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ANTS MARCHING - Hofstra Chronicle
ANTS MARCHING: Two stepping all over the northeast
By Peter Edgeworth
In what originally started out as a few guys playing local bars just about three years ago, Ants Marching, a Long Island-based Dave Matthews tribute band, has picked up a pretty sizeable following, and now can be seen playing all over the Northeast. Not a bad deal for seven guys who work 9-to-5 jobs and are still able to do what they love: play music.
Ants Marching is Craig Knapp (Lead Vocals), Brian Hall (Guitar), Andrew Rella (Drums), Patrick Cognitore (Bass), Brian Chabza (Violin), and Brian Fort (Saxophone/Flute). Chronicle Staff Writer Peter Edgeworth sat down with the band at a recent show.
THE CHRONICLE: How was Ants Marching formed?
Andrew Rella: We basically came together from working at a music store together. But also from Suffolk Community College. Brian [Hall], Brian [Fort] and Pat knew each other from Suffolk Community and came up to me and asked if I wanted to play in this tribute band. I said, ‘sure, why not?’ I didn’t know that much about the Dave Matthews Band, but I thought that it would be pretty cool.
Craig Knapp: Brian Fort approached me and I guess I was the last piece of the puzzle.
THE CHRONICLE: Were all of you big Dave Matthews Band fans prior to forming the band?
Ants Marching: It was kind of mixed. Some of us were big fans and some weren’t. After we got everyone together, we kind of just clicked. We practiced for about eight months before we started playing gigs. It took a while before we got off of the ground. We got paid about $30 for our first gig and we got free Lazer Tag for the rest of the night. We got to run around, shoot each other and we had the whole place to ourselves. That was one of the perks. I think we played about eight tunes that night. In comparison, we now play about 25 songs [a show]. We’ve definitely grown.
Andrew Rella: I wasn’t at all. I was raised playing jazz drums and I listened to a lot of hip-hop and reggae. I had heard some Dave Matthews and I liked it, but after these guys gave me a tape with “Two Step,” “Satellite” and “So Much to Say,” I was hooked. These guys had tried out different drummers, but they didn’t dig them. The second I started playing the music, Brian’s [Hall’s] eyes lit up. He was the guy who lit the whole fire. Brian [Hall] had been digging Dave for a long time.
THE CHRONICLE: Approximately how many songs do you guys play?
AM: Probably about 50-60.
THE CHRONICLE: How many songs does the Dave Matthews Band have in its repertoire?
AM: They probably have around 70 or 80 tunes that are recorded, and that’s just an estimate. They play many more songs than that. They’ll be out on the road and they’ll play “Blue Water Baboon Farm.” If you’re a hard-core Dave fan, you’ll know it, but if you’re not, you won’t.
THE CHRONICLE: When you guys first started, did you ever think Ants Marching would become as big as it has?
AM: Not at all. We knew that it would generate an interest because Dave is so popular. We once played Da Funky Fish in Bay Shore and there were about 120 people packed in there. Maybe the legal capacity was around 80-something, but they had 120 in that place packed like sardines. It was one of our first gigs and we couldn’t believe how many people there were inside. We also remember coming down to Mulcahy’s, seeing how crowded that place can get and thinking to ourselves, ‘Wow, someday we’ll play here!’ The first time we played there, there were between 1,200 and 1,500 people [in Mulcahy’s].
THE CHRONICLE: Brian [Chabza], you grew up playing the violin and Brian [Fort], you grew up playing the saxophone. Looking back, could you guys foresee yourselves playing in a band like Ants Marching?
BC: No, not really. I always played classical music from when I was eight years old, until I was about 17 when I joined the band and it just turned into something great. I was teaching at the music store and a lot of these guys worked there and they asked me if I wanted to join. So, here I am bringing my acoustic violin down to rehearsals and [Rella] is down there beating the [hell] out of his drums while I’m trying to scratch away. It was interesting [when we first got together.]
BF: I never dreamed of this kind of thing. I was set on becoming a teacher. I never though I’d do something like this. I had played with a couple of smaller bands, but nothing like this.
THE CHRONICLE: You guys have decided against playing any original music. You’ve said that you find it uncomfortable to use the success of the Dave Matthews Band as a stepping stone for your own careers. Do you either regret this decision, or is it one you think might change your minds on?
