The Orange Constant performs at Barrelhouse South in Savannah on Saturday, January 23rd. Alex Holmes spoke to their drummer about this upcoming event and their latest release, Peel.
SCAD Radio: To start off with, do you want to tell us who you are and what your band is and just a little bit about you?
Sam Groveman: Sure. My name is Sam Groveman and I play drums for the band The Orange Constant. The band started in 2012 in Statesboro, Georgia at Georgia Southern and then relocated to Athens in 2015 right after they released their first album (on Spotify and Itunes if you want to listen). And then I moved to Athens when I was 18, for college, in 2015 and happened to go on Craigslist in 2017 looking for some gigs while I was in school and then found an ad that said “band looking for serious drummer playing over 100 shows a year, touring” and I was like “Well, I can’t do this because I’m in school”. But decided to jam with them anyways. And then next thing you know, I joined them and Chris, our keyboardist, shortly joined after me and now we have the modern lineup.
Radio: How have you guys dealt with being a band during the pandemic? Since playing live shows is kind of like half of what it is to be a band. How has that been for you?
Groveman: It’s definitely been tough. Obviously because we went from playing, you know, like I said earlier around at least over 100 shows a year to not really playing many shows at all. But I think we did pretty well with what we had. I mean, we released an album in May. So that was kind of perfect timing trying to find ways to stay relevant with social media. It makes things a little bit easier consistently posting and keeping your name out there and playing social distanced shows. Also, I feel like there’s been this resurgence in live music because people just want to see bands and now you know people were at home are watching live streams and it’s just not the same. So I’ve noticed from playing shows like Pour House, or different shows we’ve played recently. People are just, they just seem so excited for music and are so much more into it right now.
Radio: Yeah, maybe people are grateful for what they’ve been missing. People used to take shows a little bit for granted. But now that they’ve kind of had to go without for a little bit. People know how important they are.
Groveman: Yeah, totally.
Radio: After going for such a long time without consistently performing. What might people going to your show on the 23rd expect?
Groveman: New music. Some jams [laughs] I know I feel like the shows that we have played together have just been a little more polished. I think as musicians we’ve all had a lot more time at home to just work on our crafts and we’ve had a lot more time to work with each other and practice at home. And yeah, write new music. So I think they can expect some new songs.
Radio: Listening to your music, it’s easy to pick up on quite a few influences. I got some prog rock and a little bit of country. There’s even a bit of reggae in there. Where did such an eclectic style come from?
Groveman: I think everybody in the band just grew up listening to different music and we’ve all found different ways to kind of mesh them together and also you never know what kind of style you’re going to get. Everybody in the band writes songs–like Andrew really likes reggae. So sometimes, and you’ll be like, “Hey, I got a new song,” and it will be reggae influenced and I actually love that, at least as a musician and I think others do, too. Because you’re like, “Well, we’re not just a rock band”. So I don’t just need to just practice rock and need to practice jazz or funk and practicing all these different genres makes you better with the band because we kind of have an eclectic sound.
Radio: Kind of switching gears a bit but you mentioned that you guys are based in Athens right now. That’s a place with a pretty rich music history. Do you think that has an impact on your sound or anything?
Groveman: Definitely I would say different artists who have been in Athens influence us. Widespread Panic is a huge influence on us. We’ve even recorded with their producer for two of our albums. And just how easy it is to see other artists in Athens is really nice because most people live within a five minute radius of downtown and there’s bars like Nowhere Bar I used to go there all the time. I actually don’t live in Athens right now but I drive there for rehearsals. So that kind of has a big influence on people and just how easy it is to see shows.
Radio: And what’s the band’s connection to Savannah? I think that we’ve interviewed you at scared radio before.
Groveman: Yeah! I remember that interview. I was sleeping on the couch while the other guys did the interview, because I think I did all nighter, which I don’t usually do. I just couldn’t sleep well then. We’ve been playing Savannah for years, actually. And we played there a couple months ago if I’m not mistaken. Savannah is right by Georgia Southern so I know when the band was in Statesboro, that was probably one of the first new cities that the band would play.
Radio: Are there any venues that you guys have kind of a special relationship with at all? Or do you just kind of go whenever you can, in Savannah or in general?
Groveman: Yeah, I think so. Over the years, you kind of start to realize what places don’t really work well for you and what places do. Obviously the Georgia Theater is always special for all of us, because it’s you know it’s home. It’s a hometown show. I love that venue and I know everybody does. I always like Pour House in Charleston. There’s some venues where you ask yourself “Why do we even play here??” Like, “What is the point?” And so you kind of start to narrow down what places are good for the band and what places are just kind of pointless.
Radio: And you mentioned that you guys came out with your third full length in 2020? It’s called Peel. How did that come together? Was it recorded during the pandemic?
Groveman: Actually it was recorded over a span of two years. We had a pretty busy touring schedule. We decided to go a different way about it when recording this album. Usually the band would record for 10 days straight. When they’ve recorded the first two albums, Time To Go and Point of Reference. Peel was recorded over a span of two years. It was released in May. It taught me a lot because I was 19 or 20 when we first started recording. It was like the first recordings I did. And then by the time I was 22 I think we did our last recordings, so there definitely were some changes throughout that album.
Radio: You guys have an interesting band dynamic with everybody writing songs and how many Members total do you guys have again?
Groveman: Five.
Radio: Do you think having more people writing songs means there’s a more collective decision process in terms of what direction you’re going in?
Groveman: Sometimes. It’s funny because sometimes a song is written by someone. It’ll only be like halfway written and then they’ll be like, “Hey, I really want the band to put their thoughts into” this and then sometimes that goes really well and everybody writes their parts and next thing you know, have you more of a [full] band song. Like if you listen to “Go” on Peel, that’s kind of one of those songs. I think that was a song that I brought a melody to Andrew and then we showed it to the band. Within like two days, the band kind of put their parts in and fully wrote it, whereas other songs like “Reliance,” Andrew wrote that song more reggae and he pretty much had that completely written. Sometimes people have the song fully written and they have a direction they want it to go in. Sometimes the band comes together and they write songs.
Radio: How do you think having a really rigorous tour schedule has shaped you guys?
Groveman: It’s definitely taught us a lot of lessons–helped us get used to being around each other a lot. I think the more shows you play the more tight you get, so it always helps to just keep playing. We do a lot of improv on stage. So, you know, just continuously playing and doing stuff like that always helps.
Radio: Is there anything else that you wanted to mention for the listeners?
Groveman: Check out our music! Check out our new album Peel. I think there’s a song for everybody on there. And come see us in Savannah!
Radio: And you guys have a show at Barrelhouse South on January 23rd!
