Follow For Now makes mark
by Mike Stedham
Follow For Now, a five-member band that blends rock, rap, funk,
gospel and swing into its music, will return to Jacksonville on Monday and
Tuesday nights for two shows at Brothers' Bar.
The Atlanta-based group, which is touring in support of its
self-titled debut album, will also make an appearance Tuesday
afternoon at Slip Disc in the Anniston Plaza.
Formed in April 1988, the band quickly made its mark on the
Southern club scene and signed a publishing deal soon after. They
entered Atlanta's Triclops Studio in January of this year and
released ''Follow For Now'' on Chrysalis Records four months later.
Vocalist-guitarist David Ryan-Harris says the band was happy with
the results.
''In making this record, as in our live shows, we want to sound
like a band, to be very organic with no sampling, and to have a
feel more than an actual sound,'' he says.
Most of the songs on the record are original compositions by the
band, reflecting the diversity of their musical backgrounds and
tastes. The only cover is a hard-driving version of Public Enemy's
''She Watch Channel Zero.''
''A lot of people are waiting for something to bridge the gap
between rock and rap,'' Ryan-Harris says. ''That, plus all the
retro-seventies buzzes that are going around make the times ripe
for Follow For Now.''
Many of the band's songs deal with contemporary social issues, and
their attitude is in keeping with the current rap scene. But the
band does include some love songs, and the overall blend of the
sound has a strong dose of straight rock 'n' roll.
''We grew up among a lot of various musical influences and we use
them all,'' Ryan-Harris says. ''It's really diverse because
everything we listen to influences us. This album is almost like
the 'Cliff's Notes' of music.''
***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this interview.
Monday, December 30, 1991
DRH in Austin-American Statesman, 1991
Sounding like leaders
Follow For Now bridges musical styles to stand out among black rock bands
by Don McLeese
The band's name is Follow For Now, but don't expect it to play follow the leader. Though the Atlanta band's attempt to reclaim rock as a black musical birthright inevitably invites comparison with the likes of Living Colour, its forthcoming debut album shows the ambition and audacity that marks the most determinedly original music. Within its funk grooves and rock dynamics, Follow For Now plays with the urgency of a trailblazer.
Austin can hear a sneak preview Friday, when the band opens for Ian Moore at Liberty Lunch in the midst of making its first trip to Los Angeles. The gig represents a triumphant return for Follow For Now, which created a significant stir when it played South by Southwest in 1990. A few months later, the band signed with Chrysalis, which will release the Follow For Now debut on Sept. 10.
Though the range of the band's music reflects influences such as Sly Stone, Jimi Hendrix and George Clinton, it additionally incorporates more contemporary elements from hardcore metal to rap (the band's name comes from a Public Enemy number). Rather than an assortment of influences and attitudes, however, Follow For Now impresses most through the strength of its songcraft, which fuses these disparate musical elements into a coherent whole.
"We didn't have 10 songs that would have made a single-style album," explained 23-year-old David Ryan Harris, the band's singer, lead guitarist and primary songwriter. "I think it flows very well, but we didn't make a conscious effort to stay in one general area . . .
"Before the band started, I had never been in a band that played out in the music scene before," he continued. "I was just sort of holed up in my room, listening to a really wide range of stuff. When I put the band together, it was like a child really knows no difference between black and white. I like all these different types of music, so what's the big deal?"
Like most of the emerging black rock acts - from Living Colour to Fishbone to Austin's Chris Thomas - Follow For Now finds itself playing music that is steeped in black consciousness and influences for audiences that are overwhelmingly white.
"I think a lot of it has to do with urban contemporary radio (the latest euphemism for what was once known as `R&B' or simply `black' radio), where they make it seem if you're black and play guitar, you're freaky," said Harris. "Radio is just so pigeonholed, and I think that black radio is the worse for that. If it's not drum-machine, new-jack-swing stuff, then it doesn't get played.
