(no subject)
I'm sure everyone has read this by now:
Pleasure Club is done. Monday night Pleasure Club bassist Grant Curry called guitarist/vocalist James Hall to their practice space. Curry told Hall what both of them already knew: the band wasn't working. LiveNewOrleans.Com sat down with Hall Tuesday night and spoke with Curry over the phone Wednesday afternoon about the break-up and what led to it.
HALL:
"We could no longer continue to tour and operate anymore. It was costing us all too much, whether it was promotionally or sanity-wise or monetarily, it was no longer fun. For me to expect that these four guys want to do this as much as I do is not realistic. Just because I identify myself as a full-time artist and am willing to endure all that comes along with that, I should not expect everyone else to be that way. Or, even if they are that way for a certain amount of time, I should not expect them to be that way for the rest of their life just because I decided that was my calling...I feel like we've been hanging onto something that we've been reluctant to let go of because we knew it was good, but it was ceasing to work for us...There's a lot of elements going on. It wasn't anybody's fault. It just wasn't working anymore...Ending this felt really right. Talking to Grant felt right...I was forcing myself to keep the door open on Pleasure Club because I was forcing myself to
do that. Too much of my life have I always shut the door and said, "Fuck that."
CURRY:
"The relationships (in the band) were strained to the point that things weren't gonna get better. It was time to move on. Two things that feed my soul are relationships with other people and music. If the relationships are fucked up, the music will suffer...The band didn't split up because we weren't commercially successful. We broke up because our relationships were broken."
Feeling that the band was a forced issue wasn't new. According to Hall, the band "stopped feeling successful about a year and a half ago. We peaked at about a year and a half ago. Maybe even two years ago." Which was right around the time they made "Fugitive Kind," their second and last record. It tanked, and that didn't help. The band tried to tour behind it twice, but no dice.
So, Pleasure Club decided to go on hiatus. After what would come to be their last show in New Orleans on December 3rd, they parted ways.
Hall approached Curry in February to see if they could work together some more. Curry wasn't inclined. Asked if that hurt, Hall said, "Well, we'd only been together fourteen, fifteen years. Sure it hurt. You know. Of course it did. 'Cause he's a brother. We've been through a lot together."
As thoughts of Pleasure Club were receding, Hall got the motivation to re-start his solo career. He will display new songs and a new band on June 17th at One Eyed Jacks. Pleasure Club drummer Michael Jerome will be in the band, which will play Hall's older solo material, Pleasure Club songs, and possibly even stuff from Hall's days in Atlanta-based Mary My Hope in the late '80's.
Let's do the "Animal House" character wrap-up: Michael Jerome went on to be a session drummer and participate in many different musical projects in Los Angeles. Guitarist Marc Hunter went on to work with Curry in The Dark Horse Project and for ASCAP. Curry went on to create a solo album, produce NYC band Other Passengers, and work with Marc Hunter on The Dark Horse Project.
It's sad news for all fans of Pleasure Club. We thought they were the best band in New Orleans.
LiveNewOrleans.Com had the opportunity to sit down with James Hall right before and right after the break-up. Check back in to the "New Reviews" section of the site today and tomorrow for transcripts of the interviews.
LIVENEWORLEANS.COM PRESENTS JAMES HALL
Friday, June 24th
One Eyed Jacks
Tickets are $10 and available at www.oneeyedjacks.net. They WILL sell out. And, we're not just saying that because we're promoting it. Get your tickets early. As Hall said about the show, "It's on."
Thoughts?
Pleasure Club is done. Monday night Pleasure Club bassist Grant Curry called guitarist/vocalist James Hall to their practice space. Curry told Hall what both of them already knew: the band wasn't working. LiveNewOrleans.Com sat down with Hall Tuesday night and spoke with Curry over the phone Wednesday afternoon about the break-up and what led to it.
HALL:
"We could no longer continue to tour and operate anymore. It was costing us all too much, whether it was promotionally or sanity-wise or monetarily, it was no longer fun. For me to expect that these four guys want to do this as much as I do is not realistic. Just because I identify myself as a full-time artist and am willing to endure all that comes along with that, I should not expect everyone else to be that way. Or, even if they are that way for a certain amount of time, I should not expect them to be that way for the rest of their life just because I decided that was my calling...I feel like we've been hanging onto something that we've been reluctant to let go of because we knew it was good, but it was ceasing to work for us...There's a lot of elements going on. It wasn't anybody's fault. It just wasn't working anymore...Ending this felt really right. Talking to Grant felt right...I was forcing myself to keep the door open on Pleasure Club because I was forcing myself to
do that. Too much of my life have I always shut the door and said, "Fuck that."
CURRY:
"The relationships (in the band) were strained to the point that things weren't gonna get better. It was time to move on. Two things that feed my soul are relationships with other people and music. If the relationships are fucked up, the music will suffer...The band didn't split up because we weren't commercially successful. We broke up because our relationships were broken."
Feeling that the band was a forced issue wasn't new. According to Hall, the band "stopped feeling successful about a year and a half ago. We peaked at about a year and a half ago. Maybe even two years ago." Which was right around the time they made "Fugitive Kind," their second and last record. It tanked, and that didn't help. The band tried to tour behind it twice, but no dice.
So, Pleasure Club decided to go on hiatus. After what would come to be their last show in New Orleans on December 3rd, they parted ways.
Hall approached Curry in February to see if they could work together some more. Curry wasn't inclined. Asked if that hurt, Hall said, "Well, we'd only been together fourteen, fifteen years. Sure it hurt. You know. Of course it did. 'Cause he's a brother. We've been through a lot together."
As thoughts of Pleasure Club were receding, Hall got the motivation to re-start his solo career. He will display new songs and a new band on June 17th at One Eyed Jacks. Pleasure Club drummer Michael Jerome will be in the band, which will play Hall's older solo material, Pleasure Club songs, and possibly even stuff from Hall's days in Atlanta-based Mary My Hope in the late '80's.
Let's do the "Animal House" character wrap-up: Michael Jerome went on to be a session drummer and participate in many different musical projects in Los Angeles. Guitarist Marc Hunter went on to work with Curry in The Dark Horse Project and for ASCAP. Curry went on to create a solo album, produce NYC band Other Passengers, and work with Marc Hunter on The Dark Horse Project.
It's sad news for all fans of Pleasure Club. We thought they were the best band in New Orleans.
LiveNewOrleans.Com had the opportunity to sit down with James Hall right before and right after the break-up. Check back in to the "New Reviews" section of the site today and tomorrow for transcripts of the interviews.
LIVENEWORLEANS.COM PRESENTS JAMES HALL
Friday, June 24th
One Eyed Jacks
Tickets are $10 and available at www.oneeyedjacks.net. They WILL sell out. And, we're not just saying that because we're promoting it. Get your tickets early. As Hall said about the show, "It's on."
Thoughts?