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Eight years ago Bob Matros, better known as Reverend Bob, needed an outlet for some downtempo songs that didn’t fit with his band; at the time Reverend Bob fronted the buzzworthy School of Assassins, a hard rocking Boston act . So Bob approached Mark White, better known as Dark Mark. It wasn’t long before the two friends conspired to form an acoustic side project, and they called their unusual duo Reverend Bob and the Darkness. Today’s version of Reverend Bob and the Darkness is a sprawling affair with an ever-evolving line-up that includes, at one time or another, trumpet, accordion and violin. The band consistently delivers a unique blend of blues and roots with dark, gothic undertones.

On Saturday, October 6th 2007, Rev. Bob and the Darkness celebrate the release of their second CD, Gallows Hill. The party is at the Cantab (738 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA) with support from Los Hijos Unicos and the Poverty Line Old Time Band.

If you meet Reverend Bob out in a Boston-area club and he doesn’t seem to say much, don’t forget the old adage about still waters. His brooding expression is a measure of the introspection going on under that dark cowboy hat. And, yes, he’s a real Reverend. He’s also a studio engineer, and he knows his way around a promotion campaign. He’s a multi-instrumentalist with respectable chops on the banjo, mandolin, percussion and rhythm guitar. Since his right-hand man is the ubiquitous bass god Dark Mark, few realize that Reverend Bob himself is a classically trained upright bass player. Who knew? See? Still waters. I got a chance to wade a little deeper, with a mere six days to go before the big CD release at the Cantab.

Sinners and saints, meet Reverend Bob.
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LBS: At this moment as I’m asking you this question, the Gallows Hill CD release party is six days and ten hours away. Is everything in place or is your life a scramble of last minute prep?

Rev. Bob: While things are only now just falling into place for Saturday’s release party, I feel I won’t be relaxed until after the show itself is over. It’s hard to think right now - I’m tired. Everything about this CD has been difficult and I’m a little panicked on how it will be received.

LBS: Describe if you can what a person who loves Endsville will love about Gallows Hill.

Rev. Bob: Doing this whole self promotion thing, you get to the point where you simplify what each CD is in very general terms. SOOOO… they both are really roots based albums, with very honest emotions and they are both very personal.

LBS: What’s been discarded, what’s been updated, what’s brand new in the sound and feel?

Rev. Bob: I refer to Endsville as our blues album and Gallows Hill as our country album. I mean both are a lot more that that but the general feel is there. The new record is more DIY than Endsville on a lot of ways. I did all the engineering and producing and didn’t have Geoff Chase and Jason Marchionna come to my rescue until the due date loomed and mixdown still needed a miracle. It’s all just the band, no outside players or help, and very little overdubs. It’s raw with the mistakes left in and yet more cohesive than Endsville. And best of all it features Julia’s voice, as well as gives Max, Mark and Cutty a chance to sing lead.

LBS: Let’s talk about those guys. You’ve had more than your share of line-up changes. What’s the current line-up?

Rev. Bob: Well, there’s still me… singing and playing guitar, and Dark Mark, singing and playing bass, Cutty Foster on drums and vox, Max Lewis on horn, percussion and vox, Betty Widerski (Gobshites, Milling Gowns) on 5-string violin, John Buczkowski (Los Diablos) on accordion, and our newest addition Julia Hughes on lead vocals.

LBS: Tell me one thing I don’t know about Dark Mark. Is he the best thing ever?

Rev. Bob: Well as far as being the best thing ever in a way you don’t know - I can’t say he’s married. Something people don’t know in general about Mark is that on top of being a bass player with everyone at some point in Boston, he’s also been a truck driver and a prison guard. And yes, anyone who can play music with me for 8 years is the best thing ever.

LBS: Tell me how you met the one and only Cutty.

Rev. Bob: I found him in a dumpster at work. Cleaned him up and brought him home. He works well as a drummer requiring nothing more than cheap beer and the stray chicken finger.

LBS: Where did Julia come from?

Rev. Bob: She was the last survivor of a horrific ordeal known as the Bob audition process. Out of 23 candidates she was the last woman standing. That and she bribed me with beer, which is a reoccurring theme here…

LBS: There’s a pretty funny story going around about Max and how he learned to play the horn in your band. If there’s any truth to it, tell the story now.

Rev. Bob: I think I’d like to hear your version. I’m not good with punchlines. The truth is Max joined the band without knowing how to play trumpet — he just bought one and started playing. After about a month we stuck him on stage…

LBS: Yep, that’s about how I heard it, but it probably got enhanced through the grapevine. I heard he said “what do I have to do to get into your band,“ and that you said “learn to play the trumpet.“ That’s really hilarious. So what happened to the guy with the arsenal of harmonicas?

Rev. Bob: Ahhhh… Steve… well as it happens sometimes people just have differences in opinion and need to go their own way. Our differences involved whiskey, Slim Jims, crazy stalkers and cat fights… but I can’t get into the details. I can say that while he tooled around on the blues harp with us, he really is one of the best guitar players I have ever seen.

LBS: Now how about you. You know, the first ten times we met I thought you were the most disgruntled dude in town. You seemed to just glare out from under that cowboy hat like the world had let you down. You appear much more lighthearted now. Are you happier than you were?

Rev. Bob: I got to admit, I am still disgruntled. Those closest to me know I am grumpy and have bad days and worse days. The new members make the music portion of my life more fulfilling and beer makes me giddy. I am in a better place, but I m still angry with the world: it keeps doing stupid things and won’t knock it off…

LBS: Bob, people still rave about School of Assassins. I didn’t have the opportunity to see that band. Tell me about SOA and what journey led you from that to your current digs.

Rev. Bob: It was great to combine good songwriting with heavy rock. It was a learning experience: I was always just the back up singer and bass player for dozens of bands and with SOA I became the songwriter and front man and it was overwhelming. But I started writing A LOT, and the band wasn’t into everything, so I jammed out non-rock tunes with Dark Mark as an acoustic duo which directly resulted in Rev. Bob & the Darkness.

LBS: Do you ever play solo, just you and your guitar?

Rev. Bob: It’s harder now, I’ve gotten used to having all this talent around me and not having to carry everything, but I’m trying to get back into it.

LBS: One of the best things about Reverend Bob and the Darkness is how the sound can, at the same time, be so familiar and yet so different. How is it that you fit so easily on bills with low rock bands, country, classic rock and goth? I can’t think of another act that can pull that off.

Rev. Bob: Well, not to sound like a prick, but I think a really good song sounds great in whatever style or arrangement you do. Having great musicians with varied backgrounds makes it easy to switch styles. I do it with arranging to showcase different talents in the band and break up the sound over a 3-4 hour gig.

LBS: You probably get this all the time, but in deference to my readership: you really are an ordained reverend, yes?

Rev. Bob: Yep, I do weddings, talk with people on questions of faith, but I’m not tied to a church and I don’t preach. I don’t believe in trying to sell religion - either you’re looking for it or your not. That’s how I came up with our website: gosaveyourself.com I certainly don’t claim to have all the answers.

Get saved at the Cantab (738 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA) on October 6th, when Rev. Bob and the Darkness releases their second CD, Gallows Hill. More info and multi-media at http://gosaveyourself.com.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 6th, 2007 at 12:49 am and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.