Ted Leo Pharmacists
Interview with Ted Leo
Words: James Ferreira

It’s been nearly eight years since the last grain of sand fell through the hourglass that we commonly refer to as the 90’s.  Despite nearly another decade of elapsed time since their departure, they remain one of the most difficult periods of time to classify.  A generation with no identity is a rather frightening prospect.  The defining moment of this decade for many people was the breakthrough of punk rock into the mainstream.  While most of the original thoughts that went into creating the ethics behind the original punk movement were lost, a beacon for those grass roots ideals was lit around the turn of the century.  Ted Leo and the Pharmacists have revived the belief structure that punk music is not just about three chords and a cloud of dust, but also to convey a message and blending of several types of classic rock elements to create something thought provoking.  I was lucky enough to speak with Ted Leo, who ironically has become one the most innovative thinkers in punk music today by simply holding onto the standards that made punk great in the first place,

REAX:  Washington, D.C. has always been a hotbed for cutting edge independent music.  A lot of politically driven songs have been written in this area.  Can you explain what getting your band started in the late 90’s was like and describe the existing scene at the time?
Ted Leo:  I lived in Washington for most of the 90’s.  I actually moved out in late ‘97, and that’s when I started playing under my own name, and I eventually moved back there for like a year in ‘99.  The band that I got together included someone from DC, so it’s always been in the orbit of what I’ve been doing.  But, I actually haven’t lived there full time since the summer of ’97.  It was actually a pretty weird time in the Washington music scene, which partially contributed to my decision to move.  A lot of the bands that had been going strong through the 90’s had either recently broken up or moved away themselves, and there was kind of a weird lull happening at that point in time.  I think that for me, also having quit the band Chisel that I had been playing in for the past eight years and deciding to start playing under my own name that I needed to go out and make a significant change myself.

REAX:  From its inception, your band’s music has appeared to scream for a more politically active lifestyle from the general populous.  You have taken a decidedly different approach towards this by being a lot less in the face of your fans.  Can you tell us where this approach originated and some of the ideals behind it?
 TL:  Well, I certainly grew up being involved with music that was much more ‘in your face’ and I certainly wrote my share of those songs in my time.  Even now, it’s not like I don’t appreciate that, I definitely need to hear those songs every now and then to get my blood boiling a little bit.  From my own perspective, the songs that tend to resonate with me more deeply are songs that get a little more to the heart of the matter.  You can write a song about a particular government action or policy, but government action and policy is only relevant as it affects human beings.  It’s not an academic exercise; it’s something that actually has a human effect.  It governs the way we live our lives and how we experience life itself.  When I write songs that deal with political issues, which is pretty much all the time, I do try and come at it more from that perspective.  It’s just how I’m most comfortable writing it.  I tend to think outside of a specific issue and see a wider view, which is the perspective that I write from.

REAX:  Lookout! Records was a staple of punk music for nearly 20 years.  Can you explain how your band got involved with them and what it has meant for TLP to be affiliated with them?
TL:  I’ve never done a record that hasn’t been on not just an independent label, but also a specifically punk label.  I’d been on Glen Blandsten’s label from New Jersey for years and to this day I remain tight with those people.  It just got to the point where I felt like I needed a bigger label behind this thing if I was going to grow it.  Over the years, I’ve made relationships with lots of different people at lots of different labels.  So, I knew everybody that was running Lookout! at the time and was friends with them.  Since the Chisel days they’d always say, ‘Hey, if you guys ever want to do a record let us know.’  And the next time I’d see them I’d say, ‘Hey, if you guys ever want to do a record with us, let us know.’  It just never really came together until we both remembered to say that to each other at the same time.  

