The Stagger and Sway: A Traveling Companion

BY ANDREW FICKES

Since its release last July, Eugene’s the Stagger & Sway’s debut EP “Time Changes” has received notable praise from fans, some of who say it helps them to relax.

By no means, though, will this record put you to sleep.

Certainly, the six-track EP self-released by songwriter Mike Last on his independent label Working Stiff Records, is laid back, casual music, but it speeds up and flexes its muscle on tracks like the rollicking “Rubber to the Road” and the shamelessly up-tempo and optimistic “Nobody Loses All The Time.”

From track to track, the songs are in perpetual motion driven by a strong narrative, anchored by the changing of time, and always looking to the road ahead. The arrangements, rooted in Americana and alternative country, are delivered with a noticeable edge and Last’s conversational vocals.

As a youngster, Last was an Air Force brat—never staying in one town for more than three years. Now, at 32, married and with a young daughter to care for and nurture, the drummer turned guitarist is anchored in Eugene—a resident for going on five years—and though he’s enjoying his stay, he can’t help but feel a little itchy to pack his bags and hit the road.

“Grab your hat/grab your coat/putting rubber to the road/lost our map/can’t find the note we wrote,” Last sings on the radio-friendly “Rubber to Road” (track 3). As a drummer, Last is versatile with different time changes. On “Rubber to the Road” the time changes alternate from 5/4 to ¾.

“Rubber to the Road” was written in Chicago several years back when Last, at the time, decided it was time to pack his bags and head to Eugene.

“I was living in Chicago and I was in that place where you kind of feel you need some change but you don’t know what it is,” he says. “My best friend came out from Eugene to help me pack up. I got a moving truck off eBay. I was flying by the seat of my pants, but I felt comfortable.”

“Rubber to the Road” is the third in three consecutive tracks that Last sings the word “calculate.” In the song, he “calculates the complicating,” and “measures up the big decisions yet to make” as he waits for his friend to arrive.

“My friend came out and we drove 33 hours straight,” he says. “I didn’t know what would come next once I parked the van [in Eugene].”

But from that 33-hour trip, Last generated an inventory of songs about his time traveling to the unknown. One track—“Wyoming”—will grace the Stagger & Sway’s debut full-length album due out on Working Stiff Records next fall. The album will be co-produced by singer/songwriter Ehren Ebbage.

Last met Ebbage a couple years back (through his wife, who knew Eugene regulars like John Shipe, Ebbage, and Jerry “Groove” Ebelin) and since, has benefited from Ebbage’s influence.

Around 2007 Last finished his time as drummer for two Eugene bands—Dan Jones and the Squids and Saltlick—and became more serious about his own song craft when he formed an acoustic/bass duo with Jerry “Groove” Ebelin.

“It started loosely getting together and playing my songs,” he says. “We performed under a lot of names. Sometimes we’d call ourselves the ‘Mike and Jerry Show.’”

It was Ebbage who gave Last the nudge to record his songs.

“[Ebbage] pushed me to do full instrumentation,” he says. “So, we recorded [the EP] over three days.”

From track to track on the EP, songs move with a fluid motion with travel being a major theme. In his day job as a telecommunications engineer, Last travels often. A trip to New York inspired a song taking place on the “Long Island Railroad” (track 2) as he traveled the track back and forth between Prospect Heights and Brooklyn.

At times, the everyday listener may be lost in translation when Last sings, “scratch my cranium and calculate ROI (return on investment) on getting by.” However, no one cares because Last’s melodies are instantly catchy and one acronym doesn’t matter.

The bottom line: Last’s songs are about everyday life.

“A character in a song might stem from four or five things in my life,” he said. “The stories in the songs are often a vehicle to deliver a feeling about life.”

Although as autobiographical as the songs sound, don’t expect to be hearing the word ‘I.’

“Maybe out of shyness, I’ve couched that personal side,” he says.

Concert dates and band details can be found at www.myspace.com/thestaggerandsway