The Grooveliner puts the ‘fun’ in power-funk with their new album ‘Live From Your Mom’s House’

This is St. Louis on the air from St. Louis Public Radio. I'm Elaine Cha. When musicians from different bands or artists of similar genres with different styles collaborate, fans generally have one of two reactions. What is this? Or, what is this? In the latter case, it's new and exciting. Think groups like Journey, Fu Fighters, Run the Jewels, and Silk Sonic. Here in St. Louis, there's an example of that good kind of melding with a band that puts the fun in funk. The Grooveliner. The nine-piece ensemble has developed an image and sound that's built upon tongue-and-cheek humor. But make no mistake, the group is serious about music. And that shines through in their latest album, live from your mom's house, released earlier this year. Toby Meacham and Matt Vianello are the Grooveliner's founding members, and they're here to talk about their album and the way musicianship and mirth has led to its creation. Toby and Matt, welcome to St. Louis on the air. Thanks for having us. So before we talk about this album, we need to dig back about a decade or so to get a sense of how the groove liner came to be. And as we mentioned in the intro, the band is a product of mergings, of different parents, as it were. What were those bands? Matt, let's start with you. So I played in a band called Big Brother Thunder and the Master Blasters. And we were around five or six years played throughout the city, played at Loufest when that was around. And then toward the end of it, Some of us in that band decided we wanted to try to do something a little different. That band was a little more soulful, not heavy on the funk side. So Big Brother Thunder and the Master Blasters. Yes. And how about you, Toby? At the time I was in a band called North of the Quarter, and we were kind of anything French Quarter related like New Orleans and up the Mississippi. some brass stuff, some funk stuff. And about the same time, we were disbanding. And I had met Dave Muser, who was our original trumpet player. He was sitting in with us and kind of asked if I wanted to do something else with Matt, who I had not met yet. And who he wishes every day since then. That I had not. I'm sure. That is not the case. If the music is any indication. Well, so these are very different styles of music, different genres that each of you had been accustomed to playing at the time you met. So when you started the groove liner in, you know, 2015, 2016 or so, what were you envisioning or aiming for, Toby?

That's a great question. Funny story, we had a meeting first and rather than play together because we knew we had all played and we wanted to see if it was going to jive from a relationship standpoint. And at the time, this band Snarky Puppy Puppy was pretty new and they're pretty amazing. And they had mentioned at dinner that they were kind of going for that kind of vibe. And I was like, these guys are really cool. I got my car to drive home, and my wife said, how was it? And I said, the guys are great, but they have the wrong drummer. I am not able to play snarky puppy. Luckily, we didn't go that direction, but. Well, in fairness, I don't have the guitar chops to play snarky puppy, and nobody in the band really had the chops to be able to play. I didn't know that at the time. I was like, these guys are too good for me. Yeah, we weren't. Where did this meeting take place? The Crow's Nest in Maplewood. Oh, okay. Very local. I say meeting. It was drinks. There were beers involved. Oh, look. I mean, imbiving also, that counts. So the Grooveliners music, when I looked up your Instagram page, Facebook, band camp. It's described as, quote, St. Louis original power funk. So how much of that was an intentional carryover from the bands you previously played with? The thing is, I think what's fun is when you bring your influences in. They don't sound the way you hear them. They're funneled through you and the people you're with. And one of the things we wanted was no drama. We're all too old and I've been around for too long to have this be a pain in the butt thing. And so. We all bring in ideas and some stuff sticks and some stuff doesn't. And that's what I love about this band of many things, but that there's very little ego. It's just, hey, I have this idea. What can we do with it? And then we all make it our own. And sometimes it sounds like our influences and sometimes it just sounds like we don't even know where it's headed when we start. Are there any examples of surprises that came about because of... the way that you all were playing together? Yes. So the biggest surprise is on our album right now, we do a funk cover of Closer by Nine Inch Nails. Oh. Can't play that here, but no. There's an E next to it. There is an E next to it. And the whole idea from that came out of a song that we had written and recorded that... sounds nothing like what it ended up becoming and we never had any idea that or designs to cover a nine inch nails sign that that wasn't if you asked me five years ago if I would have ever been covering a nine inch nail song it wouldn't not anything against nine inch nails it just it wasn't on the list right and so we were playing a gig at for the St. Louis Blues

