The Stage - Tomorrow's Music. Today.

Driver,
by Melissa Evanko

Driver is ready to rock! One of the Lehigh Valleys more earnest acts is back in a big way. So if you want to listen to music that makes you think and is not full of baby, baby, baby’s, give a listen. In an exclusive interview for "The Stage" lead singer Monty Leach, shared his thoughts about the band and their new addition.

Driver is Monty Leach, lead vocals, Randy Marcantoni, bass, Kevin Bowyer, lead guitar and Russ McAdoo, drums. The guys call Lehigh Valley home. Check them out on the web at www.driverband.com.

How did Driver get their name you ask? It comes from a line from that great Beck song "Loser." Which goes "I’m the driver I’m the winner, things are gonna change I can feel it." When Leach was starting out that was how he felt, he wanted to be the winner in the game of music.

Driver started with Leach a few years ago when he got the bug to write songs. At that point he knew he wanted to write and record songs but was not sure where to go from there. He recorded his tunes with friend, drummer Jon Wilson. The first bandmate he met was Marcantoni, and it grew from there. Leach describes the band process as "growing organically and slowly." After taking a hiatus from the band, drummer Russ McAdoo is back. Since 2002, Driver had been a trio and the shows they played were acoustic sets.

Now that Driver is a quartet they are pushing themselves to go out and get more gigs. Leach feels that the Lehigh Valley music scene has "come into its own over the past few years." He feels it is getting easier for original bands to get gigs. The guys have been in cover bands but it was a choice with their band to play original songs and "not make a lot of money but hope for long term success."

The song that Driver performed on "The Stage" was "Samson" The guys chose this song because it made the most sense; it plays well both acoustically and electric. This was one of the first new songs written and they guys really like it.

This new song will be on a forthcoming album. The guys are in the pre-production process right now. Leach describes the recording process as "satisfying and hard." It took them over a year to record their first project, which was self-titled. Leach feels the albums take a while because the guys are very particular. He adds that they have enough material to cover two CDs. The 1st CD they recorded all the songs they had. Now they can be picky. Leach adds that the songs were written electrically and they want to keep them that way.

When it comes to songwriting it is a group effort. One of the guys will come up with the main hook, "develop it to the point they see fit," and play it for the other members. Leach likes the idea of a group dynamic, "writing with several people, you can’t run out of ideas." Leach is the lyric man for the band. Lyrics are important to Leach and like a true artist, "it would feel strange or phony singing someone else’s stuff, you have to make sure you mean it." Some of the lyrics are based on personal experiences and feelings but he is lax to explain the deeper meaning of his songs. He wants "people to make the songs what they want it to be." He sums it up best by saying, "people think they want to know the meaning, but they really don’t."

Leach hopes that fans will take Driver’s music and, "make it their own." The songs will strike a chord with the listener and they will be able to identify with it. Leach adds that not everybody listens to lyrics, some enjoy the music more. Leach just hopes that fans will "look forward to hearing the songs again." Just like that favorite song that you want to "turn on and up."