Ace Enders: Grilled
Words: Scott Harrell
Artwork: Jeremy Maciak
Arthur “Ace” Enders isn’t into the whole artists-are-different-than-regular-people thing.
Sure, the guy made his bones in the Early November, an early-aughts emo-pop outfit whose ambitious, ahead-of-the-curve style might’ve lent an impression of Enders as an introverted, composition-happy journal-scribbler. But nothing could be further from the truth; in fact, the ability of music to create connections with people he might otherwise never know remains one of the elements of band-dom about which he’s most passionate.
“I’m into the whole idea of getting rid of the separation between people,” says Enders. “Who needs to do that, other than gigantic bands? We’re not Pink … who am I trying to fool, you know?”
The 27-year-old Enders is talking via cell phone from his home in New Jersey, on the eve of his band Ace Enders & A Million Different People’s ground- and separation-breaking BBQ Across America Tour. Instead of orchestrating strictly scheduled meet-and-greets or behind-the-table autograph sessions, Enders, his bandmates and members of the other acts on the tour - including The Gay Blades, The Dangerous Summer, and School Boy Humor - will be firing up the grill and inviting their fans to join them in some laid-back barbecue action before every show of the six-week jaunt.
“I always wanted to do it, from years ago,” the singer-songwriter says. “Do a tour that was really just a fun thing, where everybody could just hang out. Everybody’s coming a little bit early, it’s just another way to connect with people, instead of trying to connect via Facebook or Myspace.
“And there’s just no better way to connect than at a barbecue,” he adds with a laugh. “It takes away the pressure. There’s not that weirdness where I’m going to sit and sign autographs and take pictures. Whatever, if you want to hang out, come hang out. We’re not trying to be anything we’re not.”
What Enders is, aside from a guy who enjoys a little outdoor summer-afternoon social interaction, is a prolific songwriter with a knack for both catchy pop anthemics and resonant lyrical earnestness. Even before the Early November announced an indefinite hiatus back in 2007 - a break Enders doesn’t see ending anytime soon, though he insists everyone is still friendly - he was writing and recording outside material on his own, an endeavor he considered more a natural result of having the material than of any dissatisfaction with his band’s output.
“I just like to write music,” Enders says. “I look at it as, there shouldn’t be too many rules about what you do, when it comes to what we call art. I don’t like to think you have to do it a certain way, or limit yourself.”
Like the Early November catalog, the current A Million Different People release, When I Hit The Ground, showcases Enders as a writer and performer both comfortable with classic sounds and structures and too restless to stick to any one style. The CD offers a nice mix of youthful enthusiasm and mature consideration, often backing up the hooks of its all-ages vibe with emotionally and sonically heavier fare and running the gamut from near-Americana to well-muscled modern rock. It’s an album that embodies Enders’ populist streak without sacrificing the perspective that earned him a loyal all-ages indie-scene following.
The BBQ Across America’s pre-show cookouts will be augmented in certain cities with after-parties at the local Denny’s, as part of that chain’s current attempt-at-edgy “Allnighter” marketing campaign. When asked if the idea of something like an association with the home of Moons Over My Hammy gave him pause, or made him wonder about how it would effect his quote-unquote cred, Enders just laughs.
“I think my cred has suffered enough already, what is this gonna hurt?” he muses. “People don’t really care anymore. Why not do it? If somebody’s gonna offer, and we can go there and hang out and get food and take ourselves out of the whole stupid, shmoozy thing, and people get to hang out with a band they like, what else really matters?”
The BBQ Across America Tour in Florida:
July 18 - Orpheum, Ybor City
July 19 - The Social, Orlando
July 20 - Jack Rabbits, Jacksonville
Barbecues will be held at the venues, starting one hour before doors open.
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