This iteration of the band features original members Josh Wickersham and Elliot Ward, alongside Me Time newcomers Casey Abbott and Eric Cassidy. The set will offer brand new songs alongside some of the classics. It’s said to be a night of friendship, love and rock n’ roll.
Sitting in Smith’s living room, we listened to avant-garde French singer Brigitte Fontaine’s self-titled album from 1972. The experimental tones that underscored our meal are a far cry from the melodic in-and-out pop songs that the Dayton songwriter is known for.
When asked if he listens to the music that Me Time is a direct descendant of, like 1960s garage rock, he said that he does have a thing for the British Invasion bands. Only recently has he gravitated toward seemingly nonsense music, and songs in languages he doesn’t speak.
Still, the latest Me Time release, “Catch Your Eye” (2020), harkens back to early Beatles more than anything. Perhaps more surprising is that the Lennon–McCartney estates haven’t sought legal repercussions for the song’s chorus and similarity to “Please Please Me.”
Smith also told me about his obsession with Cindy Lee’s acclaimed triple album “Diamond Jubilee” (2024), which does bear some similarities to his songwriting with Me Time: both rely heavily on lo-fi production, both have maddening abilities to perfect a melody.
“It’s the best record I’ve heard in 20 years,” he told me. “A lot of it is noise, but every once in a while, it’s just this beautiful lo-fi, almost soul song in the middle of it. I can’t stop with him. He’s brilliant.”
He described it like you’re driving down the highway, listening to a radio station that’s point-three off from where the channel should be. While we listened to tracks off “Diamond Jubilee,” I did feel as if I were driving down I-40 in New Mexico, with a spotty AM signal, convinced an alien abduction could happen at any moment.
Smith considers himself to be more of a music listener than a maker. And as much as his music listening differs from the making, he can get absurd if he wants to; the absurdity mainly manifests within the lyrics, considering his clever melodies override all else.
But after an extended hiatus, why Me Time now?
He said it comes down to a backlog of new material—around 78 tunes, if not solid ideas—and he doesn’t know what took him eight years to do it.
“I have a lot of songs I’m proud of,” he said. “I want people to hear it because people liked it at one point. Maybe they’ll like it again.”
He is planning on recording some new tracks for the next Me Time release. He talked about producing exclusively on a Tascam 4-track and analog tape, much to the chagrin of the rest of his bandmates—”I think they’re just going to have to trust me on this one”—to get that “extremely lo-fi, dirty, extra, over-the-top” Me Time sound.
“I’m sick of clean records,” Smith said. “Most of my favorite records, the old Motown records and the old soul records, are kind of junky sounding. It adds to the authenticity of the whole experience.”
He said there’s never been an album he’s recorded that he’s ever been happy with—ostensibly because they weren’t junky enough, lacked grit. Me Time scrapped a four-song EP “Vol. 3” that was “too clean.” He wants to remix it at some point, since the songs are good, but he’s otherwise moving onto “Vol. 4” before the third one is even released.
On top of this upcoming Oregon Express show being the first Me Time appearance in nearly a decade, it’s also a homecoming for Smith. In his early 20s, he played some of his first gigs at the OE with his previous band, Andrew and the Pretty Punchers. So it’s a night of friendship, love, rock n’ roll and a bit of Dayton music nostalgia.
After we split a bagel, and ate his fabled scrambled eggs, he mentioned that he had a nap habit. I took that as a sign that Andy Smith needed some me time.
Brandon Berry writes about the Dayton and Southwest Ohio music scene. Have a story idea for him? Email branberry100@gmail.com.
How to go
What: Me Time / M Ross Perkins / Jake Giesige
When: 8 p.m., Feb. 28
Where: Oregon Express, 336 E. 5th St, Dayton
Cost: $10
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