Readership makes power pop sounds ‘drawn from the rock anthems of R.E.M. and Boy-era U2 [with] moments of overdrive and chaos’ (John Vettese, Editor of WXPN’s The Key). Adrian Morse and Matt Mastronardo started performing together in various Philadelphia bands in 2012 after Matt inexplicably responded to Adrian’s internet ad seeking a female collaborator to write coffee shop folk music. West Chester, PA-based musician Gregory Matthew spent most of those years drag racing cars and baking cookies. The band became Readership in 2014.
Following two well-received singles and an EP (released as part of a split for arts non-profit The Art is Not Dead), New Ways to Make the Same Mistakes is the band’s debut record, an insightful and diverse take on conventional power pop and indie rock. The album evokes a variety of ‘80s and ‘90s musical influences, evident in the post-punk ramble of “Page,” the college rock throwback sounds in “Quitters” and “Waves,” and the quiet/loud dynamic of “Castaways.” Lyrically, the songs draw inspiration from Charles Bukowski (“It’s Killing Us”), Taylor Swift (“Easy”), the television series Futurama (“Meanwhile…”), and literary and factual accounts of exploration and tragedy at sea (“Castaways”). It is from the confluence of these sources that the band draws the title of its record. As Philip J. Fry observed, “In the end they shoot you.” But there are always new ways to get there.
New Ways to Make the Same Mistakes dropped on October 21st via Runaway Hearse Records.
In this interview spotlight, we chat with members of Readership about the new project, what started down them down this music road, challenges in the digital era and much more.
Full Q&A along with links and streams can be found below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
Adrian: We’re based in Philadelphia and West Chester, Pennsylvania. I like to describe our music as “jangly snark rock.” We try to fuse ‘80s college rock, post-punk, and ‘90s alternative sentiments into short, fast songs. If you don’t like it, it’ll probably be over in two minutes or so, and maybe you’ll like the next one.
Matt: We try to make songs in a short amount of time. Hopefully get a song done by the time practice is over. Mixed results for sure! The best songs come out feeling very urgent and chimey and like you’re running from a train. A late 575 Local to Thorndale SEPTA commuter train that needs to make up time. It’s the engineer’s first day, and he swears it’s not his fault. There’s a fire on the express train a few stops ahead and the headwinds eat it up like a pork chop on church Sunday.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to stay the course?
Adrian: We get together and drink beers and make sounds. Ultimately, there isn’t really any other agenda. Even if we didn’t play together in this band, I would still write songs and sing to myself all day. Music is self-motivating.
Matt: Craigslist started it all. We met on Craigslist, because we all wanted to play music with people and around people. What motivates me is that one day I’ll be the oldest person in the band when Greg finally quits and plays more chip-and-putt golf. He was a chip-and-putt golf instructor.
Who or what are your biggest influences when it comes to your creativity?
Adrian: I try to find inspiration in different sources. In addition to my own experiences, I look to other songwriters and musicians, writers, television, famous internet cats, social media personalities, etc. When in doubt, I listen to The Sundays’ greatest record, Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic on repeat.
The first song on our record, “Quitters,” was part of a series of songs inspired by other songwriters. That one is Caitlin Rose. It’s the only one of those songs that made the record. The songs inspired by Neko Case, Kathleen Edwards, and Glen Phillips didn’t make the cut (though the one guitar riff in “Mouth on Fire” came out of learning a Neko Case song).
“Waves” started out about the The Wrath of Khan, then became about the protagonist in a series of books about Florida by Tim Dorsey, and kind of ended up being about nothing in particular. Someone’s going to the beach and not coming back, I guess. Musically, the song totally rips off an ‘80s R.E.M. song. Talent borrows, genius steals?
“Easy” was written in response to seeing another Philadelphia band, Hurry, play. They had a single at the time with a great vocal lead-in, and I was told, “oh, you should do a song like that!” So I went home and wrote “Easy” in about 10 minutes. It’s not as good as Hurry’s song. That song and “It’s Killing Us” are lyrically inspired by the persona and words of Charles Bukowski. It’s almost cliche to write about Bukowski these days, but sometimes it’s hard not to write about Bukowski.
