Spring Break
Drop outs Augustana reveal "Boston"'s secret
By: Baishi Wu
Issue date: 2/7/08 Section: Recess
Last update: 5/9/08 at 2:52 AM EST
Last update: 5/9/08 at 2:52 AM EST
Augustana began with humble roots in Greenville, Il. as college students studying music. Abruptly the band decided to uproot themselves and move to California to live their dreams as musicians. After a steady flow of touring and a rapid influx of publicity, Augustana became famous from San Diego to Boston. recess' Baishi Wu spoke recently with bassist Jared Palomar before Augustana's Duke University Union-sponsored show in Page Auditorium this Saturday at 8:30 p.m.
What made you and Dan want to drop out of school and form a band?
Me and Dan actually met while we were in college, in Greenville, Il., and we were playing around there a bunch. Pretty much all there is in Greenville is like... our school. And St. Louis is kind of close by. So there wasn't a big music scene in the area. And you know, to actually get something going, it's hard to do out there, we decided to move some place that was a little bit more accessible music-wise where we were closer to what was going on and where we could actually get some shows.
There have been a lot of rumors floating around here that the song Boston is actually about this girl at Duke who went to high school with Dan. Is this a true story?
Yeah, it's kind of loosely based on her story. Obviously she goes to Duke and not Boston. It's more the idea of getting away from everything and starting over. The whole idea of what she did was kind of the inspiration for the song.
Is that one of the reasons why you guys wanted to play at Duke?
They actually contacted us, so we were pretty excited. I've been a big Duke basketball fan for a while, so that was pretty rad to see.
You think we're going to beat UNC?
Oh man, I hope so. It's a tough one.
It took a while for All the Stars and Boulevards, after it's release in 2005, for you guys to get to the national stage. What do you think has helped you guys get to the top?
I don't think we're at the top by any means. The biggest thing for us was just that we toured for two years pretty much before we were able to start getting some video and radio play. I think it's really cool that we were just able to play shows and not have to worry about the media for a while, and just develop a good fan base. I think all our fans are just really solid and really dedicated, and hopefully come out to a lot of our shows. Which it feels like. Those people have been really, really supportive of us. Between that and MySpace, those have been the two biggest things for us.
What made you and Dan want to drop out of school and form a band?
Me and Dan actually met while we were in college, in Greenville, Il., and we were playing around there a bunch. Pretty much all there is in Greenville is like... our school. And St. Louis is kind of close by. So there wasn't a big music scene in the area. And you know, to actually get something going, it's hard to do out there, we decided to move some place that was a little bit more accessible music-wise where we were closer to what was going on and where we could actually get some shows.
There have been a lot of rumors floating around here that the song Boston is actually about this girl at Duke who went to high school with Dan. Is this a true story?
Yeah, it's kind of loosely based on her story. Obviously she goes to Duke and not Boston. It's more the idea of getting away from everything and starting over. The whole idea of what she did was kind of the inspiration for the song.
Is that one of the reasons why you guys wanted to play at Duke?
They actually contacted us, so we were pretty excited. I've been a big Duke basketball fan for a while, so that was pretty rad to see.
You think we're going to beat UNC?
Oh man, I hope so. It's a tough one.
It took a while for All the Stars and Boulevards, after it's release in 2005, for you guys to get to the national stage. What do you think has helped you guys get to the top?
I don't think we're at the top by any means. The biggest thing for us was just that we toured for two years pretty much before we were able to start getting some video and radio play. I think it's really cool that we were just able to play shows and not have to worry about the media for a while, and just develop a good fan base. I think all our fans are just really solid and really dedicated, and hopefully come out to a lot of our shows. Which it feels like. Those people have been really, really supportive of us. Between that and MySpace, those have been the two biggest things for us.
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