Endless Boogie

ENDLESS BOOGIE frontman PAUL MAJOR talks to RACHEL BARNESabout the band’s slow crawl to recognition and the surrealism of their recent accolades.

The New York rock scene’s best kept secret have been slowly but surely creeping out of anonymity. Endless Boogie have been jamming since 1997 when the boys got together after being united by a love of ‘60s and ‘70s hard rock. The group decided to set aside one night a week where they could just jam, drink, and have a good time. However, it seems that fate had other ideas. With no intention of ever playing live, the boys started to get begged to hit the stage after word got out about their unique jams. “It turned into a band by people twisting our arms to actually play a live show because we never had any plans except to have some fun,” laughs frontman Paul Major.

Since their first live show in 2001 the band have been progressing through word of mouth alone, and have met with significant success despite their ‘70s-style ‘live in the moment’ attitude. “At our sort of slow Endless Boogie pace over the last 10 years-plus, it just sort of moved up bit by bit and we’re playing more now than ever and we’re having a great time,” Major says.

Each member has had previous experience in bands, but none of their separate projects ever really hit it big. Major says he loves the irony that the one project they never had intentions of turning into a career has become their biggest success. “Of course it makes sense, because the other bands I was in back in the day like The Sorcerers and that were the ones where I was trying to be successful,” he laughs. “But I think that if there is a key to our thing and why we get people souped up and have an appeal is because we don’t have that ambition. We mainly just get up on the stage and do what we do.”

And that’s exactly how Endless Boogie come across live. Hitting the stage without a single thought about rock moves or even a set-list, the boys simply try to play in the moment and recreate the jams that happen in their rehearsal space. With Endless Boogie hitting Australia for the first time soon, Major says this tour will be no exception to the band’s usual vibe. True to the band’s loose philosophy, they have no plans for their shows, but they hope that they can get the Aussie public into their music and filling their gigs with the right energy. “It’s awesome when everything in the room is going into orbit and it really is a situation of us and the people that we’re playing for riding the same wave,” he says.

Though the band haven’t really put much thought into their future, they will continue to play live as long as people want to hear them. “It amazes me and makes me feel good that people get off on it that way, ‘cause that’s the way I get off on it,” he says. With new listeners still discovering the Endless Boogie music machine, it seems one thing is for certain: this jam isn’t ending anytime soon.

ENDLESS BOOGIE play the Jubilee Hotel on Thursday Mar 8. Seewww.noquarter.net/bands/eb.php and their Facebook page for more.