The Second Coming of Seven Mary Three

The Second Coming of Seven Mary Three

by Benjy Eisen

Every band likes to say that their latest album is their best. But in a phone call to MODE Weekly from a hotel room in Albuquerque, NM, Jason Ross from Seven Mary Three isn’t saying that it’s their best — he’s saying it’s their first. That’s the attitude everyone in the band is taking with The Economy Of Sound (which is actually album four). “I feel like this new record that we just put out is the beginning of all the possibilities of how good our band could be,” says Ross.

The band’s entire career this far has been all about progression. And a little change too. When the band’s real first album came out in 1995 they had a number one hit with “Cumbersome.” That song, and the platinum success that followed, branded Seven Mary Three as a post-grunge band, riding on the coattails of groups like Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. Rather than a selling-point, it became a restrictive image. “It’s like places and things. You put your forks in one drawer, you put your pots and pans in another.” Still, if it has to be categorized, Ross sees it as more Americana rock than post-grunge. “And maybe there’s a little twang in it somewhere” he says, “but there’s certainly a little twang in my life, too.”

As the band tried to progress and find their voice, the harsh reality was that, for a while, everybody still wanted them to be that band that sang “Cumbersome.” A cumbersome effect for a band still trying to expand upon what they do, “I mean, we’re just trying to get better,” says Ross, “I don’t think we’re the be-all, end-all of rock n’ roll by any means, but I think our band has progressed over every record. I think a lot of people get caught up in things that were going on five years ago and it just overshadows every step you try to make.”

“Our band developed under the microscope. We were very successful, very early. I could barely play the guitar and now eight years later and hundreds of thousands of miles and hundreds of shows later, I think we’re starting to become more comfortable with saying this is who our band is.”

And who that band is exactly has changed considerably. For one, original lead guitarist Jason Pollock has been replaced with Thomas Juliano. For another, the band has been promoted since first finding their sea legs, from stowaways to captains and in control of their course.

No longer so concerned with chart placement, Ross admits that the band’s last couple of albums were perhaps disappointing commercially, but a rewarding journey artistically. Though there were moments right before Pollock departed in which the band’s existence was almost in jeopardy, those days are over. “I play music with my best friends and I travel around the country and when I go home I have a family I love,” he says. “It just seems kind of ridiculous. What else would I do?”

And with the addition of Thomas Juliano, all the pieces finally snapped together. “I could go outside right now and tackle a great guitar player walking down the street but you don’t meet a lot of guys that have the amount of taste that Thomas has.” His new membership has had a ripple effect on the band as a whole. “The band is somewhat rejuvenated,” claims Ross. As he speaks about the recent jumpstart, he becomes audibly excited, “I think that this band right now is the best incarnation of Seven Mary Three that we’ve ever had.”

One thing Seven Mary Three has never been is a song-and-dance band. As principle songwriter, Ross doesn’t write feel-good ditties. “I think popular music makes a lot of sense to most of the people in middle America either because they just want something in the background while they’re doing whatever it is they’re doing or they’re struggling themselves and they’re working hard and they see these guys flaunting their cash and chick with big tits and what-not and surely that’s appealing to people. I’m not saying that’s not appealing to me — I love rock n’ roll. But we didn’t end up being Motley Crue, we didn’t end up being that band that’s schlacking it up and fucking strippers every night.”

“I don’t consider myself an entertainer,” reflects Ross. “I don’t dance. I don’t walk around and say things like ‘Hey, Harrisburg! Can I have a fuck yeah?’ That’s not what we do. You know, if you want to come and listen to some songs that talk about things you probably don’t talk about with anyone other than your best friend, then come to our show. Because that’s what we’re going to talk about.”

Seven Mary Three will be coming to Hersheypark Stadium, opening up for Train and Matchbox Twenty on August 15.