By Kelly Reed
3 Pill Morning is currently touring and will be performing in Dallas at the House of Blue on Wednesday, July 24. Frontman Jeff Stebbins took a few minutes to talk shop. Here’s how it went down:
Your band name is really cool. How did you come up with it?
We had a list of pretty lousy bad names. I don’t know how many we had, but they were all garbage. I can promise you that. 3 Pill Morning was one of the names on the list that kind of worked its way to the top and we decided to go with it. Since that point in time it’s kind of worked for everything. Everybody’s medicated in some way whether it’s three Tylenol or three multi-vitamins…you name it. So it’s been cool. That’s probably the number one question that people ask us.
For the uninitiated, how would you describe your sound?
We’re a high energy hard rock band. Our goal is hopefully to be extremely entertaining, make you want to rock out, make you want to move a little bit, sing along all that kind of stuff. Hopefully it’s something memorable for you.
It must be tough getting everyone on the same page when forming a band, how’d y’all meet?
We were all in various bands in the Minneapolis scene and basically through getting to know each other over a period of time, especially once touring starts kicking in you really start to identify the people who really want to hit the road and are actually ready to do this. It’s a lot of ups and downs and a lot of work to do this day in and day out. We were fortunate enough to have a group of guys in the Twin Cities who were ready to go for it. The rest is history.
Who has been your main influence vocally?
Early on I did a lot of singing, you know like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stone Temple Pilots stuff like that. Early bands that I really got into. On the modern rock side of things, certainly Papa Roach, Chevelle, Shinedown. All really great bands too.
You’re pretty active on the social networking sites. What’s the reasoning behind that?
Well when you’re touring like this, it’s tough to get back to a town almost immediately after being there. Between Twitter and Facebook, the opportunity to stay in touch with a lot of our fans and friends; it’s just become so key for us in expanding who hears about the band and for people getting a chance to check us out before we show up to the venue in every town that we’re in. So it’s just been huge for us to be able to reach out and communicate with fans versus doing so the next time we’re back in town.
You’ve toured with a lot of different bands over the years. Which band did you learn the most from?
I would have to go with Sevendust, they’re who we’ve started to pattern ourselves after. Head down, hardworking, really good people, really good to their fans. They rock out every single night no matter what the situation is. Just watching how they carry themselves and interact with their fans. It’s definitely been a learning experience. We try our best to carry on that kind of mentality and focus every single night.
What has been the biggest surprise since releasing your first full-length album, Black Tie Love Affair?
The biggest surprise is just how many people have really gotten into it as they have. Everybody talks about how it is a singles market nowadays. Everybody has to buy their single or something like that. Probably one of the top posts that we see or things that people come up to us who have bought the album say “I just listened to the album all the way through” or “it’s on repeat over and over again”. The fact that we wrote an album that people want to listen to cover to cover, I feel that is a rarity nowadays. The fact that we are getting this kind of response is exciting. That means that every song that means something to us means something to them.
When you’re on the road touring what are some of the everyday life things that you miss?
Obviously you miss out on a lot of family stuff, you know having nieces and nephews back home, family and things like that you miss out on. You know going to the ballgame, going to the golf course, stuff like that. The people that care about you and the things that you are missing out on certainly understand what we’re doing is something special too and a unique opportunity for all of us. We don’t lose out on that fact either. You miss out on stuff like that but you’ve got to take chances in life and that’s what we’re doing.
What kind of hobbies are you into?
I’m a big sports guy so if we’re not on the road I like to play ball or something along those lines. Coming from northern Minnesota, I certainly like to do the outdoors stuff like fishing and hunting. By and large the past few years most of our time has been spent recording and being on the bus touring.
Favorite movie of all-time?
My favorite comedy is Old School. However the most badass movie ever has to be the first Matrix. At the time it was released there was nothing like that movie.
How are the Fargo references coming along?
Yea people expect that from us. They definitely do. There are some people that really do talk like that, but most of us really don’t talk that way. Every now and then we’ll give an “oh yea, you betcha” so they can feel like they’ve actually met someone from up the northland.
You’ve got a show here in Dallas on Wednesday. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
It’s gonna be a killer show. We’ve played outside of Dallas a couple of times, but never right in. Every show on this tour has just been phenomenal venues with super high energy crowds and I expect the same thing in Dallas. We’re definitely stoked to be there.
House of Blues in Dallas is a great venue. If you get a chance, stop by next door for a meal at Dick’s Last Resort. It’ll definitely be an awesome experience.
Awesome. Yea, they got one of those in Minneapolis. Same thing they treat you kinda rude and give you a hard time.
On behalf of Blitz thank you for your time and wish you a great time here in Dallas.
Killer and thank you taking the time for the interview we appreciate it.
