Joe Steinhardt: The Great Leader of For Science And Modern Hut Speaks by Iman Lababedi and Helen Bach

JS::Hello


helenrocknyc :Hello!


Imancharif :hey


helenrocknyc :Thank you so much for meeting up with us


JS: Of course, how is everything going?


Imancharif :i got in trouble for blogging at work


helenrocknyc: win!


JS: haha


helenrocknyc Iman why not begin?


Imancharif : k -let me begin at the end -ive listened to the demos and you havent missed a step


JS: thanks


Imancharif :but -that friend of yours could really sing


JS: Thats actually Marissa from Screaming Females


Imancharif: she sounds great -i always like her stuff. so back to the start – I figure you were at college when you formed for science


JS: Yup, I was actually in boston at the time when we started, even though the band was based out of NJ


Imancharif:: i  coulda sworn u meant nj fenway


helenrocknyc : Im glad you didnt


metallicasolos: nope, boston, when we started, i had just bought a guitar and had no plans of really doing a serious band


helenrocknyc: Now youre talking so was this just a group of college friends or did you have a past?


Imancharif :was the idea on revenge about writing really short songs?


JS: John (the singer) and I went to high school together originally it was my friend Ian on drums, who had also just bought drums, and our friend ryan reading on bass, who couldnt play bass. We mostly just thought it would be funny to get on shows, and then be really bad an obnoxious but in order to get on shows, we needed a demo of some sorts, and so we needed songs


Imancharif : were u thinking about song construction at that time? sounds like u were


JS: only a little bit


Imancharif : can i use an old Costello review quote: “im willing to concede he has been unlucky in love -you coincide?


JS: haha, at the time, yes. it depends when youre talking about..All of the songs i wrote on way out of control, and tomorrows just another day are about the same person


Imancharif:  it is all, and ive written this a coupla times, a little another music in a different kitchen


JS: i hadnt yet met her when writing the stuff for revenge for hire, so most of those songs were based more off of ideas i had than actual experiences


Imancharif : John is a great singer…was your break up a little simon and garfunkle?


JS: haha, not at all, its actually a pretty unbelieveable story


helenrocknyc (cliffhanger….) and that is……..


JS: one night after a show, he took a bunch of acid with the people in that band pregnant, also friends of ours (ian was actually the original drummer and bass player of for science). we were supposed to go to the movies the following day, but when i called him, it turned out while on acid he quit his job, packed up all his belongings, and moved to new orleans all in about 12 hours
he called me from the road down there


helenrocknyc: well I have a new hero


JS: me too, haha it was almost the perfect ending to everything


Imancharif : and you were screwed to start again


helenrocknyc: appropriate you guys were amazing


JS: we played 1 show with our friend Jeff singing, and then john came back for a last show


helenrocknyc :last feb?


JS: yeah, it was funny cause everyone was wondering if he was actually going to show up or not


Imancharif: looking at stuff like “tara” while i consider you a punk rock band -actually you’re not
youre a pop band -a classic pop band


helenrocknyc with a tude


JS: i never really worried with defining ourselves, john or i would always just bring ideas for stuff to try out in songs and not worry about if it made sense or notso in that sense, i feel like we are very much a punk band


Imancharif : did you start don giovanni around this time?


JS: nope, i started Don Giovanni a few years earlier with my friend Zach to put out a 7″ by a different band we were both in at the time. Zach eventually joined for science after we graduated college, he plays bass on tomorrows just another day


Imancharif : so you formed the label just for a song and it took off from there?


JS: haha, yeah. there were so many awesome bands from our scene that couldnt find a good label to work with


Imancharif: were you friends with groucho marxists, pregmant -was there a NJ scene happening?


