Allison Rizk asks some great questions to one of my favorites, Joshua James. Check out the intro here at RadioPotato.com.
Music from music fans for music fans...
Showing posts with label Band Interview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Band Interview. Show all posts
Interview with Joshua James
I interviewed singer/songwriter Joshua James at the Intersection in Grand Rapids, Mi, on October 1, 2009. Very nice guy, down-to-earth and mindblowingly talented. His performance was so emotive and rockin'. I was blown away!
A Conversation with King Tut
Michele: Thanks so much for doing the interview with me. Can you talk a bit abou tthe new self-released EP coming out very soon, which is your first studio recording, which you recorded in Ashville, NC. What can we expect?
Drew: Mark and I had talked countless times about doing professional recordings of our "live material. The majority of our music that has been heard online are recordings done at home, track for track, and can't be played live. Because of our equipment limitations, we'd never been able to produce a recording that represented/resembled our live music in a way we wanted. So, we went into the studio, surrendered our wallets, and enjoyed the experience all around. Minus the whole wallet issue...
I was surprised to learn that you had been recorded your first album Chopping Wood & Carrying Water on a Mac Laptop in Garage Band and with built-in mic. Were you recording, mixing and mastering everything yourselves?
Drew: The majority of CW&CW was done on Mark's laptop, or my Mac Mini. Although a fair amount of the recordings used the laptop mic alone, we eventually began to use more "sophisticated gear such as USB interfaces and basic/entry level microphones.
Mark: I definitely had access to a few decent entry-level mics (Shure SM57, 58, some AKG condensers) which I ran through a Tascam USB-122. It only has two inputs which meant sometimes I'd record things in stereo, but more often than not, I'd just record two tracks of the same part in mono and then pan them left or right. That's where a lot of the jingly-jangly-fullness of that album comes from. Some of the guitar parts and most of the vocals are overdubbed five or more times--usually one in each headphone, one set a little closer, one closer still, and one directly center. I still do that a lot because it's a great way to cheat and make a poor vocal sound appear more full. I can't remember specifically what parts were recorded with the in-monitor microphone, but probably a lot of the singing and handclapping.
Drew: We certainly weren't working with anything special, and a lot of time was consumed by trial and error, but it was a necessary learning process for both of us to go through. I had no previous experience with recording besides previous projects, and by fitting the stereotypes of the drummer, I had to learn a lot more about audio, electronics, etc. It really has been a positive thing for both of us though. I'm able to give a lot more input with things, and began working on a solo project (Charles Martel) because of it.
Mark: (Apple's) Garage Band was basically what got me started playing music. My friend Luke Brandfon (who wrote the original chord progression for Luke's Hymn) introduced me to it. I saw how he could build a full song pretty quickly by himself and I was floored. He also was the one who got me into looping pedals as well. Those two discoveries made a huge impression on me, and it comes through if you listen closely to the music. The way I began writing music was to find a 4-8 bar phrase that I liked, and I would just play it over and over again until I felt like I had enough time to "play" with and develop the first theme. Then I'd just overdub different guitar and singing and whatever parts until I felt like the first section was done, and then I'd move on to the next part and do it over again. That's why so many of our songs have anywhere between 2-5 distinct parts and no choruses.
It's both an interesting and lazy way to write songs--and I say lazy in that I felt like my composition skills were not (and still aren't) up to the same level of intensity of the feeling I want to express, and so I fall back on easy, great-sounding, happy chord progressions, mostly based off of I-IV-V or its variants. I learned how to hide it well by adding these intense, fast, trippy guitar parts that would draw attention away from the fact that I was doing the same thing over and over again. But a part of me loved that in a way, that you could take the same basic ingredient and each time come up with something different. "The Ocean of Motion" was my celebration of that chord progression, and I just said fuck it and embraced it. I've never really taken lessons in guitar, but in a way, Garage Band were my lessons. I can't say that much mixing or mastering actually happened on that album -- we really had no clue what we were doing. No matter what it was, I almost uniformly boosted the high end, cut the middle, and boosted the bass.