AM: The decision to stay with Dave Matthews tunes was made by all of us. Some of us were hot for the original thing and realized that [solo music] shouldn’t conflict with Ants Marching because this is pretty much what we started out doing. The general consensus is that some people were willing to have that commitment and some of us weren’t; in terms of writing original music. If any of us want to do original stuff, we have to do it outside of Ants rehearsals and Ants gigs. Ants Marching is the first priority. A couple of us are working on original stuff, but it’s a slow process. Someday, maybe all seven of us will wind up hitting on something, but for now, it’s just a real slow separate thing from Ants Marching and we’re going to keep it that way. If you’re an original band, you’re an original band and if you are a cover band, you kind of have to stick with that. A lot of us have commitments: girlfriends, wives, school, jobs and it’s a hard game to play especially with seven people.
THE CHRONICLE: Collectively, are there certain songs that give you guys a charge when you play them? Whether it’s because they get the crowd going or because you just genuinely enjoy playing the tune?
AM: “Grey Street,” “#41” and “JTR.” People ask us all of the time if we get sick of these tunes. No. We play these songs every night and we still enjoy them every night.
THE CHRONICLE: Are you guys still able to stomach listening to Dave Matthews Band albums?
AM: Hell yeah! When you’re out on stage playing the songs, you’re not really listening to them. When we listen to ourselves [play], it’s more of a learning thing because we are trying to figure out if we’re playing the songs correctly. [When we listen to DMB] we’re learning, and listening.
THE CHRONICLE: In order to make your performances more entertaining, do you guys study DMB live performances?
AM: We are real lucky because of the Internet. People who have either heard us live or have heard our MP3’s over the net, send us shows. For example, we’ll get a letter saying: ‘here’s the show from Chicago. Check out “Recently” because Dave did this really cool thing in the song and I think you should see if you can learn that.’ Some people hook us up all of the time. Case in point, after the Giants Stadium shows this year, we got all three shows about a month after the shows had gone down. This was helpful with a lot of the songs on Everyday because most of the songs are performed completely different live than the studio tracks.
THE CHRONICLE: Do you like the newer electric sound, as heard on Everyday, or do you prefer the older jamming Dave Matthews Band?
AM: They are definitely expanding their horizons. The songs are definitely different, but the bottom line is that the band has been able to expand its horizons and its audiences. It’s a good difference, it’s not necessarily bad, it’s just different. You just have to keep an open mind with it. The band is still packing out Giants Stadium. What makes them great is that you can see them three nights in a row and hear three completely different vibes and different setlists. You’ll be saying to yourself, ‘remember that first night when he played that song like this? Or remember the second night when this dude came out and jammed?’ It’s fresh. Every time you see them, it’s something else.
THE CHRONICLE: Craig, the story goes that you received an email from a student at St. Bonaventure University in March explaining that he had a copy of the unreleased album and he wanted you to have a copy of it. A couple of days later, you receive the album and are torn about whether or not to release it. You emailed Steve Lillywhite directly and asked if he would mind if you shared the album with the world via the net. After some more correspondence, you received a reply from Lillywhite granting you permission to put the album on the Internet; an email which would later turn out to be a fake. In other words, Lillywhite never gave you permission to distribute the album. What was that whole situation like?
CK: It was rough. I really wanted to share the wonderful music with everybody, but I wanted to do it the right way, without disrespecting the Dave Matthews Band. I took every measure that was possible for me to go about it respectfully. I called “The Warehouse,” and I didn’t get a response. Then I contacted Steve Lillywhite.
THE CHRONICLE: Do you have any regrets?
CK: It wasn’t a band decision. It was mine. I just looked at the E-mail months after and deciphered that the E-mail was not real. My only regret would be if any of the members of the band were really upset or disrespected. Carter [Beauford] was apparently pretty upset. The music is out and DMB is playing many of those songs live. Dave apparently has stated a sense of relief that the music was out there. I’m glad that people can enjoy their great work.
THE CHRONICLE: You guys are able to play most of the “Lillywhite” songs just from listening to them?
AM: Yeah, all by ear.
THE CHRONICLE: When you had the chance to meet Dave in June at Giants Stadium after this whole story broke open, did he seem to be upset with you?
CK: He remembered me, band he didn’t seem upset. The topic was never brought up. I was amazed that he remembered me. He was very cool; as he was in my two previous meetings with him. I spoke with him about a videotape of my 5th and 6th grade chorus singing “One Sweet World,” that I had given to him at a previous meeting. So, we spoke a little bit about that.
For more information on Ants Marching, visit www.antsmarching1.com.
Upcoming Ants Marching Shows:
September 22 (10:30 p.m.) - Mulcahy’s. 3232 Railroad Ave in Wantaugh. 516-826-6857
October 6 (10:30 p.m.) - Mickey McGuires Pub. 345 Deer Park in Babylon.
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