Let’s face it, after trekking from Cleveland to New York in a single afternoon - only to be greeted by several hours of rush hour gridlock nastiness - the last thing the gypsy gents of Bombadil probably wanted on Friday evening was to be stuck in EAR FARM’s inquisitive crosshairs. And lucky for them, the traffic jam actually saved them; the original plan was for all of us to meet up early and commence a friendly Q&A over a few drinks. The traffic gods had other plans though, mercifully spitting them out of the Holland Tunnel and onwards to the Living Room with no time for interrogation and only moments to spare before delivering another blisteringly awe-inspiring set. Yes, they had momentarily dodged our questions, but for how long?

About 24 hours….Bryan Rahija - guitar, vocals, dapper suit - was good enough to answer our 10 burning questions via email the following day (as well as show us a clip of their tour documentary, see below) just in time to add a little Bombadil to your Monday. Enjoy!

1. Who controls the radio/iPod/CD player in the van? Is there a process? A dictatorship? A democracy?

We actually have a very specific hierarchy in the van. The driver is known as the Pilot. To his right sits the Executor, who makes all the decisions, controls the climate and listening environment, and helps navigate. Then in the back you have the Strategy Team, whose job is to gather information and present evidence to the Executor on various matters. We rotate these positions daily, but in general I think 75% of the band prefers silence / conversation in the airwaves to music.

2. How do you decide on setlists every night?

We used to sit down and write out an actual list, but that got a little tedious–plus rooms and audiences didn’t always turned as we expected. These days we usually elect one guy to decide which song comes next for the night. We’ve tried a lot of different ways to mix it up…at one point we carried 3 dice around, with a different song written on each face. Periodically during shows we’d roll one of the di and play whatever came up.

3. Have you been able to watch any of the Olympics while on the road? If so, any favorite moments or events?

Oh man, we watched an epic table tennis battle between a guy from Spain and a guy from India. I never thought it would be that intense–the guy from India (who had sprained his knee in a recent match) basically dove for a ball and crashed into the walls around the court. We also caught some racewalking while in Grand Rapids and that was incredible.

4. What was the longest single drive you guys have had to endure so far on tour?

Normally the drive from Phoenix to Albuquerque is only eight hours, but somehow we managed to stretch it out another two hours by making 8 different ill-fated stops along the way. At one stop for gas we all piled out of the van, spent 15 minutes milling around the gas station, and piled back in only to realize that no one had bothered to put gas in the tank. Refusing to have our progress halted, we drove down the road until we were riding on fumes only to discover gas had shot up $.30 per gallon. Later we saw a billboard advertising ‘free petrified wood’ and had to check it out. But it turns out that they really meant ‘free tiny piece of colored gravel from our driveway (limit one per vehicle!)’. That was about characteristic of the whole day. Maybe it had something with the fact that we were forced to evacuate our accommodations from the night before at 630am.

5. What’s the inspiration for your very particular “look” that you guys have onstage? Do you take style cues from anywhere?

Well, we’re trying to gradually match the clothes to the music to create some kind of cohesion to the live show. We’re pretty lazy dressers as individuals to begin with so it’s taken us a little while to figure out just how to do that. One thing that jumped out me lately was a Barkeley Hendricks exhibit at our local art museum…now that guy knows style when sees it. We’ve also been trying to make our own little modifications to clothes and that has proven to be fruitful.

6. I think I heard a very brief explanation as a preamble to this song last night, but who is Julian of Norwich?

Julian of Norwich was a 14th century English mystic that decided one day that God was talking to her. She locked herself in a room behind the altar of a church so she could hear people’s confession and otherwise devote herself to being a good christian. She actually has a bit of a following over here in the USA as well. We were recently contacted by the founder of the monastic Order of Julian of Norwich, who was kind enough to inform us that she most likely came from nobility (we sing that she was a ‘farming girl’). He has also promised to have a beer with us the next time we are in Wisconsin.

7. You’ve been playing shows pretty much every night for over a month; do you have a particular song that you most look forward to playing? Conversely, are there any that you dread playing every night?

Usually the newest song is the most fun (these days one called Honeymoon). There’s also one that Daniel does by himself these days (Marriage) that I like because I get to sneak off stage and watch as a member of the audience. As far as dreading any songs in particular, there’s one that we don’t play any more because it never came across well live. A few months ago we were playing a live concert on the radio and my mom actually called into to request that particular song. So we slogged through it, even though we’d maybe practiced three times total. I mean, come on, you can’t deny your mom on air! I guess after that I’m always a little nervous that we’ll be in a similar situation and someone’s mom will call in and request that one.

8. Matt from EAR FARM went to NC State, and from what I’ve gathered you guys went to Duke. Awkward! Defend your university to Matt’s stubborn ACC-rivalry Wolfpackishness…..

Ah, a fellow Carolinian! I’m not letting James (the lone UNC grad in the band…) anywhere near this question. Well, I know this much: when we all first got to orientation, I remember them telling us our mascot was named after a WW1-era battalion of French soldiers that pranced around the Alps in long, flowing blue capes. Though they were quite popular at the time, their dashing attire betrayed them in the snow–they were easily spotted and suffered terrible losses on the battlefield. I guess what I’m saying is that we try to have a sense of humor about the whole rivalry thing. At least we didn’t throw batteries at anybody.

9. We picked A Buzz, A Buzz as one of our favorite albums of ‘08, but what have some of your favorites been so far?

My favorite thing I’ve heard so far this year is by Triangle rock heroine Des_Ark. These days, she seems to be releasing most of her material as live sessions recorded at the local college radio station. The latest album is actually streamed here. Her voice has this edginess to it…on one side it’s haunting, on the other side it’s soothing. I once saw her serving crepes at a local music festival and spent the next thirty minutes practicing how to say ‘hi, are you Aimee, from Des_Ark?’

10. What’s next for Bombadil?

Goals for the 12 months:
-shows shows shows
-release another album by spring 09
-fix the hole in our roof
-send more postcards
-get to Wisconsin and have a beer with Friar John-Julian of the monastic Order of Julian of Norwich

Listen:
“Julian of Norwich”
“Cavaliers Har Hum”

Watch: Bombadil Documentary: A Trip Out West

See Also:
- Bombadil @ Rockwood Music Hall - 17 July 2008 (slideshow)
- Bombadil @ Trash Bar - 15 July 2008
- Bombadil Hits NYC TONIGHT and Thursday
- EAR FARM’s Top Albums of 2008 (so far)
- Matt talks about Bombadil on Blog Fresh Radio
- Band of the Week: Bombadil

See Bombadil Live:
26 Aug - Washington, DC @ The Red & The Black
28 Aug - Winston-Salem, NC @ The Garage
05 Sept - Boone, NC @ Black Cat
06 Sept - Asheville, NC @ Westville Pub
12 Sept - Mount Pleasant, SC @ Fiery Ron’s Hometown BBQ
13 Sept - Gainesville, FL @ “The Real Big Deal” Music, Camping & Arts
19 Sept - Bristol, VA @ Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion
20 Sept - Bristol, TN @ Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion
26 Sept - NPR, NC @ WUNC’s The State of Things
27 Sept - Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
05 Oct - Apex, NC @ Jordan Lake Arts & Music Festival
12 Nov - Grantham, PA @ B-Sides - Messiah College
17 Jan - Riverside California @ Private Party

Visit Bombadil on MySpace.