There was one song we recorded "in the studio" but to call the Kenyon College studio a studio in the same breath as Altamont (where we recorded our recent EP) would be, uh, kinda silly.
Drew:The song, "It's All In Your Head, as well as a few drum tracks were recorded at Kenyon College's radio station.
Mark: The laptop setup was great though, because it let me record in a variety of places (some good, some terrible). I wrote "Monsters" and "Koen E Ikimashyo" as well as a few others on my windowsill at my mom's house in Bay Village, Ohio. At the end of "There's No Mountaintop to Yell It From" you can hear my mom calling upstairs to me. Other places I/we recorded were: in my mom's garage, in Drew's basement, in my dorm at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, in the performance space at aforementioned college, at my dad's house in the "fen" (what they call their mix of the family room and den, though I'm not quite sure of the difference anyway), and some other places I'm forgetting at the moment. I wouldn't say the album is mastered in the least, as the levels of the songs vary wildly, and the CD was actually pressed using mp3 versions of most of the songs because I'd lost a lot of the original GarageBand files (they had become corrupt for some reason). All in all, I'd say the music survived the massive uneducated beating I gave it.
Since then Drew and I have both read a lot more about the art of recording and got better equipment along the way too. I now use an Apogee Duet with a Rode K-2 tube condensor microphone. I'm still mixing on headphones, but I think the sound is getting better and tighter. I understand the wonders of compression and light EQ'ing more now, and how much the room you record in influences the outcome. "At the Gates" is one of the better recording jobs I've ever done I think, with the new gear and everything.Michele: So King Tut is just the two of you: (Mark Boyd on guitar, synth, and cocals and Drew Veres on drums and synth). It's pretty impressive that two people can crank out so much sound and such a variety of music! I mean, your first album had 21 tracks! Do you have a process for writing music?
Drew: Mark definitely gets all the credit for that. There was a time when we lived almost 3 hours apart, and almost every week, anywhere from 1 to 3 new demos would end up in my email or on MySpace. I think the variety of our sound comes from a few other things too. Our musical tastes are pretty broad. I couldn't tell you the last time I listened to the radio or turned on MTV, but there are times when we're on the road to a show and we go from Oscar Peterson to LCD Soundsystem, and then switch on Godspeed You! Black Emperor to finish with Black Moth Super Rainbow. There's definitely a solid list of main influences, but the range of styles we enjoy is just as important. Mark and I both love to record on our own. I think it'd be safe to say for the both of us, that it's incredibly therapeutic. In some ways, it's oddly similar to obsessing over videogames as a child. You're sitting in front of a screen for hours, playing/listening over and over to get to that level/sound you want. Also, whenever some new piece of musical equipment comes in reach, we immediately try to incorporate it into something new.
Mark: Drew hasn't played much of a part in the "recorded" songs so far, but that's rapidly changing. In the past, I've written and recorded a majority of our music by myself, which was silly, because Drew's probably all-around a better musician than I am. Long story short was we wanted to overdub a lot of the songs with drums, but, being the recording amateur I was, I never recorded to a click track, so the result was these songs were incredibly hard to play along to.
One success, however, was "Weeknights." Drew did not do the drums on "Luke's Hymn" (he would have done a much better, less repetitive job)--that was just me recording a single drum/cymbal at a time and overdubbing them. Drew has, however, always had more input on our "live" sound aka what we do when we play live. This might not come as too much of a surprise, but most of the songs we have recorded are never going to be played live. They're just songs for people to listen to. We have definitely neglected our live set for far too long, and we're working on a new direction that is much more jazz-influenced. The songs from our EP can both be played live, though there was some overdubbing in the middle of "Francis" and at the end of "Rue the Word."
