive when in recording mode – like a really strong glue. Maybe because we share a hive mind?
WM: Why aren’t y’all more famous already? I want you on Letterman NOW. But for real Do you have aspirations of growing beyond your current scale and taking the industry by storm? Or are you happy doing things at the current pace of progress? (Not EVERYONE wants to be the biggest band in the world). And yes, this is the music interview version of “where do you see yourselves in 5 years?”
Phillip: We’ve had this exact conversation many, many times – usually while decompressing after a show on a late-night van ride. It’s easy to become discouraged with your success (or lack thereof) when you’re comparing yourself to others (peers included). The solution? Don’t compare yourself! The fact is we’ve been able to accomplish so many incredible things that other artists only dream of doing. Our last EP “If Nothing Happens” was an open conversation about this very matter: which is learning to find contentment in your accomplishments and love the journey along the way. We’re also incredibly proud of our peers who have transitioned to a full-time music career because they deserve it as well!
David: As amazing as it would be to sell out Bridgestone Arena, I would be just as happy with a chunk of dedicated fans and filling up 250-500 cap rooms. I don’t think our goal has ever been to set the world on fire – but being able to make a living would be the goal for all of us. Not having to depend on other jobs and work schedules would be an amazing feeling. Just “working for ourselves”. Making music, videos, designing merch, and getting to do that every day is all I want out of it.
WM: OK, so I know what touring was like ‘back in my day’ (come on, I’m not that old) - the vast majority of your time is spent in vans, gas stations, and fast food restaurants, and then a tiny slice of time is on stage actually playing music. Most of the time, it felt ‘worth it’ to me, but there were definitely some moments when that wasn’t so clear...
What is your favorite and least favorite part of the road?
David: The best part (aside from playing shows) is finding new, unique places all over the country. Coffee Shops, Vintage Stores, Vinyl Stores, and Music Shops. Any time we are in a new city, we seek out the places that make that place unique! The worst part is the homesickness – missing my wife and son and our daily routines are always hard. I’m a bit of a homebody.
Phillip: When we do need to make the inevitable pit stop, we are a LOVE’S TRAVEL STOP band for life. Topo, hot dogs, Bucees’ if we’re in Texas. For the most part, we’ve kept our tours short, and have stressed the importance of quality over quantity to each other. I think we’re doing a pretty good job at managing that so far, even though, any time away from loved ones is tough. Thankfully we have so many great ways to keep in touch with each other on the road!
WM: Do y’all have any favorite touring partners? Like other bands you just get along with and would go on the road with anywhere anytime?
David: Brother Moses are our boys! Love any time we get to hang with them. I also loved getting to support The Weeks a few times. Good guys and fun shows. We’re always down to come out when they call.
Phillip: I’m seconding David on everything above, and adding Rock Eupora – they’re some of our dearest friends, and I believe they’re the first band we ever played an out-of-town show with (Nashville in a now-closed sandwich shop). I love them and their live show. They’ve also JUST released a “Live at Woodlawn Theatre” EP – you should listen to it!
WM: OK - you get a call from an agent offering you an opening slot on a tour with your dream band - who would it be? (I want to hear from each band member!).
Payton: Foo Fighters are the first band that comes to mind!
Phillip: My heart of hearts says the Foos, but I would dematerialize if I had the opportunity to open for The Strokes. There are also a lot of newer bands (The Lemon Twigs, GEESE, The Beaches, Briston Maroney, etc.) that we would vibe hard with.
David: DREAM SUPPORT SLOT would be Foo Fighters, Young the Giant, Switchfoot, Paramore, or Jack White. At least those are the first ones that come to mind for me!
Clayton: Paramore.
Noah: Kings of Leon!
WM: What does playing a hometown show mean to you - what’s different about your shows in Birmingham?
Phillip: It means the world to be able to play on the stages of so many of the incredible venues that Birmingham has to offer. Headlining Saturn (twice) was a major milestone, and we’ve been able to play the outdoor Avondale stage twice as well. We have a deep history in the Ham (does anyone remember our Marty’s PM marathons?) and hope to continue coming back every year until the venues are busting at the seams. We’re still shocked that so many of you support us and show up because we couldn’t do any of this without YOU. Hometown shows usually come with a “bonus”, too – I’m not revealing any details about our upcoming Birmingham theme yet, but there will be a period-appropriate dress code (if you so choose), a band vs. band atmosphere, and special pre/post-show music for this one. We try our best to turn every hometown show into a special event, even if it ends up being a simple twist on our end. We don’t want to be the band that keeps the status quo. Our fans deserve something fresh every time!
