16 Hours in his old college town, with a stop at Warehouse XI
I found Joe Kaplow’s music, or I guess it found me, completely inadvertently. I was up pretty late one night during a stretch where I was about as low as I’d been in a long time. My friends had cleared out and I stayed up drinking. I never knew when to let the party end.
I got stuck in the usual melancholic, poor-me cycle I was pretty good at finding back then when “5am” came on whatever playlist was still running in the background. It’s a catchy, upbeat tune and it grabbed my attention immediately. More importantly, it pulled me out of whatever hole I was digging for myself.
Instead of spending the rest of the night being sad, I listened to Sending Money and Stems front to back. Then I went back to Time Spent in Between. He had me. I’ve made a point to catch Joe whenever he comes through town since.
That brings us to Sunday, September 20, when Kaplow comes back to Massachusetts for a show at Warehouse XI in Somerville.
It’s a return to familiar territory for him. Before heading west and eventually settling in Bonny Doon, California, Kaplow went to Berklee and graduated in 2011. He remembers spending those years exploring Boston on foot and bicycle. There won’t be much time for that Sunday.
“I wish I had more time to spend this time, but since I’ll be in Boston for maybe 16 hours, I’m looking forward to feeling the night time east coast summer air.”
I’ve had a few opportunities to talk with Joe when he’s come through over the years. He’s a humble, soft-spoken guy and very generous with his time. He never makes you feel like he’s trying to pull away from the conversation, even when he probably has somewhere else he needs to be. Most obvious though, you can really feel that he completely loves music.
I’ve only ever seen him play with a full band, which is part of the reason I’m interested in this particular show. From what I’ve seen following the tour, they’ve been playing around with a more stripped-down setup this time. Kaplow said they’ve actually done about half of the run without drums.
“The best vocal harmonies we’ve ever had,” he said. “Will, Rob and I have spent a lot of time dialing in the vocals. But also, maybe the tightest band we’ve ever had.”
Warehouse XI is also new to me. I’ve never seen a show there, so I’ll be walking into a new room to hear a version of Kaplow’s band I haven’t seen before.
I’ve been listening to Posh, Poodle, Krystal and Toe while writing this. I’m always going to have a different attachment to Sending Money and Stems and Time Spent in Between. I found those records at a time when I really needed them. But Posh is a no-skip album for me. I’ve had it playing in the background for most of this article and every time I stop writing and start paying attention again, I’m still into whatever song is playing.
The record was made more live with the band playing together, which probably helps explain why these songs have translated so well to the stage.
“If I only need to do one part to make the song complete, I can spend more attention feeling the moment and expressing,” Kaplow said, explaining that songs loaded with overdubs can leave him needing “to be 2 people at once on stage if it’s going to sound complete.”
And apparently some songs just don’t give a shit what you want to do with them.
“Some songs, however they were recorded, just don’t want to be played live. Like a cat that won’t stop scratching your couch or something.”
“Rain Drums” went the other way. Kaplow and the band have added a CAN-sounding jam to it onstage that wasn’t there when they recorded it. Which is pretty funny considering they were worried about getting the song under four minutes in the studio.
Joe has also put out new music since Posh. His RTZ EP came out this year and some of those songs were intentionally written to pick up the pace of the live show. I really like the EP. Still, when I decide I want to listen to Joe, nine times out of ten I’m probably putting on one of the older records. I’ve had them too long at this point.
I asked Joe what he’d tell somebody who was still deciding whether to come out Sunday. I figured I’d get something about the show. Instead, he gave me this:
“Supporting music on any level, but especially on a smaller level is so important for building community and a fulfilling life. As AI and Social Media and political/social issues continue to affect our lives, we need an antidote and I believe that one is spending more time with people and community, supporting and spending more locally and on the anti AI, the arts.”
I get what he means.
A lot of Ink on the Merrimack is really just me finding an excuse to keep doing this. Going to shows, finding somebody I haven’t heard before, talking to musicians when I get the chance. Then I go home and spend way too fucking long writing about it.
I’ve never been to Warehouse XI, so Sunday gives me another room to check out and another chance to see Joe when he’s back here.
He did eventually get around to actually promoting the show.
“Also the show will blow their minds.”
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