Ahem, turn DOWN a book deal? Yes, Jones said, he'd turn it down flat. As with their music, The Hermans didn't want any power, higher or lower, altering their material. The project got shelved until Running Press got subsumed by Perseus Books Group, which was excited by the deal and promised the band “total creative control,” according to Dave.
“It's your journal. It's got to be real,” was the philosophy of Perseus.
Not only that, but Perseus' Running Press gave The Hermans $1,000 to record a CD that will accompany the book. Running Press was thinking four or five tunes to stick into the book jacket, but The Hermans, being the frugal sort they are, instead recorded an entire album.
The 170-page book, which will be released in October during the band's second tour on the West Coast, is a musicians' scrapbook of notes, old gig photos, random complaints and thoughts, creative prose and general brain drips over the course of The Hermans' development from a mere idea to its modern reality - the band you've heard of here in Missoula, with a goofy name and a sound that's raw but educated.
One chapter, for instance, is a long essay on Missoula's bar culture, serving as a slam against frat-boy bars and an ode to their favorite hole - Flipper's - where the band still often meets to write songs and talk about music things.
“Although this bar is a double-wide,” the essay goes, “it is dark but alluring, sparse but content, flinty but appealing and it also smells like an ashtray convention with complimentary Heineken.”
For The Hermans, the October release of “Stalking America” will be the real indicator of whether the project will work.
“I just want to see what comes around once October hits, after this is all done,” said Chris Entz. “That's when I really want to know what's going on.”
And even then - even if the book sells out - that doesn't guarantee success as a band. After all, it's ultimately about whether people will buy The Hermans' music.
“If they like the book, do they like the music?” said Schmidt. “Because that's the point. If there's no music, there's no book.”
How many bands get this chance, a chance at national exposure, a chance to tour the country and promote their book on someone else's dime?
Answer: We don't know.
But we do know it seems incredibly fortunate that a group of Missoula guys with the moxie to hatchet their way through the Missoula music scene and make a post-mortem-Jay's-Bar name for themselves was given the chance of a lifetime.
Fame, riches, hordes of screaming fans? What awaits The Hermans? They don't know, and right now they don't really seem to care. There are some last-minute rehearsals to get through and a big van to rent, one that will take them and their gear to New York and back in a whirlwind tour of a lifetime.
Not that they haven't thought about what such an opportunity could create. Like, maybe a career in music? Without having to lose touch with their adopted hometown?
“That would be ideal, because I don't really want to be famous,” said bassist Bill Pfeiffer.
Jones laughed, shooting his bandmate a smarmy grin.
“I hear people say ‘I don't want to make a lot of money doing this,' or ‘I don't want to be big and famous,' ” he said. “And they're full of ... .”
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