James Black -- guitarist for Canadian rock band Finger Eleven -- is killing two birds with one stone.
When he calls my house Wednesday for our phone interview, it seems he's already engaged.
"Sorry about the noise," he apologizes. "I'm standing in the doorway of a store."
Though he was out shopping when we spoke, Black was more focused and attentive than many of my interviews.
Q. How did you guys get your start?
A. We started back in high school as a cover band. It was like right when (Red Hot Chili Pepper's) Blood. Sugar. Sex. Magik. came out and we were all having our lives changed by that album. And Pearl Jam's 10 came out -- it was a good time to be a fan of music, so we couldn't help but be influenced by it. It was a common ground for all of us. I think it would be really, really hard to form a band and just start writing. For us, at least, doing covers was a great way to get to know each other.
Q. What's the significance of your name?
A. It's like a third eye, or a sixth sense.
Q. I bet you get a lot of people thinking that it means something perverted.
A. Yeah. Most people think it's either a penis, or two middle fingers.
Q. So what's it like touring with Creed?
A. We've been out with them a couple of times before but they were never as big as they are now. We're actually getting really, really excited. We're up here in Canada right now, doing nine or 10 shows here, just around southern Ontario until the Creed thing starts. The first show is actually there in Memphis (on Nov. 13 at The Pyramid).
Q. Do you have any plans to see the sites while you're in town?
A. I think a couple of the guys might go to Graceland, that's in Memphis, right? I went to Beale Street last time I was in town and I'd like to go back.
Q. What's a typical day like for you?
A. It's such a hectic lifestyle that sometimes things go by so fast that you can't help but have the same day over and over and over again. But when you're in a different place you decide, okay, today I'm going to go out and decide what this place has to offer.
Q. What's the best part of touring?
A. You're always meeting different people and seeing different things, which is cool. We went to an aquarium in Chattanooga because we were waiting for our van to get fixed. It was just something that we never would have done otherwise and it was like, "wow, cool." It sort of opened our eyes to the idea that we should open our eyes to new stuff in every city. We're becoming tourists.
Q. What's the toughest part about being on the road?
A. The hardest part of being on the road is maintaining relationships back home. But if you're involved with the right people then they understand that we're out here trying to make our dreams come true. Nobody's really out to get in the way, but I think that's the hardest part being able to leave for many months at a time to pick up where you got home.
Q. And when you do go home, what's it like?
We played a show the other night (near our hometown). It was just packed with people who were there to try to show off to their friends that they knew you back in grade school. You know the people who aren't important to your life when they're out there bragging to other people that they know you. The people that know that they're important to you -- they don't need that sort of affirmation.
Q. Do you have any humorous tour stories?
A. Well the other day we saw a mad blind man cursing in the street, calling everyone dirty bastards. Another drunk hobo tried to grab him and they had a little scuffle, the blind man got taken away in a cop car and I went over and bought the hobo a beer. And he told me that he was Beethoven and that all music in the Universe was from his head. And if I wanted to write a great song he would give it to me -- but only at the right time.
