Love Seed Mama Jump: Paid to do the driving

Physically tired from a show the night before and mentally fried from planning their 25th anniversary party, Love Seed Mama Jump lead singer Rick Arzt and drummer Paul Voshell both had trouble pinning down one specific moment that has been the highlight of their careers.

They hemmed and hawed for a few seconds, exchanging the same eye contact and nonverbal clues needed between any good drummer and singer. It was like they were telepathically saying to each other, “Can’t talk about that. Can’t talk about that. Can’t talk about that. OK, we’ll bring this up.”

“In 25 years, there have been some really high highs, and really low lows,” said Arzt during an interview at the Rusty Rudder earlier this summer. “Stuff happens.” He then quickly lists off a bunch of the highest highs, like winning a contest that allowed them to open for a Dave Matthews Band concert, opening for Beck and opening for the Beach Boys.

“Those guys pack stadiums. We don’t,” said Arzt.

Both men said they were extremely proud of having released five albums and sold more than 100,000 copies of those albums.

When it came to the lowest of the lows, though, neither Voshell or Arzt hesitated. It was the squandered release of their self-titled album under a now defunct label, Artemis Records, in 2001.

It was supposed to drop Tuesday, Sept. 11, said Voshell. When the attacks on the World Trade Center happened, he said, the label delayed the release.

There’s a promotion schedule to keep in the business; it’s planned out months in advance, explained Voshell. The executives weren’t just going to push everything back, and the album never got the proper promotion, he said.

Arzt said when the attacks first happened, all thoughts went to New York and the general safety of the country. He said the band’s members thought the release of the album would just get delayed. It was tough because it had been a two-year process getting the album ready, said Arzt, but there was a feeling it would work out.

But one week turned into two, which turned into a month, and in the end the record never got off the shelves of radio stations and music stores. Fifteen years later, the longtime bandmates would categorize that moment in time as a life-learning lesson.

“We got real close, so of course you’re going to ask yourself if there was something you could have done different,” said Arzt. “This business forces people to make a lot of decisions without all the information. At the time, we were completely dependent on the record label.”

Nowadays, Love Seed Mama Jump, which includes Arzt, Voshell, bassist Pete Wiedmann, guitarist Mike Curry, guitarist Brian Gore and percussionist Tim Kelly, are as busy as ever. They have their regular Thursday gig at the Rusty Rudder, and, according to their website, they have private parties and other shows booked for months.

Thanks in large part to the hard work of Dewey-based entertainment promoter Vikki Walls, from April to September, Dewey’s music scene is hopping. Arzt said there were hardly any bands when Love Seed started playing at the Rusty Rudder in the summer of 1991.

The band enjoys a role as the unofficial elder statesmen of the Dewey Beach music scene. They appreciate the grind, and, said Arzt, they try and show everyone respect.

Arzt said during a recent Jam Session at the Bottle & Cork, some young guy came up and was super excited to meet the band. He knew every word to the “Baked Fresh Daily” album. It’s strange when those things happen, said Arzt.

Voshell didn’t mind being recognized.

“When you’ve been around as long as us, you hope you get that kind of attention,” he said laughing.

Band members are scattered throughout Delaware and lead other lives, so getting them all together at a time other than when they’re playing is nearly impossible.

The day of the interview, Arzt and Voshell were meeting with folks from the Rusty Rudder in the early afternoon to plan their anniversary party the following week. The two were able to squeeze in the interview before hopping on the Cape May-Lewes Ferry later that evening for a show in New Jersey.

Fortunately, for Arzt and Voshell, they have a two-person road crew who gets to a show hours before the rest of the band to set up shop.

“We did that for the first six or seven years, but there are no plans to go back to that,” said Voshell of setting up his own drum set. “That’s a different kind of commitment, and it gets more difficult as the years go by.”

Any band’s schedule isn’t the typical 9 to 5 job. It’s nights, weekends and days in between spent on the road. Arzt admits there are times when being in the band is still a grind.

“There have been a lot of cool moments, but you definitely miss out on things,” he said. “There’s always going to be a certain amount of sacrifice to do anything cool. We really appreciate how much our families have had to sacrifice too.”

Through the years, the band’s hallmark has been its onstage delivery. Watch a Love Seed Mama Jump show, and it’s easy to see why a six-man band whose members are all in their 40s look to be in relatively good health. Their shows are all about energy, which starts with Arzt spending the better part of every show jumping up and down or hopping onto speakers.

“We used to go ape s***,” said Voshell. “There’s a little less jumping, but we still bring it as much as possible.”

At this point, said Arzt, he’s grateful people still want to come watch them play and that they’re still able to make a living. He said the band has been around long enough that the kids of some of their earliest fans have grown up, which means those fans can come back out.

Artz said the band has adapted to the music scene to stay relevant, but they’ve always stayed who they are – a rock band.

“I like to say we’re doing the show for free. What we’re getting paid for is the driving and setting up,” said Arzt.

Looking into the future, Arzt said he couldn’t predict how much longer the band would be playing. “Maybe, at some point, we’ll be playing senior centers,” he said. “There’s always room for a good rock band.”