Rock n Roll Chicago Podcast

Ep 254 The Transference

Ray the Roadie & Hollywood Mike Season 7 Episode 254

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The Transference is an indie rock/power pop band from Chicago. Dark themes get paired with playful lines and reflections on inter- and inner-connectedness. Their sound, a complex tapestry of alt rock pop, bears the indelible mark of Psychedelic and Glam Rock influences, intricately woven with threads of indie melodic pop rock. It’s a testament to their capacity to transcend the ordinary, transforming the eclectic into the exceptional.

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Podcast edited by Paul Martin.
Theme song courtesy of M&R Rush.
www.rocknrollchicagopodcast.com

Ep 254 The Transference
(0:00 - 0:27)
Coming to you from the studios at the Illinois Rock and Roll Museum on Route 66, it's the Rock
and Roll Chicago Podcast. Hey everybody, it's Ray the Roadie. And this be Hollywood Mike.
(0:28 - 0:34)
This be Hollywood Mike. This be Hollywood Mike. I say you're going ghetto on us or something?
I don't know, I'm just practicing different dialects, you know.
(0:34 - 0:41)
Okay. You know, you like my southern accent? I can be anything I want, man. That sounds more
Jamaican.
(0:42 - 0:43)
Oh, okay. Wait, wait. Southern be all.
(0:44 - 0:48)
You know, hey y'all. You know, Jamaican in front of me? Yeah, sometimes I do. You know that.
(0:49 - 0:52)
God, I don't know. It's my hobby. Okay, yeah.
(0:52 - 0:56)
It is kind of a hobby, making fun of me. Yeah, that's everybody. That's right, that's right.
(0:56 - 1:03)
So who we got in the studio tonight? We's got The Transference. All right. A representation of
the band.
(1:04 - 1:10)
You know what? And that's going to be the name of their next album. The Transference, a
representation of the band. Yes.
(1:10 - 1:13)
Yes. So how you guys doing? Great. Glad to be here.
(1:13 - 1:18)
Doing real good. Let people know who you are, who we talking to. I'm Justin.
(1:18 - 1:22)
I'm the guitar player and also a singer. All right. I'm Laura.
(1:22 - 1:28)
I play keyboards and do a lot of writing and I sing, lead. Most of the time. Yep.
(1:28 - 1:37)
Yeah, well, that's good. That's good because we've already had this guy on the show before and
we don't need to hear more of his voice than even what is necessary. He was here just a few
weeks ago.
(1:38 - 1:43)
Yeah, it wasn't too long ago. Yep. And if you listeners, you know, recognize his voice, that's the
reason why.
(1:43 - 1:47)
That's right. He was here with Modern Daybreak. Modern Daybreak.
(1:47 - 1:51)
Modern Daybreak. That's right. So he's sidestepping and stepping out on the Modern
Daybreak, people.
(1:51 - 1:56)
That's right. All right. So what brought you out here today, guys? Music.
(1:57 - 2:03)
Yeah? Yeah. We released an LP. This is our first LP that we put out in July.
(2:03 - 2:10)
It's called Floodlights. And it's on vinyl. I know you guys can't see it, but they brought this vinyl
album here and it's actually really cool.
(2:10 - 2:20)
Can I see that? Yeah. Wow. We've got a, well, it's a picture of like an, like a, I'm going to say like
a 1950s, mid 50s.
(2:20 - 2:24)
Yeah. Dashboard of a car. Kind of like my father had a Ford Fairlane.
(2:24 - 2:27)
Kind of looks like a Ford Fairlane. Cool. Pretty cool.
(2:27 - 2:43)
Do we know what kind of car that is? You know, you'd have to ask Jason Branson who made
that. It's actually a drawing that he came up with based on what I talked to him about for my
ideas for the album cover. And he was like, oh yeah, I know exactly what I'm going to draw
based on what you said.
(2:43 - 2:45)
So I don't know. I really like to know. I'm going to ask him now.
(2:46 - 2:57)
All right. So, so I don't want to forget about this question. So I'm just going to ask you, is it, so is
it kind of like a concept album in a way? Like you had an idea for the cover art was based on the
type of music that's on the record.
(2:57 - 3:01)
I get to say on the record. It's because it's, you know, because it's a real record. It's a record.
(3:02 - 3:06)
Yeah. Yeah. I don't have to say the CB or the MP3 or other bullshit.
(3:06 - 3:10)
It's a record. I made a record. Yeah, there's a lot of throwbacks.
