Always Leave Them Wanting More

Engine Down is a band built on a solid foundation of friendship that goes all the way back to middle school and high school. After eight years together, the Richmond, Virginia-based band is leaving on a high note, choosing to disband while still in their prime, still making music they are proud of and with their friendship still securely intact. Engine Down’s Jason Wood took a break from the band’s farewell tour to talk about why Engine Down will be down for the count.

Why has the band decided to call it quits?
We all sort of felt like we’ve reached the goals that we wanted to with this band and we’re all super great friends. We have been, that’s how this band started. We’ve been a band for eight years and we’ve toured relentlessly for the last four years. It came to a point where we were like, “Well, maybe since most bands end up breaking up and hating each other, maybe we should get out while we’re in our prime and make it one last big farewell to everyone.” We don’t really see our band slowing down so it’s an all or none situation for us. It’s been our lives for this long and it would be really hard to just pick it up and put it down as we saw fit.

With this being Engine Down’s farewell tour, what is the mood like in the band?
It’s actually really good. There are points while we’re playing [when I’ll think] “Oh, this is the last time I’m gonna play this.” I think it’s there. We’re all thinking about it but I think we also owe it to ourselves to be positive about it, that’s why we decided to do it as our last tour. I don’t think it’s because we’re not thinking about it, I think we’re trying our hardest to stay motivated and be positive about it. Obviously, I get bummed. It’s sort of a roller coaster from day to day, but life is like that. I know that there are certain cities that are going to be a lot harder [to play] than other cities.

How has the audience been reacting on this final tour?
I don’t know how to describe it. The people who are coming aren’t coming really just to see [a band play], they’re coming because they know it’s our last show and you can feel that vibe from them. A lot of our fans have been real honest about coming up and talking to us about how our band affected them. It’s been really great.

That must be nice to hear.
Yeah, it is. We felt like we owed this tour to the people who have supported our band for so long, too. If we just stopped and didn’t play any more shows, it’s not really fair to them either.

What does everyone have planned for life after Engine Down?
We’ve all been starting new stuff, not necessarily music-wise. I have started to book US tours for a couple of bands; most of them are on Lovitt Records. I’m gonna try that out and see how I like it. I did it for seven years before, even while Engine Down was a band. I’m sort of wanting to help out other bands as much as possible. Jonathan [Fuller] has been doing work in a studio. A couple of us have been talking about being in another band but I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag on that one yet.

Now that Engine Down is coming to an end, as you look back over your time together, what are you most proud of?
I’m just proud of our band’s attitude throughout the last eight years. We’ve worked at a very slow progression as far as everything that we’ve been handed or have worked towards. We’ve really appreciated everything that we have gotten. I don’t think there was ever a point where we were not paying attention to anything that anyone had done for us, or any goal that had [been reached]. When we found out we were going to Europe for the first time, we were all freaking out. It was such a huge deal. When we stopped playing basement shows and started playing in clubs, there was a natural progression. Everything in Engine Down has just been very comfortable. We’ve done everything at our own pace. I really appreciate that about our band. The fact that we’ve been in a band for eight years and aren’t ripping each other’s faces apart is pretty great, too. We’ve connected musically for this long. No one has been unhappy with any musical changes that we’ve made. Personally, I’m not really ready to jump into a band right away after this because I’ve been in a band with my best friend for the last eight years and trying to duplicate that is impossible. So, I’m going to take more of a music business approach after this as opposed to actually being in a band.

Which Engine Down album is your favorite?
Woo! That is rough. I can’t really do that. I like how beautifully naive the first record is. None of us really knew what we were doing but we loved playing together and those songs are amazing for that reason. The second record is more concentrating with Keeley and him singing a little bit more than the rest of us. I loved recording with J. Robbins on that record and I love the way it turned out. I love Demure for its atmospheric [sound]. I love the new record because we were ready for that record. There is nothing I would change about that record. We had the time to nitpick everything and that’s what we wanted to do. I think I could make a pretty good Engine Down greatest hits but it wouldn’t be off just one record.

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