Black Wine, Character Actor & The Ergs! Guitarist Jeff Schroeck Discusses The Sad Tomorrows' Self-titled Debut EP (The Witzard Interview)
The Sad Tomorrows is a new band featuring a bunch of New Jersey Punk-adjacent veterans (some might say royalty!) from groups like Black Wine, The Ergs!, Hunchback, NIGHT BIRDS, and Screeching Weasel. While relying on the elegant melodies and top-notch songcraft that characterizes the members' other projects, The Sad Tomorrows recall an earlier era of Alternative music, before Melodic Punk branched out and calcified into Indie Rock and Pop-punk. Their snappy, energetic, and open-hearted songs bring to mind 80's bands like The Lemonheads, Big Drill Car, Sebadoh, Indie-era Goo Goo Dolls, and Soul Asylum... artists that bridged the gap between Hüsker Dü's angsty Post-hardcore Pop and the more polished and anthemic music of the 90's Alternative Rock boom.
If that boom were still happening, the suits would be lined up outside The Sad Tomorrows' door because tracks like "Forget It for Me Retail" and "Unsustainable Practices" sound like they could have slid into MTV's Buzz Bin... you know, if they'd come out 30 years ago. While I'm sure The Sad Tomorrows would have appreciated the financial spoils of stardom, the underground feels like a more appropriate home for these four intimate, homespun slices of Punk-pop bliss. The Sad Tomorrows' self-titled debut EP is now available on Don Giovanni Records. We spoke with guitarist and vocalist Jeff Schroeck about all things Sad Tomorrows & The Ergs! Check out our conversation in a lightly edited format below.
I. Who are the various members of The Sad Tomorrows and where might fans know each of you from previously?
Jeff Schroeck: I'm Jeff Schroeck. I'm in The Ergs! and was in Black Wine with J. and, also, in Character Actor with Brian. Mike Hunchback is in Hunchback with J. and in NIGHT BIRDS with Brian. We both play guitar and sing. J. Nixon is in Nervous Triggers and, also, the above-mentioned. He plays bass. Brian Gorsegner was in For Science and the other above-mentioned bands. He plays drums.
II. When, where, and how did The Sad Tomorrows initially form?
Schroeck: We started in the "late late" spring of 2021, by which I mean early June, which still seems weird to call a "spring" start and not a summer start. My prior band, Holden Wrecks, had just fizzled out and I was talking to Brian Gorsegner about doing a band with J. Nixon. Brian told me that he and Mike Hunchback [Catalano] had been talking about doing a band with him and J., too, along with another friend of ours, who would be singing. Brian suggested combining the two band ideas into one; we had one practice as a five-piece, but it didn't work out, so we continued as the four of us.
III. What would you cite as some of the greatest sources of inspiration and influence behind The Sad Tomorrows' debut self-titled EP?
Schroeck: The sort-of inciting band for what Brian & I had talked about originally was The Lemonheads (despite them being a band I don't know all that well.) Others are bands, like Teenage Fanclub, Sugar, [and] The Eastern Dark. Power-pop bands, but more Punk than New Wave and a little more odd.
IV. How did you guys end up getting together with Chris Pierce (Black Army Jacket, The Ergs! School Drugs) to record and Stephen Egerton (Descendents, ALL, TonyALL) to master The Sad Tomorrows' EP?
Schroeck: Chris, we've all known from hanging around New Brunswick since the early [2000's]. All of us have either done bands with Chris or had their bands recorded by him over the past 20 years. Brian is friendly with Stephen, so he just asked him if he could do it.
V. How were the contained tracks for The Sad Tomorrows' EP typically written recorded? Did COVID-19 restrictions have any effect on these behind-the-scenes processes?
Schroeck: There wasn't so much COVID stuff to worry about at the beginning. We started playing together between the vaccinations and the variants, so we just got together as [bands] used to do. And we recorded in late November before the numbers got super-crazy. So, the first effects we've really been feeling as a band have come after the recording was done. And that's just been canceled practices either from being sick or just wanting to limit exposure before family visits.
VI. Who designed the cover artwork/band logo for The Sad Tomorrows' EP and what is the significance behind said image?
Schroeck: Jason Noto, who works for Morning Breath, Inc. out of Brooklyn drew it based on a sketch by Brian's daughter. There's no real conscious significance, but his name is "Sadteau Maurice."
VII. How would you say your past musical experience working with Black Wine, Character Actor, The Ergs! and Hamiltons helped influence your music style heard across The Sad Tomorrows' debut EP?
Schroeck: I don't know if there's a definable way I can say that playing in those bands has directly affected playing in this band, style-wise. The one difference with those [bands] and this band is that I'd never played in a band with two guitars playing my songs. So, it's been a good experience learning to not hog all the trebly real estate in a band.
And I hate to do this, but I do need to make a correction: I DO NOT play in The Hamiltons. I understand the confusion because I look like one of them and, somehow, have been to every one of their shows and, in fact, all three Ergs!, coincidentally, are, also, at every show The Hamiltons have ever played, but they are three different people from Toronto, [Ontario, Canada,] who are definitely not the members of The Ergs!
VIII. When creating a song in its most infantile form, do you typically construct vocals/melodies or the guitar parts first?
Schroeck: Usually, guitar first, though, occasionally, I'll write words and a melody at work. I'll write down an approximation of what the melody is with what chords I think will work, then, when I get home, I will futz around with it 'til it becomes something actually musical.
IX. Why did you guys decide to join forces with Don Giovanni Records to release The Sad Tomorrows' self-titled debut EP?
Schroeck: All of us had worked with them before and Joe [Steinhardt] from [Don Giovanni] seemed excited about the songs when we sent them to him and said he'd do the [cassette] tape, so we went for it.
X. What's tentatively planned next for The Sad Tomorrows?
Schroeck: I'd like to start trying to play shows in March. We have one show scheduled in late April in Brooklyn with PEARS & NEIGHBORHOOD BRATS, but I'd like to do one or two before that. And we're continuing to write towards an LP, but there's no target time for that right now.
XI. Who's idea was it to put images of both Chevy Chase & Norm MacDonald as the "cover stars" on The Ergs!/The Measure [sa] split Sides A/B & Sides C/D and why?
Schroeck: I don't recall whose idea it was, but with The Ergs! being such huge Norm and Dirty Work fans and [Matt "Fid" Fidler] from The Measure [sa] being a big Chase-head, it just made sense to use them to continue The Measure's celebrity portrait covers theme.
XII. How did it feel getting back together with The Ergs! for the Time & The Season EP (your first release six years!) and your upcoming "Country" 7-inch EP, Renovations, on Wallride Records?
Schroeck: It feels great. We've kind of been in "whatever" * mode since 2016 when we did the previous 7-inch and first reunion show. So, we just kind of casually talk about doing new records all the time, mostly as jokes, but, eventually, we realize that some of them might, actually, be worth our time, which is how the recording for the two new records happened. I'm sure we'll do more, but it's low-priority for the three of us.
* (in a shoulder-shrugging, "go-for-it" kind of way; not like a surly teenager.)