(3:11 - 3:34)
I mean, we, I take a lot of influence influences from classic rock, even though I'm a keyboard
player, which, you know, it's kind of hard to take influences from classic rock when you're a
keyboard player, but there's some Fleetwood Mac and just, you know, I don't know if there's
such a range of influences. I'm not even going to list them. But so when I, when I was coming
up, when I was talking about the album cover, I was pulling some images from the album.
(3:35 - 3:46)
So there's tarot cards. I know nobody can see this, but there's three tarot cards on the
dashboard of an old car and you can't really see what's in front of the car. But so it's, it's, you
know.
(3:46 - 3:50)
I know how they could see it. Yeah. If they buy the album, buy the album.
(3:50 - 3:52)
Buy the album with work. Yeah. Yeah.
(3:52 - 4:02)
Yeah. So I wanted to ask that question, but let's go, let's flip flop back again. Let's go back over
here and tell us where the idea for the band and everything came from, how this whole thing
gets started.
(4:02 - 4:12)
I mean, you're doing double duty. So was this, was this before or after? This was after Modern
Daybreak. Laura is the one who brought us all together, all five of us.
(4:13 - 4:21)
So she'll have a better knowledge of how everyone came to be. All right. I mean, it's funny
because I actually met you technically first.
(4:21 - 4:27)
First, yeah. And you were the last to join the band. Because he just didn't know.
(4:28 - 4:48)
Yeah. Well, so the, so the project started as a, as a bunch of demos that I put together in, you
know, my room during the pandemic. And then we, I, I had about six songs that I demoed and
then found, you know, old friends to play with who I used to play with before.
(4:49 - 5:05)
And we slowly kind of assembled a band after the people started coming back together after
the pandemic, coming back out, playing in the, in the community. So we recorded three songs
and then waited a while. And then that was without Justin.
(5:05 - 5:20)
And then we recorded another three songs and added Justin to the band. And at that point,
that was our like EP that we put out in March of, was that 24? Yeah, it must have been. At that
point, it felt like we were complete as a band.
(5:20 - 5:35)
Um, and so I kind of, I made this goal that I was like, I've never written a full LP, you know, of,
of, um, demos by myself. And it wasn't by myself. We, we definitely, um, evolved a lot of the
songs that we brought in.
(5:35 - 5:48)
And MJ, the bass player definitely has a few songs that he brought in that we evolved. But yeah,
I mean, since, so, okay. When did we start recording this? Like December? Yeah.
(5:51 - 6:00)
December, 20, yeah, 2024, right? 2024, yeah. So less than a year after the EP, it felt very fast.
Yeah, it was.
(6:00 - 6:35)
But we put together a lot of songs and I'm, we're proud of it, I think. So when did you, I guess,
become a musician? I mean, you're sitting in your room, working on some demos, playing
some keyboards and the whole, but when did that whole journey start for you? I mean, like all
of us, I, you know, I took piano lessons as a kid and, um, always, um, kind of locked myself in
my room, even as a 13 and 14 year old and was messing around with songs. Um, but I think I
started writing in high school.
(6:35 - 6:47)
I think I was 16 when I put together my first song and started playing, um, playing out like open
mics, but I grew up in Nebraska. So there wasn't a lot of places to play. You and Katy Perry.
(6:47 - 6:54)
Katy Perry's from Nebraska. Yeah, I believe she is. Johnny Carson is from Nebraska.
(6:54 - 6:58)
Yeah. And Penny from Big Bang Theory. Oh, that's on the show.
(6:58 - 7:00)
Yeah. Yes, she is. I'm learning stuff.
(7:00 - 7:06)
There you go. Okay. And so, and, and so you were in high school and did all this stuff in
Nebraska.
(7:06 - 7:11)
When did you decide to come here and, uh, and do that? I came here for grad school. Oh,
gotcha. Okay.
(7:11 - 7:24)
And were you a music major? I, you know, I started as a music major. Um, and I did not get a
degree in music. I got a degree in something like equally liberal artsy.
(7:25 - 7:38)
And then, which is what, uh, religion, like the study of religion and philosophy. Um, so I, I totally
have a minor in theology. Yes.
(7:39 - 7:57)
I do. This can turn into a whole other podcast right now. Why don't you and I go grab a beer
somewhere? If we had, if I had a dollar for every time I asked that question and they said, well, I
started off as a music major, but I decided I didn't want to be poor.
