An Interview With Modern Baseball
By Garrett Bower, Staff Writer
Fall is here and that means spooky stories, pumpkin carving and a fun, fresh new tour for Modern Baseball to set out on. ACRN sat down on a stoop behind Newport Music Hall in Columbus with drummer Sean Huber to talk about band dynamics, tour nests and tour jams.
What is different between this time on tour with The Wonder Years and your first outing on The Greatest Generation tour earlier this year?
Sean Huber: It was a little weird [on that first tour]. It was very intimidating going into it just because it was like, our first real big tour. I was just thinking about that yesterday because it was the first day. I was comparing that to the first day of that run and I was like, this is like summer! It’s like we just got back from summer break and we’re starting school up again with all our friends. Obviously after our tour ended, we still saw them a bunch just at various places. Like, we hung out too. So they are truly our friends. This is gonna be a really fun tour.
I saw you guys play in Cleveland on The Greatest Generation tour and there definitely seemed to be a big brother/little brother relationship even then.
The Wonder Years are never gonna stop being our dads. It’s always gonna feel like that, which is great because they just see a lot of themselves in us. They’re always there for us and they always have great advice and everything.
What’s the dynamic like with the rest of the bands on tour?
With The Story So Far, we played with them once before at a festival, and, this is dumb, but they are just chill dudes. So the dynamic is just easy. Gnarwolves aren’t really here yet. Only Max, the drummer, is because the other guys are kind of stuck at the border right now, but I’m sure when they get here they will be very kind British gentlemen.
How was the most recent European stint?
It was really incredible! We got to do it with this band called Spraynard, and they’re from Westchester, which is right outside Philly, and they’re like a Philly basement band. They broke up for a while and they just got back together, and we didn’t think they would do it, but we asked them and we shared a van and it was just incredible. We just got along so well and almost all the shows sold out so that was incredible. I loved going to the UK. People are so gracious and just great. In the UK, we don’t stay in hotels, we always stay with people, and people are so welcoming. They just appreciate you being there, so it’s always a fun time.
Was that tour a two-week run?
It was, kind of. It was like ten days of shows, but we did 12 shows in 10 days. We did two double headers.
How do you manage to pace yourself for double-headers?
I mean, you kind of just have to take it easy on the first one. We did two of them; the first one was in Cardiff. The place was nicely ventilated, so it was fine. But the second one was this place called The Fighting Cocks in Kingston which is one of my favorite places to play, but it’s the hottest place on Earth. So after the second gig started, it was the last set of tour — so sweaty. So sweaty. So that was hard to get through, but you just gotta power through.
Is there ever any real culture shock going over to the UK?
Last time, we went to Germany, so that was shock. But with the UK, everyone is pretty much the same. The biggest thing I always tell people is kids are quieter in between songs. Like in the States, you finish a song and everyone is like, “Hoorah!” and they throw their beer at your face. But there everyone just sits and waits for you to talk. It’s really nice.
What is your stance on beers thrown at your face?
That pisses me off, but it pisses me off more because if you’re at a [bigger] venue you probably paid $12 for that beer, so you’re just wasting your money [laughs].
So, being in the van so much, are there any pet peeves you guys have to watch out for on the road?
I don’t know. We’re all pretty good at touring I guess. I love touring so I’m really easy going. I’m laid back, I’m just like, “Get me to the venue, whatever.” We establish what we call a “Nest” in either our van or a van we rent, which is somewhere in the van where you throw all the pillows and blankets, and you just go up there if you wanna cuddle or you can go up there by yourself and Brendan is usually the spearhead of that. That’s his thing, he’s gotta have a nest. Ian and Jake do most of the driving, and Ian listens to some really weird music.
Like what? What has been the playlist this tour?
We’ve been listening to a lot of PUP. Ian always has weird stoner metal. Yesterday he was listening to Edgar Allan Poe. Just poems, like spoken word. So that was weird. I drove this morning and when I drive I usually listen to folkier music. Like I was listening to Bruce Springsteen, Tim Barry and Beans On Toast. It’s always funny because I’m listening to songs about people singing about being on the road and I’m like, “This is so corny.” [laughs]
What do you guys do to stay sane in your downtime?
I’m super adamant about swimming everywhere we go. So if we have time during the day, I’m gonna find a place to swim. Pools, watering holes, lakes, oceans, anything; I’m just always trying to swim.
I imagine that’s a great way to combat tour stink.
Yeah, no it’s great! You don’t have to shower at all, just swimming.
What was up with the hospital gown Ian wore on your August run?
There’s no explanation for that. Ian had like a small thing he had to take care of, a procedure at the hospital, and he kept the gown and he wore it all over the place. I just don’t question some of the things he does.
Is there a tour gag lined up for this round?
Well there was the Jake Overholt Twitter but I’ve got something bigger up my sleeve this time. I wanted to run a fake Tinder for him because he uses Tinder a lot. But Tinder is through your Facebook so I couldn’t really do that so I used all photos of the 2 of us together from my Facebook and I made a Tinder that’s me but it’s just me trying to find women for him. I’m getting some matches, and he doesn’t know about it so I’m trying to go the whole tour without him finding out. I’m hoping girls go up to him at the merch table and ask him about it.
