Counting Crows – Downtown Magazine

The Los Angeles-based band known as That Dog formed in 1991, inking a proper record deal with David Geffen’s DGC label within two years. That Dog went on to release three albums with DGC, touring alongside major acts like Blur, The Wallflowers, Weezer, Beck and the Counting Crows. The quartet of Rachel Haden, Anna Waronker, Tony Maxwell and Petra Haden disbanded in 1997, although none of the members of That Dog ever abandoned music; for example, that is Petra Haden’s violin work you hear on Green Day’s “Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life).” A proper That Dog reunion happened in 2011, leading to more shows in 2012 and finally a new album slated for release later this year; at this time it appears that only Rachel, Anna, and Tony are onboard for the forthcoming studio effort.

Before the new music from That Dog hits stores, Hello Records is releasing the limited-edition Totally Crushed Outtakes 7″ today, Mar. 31. One of the four tracks, “Silently,” features Beck on banjo. To learn more about the Outtakes, Downtown spoke with Anna via e-mail. More on Anna can be found at www.annawaronker.com, while That Dog keeps up an official page on Facebook.

What do you remember about the first gig you ever played in New York? Was it as part of That Dog?

Anna Waronker: I think the first show we ever played in New York was opening for Beck and Evel Kneivel at The Grand. It was a tribute to Evel Kneivel and Beck was asked to perform. We were on tour with Beck at the time so we were also on the bill. All I really remember was that we learned our tour manager misplaced most of our merch cash, I tried to shield a very pregnant Kim Gordon from the crowd, and we had a lot of wigs backstage.

Do you have a favorite of the Totally Crushed Out outtakes? Are there other outtakes in existence, by the way?

AW: I love the acoustic version of “Silently.” And I love that Beck played banjo on it. We were such good friends and collaborators during that time. It was fun to have him on one of our songs.

Members of That Dog have contributed to the work of Weezer, Beck, Mike Watt, The Rentals, Jimmy Eat World, Todd Rundgren, Nada Surf…plenty of great artists. Did that have to do with hanging out with other artists often, as opposed to the work of agents and managers?

AW: Absolutely. It was a very creative and social scene. For us, it was fun to work with different people. Mostly friends. Some people we looked up to.

Promoting Totally Crushed Out outtakes aside, what’s coming up for you? Any chance of more That Dog shows in the future?

AW: Well, we are finishing a new album. It’s pretty close to being finished. It’s been a very cool experience making a new album together. It’s like we picked up where we left off when we were at our most creative state. We are also doing a 20-year anniversary show for Retreat From The Sun at the El Rey in Los Angeles on Apr. 8. We will have some fun guest stars.

When not busy with music, how do you like to spend your free time?

AW: Mostly with kids. Whether our own or with nieces and nephews.

Do you have a favorite restaurant in New York?

AW: Tony lives in New York, so he has lots of favs, including Barrio Chino (Mexican), Via Carota (Italian), and the Grand Central Oyster Bar (for Oysters, of course). New York can’t be beat for amazing food options, but I have to say L.A. is giving New York a run for its money.

Finally, any last words for the kids?

AW: Be creative however you need to. Take risks. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, we all make them. Don’t be too hard on yourself, it’s a waste of time. Know when to make your own rules and then make them.

https://soundcloud.com/sammeans/ms-wrong/s-QWGGU

In the group’s 25-year history, Counting Crows has sold over 20 millions of albums, with more than a dozen big hit singles to its credit. Songs like “Round Here,” “Mr. Jones,” “A Long December,” “Hanginaround” and “Accidentally In love” are still playing on the radio, and Counting Crows is still playing arena and festival stages around the world. Summer 2016 brings Counting Crows on the road for a headlining tour with Rob Thomas, including a Jul. 31 stop at Jones Beach.

Counting Crows — which is comprised of frontman Adam Duritz, guitarists David Bryson, Dan Vickrey and David Immerglück, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, bassist Millard Powers and drummer Jim Bogios — also impacts lives offstage, having founded the GreyBird Foundation. Focusing on getting Americans to vote, GreyBird can be followed online at www.greybirdfoundation.org.

Adam spoke to Downtown about the upcoming Rob Thomas tour, his history with New York and plenty more. He and can be followed on Twitter via @CountingCrows, while the Counting Crows website is plenty full of exclusive videos, photos and recordings.

How did the opportunity to tour with Rob Thomas come up? Managers and agents talking? Mutual friends?