"Luke's Hymn" we can also do live, but we haven't played it in a while. The variety of our recorded stuff has resulted mostly from a lot of experimentation with different programs and ways of recording. We used Reason for all of the electronic sounds, and sometimes would combine them with live stuff later in GarageBand. Drew always wants to start side projects for the different genres we do but I'm just like "Whatever dude I don't want to start a whole 'nother MySpace and T61 account just for that." Also, he and I don't like the band name, it sounds kinda stupid, and we want to change it, but I kinda feel like we're too far in and I don't really care all that much, be he still wants to change it. King Tut is easy to remember, I guess it's got that going for it.
Michele: You have plans to include a lot more guest musicians in the future? I would think it would be difficult to perform live if there are just two of you, with so many layers to the music, but maybe not. I saw the Ting Tings last year at Lollapalooza and they're just 2 people knocking out a wall of sound.
Drew: I'd like to think our sound is pretty full for two people. If we didn't use live looping it would be a stretch, but it's something we don't want to seem dependent on. I try to approach drumming as a melodic addition to Mark's guitar playing when applicable too. If you were to add more players to the situation and have me play the same parts I do with just Mark, I'd come off as a total asshole, but at the same time, just playing a steady beat would be a tedious hour of music. For a while, we were determined to find a permanent bassist, but after nothing came through, we ended up feeling it was better to see just how far we can push things as a duo.
Mark: When we play live I use a Boss RC-50 looping pedal, which allows me to record and play up to three independent phrases at a time. Think of it as three normal looping pedals chained up and synced together. As I said before, our live sound is purely instrumental and very different than our recorded stuff. That will change a little as we add more guest musicians, namely, my friend Lorca LH, who will do some singing for us, mostly on the new folk set I'm trying to put together.
Drew: I really like the idea of playing with new musicians to change perspective and approach of playing and listening.
Michele: Speaking of Lollapalooza, any plans to play any summer festivals?
Drew: I'd be interested in playing... Just won't be attending.
Mark: Drew and I always talk about how we'd love to play festivals but never actually go to them. The sound like cesspits to me, with creepy people selling drugs, and people coming to listen to bands but to get fucked up first and foremost. That's cool if that's your thing, no disrespect, it just doesn't sound like a fun time to either of us.
Michele: I've been to a lot of rock shows and festivals and I haven't really come across people selling drugs, smoking a bit but not selling. I think that's probably true about the young kids, but I go to see the bands. After you're married and have kids its tough to get away and see a lot of shows, so by going to a festival, I cram a years worth of concerts into a weeked.
Mark: Playing a festival would be awesome, but we can't even get our act together to get a summer tour going. We've actually never toured and have only booked 2 shows in our history as a band. People ask us to play shows often enough that we don't feel like going to the trouble of booking them around town. The summer tour didn't happen because we waited too long on getting a booking agent (once again, we don't like booking shows) and plus we didn't even have money to press our vinyl, so why waste time touring if we can't sell our new record? I think late fall/winter will be a much more open window for touring. We'll start regionally then work our way around the East Coast, then to the middle and eventually the West if we ever actually get that popular so we're not spending thousands and thousands of dollars on gas 'n' shit with no return moolah. Yeah.
Michele: On the second track on your new album, Rue the Word, you use a sample of Amelia Earhart. What is the significance of her speech to you?
Mark: None whatsoever, it just sounded cool. Drew had a CD called "Great American Speeches" he had to study for his speech class at AB Tech, and we thought it sounded good over it.
Drew: It was just a last minute decision in the studio. It worked out in the end, but we've talked about shortening the length before releasing the 7.
Mark: It actually leads into the Apollo 10 (I think?) Christmas speech, because we were recording it from Drew's computer through a few effects and then into the mixing board, which was a bit of a happy accident because it ends on a pretty cool note.
Michele: You use samples from old movies and that type of thing. Where do you find them?
Mark: We used one sample from an old radio show that was a knockoff of the Twilight Zone I think. Drew will probably remember where he got it. That's in "It's All In Your Head." There are a couple of Timothy Leary speaking on "Here It Is & There It Goes" and I just found those by searching "Timothy Leary .mp3" in Google. Drew found out about this archive of sound which he'll tell you about that is pretty awesome, and I'll probably start using more of that soon.
