Review Fix Exclusive: Baked Potatoes Talk ‘Loaded’

Review Fix chats with The Baked Potatoes’ Andrew Orlean, Aaron Roman, Joe Kaplan, Pat Tierney  and Jesse Hermann about their origin, goals for the future and upcoming album, “Loaded,” as well as the small tour supporting it.

Review Fix: How was the band formed?

Andrew Orlean:  It was the end of 2012 at SUNY Oneonta, and separately all of us were making music one way or another. Our lead vocalist Pat was playing in a couple of different bands, one being with our lead guitarist Joe and another with our bassist Andrew. He proposed the idea of a reggae band to the 2 of them who agreed, and before long, the recruiting process began. With no band name to speak of, we hosted countless jam sessions with different artists, and the situation became frustrating with all the flaky musicians we tried out. After our lineup was set and the name Baked Potatoes was chosen out of the infinite array of possibilities, Pat Joe and Andrew wound up signing a lease together, leading to a legendary year of shows and parties at what became known as the Tater Ranch. Our first show was on 4/20, which makes it fitting that our first full length album will be released on that very day this year.

Review Fix: How would you describe your style?

Joe Kaplan: Although our roots exist in reggae, we are not strictly a reggae band. There are elements of punk, funk, jazz, and jam music that are quite prevalent especially in the newer material we’ve been writing. I feel it is important for a band to not be confined to a singular genre of music. All that does is limit your potential as a musician and puts you in the mindset that you can’t do anything else. Incorporating other forms of music in your songs is a rewarding experience for both the musician and the audience.

Review Fix: Why does reggae still matter?

Pat Tierney:  Reggae will always be a genre defined by its good vibes and overall positive message. Being a reggae band allows us all to express our different musical backgrounds and blend them into something that everyone can enjoy.

Review Fix: What makes “Loaded” special?

Jesse Hermann:  For some bands, recording a full length record is a feat that goes unreached. As a band, none of us thought we would make it this far. Loaded is special to us because it’s a culmination of everything we have worked on for so long. With a few songs we wrote in the studio, but most which we wrote while on the road, Loaded is an album that each of us are proud of for so many reasons. It is special because we found the time in our busy lives to record it while we are all scattered throughout New York State.

Review Fix: What’s the band’s creative process like?

Aaron Roman:  Typically our process is super organic. One of our members will bring and idea or riff to the table and we jam on it until we have a sound we are happy with. Next comes a structure and we build the song from there. If it sounds empty we work together to brainstorm new parts to fill out the sound.

Review Fix: How do you want this album to be remembered?

Tierney: We all want this album to be the one that gets us discovered. Before recording a full length we had self recorded an EP and released another short EP right after college. With this album we all focused on our sound and developing a direction we want to take the band and really feel like this album is something we can’t wait to share with anyone and everyone

Review Fix: What have you learned through this album?

Tierney:  Throughout this album, we all learned exactly what we are capable of. Leading up to recording the album our biggest problem was actually getting together to practice, due to the fact we all have full time jobs and live in different parts of the state. When it came time to record the album, we only took 4 days. Two days of practicing and two days of recording to get all the tracking for the album done. It was cool what the band was able to accomplish given a short time frame, but more importantly it showed what our potential is.

Review Fix: How do you want it to affect people?

Roman:  Each of our songs has a unique tone that will affect everyone differently. Some make you want to dance, smile, and frolic around. Others make you want to get baked and be a couch potato… Going into making this album I really didn’t think too much into how it would affect people. I always just loved the sound and experience of playing music so its always been more internal for me. Its so different being on the other end of things now. Listening to the album I find myself just smiling and genuinely getting caught up in it. I suppose I really hope listeners have a similar experience. Getting pulled away from their every day life and just getting lost in the music.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Kaplan:  There are a lot of big things coming up. On April 20th, we’re releasing our full length and opening up for an amazing reggae band known as John Brown’s Body.  We’re also planning a tour to the West Coast in June to promote our album and find a spot to relocate as a band. Honestly, anywhere we go, you can bet we’re going to be spreading good vibes and good music with a smile.

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?

Hermann:  We will be playing the following shows:

3/30/16 – Al’s Wine & Whiskey Lounge (Syracuse, NY)

3/31/16 – The Ferris Wheel (Oswego, NY)

4/02/16 – Katie’s of Smithtown (Smithtown, NY) w/The Bellegards

4/20/16 – The Westcott Theater (Syracuse, NY) w/John Brown’s Body

4/28/16 – Looking to fill

4/29/16 – PRIVATE EVENT (Oneonta, NY)

4/30/16 – World Of Beer (Syracuse, NY)

5/01/16 – Bus Painting Party (Oneonta, NY)

In addition, we are planning a tour for the beginning of June.  Looking to go all the way out to California in our blue minibus. If you would like to book us, send us an email to [email protected]. Everything helps. Look for our album digitally on 4|20.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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