Vinnie Amico is somewhere in Gainesville, Fla, enjoying a couple days of R'N'R with his bandmates in moe., a quirky, funky jam band from Utica, NY. If you haven't heard of moe., that's no surprise. They're a well-kept secret, a band whose lackluster album sales can't begin to reflect their slavish tour following. Because of their overwhelming tour popularity, the band is doing two shows at the Cat's Cradle Feb. 17 and 18. Jonas Blank talked to Vinnie about the perils and rewards of touring with moe.
Do you guys tour so much by choice or necessity?
By necessity. We're all starting to become family men. We all would prefer to spend more time at home. Until we're selling out arenas-which will probably never happen-we'll have to keep going out like this.
What's the hardest thing about touring?
You're somewhere different every day. You've always got to find a place to stay and a place to eat. You can't sleep in your own bed, eat a home-cooked meal.
What's the coolest thing about touring?
Being able to make a living as a musician. Being in front of a lot of people. We take a couple breaks every year where we're off for a few months at a time. That's better than any other job.
Tell me a story about one of your biggest fans.
We have this one guy that's become a good friend of ours. We showed up for our show on New Year's and he'd bought us a case of Crown Royal, 'cause he knows we love Crown. That's a lot.
You guys allow audience taping at all of your concerts. Do you think that hurts your album sales? How does it affect your fan base?
It's definitely helped our fan base. If people in California hadn't gotten tapes from people in New York, they'd have never heard of us. The first time we played in California, we sold out the Great American Music Hall-that's a big place. We've become a very taper-friendly band. I don't think it hurts the album sales all that much.
What records do you listen to on the bus?
A lot of stuff. Everybody's a Zappa fan. Alterna-country stuff like Wilco.... We all like Little Feat. Rob has this Francis Dunnery CD we listen to a lot.
Who are your influences?
I started playing drums a long time ago. I listened to Rush, Led Zeppelin, all those bands. Toward the end of high school I started listening to the Dead a lot. I played in a Dead tribute band for eight or nine years out in Buffalo. I became a professional musician, got into a lot of world beat stuff, some Cuban and African stuff, some blues and jazz. Right now I'm really into Steely Dan, taking licks from them. My dad was a jazz trumpet player, so I was always influenced by the guys he was playing with.
What's the most rock 'n' roll thing you've ever done?
It changes every tour, 'cause we're always doing crazy shit. I'd say the most rock 'n' roll thing is when we have strippers come, whether it's our gig or somebody else's. Every once in a while you get a random girl that wants to take her clothes off for you. It gets more and more frequent these days.
What's the best thing about being in moe.?
Like I said, it's cool to be able to make a living playing music.... The whole vibe surrounding what we're doing right now is really good. Being able to be touring around the country and make money is awesome. Everything is just really good for us right now.
If moe. Could be said to have a philosophy, what would it be?
I dunno. Drink as much as you can! Don't print that...Just play music and have our fans enjoy it, I guess.
Have you ever had a show that was a complete disaster?
No... just kidding. A couple years ago we played in San Antonio, Texas, in this really shitty dive. There were 10 people there. We played this one show in southern California somewhere, in another really shitty place. The power went out, so we ended up playing in the middle of the floor acoustic.
What do you do when you're not on the road?
I go home and take care of my daughter, be a daddy. She doesn't have to be in day care.
What's the most rock n' roll thing you guys have ever done?
It changes every tour, 'cause we're always doing crazy shit. I'd say the most rock n' roll thing is when we have strippers come, whether it's our gig or somebody else's. Every once in awhile you get a random girl that wants to take her clothes off for you. It gets more and more frequent these days.
Is your wife cool with that?
My wife is... I can't speak for the other guys! I tell her everything.
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