Posted on March 9, 2010 - by Mark Zonda
Model Rockets and Tripwires: an interview with John Ramberg
Most of you will think about Seattle just for the disco u.f.o. thing towering over the city skyline, Jimy Hendrix and Nirvana. With a little extra further effort, a very few may also convey with me that Seattle it’s the capital of American Twee Pop and TinySoft. But guess it takes you being in there to be a fan of John Ramberg and his most genuine melodic power pop incarnations. Leaving the rest to his virtual counterpart Robert Schneider, leading “Model Rockets” and “Tripwires”, John is de facto American Paul McCartney rocky alter ego. How’s not supposed to be Worldwide famous: a mystery! But let’s get to know him from his live voice…
Mark Zonda: Tripwires, how’s to form a band and playing in Seattle? Tell us about your band’s eve and Seattle scene…
John: Hi Mark- thanks for your interest in The Tripwires! I was born and raised in Seattle and it’ll always be my home. It’s a great place to play music; for a mid sized American city it’s got loads of good clubs, good studios and great musicians! The Tripwires formed in 2006 when I was wrapping up recording of what I thought was a solo album, which eventually came out as “Makes You Look Around”, the first Tripwires album. I decided to form a band and roped in my friends Jim Sangster (bass) and his brother Johnny (guitar). They were playing in Mark Pickerel’s band at the time, and they were able to talk him into playing the drums. These guys are all great players and we’re all on the same page in terms of the music we love, more or less. I couldn’t ask for a finer band!
Mark Zonda: Has your perspective changed in the writing songs process since you’re in a band?
John: I think it’s like any writing; the more you do it, the more you learn, the better you are. Of course, a lot of pop and rock songwriters seem to write their best stuff when they’re younger; but they never seem to be aware of the drop off in quality as they get older. That’s the challenge now, as you get older you don’t want to get into your “Double Fantasy” period! I’m under considerably less pressure than John Lennon, since so few people any attention to our music!
Mark Zonda: You kiddin’? You’re an institution! Isn’t people form Seattle the most supportive fandom of the World? Or are they beated by Portland?
John: Seattle is pretty great in terms of having lots of enthusiastic music fans, but Portland is in kind of a special period right now. The town is loaded with young, excited, creative people, they may have the edge these days. I think San Francisco beats em both!
Mark Zonda: What’s the secret ingredient that puts that little sparky spice in your rock?
John: Thanks for that- I think it’s a love of simplicity in pop song arranging- just figuring out exactly where to put an empty space or a hi-hat accent. We all get kind of thrilled when we come up with a nifty way to solve some arrangement problem, like how to come out of a bridge or guitar solo or whatever. I like to think some of the credit belongs to the songs themselves, which are my babies! On our new record “House To House”, we recorded as many elements live as possible. I think that can be helpful if you’ve got a great band- which we do!
Mark Zonda: Archies Vs Green Day. Who wins and how’s the match?
John: To me, The Archies beat Green Day handily. It might be a little unfair, because I think The Archies had several great songwriters, musicians, and the great producer Jeff Barry. Green day is just the three guys, pretty much. I do admire Green Day’s recent attempts at making mini rock operas in the style of The Who’s “A Quick One”. I’m a big fan of the mini- opera in general- bands should try it more often. My previous band The Model Rockets took a stab at it with this thing called “Pilot County Suite”. Bottom line though, Green Day has yet to reach the heights of “Bang Shang A Lang”, to say nothing of “Sugar, Sugar”.
Mark Zonda: What happened to “Model Rockets”? It was a great band. I feel myself like interviewing Paul for the Wings unaware he played in The Beatles!
John: We got back from a Spanish tour and decided we needed a change. At least I know I wanted a change, maybe some of them we’re still content, I wasn’t having fun, and I sure wasn’t making a living. That was in 2003 or so.
We did a reunion show on July 4 2008. It was a blast to play with them again. I see Scott Sutherland pretty regularly around town, he plays in a band called The Paul Lynde Fan Club. Graham lives in Missoula and Boyd lives in Boise, so we’re pretty spread out at this point!
Mark Zonda: Is Sam Cooke still actual? If so, which band would he like to perform with?
Sadly, Sam Cooke passed away some time ago, if that’s what you’re asking. He’s still my favorite singer ever. I think if he we’re around today, he’d be making a solo acoustic album with Rick Rubin. On that album, he’d sing a version of “Lately I’ve Let Things Slide” by Nick Lowe, and it would be my favorite record of the decade!
Mark Zonda: Of couse I meant as an artist, and not as a living person, just like the Obi-Wan Kenobi of the music scene. Would Rick being a good producer for Tripwires as well?
John: Ah ha, I apologize for the misunderstanding!-your question is far more superb than I gave it credit for! I’m a pretty skeptical guy when it comes to spiritual matters such as this, but I do love the notion of him floating around keeping an eye on things. I’m gonna say yes, he’s definitely floating around. I think he may be in this room right now!
I suppose I’d be willing to give double R a shot- luckily we don’t need him, we have Johnny! I saw that Dixie Chicks documentary and I found it very creepy the way RR was coaxing song ideas out of them, he’d better not try that with me!
The Tripwires – “Big Electric Light”
Let it ring on...
0 Comments
We'd love to hear yours!
Leave a Comment
Here's your chance to speak.
Waving Flags
I burp about music and I don' have time to time to spell check.
Mark Zonda > Mail here
Check out our [SLEEPCASTS]SleepWalKing Magazine 