And just going through, sometimes we have these ideas. We record them. Little bits, pieces here or there. We forget about them. And then we're standing around waiting to do something. And we go, oh, hey, what about this one? Can we do anything with this? So we play it for our singer. And then he starts... singing the lyrics to closer over it and we were like oh okay well that's way better than where we were going completely different style feel I don't know that any part of our original not my idea are left in it but then it it morphed into something that we all thought was really cool yeah The name of the group and what you all have been describing about how you are, you're moving together and then you hit upon something. When I heard the groove liner, it made me think about an ocean liner, you know, like a big old ship moving smoothly and steadily across the water. Hopefully you don't hit upon anything. But I have to ask, you know, did the groove liner come about in the same way that you're... your music has. Did you have a meeting and then decide this is the thing it's going to be? Or did it come to be around the sound that you all were making? I think the sound had a lot to do with it. Like we want people to groove, to dance. And I think the idea was, you know, the lining of a record, like you're, you know, putting music into those grooves and hoping for the best. But it, I think a lot of bands would have a similar story, at least the way I remember it. We were throwing out names, like, and that's the hardest part of being in a band. And we had a gig and no name, right? Like, we had to have a, isn't it? It sounds like a movie moment, actually. Yeah, I mean, we may have booked the gig, and then we were like, oh, we need to. Come up with a name. Yeah, settle on a name. It's great that there is that connection to, like, vinyl. And you did press vinyl for this album, right? Yeah, our second one and this one, we did vinyl on. Lots of them left, if anybody's interested. Well, speaking of this album, let's get into some of the music on Live From Your Mom's House. Here's your song, Hire.

And that was Hire from the album Live From Your Mom's House by The Grooveliner. So let's talk about the backstory to this song. I've been informed that there was another working title that was a little cheekier. Matt? So was that Mitch Tebemmery? Yes, I think that is what it is. Yeah. The song names... We go through the exact same process with every song name that we went through with trying to come up with a band name, which is a million terrible ideas, and then hopefully we get to one that is okay. And then we'll go with that because okay is probably the best we're going to get. But it was Mitch to memory. That's kind of our motto. There's a Shel Silverstein book that my son loves, and it's called Runny Babbit. So it sounds like... Oh, yeah, I know that book. Yes, there's that switch happening. Same idea. Yeah. What is it about this song that qualifies it as a live from your mom's house track? So, I mean, live from your mom's house, it sounds like an insult, right? Like your mama's so in that line of... Is that what it was? That's where it started. Again, just being like, I don't know how things stick in this band. But we had a member for a while that had a tendency to be late for practice and gigs. And we'd say like, hey, practice started at 7. And his answer was always, oh, I'm sorry, I was at your mom's house. Oh, I see. And, you know, it got to be a thing. And then I don't know who said it. Somebody said, live from your mom's house would be a great name for the album. It was Dave. Dave Muser, our trumpet player, had that idea. And we all thought that it was hilarious because we were a bunch of juveniles. And then it stuck. And we weren't going to come up with something better than that. Yeah. Yeah. Was there something about, you know, the song higher? Something about its approach. You mentioned Dave Muser. Is it Dave that we hear playing a solo? in the middle of that song when things slow down? It's Dave on muted trumpet and then Derek Trammell on saxophone kind of answering that. But going back to what I said earlier, when we write, if it doesn't stick, we don't. We don't even record it. Like, there's lots of ideas that didn't make recording or make the album. And, you know, rather than record a bunch of songs where we felt some of them were filler or like, yeah, that one's okay. So Hires on there because we just really liked a lot about it, the horn line, the break in the middle. Ryan's lyrics, you know, great, great songwriter, great singer. This is a great spot to take a bit of a break. We'll be back shortly to pick up this conversation. I'm talking today with Toby Meacham and Matt Vianello. They're founders of the St. Louis Power Funk Band, The Groovliner. This is St. Louis on the air on St. Louis Public Radio.

