Chatting about his mounds of homework, aerospace engineering major Joe Easley may appear to be the typical Maryland student. But unlike the average student, Easley – formerly the drummer of Washington-based indie band The Dismemberment Plan – once opened for grunge gods Pearl Jam.
“It was surreal,” he says, reflecting on his experience of opening for Pearl Jam. “You go out there [onstage] and it’s like a sheet of black – you can’t see anything, because of all the gigantic lights they have on you. You can’t really hear anything. Your nerves are just going crazy – it’s like 25 minutes of blackout.”
Before performing for 15,000 people, Easley was just a “really hyperactive” 16-year-old “abusing” a friend’s drum set until he got his own and taught himself to play. From that point on, Easley knew music needed to be in his life, but a part of him was also fascinated with engineering.
“It was all intriguing to me to take these different things, make a plan, assemble the thing and execute it,” he says. “That whole aesthetic was really appealing to me.”
But when it came time to decide between going to college or making music, Easley could not make the step toward engineering.
“When given the option between touring and going to college when you’re like 23, that’s an easy decision, unfortunately,” he says.
After a series of jobs and stints with various bands, Easley found himself at a party where a cassette of The D-Plan’s music was being played. Having learned it was in search of a drummer because its previous one had left the band, Easley was determined to join The D-Plan, asked to borrow the cassette in order to learn all the music and was soon given a place in the band.
“They’re all pretty special people; I think you can tell that right up front,” he says of his former band members. “I think if someone is off the charts in certain ways, it’s easy to detect, and all those guys have that going on.”
The D-Plan went on to indie success, bringing its genre-defying music to crowds across the country and the world. Being constantly on tour, however, took a toll on the band, and in 2003 – 10 years after it began – The D-Plan lived up to its name and announced its break-up.
The band scheduled its final show during a free concert series at Fort Reno Park on July 28, 2003, and although it rained during the show, the bad weather could not stop the D-Plan from playing to their devoted fans.
“A bunch of kids had plastic sheets over their heads. … It was all very sad,” Easley says. “We didn’t care that the equipment was getting soaked. … I had water in my drums for weeks afterwards.”
Another final show was quickly scheduled for Sept. 1 at the 9:30 Club in Washington for a more formal – and dry – farewell. But Easley had other things on his mind that night: his very first day of school at this university was the next day, and, like every new student, he worried about what other students would think of him.
“If I had to be at class at 9 a.m., I can’t be loading out at 2 in the morning,” he says. “At my first day of school, it’s going to be like punk rock guy with red eyes is just showing up for his first engineering class. It’s not going to go well.”
But three years later, Easley is in his senior year and playing in a new band, Statehood, which will open for Radio 4 on Friday at the Rock and Roll Hotel in Washington. And Easley’s return to the music scene has brought him back into contact with former D-Planners – he first heard one of Statehood’s demos at the home of Jason Caddell, ex-guitarist for The D-Plan.
Easley is joined in Statehood by Eric Axelson, former bassist of The D-Plan and now a high school English teacher. Though the two are pressed for time, they are in the process of recording an album with Caddell, now a music producer.
Even though Easley remains in constant contact with his former bandmates, he doubts a reunion.
“I wouldn’t discount it,” he says. “But I highly, highly doubt it. I think we’re all in different places at this point.”
This rock veteran knows that although bands may come and go, the desire to make music will continue to reside in him, he says.
“I always figured I’d be in a band. I’m sure when I’m 50, I’ll be in a band – I hope,” he says. “When you find something you really love doing, you’ll probably end up doing it for a really long time.”
Easley’s new band, Statehood, will open for Radio 4 on Friday at the Rock and Roll Hotel. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door.
Contact reporter Nancy Chow at chowdbk@gmail.com.