San Francisco Voice

The Union Trade, a San Francisco band that formed just over a year ago, plays indie rock with an edge that defies the broadness of that label.  There’s four guys in the band …  Don Joslin on keys and guitar, Eric Salk on guitar and vocals, Nate Munger on vocals and bass and Dan Rodkevich on drums … and they gave insightful, witty answers to the questions posed to them by San Fran Voice.  They’ve got a full-length album coming out late this year so get in the know about ‘em now and check back in with ‘em then.

How did the band form?

Don: In short, The Union Trade formed somewhat accidentally. Nate and I were in an instrumental band together a few years ago called Andrea Doria; that band broke up and I joined Eric’s old band. After a few shows with them, their bassist decided to leave; I brought in Nate to try out how he’d play with us and things went well. As things progressed, the dynamic and music was changing, and we decided it was time to bring in a new, creative drummer. After finding Dan on Craigslist, we continued to write material that was not part of the old sound. So at that point we decided to scrap all the old songs and start over, with a new name, The Union Trade.

What’s your favorite song to perform live and why?

Nate: My favorite song to play is “Get Out”; it has an incredible ending.

Don: “Violent and Beautiful” would be a song I like to perform. It’s a 3/4 time song and a bit different than our others and for some reason we all really get into that song.

Eric: We play this song called “Green Fields” that has intense dynamics. Every time we hit the crescendo, it’s always bigger than I had remembered it to be. Also, the lyrics are very meaningful to me.

*Note that the latter two songs are off the band’s debut EP, Strings Break, which can be purchased from iTunes and “Violent and Beautiful” can currently be heard on the band’s MySpace page.

Do you have a favorite SF venue?

We played at Rickshaw Stop for our EP release and really like it there, the sound was really great and the people were nice.

Which spots in the city can you be found in when you’re just out and about?

Eric: Nate’s basement.

Nate: I live near 16th and Valencia (in The Mission), so you could definitely run into me at Casanova or The 500 Club. We also try to see a lot of music together as a band, so on any given night, you might run into us hanging out watching some or the bands we are friends with around town.

If the band was a San Francisco landmark, which one would it be and why?

Nate: I think we’d be Sutro Tower; it has a slightly spacey, soaring, industrial beauty that is often shrouded in dense rolling fog. You might describe our sound that way.

Eric: The cable cars. They’re clangy and do tight turnarounds. Or Pancho Villa taqueria because they’re so spicy.

Describe the average The Union Trade fan.

Nate: People who want music to take them somewhere emotionally, to evolve and develop, will like us, I think. Our fans like music ranging from instrumental to pop. What defines them, is that they want songs to do something interesting and compelling – a unique structure or chord progression, lyrics that say something meaningful – while still retaining beauty and melody.

If there was anything that you could make sure your fans knew, what would it be?

Nate: I’d make sure that they knew that we love playing live and want to see them out at a show, and that they should say hi when they see us. I love to meet people who have taken the time to listen to our music and who have an opinion about it.

Eric: We’re really well-meaning. We don’t mean to hurt.

Where do you want to be a year from now? Five years?

Don: A year from now, we hope we’ll be talking to you about the success of our first full length album, which we are planning to record this summer and release this fall, and touring with a band we love to support it.

Nate: 5 years from now, I hope we’ll have a few more albums under our belts, and that we are still playing and making music that excites us.
 

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