Even rock stars get the tuition increase blues. When Roger Clyne and P.H. Naffah graduated from ASU in the early 1990s, tuition costs had doubled since they enrolled.
But these musicians, who together with Danny White and Steve Larson make up Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, aren't your typical rockers. During their Thursday night visit to the Matthews Center Basement, the alumni talked tuition, touring and tequila.
Local Beginnings
Best known for their desert-infused lyrics and anti-mainstream rhythms, the band recently completed the first round of touring for their newest album, Americano! and is gearing up for two upcoming Tempe shows.
"This is where we got our start. This is where home is," Clyne says, shaking a brown tooled cowboy boot. Clyne and Naffah reside with their families in the Valley when they're not on the road.
Clyne, who holds degrees in psychology and anthropology, and Naffah, the band's drummer and a former biology student, remember ASU as a springboard for their musical careers.
"When I was here, I surrounded myself with other musicians and artists," Clyne says, "It was just an incredibly creative place."
So creative that Clyne formed the Mortals during his sophomore year, a band that played local venues and opened for other local bands such as the Gin Blossoms. The band evolved into the Refreshments and enjoyed national commercial success with albums such as Fizzy Fuzzy Big & Buzzy. Following a dispute with their label, the band called it quits, and Clyne and Naffah went on hiatus.
After a sojourn to California and a stint playing Phoenix clubs as a duo, Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers was formed, and neither has looked back.
"I just knew that this band was right," Naffah says. "It was just where I wanted to be. When I thought about not being a part of it, I felt sick."
Deconstructing Modern Rock
The foursome now spends 200 days a year on their 8-by-40-foot bus, traversing the country and playing to dedicated fans. "It's riding down the highway in a dorm room or a locker room," Clyne says laughing. "It gets pretty disgusting in there."
When they're not touring, Clyne says family life comes first. "I'm captain Suburbia-complete with diapers and 'The Wiggles.' It's great."
Jack vs. Jose
Tequila is, indeed, the band's preferred drink, and Clyne and Naffah provided us with an aficionado's recipe for the world's best margarita:
Always salt the rim
Always make 'ritas "on the rocks," not frozen
Choose a respectable, but not high-end tequila-one that's $25 or less, but 100 percent agave
The alcohol content of a good margarita should be two parts tequila, one part triple sec-combined to make up 50 percent of the drink's total volume
Add ice first, then liquor, then fill the remainder of the glass with limeade-not a margarita mix.
Add an extra shot of tequila for taste, stir and enjoy.
Despite their national success and high rank on Internet sales charts, the band doesn't get much radio play, something Clyne and Naffah attribute to their individual style.
"There was a time I could listen to the radio and find new music," Clyne says. "Now it just seems like there are a bunch of Nirvana test tube babies out there who appeal to the lowest common denominator in an attempt to dominate the market.
"Most art is self indulgent these days and dwells on old problems. That's why much of today's music is so angry," he stops and takes a breath.
Naffah smiles and says that I've hit a pressure point. I begin another question, but Clyne continues.
"Our band has sacrificed so much in terms of our families and being away from home," he says. "That's too much sacrifice to sell out. We have an obligation to our listeners and our families to communicate spiritual prosperity through our music."
Down a Blue Desert Highway
That spiritual prosperity is drawn from the desert and manifested in the lyrical quality of Peacemaker songs, something the band hopes to cultivate for years to come. "We went from a bunch of guys in a bar to a bunch of guys in another bar," Clyne says. "It's imperative that we constantly improve, but constantly maintain our integrity as artists.
Whatever their next album or next gig, Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers are certain to create music that's original and meaningful-no small feat in this era of bubble gum pop and songs that lament life.
Reach the reporter at Kelly.Vaughn@asu.edu