"I think that bands like us, Living Colour and Fishbone can kind of turn things in the proper direction, little by little, chip by chip, but we're by no means on a mission to do that. I think the youth can listen to what we do and hear strains of things that are in hip-hop songs. Like hip-hop songs will take things from James Brown or Sly Stone or Parliament-Funkadelic, and it's really popular. Now here's a contemporary band doing those things, but playing their instruments for real."
This week's calendar additionally marks the return of a couple of other bands that made career breakthroughs with South by Southwest showcases. The Cannibal Club could promote its offerings as a class reuniuon of SXSW '89, with Milwaukee's Spanic Boys playing tonight followed by Arkansas' Gunbunnies Friday.
South by Southwest was the start of an extended Cinderella story for the father-and-son team of Tom and Ian Spanic. Midwest bar-circuit regulars since forming a band in the mid-'80s as Those Spanic Boys, the Spanics arrived at SXSW as comparative unknowns, but left as the featured act in MTV's conference coverage and with an offer from Rounder Records in their pockets.
From there, things have continued to snowball for the Spanics. Their Rounder album caught the ear of Saturday Night Live, which booked the Spanics as a last-minute replacement when Sinead O'Connor cancelled her appearance. Making their first trip to New York, they found themselves pursued by both Rolling Stone and Entertainment Tonight, both of whom did features on the band.
While the novelty of a father-and-son band creates an obvious hook, the bedrock traditionalism and yearning harmonies of the Spanics show a staying power beyond novelty fare. They remain one of the world's great bar bands, and the Cannibal's a great bar in which to hear them.
As for the Gunbunnies, their fairy-tale coach turned into a pumpkin when Virgin Records dropped the band after a single album which received little promotion and even less airplay. When the band returned to SXSW this year, it was back in the ranks of the unsigned hopefuls, though the Gunbunnies' quirky brand of Southern soulfulness merits another shot.
Apparently, the days when a band is allowed to develop its music and its audience over the course of a few albums are long gone, at least at Virgin. Syd Straw, appearing at the Cactus tonight and Friday, was also a victim of the label's quick hook, when her terrific solo debut failed to find the audience it deserved.
For those whose love of music extends to more than an overnight return, it's almost criminal when a label that professes enough faith in its artists to sign them doesn't show enough faith to sustain them. An industry that once prided itself on developing careers has become way too focused on the instant sensation, the popular hit as disposable commodity, a quick-fix strategy that threatens severe musical damage over the long haul.
***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this interview.
Follow For Now bridges musical styles to stand out among black rock bands
by Don McLeese
The band's name is Follow For Now, but don't expect it to play follow the leader. Though the Atlanta band's attempt to reclaim rock as a black musical birthright inevitably invites comparison with the likes of Living Colour, its forthcoming debut album shows the ambition and audacity that marks the most determinedly original music. Within its funk grooves and rock dynamics, Follow For Now plays with the urgency of a trailblazer.
Austin can hear a sneak preview Friday, when the band opens for Ian Moore at Liberty Lunch in the midst of making its first trip to Los Angeles. The gig represents a triumphant return for Follow For Now, which created a significant stir when it played South by Southwest in 1990. A few months later, the band signed with Chrysalis, which will release the Follow For Now debut on Sept. 10.
Though the range of the band's music reflects influences such as Sly Stone, Jimi Hendrix and George Clinton, it additionally incorporates more contemporary elements from hardcore metal to rap (the band's name comes from a Public Enemy number). Rather than an assortment of influences and attitudes, however, Follow For Now impresses most through the strength of its songcraft, which fuses these disparate musical elements into a coherent whole.
"We didn't have 10 songs that would have made a single-style album," explained 23-year-old David Ryan Harris, the band's singer, lead guitarist and primary songwriter. "I think it flows very well, but we didn't make a conscious effort to stay in one general area . . .
"Before the band started, I had never been in a band that played out in the music scene before," he continued. "I was just sort of holed up in my room, listening to a really wide range of stuff. When I put the band together, it was like a child really knows no difference between black and white. I like all these different types of music, so what's the big deal?"
