麻豆影院

Steve Lamos, who teaches English, writing and rhetoric at CU 麻豆影院, is also the drummer for American Football, a late-鈥�90s rock band that Rolling Stone ranks among the 鈥淭op 10 All Time鈥� emo bands. The group recently reunited after 15 years and released a second album, American Football (LP2).

American Football returned to the stage in October with three sold-out shows at Webster Hall in New York. Were you expecting this reception?

I sort of knew Webster Hall was a big deal, but I thought we were playing the basement. The venue said, 鈥榃e鈥檙e going to book you upstairs and see what happens.鈥� Within one minute of tickets going on sale, all 1,500 were gone. Webster Hall suggested adding a Saturday show since the Friday sold out so quickly. The Saturday tickets went in 10 minutes. Then they said, 鈥淲e should try Sunday.鈥�

How was it?

I had never played anything the size of Webster Hall. People kept introducing themselves and telling us they flew in from Europe or Malaysia or Scandinavia or Australia. People were taking pictures with us and showing us their band tattoos. I鈥檒l never forget that weekend.

Were you aware of how popular American Football has become since it originally disbanded?

I was almost completely oblivious. When murmurs of this reunion began and we started getting offers for more money than we had ever thought about, it started to sink in. It鈥檚 interesting to watch history revise itself. People did not like the first album when it came out, and reviews were lukewarm at best. Fifteen years later, though, we鈥檙e in 鈥淭op 10 All Time鈥� lists for the 鈥渆mo鈥� genre in Spin and Rolling Stone. But at the time, nobody cared. The biggest crowd we ever drew was maybe 100 people, and they were completely bored.

What is it about American Football that has stuck with listeners?

We all had records that were 15 to 20 years old that meant a lot to us when we were kids and we tried to transform those sounds into something we liked. It鈥檚 gratifying to think that there are other people for whom our music occupies some similar niche. I don鈥檛 think you can predict what will circulate, but once something gets picked up and people start connecting with it, that鈥檚 interesting.

Do your students know that you鈥檙e part of one of the 鈥渕ost influential鈥� and beloved 鈥�90s rock bands?

Some grad students in English were teasing me about it a while ago. As cool as the whole band thing is, it鈥檚 a tiny piece of life. On campus, I鈥檓 here to do a different job entirely.聽

Did you always know there was more in store for American Football?

I always did feel like the band ended prematurely. That said, I never thought it would all come back together. I had to earn tenure and music was very much on the backburner. Not that this has changed. I still love doing my job, but there is a little more headspace when I鈥檓 not on campus.

You play drums and trumpet?

I鈥檝e played the trumpet since I was six. My dad had this dance polka band and he would bring me on stage when I was little. It came about with American Football because there were a couple melodies that it went well with. When we do festivals, we don鈥檛 see too many other brass instruments.

Did you also start playing drums at an early stage?

I didn鈥檛 start playing drums until I was 21. I was ready for a break from the trumpet, and I wanted to be in rock bands, so the drums had an immediate attraction. From years of lessons on trumpet and violin, I at least knew how to practice.

What was it like meeting up with your college buddies to practice again?

I was in Chicago giving a keynote speech and had the opportunity to play with the guys for the first time in 15 years. After four hours of practicing, my wife called. She was eight months pregnant. She tells me, frantically: 鈥淥ur daughter is coming!鈥� After playing with the guys for the first time in forever, I rushed to O鈥橦are, jumped on a plane and drove to the hospital. My daughter was born an hour later.

How did American Football (LP2) come about?

After about 30 shows back together, we started asking, 鈥淒o we want to think about new music?鈥� We did鈥攁nd evidently Polyvinyl Records agreed. We wrote in earnest for about three months. The album was coming out in October, so it had to be done by March. We wrote a lot over long distance. I recorded my parts over Spring Break in Omaha at a studio owned by Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis.

What do you love about the new album?

I鈥檓 awfully proud of this one, especially the slow-burning tracks like 鈥淏orn to Lose鈥� and 鈥淕ive Me the Gun.鈥� Mike [Kinsella] did a nice job imagining what the characters of the first album would be thinking about 15 years later. There was no attempt to sound like the first record. All I can hope is that it will stand up and have legs like the first one has.

Were the bonus tracks on the re-released original LP really recorded with a boombox?

We would practice at this little house that I was renting. We would jam and whenever we鈥檇 stumble upon something, we鈥檇 hit record on the boombox. The 鈥渂onus tracks鈥� on the re-release are simply the contents of old tapes we found.

What鈥檚 next for American Football?聽

We鈥檝e got some weekend gigs in the spring and a few longer trips for the summer. The record company has shown a lot of faith in us. Part of the goal is to try to get new fans without making the old fans mad. As long as I can balance it with my life here at CU 麻豆影院, I鈥檒l keep doing it.

Condensed and edited by Andrew Daigle (笔丑顿贰苍驳濒鈥�16).听

Photo by Daniel Inskeep/Rachel Gulotta (top)