Adequate Phil – Thanks for Asking

Adequate Phil – Thanks for Asking, by Liam Sweeny.

RRX: Every comic book hero has an origin story. What is the origin story for the band? (points if you tell it like a comic book origin.)

AP: Well the hero of the band is clearly Duke Phil of Rochester. Descended from a long lineage of Quakers who ended up settling in the Rochester area, the McGrath clan specialized in hog farming, though the hero himself did not join our gang until much later. Adequate Phil was started in L Nino’s ramshackle one bedroom apartment when he and Showerpanther used to jam and make weird homespun recordings. The Duke of Rochester, who had gone to college with L Nino at RPI, serendipitously returned to the Capital Region following a job in Boston, and was asked to join for a few jams. In time, Sean/ShowerPanther introduced Bobby, a local pipelayer in Troy, and the original lineup was complete/the band started building momentum after their debut public show at 518 Craft in Troy.

RRX: Every band’s first song is a milestone. But so is the latest song. Describe the first song/album you recorded, and also the latest song/album you recorded; what are the differences?

AP: The first song that was ever recorded and subsequently released under the moniker Adequate Phil was a concoction brewed by Sean and L Nino one fateful, blurry night, in the original hovel of L Niño. The ingredients are as follows:

1 part acoustic guitar

1 part electronically filtered panther yowls

1.25 parts panther samples

10 mg Adderall (20 mg total)

1.75 grams cannabis

2 beers (4 beers total)

Crystal Caves (To Taste)

The latest song we put out was Peaches, which was a track initially conceived, composed, and produced by Phil with subsequent production, guitar, and percussion sorcery from L Nino and dripping psych/texture layers from Showerpanther.

RRX: Like songs, every band has a unique feeling about their first show. What was your first show like? Was it your best show? If not, what was your best show like?

AP: Our very first public-ish performance was in L Nino’s apartment for a handful of friends and acquaintances, it was only Phil, Showerpanther, L Nino, and the Elephant in the Room, all playing along to a drum machine. Def not our best show per se, but as it were, Andrew happened to be in the crowd at the time which may have planted the seeds for the convergence of our respective…uh…Destinies…and our….musical….Children….

yeah

Our first official public show ended up being at 518 Craft where we ended up being on the same bill as Andrew’s other band, Big Maybe.

The Jive Hive recording/show was an especially special/memorable set, not only because it was surreal to be in such a groovy space complete with professional recording and filming equipment, but also…just the chance to be a part of such an incredible/eclectic lil “club” of fellow weirdos and song makers felt…idk, it just felt right ya know? The recordings came out incredibly well too with our performance of “Mystery Jam” being ultimately selected as a live single we put out on the big streaming platforms.

RRX: Music genres are difficult for some bands. Some strictly adhere; others not so much. What is your perspective on the genre you play, or the genres you hover around?

AP: …Hard to say… live it gets into trippy jams for sure like more electronic tinged jammy acts, like Papadosio and Lotus, but then in the studio it turns into very experimental, yet precisely produced, Animal Collective-esque, Beach Boys, and Revolver-Beatles-Era psychedelic compositions

RRX: It’s a lot of fun living in the present, but we all collect memories and give birth to dreams. We’re talking dreams here. Where you see yourself next year? In the next five years?

AP: Phil literally just left this plane for pastures of much more fertile corn…alas….it’s hard to even look past the zenith of the barns roof, and the pig’s sty, let alone 4-5 years into the future of where currently are at this time….we are in flux….so to speak…the good news is we have a collection of 10 songs/a full album , most of which has not been released yet so….regardless of what the future holds, we at least have a “sonic snapshot” of our time spent together that we are proud of so…if anything, putting that collection out for our budding local following/fans is something to look forward to for sure…

RRX: We all get a little support from those around us. And we also can be impressed by our fellow bands. Who do you admire in your community, and why?

AP: At this point in time, Troy is literally going through a creative renaissance of sorts. Never have any of us been part of a “Scene” that is so nurturing and so supportive of one another. From bands we “came up with” such as Boss Crowley, and Yort (aka Seth and his numerous projects) and more established acts like The Sugar Hold, to all the nitty gritty venues that go balls to the wall to cultivate the arts such as No Fun, the Troy Speakeasy and Jive Hive, The Capital Region is buzzing right now. A scene that consistently supports each other’s creative outlets/projects, seems almost unthinkable in a more competitive scene like NYC. Not only that, curiously enough, local press and music outlets are not in a “bubble” aloof from the creative explosion around them, and they all have their finger right on the pulse, highlighting and further supporting creatives who actually deserve it in the local area. The humbling feeling of gratitude is almost hard to convey with mere words.

So uh…yeah thanks for ya know….taking an interest in what we do 🙂

More from Liam Sweeny.