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Buffalo’s Shining Star
Interview with Erin Roberts of The Juliet Dagger.
By Thomas S. Orwat, Jr.
June 11, 2004
Erin Roberts, the singer/guitarist/songwriter of the Buffalo, NY based trio- The Juliet Dagger, is trying hard not to get caught up in all the hype surrounding her band, which also features Leisha Gray on bass and Josh Heatley on drums. Roberts is very cognizant of the fact that bands from Buffalo usually have difficultly breaking out and making it on an international level. However, the timing feels right and the right people are saying the right things. It’s hard for her not to be a bit optimistic and excited.
Roberts has been playing in the Buffalo area for a few years now and she went about her career in a rather unorthodox fashion. She started off as a solo folk artist, playing open mikes, coffee shops and recording on a four track and distributing her material just to friends.But, it wasn’t until she become a more competent musician, that she started performing with others.
Now, it seems as if Roberts has all her stars lined up for her to finally make it to the top. Her band’s debut CD “Turn up the Death”(Good Chamel Records) was produced by Robby Takac of the Goo Goo Dolls and is a street smart, high energy, profound lyric, power-pop-punk release. It is receiving praise from many industry insiders. The Juliet Dagger is also receiving a ton of publicity in there hometown of Buffalo NY. A full color page picture and accompanying article of the band recently ran in The Buffalo News. In addition, the band has many high profile gigs line-up this summer. These are exciting times for Roberts and her band mates.
What follows is an exclusive Glam-Metal.com with rock’s future star Erin Roberts.
First of all I want to congratulate you on an outstanding CD. “Turn up the Death,” is great CD with a cool style and very catchy songs. I think you may be on to something big with this one.
Well, thank you very much.
You’re welcome. You recently had your CD release party in Buffalo. How did it go?
We couldn’t have asked for a better release party. It was really great, the club was packed. We really couldn’t have asked for a better night. We sold some CD’s, it was great.
Your band is sort of the talk of the town in Buffalo, does this creature a lot of pressure?
No, the more talk about us the better. This is what we want to do, so we need to break at a regional level before we move on. We are hoping that this is the beginning of the ground swell. We are excited, we just hope that we can really do something with this CD.
Your CD was produced by Robby Takac, how did you hook up with him?
Last summer, me and Leisha, our bass player was playing in a different band called Puma. We played Takac’s “Music is Art” Festival, and we ended up on the CD/DVD that came out. Then, Robby’s tour manager is married to Meredith Brooks. She heard our song and expressed interested in producing and working with us. So we went into Takac’s Chameleon West Studios with the thought that Brooks was going to produce us. But, then Robby decided that he wanted to produce us and we went from there.
It most of been rather gratifying that two prominent individuals in the music business were that interested in your band.
Yeah, it was rather cool. We are happy when anyone likes it, much less someone like them.
What was it like working with Robby in the studio?
It was awesome. We worked with Robby and Mark Hunt over there (At Chameleon West) you couldn’t have asked for better engineers. They have awesome ears. They’re super funny. They don’t get flustered, they are just really cool guys. It went very smoothly.
How long did it take to record the CD?
I think that we were in the studio, on and off for about a month. And then another month before we had it mixed.
Did Robby offer any advice on the music industry?
No, we didn’t get ‘the way to do this is’ type of advise. He’s big on dynamics and trying to capture what we do on stage on the CD. He said over and over that that’s key. But, that’s something that we already knew. When you find the right people, you know it. But, yeah as far as advice, we haven’t gotten anything other than what he did for us in the studio. His ideas and stuff like that.
What is the song writing process like in the band? Do you write all the songs?
Yeah, I write all of it. I write it and then I bring it to band practice. So I write at home on a four track and work it out that way. Then at practice we all work on it. Obviously, there are two cover songs on our CD, a Go-Go’s and Meredith Brooks’s song.
Who are some of your influences?
Well, I’m a huge Julianna Hatfield fan, I completely love her. As far as other influences, I like Down by Law. Snapcase. It’s kind of all over the board.
Earlier in your career, weren’t you a solo acoustic artist?
Yeah, I started off playing open mike nights at Stimulants, I got my feet wet over there. At the time, I was listening to a lot of Ani Difranco, I just got out of a couple cover bands.
What influenced to go into a band type situation as opposite to a solo singer song writer?
Well, I like I said, I’m a huge Julianna Hatfield fan and I was listening to a lot of that. But, I really couldn’t execute it, it was more because of my abilities, I could really only play four chords and do it on an acoustic guitar. It was more of a case of ability at that point. As I progressed at playing the guitar, I was able to write the kind of songs that I really wanted to write. So it was a natural evolution.
You have a vast amount of song that that you’re written over the years. Are any of the songs on “Turn up the Death,” older songs that you re-worked to fit the format of the band?
Well, it’s older stuff in terms of being from Puma. We kept a lot of songs from that band. We didn’t really consider it a different band, we just switched drummers and the dynamic of it changed so much that we changed the name. But, yeah, there were definitely songs from Puma and new stuff, there’s a good mix of both.
How did you come up with the band name?
I’ve been a huge Romeo and Juliet fan. I’ve been reading the play since I was eight or nine years old. It just seemed like a neat reference. Like tough and girlie all at the same time. I’m just into that play and it seemed to fit.
Yeah, it is a cool name and your image fits well with it. How did you come up with the CD title “Turn up the Death?”
Well, we were practicing and I had a trem petal out for Leisha, to try to get more tremble out of her bass. There is a speed and a depth knob on the petal, she couldn’t see what it said and she said can you turn up the Death. We thought it was pretty funny and we took it from there.
Let’s talk about the Buffalo music scene. You’re been involved in it for a while now. It seems like there are millions of great musicians, but with the exception of a few bands like the Goo Goo Dolls, no one has really broken out big time. What do you think is the reason for this?
Well, if you don’t commit yourself 100%, you are already sealing your fate. A lot have credit card debut and rent to pay and kids, people get caught up in real life. I think if you want to do it, you have to do it full time. I think that that is a big trap for many. Other than that, I think people need to know that they have to get out of Buffalo to play. You can be huge in Buffalo and that’s all well and good if that’s what you want to do. You can be like Willie and the Reinhardt’s and play the Mohawk every Friday night and pack the place. Some people are totally happy doing that. But, if you want to get out on a national level, you have to go out and have people hear your music.
So when your band makes it, are you going to move to LA like everyone else?
No, I did that a few years ago, thinking that I would be able to find the perfect band out there. It turn out not to happen and it really wasn’t my scene, I really didn’t like LA at all. I’d much rather be here in Buffalo any day. So I will always have a home here no matter what happens. I love it here. But, we have to tour and that it the game plan. So, right now we are looking for a booking agent.
So are you guys playing the Goo Goo Dolls, Fourth of July weekend show?
Yes, I’m not sure what our slot is, but we will be playing sometime during that weekend.
Yeah, that’s going to be a great weekend. A great weekend for Buffalo too.
Yeah, it is very exciting. Doing it in the middle of downtown for free, it’s really awesome.
There is going to be a ton of people there. I bet that there will be at least 50, 000.
I’m hoping.
My last question for you is, now that you’ve been involved in the music for a while, what is the one thing that surprised you the most about it?
Pauses... You know nothing really surprises me at this point anymore. Actually, my biggest surprise was how hard it is to break through. Even on an independent label. I always thought that there was an easier way to make it. The Ani Difranco type of living. But, there is no easy road.
Ok well that’s it, once again congratulations on an amazing CD.
Thank you very much and well see you soon. www.thejulietdagger.com
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