As a drummer, Ric Menck keeps a steady beat. Anchoring the music are rock-solid friendships with bassist Paul Chastain and singer-songwriter Matthew Sweet that have remained just as steady for more than three decades. "I've known Paul and Matthew for close to 40 years," Menck says. "That's a long time, and I'm really proud that we've managed to stay together all that time. It's not easy to keep stuff together for that long, but we've done it."

To illustrate Menck's working relationship with Sweet, one need only explore the story behind one of Matthew Sweet's most iconic songs: "Sick of Myself" of the 1995 album 100% Fun. The album was recorded in Atlanta, and one evening, producer Brendan O'Brien had gone home for the night while Menck, Sweet and a studio engineer had stayed later to play music for a bit longer. "Matthew started playing the riff to 'Sick of Myself,' and I just started playing along," Menck recalls. "We were just goofing around, really. The engineer, through the talkback mic, said, 'That sounds great! Do it again.' So we quickly just ran through the song again. And then I think he called Brendan and said, 'I think these guys recorded a really great track; you should get back here.'"

Menck explains that the false endings of the song were the result of the spontaneity of the recording. "We didn't really know what we were even doing or when it was going to end or how it was going to stop, so they kind of kept that on at the end," Menck explains. "That was kind of a magical song; it was just one of those things that dropped out of the heavens."

The song remains a fan favorite at Matthew Sweet shows, and for Menck, it holds deeper significance. "I think that track is actually a great indication of that symbiotic relationship we have with one another musically, because I think we both recognized early on that we were kind of on the same wavelength, and I could almost read Matthew's mind in a way," Menck says. "I think we recognized that and really thought it was magical and have been sort of playing off that for 30 years. Onstage when we play to this day, I never take my eyes off Matthew for very long. I watch him and listen; there's just something about the two of us when we start playing together, it's a cool vibe."

Ric Menck grew up in Barrington, Ill., in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. After attending Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, Menck returned to Chicagoland where he began working at a studio in Schaumburg, Ill., in about 1983. It was there that Menck met his longtime friend and musical collaborator, Paul Chastain. "We met each other and bonded instantly and have been playing together ever since," Menck says.

Chastain was originally from Champaign, Ill., home of the University of Illinois and a vibrant music scene found in many college towns. It was in Champaign that Menck and Chastain started their first bands — notably Choo Choo Train, and the Springfields. A longtime fan of the British indie-music scene, Menck submitted his music to upstart U.K. indie labels Sarah Records and Creation Records, getting signed to both of them. "Creation is kind of a really famous — at this point, legendary — British label," Menck says. "We were one of the only American bands on that, but the way we sort of got our start was by putting out records in England before we even really put anything out in America."

The next step Menck and Chastain took carried them out of the Midwest. After a visit to Providence, R.I., Menck and Chastain agreed that a move to New England would be pragmatic and beneficial to their lives and careers. "Providence at that point was really inexpensive and there was no real music scene there, so Paul and I thought, 'Well, if we went there, we could sort of be kings of the scene without even trying very hard.' And that's kind of what happened."

It was while based in Providence, circa 1991, that Menck and Chastain launched the band Velvet Crush, along with Jeffrey Borchardt. "Paul and I had put together this sort of plan, and it didn't take very long for our plan to work," Menck describes, "which was pretty exciting for us, because when we got to Providence, the only money we had was literally the coins in our pockets; we were very, very broke. So we really had to focus and we put together this plan and we made it happen."

A few years before launching Velvet Crush, Menck had come across a 12-inch EP from an Athens, Ga., band called The Buzz of Delight, fronted by one Matthew Sweet. "I thought it was the greatest thing I had heard," Menck remembers. "I fell in love with it — every bit of it, I loved."

Moved by the music, Menck decided to reach out to Sweet; in the days before email, that meant writing a letter. Menck and Sweet began corresponding, and eventually the two would meet in person. Just like his first encounter with Chastain, Menck says he and Sweet instantly clicked.

As Velvet Crush were still tearing it up along the Eastern Seaboard, Sweet relocated from Georgia to New Jersey, making collaborations with Menck and Chastain a bit easier. Although Sweet had a couple albums under his belt, it was his 1991 release Girlfriend that really launched Sweet's career; Menck played drums on a number of tracks on that album. "When Girlfriend came out, it was a very different sounding record," Menck explains. "Everyone was using these massive, gated drum sounds that were huge [at the time], and Girlfriend has this very tight, dry drum sound, which is one reason why I think people were drawn to it.

"The other reason," Menck continues, "is because the songs were so good. Matthew's a really talented songwriter."

As Sweet's career took off, Velvet Crush were also gaining national exposure. Menck and Chastain were touring with Sweet, but they also toured with simultaneously with Velvet Crush. When that became difficult if not impossible, they eventually ended up alternating taking time off from either project for a stretch, giving each one the attention it deserved. "There was a period in the '90s when Paul and I were on the road constantly with one band or another, and we were never really home very much," Menck recalls. "We were never really home very much; it was a very busy six, seven years."

