Q&A with All Get Out (12/17/09)

All Get Out

Having graced the stages of Macon, GA many times before, we are proud to call ourselves the one of many cities that All Get Out has rocked. Like most of the bands on Favorite GentlemenAll Get Out tours full-time leaving themselves barely enough time to pee. After loads of consecutive months of touring, they come home only to record, answer interviews, and book the next handful of tours. It’s a full-time gig that never lets up for this rising band.

It seems like yesterday that Favorite Gentlemen’s most popular act, Manchester Orchestra, was approaching 500,000 plays on their MySpace page. Now, of course, we all know they’re close to 15 million. I have a strong feeling that in about a year, All Get Out will be in the same place. In the middle of their Christmas break from touring and recording for their next full length, I had the chance to sit down with Nate and Mel to talk about Nate’s first few bands, Mel’s obsession with Eggo Waffles, and what’s next for the band.

Blue Indian (Luke Goddard): Thanks for chatting with The Blue Indian. Who do we have here? Your role?

All Get Out: (Nate): Nathan, I play guitar and sing.
(Mel): Mel Washington. Guitar and some singin’.

BI: How long has All Get Out been together?

AGO (Nate): Roughly two and a half years.

BI: What’s it like being on Favorite Gentlemen? I’ve noticed there is a roster for those signed to Favorite Gentlemen and there’s a Favorite Gentlemen Community of artists, in which bands like Winston AudioO’Brother and more are on. What’s the difference here?

AGO (Nate): Well, being on one side of the label doesn’t make any band better than the other it’s just that they haven’t “signed a deal” yet. Keep in mind here the FGR is a brand new label so were all learning how to do this thing together. Bands like O’Brother and Winston Audio blow me away btw…seriously good bands on this label. Were lucky to be a part of it.

BI: So, Nate and Mike used to play together in “Firefly Summer,” a band that was formerly signed to Favorite Gentlemen until the break up in 2008. What happened?

AGO (Nate): I left that band to play in a band called “The Explorers Club.” I wanted to get out and tour and experience the ropes for a while and learn it all so that one day when I start my own band I won’t be too blind to it all. I believe that was 2007, not much after I left the band gave up and Mike jumped on board with All Get Out. It was a fun band to play in for sure.

BI: Would you say that each of the members of All Get Out have egos? Do you get along on the road for the most part?

AGO (Mel): Egos? No. Eggos? Yes.  We all eat eggos of the reg.  As for getting along, I think its safe to say that we tolerate each other fairly well for the most part. It’s just like any other relation when you play in a band.

BI: [Laughs] Awesome. Just got finished eating Eggo’s. If All Get Out had to select one member to go fight Mike Tyson with no gloves, who would it be?

AGO: (Nate): Sean Pritchard. (Mel): Mike Rogers. Hands down.

BI: [Laughs] Who’s the brain of All Get Out?

AGO (Nate): Thats hard to answer without sounded like a D-bag so Im going to depend on you to make this sound right. I write the songs, they make them sound good. Mel, Mike, and Gordon are the most music minded people I know. I can bring them a simple song with a verse and a chorus and 2 hours later they make it sound 30 times better.

BI: Fair enough. You guys seem to always be on the road. Do any of you have normal jobs? Or does All Get Out pretty much take up all of your time?

AGO (Mel): All Get Out takes almost every second of every day.  All other seconds are dedicated to Chick-Fil-A and Camel Lights.

BI: Sean Pritchard seems to do it all. What’s it like having Sean as your manager?

AGO (Nate): Sean is my champion lover. It’s amazing, he works hard and loves what he does and everyone gets along with him. He’s young and growing up fast. My brain did not work the way his does at that age.

BI: What’s your thoughts on Manchester Orchestra’s sophomore release, “Mean Everything to Nothing”? Do you have a favorite track off that record?

AGO (Nate): Awesome record. Good follow up. “Tony the tiger.”

BI: So, it seems that “Three More, I Guess” is a highly-requested song for you guys to play live. There’s a line that goes something like, “The Baptist hymns never changed, old familiar ‘Amazing Grace.’ I laugh out loud but nothing’s funny at all.” Could you tell me about this lyric? What was going on in your mind at the time when you wrote this song?

AGO (Nate): That part of the song is sort of a day dream I was having when I was writing it. I guess the imagery of the song. It’s about how I was hating something because I was tired of things surrounding it and then I realize that I was publicly putting something beautiful down for the wrong reason. I’m not sure if that makes sense by itself or if I used the right words even. It can be taken a lot of ways really but that was the intent. The song overall is about being wrong and looking for a way out of something.

BI: Who is Coach Conner, as sung about in your song, “Coach Conner”?

AGO (Mel): A former roomate.

BI: What’s your biggest fear?

AGO (Mel): That there really is life outside of Earth.

BI: Who will be the first to be dad? Is Mel really a pimp?

AGO (Mel): Your answer lies within your question.

BI: [Laughs] Yes. Awesome. What’s something your fans would be surprised to know about you or any of the members of All Get Out?

AGO (Nate): I have an obsession with the show Battlestar Galactica. A serious one.
(Mel): None of us are vegetarians.

BI: But, I thought if you’re in a touring band and want to be cool, you must never eat meat again? If I held you at gunpoint and said you MUST pick a favorite band to tour with, who would it be?

AGO (Mel): Prince.
(Nate): O’Brother.

BI: What can fans of All Get Out be keeping their eyes open for regarding upcoming news from AGO?

AGO (Mel): A new Daytrotter Session coming soon and rumors of a full length in the near future.