Rescue was formed in late 2000 out of a need to advance as musicians, to travel, and to be heard. Featuring Alan Scheurman and Brian Southall of Mycomplex and Michael Majewski and Sean Clancy of Wafflehouse, Rescue delivers complex and innovative music they describe as "technical, post-emo progressive, indie rock." Their debut EP, Even People and Not the Odds, out on Dead Droid Records, started the hype that is sure to only build with the release of their full-length Volume Plus Volume on May 28, 2002. With a full tour schedule ahead of them, Rescue is well on their way to domination of the indie scene.

This interview was conducted with the band in April 2002 after I had received the EP and fell in love with it. After a few phone calls to lead singer Alan Scheurman, I finally got a hold of three of the four

Rescue (picture courtesy of Dead Droid Records)
band members together in one place at the same time at bassist's Sean Clancy's home in Grand Rapids, MI. Although all band members were asked the same questions, they were interviewed individually. What follows is an attempt to condense the three conversations into a single, coherent, flowing interview, so please bear with us on any awkward parts.

Joel: Tell me about the split seven inch that you were recording the other day when we tried to do this interview?
Alan: Um, we just threw a song together in a couple practices. The split is with our good friends from Chicago called Grayson. We went down to Chicago and recorded at Clava studios; we just did one song each for this split single series on Forge Again Records- that's Justin from Grayson's label. We spent the whole day there, and we just both recorded at the same time. Like we did our music and then they did theirs, we did our vocals then they did theirs, so there's like some guest vocals on both of the songs. We did the split together and we're doing two weeks together at the end of June and the split should be out by then.
Joel: Are you happy with the way it came out?
Alan: (Pauses). It came out as good as it could of considering we threw it together in two or three practices.
Sean: Yeah, I think it's a good song, but we kinda rushed it a little bit. That seems to be the way Rescue's been doing things lately. It didn't come out totally perfect, or whatever the vision of the song was, but it came out pretty good; considering how we recorded it too. We were in the studio going back and forth with Grayson for almost 20 hours.

Joel: How long do you usually spend writing a song?
Alan: Well everything Rescue's done so far has been pretty rushed. Except for me, we're all members of other bands so we haven't had a lot of time. Like when we did our album and EP, we had to write like 17 songs all together because we had to record them both at the same time and we needed them all done. We only had a month to write it all. So, yeah, everything's been rushed.

Joel: So how does being rushed effect your music? Like what would you do differently if you had more time to write the songs?
Alan: Well I think what being rushed for our music creates this internal conflict, but it's a good thing because it makes the music interesting. If we had more time, I couldn't really say what would happen, but it's not a bad thing that everything has been rushed.
Sean: I think a lot of the stuff that is rushed is only really noticeable to us, because we went through the process and wrote the song and stuff. But I think we're fairly decent at what we do so that we can cover up any of that type of stuff, like hide it so it's not so noticeable to people. I think what that does though, is that it also translates into a certain energy the songs might have.
Mike: It's all just a learning experience. I'm learning so much from playing with different guys. I've been playing with the same guys for six or seven years now, and when I started playing with Al and Brian, they did things totally different. With Rescue, we're writing songs that I was used to spending more time on and they, like Brian and Alan, kinda get a grasp of how the song should sound before I do, so we can write things faster. It's all just learning, like I'm learning how to play with these guys and how to write songs. As far as being rushed in the studio, it gets frustrating, but for sure the next time we go into the studio, we're going to know what we're doing. Like we'll learn from our mistakes and know not to start practicing two days before we go into the studio.

Joel: Would you say the songs are more natural because they've been rushed?
Alan: Yeah, everything that we do, we're not thinking really hard about it. Everything that we do is what we're used to, everything that we play comes out naturally.
Sean: It's definitely more natural. Like there wasn't too much overanalyzing and over-thinking and over-trying; we didn't go through huge intense processes of making sure every part was the final and ultimate part. Just a lot of the parts and the decisions we made were the choices we made at that moment, so it kinda captured just sort of what we were writing and feeling at that time.

Joel: Do you think because of the way you've written your songs, there's a higher chance of you going back into the studio to re-work and re-record some more songs?
Sean: For me personally, I'm the type of guy that really doesn't like to go back and do things twice, but I don't mind it. I'm sure some of that other guys in the band are going to want to go back and redo some songs, and that's fine. We can do that and show like a more developed take on ideas and things that we tried in these songs to take them to another level.

Joel: So how is Rescue different from some of the bands you've been in in the past?
Alan: For one, the reason that we formed this band was we wanted to get somewhere with it- we wanted to tour, so we needed four guys that were willing to do it. Because of that, we have a work ethic that I've never had with any band in the past. I don't think any of us have ever been in a band when all four members were this committed, so that's the main difference. And everything that we've done has been really fun, it's all been happening really fast.
Joel: Now Mike and Sean, you're both still in Wafflehouse, right?
Both: Yeah.
Joel: So how is Rescue different from your Wafflehouse in the way you write songs, in your dedication, in the way you feel about the music, in your passion toward either band?
Mike: I write a decent amount for both bands, and it's more just guitar parts as opposed to lyrics and subject matter, so I'm not really too attached. When I write songs for a band, and I've only done it once for Rescue so far, I'm really not too attached to it. I think I'm more attached to Wafflehouse just because I've been doing it so long, and it's just kinda like where my passion is. Rescue on the other hand just got started and I'm still getting into the swing of things of playing with these guys, and spending time on the road with them, and spending time in the basement writing with them.
Joel: So if you sit down and write a song, how do you determine if it goes to Rescue or Wafflehouse?
Mike: That's a very good question. A lot of it, I could start with influences; like before I didn't listen to too much punk rock, and Brian and Al have kinda introduced different types of music to me. Before I was into more experimental type of things, but punk rock has a whole different type of outlook to it, and that's what they're into. So they don't expect it of me, but they play like that, so I've changed a little bit stylistically, so things that are like written tighter I plan on it being a Rescue a song. And then also, if I write something that has more words or if I wrote a whole song I'd give it to Rescue. I don't write songs like that a lot for Wafflehouse because there are already three other guys that are singing.