Support comes from Gemma, architects, planners and designers, seeking to bring joy to their clients and communities. The Tales at J-E-M-A-S-T-L.com. Welcome back. Let's return to our conversation with the founders of the band The Groove Liner, Toby Meacham and Matt Vianello. To get us back into that, here's another song from their latest album, Live from Your Mom's House. This is Soul Girl. Soul Girl, your eyes are like diamonds, lighting up my world as you light another cigarette. I've been five... on to make you on the run you and make you

And that was Soul Girl by The Groove Liner. So this song is probably the most serious and reserved track on the album, and it's carried beautifully by lead vocals from Ryan Stewart. We spoke earlier, you know, about the influence of former bands that you all have been in, but I understand that Ryan came to the group kind of more organically, so to speak. Tell us about that. Toby? Yeah, so we were kind of fans, I think, before we got in a band with him. He fronts a band called Hazardia Booty that's been around for a long time on St. Louis. And our first album, The Grooveliner, was... mainly instrumentals with gang vocals. We didn't have a lead vocalist. And we wrote a song around COVID time that could really, like, benefit from a vocalist. And we had Ryan sing it in the studio and then just kind of hounded him until he agreed to join the band. He did tell us that he had also thought that it would be fun to join the band. So we're dancing around it like a... 90s teen love movie. Do you like me? Certainly yes or no. Yeah. But it worked out great. I mean, he did some live shows with us back when, like during COVID you could first start playing. We did some outdoor stuff. And what was that place with the drawn out things in the parking lot? And you could only be so close to each other. And yeah, so Drew Jameson, who runs it. Atomic by Jamo, which is down in the grove. He was doing this thing outside right by IKEA. And so got a whole stage set up, and then you would buy pods. That's right. To social distance and be outside. That throwback to, you know, the time during the pandemic, was there also something that each of you in the band were kind of itching to do, that Ryan's entrance sort of made possible in a way that wasn't possible before? I think he opened up a ton of doors for us. Like our songwriting really blossomed and changed once he came on board because we had so much more we could do. And yeah, during COVID specifically, we made a couple of music videos where we filmed them separately and then put them together because we couldn't be in the same room, you know. But yeah, then once he joined and, you know, Matt is really good at bringing in ideas that he has and then we changed them. And just having Ryan's voice in the room when we were going through all that really, I think, took the songs in a good direction. I don't know what you would add to that. Well, he's also a great front man. Yeah, he's awesome. And the rest of us are not. Okay. So he adds a visual dynamic to the band for our live performances, which is great. He gets the crowd involved. And then during the music writing process, he also is great with coming up with little random melody lines that allow us to think about the song in a way that we wouldn't have thought about.