JS: we only put out bands from our scene to this
day very much so. Chris Pierce of the groucho marxists recorded just about everything on the label, including every For Science song. . He runs a recording studio called Technical Ecstacy. He is pretty much also the producer, but not credited as such

JS: I was in college for the majority of for science and the label, yeah. i am going to do some touring with modern hut this summer and playing some shows befor then, I am just trying to work on finishing up the album first


Imancharif: can i just say listening to “time” -the Modern Hut demo was such a blast


JS: Thanks, thats one of my favorite songs I’ve written to date. Its about as honest as I’ve been able to get lyrically speaking, haha


Imancharif: and “heart” which i didnt quite get on youtube i loved on the demo.
Ive noticed so much of your music happens in the backgroud, repeated handclaps -woo ooo ooos that kinda stuff


JS: Yeah, the songs evolved a lot. That video is almost a year old. And yeah, you can thank the ramones, the connie dungs, and the mcrackins for that stuff


Imancharif : not to mention the beach boys


JS: the beach boys yes, but the beach boys via the ramones, haha


Imancharif:  one of my best friends went to cornell a coupla years ago -the football team were actually pretty good


JS: for an ivy team, they really arent that bad


Imancharif :who is the woman singing with you on modern hut


JS: on youtube, or in the demos?


JS: Thats one of my best friends, Chelsea Lacatena, she has such an amazing voice. The original plan was to do a band with her singing. Then it evolved into us playing acoustic shows like that together, we even recorded a few demos that way. Then it became what it is now.


Imancharif: and what is it now?


JS: What the demos are. A full band although its run more like a solo project, I am going to play live with different people every time


Imancharif : k… im gonna let you go in a coupla questions. ready? influences?


JS: influences, i could go on all day, haha. Prince, Vic Chesnutt, The McRackins, Connie Dungs, Iris Dement, John Prine, Drive-By Truckers


Imancharif : rip vic


JS: ugh, i know. he was one of the greatest living songwriters before he died. the whole story is so tragic. im lucky i got to see him a bunch before he died. I could talk about him all day. We could do a whole interview just about my thoughts on vic chesnutt, haha


Imancharif : a suicde -youve written about suicide right?


JS:  haha, yes.


Imancharif: there’s a darkness that colors your music -definition of rock: happy songs about sad things


JS: I think death, sadness, suicide, all these concepts are things that john and I think about a lot


Imancharif: and the person you wrote the album and ep about?


JS: weve been together for 2 years now, we got together a little bit after the LP came out actually, so it ends up being a really nice story.


Imancharif : happy stories…!!!


JS: yeah, but don’t worry, it doesnt stop me from thinking about dark things and writing about them


Imancharif: will you be playing your old for science songs with modern hut. can i request “colorado”


JS: i’m not sure yet. If someone requests something, theyll probably get to hear it though.


helenrocknyc:  Mercury Lounge? 4/24?


JS: but i also want to make sure people come to see and listen to Modern Hut for what it is, and not for what I used to be writing


Imancharif : thank you so much for your time Joe… if modern hut are plying please let us know


JS:  even though i still feel very attached to the for science songs. starting a new band and breaking up a band is so hard. of course. id love to tell you about a few other bands to check out too


Imancharif : id appreciate it


JS: You need to hear this band called Byrds of Paradise. They’re brand new, from brooklyn, and are amazing. < strong>Theyre playing the show on the 24th.  The guy in the band who writes all the songs, Kenny Brown, is such an amazing songwriter. Mercury Lounge, the 24th of April that is


here is there myspace: http://www.myspace.com/byrdsofparadisenyc


Imancharif : I gotta tell you Joe, there are great songwriters and there are great songwriters… youve never written a song i havent loved


JS: that means a lot to me. Black Wine are also a really great band you should check out. myspace.com/blackwineband


helenrocknyc:  Theyre on the 25th at the Mercury 2 night extravaganza


JS: yup, are you guys coming? I can put you on the guestlist for both nights

Imancharif :Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us


helenrocknyc: Thank you so much for letting me stalk you


JS: thanks so much for everything you guys ahve been writing about for science and the label


i feel like i should be thanking you, haha


helenrocknyc  thanks for restoring my faith in music


JS: stalk me all you want, just please don’t assasinate me 🙂


helenrocknyc: no promises


Imancharif  all the best, please keep in touch and point us to stuff we’d like…


JS: of course. check out byrds of paradise, youll love the song rowena they just posted

And that’s our interview with one of the great songwriters around… A nice guy and a great pleasure to speak to…

The For Science story might be over but the Joe Steinhardt is just begining