Music history is full of stories about bands that formed almost accidentally and found fame quickly. Of course, thousands of other ambitious groups toil endlessly to “make it.” Then there’s popular Chicago band The M’s, which cohered only reluctantly. Singer-guitarist Josh Chicoine, singer-guitarist Robert Hicks, singer-bassist Joey King, and drummer Steve Versaw all had previous experiences that influenced them to move slowly. But their self-titled debut for Brilliante Records sped everything up in 2004: Accolades came from everywhere, and the band jumped from playing small clubs to opening for Wilco in big venues. The cautious M’s kept close ranks, though. Even their recent move to up-and-coming indie Polyvinyl Records came as much from intuition as business acumen. They self-produced the new Future Women, and only hired friends to shoot pictures, promote it, and play on it. Their narrow focus has paid off: The fantastic new album is full of lush pop-rock tinged by psychedelia, indie rock, and Brian Wilson-like ambition. The A.V. Club recently spoke with Chicoine and Versaw about their friends and when they’ll receive that $1 million check.
The A.V. Club: Does the move to Polyvinyl feel big?
Steve Versaw: I think there’s an ever-reaching ladder, and every step we take forward, there’s a bunch more of the ladder that we see. So there were turning points when Brilliante wanted to put something out. There were turning points when Wilco asked us to open up—that’s huge—and it keeps continuing. You never want to take a step down.
AVC: With all the hype around The M’s, it seemed like you’d go to a bigger label than Polyvinyl. Were you talking to a lot of labels?
Josh Chicoine: There was always someone coming to see us in New York, always somebody doing this, always somebody doing that. It never got serious, so we got tired of it. We were like, “Fuck it, we’re going to record our own record, regardless of who signs us. Let’s just get started.”
SV: Talking specifically to one label made us realize, “Oh, all the big words that they’re using don’t really add up to anything.” We thought we’d all rather be working with people who could be our friends. They’re going to do their job, we’re going to do what we’re supposed to do, and we’ll all make it bigger and bigger. That’s what we’ve been doing since the beginning.
JC: It’s worked out. I was actually pretty surprised, because I’ve never been involved in any kind of a label situation before The M’s, and I had my ideas about what was going to happen. As soon as we came out of that record, and we were getting all these reviews and getting in all these big publications, I was like, “Isn’t now when we’re supposed to make a million dollars? Isn’t that the way it works?”
SV: That was his idea, too. We’d be on the road and playing to 10 people because nobody had ever heard of us, and he’d be like, “When are we going to make a million dollars?” [Laughs.]