Like most of the emerging black rock acts - from Living Colour to Fishbone to Austin's Chris Thomas - Follow For Now finds itself playing music that is steeped in black consciousness and influences for audiences that are overwhelmingly white.
"I think a lot of it has to do with urban contemporary radio (the latest euphemism for what was once known as `R&B' or simply `black' radio), where they make it seem if you're black and play guitar, you're freaky," said Harris. "Radio is just so pigeonholed, and I think that black radio is the worse for that. If it's not drum-machine, new-jack-swing stuff, then it doesn't get played.
"I think that bands like us, Living Colour and Fishbone can kind of turn things in the proper direction, little by little, chip by chip, but we're by no means on a mission to do that. I think the youth can listen to what we do and hear strains of things that are in hip-hop songs. Like hip-hop songs will take things from James Brown or Sly Stone or Parliament-Funkadelic, and it's really popular. Now here's a contemporary band doing those things, but playing their instruments for real."
This week's calendar additionally marks the return of a couple of other bands that made career breakthroughs with South by Southwest showcases. The Cannibal Club could promote its offerings as a class reuniuon of SXSW '89, with Milwaukee's Spanic Boys playing tonight followed by Arkansas' Gunbunnies Friday.
South by Southwest was the start of an extended Cinderella story for the father-and-son team of Tom and Ian Spanic. Midwest bar-circuit regulars since forming a band in the mid-'80s as Those Spanic Boys, the Spanics arrived at SXSW as comparative unknowns, but left as the featured act in MTV's conference coverage and with an offer from Rounder Records in their pockets.
From there, things have continued to snowball for the Spanics. Their Rounder album caught the ear of Saturday Night Live, which booked the Spanics as a last-minute replacement when Sinead O'Connor cancelled her appearance. Making their first trip to New York, they found themselves pursued by both Rolling Stone and Entertainment Tonight, both of whom did features on the band.
While the novelty of a father-and-son band creates an obvious hook, the bedrock traditionalism and yearning harmonies of the Spanics show a staying power beyond novelty fare. They remain one of the world's great bar bands, and the Cannibal's a great bar in which to hear them.
As for the Gunbunnies, their fairy-tale coach turned into a pumpkin when Virgin Records dropped the band after a single album which received little promotion and even less airplay. When the band returned to SXSW this year, it was back in the ranks of the unsigned hopefuls, though the Gunbunnies' quirky brand of Southern soulfulness merits another shot.
Apparently, the days when a band is allowed to develop its music and its audience over the course of a few albums are long gone, at least at Virgin. Syd Straw, appearing at the Cactus tonight and Friday, was also a victim of the label's quick hook, when her terrific solo debut failed to find the audience it deserved.
For those whose love of music extends to more than an overnight return, it's almost criminal when a label that professes enough faith in its artists to sign them doesn't show enough faith to sustain them. An industry that once prided itself on developing careers has become way too focused on the instant sensation, the popular hit as disposable commodity, a quick-fix strategy that threatens severe musical damage over the long haul.
***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this interview.
DRH in The State (Columbia, SC), 1991
SOUND OF FOLLOW FOR NOW - MAY BE MORE USER FRIENDLY
by MICHAEL MILLER
Here it comes, that inevitable question, the one that slithers into almost every interview Follow For Now's David Ryan-Harris does.
"What about all those comparisons between your band and Living Colour? How do you feel about that?," queries the intrepid journalist.
You can hear Ryan-Harris sigh into the phone, having been forced to deal once again with the "Black Rock Coalition thing."
"The whole visual thing has very little to do with the actual music," he says. "But I guess it's just indicative of the times, what people look at and what they perceive, that whole deal.
"I think some of those comparisons are ill-founded. Living Colour has been an inspiration, but they weren't necessarily an influence. We were together before we even knew there was a Living Colour."
Having that out of the way, Ryan-Harris gets down to business and talks about the real influences that have given Follow For Now, an Atlanta-based quintet, its powerful rock 'n' roll presence.
"Steely Dan, Coltrane, Miles Davis, Hendrix, Zeppelin, Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Parliament/Funkadelic, Frank Zappa," he rolls them off like a funk, pop and rock who's who.
