‘Location,’ ‘Location,’ ‘Location’
Dispatch frontman Chad Stokes Urmston has had a busy year: new album, new tour, new kid and vocal surgery that forced him to keep quiet for an entire month. But the chaos and work have been worth it. Dispatch is once again a powerful creative and commercial force, and he is optimistic things will stay that way.
“Two years ago, (drummer) Brad (Corrigan), (bassist) Pete (Heimbold) and I sat down with our managers and talked about what kind of a band we were going to be,” Urmston said, cradling his newborn while talking about his band’s headlining set at the sold-out Levitate Music and Arts Festival tonight in Marshfield. “We wondered, ‘Are we going to be kind of band that reunites occasionally and plays the same set of songs?’ Or would we do more.”
Dispatch has more peaks and valleys than most. The band came up out of Boston in the late ’90s mixing rock, folk and reggae for ecstatic college kids. But they came up fast, and band tensions led to a breakup in 2004 — their free farewell-for-now show at the Hatch Shell drew 110,000 fans. When they pulled it all back together in June 2011, they sold out a three-night TD Garden stand. But since then, they have been on again, off again. They tour sporadically, but since the 2012 reunion record, “Circles Around the Sun,” the band has been mostly on hiatus.
“America, Location 12” changes that. Full of breezy ballads, globe-trekking melodies and smart-yet-ragged production, the new LP may be their best. It certainly contains their best opening riff (see the Pearl Jam-meetsWest African stomp of “Be Gone”).
“Someone said to me, ‘This sounds like it could be your first album,’ and I kind of agree with that,” Urmston said. “It does feel like a restart.”
At that band meeting, Urmston wanted the band to recommit to the group. He said he wanted to take charge and pilot them through a new creative burst.
“I told them, ‘I’m going to try and take this band where I think it can go,’ ” he said. “But that didn’t mean it would just be my songs on the record. I wanted everybody to contribute. I still wanted to be a team.”
As head cheerleader and chief motivator, Urmston took the band into the studio last fall with his pal John Dragonetti (who has produced Urmston’s most dynamic solo work). North of San Francisco, in a house overlooking the sea, Dispatch, Dragonetti and a few guests carved out 11 tracks to add to their set list of fan favorites.
“That studio was incredible. The whole (house) was built in the 1960s from cobblestones pulled up from San Francisco streets, and the Dead and Jefferson Airplane hung out there, so there was a cool vibe,” Urmston said. “And John was great. He was an underdog going in when we were picking a producer, but I’m really glad the guys liked him and his palette of ’60s and ’70s sounds.”
So Dispatch is back and better than ever? Kind of.
As on last fall’s trek, Heimbold is sitting out the current tour. Struggling with depression, Heimbold is taking a break from touring but is not leaving the band. Dispatch has expanded to a five-piece with John Reilly, Matthew Embree and Mike Sawitzke in Heimbold’s absence. Urmston is clear: Heimbold is welcome back on the road as soon as he is able.
“We miss Pete’s songs, Pete’s energy, Pete’s ‘je ne sais quoi,’ ” Urmston said. “We didn’t know if we’d go out without Pete or wait, but he told us to keep going. To have his blessing was important. We miss him desperately.”
So Dispatch continues on with Urmston’s optimism. And when Heimbold is ready, Urmston hopes for more albums, tours and creative energy.