(7:57 - 8:09)
No. But I don't think I've ever heard anybody say religion and, and, and philosophy. But that's
interesting.
(8:09 - 8:18)
Yeah. So I started there and then I moved here for grad school and I did, I did a graduate
degree in social work. And, um, so I have a day job.
(8:18 - 8:23)
Okay. As, as most of us do, don't feel bad about it. Yeah.
(8:23 - 8:32)
I mean, I'm getting too old to be a stripper, but I got to do what I got to do. See, you said I was
going to say something inappropriate. There it is.
(8:32 - 8:40)
That's all your fault. Okay, great. So, so you guys got together and you decided, Hey, so well,
you decided, well, I can't sit here and play in my bedroom.
(8:40 - 8:44)
Right. I got to put a band together. And that's when you started putting this band together.
(8:44 - 9:11)
Who was the first person that, that joined? The first people that joined were, um, Alex, Karen
and MJ Johnson, who were, I played with in a previous band that broke up, um, like so many
bands in the pandemic. Um, so we played in another bar, another, I almost said the name of
the band. We played another band called burn the barn, um, that we put out a, an album and
then the pandemic started and we couldn't really perform it.
(9:11 - 9:32)
And we eventually broke up as a band. Um, so there's like a, there was a decent amount of time
where I, um, after that happened, was just playing around other bands and so many of us do,
right? Like Justin has, you know, he fronts Modern Daybreak and writes and works with other
people and is very good at collaboration and community, which is, I think great. And, and I do
that too.
(9:32 - 9:44)
I, I play with, um, several other bands. I play keyboards. Um, and so I did that for a while to sort
of try to get better at playing and develop skills.
(9:44 - 9:53)
And then I was eventually like, I think I'm ready to, to start, uh, fronting a project again. And
then things took off from there, I guess. Yeah.
(9:54 - 10:00)
Okay. Fantastic. What's, what's, what, what's the style? What kind of stuff are you guys writing?
That's a good question.
(10:02 - 10:18)
Describe your music to somebody. You've got, you've, you've got a 15 second elevator pitch. We
got, uh, influences of psych rock and, um, kind of like classic 60s, 70s vibe to it.
(10:18 - 10:23)
We got 90s element and it's, it's very eclectic. That's my word for the music is eclectic. Right.
(10:23 - 10:30)
Um, it's good. Like very lyric driven. Like I think the lyrics are very strong.
(10:30 - 10:42)
Um, Laura writes very good lyrics. So, so you're, you're the lyricist. Are you also, do you also
handle all the music or is that more of a collaboration? It kind of depends.
(10:42 - 10:56)
So the way that, that I started the band, I used to demo the songs because I'm a keyboard
player. Um, and I can, I can make a good MIDI mock-up of a song and bring it in and be like,
here, here's a template. Uh, let's play it and see how it evolves.
(10:56 - 11:16)
Um, or like, uh, for, for the songs that MJ and I co-wrote, um, and Justin and I worked on a song
on this album too. Um, we'll just kind of like send each other parts back and forth. And one of
my main, I think that my, the, the way that my brain works best is as an arranger actually.
(11:16 - 11:34)
So I have a strange like spaghetti brain where like you can give me a bunch of stuff and I can
think about it and just kind of like move the parts around. Some people call that schizophrenic.
But no, but I totally, I totally understand that.
(11:34 - 11:48)
Um, cause I, I guess I'm kind of the same way in that regard. Um, if you bring me a song, I'm
always the person that says, you know what, what you think should be the verse should actually
be the chorus. You know, I can, I can feel that.
(11:48 - 11:55)
And she said, no, switch, flip flop, you know, you know, kind of thing. I don't really get that. I
just figured out what kind of band they had and what their music is.
(11:55 - 12:02)
What's that? Well, according to their website, indie rock power pop band. Yes. Okay.
(12:02 - 12:10)
Those are good words. Dark themes get paired with playful lines and reflections on inter and
inner connectedness. You weren't even close.
(12:11 - 12:24)
Do you know your website exists? When he said that, I'm thinking to myself, I know I just read
about it somewhere. I think on their website. Well, that's interesting.
(12:25 - 12:26)
Okay. All right. That's good.
(12:26 - 12:33)
Well, I think it's time to hear something, uh, from this album. I'm anxious. I'm just a bit anxious.
(12:33 - 12:35)
Yeah. I want to hear some of this. You need some Ritalin or something.
(12:35 - 12:39)
Yeah. I just want to get through it so we can start the whole theology podcast. Oh, okay.