"Our sound is really sort of pure. Nothing was really thought out or planned. Everybody in the band has lots and lots of influences and they just sort of naturally came together in a composite."
It's a wild and wonderful composite, too, drawing one moment on heavy- metal crunch, then surprising everyone a second later with some serious, George Clinton-style funk. Follow For Now wears its influences well, but it's also forged an identity that's richer and more accessible than Living Colour, Fishbone, Urban Dance Squad or any other band that's been plugged into the funk/rock pigeonhole.
"I believe that's true," Ryan-Harris says. "We have a little more of an organic sort of sound. The sound is a little more round, to put it in geometrical terms. It's, like, more user-friendly."
Ryan-Harris was born in Evanston, Illinois, but moved to Atlanta with his family when he was seven. He met a kid named Enrique in second grade, but they went their separate ways in high school.
The two young men were reunited a few years later when they happened to participate in the same local talent show. They formed a band and eventually guitarist Chris Tinsley, bassist Jamie Turner and keyboardist Billy Fields came on board. The unit gelled as Follow For Now in April 1988.
After becoming one of the hottest acts on the Deep South club scene, Follow For Now raised music industry eyebrows with high-powered sets at showcases like Nashville Extravaganza and South By Southwest. Chrysalis Records signed the band in January 1991, and four months later Follow For Now's debut was being mixed by noted engineer Thom Panunzio.
Ryan-Harris says he hopes that someday his group and others like it will transcend labels like "black rock 'n' roll band" and be judged solely on their music. When that happens, Follow For Now will move to the head of the modern rock class.
***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this interview
by MICHAEL MILLER
Here it comes, that inevitable question, the one that slithers into almost every interview Follow For Now's David Ryan-Harris does.
"What about all those comparisons between your band and Living Colour? How do you feel about that?," queries the intrepid journalist.
You can hear Ryan-Harris sigh into the phone, having been forced to deal once again with the "Black Rock Coalition thing."
"The whole visual thing has very little to do with the actual music," he says. "But I guess it's just indicative of the times, what people look at and what they perceive, that whole deal.
"I think some of those comparisons are ill-founded. Living Colour has been an inspiration, but they weren't necessarily an influence. We were together before we even knew there was a Living Colour."
Having that out of the way, Ryan-Harris gets down to business and talks about the real influences that have given Follow For Now, an Atlanta-based quintet, its powerful rock 'n' roll presence.
"Steely Dan, Coltrane, Miles Davis, Hendrix, Zeppelin, Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Parliament/Funkadelic, Frank Zappa," he rolls them off like a funk, pop and rock who's who.
"Our sound is really sort of pure. Nothing was really thought out or planned. Everybody in the band has lots and lots of influences and they just sort of naturally came together in a composite."
It's a wild and wonderful composite, too, drawing one moment on heavy- metal crunch, then surprising everyone a second later with some serious, George Clinton-style funk. Follow For Now wears its influences well, but it's also forged an identity that's richer and more accessible than Living Colour, Fishbone, Urban Dance Squad or any other band that's been plugged into the funk/rock pigeonhole.
"I believe that's true," Ryan-Harris says. "We have a little more of an organic sort of sound. The sound is a little more round, to put it in geometrical terms. It's, like, more user-friendly."
Ryan-Harris was born in Evanston, Illinois, but moved to Atlanta with his family when he was seven. He met a kid named Enrique in second grade, but they went their separate ways in high school.
The two young men were reunited a few years later when they happened to participate in the same local talent show. They formed a band and eventually guitarist Chris Tinsley, bassist Jamie Turner and keyboardist Billy Fields came on board. The unit gelled as Follow For Now in April 1988.
After becoming one of the hottest acts on the Deep South club scene, Follow For Now raised music industry eyebrows with high-powered sets at showcases like Nashville Extravaganza and South By Southwest. Chrysalis Records signed the band in January 1991, and four months later Follow For Now's debut was being mixed by noted engineer Thom Panunzio.
