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My name is Trip Boyd and I play in a rock band from Philadelphia Pa. called The Beavers. We are currently a 3 piece band. I play guitar and sing, Patty McMahon sings, and Terry Williams plays bass. I’m currently using backing tracks for drums and keyboards for our live performances. 

The Beavers began back in 1997. Originally, it was going to just be a solo project that I was going to record in my home studio at the time. However, I wanted the project to sound like a band so I decided to come up with a band name. At that point in time there was a college here in Philadelphia called Beaver College. They had to change their name due to the fact that if you were interested in attending Beaver College, and you googled “Beaver College,” you would instead be directed to a porn site.

After my project titled “Sweeping the Elephant” was finished, it was suggested that I put a band together and go play these songs live. The original Beavers line up consisted of myself, Patty on back up vocals, Mark Sarisky on guitar, Norman Carter on bass, and Steve Jolles on drums. After a few years and one project later (“One With the Sand….”) the band went on hiatus for several years as I hit a mid life crisis and decided to go to college and become an Education major. In 2012 we reformed with Steve Jolles on drums, Pat Polli on bass and Mike Powers on guitar (in addition to myself). In 2016 Mark Sarisky rejoined the band on guitar and keyboards. Patty rejoined the band on vocals. We also added Gordon Rice on bass and Frank Rementer on drums. Last summer (2018) I decided to make some changes and go in a new direction which resulted in our current line up. 

Have any of you played in other bands? Yes, we’ve all played in many bands over the years. Too many to list. Personally, I’ve played in at least 4 bands with Terry Williams over the last several years. 

How is it that you started playing music? My interest with music began just like everyone else from my generation. The Beatles first performance on the Ed Sullivan show!!! Which also just happened to be my birthday. Fast foward several years……I had some friends who played in a band. I used to go watch them practice. Their bass player wasn’t very good and used to miss a lot of practices. The band told me that if I bought a bass, they would let me be their bass player.

Did you make music even when you were young? There were 2 brothers who lived across the street from me when I was like 9 or 10. We used to pretend we were playing but we didn’t even know how to play any instruments. We would pantamime playing along with records. However,  we did write one song. It was about one verse long. It’s funny that I actually remember this. But by the time I started learning how to play, the first bands I played in just played cover songs. No one I knew was a song writer. 

What inspires you? That’s a good question and I’m not sure I can totally describe what inspires me. It’s a “feeling” i get. I believe inspiration is a personal thing. What inspires me might not inspire someone else. At least musically speaking. 

How often and where do you rehearse? Another interesting question since the dynamic of my band has changed. When we were a 5 piece band we rehearsed in my garage ONLY if we had an upcoming gig. With the 5 piece band we had one member who lived 3 hours away and another member who lived an hour away. In my opinion, that was not enough rehearsal in order to become a tight well oiled machine. Now my band only consists of 2 other people besides myself. I rehearse with my bass player Terry on a semi regular basis in my garage. With Patty who is the singer in my band, I’m able to rehearse acoustically with her at her apartment. This current situation is much more practical and convenient and as a result, we are tighter than we’ve ever been.

How have you developed since you started with the music? As I mentioned earlier, I started off as a bass player. My first few years in music were spent playing bass in cover bands. And then one day, a keyboard/guitar player in the band I was in, presented us with a couple of songs he was working on. He just had basic chord progressions and lyrics. And I just instinctively started arranging the song for him and putting it together for him. I have no idea how I knew to do what I did arrangement-wise. I just did it. And no one argued with me over it. This began a new chapter in my music career. I was now inspired to start writing songs. And then things began to snowball. Once I started writing songs I began to become interested in recording songs and producing songs. At this point I started interning and eventually working in recording studios as a recording engineer. In addition to being an engineer, I’ve also produced projects for some local bands and solo artists. Also, when I started writing songs I started playing guitar and keyboards in bands. It’s much easier to be a singer/songwriter on guitar rather than bass. Today I consider myself a songwriter first. I love writing songs, recording them, and playing them out in public.

Do you have other interests of work outside the band? I went back to college in the early 2000’s. I graduated with a degree in Education. That didn’t quite work out the way I anticipated. I also studied behavioral health in college and worked in a few rehabs a while back. I currently work part time as a substitute teacher. 