(12:40 - 12:46)
Then we'll be right back with a whole different podcast. Yes. We'll, we'll, we'll, we'll transfer.
(12:46 - 12:58)
What is it? And the transference from a rock and roll to a religious to, to hymns. Oh, that's
something that's hymns is in music. Not hymns.
(12:58 - 13:00)
The pharmaceuticals to make you think. Yeah. That's something.
(13:01 - 13:03)
All right. We're going to pause it for a second. See you.
(13:03 - 13:10)
You're listening to the rock and roll Chicago podcast. Hey, everybody. It's Ray.
(13:10 - 13:13)
The roadie. And this is Hollywood. Mike of the rock and roll Chicago podcast.
(13:13 - 13:23)
If you've been joining our weekly program, we have great news for you. Just tune in to road to
rock radio on Mondays at 7 PM central time. And you can hear a rebroadcast of one of our past
episodes.
(13:23 - 13:48)
Then again, on Thursdays at 7 PM, you can hear our most current episode brought to you by
the Illinois rock and roll museum on route 66. So go to road to rock.org, scroll down and click
on radio station. That'll bring you to the road to rock radio, a station committed entirely to the
great music from Illinois, from Chicago blues born on Maxwell street to today's rock and roll
and everything in 24 seven, all music with its roots in Illinois.
(13:50 - 14:09)
For Sunday nights, just got a whole lot bluesier. Get ready for the bus stop blues show that
takes you deep into the soul of the blues with classic hits road stories and live jam sessions
hosted by blues man, Kevin Purcell and me, the one and only road bill. The bus stop blues is
two hours of nonstop blues banter and bad assery.
(14:09 - 14:29)
Check out the bus stop blues podcast at the bus stop blues.com, where you can listen on
Spotify, iHeart, Apple podcast or any other major podcast platform. Up on board the bus stop
blues where the blues never stops rolling. And we're back for the first time tonight.
(14:29 - 14:36)
We have the representation of the transference in the studio. Two fifths. Two fifths.
(14:36 - 14:42)
Yeah. So this is a song called nightlight. This will be an acoustic version.
(14:42 - 15:50)
You know, the full song on the album is a really big three part harmony, full on instruments
kind of song. And this is going to be our stripped down version. Together.
(16:38 - 18:58)
It's 3 a.m. Again. Very nice. That was real nice.
(18:59 - 19:08)
Yeah. You know, how come whenever people write about time in a song, it's always 3 a.m. You
ever notice that? That's because they're writing it at that time. That's that is the witching hour.
(19:08 - 19:16)
But that's true. But I mean, I guess three is just like, I don't know, poetic, you know, rhymes
with a lot of stuff. It does.
(19:17 - 19:27)
And just like the word for doesn't really, you know, three, three, like the three crosses on Mount
Calvary, which we'll get to later on. Yes, we're going to get to that much later. Yes, we are.
(19:27 - 19:34)
Yes, I'm actually I'm actually quite impressed that he knew that. Because he is a sinner. Let's
just be honest.
(19:35 - 19:46)
He is, as we all are. Reverend. You know what? That's what my that's what I should you know,
I'm going to start telling people that I'm a reverend.
(19:46 - 19:49)
I'm a reverend. I'm a reverend. You can go online and get that.
(19:49 - 19:55)
I've got it from Universal Life Church in Modesto, California. Very good. Yeah, I can marry
people.
(19:56 - 20:01)
I've actually done. I've married like 20 some people. I've even baptized people.
(20:02 - 20:15)
Yeah, maybe. Maybe that's what we should start a podcast about. Yeah, because the private
ministry, because let me tell you, there were some stories where, OK, so it's like I show up and
the entire wedding party is dressed up.
(20:16 - 20:28)
Well, I thought at first maybe it was like a Native American celebration or ceremony. But then I
looked closely and all of the Native American clothing were like black leather and had chains.
And I was like, wow, this is crazy.
(20:28 - 20:34)
All right. So so what am I supposed to do here? And they were like, no, just go ahead and you
know, just whatever you want to do. I was like, OK.
(20:36 - 20:43)
Yeah, it's pretty interesting. But anyways, we'll talk about that some other time. So you wrote
this? That song I wrote.
(20:43 - 20:55)
Yeah. So I have a so I have a bone to pick with you because you mentioned a couple of times
you're like, you know, there's not a whole like a lot of inspiration that you can get as a keyboard
player from classic rock. And I got to call.
