“I loved doing Boe Money with the Soul Rebels Brass Band,” says Mercuio. “We rarely ever have a whole brass band sitting in on a song that’s our song – it’s usually just a brass band standard. And going from our two regular horns to seven, there’s an obvious oomph that happens.”
[Photo by Jeremy Gordon]
The album comes at a very successful time for the band. “Business-wise, it was one of the best tours we’ve ever had,” notes Mercurio of the past tour, which included an unprecedented number of sell out shows. “It was crazy. Usually we do okay, but we rarely roll into a town and already see a sold out sign on the door. It was exciting for the band to have that happen, particularly 15 years into doing it.”
While the band can’t exactly pinpoint the source of its recent success (“there are so many variables,” explains Mercurio), current touring vocalists Cyril Neville and Corey Glover are a part of the equation.
“Cyril is New Orleans royalty and we’ve known him and he’s sat in with us forever,” says Mercurio. When it came time to tour last year’s guest-heavy, Ya-Ka-May album, the band needed a vocalist who could handle a sizeable chunk of the album’s material. “There was no way that either Allen Toussaint or Irma Thomas [who are both on the album] were going on tour with us, so we approached Cyril and he was totally down to do it, so that was a great experience.”
More recently, Living Color singer Corey Glover has been added to a number of shows. Galactic’s relationship with Glover goes back to 2005, when the band first met him backstage at Irving Plaza in New York and invited him out for an unrehearsed version of Whole Lotta of Love. “We just totally dug his vibe,” says Mercurio. “He has a lot of soul, yet he has a youthfulness to him and a lot of young energy but a lot of maturity at the same time. It’s just a really great combo.”
The Other Side of Midnight’s release date coincides with the week between Jazzfest weekends. During this year’s Jazzfest run of shows, the band is showcasing three different vocalists. “It’s kind of a little sampler of shows,” says Mercurio. “We have Chali 2na on the riverboat, Cyril for the late night at Tipitina’s and Corey Glover for the Mahalia Jackson show.” That doesn’t include a performance at the actual Fest, an in-store at the Louisiana Music Factory, as well as the band’s many side projects.
[via @GalacticFunk]
During this span off the road, the band is also working on a new album in their home studio. While much of their time in the studio last year was dedicated to music for the Playstation game, Infamous 2, they spent December writing new material. “We wrote about 50 demos and we’re all in here now going through them,” says Mercurio. “We’re narrowing them down and fleshing things out in hopes of having a new album out around Mardi Gras 2012.”
With all of the easy access to audience recordings these days, one might wonder whether or not the band ever considered not putting out a second live album. “Not really,” says Mercurio. “We allowed taping back when we put out our first official live release and oddly enough, I think that it’s our best selling album.”
2 Responses
It’s great to see this band doing so well. Their shows on the Riverboat and at Tips were off the hook. Plus they are a great group of dudes.
While the band can’t exactly pinpoint the source of its recent success (“there are so many variables,” explains Mercurio),
I might guess that the exposure they (and others) have gotten from HBO’s Treme has really pushed them to become recognizable to a whole new host of fans.
I can’t wait to see them live and on the show once more.