Adam Duritz: There are always a million ideas from people about summer touring. I’m sure this one comes up all the time for both of us. The difference is that this year neither of us already had other plans, so when Rob and I spoke about it, we just decided it sounded like too much fun to pass up.

Counting Crows has often been part of summer amphitheater package tours. Do you prefer playing outdoor venues?

AD: Personally, I don’t care all that much about indoor vs outdoor — I just really like playing, but I think people prefer to go to outdoor gigs in the summertime. That’s a good enough reason for me.

20-something years ago, Alex Chilton opened some dates for Counting Crows. Have there been any legends that you’ve wanted to open shows for the band but you weren’t able to land?

AD: No, not really. We just mostly like to tour with bands we love. I idolized Big Star growing up and they asked us to open for them at The Fillmore in San Francisco in the Spring of ’94. I knew Alex also really wanted to tour his own band and I wanted people to see my idol play so we asked him to come out that summer. It was all pretty informal. For me, it was a chance to hang out with a guy I liked who was also probably my biggest influence as a musician.

What do you remember about the first gig you ever played in New York?

AD: I remember it was at Wetlands and we got Jeff Buckley to open for us. It was also one of the first headline gigs we ever played outside San Francisco. Luckily it was a tiny club, because I doubt many people had heard of either one of us at the time. Still, we packed the place. It was a zoo and I was fucking thrilled.

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Do you have a favorite venue to play in New York?

AD: A lot of them are closed these days. I loved Tramps and Brownies and Roseland Ballroom, but they’re all gone now. I’m not even sure I ever played Tramps or Brownies except drunkenly sitting in with friends, but I saw a ton of great gigs at both places. I still really dig Central Park and Bowery Electric. The truth is any gig in New York City is still a gig in New York City, and that will always be the coolest thing in the world. I used to really dig the Beacon Theatre and I probably still would, but I blew my knee into a million pieces jumping off the drum riser there during the Recovering The Satellites Tour and it’s hard to forget that association.

Back in the 1990s, you had a great record label going with Neilson Hubbard, Joe 90 and the Gigolo Aunts on your roster. Do you look back on the days of E Pluribus Unum fondly?

AD: Hmm, yes and no. I still believe we made a pretty much perfect run of great albums on that label, but we failed to sell many of them and that was our job, so I’ll always feel like we let the bands down in that sense. I’m very proud of signing those bands and making all those records, though. I signed all three of them and I was there in the studio working on all those records. I’m very VERY proud of that. But it’s hard to be TOO proud of simply not stifling someone’s creativity. That should be a no-brainer for any record company and it’s the great tragedy of our business that it’s somehow not. Still, a record company’s main job is to market and sell great music to make a living for its artists and we failed miserably at that. It’s unforgivable.

Also, I hated that name. Ugh. My partners came up with it while I was off signing Gigolo Aunts in Boston, I think. I came back and said “WTF is E Pluribus Unum?” They said “It means ‘Out of the many, the one.’” All I could think was, “Oh great. Out of the many possible names, the one fucking horrible name.”

I really wanted Tyrannosaurus Records. T-Recs! So awesome…I lost that vote.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_Cr2zFRei8

After this tour with Rob Thomas has wrapped, what’s ahead for you?

AD: Beats me. I’m not really great about thinking ahead. Another record?

Might we ever see a memoir written by you?

AD: No way. I will never understand everyone’s unflagging interest in airing their dirty laundry. There were times you were right and there were times someone else was wrong and, waaaahh waaaahh, nobody understands me and my side of the story, blah blah blah…Is that really a good reason to write a book? It seems to me like a good reason to take a crap but that’s about it.

A writer and I spoke about making a book out of all the interviews and conversations we had over the years, and I could see doing that because at least that’s about music and it’s interesting. But the memoir thing? I don’t think so. It’s nobody’s business but ours.

Is there something you wish more people knew about Adam Duritz?

AD: There probably is, if I think about it, because you don’t really know me unless you actually know me. But I mean, who cares? I can sum up everything that really matters in a sentence or two: I wrote a bunch of songs with my friends and we all recorded them together. It was very cool. It’s still very cool.

Anything you really want to find out about me is in there if you care to look. The rest is just not really important.

Beyond music, when you’re not working, how do you like spending your free time?

AD: I spend time with my friends, I watch movies, and I play too much Sudoku to keep my mind from spinning out of control. That’s about it, really.

Finally, Adam, any last words for the kids?

AD: Dream and do. That’s all there really is to life. You dream about things and then you go make them come true. Take all your liquid thoughts and make them solid things. It’s a waste of a life to do anything else.