Ryan-Harris says he hopes that someday his group and others like it will transcend labels like "black rock 'n' roll band" and be judged solely on their music. When that happens, Follow For Now will move to the head of the modern rock class.
***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this interview
Sunday, December 29, 1991
DRH in The State (Columbia, SC), 1991
SOUND OF FOLLOW FOR NOW - MAY BE MORE USER FRIENDLY
by MICHAEL MILLER
Here it comes, that inevitable question, the one that slithers into almost every interview Follow For Now's David Ryan-Harris does.
"What about all those comparisons between your band and Living Colour? How do you feel about that?," queries the intrepid journalist.
You can hear Ryan-Harris sigh into the phone, having been forced to deal once again with the "Black Rock Coalition thing."
"The whole visual thing has very little to do with the actual music," he says. "But I guess it's just indicative of the times, what people look at and what they perceive, that whole deal.
"I think some of those comparisons are ill-founded. Living Colour has been an inspiration, but they weren't necessarily an influence. We were together before we even knew there was a Living Colour."
Having that out of the way, Ryan-Harris gets down to business and talks about the real influences that have given Follow For Now, an Atlanta-based quintet, its powerful rock 'n' roll presence.
"Steely Dan, Coltrane, Miles Davis, Hendrix, Zeppelin, Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Parliament/Funkadelic, Frank Zappa," he rolls them off like a funk, pop and rock who's who.
"Our sound is really sort of pure. Nothing was really thought out or planned. Everybody in the band has lots and lots of influences and they just sort of naturally came together in a composite."
It's a wild and wonderful composite, too, drawing one moment on heavy- metal crunch, then surprising everyone a second later with some serious, George Clinton-style funk. Follow For Now wears its influences well, but it's also forged an identity that's richer and more accessible than Living Colour, Fishbone, Urban Dance Squad or any other band that's been plugged into the funk/rock pigeonhole.
"I believe that's true," Ryan-Harris says. "We have a little more of an organic sort of sound. The sound is a little more round, to put it in geometrical terms. It's, like, more user-friendly."
Ryan-Harris was born in Evanston, Illinois, but moved to Atlanta with his family when he was seven. He met a kid named Enrique in second grade, but they went their separate ways in high school.
The two young men were reunited a few years later when they happened to participate in the same local talent show. They formed a band and eventually guitarist Chris Tinsley, bassist Jamie Turner and keyboardist Billy Fields came on board. The unit gelled as Follow For Now in April 1988.
After becoming one of the hottest acts on the Deep South club scene, Follow For Now raised music industry eyebrows with high-powered sets at showcases like Nashville Extravaganza and South By Southwest. Chrysalis Records signed the band in January 1991, and four months later Follow For Now's debut was being mixed by noted engineer Thom Panunzio.
Ryan-Harris says he hopes that someday his group and others like it will transcend labels like "black rock 'n' roll band" and be judged solely on their music. When that happens, Follow For Now will move to the head of the modern rock class.
***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this interview.
by MICHAEL MILLER
Here it comes, that inevitable question, the one that slithers into almost every interview Follow For Now's David Ryan-Harris does.
"What about all those comparisons between your band and Living Colour? How do you feel about that?," queries the intrepid journalist.
You can hear Ryan-Harris sigh into the phone, having been forced to deal once again with the "Black Rock Coalition thing."
"The whole visual thing has very little to do with the actual music," he says. "But I guess it's just indicative of the times, what people look at and what they perceive, that whole deal.
"I think some of those comparisons are ill-founded. Living Colour has been an inspiration, but they weren't necessarily an influence. We were together before we even knew there was a Living Colour."
Having that out of the way, Ryan-Harris gets down to business and talks about the real influences that have given Follow For Now, an Atlanta-based quintet, its powerful rock 'n' roll presence.
"Steely Dan, Coltrane, Miles Davis, Hendrix, Zeppelin, Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Parliament/Funkadelic, Frank Zappa," he rolls them off like a funk, pop and rock who's who.
