Mr. Rosewater’s Patrick Tobias Speaks on Debut EP, Band Origins, and Saturday’s Show at The Royal American
On Friday, April 14th, Charleston rock band Mr. Rosewater made their debut EP Who Is Mr. Rosewater? available for streaming on bandcamp. Physical copies of the EP will be available on record store day, April 22nd, which is also the day that Mr. Rosewater is set to play at The Royal American with The Head and Finnegan Bell. We had the chance to speak with frontman Patrick Tobias about the EP, which has been a long time coming, recorded between September 2015 and December 2016 at WSBF Studio B, Makeout Reef, Christian’s parent’s house, and Ross’ apartment. The result is a solid 5 track album that introduces you to the world of Mr. Rosewater, and gives the band a sturdy set of legs to stand on in Charleston’s indie rock scene.
Read our interview with Tobias about the record below, and head on out to The Royal American on Friday night to hear this baby played live, along with some other tracks that the band has in their arsenal.
How did you and the rest of Mr. Rosewater get started playing music together?
Mr. Rosewater is the brainchild of Ross & I. We met in high school and started playing music together, and soon after we started writing songs together and we’ve been doing that pretty much ever since. We met Jesse Kieve last year through the rest of the boys at Makeout Reef, and Sam Cooper was my guitar teacher for a short period of time when I was younger.
What took you so long to record a 5 track EP, and why so many different locations?
Hahah, The EP took so long because we spent over a year trying to figure out how to record the first single “Refuge”. We recorded the rest of the record in the last 6 months. As to why we recorded in so many locations, it just came out of necessity. I would record where the musicians wanted/could be at the time.
What have you to say about Kurt Vonnegut and ‘God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater’?
I love Vonnegut, but I’m not a very active reader, I read some of his work in high school and enjoyed his perspective a lot. The character of Elliot Rosewater was always very interesting to me. When we were trying to name the band there were probably about 50 names I approached Ross with, Mr. Rosewater is the only one we couldn’t get rid of.
Can you tell me about the album cover? Was it first a photo that someone turned into a drawing?
The album cover is an image that I altered of a nuclear family from 1958, I felt it depicts a part of life we all can relate to, but at the same time is a bit nostalgic. That’s pretty much the same way I approach making music in Mr. Rosewater.
What are you looking forward to most about Saturday’s (4/22) show at The Royal American?
I am looking forward to being able to release our album on cassette. It’s always a great time when we play there and I am very excited to play with The Head & Finnegan Bell.
What’s the next step for Mr. Rosewater?
We are going to be playing as many shows as we can and recording new material. We recently went up to Santee, SC and tracked an entire record in my family lake house over 5 days, so we will be working on that and hopefully be releasing it by the end of the year.
Stream the debut EP, Who Is Mr. Rosewater? by Mr. Rosewater via bandcamp below, and head on out to The Royal American on Saturday night to see these guys play with The Head and Finnegan Bell, and also to pick up your copy of the EP on cassette!