Running a band like a business may seem sacrilegious to some musicians who think art and commerce don't mix, but this method has been working well for Nothing But Oregano for the past five years. Each member of Oregano agrees that many younger musicians misunderstand or ignore the business aspects of creating a successful band, which can lead to early failure.

Rhythm guitarist Jeff Bowman explains, "As far as individual members of a band, we haven't been paid any money, personally, for four years. We've decided that everything goes back into the band. We've all got jobs. We don't do this for money; we do it because we love it and think we can really make something of it."

"There are a lot of bands out there who, at the end of the night, get 50 bucks each and go home," according to guitarist Sam Gorgone. "We put that money toward releasing CDs and getting further. It's helped us so much."

Bowman and Gorgone are joined in their band by bassist Clayton Margerum and drummer Jason Krueger. Recently, Nothing but Oregano said goodbye to long-time percussionist Dave Skinner who left for Boulder, Colorado to pursue a great opportunity in his radio career. According to Gorgone, the band has played some gigs since Skinner left, and has "adjusted quite quickly."

Obviously, fans of Nothing but Oregano may worry how this change in line-up will affect the group, but Gorgone says, "I think the biggest way it will affect the band is the fact that we're losing a great friend. Skinner was there from day one, and it was hard for us to watch him leave. His great talents on stage will be missed, as well as his contributions to the business side of the band."

"Skinner gave a nice contribution to our sound," he continues, "but I think him leaving will really open us up to some new sounds and new ideas. Over the last couple of years our sound has evolved into more rock and roll anyway. I think losing our percussionist may give us more room to grow as a rock/pop act."

Over the years, Nothing But Oregano has become more adept at writing music. Although Margerum and Bowman are the group's main songwriters, each member has equal input into how a song develops. Bowman explains that he relies on his band mates to put the Oregano mark on the ideas he brings to them. "Clayton has a real gift for bringing in a song that he can tell us how it should sound and all. Myself, I can't do that, I just bring it in, and say 'here it is; do your stuff.' That actually keeps things really interesting because we have two totally different writing styles. It makes it fun."

Early fans of Nothing but Oregano may remember them as a "jam band," but their sound has significantly evolved to become tighter and more sophisticated. "We used to trail off and jam out," says Krueger, "but now it's more solid even though we still jam ..."

Bowman interrupts, "We started out as sort of a hippie, groovy band, but when we decided that we wanted to get more serious, it was enough with the hippie stuff because there's enough of that genre around that do it very well, like Hexbelt. So, we went a different route, and it's working for us."Krueger continues, "I don't think we ever decided that; we just evolved into it."

Collectively, the members of Nothing But Oregano cite varied influences from Pink Floyd to Peter Gabriel, Led Zepplin to the Cure, R.E.M. to the Beatles, and Grateful Dead. In addition, they're great fans of some of Lancaster's best bands like Jet Silver and Hexbelt. "You gotta stick together," states Bowman of his colleagues.

According to Gorgone, it's not difficult for his band to combine all these diverse influences to create a unique sound. In fact, he states, "we've been together for so long that a lot of my influence is Nothing But Oregano music. I don't go into a practice saying, 'I'm gonna put a cool blues riff in here.' I just go in and do what I've been doing with the band."

Oregano has been an original band since its inception, a fact that doesn't hinder their ability to achieve regular and steady bookings throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Gorgone, who is responsible for booking his band, says he targets certain clubs based on word of mouth. "I'll hear through the grapevine about clubs that book original bands, and there are big clubs the size of The Chameleon that do that," he says. "If I hear that a certain club books the popular cover bands, I won't even try to get a booking there."

The issue of limited bookings is a concern for many bands who feel they need to play covers in order to get into clubs. "A lot of clubs are skeptical if you're not a cover band," Bowman concurs. "Sure, if people don't know who you are, it's easier going into a club and playing songs they already know, but we've decided to win them over going the original route. It's more work, but, at least for me, it's more satisfying." Krueger agrees stating, "Playing covers all the time would get totally boring. That would be like waiting for some other band to write a song that you liked, but we write songs that we like already."

Oregano has been lucky enough to secure gigs and attract audiences in such big cities as Philadelphia and New York, but they believe their greatest accomplishment, so far, has been performing at the Hershey Star Pavilion with bands like Better than Ezra at this past summer's Summer Fest.

The band had previously played at Hershey, opening for Fuel and the Blood Hound Gang, but this time, they believe they were more prepared for such a big show. "We were definitely more confident this time," states Krueger.

Nothing But Oregano is thankful to WLAN FM-97 for helping to make this gig so successful for them. It's rare for a small, unsigned band to get significant radio air play, but Oregano actually made it onto WLAN's list of top 10 most requested songs this past summer. According to Bowman, "WLAN spun us about four times a day. We hit the top 30 requests and charted. We were really thankful for that. It helped us out in this area because it got our name out. It really showed us a lot about the fans we have in Lancaster and how important they are to us."

Oregano has also garnered the support and respect of the owners of Lancaster's Llist Records, who have helped the band with the distribution of their CDs to record stores in the Mid-Atlantic region. "We've done three projects at their studio, but we never signed on with them," says Bowman. "We talked about it with Quentin and Jann, but they had so much going on with the studio, and we had so much going on with the band that we decided to keep it as a cool professional friendship and do our own things. But we still ask them for advice."

Nothing But Oregano routinely receives calls from interested record industry people, but they remain pragmatic about their future. "One thing we've learned through this whole thing is to always take everything with a grain of salt," states Bowman. "Just keep playing and having fun because people say a lot of stuff. You just gotta keep doing the right thing because, as long as you think you're doing the right thing, you are."

If you're wondering if Nothing but Oregano will be holding auditions to replace Skinner on percussion, don't hold your breath. Gorgone sets the record straight stating, "For now, we will go on as a foursome. Actually, we aren't really looking for a replacement. We're very confident that we will be just as strong as a four-piece as we were as a five-piece, maybe even stronger. For example, we greatly improved as a band when we went from a seven-piece to a six-piece and improved even more so when we went from a six-piece to a five-piece. Why should this be any different? Maybe it's a sign for greater things to happen to us."

While bands in this area have come and gone during the past five years, Oregano has remained. Less-experienced bands may wonder what keeps them together. The answer is quite simple: friendship. Each member of the group cites his mutual respect and friendship of each other as the glue that joins the band. "I think our staying power comes from the fact that we've gotten along," states Gorgone. "Most bands break up within a couple of years, but we take our friendships first."