21 Questions with Adam Krier

Please explain what just happened.

The sun went down.Breakfast time!

What is your earliest memory?

I remember watching The A-Team and CHiPs with my brother, singing Christmas songs with my folks, spilling milk.80’s stuff, ya know?It was a strange time before Viagra, X-Files and the invention of the McFlurry.How did we survive?

If you weren’t a rock & roll player, what other profession would you choose?

Semi-Pro Gentleman of Leisure.

Please describe the current contents of your refrigerator.

Pineapple juice, bag of cheddar, and 34 beers… 33 beers.

Is there a time you wish you’d lied?

Yes. Being honest can get you slapped, thrown out, or even locked up. Good liars live longer. It’s a fact… that I just made up.

What would you say to yourself if you could go back in time and have a conversation with yourself at age thirteen?

I would say, “Man, wait til you’re older for certain things and don’t smoke.” I would also say, “Keep all those oversized, grunge, flannel shirts because they will fit you when you are older and broke.”

If you could have only one album to get you through a breakup, what would it be?

Any Roy Orbison or Otis Redding maybe.

What are three websites—other than your email—that you check on a daily basis?

Not daily but CascadeDriveIn.com.I love hanging out there when I can.We did our video shoot and album photography there.Also, Metrorail.com for the train and any YouTube type site I can use to procrastinate.

From what or whom do you derive your greatest inspiration?

Traveling in America.The people and their stories.The towns.All of it… 32 beers.

Name a book that changed your life.

It didn’t change my life, but Riot of our Own by Johnny Green. I read it when I was younger and on the road.One of my favorites.

If you could relive one moment over and over again, what would it be?

The first time I heard “Louie Louie.”

How are you six degrees from Kevin Bacon?

I worked with 2 people that his band, The Bacon Brothers, worked with. I don’t know them that well though. I kinda wanna watch Footloose now or eat a BLT… is that strange?

What makes you feel most guilty?

Well, at the moment I’m watching The New Adventures of Old Christine.Kinda feeling a bit guilty bout that.

What would you most like to have invented?

The Everlasting Gobstopper.

What is the worst piece of advice you’ve ever gotten?

“Stop writing those damn songs you little punk.They‘ll get ya nowhere”-my teacher.

And “Don’t eat yellow snow” -Zappa.

Wait, the second one turned out to be good advice.

What is the best advice you’ve ever given to someone else?

“Um, you might wanna go get that checked out.” Or: “C’mon jump… it’s not that high… you’ll be fine!”

Oh wait, that second one turned out to be bad advice.

What do you consider the harshest kind of betrayal?

Any kind of betrayal that involves friends, family or anyone you’ve trusted for years and years.It’s hard to trust anyone after that.

Of all the game shows that have graced our TV screens throughout history, which one would you want to be a contestant on and why?

Family Feud with my band. I made them watch it everyday on our bus on the last tour.Survey Says…!

What do you want to know?

Who stopped the rain.

What would you like your last words to be?

“I AM A TIN GOD!”

Please explain what will happen.

Much more procrastination.Train + Beer.Over and out.

TAGS: Adam Krier, AM Taxi, Arts & Culture, beer, cascade drive in, Chicago, everlasting gobstopper, Family Feud, fed up, Johnny Green, Otis Redding, Rock and Roll

ADAM KRIER is the singer/songwriter/guitar player of the Chicago band, AM Taxi.

With a blend of old-school punk, world beat and modern pop influences, Chicago-based AM Taxi combines experience with exuberance on their Virgin Records debut, We Don’t Stand A Chance. The band was formed almost two years ago - with the encouragement of their friend, Long Beach Producer producer Miguel Happoldt - by longtime Windy City bandmates and pals, singer/songwriter Adam Krier, drummer Chris Smith and bassist Jason Schultejann. The trio began writing and recording and produced their first EP, Runaway Songs. Shortly after, they were joined by brothers John and Luke Schmitt on guitar and keyboards. AM Taxi began establishing a rep as a dynamic live outfit with headlining performances at local clubs like the Metro and soon after recorded their second EP, The Good, The Bad and The Fed Up.

Entering an Austin studio with producer Mike McCarthy (Spoon, Patty Griffin, And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead), AM Taxi proceeded to record a major-label debut that reflects the group’s diverse influences. From the Springsteen-by-way-of-The Hold Steady, Fed Up, and the heart-on-the-sleeve Replacements-like confessional, The Mistake, to the Police-inspired world beat of Dead Street and the Clash-esque reggae pulse of Charissa, the group has one foot firmly planted in the classics and one right here, right now in the present.

“We wanted someone who could capture the way we sounded live,” says Krier about the choice of McCarthy. “What made Mike stand out was how he still records bands that way. He still uses reel-to-reel and we recorded a majority of the album live in studio. We weren’t so interested in making a record that sounded current, as we were something that could be classic.”

Pointing to personal favorites like Pacific Northwest Nuggets-style garage bands like The Wailers, The Sonics and Paul Revere and the Raiders, the British Invasion bands, soul greats Sam Cooke and Otis Redding, 2-Tone bands The Specials and The Selecter or alt-country acts Wilco and Ryan Adams, AM Taxi were not afraid to experiment with their sound.

“Our motto in the studio was, ‘If it ain’t broke, break it.’ We’d try things from every possible angle,” says Krier. “We’re not re-inventing the wheel here. It’s just classic rock songwriting with present-day arrangements. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been attracted to the honesty of bands like The Replacements and The Clash, who are completely opposite, actually. One would go out of their way to shoot themselves in the foot and the other wanted to take over the world. But both told the truth.”

That ability to tell it like it is comes through in Krier’s writing and in AM Taxi’s musicality. Taking their inspiration from his touring around the U.S. with several of his previous bands, songs like Dead Street and Shake, Rattle and Stall explore the restlessness he encountered along the way or, as Krier puts it, “Wherever I went, people were trying to get out of where they were.”

There are also songs about things everyone can identify with, like a couple in which no matter how much he messes up, she takes him back (Charissa) or New Year’s resolutions gone bad (Champagne Toast).

“I try to write songs about things people can relate to,” nods Krier “For me, the best music, at the end of the day, is therapeutic. That’s always in the back of my mind a little when I’m sitting down to write.”

And now, AM Taxi -- short for American Taxi, so-called because they’re all about moving across the U.S. towards their destination -- gets ready to hit the road… hard. They’ve already been out on the road with the likes of Sum 41 and The Ataris, while opening for The Offspring at Summerfest in Milwaukee, so they’re more than up for the task.

“Our goal is to take that 45 or 60 minutes and let people get away for a little bit,” says Adam. “And maybe even convert some of ‘em to AM Taxi fans. And, if they dig what we’re doing, maybe they’ll check out some of the stuff that influenced us.”

Take one listen to AM Taxi’s debut, We Don’t Stand A Chance and you can hear that same reverence for the past and hope for the future, a band that can cut across any number of age or genre demographics. Take the ride… they promise not to leave the meter running.

2 responses to “21 Questions with Adam Krier”

Iza says:

November 3, 2010 at 1:51 pm

If I didn’t know any better I’d think you made it all up to be funny, but really this is alllll you!
Love it and the photos especially the two portaits! 😉
PS 34 beers…. how many calories is that?? LOL

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Megan DiLullo says:

November 3, 2010 at 5:35 pm

Adam, it’s so great to have you here. Man, you drink like a pro.

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