Before Braille

A Live Interview with Reggie

by Jeff Moon

The maestro of Local "Zene", Jeff Moon grabs a great opportunity for us by nabbing an interview with Before Braille.

So, Reggie the first thing I'd like to ask is why the name, Before Braille?

Well, its actually Dave's-Dave came up with it. It has to do with rules and guidelines, I guess. Everybody always asks us that, so we had Dave email this little explanation to us so we could save it, but we're always forgetting it. "Hans! What does Before Braille mean?" Reggie seeks out guitarist Hans Ringger.

(HR) "Now it just means five dudes getting together and rocking out. That's what it means." (laughs)

Sounds good to me.

I'm talking to you guys as you're on tour and getting ready to take the stage in Portland. How's the tour going so far?

It's going OK. There're a lot of 21 and over shows. Some good shows, some not so good. This is our first really big tour and we've learned a lot - we're learning a lot. Plus, it's fun hanging out and meeting new people. We like to play all ages shows. Hopefully we can do more of those in the future.

OK Reggie, any wild and crazy road stories on your first tour?

Um. Let's see - not really. None of us do drugs or drink. Nothing too wild and crazy, but we're still having good times.

Wow, very cool. The sobriety thing, I absolutely respect that. I'm the same way.

Yeah. We're having fun and that's what really counts.

Tell me about how you got started.

Well, the band was actually started with Hands, Dave and Brandon. They were jamming for a while and had had a couple of drummers before Kelly Reed came in. Now he's been in the band for two years. I'm the newest member. I've been with the band since February 2002. This is the final line-up.

I notice that you have three guitar players in the band.

Yeah. Dave plays the guitar sometimes and sometimes he just sings. There's a couple of songs on the CD like Jaws of Life and Unfit that he plays guitar on. Usually he just sings but sometimes he plays too. He's a very versatile guy.

You guys are getting a lot of response to your song 24 minus 18.

Yeah, yeah. We get a lot of response from like college radio and have regular rotation on a lot of stations across the country. It's really awesome. We're hoping that our next single-should be A Cinema Spine, will do even better. We're pretty stoked that its been going as well as it has been going.

Nice Whats that song about?

It's a pretty personal one to Dave. I don't think everyone in the band even knows what it is actually about.

Tell me about some of the heroes for this band, who inspires you?

Musically?

Yeah, musicians bands whatever.

Um, I know Hans really loves Led Zepplin. Dave and Brandon are really into the band Cursive. My favorite band, they're called the Shins. I really love Jimmy Hendrix. Kelly really loves The Dave Matthews Band. Like, we've got a feud going on right now, who's the better guitar player, Page or Hendrix? We're going to sit down one night and watch video tapes of the two because right now its tied. We give them points and both of them are ties at 16 points. We need to settle this.

That's a good debate.

Yeah, it's a really good debate. They both have styles. We have different styles, too. As long as we are differentiated.

I noticed on your bio on Aezra Records web page you mentioned Fugazi.

Yeah, all of us love Fugazi.

We've got you guys playing the Finals for "Zene" Battle of the Bands in Prescott on December 5th. We're going to have a lot of people coming out to the show. Can you tell us what to expect from a live Before Braille show?

We're just going to have a lot of fun. If people want to see a great rock and roll show come check us out. Everyone in this band always gives 100%. It should be a good time. And we love Northern Arizona. We're glad to come visit. We're all looking forward to it.

Thanks, Reggie. We all look forward to seeing you December 5th. It'll be a good show.

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