I understand also that Soul Girl, while being the song that has kind of the most meaning behind it, is also one of the only songs that came to fully written. On that note, let's hear the demo version of that song. Oh, boy. Just me, two, three, four. We love your riot, tour me. I'm So, Matt, who are we hearing in this demo and how much of the song was brought to you all? So, first off, I'd like to apologize to listeners for the terrible sound quality of that song because it was recorded on an iPhone in a basement. I thought it actually sounded all right here, but... It's rustic. Yeah, that's right. It's rustic. That's right. Like an old cabin. So Ryan Torpia, who if you hear the little shout out to him at the beginning where Ryan Stewart goes, I love you, right? It was, Ryan was a keyboard player that played with us. He brought the idea to the table. And I think in that one, he's playing keys on it. Ryan Stewart's singing, John Short would have been playing bass, me on guitar, Toby on drums. But you can also tell the feel is a little different than what it turned into. It's got kind of a little more, would you say? A little. more almost maybe a little funkier even. Yeah. Yeah. And then, so those were the changes. The song idea was largely, you know, lyrics, structure, largely complete. And then the feel got switched around a little bit. We added some other stuff to it. I think I also learned from our producer, Darius Farner, that... Yuol had told him that Ryan T. was a former keyboard player. He said that you all can keep playing it and put it on your album. I mean, that's pretty generous. Yeah, he's a good guy. And that seems like a key component to genuine and sustained collaboration. I mean, would it be safe to say then that part of the power in your power funk group is collaboration? Absolutely. I mean, don't tell Matt, but I also kind of like these guys. But yes, there's different processes when you're in a band. And I feel like when you've got good people, good songwriters in a room together, you're going to end up with a better product when everybody contributes. And we definitely...

do that historically. I don't know if the product is better, but that's how we write. Yeah. I'll tell you, if I have an idea, I want to bring it in and see where it goes with everybody else. I mean, that's one of the things that I like is I'm never going to come up with a fully formed song with all the parts that's going to be worth anything. I know that. I've tried. They're terrible. But I'm excited to see once I have an idea where it's going to go from there, and I need the other people in the band to... add their little parts because I don't have the ability to hear it fully formed. There's one more song from your latest album, live from your mom's house, that I'd like to hear a little bit and to hear about. Let's listen to a snippet of Diggin' On You. Tams ain't with you.

And that was Dig In On You by The Groove Liner. So I cannot help but smile when I hear that. Like the lyrics are hilarious. What is it like to perform these songs? And do your fans kind of reflect the spirit of the group that you all have talked about? I just want to say that it's nice of you to think we have fans. Good answer. Yeah. Yeah, I think so. I mean, I think the people who like the music are, you know, the people that that want to have fun and want to dance. And I mean, that's what we're going for is, you know, everything, like you said, it. Good, like tongue and cheek. We just, we like to have fun and hope that that humor comes across when we play and want people to enjoy themselves when they come to a show. Like, there's lots of things they could be doing. So we want them to have a good time when they come here, the groove liner. What was the most fun or rewarding for each of you about making? live from your mom's house that you'd love for people listening to get out of it as they take it in. To me, I think St. Louis is an amazing music town, an underrated music town. I think we're going through some tough times now with the magazines and the newspapers we've lost, the radio we've lost. I feel like we've got these embers burning and we're going to be great again. We're just in a period where, you know, there's a lot of... nothing against it there's like people like to go hear cover bands they like to hear tribute bands and i just hope that there's enough people who like original music that we we keep we can keep putting it out and people keep listening to it and people come keep coming and supporting it yeah matt really what i hope people listening to the album get from it is we just want to at the end of the day we want to write music that we hope people enjoy that's what we hope to get out of it people listen people enjoy it and you know appreciate the product even whether it's you know lyrics or tongue-in-cheek or not we want people to listen to it and have a have a good memory of that, want to come back and listen to it again like any other band that you listen to. Matt Vianello and Toby Meacham are the founders of The Groove Liner. The self-described St. Louis original power funk band's third album, live from your mom's house, was released earlier this year. Toby and Matt, thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you. Thank you.

This episode was produced, recorded, and edited by Darius Farner. Sound design by Aaron Doer. Our executive producer is Alex Hoyer. St. Louis on the air is a production of St. Louis Public Radio. Understanding starts here. Do you find yourself regularly listening to episodes of St. Louis on the air? Suggest us to a friend you think might enjoy our conversations. And leave us a review and rating on Apple Podcasts on the App Store. It's the simplest way to help people discover our show. Thanks. St. Louis Public Radio is a member-supported service of the University of Missouri, St. Louis.