Joel: You said you recorded the EP and the full-length all at once, right?
Alan: Yeah
Joel: So how'd decide what songs would go on which?
Alan: We put some of the first songs we wrote as a band on the EP, but one of the songs repeats itself on the full-length. Just one of the songs that we thought was catchier and we liked it a lot.
Joel: Which one?
Alan: It's called "Like Spaceships." It's the first track on the EP, and the second track on the full-length. For the EP we just wanted to put a good mix of songs together because what it initially is, is a preview for the full-length.
Joel: Do you feel more proud of the songs on the EP, or on the full-length, or are they both the same?
Alan: It's the same. I mean, we saved a couple of our favorite songs for the full-length. We're going to be doing a lot more touring for that, and we hope more people will hear that, but we like a lot of the songs on the EP as well.

Joel: Who writes the lyrics for the Rescue?
Alan: We actually all write the lyrics, I write most of them, but everyone puts their own input, and everyone pretty much does their own thing.
Joel: Alright, awesome, that means I can ask this question to everyone. I wanted to ask about "Already Happened." That song first caught my attention because it sounds nothing like any other song on the record, it's much softer, and that started to get me into it. So when I began looking over the lyrics, I started getting into them, and my first question about it is, is "Already Tuesday's wrong" a reference to September 11?
Alan: Yeah, actually the concept with "Already Happened" is that there's actually three other versions of the song on the full-length, like hidden within the full-length in negative tracking and whatnot. But yeah, the concept with it was that everyone in the band would write a song about the events of September 11th. Everyone took their own take on it, and those lyrics (on the EP) are our drummer's Brian's lyrics. All the choruses for the versions of the song are the same, but the verses are different, and that one was one when we stayed up really late in the studio and we messed around with a bunch of different ideas, and that's what came out.
Sean: As far as musically, it's kinda doing this whole deja vu thing with it being repeated on the album three times. The songs on the full-length are more band oriented and rock, the song on the EP was done late at night in the studio like Alan said, and it just had the feeling of what Brian was thinking at the time, it was just for fun and to try new things.
Joel: It's definitely something that caught my ear, and I think it's really cool how you've all written your own versions.
Sean: Oh yeah, it's interesting with everyone's take on the lyrics. A lot of it was just about what was going on then in our lives and what we were thinking about, in addition to the whole September 11th thing. It's just pretty neat to see how everyone comes across.

Joel: What about Mike, how have the lyrics changed for your version, and what were your influences for it?
Mike: My version is really weird, it's the second version on the full-length, and I don't really like it.
Joel: So what don't you like about it?
Mike: Well Rescue's really the first time I've really taken interest in writing songs where I sing a majority of it because I finally have that option, while before in Wafflehouse, it didn't exist. The song is pretty much me learning how to play guitar and sing. I've only recorded my voice a couple times before this, so it was really really awkward.
Joel: Is it something you enjoy and want to keep on doing?
Mike: It is something I enjoy, but unfortunately I beat myself up about it because I think Al's a great singer, so I need to be hard on myself to keep up with that guy... And yeah, I'm not too happy with my performance on that song, but some people might like it just because it's a little weird.
Joel: So what exactly did you sing about in the song?
Mike: My version is the only one that's not about September 11th only because... um.... I don't know, I had a really weird... I just didn't feel impelled to write about it. Don't get me a wrong, it was a horrid event, but at that point I just didn't feel right putting anything into words, and I didn't feel confident about how I felt about everything. I didn't want to put myself in the position to have to make a comment on it. I'd rather just kinda stay quiet. I had a lot of material about my insecurities and stuff, and I just wanted to take care of that and express that instead... (pause).

Joel: So is Rescue active in politics?
Alan: I think that we all pay attention in our own ways to political issues. Like everyone has their own level of involvement, or what they get themselves involved in. We're all pretty aware of what goes on in the world, and we've all experienced different elements of life, and just things happening around us which is why we chose "Volume Plus Volume" as the title of our full-length. That title isn't meant to be "Loud Music Plus Loud Music," it's supposed to be like the volume of everything happening plus like what we're trying to get out there. I myself am vegan, a few of us are vegetarian, everybody does have their own amount of political awareness.
Joel: But it's not something you want to preach.
Alan: No, we don't preach at shows or on tours or anything, we just want to play our music.

http://www.rescuedotcom.com
http://www.deaddroidrecords.com

Rescue interview conducted in April 2002 by Joel Scheingross.
Rescue photo courtesy of http://www.rescuedotcom.com.

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