Why Dave and Andy Left
Many people asked over the years why Dave Smith and Andrew Ottens left the band. I mean the synergy between band members was awesome. Why would they leave? In addition neither of them pursued music after leaving the Chords. Well, its hard to know personal motivations but the short answer is that they were tired of it. The 'Rockin with the Flow' tour was rock and roll partying on steroids. Months of gigging and partying simply took its toll and initially they simply wanted a break. After some time off though they both decided to move on and ultimately leave the music industry. I recently caught up with Morgan Smith, the lead guitarest of the Space Chords and talked to him about that period.
hotair : Give us some context as to what the early days with Dave and Andrew were like..
MS : Well, like anything at its start, it was intoxicating, fun, unbelievable all at once. I mean once the band formed it was like magic. The jam sessions were so good that its really how we decided to form a band.
hotair: So it was a loss when they Dave and Andy left.
MS: Yes. it was really a blow. In fact it seemed like the end at the time. Pav and I were still interested but they were burned out and just wanted to do something else.
hotair : So how did you and Pav keep it going.
MS : We realized that we still wanted to record/perform and we wanted to do it as the Chords rather than disband and play in other bands.
hotair : Was there really any possibility of playing in other bands?
MS: Not much.. Pav played a little with 'The Forest HillUnderground' which was a reformed version of the old 'Pillar of Fire' but that was about it.
hotair : So you really didn't have a choice.
MS:Well ,we could've just stopped.. so I guess that was our choice.
hotair:Let's talk about how you got by without the extra guitar and drums
MS: Well, for working out song ideas, Pav and I started using a DRM-16 which was an early analog electronic drummer. Then when we needed to lay down tracks, we would use session musicians.
hotair: Were these people ever part of the band?
MS: No. And that was intentional. We only wanted the instruments.
hotair:Do you ever see Dave and Andrew.
MS: Well, I see Dave alot ofcourse. I haven't seen Andy in awhile. Dave and Andy are good friends so they see each other.
hotair: I heard a rumor that Dave has started playing guitar again and this might signal a re-emergence of the Space Chords.
MS: No comment
hotair : Give us some context as to what the early days with Dave and Andrew were like..
MS : Well, like anything at its start, it was intoxicating, fun, unbelievable all at once. I mean once the band formed it was like magic. The jam sessions were so good that its really how we decided to form a band.
hotair: So it was a loss when they Dave and Andy left.
MS: Yes. it was really a blow. In fact it seemed like the end at the time. Pav and I were still interested but they were burned out and just wanted to do something else.
hotair : So how did you and Pav keep it going.
MS : We realized that we still wanted to record/perform and we wanted to do it as the Chords rather than disband and play in other bands.
hotair : Was there really any possibility of playing in other bands?
MS: Not much.. Pav played a little with 'The Forest HillUnderground' which was a reformed version of the old 'Pillar of Fire' but that was about it.
hotair : So you really didn't have a choice.
MS:Well ,we could've just stopped.. so I guess that was our choice.
hotair:Let's talk about how you got by without the extra guitar and drums
MS: Well, for working out song ideas, Pav and I started using a DRM-16 which was an early analog electronic drummer. Then when we needed to lay down tracks, we would use session musicians.
hotair: Were these people ever part of the band?
MS: No. And that was intentional. We only wanted the instruments.
hotair:Do you ever see Dave and Andrew.
MS: Well, I see Dave alot ofcourse. I haven't seen Andy in awhile. Dave and Andy are good friends so they see each other.
hotair: I heard a rumor that Dave has started playing guitar again and this might signal a re-emergence of the Space Chords.
MS: No comment
posted by hotair at 3:20 PM
1 Comments:
well, well, it's good to hear about one of my favorate bands from the 80's. I hope you guys get together and can go on tour again. I live in the boston area and would see the show with all my friends.
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