For the last several years, I’ve considered myself a “Do It Yourself” musician. I write the songs. I  record and program all the instruments on Garageband in the comfort of my home. When it’s time to play out, I’m the one who books the gigs. In other words, I have total control of all things “Beavers.” However, that being said, I would love to have some help with regards to booking shows and promotion etc. I belong to reverbnation.com. They send me opportunities with regards to gigs, agents, record deals etc. I submit to these opportunities on a regular basis. Personally, I would love to have a booking agent and a label. However, my focus is on writing good songs because I love writing songs. THAT is my primary focus. I make music because I enjoy making music. And if I somehow get a booking agent or a label, that would be a bonus!!!! 

I write the vast majority of the music and with the exception of one project, I write all the lyrics. I always start with the music. It usually starts with a simple chord progression or a riff. Once I record it, then I can start to build on it. And that’s when the magic starts to happen. With regards to lyrics….I find my best lyrics come to me at the most inappropriate times. For example, I could be in the middle of making dinner and I have to stop chopping an onion, wash my hands, go into the living room where my journal is, and write down the idea I just had. The important thing for me is to get in the habit of writing these ideas down in my journal. My last project (lyric-wise) was literally a collections of lyrics that just came to me stream of conscious. I found I could take a few of these lines and then put them together and make some kind of meaning out of them. Sometimes when I’m trying to put a verse together and get stuck and can’t think of a line, I’ll go to a site called Rhyme Zone. I’ll put in a word and see what rhymes with it. I get a lot of ideas doing that. For example, a line in my song Yeah Yeah Yeah is “her policy’s congruent, it favors the affluent.” Now, I would have NEVER been able to rhyme “congruent” and “affluent” on my own!!!! 

What are your songs about? My songs vary. I’ve written 2 concept albums. One was literally a strory about someone and his adventures. Another project was about the trials and tribulations of the baby boomer generation. One project was a soundtrack to a short story that a friend wrote. The short story my friend wrote was written in the first person narritve and had a bunch of great “one liners.” I took the story, and my friends “one liners,” and made 4 songs out of them. Recently, I’ve just been going with the “stream of conscious” lyrics that just seem to fall out of the sky, and try to create meaning out of them. In addition, I’ve noticed over the last few years that my default mode when it comes to picking a topic is…..pointing out the hypocrisy in religion and politics. It’s just way to easy to write about this. I am however trying to get away from that. 

Do you compose in a certain environment? Generally, I write in the comfort of my own home. I get an inspiration and just go with it. It’s been a long time since I’ve collaborated with other musicians in a rehearsal in order to come up with ideas for a song. That being said……I DO have one song that stands out as “different.” And until someone can prove otherwise, I’m gonna say I’m the ONLY person in the history of music who had a song written by “friends” through social media. Here’s what I did……I made a post on facebook asking my non musical friends to pick chord progressions for me. I literally posted all the notes. I said pick a 2 chord progressions, a 3 chord progression, and a 4 chord progression. A couple of my friends who I KNOW are not musicians, picked these chord progressions……and they actually made sense and worked!!!! Then I made another post on facebook asking for their best “one liners,” or anything lyric-wise. I got a LOT of great “one liners.” I was actually able to put all these abstract lyrics together, in addition to the chord progressions I was given, and make a song out of it. It’s called “Don’t Probe Me.”  

Have you done any covers live? Yes we do play covers. I love taking songs that are NOT rock songs and making them into a “Beaver’s Rock Songs.” I’ve recorded many covers and have them on my reverbnation.com site.   For the most part, I don’t play these songs out live however, I usually close my set with Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me To The Moon.” I also just recorded a rock version of “Baby It’s Cold Outside.”

What language do you sing in? This question highly implies that you interview many European bands and/or bands from many different countries. To answer this question, I’ll share a joke that I heard when I was in college studying Spanish. “What do you call someone who speaks 3 languages?” Trilingual or Multilingual. “What do you call someone who speaks 2 languages?” Bilingual. “What do you call someone who only speaks one language?” American. We’re from Philly, so yeah…….we sing in English. I do however want to one day write and sing a song in Spanish. 

What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs? I’d say we’ve had as few as 10 and as many as 100.

What ages are most of your concert attendants? I’d say probably 30-50-ish.

Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? I like to vary the set list.

Do you have a regular place you play live often? Sort of. There’s a lady here in Philly who books bands for 2 different clubs. She contacts me here and there to see if we can play. And we kind of play out in little spurts. We may not play out for a few months and then there are times we’re playing out every week.

