Columbus, OH rockers The Slang recently released a brand new single and lyric video to give fans a taste of what to expect from their forthcoming EP. That’s only the tip of the iceberg, though. The Slang have much more new material in the works and plans to hit the road this Fall as well.

We recently had the chance to speak with The Slang’s two Johns, Bobo and Newsome, about their band’s inception, their lyric video for “Feels Like Work” and what we can expect from them in the coming months. Follow us through the jump to get the in-depth scoop from The Slang and check out their stop-motion lyric video for their newest single.

I really like the simplicity in your guys’ band name but I’d assume you chose it for a reason which may be deeper than what’s on the surface, so how did you land on The Slang?

Bobo: Whenever you get a few guys in a room to come up with your band name it consists of roughly 2 minutes of serious conversation followed by 10 minutes of the most obscene and inappropriate band names you can possibly think of. Of course, we did the same thing… About a week later I was helping my Mother clean out some items in her house and came across her racing trophies (both of my parents used to race Corvettes semi-professionally back in the ’70s). This led me to think about slang terms from that era. For example, “four on the floor” or “deuce coupe.” Very Beach Boys type of stuff. We liked the fact that every generation has their own slang terms and it is essentially a definition of who they are. With that in mind, we couldn’t pick any particular slang term that fit us so we went with the word itself – “The Slang.”

With your debut EP yet to release, I’d imagine you guys are somewhat newly formed, maybe? How did you guys come together originally to form this band?

Bobo: Newsome and I have actually known each other for quite a few years prior to this band. We previously played with an Elvis impersonator which was a lot of fun. It’s amazing the response people have to Elvis and I am a big fan of The King myself. We were also in some other bands prior to The Slang which played original music. I think we both started to gravitate towards original music and wanted to focus on that as we formed The Slang.

Newsome: Me and Bobo seem to continue to gravitate to the whole original music scene. Lot of folks try it for a few years, get a girlfriend or don’t get signed and then give it up. I think being able to express yourself through music with parts created by yourself is something that can not be duplicated. Literally the love of doing what we do has finally got us to this point where we are today.

Do you have any specific memories from the first time you jammed together?

Bobo: We used to rehearse in a space near the Ohio State campus and Newsome was invited by a mutual friend to come jam with us. Being perfectly honest, my very first thought when I saw Newsome was that I hoped it was going to work out because he is such a big guy and I didn’t want to have to tell him he’s not in the band. Luckily, he is an incredible bass player and works perfectly with my writing style so there couldn’t be a better fit.

Newsome: Actually, first time we jammed, Bobo’s band was kind of a “local legend” in Columbus so playing for the first time on some of those tunes for me personally was really sweet. Actually had just had microfracture surgery on my knee about a week befor and had to go down I think like 30 steps to this old garage basement. Took me like 10 minutes to get to the bottom.

How would you say your sound came together? Was that a direction you chose intentionally or is it something that just happened organically as you played together?

Bobo: Our sound grew very organically. One of the nice things about being an unknown artist is that you have no rules to follow. No one is telling you what to sound like and you don’t have to follow up any previous albums that defined your sound. That’s a nice freedom to have. In reality, you always have that freedom, but you can sometimes trick yourself into thinking you do not. Despite the fact that I write the songs, I like to make sure the band ultimately determines how the song will sound. A song can be played in a number of different styles, but I want to make sure the band has defined its own style. It’s something that happens naturally if you have the right group of people. It’s fun to listen back to songs and see what direction they took compared to my original demos. We seem to have taken all of our individual influences to form our own sound.

Newsome: Agree 100% with Bobo – we kind of gravitate naturally to this sound we have developed. I’m sure there are influences there of other artists but sometimes those may surprise you. The one thing that Bobo is really good about is that he never comes in with a finished song – that is for the band to do. I can tell you that a couple of songs on the EP sounded much different when they were first brought to the band than what they do now. That is a credit to Bobo for knowing that the best tunes are made when other folks playing on it are allowed to suggest revisions that make the song better in the long run.

So why did you choose “Feels Like Work” as the lead single for the EP, and what’s the story behind the track?

Bobo: I’ll let Newsome tell how it was selected but here is some background on the song: “Feels Like Work” was the last song written for the EP. We went into the studio with a ton of pre-production done for every other song on the EP, but we had only a live handheld recorder version of “Feels Like Work” recorded from practice. I maybe had one verse and the chorus lyrics written. I like to write and work in the studio so that things stay inspired. For me, it’s about the balance of creating versus trying to get the perfect take. I also wanted to have at least one song where we went into the studio and had to figure it out on the fly.

In terms of the story, it’s pretty much about the frustration I felt during my last relationship. I always intended to change the chorus lyric as it seemed a bit redundant and simple. However, it ultimately matches what you sometimes say or feel after an exhausting relationship when you aren’t necessarily at your best. Working on it just feels like work and it isn’t very much fun. I also later listened to The Cure’s song “Disintegration” and it has the lyric “…how the end always ends.” It has that same redundant nature that I like so I kept the chorus lyrics.

Newsome: There was actually some debate about this. I know a lot of artists feel this way but we really thought all the songs recorded could have easily been the single. I think for me and Bobo there was an energy about the song that we seemed to capture when the tune was recorded, probably for the reasons he has stated. I think what it literally came down to was a feeling that it just seemed like the right tune to pick.

