Photo by David Clinch
If you work inside the Beltway you probably suffer from acronym abuse or abbreviation overload. You may even consider abbreviations to be confusing and inherently evil. But there is one abbreviation that won’t make you break ‘til you shatter. And that abbreviation is O.A.R.
Of a Revolution, better known as O.A.R., is a modern jam band hailing (mostly) from Rockville, MD. Founding members Marc Roberge (vocals) and Chris Culos (drums) recruited lead guitarist Richard On and bassist Benj Gershman in the early 90’s. The original four-piece band recorded their first album, The Wanderer, while attending Wootton High School in Rockville, MD in 1997. Loyal local fans can usually count on a summer appearance from the band. In preparation for their return home, I took some time to speak with Richard On about the group’s early years and plans for 2010.
The Buckeye Years
The end of high school meant a short hiatus for the band until they regrouped at Ohio State. On recalled , “In the beginning Marc and Chris ended up going to Ohio State. Benj was a year younger so he was still at Wootton High School and I was going to school in Maryland. It wasn’t originally planned for all of us to go there, but once Marc and Chris got there they’re like ‘we gotta keep the band going. Why don’t you find a way to get here and somehow we’ll persuade Benj to come to Ohio State’ and one thing led to another and soon we were all there.”
According to On, Marc Roberge wanted to attend one of the biggest schools in the country so that O.A.R. would have a large audience to play to, “which I think in high school was a lofty goal but in the end it really worked out for us.”
While at Ohio State the band recruited saxophonist Jerry DePizzo in 2000.
This town, this night, this crowd
O.A.R. will return to Maryland on August 12th to play Merriweather Post Pavilion. “It’s going to be an incredible show and every time we play there there’s just something in the air. I’m sure it has to do with our friends and family being there. I saw some of my first concerts at Merriweather Post. And I never lose that feeling when I get on that stage, that I’ve seen concerts there when I was growing up …and that’s what got me into music and wanting to be in a band and now I’m playing there so it’s really cool.”
Having a rich history with the venue and performing in front of their family and friends does not faze these pros one bit. “I don’t think we’re nervous at all, I think if anything we’re the most comfortable playing a hometown show just because we know that all of the people we grew up with, when this band started, they’re all going to be there.” On continues, “Unfortunately we’ll have to leave right after the show but we’ll probably have time to hang-out with the family and catch-up with friends that we haven’t seen in awhile, but other than that we have to head right out to Charlotte.”
As far as the set list goes, the guys have six albums worth of material to pick from. “We try to mix it up based on old set lists from when we’ve played there before and any new versions of songs that we’ve been working on. We know that the kids who have come out to the show before don’t want to see the same show twice.”
The band recently released a four-disc live album, Rain or Shine but also sells the audio from most shows on www.liveoar.com. According to On, “You know it’s like immediate gratification. You go to a show and if you had a good time and you want to remember it or different parts of the show you don’t have to search in your brain for it, you can actually purchase the show right afterwards and even listen to it on the way home.
If you catch their show at Merriweather Post Pavilion you may hear some new material. “We’ve been playing two songs that have a really great chance of being on our next record, one called “Dangerous Connection” and one called “Over and Over.” We’ll probably bring those out at Merriweather.”
If you have a strong opinion on the new songs you can let them know on their message boards. “As far as our message board I would say once in awhile, actually more than once in awhile, at least one of us is on there, poking around, trying to get feedback. You know those guys are our core fans, they are the ones that have been with us since the very beginning and we call them Pub 24. I know they love us but at sometimes they’re critical of our shows and things that we do but it’s all part of the whole game. We know there’s a lot of love and we have so much respect for all those guys.”
Since the band has so many great fans you should try to stand out if you score meet and greet passes. “Our fans are great. But one of the craziest things I ever signed…. Well, we were at a meet and greet and we have an assembly line set-up and we’re greeting each person as they walk down the table. And you just grab things, sign them, and pass them along especially when it’s a lot of people. You don’t really look at what you’re grabbing. One time I grabbed whatever was next and it was a prosthetic leg. The gentleman had a prosthetic leg and he wanted all of us to sign it! It kind of caught me off guard but I thought it was kind of cool and he was great.”
The other side of O.A.R.
When asked about their hobbies or other talents Richard On responded, “I know Benj, our bass player, he’s really into photography and the arts. He has a gallery opening coming up at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in New York City on August 19th. And it actually has to do with all of the pictures he has taken of O.A.R. on the road. It’s a great way for him to showcase his work, and we’re all going to be there to support the event.”
“Music is so much of my time especially when we’re off the road, making demos and… umm I love to eat. I love to run. I love to do Vinyasa yoga. I guess a lot of my hobbies are working, music stuff and I like to exercise.”
Marc Roberge is involved with the local chapter of the National Academy of the Recording Arts (NARAS). “It’s an advantage of living in the area that we can fight for musicians rights and make things better on the road and even on the radio waves. Marc is involved a lot. I’ve gone to a couple events. We all live in different cities, it’s hard when we’re traveling a lot. Our drummer lives in Chicago, our sax player lives in Ohio, Mark and Benj live in NY and I live in DC.”
The group is also involved with the USO. “That’s probably one of the most amazing experiences that our band has had. When we got involved with the USO it was for visiting Walter Reed and visiting all the great people there. Then we decided to take it a step further and went overseas. We played four or five bases while we were in Kuwait. It was a real eye opening experience. Some things were tough to watch but at the same time we met a lot of great people and we look forward to doing it again.”
#7 in ‘11
O.A.R. is currently wrapping up their seventh studio album to be released in early 2011. “We just finished the majority of the recording in the studio. I would say we’re about 99% done with the record. We’re just going to take our time to make sure everything sounds the way we want it to sound. We did do some collaborating but I don’t want to talk about that yet. We’ve got some guests on the record.”
O.A.R. with Citizen Cope, August 12th at 5:30 p.m. doors at Merriweather Post Pavilion. Tickets are $35-45 and can be purchased at www.ticketfly.com. Merriweather Post Pavilion: 10475 Little Patuxent Pky., Columbia, MD; 410-715-5550; www.merriweathermusic.com.
