Today, we’re doing something a little different. As many of you know, we typically focus on original artists, the groundbreaking bands from West Virginia that are forging new sounds. But every now and then, a band comes along that simply demands our attention, even if their craft is interpreting the classics.
And that’s precisely the case with the band we are spotlighting today. Hailing from all over North Central West Virginia, they’ve been generating some serious buzz regionally with their incredible musicianship and passion. We’re talking about Motorcycle Drive By, and joining us today is their exceptionally talented guitarist, Jarrod Miller. The reason we are making this exception is we have personally witnessed their credibility as original artists in their prior bands before they came together to form MDB. We’ve seen them live as a unit and if we are going to make an exception it had to be for the best of the best, which they are. And they released an ep of some of their covers that are worth your attention.
Check out our interview with Miller below.
BB: You all came from established original music bands to form Motorcycle Drive By. As a band known for performing 90s and 00s hits, what is it about cover music that you find most compelling? Is it the nostalgia factor, the challenge of reinterpreting familiar songs, or something else entirely that drives your passion for covers?
I’ve been asked this several times over the years and originally what it was that kind of lead me to forming a cover band was just the desire to keep playing music but not the grind of the original scene. Just something fun that I could “do on the side” and still play guitar.
I love playing guitar just as much now as I did when I first started. I had a room full of music gear and I sort of promised myself I’d never be one of those guys that has all of the this gear laying around but just wishes they were out playing.
I had just gotten out of a band of 5 years that was relatively successful for the area we played in but the grind really took its toll on me, my friendships and everything in between. Little did I know the grind I was about to sign up for was just as vigorous.
The nostalgia is certainly apart of all of it but I also looked at it as a challenge. Again, as a musician “can I get close to that guitar tone?” “Can I play a song that slow?” “Can I do this song justice” it’s just another challenge.
BB: Congratulations on your new EP of cover songs, “Volume 1.” What inspired you to put together a dedicated EP of covers at this point in your journey? Were there specific themes or moods you aimed to capture with this collection?
We had always talked about recording but we felt like we were always gigging and didn’t have the time to dedicate to the studio. When we looked at the schedule 8-10 months out we had a block of 8 weeks we were off and it felt like that was the best and only time we would have
Another thing that really pushed us at this point was the more and more we travel and network the more we noticed venues want to hear what you sound like (naturally) before booking you. So as opposed to sending them a live mix or some DIY video we thought we could give them something with good quality and also something for the people coming to our shows.
BB: With such a vast catalog of 90s and 00s music to choose from, how did you go about selecting the particular songs for this EP? Was it a collaborative decision, or did certain tracks immediately stand out as ‘must-haves’?
Everytbing in MDB is collaborative decision actually. I think that’s really helped us thus far. We are almost always on the same page collectively
The four songs we picked kind of happened naturally. Our idea was to offer a “sampler” platter so to speak. People may look at us and think just rock music so we wanted to give them 4 different genres to show our versatility. Of the songs we recorded 3 of them (Gangsta’s Paradise, Killing Me Softly, I Don’t Want to Be) have been big parts of our live show for a while. Through playing them for so long and the nature of their original genre we had to really make them our own. That’s another reason these four were chosen.
We wanted to put out covers that showed our versatility as well as the ones we truly put our own spin on. We feel like we accomplished that with these four.
With that being said, this is just Volume 1. Our setlist is constantly changing and the 90s & 00s had so many hits and one hit wonders we are constantly discovering new material.
BB: What do you think set you all apart in the world of cover bands?
It’s interesting when I think about it but I feel like it’s our attention to detail. We really try to do the song justice. Not to say other cover bands don’t but when it comes to the little things that one might think aren’t important we really focus on that. They’re very important.
For example if there’s 3 vocal harmonies on the recording we really try to make sure they’re there live. Something like guitar tone. We play a vast catalog of bands and the guitar tone I would use on Matchbox 20 is going to sound completely different than the tone I use 3 songs later on Metallica.
We also really structure our set based on crowd participation. We never wanted to be just background noise. Some cover bands are ok with that, we are not one of those.
All of the members of MDB came from the grind of the original scene where you have to work super hard in your performance to get the audience to participate and stay for the show. We took that mentality and applied it to MDB. We are here to give you a show and entertain you.
BB: Beyond simply reproducing the original tracks, how did Motorcycle Drive By approach making these cover songs your own?
So, necessity is the mother of invention. We HAD to make these songs our own. A song like Gangsta’s Paradise has a string section, synths, big big production, etc. So it was “how do we do this and do it justice and not offend the original recording”
Same with killing me softly. That song is essentially a drum track and some keys. We really challenged ourselves and channeled our influences to make that song happen.
BB: One of the things that perplexes us here at Born & Bred, is how so many talented guys can come together and not make any original songs. Have you guys had the desire to scratch that itch and if so are there any other original music releases to come from MDB?
As an artist you always have the itch to do original music. A couple of the guys do write some stuff and record it but we have all agreed it’s best to not do it under the MDB banner. We feel like we have really gotten a grasp on how to market this and what people expect when they come to an MDB show. As soon as you confuse them, you lose them.
This kind of goes back to your question on what separates us from others and I think brand identity is another thing. We know who we are and people know “90s and 00s” with us. As soon as we say “we play originals, or 70s & 80s, maybe some of today’s hits” you just become another cover band. That’s not what we want to do.
We want to be the go-to 90s and 00s band.