(20:56 - 21:00)
I got to call bullshit on that. You're right. I mean, I really I really do.
(21:00 - 21:07)
You know, sometimes we ask the tough questions. So so then I mean, classify yourself. I mean,
keyboard keyboard players can be very broad.
(21:08 - 21:16)
And and in my experience, you have keyboard players that are nothing but midi masters. Right.
And I don't really call them keyboard players.
(21:16 - 21:23)
They're like they're like synth players, that kind of thing. Right. And then you've got keyboard
players that are really just like they're classic pianists.
(21:23 - 21:30)
Right. And then you then you put a keyboard in front of them that has every sound in the world,
except for a piano. And they're lost.
(21:31 - 21:36)
Right. That's interesting. And then you've got the church guys that are just like on that B3 just
going nuts.
(21:36 - 21:50)
Right. So so what are you? You know, I dabble, but I think, you know, in my heart of hearts, I
love to play, you know, keyboards are, you know, at their heart. I think if you play piano, it's a
percussion instrument.
(21:50 - 22:00)
So I think the way that I think about playing is that I have a very rhythmic sense of playing. I
really love Christine McVie. I love I love bands like Genesis.
(22:02 - 22:13)
I love the clavinets. So like if you listen to the Led Zeppelin albums that have clavinet, I love that.
I just it's like that's a controversial thing to say, because a lot of people are like, oh, the clavinet.
(22:14 - 22:19)
It's a very divisive like sound to bring up. Almost like a glockenspiel. Like a glockenspiel.
(22:20 - 22:24)
Which, by the way, is featured on their album. On their album. They have a glockenspiel on
their album.
(22:24 - 22:26)
That's right. Absolutely. I knew I'd find one.
(22:26 - 22:36)
Ray's going to go home and get drunk and he's going to watch a glockenspiel porn on
YouTube. He found glockenspiel finally. I'm sure that exists.
(22:36 - 22:43)
Yeah, I'm sure there, you know, I said that as a joke, but I bet you anything if we looked for
glockenspiel porn. Yeah, you're probably right there. Yeah, it's out there somewhere.
(22:44 - 22:46)
Yeah. Yeah. So I'm sorry, but go on, continue.
(22:47 - 23:01)
Yeah, so I think that's that's in my heart of hearts. What I prefer is is really like really good
syncopated rhythms. Stevie Wonder is another big influence.
(23:01 - 23:08)
I love him. And I, you know, I like I have so much respect. I've learned how to play Hammond
and organ.
(23:09 - 23:19)
I've really learned that playing in different bands and different styles. I'm not a great player.
But, you know, it's like it's a lifelong learning process.
(23:20 - 23:29)
And I like synths, too. You know, I wish that I was a guitar player. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, no.
(23:29 - 23:39)
You better take that back right now. This is my ego talking, but I love playing a keyboard. But I
like if I want to be a guitar player, all I have to do is play a synth.
(23:39 - 23:43)
Get a keytar, keytar. I don't know. Everyone says get a keytar.
(23:43 - 23:50)
I think it's because I'm five foot one and my keyboards are heavy. But I don't know. I've never
tried a keytar.
(23:51 - 24:00)
It's a thought. What do you play? Like what's your gear? I have a Yamaha stage keyboard. It's
called a YC keyboard is their stage keyboard brand.
(24:00 - 24:07)
And it's I have like, of course, it's like, you know, partially weighted. It's very heavy. It's not a full
keyboard.
(24:07 - 24:16)
It's like 73 keys, but it's still heavy. And I refuse to play anything else. Because I'm stuck in my
ways and I don't want to change.
(24:17 - 24:22)
I'm not wrong with that. Yeah, someday you will someday say I'm done with this. Yeah, I might.
(24:22 - 24:33)
You know, it's true. Just happen to be at Sweetwater going, oh, look at that. But every every
single one of my guitars has paint coming off of, I mean, every single one of them because
stuck in my ways.
(24:34 - 24:41)
You know, I have a guitar that I bought a month ago. But which one do I play? The one that I've
had for 32 years. So, you know, I totally get it.
(24:41 - 24:53)
That's good. But I just want to point out that there's no influences in classical rock music. Yet we
talked about Christine McVie and Led Zeppelin and Stevie Wonder.
(24:54 - 24:59)
You know, we talked about the classical rock. I guess we just had to get that out there. I just
mean, they don't get a lot of love.
