ARTIST INFO
Classic American author Thomas Wolfe famously stated “you can’t go home
again,”but don’t tell that to the members of O.A.R. On their eighth
studio album, THE ROCKVILLE LP, the shape-shifting rock band found that
returning home triggered a journey of creative renewal and inspiration.
“This isn’t about us going back to our musical roots per se,”says
lead singer Marc Roberge, who founded O.A.R. in 1996 with his Rockville,
Md. high school classmates, drummer Chris Culos, guitarist Richard On,
and bassist Benj Gershman (saxophonist Jerry DePizzo joined while the
group was at Ohio State University). “It’s about us getting inspired by
the place we came from. We’d drive the same roads, visit the old haunts,
spend time with our people. Rockville was the catalyst then, and it’s
the catalyst now.”
For the first time in a while, the band found that visiting their
Maryland hometown gave them a sense of peace. For years, they had been
pushing themselves to reach new levels of success, searching for their
place in the world. Plus, turbulent times within their personal lives
had led them to a slightly disconnected state.“I went home to Maryland
many times while making this album and based these songs on all the
familiar feelings that Rockville gave me,”Roberge says. “I tried to
focus in on the simple things that always made this band so creative and
driven. For everyone in the band, this was a restart. We’ve been
hanging out, enjoying life, letting things go…The whole album is about a
reboot.”
That sense of renewal is evident on the first single, the deep,
yearning “Peace.”“As we were writing it, I felt the weight of three
years lift off my shoulders,”Roberge says. “We wrote it about getting
back to that even playing field after you go through turbulent times.
It’s about what I see people going through all around me, everyone
deserves second, third, fourth chances.”
Roberge wrote “Peace”with Blair Daly and Nashville-based producer
Nathan Chapman, best known for his work with Taylor Swift, after Roberge
introduced himself to Chapman at an event in Los Angeles. The two got
along so well that, in addition to “Peace,”their writing sessions
yielded three other songs: “Favorite Song,”“Two Hands Up”and “We’ll Pick
Up Where We Left Off.”Chapman produced “Favorite Song”and “Two Hands
Up,”while Gregg Wattenberg, who co-wrote O.A.R.’s No. 1 smash,
“Shattered (Turn the Car Around),”produced “Peace.”Chapman and
Wattenberg shared production duties on “We’ll Pick Up Where We Left
Off.”With those four tracks serving as the foundation for the album and
as a boost to the band’s confidence, Roberge produced the rest of the
tracks on THE ROCKVILLE LP including a co-production with Jerry DePizzo
on “The Element.”“We felt like we were on to something with an
overwhelming freedom to chase down some more songs,”Roberge says.
THE ROCKVILLE LP, which was recorded in Nashville, Bethesda, Md., and
Brooklyn, N.Y., features some of O.A.R.’s most diverse, intricate songs
to date. Bold horn arrangements weave in and out of several of the
tunes, including “Irish Rose”sequel and DePizzo showcase, the jangly,
story song, “Caroline the Wrecking Ball,”as well as the ambitious “The
Architect,”a song adored by longtime fans, but one O.A.R. had never
committed to an album before.
Pure joy and light-heartedness infuse album opener, the spiky
infectious anthem, “Two Hands Up,”and the irrepressible reggae-tinged
“Favorite Song”in which Roberge cheerfully references dozens of song
titles. “We were driving down roads in Nashville and Maryland feeling
nostalgic harkening back to the days of endlessly flipping through the
radio dial singing loudly to your favorite songs. This song is an ode to
the hit, to recognize the pure joy you can get from a song and some
rolled down windows.”
O.A.R. is renowned for its intense, vibrant live show —including
selling out Madison Square Garden twice —and the communal feeling it
shares with its fans. With each studio album, the band has endeavored to
achieve that sense of immediacy. On THE ROCKVILLE LP, “it comes the
closest,”Roberge says.”Every live band I know will always want nothing
more than to carry their live performance onto the album. It’s an
elusive thing to capture, so I’ll never say we nailed it,”Roberge says.
“But I can guarantee we put that same live show energy and passion into
each minute of THE ROCKVILLE LP and we can only hope the audience feels
that.”
