Interview with The Young Republic

The Young Republic (c) Sonicbids

From March 18-22 The Young Republic will be playing at SXSW in Austin. In case you don't know what they sound like, you might want to check them out. To get to know what they're like here is an interview I did with their bassist, Chris Miller.

How did you all meet?

We all met within the first week of College.  Meetings at auditions, around lunch tables and in new dorm rooms we became friends before the idea of the band came about a few days later.  It seemed like a new person would show up at every practice in those first weeks: a fiddler that someone had class with, a flute player that responded to a flier posted on a door, a roommate...  Not everyone who came to those early practices stuck around, but those of us who are now The Young Republic have been there since those first days of orientation.

How do you all get along, being that there's one girl in the group and the rest are guys?

Not being the girl in this group, I think we get along quite nicely.  Having practically grown up together at this point, we all get along very well, and while there are moments where Kristin has to struggle against our male-centric immaturities, she does a very good job coping and putting up with the rest of us.

What's your favorite food?

I don't know if I can answer that.  We have, however, had a number of really incredible free meals on our travels.  There was a stop at a highly regarded sea food restaurant owned by a family friend in New Jersey, a Caribbean place on an island just shy of Canada and very lovely evening spent at Sperry's in Belleview as payment for a house party.  Those were all top notch band related food experiences.

Where is your favorite place to write?

We have a studio / rehearsal space where we do all of our writing and arranging at this point.  It's much more conducive to the bands productivity then our time spent in school where we would have to rent out our practice space every morning at 7, which happens to be a very rough time for music students to be awake.

Do you have any pets?

No, no pets for any of us right now.

Do you have any other hobbies besides music?

Between the six of us I think you could find a handful of non musical interests.  There's the occasional painting, some hiking and camping, a few science texts, lots of movies of very varied quality, books, computers and even a dabble into real estate now and then

What is your favorite thing to do when you're not performing or writing?

Having moved to Music City after our tenure in Boston, we greatly enjoy getting out and taking in what Nashville has to offer.  One of our favorites has to be heading down to Robert's Western World on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday between six and ten to catch The Don Kelly Band with J.D. Simos (perhaps the best picker any of us have ever seen).

Do you have an absolute favorite musician or band?

The Beatles.  Through all of our varied taste in music those guys loom large in all our hearts as the greatest achievement of rock and roll.

Do you have a favorite song?

I have lot of them.  I think a day is about as long as a favorite can last, and over the years it's shifted drastically.  Sophomore year it may have shifted between Make Yourself by Incubus to Killing In The Name Of by Rage.  Now a day's it's more a decision which Beatles song I'm in the mood for, what Dylan lyric makes my mind boggle or what Motown jam gets my feet moving that day.  I've also always though Goodbye Pork Pie Hat by Charles Mingus was one of the more beautiful melodies I've ever hear if that's worth anything.

Do you like any sports?

Julian plays and teaches tennis lessons and also keeps up with other sports more then the rest of us put together.  Go Pats!

Do you have a favorite website?

I'm a big fan of CNN and DVICE (the Sci-Fi Channels Technology Blog)

Do you have any nicknames?

Too many and unrelated to name.