What was your first gig like? Funny you should ask this question. I’d have to say exhausting and overwhelming!!! At the last minute, the opening act cancelled. So I got a band I used to play drums in, to open up. So I ended up playing drums with the opening act. So now I’m all tired and sweaty and I have to set up my guitar amp etc and get back up on stage and sing and play guitar and front a band. It was a fun gig but it was a little overwhelming.

What was your latest gig? My last gig was actually back in November and it was an acoustic gig at a coffee shop with the aforementioned Patty McMahon on vocals. 

Have you had to cancel a gig? Unfortunately, YES. And canceling this gig eventually led me to make the decision to downsize my band from a 5 piece to a 3 piece with backing tracks. We were scheduled to play a gig last summer. When the bass player found out we were responsible for paying the soundman at this club, he refused to play. A few weeks later we turned down the opportunity to play at another club. This was the breaking point for me. The way I was raised as a musican….one does NOT cancel gigs unless it’s an emergency!!!! However, I can’t complain. The canceling of these gigs inspired me to go in a different direction and I’ve really enjoyed this new direction.

Where have you played live this year? In the past year we’ve mostly just played here in Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs. I did however play a gig in North Carolina (a 7 hour drive from Philly) last summer.

Where do you plan to gig the coming year? I actually prefer playing special events and private parties as opposed to playing clubs. I have a gig at a private party in a few weeks. There’s also another event this summer called “West Philly Porchfest.” It’s an awesome event. West Philly is an area of town with many big old historic houses with big front porches. In a 2-3 square mile area, there are literally about 200 bands of all types playing on over 100 front porches. I’ve played this event the last 2 years and plan on playing it again this summer. I also plan on playing clubs here in the area beginning in the Spring.

What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? I’m not sure what to think about this. I’ve seen many aspects of life change and evolve over the years and this is just another.  I’m NOT getting paid for my music, however with social media, I now have a platform for others to HEAR my music that I didn’t have before. And on the flip side, I now have free access to any song.

How do you think the music industry have changed because of this? On the surface, the biggest change seems to be the price of a concert ticket today. I’ve also read where bands such as Fleetwood Mac and Billy Joel for example said they’re never going to record again because there’s no money in it. However they’ll continue to tour because that’s where the money is now.

What do you think of my work? I’m not that familiar with your work. But I’ve read some of the other bands interviews. But I will say that I GREATLY appreciate what you do!!!! Thanks for giving us a platform to get our stories out!!!

How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? I have no idea how things are going to work out. All I can do is the foot work. In other words I try to write good songs and promote them. That’s ALL I can control. I write songs because I love to write songs. I have no control over anything else. 

Do you have any role models? Yes….Dave Grohl, and NOT because he’s a great musician and has a great band, NOT because he writes great songs, but because he appears to be a good human being. The Foo Fighters are the ONE band I’d love to hang out with. And not necessarily for musical reasons. They seem to be the type of band you could hang out with and shoot the shit about ANYTHING, and have a good time. 

Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? I get inspiration from both. I’m definitely someone who enjoys new music. Many people my age ONLY like the music they grew up with. That’s NOT me. I get inspiration from older bands and from newer bands.

What have been your biggest obstacles? At this point in time, my biggest obstacle is getting people out to my gigs. When I was younger and my friends and I were going out EVERY night to party and see other bands, this was no issue. Now that I’m older and my friends are married and have careers and other distractions, it’s HARD to get them to come out and see you play on a Tuesday night when I’m scheduled to go on at 10:00 pm. 

What advice would you give other bands or artists? Do what you do because you love to do it. Pick people’s brains. Ask questions. Find out what other succesful musicians are doing. Promote yourself, Promote yourself, and Promote yourself!!!!

How do you get psyched for a gig? LOL…..funny you ask this. First, I make sure we’re ready. Good rehearsals take care of that. So therefore, there’s nothing to stress over. And that puts me in a positive mood and gives me confidence. And now that I’m older…..I take a nap before, and make sure I’m well rested and in a good frame of mind. If you’d asked me this question 20 years ago I would have given you a completely different answer. 

Do you have any new material? I wrote 4 new songs last summer that I’ve been promoting. And with all the ridiculous controversy about the song “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” I just HAD to record a “Beavers version” of that song. I released it last week. 

What are your plans for the future? I’m currently booking gigs now for this Spring and Summer so I can showcase my new material. Basically, my plans are always going to be…. write new songs, post them and promote them on social media, and then go play these songs live. 

Do you have anything to add? We are currently the #8 band on the Reverbnation Rock Charts for Philadelphia. AND….thank you for giving me the opportunity to promote my band!!!!