“Meanwhile…” came out of watching the last episode of Futurama.
The last song on the record, “Page,” was part of a songwriting challenge. My friend Hans E is a great songwriter. He and I often go back and forth with songwriting challenges, though he always fails to finish his songs these days. This one was writing a drinking or bar song. I wrote this and a song called “Fuse,” so I basically won 2-0. Take that, Hans E!
But giving yourself a target is an interesting way to write. We’ve also done challenges where you’re given a song title and you basically write backwards–that’s a great way to get a creative spark. We’ve worked on two new songs born out of that method–”Aged-out Child Actor” and “Dead Christmas Trees” were the titles we were given. Maybe they’ll be on the next record?
Matt: Getting a random piece of a riff or beat in my head and making something new out if it. It can come from anywhere. And restrictions. Restrictions create so much. “Only use one hand and one leg Greg.” One-Leg Greg is his nickname now.
How is your new release different than previous ones? Did you set out to accomplish anything specific?
Adrian: This is our first album as Readership. Prior to this band, Matt and I played in another Philadelphia band called Trackjackets for several years. The new release, I think, reflects a wider swath of influences and sounds than the recordings we did in that band. It also reflects more of a collaborative songwriting effort. With Trackjackets, I’d write something and the band mostly played along with me. With Readership, we break down my song sketches and rebuild them together. As the lyricist for both bands, I would say that Readership’s New Ways to Make the Same Mistakes is just the next chapter in a long story.
The other thing that was new for us was shooting a music video in which we actually appear. I pitched an idea to our friend Joanna, and she ran with it, writing, directing, and filming the video for “Bored to Death.” Ultimately, her cat even starred in the video! What a champ, that cat. A hero.
Greg: Change is scary but, luckily, also mostly avoidable. One time Matt changed his mind. He knows better now and hasn’t done it again. That said, this is different for us because it’s our first full-length album release as Readership. Our previous releases included demos/singles, potato videos, and small rehabilitated rabbits into the woods.
Do you face any challenges as an indie musician in a digital age? On the flip side, how has technology helped you (if it has)?
Adrian: The biggest challenge is standing out in the crowd–technology helped us make professional-sounding recordings and distribute globally on a shoestring budget. But it’s helped a lot of other bands do that, too. There is more great music out there to listen to now than ever. Listeners have so many choices.
Greg: Our challenges in the digital age revolve mainly around uploading songs on our dial up modem. People say we should upgrade, but we like the noises it makes and hope to include them on a future album. On the other hand, the affordable recording equipment of today’s modern age has really enabled us to capture our sound and feel when creativity strikes. Having some basic recording equipment at our disposal has been very beneficial to us as a band.
How do you feel about streaming services? Any romantic attachments to the physical formats: vinyl, 8-track, cassettes, CDs?
Adrian: I love streaming in that it enables access to my music collection anywhere I go, anytime I want it. It also allows you to cast a wider net in exploring new music. At the same time, I buy vinyl for anything I know I’ll love, especially if I want the art, the liner notes, the lyrics, etc. Reissue The Sundays’ whole catalog on vinyl, please! And throw in the b-sides!
Matt: My buying behavior now is I buy records, and I buy streaming. Going to a record store and buying all the records is generally more satisfying than paying for streaming. I grew up in South Jersey at the beginning of the Atlantic City Expressway. There is (was? I hope it remains) a record store called Tunes. It had three fat cats that would lay on the CDs, and you had to pick up the cats to go through the dollar CDs. You’d end up with used Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Ride, Phish, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac and have no idea what anything was or what you were about to hear when your fifteen year old self gets home with cat hair all over you, and you can’t get that from streaming. I want that happiness again.
Where can we follow you online and hear more music?
Adrian: Our web site readershipmusic.com is basically a table of content to our sites, including all the usual social media suspects. Our new record will be available streaming everywhere.
Anything else before we sign off?
Adrian: Greg got a new new dog, and it looks like a pig. It’s a Pig Dog.
Greg: I had one dog. Then I got another dog. Now I have two dogs.
Matt: Greg got a new dog and his other dog, Duncan, is…adjusting. Keep Duncan in your thoughts.
