Indierec.com interview with The Churchills June, 2003
By David DiSanzo
http://www.indierec.com

The Churchills are New York's best kept little rock and rolling secret. They have released three exciting melodic rock records in the past few years, they have had enormous success touring Europe and Japan, have had several TV licensing deals, and also now have their hand in production. In addition to producing The Crayons (see separate feature http://www.indierec.com/articles/interview200306a.html) they are also producing Clever Hans and No Soap Radio. One listen to the band's upbeat modern rock sound and you can't help but wonder why this band is not on the radio all the time. They've got that mass appeal yet you know they aren't sacrificing any of their art to achieve it. This band is real and sincere. There are no gimmicks here, just true rock for a world too ready to hear it. It is not surprising that their stint at a major label let them down terribly, but back up on the horse, the band have recently released their finest effort to date. Check out http://www.thechurchills.net and give some tunes a listen for yourself. The latest album is called Big Ideas....and if you haven't yet heard of the Churchills, but you are a fan of intelligent melodic pop rock (Fountains of Wayne fans will be drooling as will fans of The Posies.....Ken Stringfellow even endorsed the band by producing four tracks for them) just buy the 16 track enhanced cd for a mere 10.98 by clicking here.

It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to catch up with Ron Haney, the band's lead singer and co-writer of their tunes, when he returned from a tour throughout Europe. A NJ native, Ron's a friendly outgoing sort that wins folks over immediately. This comes across well on stage where the haphazard atmosphere keeps you guessing but everything seems to always fall perfectly into place. As well as music, Ron's passionately involved in sports, particularly baseball. He and fellow band mate Bart Schoudel also have a penchant for body piercings and tattoos.... Ron's worked in the TV industry and even sang on Chuck E Cheese TV ads. Hmmm. Read on....

IR: First off, How was your world tour? What were the crowds like?
RH: The crowds are super receptive; particularly in Japan. They wait on every word and are really appreciative of the effort to speak the language. We had nights in Austria and Switzerland where we would play to 400-500 people as the headliner. You learn what you're made of when you get out of the Country and play to different people in different cultures.

IR: How did you schedule such a tour?
RH: Well, we got record deals in each of the territories and in conjunction with the label we set up the tour. There were booking agents involved in the territory as well. We certainly didn't know how to do it on our own. But you find that if you have good instincts, you can figure things out as you go. This isn't quite rocket science.

IR: I've read that the band have self-financed a lot of the local tours, was this European tour supported by any overseas labels?
RH: Yes, we had help from each of the labels. There is still a certain amount of DIY involved. You can always make things much easier on yourself if you concentrate on supplementing your income with lots of merch sales. But we had a nice cushion to fall back on.

IR: In addition to yourself on lead vox and gtr, Bart on bass, and Alex on the kit, you had an additional guitarist on stage with you when I saw you a few months ago. Is he going to be a new permanent member or just a touring supplement? He had super melodic solo leads if I remember correctly!
RH: His name is Greg Winchell and he is a semi-permanent(if there is such a thing) addition. His schedule allows him a certain amount of Churchills time so we take what we can get. He accompanied us to Germany and Japan and performed exceptionally well for his first tour. He has a great ear and similarly melodic sensibilities. Plus he's a knucklehead.

IR: After your first indie album you released one for Universal (2000's You Are Here). Although this was a critical success, I imagine the marketing budget on it was nil. How would you describe your experience with Uni? (For the record, the album was chock full of hit singles waiting to happen.)
RH: Thanks for the kind words about "You Are Here". We certainly learned quite a bit from our ordeal (I mean experience) being with Universal. You pray your whole life for something to happen and when it does, it doesn't happen quite the way you imagined it would. We got to work with great people and grew up fast in those shark-infested waters. We're only a tiny bit jaded now though. We try not to let a disappointing experience seep into everything we do. We try to stay positive and focused and learn from the past. We have made more right moves than wrong ones after parting ways with Universal.

IR: Was it difficult to get out of contract with Uni?
RH: No, not really. The state we were in was doing neither of us any good. WE had some allies on the inside who loved the band who helped us to break the chains without too much hassle.

IR: Now that your third album (2002's Big Ideas) has been released independently, you are being touted by the press as one of the best unsigned bands in NYC. What would you absolutely require before signing again to another major, in light of your past experience?
RH: Backrubs from Natalie Imbruglia.(chuckle). Well, we are pretty much doing everything for ourselves now. We built our own website where we sell our records, recorded our own album, made our own video, licensed our songs to more tv shows etc. We would have to know that a label was going to give us a pretty fair share of their time and resources before we gave up any more control of Churchills Inc.

IR: How many of your songs have you licensed to television shows or ads?
RH: We have licensed about 10 at this point. I hope to have more by the time this interview gets printed.

IR: Is it true that these deals were primarily secured by yourself? If so, how did you go about pursuing that?
RH: Well, ve have our vays as the Germans say. Bart and I worked in film production and got to know a few people who still enjoy helping out when they can. Having celebrities like your music goes a long way too. Also, never underestimate the power of being nice to people. It has helped us secure quite a few things as well.

IR: Is there a theme that runs through the latest LP, Big Ideas? It seems like the record rocks on about the doldrums of the average life with the average job and the average idealistic dreams of youth that so often get bitten off by reality (yet it's an upbeat album!).
RH: We have always tried to wrap a bittersweet message up in a sweet, listenable package. We are a pretty positive band. We had experienced a lot of negative things in our lives during the time we made the record. To us, it is a bit darker than our previous records. But we're not here to tell everyone how shitty life is. Life is hard. Once you realize that, you transcend it. You might as well try to enjoy it. Certainly the theme of the record is office based (as evidenced by the suits on the cover) but using that as a metaphor for breaking free of the things that keep you from doing the things you love. "Big Ideas" are the dreams you have for your ideal life and whether you choose to endeavor to try them or not is up to you.

IR: What's your current management situation?
RH: We have management in position but have it set up that he only takes part of what he brings to the table. That is to say that if we continue to score well at the media level, we keep it ourselves. Our coattails are a little too small to be riding.

IR: Yourself, Bart and Alex have been involved in producing as well. Care to discuss how this came about? Have you had past experience engineering? Which artists have you been involved with?
RH: Bart and I learned quite a bit from working with Ken Stringfellow(of The Posies) and Mark Hart (Crowded House) and Steve Dudas(Ringo Starr's band). We like to think we have good instincts in the studio. We have produced The Crayons, Houston Automatic, Clever Hans and many others. We think we have something to offer these bands in the way of experience. We will continue to produce bands from our studio.

IR: At shows, do fans buy more tee shirts or cds (you've got some fancy tee's)? I've always wondered!
RH: It depends on the crowd. Sometimes we'll play places that already have our cd so they will be looking for something else. But generally, we sell more cd's.

IR: How did you enjoy performing at the house concert in New Jersey for Ira Rosen at mydiningroom.com?
RH: It was a very immediate experience. We loved the fact that someone invited us into their home so they can have a personal interaction with us. It's great what Ira and his family does. I think we were a little too loud but it was such great fun.

IR: What can we expect from the Churchills in the future?
RH: We are working on a new record now and have plans to tour the country this summer and return to Japan. We will be releasing a record of unreleased songs and demos for Japan only and we have a new side project called Near with Bart, Greg and me. We have a few surprises, as always, too. Thank you for your great questions!

IR: Thanks for your time and the great music!