(24:59 - 25:02)
Maybe they do. And I'm just self-conscious about that. I don't know.
(25:02 - 25:20)
Well, yeah, because I mean, because I mean, all those bands that you named also got famous
for their arena shows and things like that. I mean, yeah, you know, people didn't go to people
didn't go to a Led Zeppelin concert to watch John Paul Jones sit down behind a piano, right? You
know, so I totally get that. You're going to say something.
(25:21 - 25:33)
Yeah, I was going to say, you think of like the powerful vocals in classic rock. And you think of
like the blazing guitar solos. And then, yeah, the keyboards get kind of forgotten a little bit.
(25:34 - 25:36)
Alex Van Halen. Yeah. He played a keyboard.
(25:36 - 25:41)
Eddie Van Halen. Eddie, not Alex. I think they both played keyboards.
(25:41 - 26:06)
But yeah, kind of hard for the drummer to. Yeah, you know, I have, you know, I think every
guitar player can play something on the piano, you know? Oh, yeah. You know, I mean, because
if you can, if you can take all of the keys, let's call them keys on the neck of a guitar and play
them upside down, you know, you can you can, you know, sit down there and do that.
(26:06 - 26:12)
I mean, I started my my first instrument was an organ. And then I guess I got tired of doing
that. Nope.
(26:12 - 26:16)
And I became the guitar player. Ray saw the organ. It's a 1969 Wurlitzer.
(26:16 - 26:24)
It's still in the basement of my house. Yeah, double-decker, double-decker thing. Yeah, so very
interesting.
(26:24 - 26:29)
It's always in a basement. Yeah, like whenever I join a band, they're like, come to my basement.
Yeah.
(26:31 - 26:33)
That's a theme in my life. That's OK. Oh, yeah.
(26:33 - 26:37)
Come down. Coming down to my basement is fine. But if it's, yeah, just come down to my
basement.
(26:38 - 26:45)
That's that's different. Yeah. Oh, no, I ain't never been on Craigslist.
(26:45 - 26:48)
Don't worry about it. Don't worry. You ain't got nothing to worry about.
(26:48 - 26:55)
Yeah, we have. Have you really? Is Craigslist still a thing? That's how I met several bands. Gosh,
Craig.
(26:56 - 27:00)
Alex and MJ were. Yeah, they were on Craigslist. Craigslist is still a thing.
(27:00 - 27:04)
I think it's still out there. And it still looks the same way it did when it first came out. I know.
(27:05 - 27:13)
I mean, Craigslist. I don't know what it I haven't been on Craigslist in 10 years, but 10 years ago,
it looked like the very first DOS program that ever came. Exactly.
(27:14 - 27:20)
It still does. It's like, how do you find anything on there? You heard searches. Wow.
(27:22 - 27:25)
There's no pictures or nothing to click on. It's a little. I don't think we need.
(27:25 - 27:34)
Somebody put some flash up there, man. Oh, changed a little bit. Oh, did it? Yeah, it looks a
little bit a little more organized, but it's pretty much the same thing.
(27:34 - 27:38)
Oh, okay. And when you go, yeah, yeah, it's still the same thing. Yeah.
(27:38 - 27:42)
Wow. Same thing. People still say, come to my basement.
(27:43 - 27:50)
There's a whole column here for basement stuff. Yeah, it protects the pedophiles. I have an
organ in my basement.
(27:51 - 27:55)
Now that's creepy. I have an organ. It is pretty creepy.
(27:56 - 28:01)
Come into my basement. I'll show you my organ. Oh, God.
(28:02 - 28:07)
Things not to say. I thought we were turning into a religious podcast. Oh, no way.
(28:07 - 28:19)
No, you have to understand theology and religion are two different things. Spirituality and
religion are two different things. That's right.
(28:20 - 28:40)
So anyways, so I asked you earlier if it was kind of like a concept album. I mean, and it was like,
yeah, it's kind of like a concept album a little bit. Is there like a main theme or a main inspiration
for the songs on the album? You know, I'm looking at them.
(28:41 - 29:03)
I'm looking at them all. The songs between the A side and the B side, I really feel like almost
different collections of songs in some ways. The B side, except for the first song, was very much
inspired by some of those more classic rock like Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin.
(29:03 - 29:14)
I don't know if anyone will hear that. They're more keyboard driven songs. The first side is more
80s, maybe 90s rock.
(29:14 - 29:16)
Oh, yeah. Higher energy, I would say. Higher energy.