Eventually, Menck would make his home in Los Angeles (more on that later), and it turns out drumming is but one aspect of Menck's multifaceted career. Up until the late '00s, Menck ran a couple of record labels under the Parasol Label Group; namely, Songbird Records and Reaction Records. In Los Angeles, he worked at a record store called Freak Beat. And he also worked for a company where he tutored up-and-coming musicians about the music industry. "I spent 16 years working at that place, helping people better understand how the music business operates and how they could go from being a guy who lives in Champaign, Illinois, delivering pizzas to playing huge stages in front of thousands of people. I did it. So I felt like if I could help other people understand that, it was a good deal," Menck says. "I was giving something back."

And if that wasn't enough, Menck also put his journalism degree from Drake University to work, penning the 2007 book, The Notorious Byrd Brothers. "I like writing almost as much as I like playing," Menck says, although he acknowledges that when Continuum, publishers of The Notorious Byrd Brothers, accepted Menck's proposal to write the book, Menck was a bit taken aback. "It was frightening," he admits. "I think the book is good. It's not great, but it's good, and there's a lot of information about the Byrds that people might be into.

"It pushed me, and I do think it's important that you are kind of afraid sometimes," Menck continues. "Otherwise, you don't strive; you just sort of coast along."

And now that he's got one book under his belt, Menck says he's past the early stages on a new book, one that is more autobiographical. "People are always telling me to write that stuff down because there's a lot of amazing stories, and so I finally started to do that," Menck explains. "I think maybe this new one, I know it will be a lot better because I actually know what I'm doing at this point and kind of have a concept of how a book is put together. I'm really excited about it."

After living in Los Angeles for 20 years, Ric Menck thought he would always live there, but he notes his wife was not as enamored with Southern California and had other ideas. "Also, as much as I loved the place, it's becoming sort of impossible to live there for people who don't make millions of dollars," Menck acknowledges. "We could never envision buying a house there; it's just not possible with our combined incomes. That was a little depressing when I thought about it because I thought it would be nice to have a house, and my wife definitely wanted to have a house."

So when the company Menck's wife works for offered her a position in Minneapolis, she and Menck picked up and moved to Minnesota about one year ago. That's right: Matthew Sweet's drummer Ric Menck is now a local musician.

"I must admit it was very difficult for me," Menck says. "I had a hard time letting go of California. I still lament certain things about leaving. But it's also really amazing to be back in the Midwest."

Although the adjustment to Minnesota has had its bumps, Menck was quickly impressed by the local music scene. "I'm beginning to explore Minneapolis, and it's fascinating," Menck says. "The town is filled with so many amazing musicians, it's almost unbelievable to me. I haven't even really been able to crack the surface in the year I've been there of all the stuff that's going on."

Menck also makes a point to say that when he's at home in Minneapolis, he listens to The Current. "And then I come to find that my friend Jim McGuinn, who I've known for a million years, is the program director there!" Menck says, tracing his friendship with McGuinn back to Champaign, Ill. "So that was shocking to me and also exciting because he's kind of a legend in radio.

"My life is filled with this weird sort of thing were I run into people I've known for years, and we reconnect," Menck muses. "It's great."

And while he was "heartbroken" to leave the Freak Beat record store in Los Angeles, when he's not touring or recording, Menck has found a job at Mill City Sound, a record store in Hopkins, Minn. Rob Sheeley, the owner and founder of Mill City Sound, is a longtime fan of Matthew Sweet and knew Menck as Sweet's drummer when Menck approached Sheeley for a job. "When Ric and I met, we were in sync right away — we're both huge power-pop guys," Sheeley says. "Whenever we're in the store together, we joke 'It's about to get sticky with all the sugar we're going to hear!'"

"I've collected records since I was 12, I have about 10,000 albums and probably more CDs than that, but just tons of stuff," Menck says. "To be around those records, I sort of crave it."

"You take somebody like Ric, especially in a record store, you look for someone to play that one song where people will go, 'I haven't heard this before — this is cool!'" Sheeley adds. "Ric is a great guy and a lot of fun to be around."

It's all part of an ethos that has been at the center of Menck's life and career — whether he's attempting to channel his hero Gene Krupa while playing a show with Matthew Sweet, or writing a book about music, or tutoring musicians, or talking with customers in the record store. "A big, really important aspect of my life as a musician is to take what I know and tell people about it, try to maybe inspire them or whatever," Menck says.

"That's a huge deal for me."

Matthew Sweet performs at the Turf Club in St. Paul on Friday, June 29.

External Links

Matthew Sweet - official site

Mill City Sound Record Store, Hopkins, Minn.

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