Interview with Joseph Marro
"In September of last year, this band reformed to play their first live show together in four years at The Electric Factory in Philadelphia, for the people at this show, it was clear to see that it was important to have this band back in the alternative music scene, the energy the band gave, and the response from the crowd was just something else......with a new album in the works, this is clearly one of the most exciting times to be listening to such a great band, so spread the word because The Early November are back!" So for those who don't know, can you explain why you decided to announce a hiatus back in 2007? It's hard to really pinpoint one specific thing but I would have to say we we're all getting pretty burnt out on the amount of touring. We all had girlfriends or wives at that point and it was really hard to be away for 7 weeks at a time, making barely above minimum wage. We all just needed a break. No one was really mad at anyone else. In a lot of ways, I'm sure the hiatus saved our friendships and it is allowing us to do it again now.
Can you tell us about the side projects you guys got up to in this time? Ace recorded a few records & EP's. One under the moniker Ace Enders & A Million Different People and two under I Can Make A Mess. He recently had a baby girl named Ivy. Sergio played with Ace on a tour or two. Jeff recorded a solo album and did a lot of writing and session work for other bands. Bill kept a lower profile working odd jobs. Now he's working on a organic farm in Southern NJ. I joined HelloGoodbye in 2008. We toured a bunch, put out a record and generally had a really good time. I've also gotten into managing other artists and got married this past October.
When did you guys decide you wanted to get back together then? I mean was it maybe a gradual process or maybe just one moment that sparked the idea of reforming? We would talk about it here and there over the past 4 years but for some reason or another, it just didn't make sense to happen. Everyone was off doing their own thing and there was really no hurry. Suddenly, it all just clicked and everyone was down to give it a try. Originally, it was going to be just one show. One turned into two, then a new record, and now a small run of shows.