I have some very exciting news! First of all, my friend David has a band. Named Dr. Pants. But even more exciting than that – two, count ‘em, TWO songs by Dr. Pants were featured on the smash hit MTV show Jersey Shore last week.
And while I must admit I have never, ever (even once) seen an episode of Jersey Shore, I still found this news to be incredibly exciting. Like I said above. VERY VERY exciting.
I mean, seriously! How often is music made by your friend featured on a show that the whole country is making fun of watching?
So, I asked David to grant me an interview, you know, before his head swells from all the attention and hair gel.
How did you get your music get picked up for The Jersey Shore?
About 3 years ago, MTV licensed all the songs on our album “Gardening In a Tornado” for potential use on the show “Next.” A number of songs were featured on that show in 2007 and 2008. The license allowed them to continue to use the songs whenever and however they wanted, not only on MTV, but on any network owned by their parent company, including Viacom (this is how our song “Donuts” wound up being used on “CBS Sunday Morning” in 2009). MTV has used our songs on a number of shows since (“Sex… With Mom & Dad,” “Disaster Date”), but we are really happy that they’ve decided to now use them on “Jersey Shore.” It’s easily the most popular show our songs have been featured in.
Did you get to meet Snooki?
No. What a shame. I’d really love to tell her personally how much promise I think she has, not only as a television personality, but as a human being as well.
Is the cast going to star in your next music video?
You know, we’ve thought about it, but ultimately it’d be hard to do all 8 of them justice in only 4 minutes time.
Seriously though, describe Dr. Pants musically.
We call our style “Nerd Power Groove Rock” – Weezer & Beck had a baby with Phish, and that baby is Dr. Pants. To get a bit more specific, we definitely have songs that are concise, rockin’ and hooky, like Weezer, but also have songs that groove out, are a bit funkier, and sometimes have solos that go on for a bit. Sometimes all of these things can happen in the same song. There’s also the occasional white boy rap, and a definite Tom Petty-ish singer/songwriter element. Some of the songs from the “Gardening” record that MTV used definitely fit into that last category.
And how did the band start?
The band started in 1999 when a friend of mine, Brian Byrne, moved to the OKC area. We had played together before, and I knew that, if I were starting a band, he would be a great second guitarist that was sympathetic to what I was trying to do. He and I played together as an acoustic duo for a few months, and then hooked up with a bassist and drummer that he worked with. Thus, Dr. Pants was born. After about a year, the lineup started a series of changes that lasted until late 2006, when the current lineup finally stabilized. The current “version” of Dr. Pants has been playing together now for almost four years.
So, you are from Oklahoma City. What is the music scene like there?
It’s very interesting… I think it suffers from a condition that plagues many mid-level cities, in that there’s a lot of great bands and songwriters doing really interesting things, but not enough venues or listeners actively supporting them. There are a lot of people who opt not to go hear local music on weekends, probably thinking that plenty of other people are. Unfortunately, that’s not the case!
What songs were featured on Jersey Shore?
“Away From This” and “Hey Abe Lincoln” were both featured in this past week’s episode. Turns out they used our song “Doppelganger Rock” on an earlier episode as well.
What’s next for Dr. Pants?
We are starting work on a new album this fall, and I’m really, really excited about that. We’ve been sending out a few demo versions of the new songs to our mailing list. If you want a free song every month, join our mailing list!
And finally. What is Snooki like? REAALLLY.
She’s always on the make. A force to be reckoned with. If I had a dollar for every time I had to say, “No, Snooki, I’m married…”
Yay for the boys from the OKC!
Mari
I concur that the music scene here is pretty varied. Thanks for the skinny on the music as I may be the only other American not embroiled in the Jersey Shore drama …
Nice interview!
Congrats to Dr. Pants: getting music on any show, especially “Jersey Shore” right now, is amazing!
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