"Our sound is really sort of pure. Nothing was really thought out or planned. Everybody in the band has lots and lots of influences and they just sort of naturally came together in a composite."
It's a wild and wonderful composite, too, drawing one moment on heavy- metal crunch, then surprising everyone a second later with some serious, George Clinton-style funk. Follow For Now wears its influences well, but it's also forged an identity that's richer and more accessible than Living Colour, Fishbone, Urban Dance Squad or any other band that's been plugged into the funk/rock pigeonhole.
"I believe that's true," Ryan-Harris says. "We have a little more of an organic sort of sound. The sound is a little more round, to put it in geometrical terms. It's, like, more user-friendly."
Ryan-Harris was born in Evanston, Illinois, but moved to Atlanta with his family when he was seven. He met a kid named Enrique in second grade, but they went their separate ways in high school.
The two young men were reunited a few years later when they happened to participate in the same local talent show. They formed a band and eventually guitarist Chris Tinsley, bassist Jamie Turner and keyboardist Billy Fields came on board. The unit gelled as Follow For Now in April 1988.
After becoming one of the hottest acts on the Deep South club scene, Follow For Now raised music industry eyebrows with high-powered sets at showcases like Nashville Extravaganza and South By Southwest. Chrysalis Records signed the band in January 1991, and four months later Follow For Now's debut was being mixed by noted engineer Thom Panunzio.
Ryan-Harris says he hopes that someday his group and others like it will transcend labels like "black rock 'n' roll band" and be judged solely on their music. When that happens, Follow For Now will move to the head of the modern rock class.
***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this interview.
Saturday, December 28, 1991
DRH in The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.), 1991
Radio doesn't know how to follow
by ROD DREHER
Follow For Now is a red-hot band of young black musicians whose self-titled debut album (Chrysalis) is one of the hardest rocking, most listenable releases to cross my desk in weeks. So why are they ignored by black radio?
"It's conditioned," says guitarist David Ryan Harris. "People like Hendrix were considered freaks because they played guitar."
Black radio programmers, enamored of hip-hopsters and soul balladeers, don't know what to do with a guy raised on traditional blues and classical jazz (which Harris heard at home), Parliament Funkadelic, pre-drum machine Cameo and lots of rap (heard in his neighborhood) and Led Zeppelin and the Sex Pistols (heard at his predominately white Atlanta high school).
"Hip-hop I really like, but I feel they miss something because they don't have a real band," Harris says. "I feel like we're an R&B band. You don't go see R&B bands at the club level. I'm young. I'm 23. I want to rock when I go out. I don't want to listen to a crooner." Follow For Now will rock Murphy's on Nov. 4 in an opening set for Drivin' N' Cryin'. They will return on Dec. 6 to open for 24-7 Spyz at the Varsity Theater.
Follow For Now includes Harris on guitar and vocals, Chris Tinsley on guitar and vocals, Billy Fields on keyboards and vocals, Jamie Turner on bass and Enrique on drums.
The band formed in 1988, wowing audiences on the Southern club scene and drawing praise in Rolling Stone from Living Colour's Vernon Reid. The band belongs to the Black Rock Coalition, a professional organization of African-American rock and rollers.
Follow For Now throws down a gauntlet to musicians who depend on sampling and other studio tricks to produce their sound. In "Milkbone," the band angrily declares "The present stuff bores me but what can I do/If it bores you too, we can come through for you this/Is a real band and we can cure you/... 1991 just might mean an end to the b------t real players on the scene again."
Says Harris: "A lot of younger people don't know what it is to hear a real band. It's sad. It's not sample, it's not tape loops. The band on the poster is the band that plays on the stage."
Though the band's audiences are mostly white, there have been more black faces in the crowd lately. In their songs, Follow For Now addresses problems faced by black Americans, including rising racism, drug abuse and welfare dependency.
"You can't build a nation on food stamps," says the concluding line of "Evil Wheel," a song blasting complacent attitudes.
"The song says don't bitch if you don't vote. Don't bitch about changing things if you don't want to help," Harris says. "We all know there are lots of problems at this point. What you have to do is do something about it."
