Restorations, an up-and-coming band from Philadelphia, has a lot of things on their plate at the moment. But that didn’t stop guitarist/vocalist Jon Loudon from chatting with us. He talks about the band’s name, his love of traveling, the band’s upcoming split with Rosetta and details on the new Restorations album.
Buzzlegoose: Why the name Restorations?
Jon Loudon: Kind of the name to the last record that we never got around to finishing. We went through so many members, it was kinda like starting over and doing something could have fun with. We couldn’t figure out a name. We sat in a bar for an hour and couldn’t think of anything. We were through a few pitchers of beer already so we just went with it. It just became a series of joke names like Shirley Temple of Doom.
Who would you say are some of your influences or favorite bands in music today?
We’re all kinda all over the place. From old skate-punk to stoner metal. For me, it was always sludgy stoner metal and indie rock. I like the Constantines. The Minor Times and things like that. And Rosetta, obviously.
What was the recording process like for Strange Behavior?
This was probably a year and a half, two years ago. Our friend Joe put a studio in his home. He’s a fun dude to hang out with. We hung out in his free time. Over the course of a year we put together the album. We never really thought of a release schedule. We had a 7” first and then the album. We wanted to get out as much as possible. But there was also a fire that destroyed some of our tapes.
A fire? That kinda sucks.
Yeah. It was shitty for us, really shitty for the guys that live there. It was a smoke fire that damaged a lot of stuff. So there’s stuff that never was released. We started stuff for a full-length and then started to cut stuff and then the fire happened. It was a crazy drag to lose stuff like that.
What is your favorite part of touring/playing shows?
I just like to travel. We spend a lot of time at home. It’s fun to see how other town’s communities operate. It’s interesting to see how show structures go in other places. I love Philly, but it’s interesting to get out and see other places. Gives you perspective on what you’re doing back home.
What’s been your favorite place to see?
Restorations hasn’t done a lot of touring. Farthest South we’ve been is Richmond. Jena Berlin [Jon’s old band] used to go over the country and Europe. which isn’t fair because of how awesome it is over there. As far as the U.S., we love New York City. And Gainesville, our New York of the South. It’s been an inspirational place for us. We’ve played a dozen shows there over the years.
You have a split with Rosetta coming out, what was that like?
It’s really exciting. They’re old friends of ours. We’ve all had some similar experiences and things. We hit it off with them over the years. It’s something we’ve been talking about for a long time. We don’t sound exactly the same, or really like them at all, but the approach of our bands is the same. They’re a cool band.
There were some delays. Was that because of schedules and the fire?
Yeah. The song for the split was supposed to be on their split with the Minor Times. But then the Minor Times broke up. Then they were gonna record new stuff for the new album but then they decided, “Let’s keep this.”
Any word on a new album soon?
Yeah, we’re gonna release a full-length album. Our plan is to never stop. We’re gonna start recording on Sept. 6. We’re gonna record more songs than we need. The tentative plan is for it to come out January. Hopefully done mixing by October, but we’ll see. Every time we make a plan like that it doesn’t happen.
How many songs are going on the record?
We’re gonna try recording 11 or 12, depending on time. We maybe discarded 5 songs, wrote 12, and of that maybe 9 will make the record. The thing we’re most terrified is we write long, slow songs, and we’re worried of making a 50 minute album that drags on forever. We don’t wanna make people fall asleep.
Have a name yet?
It’ll probably be self-titled. We’re just at this point where we sit around drinking beers, and we’re like, “What about this?” and they’re all terrible ideas.
Who’s producing the album?
Joe Reinhart is doing the record. He’s an old friend. He’s really good with the production. He’s really good at taking things out and not overburdening the songs. He produces the record without it being a big ordeal. I think the big important thing is because of Joe, the way he sculpts what we’re going for. A lot of what we sound like now is because of him.
David Cameron really likes The Smiths. Shame they don’t like him LOL