Interviews

October 31, 2007

Voodoo Fest 07: Trombone Shorty Interview
By Louis Bedigian

“I think that’s very good ‘cause it keeps people interested in the music and they can actually feel like they’re part of being in a concert.”

Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews has been a huge part of Voodoo Fest and a big supporter of the New Orleans community. He recently visited the New Orleans Children’s Hospital during Sony’s gaming and donation event. Last year he played games with Warren Easton Charter high school students during Sony’s SingStar Rocks! karaoke contest (where Sony donated $20,000 to the school). He’s toured with Lenny Kravits and has performed on NBC’s ill-fated – but once entertaining – Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

Before going on stage at this year’s Voodoo Music Experience, Troy took a few moments to talk with GameZone about video games, music, and his band’s next step.

Your bassist, Mike Ballard, loves video games and is said to be somewhat of an electronics genius. I’ve been told to ask you, should he ever get the opportunity, do you think he’d be willing to leave the music industry to work on video games full time?

Troy Andrews: I think he’s one of the people I know that could actually manage both. But I think he might want to leave the music to go to the video gaming thing because he’s that excited.

[Note: GameZone spoke to Mike afterwards and he said that while he loves video games, he also loves music and couldn’t bear to leave.]

Earlier this week you hooked up with Sony at the New Orleans Children’s Hospital and performed at Tipitina’s later that night.

TA: Well you know myself, I did a thing last year with Donna [Armentor, Senior Manager of Promotions at SCEA], we did some things at Warren Easton, the high school that I graduated from. Being able to play at Voodoo Fest and play for a very young audience, I was very excited to be able to do that.


Bassist Mike Ballard (left) and guitarist Pete Murano
 

What games do you play in between shows?

TA: NBA Live has really pulled me in. I play that all day, everyday. And Madden, and I like Grand Theft Auto. And every once in a while I try some different things, but those three are the main games that I’m interested in.

What are your thoughts on music games?

TA: I think they’re very good ‘cause it keeps people interested in the music and they can actually feel like they’re part of being in a concert. I think it’s a great concept for them [the developers] to have come up with that.

Tell us about your writing process – how do you begin? How do you pull all the sounds together?

TA: With certain things I have my own personality that I might bring to the table, and then I have my guitar player, who might come in with a riff that [he] thinks feels good. We start one at a time and build it like a house. The drummer will kick off with a symbol pattern, the bass drummer will come in, then the bass guitar. And sometimes I might come and I might already have stuff planned out in my head. And I’ll just tell everyone what I want them to do, and once it happens, they take it from there. It’s just like video game [development].


Drummer Joey Peebles

Do you produce your own stuff?

TA: We produce most of our own stuff but we bring in certain writers to help us develop our songwriting on a certain level. Once we get with different collaborative… It broadens our musicality to another level and becomes something else. Then we take from that experience [and] keep playing.

Is that on a musical or lyrical level?

TA: Lyrical. Well both, but it’s 90% lyrical because we bring them [lyricists] in and they might play guitar with this particular line and with [a] particular line this chord might sound better. They might show us something different and alter it.

What’s next for Trombone Shorty?

TA: We’re gonna be hitting the college circuit and that crowd a lot. In the next year we’re going to be touring a lot. We got a few days off next month and to the end of the year. We’re gonna start recording and hopefully get enough material so that next year we can pop the record and we’ll start touring to promote the record.

Awesome. I know you’ve got a show to get to, but thanks for your time. It’s been great.

Photos and Story by Louis Bedigian.