Can Music Snobs Like Pearl Jam?

Tyler Read (www.tylerread.com)
5 Jan 2006

Tyler Read is a pop-rock band started by two brothers and a cousin in Northern Louisiana. After replacing the cousin, independently releasing three EPs, and adding two more guitar players, they’re ready to take over the world...or at least the CD players of a bunch of 15 year olds. Taking pointers from classic rockers Queen and The Police and mixing it in with an addictive modern edge a la Fall Out Boy, Tyler Read is out to write the perfect pop song. Josh Johnson, lead vocalist and guitar player, was a good sport and did an e-mail interview with me (your guess is as good as mine as what the answer to that first question is about).


Sammy Williams: How long has Tyler Read been breaking young girls' hearts?
Josh Johnson: First off, I am a Christian. Sorta Non-Denom I guess...just like God.

SW: What motivates you guys to keep writing, playing, and touring?
JJ: The absolute hatred of a real job.

SW: So you're up to three guitar players now. How has the new addition helped your sound?
JJ: It’s nice to have someone who can actually play the guitar. I don’t really play that much anymore, that helps me. I think I am going to learn to sing while jogging across the stage, maybe it’s more like a march. I think Brent is going to play a lot more keys. But it’s very nice having an extra piece. If we wanted, we could all play together like the end of that Thin Lizzy song....the one where he sounds like Travolta.

SW: Who starts the songwriting process and how is a song completed?
JJ: I write most of it, because I want most of the money. Everybody else then comes in and does their thing and then the producer comes in and does his thing. I guess I have been at it the longest. Songwriting takes a lot of practice. God knows I have done my share of writing broke-down songs. Check out our back catalogue of self-released EP's. There are some real gems.

SW: Where do you get inspiration for lyrics?
JJ: Ok, for the sake of not giving the same answer for the 100th time...I write into songs what I don’t have the nuts to say in conversation.

SW: What do you guys listen to when you're out on the road?
JJ: Right now.....hmmm.....The last road trip we played: The Who, Queen, Elton John ("Levon," over and over), The Stones, The Beatles, The White Stripes, Dylan, The Wicked Soundtrack, some Jonezetta, some Stellamaris, Kings of Leon. Brent always tries to play Sujan, or Supyan, or whatever his name is. I’m sure he is great, but I don’t listen to him for the same reason that I hate people who try to collect all the state quarters... and an unhealthy fear of Asian people....there is no real logical explanation I guess.

SW: What do you think makes a perfect pop song?
JJ: A big ole' universal truth with a pretty little melody. And a good beat. My vote for Pop song of the decade so far is "Hey Ya" by Outkast. Last decade it was "Let Me Ride That Dunkey Dunkey." You can’t argue that. I guess it seems like black people are better at it than white people.

SW: What's been going on with the recent demos and can we expect a new Tyler Read release soon?
JJ: We could have released another ep with all these demos, but we are lazy and cheap. We are starting a real record in Feb. Im glad that it is finally happening. We have wanted to do an album for a long time, but werent ready. Right now we are finally walking the ever-so-thin line between complete genius and complete garbage.

SW: How do you guys maneuver in those tight pants?
JJ: Well the good Lord didn’t bless me much downstairs; in the way of tree trunk thighs...I really have no problem with it. But about the tight pants backlash, usually started by nu-metalers, dudes, or members of my family who look at me with shame in their eyes...look at pics of Zep man....they weren’t wearing no JNCO's.

SW: Would you rather play a guitar solo in the rain or in the middle of the desert?
JJ: I think about that a lot. The great thing about that to me is that Slash went into the guitar cable factory and asked for a 3,000 foot cable. They looked at him and said, "I’m on it Slash." They probably did it because he wears a leather jacket with no shirt on, and tucks his jeans into his boots. You don’t tell a man like that no. I dream of making it to that level, walking the streets wearing a bolo and drinking Budweiser. Back to the question, I would say that the possibility of dying from lack of food or water from the desert and the possibility of being electrocuted while being in the rain are about the same. The most Slash-like thing you could do would be dying while playing something in the blues scale. I pick both.