Quick round with Greenwheel

MUSE recently got a chance to chat with Ryan Jordan, the lead singer of the St. Louis based band, Greenwheel— while he was on tour, en route to Nashville, TN. Greenwheel’s first CD, Soma Holiday, is in stores now, and they are currently on tour with Hoobastank. They will be appearing at the Roxy in Boston on October 4th.

MUSE- How would you describe your sound and your new CD to people who have not heard your band before?

Ryan Jordan- I would say rock and roll, to keep it simple. Guitar driven, melodic, powerful, heartfelt, emotional, yeah. I could sit here and say we use this timing and these speed signatures, but that would be boring.

MUSE- Who would you say were major influences while making the CD?

Jordan- During that time– I think we were listening to a lot of Tool and Radiohead–we’re influenced by so many people and our songs have such different styles to them. It’s hard to pin down a certain influence. It’s not like we sat down and said, “let’s sound like this”.

MUSE-Critics have hailed Soma Holiday as a coming-of-age album. How do you think your sound has evolved and changed?

Jordan- Well, I think that Malcolm—our producer— definitely brought out our more aggressive side as we were discovering our style. Basically being our first record, I am very proud of what we did. But I use the analogy of it being a box of memories: who we were then. If we tried to make the same record now, it would be totally different, and that’s what you cherish about playing in a band.

MUSE-How did you get your big break?

Jordan-We basically just pooled our resources from people that we knew from home. Marc [guitarist] met Andy [guitarist] at the music store where Andy worked. Marc was there checking out guitars, and they started talking and jamming out-they had a cool connection. Andy and I used to serenade ladies at the local high school parties, he’d just bring his acoustic, and I would sing songs. Brandon [bassist] was in the jazz band at our high school. We went through quite a few drummers before we found Doug–but it’s a natural process that we came together.

MUSE- How is the tour life? What is it like traveling the country with bands like Hoobastank and Our Lady Peace?

Jordan- It’s fun just to see how other people embrace the beauty of the road and to see how they act with each other-to see their attitudes about everything and how they take care of themselves and what their priorities are. Are they worried about getting wasted all the time? Or do they go to bed early and never hang out? It’s good to tour with the other bands because you can learn a lot from them, especially if they have been out a long time.

MUSE- Is it strange for you to have fans everywhere, not just in your home area?

Jordan-It is weird, but at the same time it’s very humbling. It’s very rewarding and inspiring that we have people who are connected and are coming out to see us and singing our songs.

MUSE- How are the female fans treating you? On the website there are quite a few ladies after you guys…

Jordan-Yeah, well according to the website I have had sex with a lot of women (laughs). I get around…. I’m a busy man…There was something on there about six to nine girls a night. Yeah, I’m like, ‘Damn, I’m a machine…’ (laughs). That’s just people talking. But it’s definitely not the eighties anymore – no naked girls running around, doing whatever you tell them to do. We hang out women more because we enjoy their company. Stuff happens, but we’re good boys. We’re really good boys.

MUSE- If you were not in this band, where would you be?

Jordan- I would most likely be finishing up my education, studying to be the next Shakespeare (laughs). No, no… but I was really big into theater back in high school, but you know, we got a record deal. My theater background is very helpful to me, though, because I’m very comfortable up on stage.

MUSE- What’s next for you guys?

Jordan- Sex, drugs and rock and roll (laughs). Well, we are going home for the holidays, and then back out next year to tour even more. It’s a lot of hard work and a lot of growing.