The stop-motion lyric video is really awesome. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. How did you come up with the concept and put it all together?

Bobo: Thanks for the compliments on the video! The stop-motion approach was born out of necessity. We had a lineup change around the time that the video was being conceptualized and it didn’t make sense to have live-action without a final lineup in place. In terms of the concept, I was on Craigslist and found an ad from a photographer that also does music videos. His name is Josh Miller and he is an incredible talent. Josh had done a similar video for another artist and, given the lineup change, we gravitated towards stop-motion. Josh came up with the concept and really ran with it. He did a great job! I think it took over 3,500 pictures and a total of 8 hours to shoot and another 10 hours to edit.

Would you say the song is at all indicative of what the rest of the EP has to offer?

Bobo: Some early reviews have said that each song goes in a little different direction. I’d like to think that is true. I think certain things remain the same across each song. For example, my vocals and the fact that I write what I know from a first person perspective. We always try to strike a balance to make sure there is a consistent thread between songs, but that they don’t all sound the same.

Newsome: I think the song is a peek into the EP. I agree with Bobo — it’s been interesting to see industry reviews of the full EP. I think beyond the approach of the lyrics and vocal approach from Bobo, I think we like to have interesting textures and depths of sound with all our songs in addition to having a very dynamic rhythm section as the foundation.

You have some pretty impressive credits as far as where you got to work on the album and who you had mixing and mastering it. How would you describe that whole process and the experience you gained from it all?

Bobo: It was an incredible experience to work with everyone on the album. It’s amazing to me that someone can write songs in a basement in Columbus, OH and then work with all of these great industry people. It is certainly a great feeling to have them tell you that they like your music and want to work with you. Some of the people were based in Columbus originally. For example, Brian Lucey was right in our backyard, but has since moved to L.A. I subscribe to ‘Tape Op’ magazine which is another way I find people to work with. I love the articles with all the producers and technical industry folks. I can usually get a good idea of their personalities and if it will be a good fit for The Slang. I’ve started taking notes for the next EP based on the most recent issue of ‘Tape Op’ and some producers that may be a good fit for us. One nice side-effect to the record industry changing in the past few years is that you can reach out to a lot of industry professionals and, if you are a good fit, they will work on your project.

Newsome: For me the whole recording experience was an eye-opener. We recorded the album at the Cutting Room in NYC and this was the first time I think I recorded where the attitude from the folks in the studio was more than “well that’s good enough.” I think one of the big takeaways for me personally is that you can save yourself a lot of trouble down the road if you work out a kink/arraignment early in the process as opposed to letting it slip to the studio. Something as simple as when the cymbal hits when there is a vocal cue; it can make a difference in a tune. I think it has actually made us more efficient and creative taking the last recording experience into account. As far as the mixing and mastering, just knowing who those guys have worked with in the past and knowing they are working on something you created is really pretty humbling.

That album cover is awesome, too. Who did the work on that?

Bobo: Thank you! I like the album cover, too! It was designed by Justin Helton. His company is Status Serigraph. He’s done a lot of great work with a ton of different bands, (most of which are MUCH bigger than The Slang). We were happy he agreed to work with us and loved his design. We plan to use it on some merchandise in the near future.

And you have plans to tour this Fall in support of the release? Can you tell us any details about that outing as far as where you’re going and what you’re looking forward to? You’ll be bringing some other backing members to round out the sound, too, right?

Bobo: We have quite a few cities where we’d love to play shows. One of the nice things about being based out of Columbus, OH is that it is very centrally located. We can hit around 10 major cities within an 8-hour drive. Depending on which radio markets we hit, we will likely venture even further outside that net. Everyone is really excited to get on the road – we take a lot of pride in our live show. We will have some new members in the band to help us tour, but they are full-time members and not “hired hands.” I’ve always enjoyed being in a true “band” so I like getting new people and changing the sound to match the new lineup. Live shows have been a lot of fun with the new guys and has brought a renewed energy.

What can fans expect from you guys on the tour? Lots of Newsome’s dance moves I hope.

Bobo: Truth be told, Newsome has a bad knee from his football and semi-professional wrestling career (no joke!). He really shouldn’t be moving around or dancing at all. Yet, he will get into it and dance around at shows. If you are lucky, he will also wear a wrestling mask for a couple tunes. For another time, but he played some semi-pro football a few years back and ended up breaking a finger on his index finger – awesome move for a bass player right? [Laughs] I think that was the final straw for him on his “Sunday Dreams” [laughs]. Anyway, we’ll have some brand new tunes that will be on the next EP in addition to the songs on the self-titled. That usually gets him amped up more.

Newsome: I swear I think I took the same training as Napoleon Dynamite for my sweet moves. My sweetest move is actually this thing called “the globe” – dance move I made up myself. It’s hard to do with a bass in my hand but folks might just get lucky this tour…

And after the tour…any specific plans in the works? Anything we haven’t discussed?

Bobo: I am starting to plan the next EP which includes a lot of songwriting – we will be playing a few songs on the tour that will be on the next EP. We aren’t sure where or how we would like to record the next EP, but we certainly wouldn’t mind working with the Cutting Room, Mark Needham and Brian Lucey once again.

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Brian Leak

Editor-In-Chief. King of forgetting drinks in the freezer. Pop culture pack rat. X-Phile. LOST apologist.

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