Interview with the Band of the Week: The Henry Clay People
The Henry Clay People have recently released their newest album “Twenty-Five For The Rest Of Our Lives”. On top of that, they have toured with hundreds of great bands, like Motion City Soundrack. We were able to sit down with Joey at the Motion City Soundtrack concert in Chicago, so check out our interview with him below! To see our full feature on The Henry Clay People, click here.
What was your thought process like when writing and recording “Twenty-Five For the Rest Of Our Lives”?
“Twenty-Five For the Rest of Our Lives is about trying to get it back to when I was having the most fun with the band. At the same time the first lyric is “I don’t want to turn 25 for the rest of my life”. It’s kind of about getting older, and thinking about how long can I keep doing this band thing before I’m ready to call it quits.”
Is there a song off that album that you are most excited for people to hear?
“There’s a couple songs off the record that are closest to me. The last one on the record, the song “Any More/Any Less” is how we are closing out the record. It’s a personal song. It’s the ultimate growing up and learning to move on kind of song for us. It’s honest and a little bit on the sad side for us. That’s my favorite song on the record and most personal.”
You have played quite a few festivals, which has been your favorite to play at?
“SXSW is a different kind of festival, we played 9 shows the last time we were down there. Coachella was really cool – we played that last year. That was really special for us because we are from southern California, and we have gone to Coachella several times before, so playing at the festival that you have grown up going to had a little deeper meaning for us. Every festival we have played at, they have treated us really really nicely. It’s fun to hang out and see our favorite bands, and eat and drink for free, so I can’t complain. They all have provided something great to do that is very unique. Whenever we are at one, we always feel like it will never happen again; we wan’t to make the most of it. We’ve gotten lucky that we’ve had the chance to play them again. Hopefully we will keep on being able to do that.”
What is your favorite city to tour to?
“I love New York. New York is my favorite city. Period. Whenever we play there, I always think that I could totally live there. I also love Portland and Austin. We also have done well in the Midwest; Minneapolis, Chicago, and Detroit. For whatever reason, the audience’s in those cities are such a good audience for us to play in front of. They are a little more rock and roll than a lot of other places that are more timid.”
You guys do a lot of stage jumps, have you ever been injured?
“The first two shows on this tour, Harris, our bass player fell off the stage. We were talking about the history of our band completely eating shit earlier. I fell on the stage one time and landed on my back and hit my head. Andy slipped at Lollapalooza and basically did the splits, and it was on the jumbo-tron where everyone could see it. I was cracking up, I couldn’t even sing the next lyric because it was so funny to see him slip and then try to act all cool. We have fallen many many many times.”
What is your most embarrassing moment on tour?
“I play my guitar really hard, and I get guitar rash on my arm from strumming really hard. This one time I got this scab on my arm so I bandaged it up. I was playing the show and sure enough the bandage came off. I didn’t even notice until I looked into the front row and they were making disgusted faces at me. I felt kind of embarrassed about that. Also the falls we have are pretty embarrassing.”
Since none of you guys are named Henry, what is with the band name?
“Henry Clay was a politician. At this point, I can’t recall why we call ourselves the Henry Clay People. I kinda regret calling ourselves that, but it’s way to late to change our name now.”
What is your drink of choice on the Motion City Soundtrack tour?
“Well we just had a tour of the New Belgium Brewery in Colorado. It’s really great beer! We took a tour of the place, and it was so cool and everyone was so nice that I decided that, that was going to be my beer of choice.”
Do you guys watch TV shows on tour?
“Oh yeah! I haven’t watched anything yet on this one, but my brother is re-watching the fourth season of ‘Breaking Bad’. We are huge ‘Breaking Bad’ fans. ‘Breaking Bad’, ‘Madmen’ and ‘Friday Night Lights’ are all top favorites.”