Interview: Stephen Horning of Namasté

One of the things many people notice about the Evansville music scene is that it is known for its cover bands. It seems like anytime you walk into a bar you’re going to be hearing the same cover of a Guns N Roses or Big & Rich song. Not all bands are doing cover songs, though. We caught up with Stephen Horning, the lead singer of Namasté. Namasté is a local band playing all original tunes.

How long has Namasté been together?

We’re coming up on our 9th year. We got together more out of necessity than anything. There aren’t that many musicians around the area that play the style of music we do. I was actually coming back from Boston where I had lived for quite a while. I was trying to figure out what to do with my musical abilities and I ran out of money. A buddy of mine had met a few of the guys from the band. They were, at the time, playing in a cover band around town. He introduced them to me the night I came back from Boston and we decided to start jamming together.

Did you start out playing original music or as a cover band?

The original intention was to play original music. We used covers to get to know each other since we all knew how to play the songs. We started writing songs immediately, and as soon as we had enough original material to play a show with, we started trying to get gigs.

What would you say your musical style is?

Initially our common ground was Phish in that this is something we all knew how to play. Even so, we all have such a wide array of musical interests that are very diverse comparatively. Everything has been thrown into the melting pot since then: blue, reggae. It’s general styles more than just bands per se. We just try to mix them all together.

You’re one of the few bands in town that’s not a cover band and plays only original music. Why do you think that is?

I think it’s because that is what has worked in town for so long. People have gotten used to it. A lot of the bar owners are scared, in my opinion, to leave that realm of cover bands because they have come to rely on it. You do have to take a chance when you bring in an original act because you can get some crappy stuff. The thing with cover bands is that even if the musicians aren’t top notch, they’re still playing stuff that everyone knows and is proven to work. I’d like to think that Evansville has a more discerning ear and want to hear more than covers.

What do you think it would take to get over that hump and get the cover bands to perform more original material?

I think it will take the original artists in town to come together and help each other out a lot more than they do already. That is really the basis of the scene. What’s missing is an organization of the scene. If you look though, people are trying to do it. It’s a slow growing process. I think a good sign of that is the art colony downtown that was opened recently. I think all artists from all genres to support each other to help the scene grow. We all appreciate each others mediums if we don’t partake in them per se. Our mediums can help each other. There is an artist that comes to our shows at Time Out that paints while we play.

What’s the best show you’ve played and what made it great?

I would say that our home base is the Deerhead. Every time we play there we pack the place. I don’t know what it is that makes the place different, but the most people come there for our gigs. Because of that, the energy level is very high. People are dancing and having a good time. When we play there, we try to pull in bands from out of town so they can experience the crowd there.

Finish this sentence: The best fans are…

It’s hard to say, because there are a few different categories of fans. There’s the guy that comes to every show, and if they miss a show they make sure to get a recording. There’s also the fans that are always up front singing the lyrics into my face the whole show. I think that for me personally, the really awesome fans are the ones that have listened enough to know the lyrics. It shows that they have taken the time to listen to the music. To me, even though we are a jam band, I tend to think that my lyrics are very important. I hope that they are.

What’s the lamest crowd request you’ve received?

We always get the guy that comes up asking us to play heavy metal or something. We were in Terra Haute once, and this girl came up and was telling us about this band she loved. She told us we’d be awesome paired with them. I asked her what type of show they did. She described them carrying their guitarist out in a coffin for the beginning of the show. I like theatrical rock, but that’s just not what we do. I enjoy it, but I don’t think we’d be paired well with it.

How are you getting your name and your music out besides just playing around town?

CDBaby is a huge resource that let’s bands that don’t have distribution deals get a lot of contacts and distribute their CDs. They also submit your stuff to iTunes. We’ve sent things to college radio.

Do you see yourself quitting your day job and doing Namasté full time?

I hope so. I’m not necessarily looking to be rich, but if I could just replace my income I make from my day job, that would be fine with me. It wouldn’t take a whole lot more than what we’re doing to do that. We would need to solidify our out of town gigs a bit more and ask for more money. It is definitely the goal though. It’s been the long term goal for a while. Hopefully it’s turning into a short term goal.

What’s your favorite song to perform?

Tori Amos has a very interesting way to talk about her songs. Each song is a different friend to her. She has a different relationship with them all. I try to feel the same way about them. If you watch me perform, I try to lose myself in each song. It’s just too hard to decide.

Any advice to aspiring musicians out there?

Always keep your mind open. That’s what is most important. I started playing Smashing Pumpkins and Nirvana in my garage during junior high and high school. Now I am doing this stuff, which is a completely different world altogether. I never would have thought I was doing this at that age. Always be yourself no matter what.

Where can we see you next?

Tonight we play the Focus Festival on Haynies Corner in front of the Alhambra at 9:15PM. Saturday night we’ll be at the Deerhead starting at 9:00PM.

The Basics

Name: Stephen Horning

Describe yourself in one sentence: I strive to be as original and truthful as possible.

Age and occupation: I’m 26 and make sandwiches for Schlotzsky’s Deli.

Hometown: Henderson, KY

Favorite place to spend time online: I spent a lot of time on MySpace

Favorite local business: Los Toribio’s in Henderson

Favorite local hangout: Pennylane. I love the atmosphere and a lot of my friends hang out there.

Evansville has the BEST… change of making it’s music scene worth something.

You’ve never lived in Evansville until… you’ve eaten at the Gersthaus.

Evansville would be much better if only… people were willing to take a chance on breaking outside of their molds. People get too used to behaving a certain way. When we get introduced to new things, we tend to stay away because we’re so used to not having it here.

Place you always tell visitors to check out: I usually try to invite people down to Deerhead when we’re playing. They have great drinks and good pizza.

If you’d like to hear some of Namasté’s music, check out their MySpace profile.