Introducing:
Common Sage
For Fans Of: Touché Amoré / Tiny Moving Parts / The Hotelier
With their emotional six track EP, Might as Well Eat the Chicken, We Won’t Be Here in the Morning a month old, we chat to Common Sage vocalist Julian Rosen about his first serious band, recording the EP and we get his expert opinion to help settle the argument on pizza.
Words: Renette van der Merwe
Interview
Tell us a little about yourself. Where the name came from, how long you’ve been going for and anything else new fans would want to know.
My name is Julian. I like zombies and scary animals. The name Common Sage came from Jenna, the old bass player. She was good at double entendres. I think I said to her that I wanted a name that sounded like it was from the 90’s and also wanted a plant involved in some way. I guess Common Sage has been active since the start of 2018? I should be on tour with Maroon 5 by now. I don’t know what the hold up is.
Can you recall your very first memory of music?
I absolutely can not recall my first memory of music, but I do remember playing music with some friends in highschool and feeling so good about it that it was literally intoxicating. I remember getting shivers. I thought we sounded like Deerhunter and Silversun Pickups and Smashing Pumpkins and who knows what else. In retrospect we probably absolutely did not sound anywhere close to any of that, but that’s what started my first “serious” band which was called Davey Crockett. You can find all of that stuff on bandcamp and make fun of me for it.
“Common Sage is officially on my radar and this album is officially on my current obsessions list.”
Girl at the Rock Shows
Who’s on your wishlist of artists that you’d love to collaborate with and/or open for on tour?
That’s such a hard question. I want to open for everyone. I want to be everywhere. I’m like that Touché Amoré song. I’d really love to play a show with Slow Mass or Drug Church or Strange Ranger or Dikembe or Greet Death or anyone on Run For Cover or No Sleep. I’d also just really love to play a show with friends again, it’s been a bit too long. Especially Stay Inside, Good Looking Friends, Carpool and No Thank You.
Speaking of live shows, what’s your favourite story from a show so far?
I have a lot of good memories from shows. I could be having the worst day in the world but if there’s a show and a chance to play to people waiting at the end of it none of the bad parts would matter. Seeing friends, or making new ones, having someone tell you your set was cool whether they mean it or not, getting a new like on facebook. that’s what it’s all about, haha. There was this one time I drove to Albany and it started snowing once I got there and soon after my car stopped working, so then I freaked out until the show started. I played my set, I got in a friend’s car who lived there and we drove three of my friends home to Staten Island so they weren’t stranded and then came back to Albany. I think we got inside at like 4am. My car got fixed the next day for like $200, which I could barely afford. It was all so stupid. I also miss Bushwick Public House and can’t wait to watch music there again.
Might As Well Eat Chicken, We Won’t Be Here in the Morning’s been out in the world for just over a month, what were some of the most challenging and most fun aspects of recording it?
I really loved every part of recording it. Each song was made real far apart from each other. For Wraparound we went to this really amazing warehouse/studio/place somewhere in brooklyn with giant windows around the room. I never know where I am in Brooklyn. Saw Daddy we did in Jennas studio on Staten Island. Phil was cranky at first. Wet Grass I did with a friend Evan at the start of COVID. He runs Big Mama’s in Philadelphia. It was really nice to just drive and see a friend at the time because of how scary and uncertain it all seemed. Each time was just a really positive experience for me.
Settle an argument for us (and the rest of the world) pineapple on pizza?
Pizza is actually my job. It’s my life’s work. There’s few things I take more seriously than pizza. Maybe even nothing I take more seriously than pizza. I obsess over it in every possible way, including what belongs on it and what doesn’t. This may sound like a joke I realize, but I swear that it isn’t. With that being said: pineapple on pizza is good.
Music
Inspiration
Rising to the challenge, Common Sage have put together an electrifying collection of songs that best encapsulates the artists and music that inspire them as a band.
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