WM: Do you have any of your songs that you just HATE playing live? Like, every night you look at each other and you say, “please, please, please, don’t let anyone call that out from the crowd.”
Payton: I go through phases with our songs. Haha, the other guys make fun of me for it. It’s usually just songs that don’t seem to go over well live – right now it’s “Too Late to Get Out”, which sucks, cause it’s a song from the new EP and there are only 5 to choose from!
Phillip: Tell Me What You Want... if the crowd is not extra hype, it can be a yawner. Most of our songs are energetic and upbeat, too – so anytime there’s a slower tempo change it can be difficult to keep the energy level consistent. We do a silly dance with that song sometimes though, and as cheesy as it is, it seems to keep everyone entertained just enough to make it through that one!
David: We normally only play songs in live sets that we feel good about – Queens was one of those songs that just didn’t translate the way we wanted it to in a live scenario- which is a bummer because I LOVE that song!
WM: OK, now for a round of “would you rather.”
Would you rather play the same song on repeat for the entire set at your next 5 shows OR write, record, and release an instrumental song that features all 5 members playing bass guitar?
Payton: Oh the bass guitar song for sure. That could actually be fun!
Phillip: You know that song “Big Bottom” from Spinal Tap? All bases... 5x times the fun.
David: I think the bass guitar track would actually be really fun to make! I bet we could come up with something awesome... I’ve already got some ideas... 👀
Clayton: A quintuple bass attack would be sick.
WM: Would you rather be endorsed by Jagermeister or Fireball? Whichever you choose, you have to take a shot on stage at every show for the rest of your lives. But they pay for you to have a tour bus, so...
Payton: Jagermeister. I kinda like it and it reminds me of the stuff the Orcs make Merry drink in Lord of the Rings.
Phillip: Gimmie a bucket of Fireball! If they’d let us, I’d wrap the bus in Fireball graphics. Why not?
David: I’d say Fireball! We’ve done it before – we can do it over and over again!
Noah: I’m honestly not sure if I’ve ever had Jager but I definitely couldn’t do Fireball every night. So we’ll go with the “meister”. Is there a bourbon or tequila option?
If you had a time machine and could only use it once (round trip, don’t worry) - would you rather open for Lynyrd Skynyrd or AC/DC in their prime?
Payton: GAH this is a tough one. I genuinely don’t know who to pick. I feel like we’d get along with Lynyrd Skynyrd but I’m gonna go with AC/DC just to be able to see that live show in person.
Phillip: I’m going with Skynyrd, as much as I adore AC/DC. I don’t think the boys from Florida get as much respect as they should because in their prime they were a KILLER band. Also, we got to visit some of their graves in Jacksonville earlier this year. 10/10 recommend sneaking into the cemetery where they’re all buried.
David: GOTTA go with AC/DC in their prime! That energy would be unbelievable.
Noah: This is TOUGH. My southern heart wants to say Lynyrd Skynyrd but I’m gonna have to go with AC/DC. I’ve gotta see those shorts in real life.
Would you rather have a #1 hit song but you also have a condition where you forget your lyrics halfway through every song during live performances, OR have flawless memory but never have a song on the charts.
Payton: Joke’s on you – I already forget the lyrics halfway through our songs ANYWAYS. If I had to choose though, I’d take the #1 hit song and I’d get a teleprompter to have onstage at all times.
Phillip: ....one day I will build Payton a nifty teleprompter because I too am TERRIBLE with lyrics. Let’s go #1 hit for this one. If Vince Neil can sing 1⁄4 of the songs to Dr. Feelgood live, I think we can do the same with one of ours and get away with it.
David: Number one hit would be cool – maybe Payton could play it off as a “sing the words back to me/crowd moment”? If it’s a number-one hit, the crowd would know the lyrics!
Clayton: A hit song, for sure. If everyone knew the lyrics we wouldn’t have to worry about singing them. Also, we usually forget lyrics at least once in our shows – so that’s nothing new.
Shot by: Abby Cagle
Carver Commodore is a rock n' roll band based in Florence, AL. Playing at WoodLawn Theatre Saturday, April 6, 2024. Buy tickets at the door or online! Doors 7pm, Show 8pm. Advance Tickets $15