REAX:  Explain to us how traditional punk influences have shaped the type of music you now play.
TL:  Not to sound too much like a crotchety old man, but I am old enough to remember an era when punk wasn’t as limiting a definition musically as it seems to be these days.  I feel perfectly justified taking my musical cues not just from specifically hardcore, or big guitar punk, but also from a lot of other musical influences and mixing it all in.  It’s stuff that a lot of earlier punk bands certainly did.  I’m not in any way comparing anything that I’ve done to the Clash, but no one ever said that Sandinista! wasn’t a punk record and it sounds nothing like the first Clash album.  To that end, I feel free to experiment with folding other  kinds of music in.  But at the same time, I also think that I do try and retain this core of energetic, guitar driven music, which even in my most mellow moments is still there.

REAX:  In many ways TLP has been instrumental in helping to reform a modern post-punk genre without even being classified as ‘punk’.  It seems like nowadays the term has taken on a completely different meaning.  In which direction would you like to see the genre head and where do you plan on taking your band from here?
TL:  That’s a really tough question, actually.  I know there are plenty of people out there who refer to my band and me as indie rock or something like that.  Frankly, I kind of reject that term personally, in favor of punk because the fact is THAT is the scene I came out of, not like college rock but punk rock.  And that kind of work ethic and ideology is still completely infused in everything that I do.  However, I think that there is a certain importance to using these terms (‘punk’; ‘indie rock’) mainly to establish yourself in opposition to other things.  Ultimately, it’s not that important.  People are going to think whatever they want about what sub-sub-sub-genre their going to put us in.  It’s gotten a little crazy just how segmented the music world has become in regards to how personalized and specific everyone’s tastes seem to be running these days (and that’s kind of a shame).  If you can cross those terms a little bit, which I think we’ve been able to do to a certain degree then you kind of win a little bit.

REAX:  What went into TLP’s decision to sign with Chicago’s Touch and Go records and what has the relationship been like so far?
TL:  I probably wouldn’t have left Lookout! if they hadn’t have needed to stop making new records.  One of the decisions that went into it was that I very strongly wanted to remain on an independent label, and something that was well within the punk sphere of things.  Touch and Go is one of the most iconic and respected labels in that world.  I grew up as a fan and over the years I’ve gotten to know the people who work there.  I spoke with a lot of similar labels that I probably would have been comfortable with, but Touch and Go just felt the most interesting and comfortable in many ways.  I’ve really found that myself and my band and everybody who works there seem to understand each other very well and it’s been very affirming working with them.  I kind of felt that way from the beginning, which is what went into the decision in the first place.

REAX:  Can you tell us what it was like working with DC punk icon Brendan Canty (of Fugazi) on the production of your latest album?
TL:  He and I have been close for a long time, and we really understand each other musically.  I worked with him on Tyranny of Distance and that was such a great experience.  Just having his input on things is obviously going to be valuable to anybody, but he also really understands me as a person and musician.  He’s great at helping me articulate my ideas and actually make them happen and he’s also very open to experimenting.  From a working standpoint, going into this record (Living With the Living) which I wanted to have a broader musical scope than on the last one, I had a very specific sonic pallet in my head that was more about the sounds of the classic records I grew up with than the more polished sound that I went for on the last record.  I knew that he was going to be the guy to make that happen.

REAX:  What advice can you give to aspiring song writers in the audience who are just beginning to discover their love for all that music has to offer?
TL:  Things have changed so much since I’ve started doing this.  I’m not THAT old, but things have changed so fast and so greatly in the last ten years that it’s really hard for me to offer advice.  I’m still operating with an older business model.  I’m still following the model from the Minutemen and Fugazi where you just get in the van and stay on tour and just hammer at it and do things your way and that’s the way to do it.  It’s been a really long road, but it’s worked for me.  It’s tough for me to offer advice to someone just getting started because in a lot ways they might have some advice for me on how to accommodate this new Internet world.  But the one thing that I still think holds true is that no matter what, touring is the greatest experience you can have and the best way to bring what you are doing ‘to the people’.  I would encourage everyone to get on the road and test the waters.  It’s really hard, so you’ll know right away if it’s for you or not.