(29:17 - 29:31)
Yeah, I'm a millennial, so I like have musical ADHD like so many of us. It's hard for me to focus.
There's so much good music out there that's been made over the course of history.
(29:32 - 29:35)
Absolutely. Absolutely. But try to explain that to a Rush fan.
(29:38 - 29:45)
Or a Beatles fan. There's been so much great music out there, isn't there? A decreed Nickelback
debate. Yeah, that's right.
(29:45 - 29:54)
That's right. So you have to do me one favor, though. So the song that features a glockenspiel,
can you guys do that without the glockenspiel? Yes, we're going to do it without the
glockenspiel.
(29:54 - 30:08)
You got to make Ray's night. We got to hear the glockenspiel song. Where's my glockenspiel?
So my question is, where did the name come from? The transference.
(30:09 - 30:14)
So like I said, I have a day job. I work as a psychotherapist. I'm a social worker.
(30:14 - 30:21)
I see clients. I do therapy. Transference is a concept that comes from psychology.
(30:22 - 30:33)
I shouldn't have said some of the things that I said. She's been analyzing you the whole time.
Why is everyone always afraid of me? There's guys in white coats waiting for me when I walk
out.
(30:33 - 30:36)
That's right. I'm a benevolent therapist. I'm just kidding.
(30:37 - 31:00)
Everyone's always terrified of therapists, but I'm very nice, I think. So transference is like, you
know, the basic explanation of it is that, you know, we all project our own assumptions and
experiences onto, you know, whatever's happening around us. That's not a great explanation,
actually.
(31:01 - 31:18)
But, you know, the songs on this, when I write songs, I think that they're intentionally kind of
collagey and a little bit obscure, at least in this particular project. Sometimes I write really
personal songs. Like singer songwriter songs.
(31:18 - 31:37)
This is not that. So, I mean, you know, when you listen to good rock albums, I think they're
really similar anyway. If you listen to like, they're not necessarily very personal, like vulnerable
songs, but the songs on so in this one, like everything that I write, I think is very emotional.
(31:37 - 31:48)
Like it's very tied to feelings and evocative. I hope that's my goal. What's your favorite? Oh my
gosh.
(31:48 - 31:53)
My favorite song? No, on your album. Oh. Not through the beginning of time.
(31:54 - 31:56)
Yeah, yeah. Oh, that's so hard. We'll take the pressure off a little bit.
(31:57 - 32:02)
Oh, today. We'll say today. Today.
(32:02 - 32:09)
Today, my favorite song is. Today, my favorite song is Sunset. It's the one we'll do last, which
doesn't have a lot.
(32:09 - 32:22)
It's probably the least played song on the album, but it's also the slowest. And maybe like most
vulnerable for me, it's the most personal song. It's also maybe my favorite lyrics on the album.
(32:23 - 32:32)
I worked really hard on those lyrics. Other songs, I was like, let's be a little bit vague. Well, first
we got to hear the Glockenspiel song.
(32:32 - 32:37)
Definitely got to hear the Glockenspiel song. Yeah, hit us with some Glockenspiel. You don't
have to play the whole thing if you don't want to.
(32:37 - 32:43)
But I mean, yeah, we got to hear it. Yeah. Trying to remember how many songs have
Glockenspiel.
(32:43 - 32:48)
There's more? Oh, there's more than one for sure. Oh, wow. Yeah.
(32:48 - 32:57)
You hear that? You got to get this album, right? I do. Here it is. Here's the Glockenspiel song.
(32:58 - 33:02)
No. This song is called Sunsets. It's the last song on the album.
(33:03 - 36:26)
Sunsets. All right. Fast or my thoughts can slow It don't make sense but I've come to know A
couple tricks that always keep me moving I want to move you so bad And I know I can Now the
bluebells are dying down by the beech tree And the rising sound of a swarm Drowns out all
other sound You keep rising in my mind like a compass flower Riding high or a lotus white
rising from the dust And my heart is far away in the sunsets I have tried to paint in the name of
love that lacks a frame You keep rising in my mind like a compass flower Riding high or a lotus
white rising from the dust And my heart is far away in the sunsets I have tried to chase in the
name of love Oh, in the name of love In the name of love Oh, in the name of love I don't even
want to hit the applause button on that one.
(36:26 - 36:33)
There you have it, everybody. Glockenspiel music. And it's so sweet and gently.
(36:33 - 36:35)
I didn't want to. No, yeah. Maybe we have to.