With their Baton Rouge gig days away, Harris said playing in David Duke country has been on the band's mind. Though he thinks the former Klansman's success is frightening, Harris remains optimistic about the progress of race relations in this country.
"The civil rights movement was only 25 years ago. A lot of these laws were passed in the Sixties and Seventies. Passing laws is one thing; changing attitudes is another," he said. "I think it's coming along."
***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this interview.
by ROD DREHER
Follow For Now is a red-hot band of young black musicians whose self-titled debut album (Chrysalis) is one of the hardest rocking, most listenable releases to cross my desk in weeks. So why are they ignored by black radio?
"It's conditioned," says guitarist David Ryan Harris. "People like Hendrix were considered freaks because they played guitar."
Black radio programmers, enamored of hip-hopsters and soul balladeers, don't know what to do with a guy raised on traditional blues and classical jazz (which Harris heard at home), Parliament Funkadelic, pre-drum machine Cameo and lots of rap (heard in his neighborhood) and Led Zeppelin and the Sex Pistols (heard at his predominately white Atlanta high school).
"Hip-hop I really like, but I feel they miss something because they don't have a real band," Harris says. "I feel like we're an R&B band. You don't go see R&B bands at the club level. I'm young. I'm 23. I want to rock when I go out. I don't want to listen to a crooner." Follow For Now will rock Murphy's on Nov. 4 in an opening set for Drivin' N' Cryin'. They will return on Dec. 6 to open for 24-7 Spyz at the Varsity Theater.
Follow For Now includes Harris on guitar and vocals, Chris Tinsley on guitar and vocals, Billy Fields on keyboards and vocals, Jamie Turner on bass and Enrique on drums.
The band formed in 1988, wowing audiences on the Southern club scene and drawing praise in Rolling Stone from Living Colour's Vernon Reid. The band belongs to the Black Rock Coalition, a professional organization of African-American rock and rollers.
Follow For Now throws down a gauntlet to musicians who depend on sampling and other studio tricks to produce their sound. In "Milkbone," the band angrily declares "The present stuff bores me but what can I do/If it bores you too, we can come through for you this/Is a real band and we can cure you/... 1991 just might mean an end to the b------t real players on the scene again."
Says Harris: "A lot of younger people don't know what it is to hear a real band. It's sad. It's not sample, it's not tape loops. The band on the poster is the band that plays on the stage."
Though the band's audiences are mostly white, there have been more black faces in the crowd lately. In their songs, Follow For Now addresses problems faced by black Americans, including rising racism, drug abuse and welfare dependency.
"You can't build a nation on food stamps," says the concluding line of "Evil Wheel," a song blasting complacent attitudes.
"The song says don't bitch if you don't vote. Don't bitch about changing things if you don't want to help," Harris says. "We all know there are lots of problems at this point. What you have to do is do something about it."
With their Baton Rouge gig days away, Harris said playing in David Duke country has been on the band's mind. Though he thinks the former Klansman's success is frightening, Harris remains optimistic about the progress of race relations in this country.
"The civil rights movement was only 25 years ago. A lot of these laws were passed in the Sixties and Seventies. Passing laws is one thing; changing attitudes is another," he said. "I think it's coming along."
***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this interview.
Friday, December 27, 1991
DRH in The Baltimore Sun, 1991
Follow for Now: proud of stylistic leaps
by J.D. Considine
If there's one thing Follow for Now guitarist and frontman David Ryan Harris hates about the media's perception of heavy metal is that it's a monochromatic taste. Metalheads, as the folks radio and at MTV seem to see it, are interested in metal,and metal only.
And that, says Harris, is dead wrong.
"If you go through the average person's record collection, it seems like radio and MTV sometimes sell the public short," he says. "None of my friends who really like heavy metal have just heavy metal records in their record collection. They have all different kinds of things. It's not a strange thing to have Sly Stone and Black Sabbath and Cream and Funkadelic in the same record collection.
"That's sort of where we're coming from."
