Turnpike Gardens

Interview with Turnpike Gardens

March 7, 2016

Describe your band, telling a little about it.

We're an original rock band from Pittsburgh. Evan, James and Nick have been playing together since high school.  Heather joined as our singer in 2014 and we've dropped an album and a bunch of shows since the lineup was completed.  Doing our best to write music we like to listen to and we hope other people enjoy it as well. 

What are your names? / Who plays what?

Evan Mulgrave- Guitar

James Conley- Drums

Nick Funyak- Bass

Heather Polvinale- Vocals

Have members played with any other bands?

Nick had a number of projects in high school and college and James sits in with Vinnie Longhi and the Semi-Supervillains.  Evan and Nick also won the last known talent show at our high school under the name Greatest Band Ever, which, opinions vary. 

Do you write your own music or perform covers?  Has it always been this way?  I think we've done two covers, ever. All originals, even going back to when we could barely play our instruments. 

What year did the band form?   Let's say 2004. 

2014 as a band with a singer, songs and places to play outside of our parents' basement. 

Where is band's home?  Pittsburgh

What's your style or genre?  Rock 

What inspires your music?

Bad jokes about 90's b-roll character actors. 

How often do you rehearse?

Couple times a week. 

What gear do you guys use?

Expensive gear.  If there's any other kind available, we've never seen it.  

Do you utilize a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that?   We don't. We tend to keep most business in-house.

Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that?  Not actively. If the right situation presents itself, we'd run with it.  

What are your songs about?  

How we're afraid to get old, not realizing we've already gotten old.  

Who does the composing and writes the lyrics?

Evan comes up with ideas and lyrics, sends them to Heather for melodies and then they hammer out parts from there.  

Do you start with the music or the lyrics?  Music. 

Do you compose in a certain environment?

Usually in the jam room.  Even if someone comes in with an idea on their own it always comes to life in the room.

Have you done any covers live?

A cut up version of Working Man and a very drunk rendition of Joe Cocker's Little Help from My Friends 

What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs?  We had 200 or more at our CD release party and in a recent gig with Chrome Moses and Paddy the Wanderer.  If you can count the Pittsburgh Marathon, thousands and thousands of them.  The fewest would have all fit comfortably in a Chevy Tahoe. 

What ages are most of your concert attendants?  Twenty somethings and dads. 

Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary?  We've got about 15 originals.  No show has ever given us the time to play them all, so we always play some kind of mix.

Do you have a regular place you play live often?

Smiling Moose on Carson has been our live home for the most part. 

What was your first gig like?  Perfect, as usual.

What was your latest gig? 

We played a VH1 Save the Music benefit at Thiel College in February.  

Have you had to cancel a gig?  No. 

Where have you played live this year?

Thiel, a few dates around Pittsburgh. Plan on doing most of that stuff in the summer. 

Where do you plan to gig the coming year?

Buffalo Wild Wings franchises, mostly. 

When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale?   We put some stuff together not long after our first show. T-shirts, CDs, stickers, standard stuff. 

Where can people buy your merchandise?

https://turnpikegardens.bandcamp.com/releases

What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records nowadays?

Very hypocritically, they are the worst. But what can you do?

How do you think the music industry has changed because of this?  There might never be a middle class of full-time musicians again. 

Do you have any role models or idols?

I don't think we've ever had idols or anything like that, but we'll always go to bat for other people in the scene who are honest with their work and are willing to prop others up. 

Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? 

Little of both. 

What have been your biggest obstacles?

Finding a singer was a big one.  

What advice would you give other bands or artists?  Nothing real is created from behind your computer, be it songs, a scene or anything else.  Get out and support.  

How do you get psyched for a gig?  

Lots of naps. 

Do you have any new material?

Like you wouldn't believe. 

What are your web sites?

www.turnpikegardensband.com/

www.facebook.com/turnpikegardens

What are your plans for the future?

Keep writing new music. 

What do you think of my work?  Love it. 

How do you think that this interview could help you in the local music scene and beyond?

A few of bands we're good buddies with, The Semi-Supervillains and Ugly Blondes, recommended this site to us. Anything that helps to prop each other up is good.

What is one thing even your biggest fans don't know about the band?

We're not actually very good.