(36:36 - 36:42)
Oh, yeah, that'll work. Yeah, very nice. Cross-legged on the floor.
(36:43 - 36:52)
That was very, that was very 60s, hippie, trippy kind of thing. That was, no, that was very nice. It
was really good.
(36:52 - 36:54)
I like that. Yeah. Again, written by you.
(36:55 - 37:05)
Yeah, and that's, that's a song I wrote. We did this, or Justin did this arrangement on the
acoustic guitar, but it's, you know, it's all keyboards. Yeah.
(37:05 - 37:09)
And the track, so. Yeah, wow, amazing. And Glockenspiel.
(37:09 - 37:12)
And Glockenspiel. Old Glockenspiel. Well, I think.
(37:12 - 37:18)
And I'm so elated. Yeah, I think we got, I know, you are. We're gonna, we're gonna have to talk
about Glockenspiel over the, over bourbon and stuff tonight.
(37:18 - 37:28)
We're gonna have to do that. We're gonna have to, I can see we're gonna have to do that to
bring him down. He said, he asks everybody, you have a Glockenspiel, can you play a
Glockenspiel? And nobody's been able to say they don't.
(37:29 - 37:33)
Yeah. I do. Well, very good.
(37:33 - 37:39)
You're his favorite artist now. That's right. You do have one more you say you wanted to do,
isn't it? That was the one.
(37:40 - 37:42)
That was the one. Oh, that was it. Okay, well, shit, I got nothing else to say.
(37:45 - 37:52)
So you guys got some gigs coming up? Um, not yet. We just played Shuba's. Okay.
(37:53 - 38:00)
Was it last week? It feels like last week. Yeah, it was September. And yeah, September we played
Shuba's.
(38:00 - 38:10)
That was our big release. We released our vinyl. And I think our focus has been kind of
switching to trying to get the vinyl out there and promote it.
(38:10 - 38:22)
So any kind of exposure we're getting there is great. We definitely have some shows coming
up. Part of the issue is that, you know, the fall gets really busy and we had a really busy summer
playing shows.
(38:22 - 38:31)
So we played Homegrown and we played, what else did we play? We played a bunch of places.
The last show that we played was Shuba's. Um.
(38:31 - 38:59)
Well, if people are looking to see where you're playing, where can they find you guys on social
media? You can find us at The Transference Band on Instagram, on Facebook. If you go to our
website, which is the transferenceband.com, you have the links to everything that all of our
social media. You can purchase the album there? You can purchase, you will, you can purchase
the album off of Hard Stop Records website.
(38:59 - 39:08)
Um, that's our, our label. Um, shout out to Tom Spira, who's amazing. Um, and he's a great
promoter of this album.
(39:09 - 39:16)
Uh, you can also buy it at so many record stores. I think we're in 17 record stores in Chicago.
Nice, right.
(39:16 - 39:35)
Um, if you're local in that area or you just feel like going to support a local store, which you
definitely should. Um, yeah, we're, we're, we're big proponents of like being in the community
and like meeting people face to face. Um, like live music is so important coming out to see, like,
that's, that's our jam is like come out to see live shows.
(39:35 - 39:56)
Like if you listen to our album, you're going to hear, it sounds a little bit more live and less
produced than a lot of albums that come out. And that's, you know, intentional, like we're,
we're really big about community and the experience of being together and supporting
musicians and record stores and the whole ecosystem that is local music. Excellent.
(39:56 - 39:59)
Excellent. Most excellent. Well, thank you guys for coming out.
(39:59 - 40:03)
Yeah. Thank you very much. Thanks for coming all the way out here again for a second time.
(40:03 - 40:08)
You know, it's good seeing you again. But yeah, I, man, I enjoyed this. I enjoyed listening to you
guys very much.
(40:08 - 40:11)
You guys sound great. The two of you sound great together. Yeah, absolutely.
(40:12 - 40:16)
Yeah. Alrighty. I don't know what else there is left to say except for, you know, go buy this, go
buy this record.
(40:17 - 40:21)
Go buy this album. Yeah, yeah. And now we'll just do a transfer and it's out of here.
(40:21 - 40:26)
Well, that's what we'll do. Thanks guys. Thanks so much.
(40:26 - 40:36)
The Rock and Roll Chicago podcast is edited by Paul Martin. Theme song courtesy of MNR Rush.
The Rock and Roll Chicago podcast does not own the rights to any of the music heard on the
show.
(40:37 - 40:39)
The music is used to promote the guests that are featured.

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