Indeed, on it's self-titled debut album this Atlanta quintet draws from a wide range of influences, from the muscular hard rock riffs of "Holy Moses" to the sweet, soulful chorus of "Mistreatin' Folks." Yet no matter how far afield the music ranges, the band maintains its sense of musical identity.
"I think that's what I'm most proud of," he says, over the phone from a tour stop in Tucson, Ariz. "We can jump really great distances stylistically, but it still sounds like the same band. Other artists that do lots of different styles sometimes come across as a lot of different bands; they sound like a ska band, then they sound like a calypso band, then they sound like a rock band. It's a little hard to take."
Harris credits some of that to the fact that the band is able to blend the individual tastes of its members into a cohesive whole. Take, for instance, Follow for Now's version of the Public Enemy rap "She Watch Channel Zero" -- a performance that captures much of the original track's intensity, but completely rethinks its sound.
"Actually, it came about sort of as a joke," he says. "The other guitar player is really into Slayer and Metallica, so the guitar riff is from a Slayer song. But the drum beat is a classic James Brown 'Funky Drummer' thing, which our drummer's really into. So we just kind of stuck it together in rehearsal as a joke, and it was like -- 'Wow, this is kind of cool, let's see how it would work.' "
Considering that Follow for Now takes its name from a line in Public Enemy's "Bring the Noise," that rock/rap connection shouldn't be too surprising. But so far, Harris doesn't know whether P.E. is as excited about his band as Follow for Now is about them.
"I understand that Flavor Flav bought a copy," he says. "Flavor Flav saw our poster in a record store, recognized [the band name] from 'Bring the Noise,' and picked the record up. But I haven't really heard anything from them."
***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this interview.
by J.D. Considine
If there's one thing Follow for Now guitarist and frontman David Ryan Harris hates about the media's perception of heavy metal is that it's a monochromatic taste. Metalheads, as the folks radio and at MTV seem to see it, are interested in metal,and metal only.
And that, says Harris, is dead wrong.
"If you go through the average person's record collection, it seems like radio and MTV sometimes sell the public short," he says. "None of my friends who really like heavy metal have just heavy metal records in their record collection. They have all different kinds of things. It's not a strange thing to have Sly Stone and Black Sabbath and Cream and Funkadelic in the same record collection.
"That's sort of where we're coming from."
Indeed, on it's self-titled debut album this Atlanta quintet draws from a wide range of influences, from the muscular hard rock riffs of "Holy Moses" to the sweet, soulful chorus of "Mistreatin' Folks." Yet no matter how far afield the music ranges, the band maintains its sense of musical identity.
"I think that's what I'm most proud of," he says, over the phone from a tour stop in Tucson, Ariz. "We can jump really great distances stylistically, but it still sounds like the same band. Other artists that do lots of different styles sometimes come across as a lot of different bands; they sound like a ska band, then they sound like a calypso band, then they sound like a rock band. It's a little hard to take."
Harris credits some of that to the fact that the band is able to blend the individual tastes of its members into a cohesive whole. Take, for instance, Follow for Now's version of the Public Enemy rap "She Watch Channel Zero" -- a performance that captures much of the original track's intensity, but completely rethinks its sound.
"Actually, it came about sort of as a joke," he says. "The other guitar player is really into Slayer and Metallica, so the guitar riff is from a Slayer song. But the drum beat is a classic James Brown 'Funky Drummer' thing, which our drummer's really into. So we just kind of stuck it together in rehearsal as a joke, and it was like -- 'Wow, this is kind of cool, let's see how it would work.' "
Considering that Follow for Now takes its name from a line in Public Enemy's "Bring the Noise," that rock/rap connection shouldn't be too surprising. But so far, Harris doesn't know whether P.E. is as excited about his band as Follow for Now is about them.
"I understand that Flavor Flav bought a copy," he says. "Flavor Flav saw our poster in a record store, recognized [the band name] from 'Bring the Noise,' and picked the record up. But I haven't really heard anything from them."
***Thanks to Furious Rose for submitting this interview.
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