Drew: I find a lot of samples online, and recently was introduced to freesound.org, which is an amazing resource. The sample used on "It's All In Your Head was from an archive of radio shows originally broadcast in the 50's and 60's. I can't remember the name of the show, but I know it was under science fiction...
I'm also always looking out for things to use at thrift stores and such. I actually have a fair amount of records I've collected with voice samples I'd like to use, but haven't had the time to transfer them onto my computer.
Michele: I love the textured guitar rhythms you create. They are just beautiful. What inspires you?
Mark: I love the band The Books, and I love how they can create these really intricate melodies. They do their stuff with the help of computers, of course, so I don't sound as amazing as they do, but yeah. I basically just take fingerpicking patters and speed them up and then layer different patterns on top of one another, and pretty soon it gets real dense.
Do you have any music videos in the works for the release of the EP? The Luke's Hymn Lonely Monkey video is very cute.
Mark: Haha yeah that video is cute. There is a music video a friend's boyfriend did a while back for "It's Strange" and we have one in the works for "Rue the Word" that our friend Blake in Charolette is going to do.
Michele: I work in the video post production industry, so I'm always interested about videos. The day of the big post house is over in a lot of places. It seems the same for the recording industry. Bands no longer need to have a full studio set up and a superstar producer riding the faders. Bands can self-produce and distribute music at various places on the web. But, you're pressing vinyl. Why do you love vinyl?
Drew: Things have changed a lot in just the past decade, and continue to change at a rapid pace. Although the convenience of recording on your own and being able to control the entire process is a huge part of King Tut, we still have a strong appreciation and admiration for the qualities we couldn't provide on our own. Being able to use priceless vintage equipment from microphones to plate reverb is a total high for geeks like us. We joke at times about how the cliché would be for us to get all hyped up looking at pictures of muscle cars in magazines, but instead we get off to the circuitry of an old microphone. We feel the same way with vinyl too. Mark and I have been collecting records for a few years now, and when you make a good find, or get a record you've been waiting for that is 180 gram, has a poster, and sounds better than when you've heard it before it just feels great. It's something that I've never felt when buying a new CD with a plastic jewel case, a lame foldout, and flat audio… CDs have no real advantage anymore. The majority of people who listen to music might buy a CD, but they get home, put it on their iPod, and that's the end of it. Vinyl just seems to have so much more value all around.
Mark: Typically when you're mixing and mastering for vinyl, you want to get with someone who knows the physics of records. You can't make your mix too loud or it will literally make the needle fly off the record in the loud parts. That said, we did go into a real awesome studio for that record, and got a great product from it. The difference is mostly heard in Drew's drums, though the guitar definitely sounds more full. The reason we're not interested in doing CDs (ever again actually) is because: people don't take care of CDs like they do vinyl, vinyl sounds better (mostly because of a kind of micro-feedback that happens between the needle and the speakers which makes it sound more full), there are more art possibilities with vinyl, and it's more personal and physical and just cool. I feel like people will realize eventualy that CDs were always a big waste of time and eventually they'll go the way of VHS. If people want digital copies of our songs, they can have them (we're sending out free digital copies of the songs with the album). There is literally no quality difference between CDs and what can be played and stored now on people's computers. Most people don't even have a good enough speaker/headphone set up to realize the difference between a .wav and a .mp3. People who don't have turntables are still encouraged to buy the album because it'll come with a ton of free extras, like pressed flowers, handwritten love notes, and 100% original, unique custom art on every single cover done by 30 artists from around the world.
Michele: How is it promoting the music of King Tut via The Sixty One, MySpace, Reverbnation, Pandora, and other online music outlets? Do you spend a lot of time promoting the band online? I would have to think it would be easier and more productive than the old school grass roots methods. Has it really helped grow your fan base?
Drew: Promotion online has been a good friend of ours since the beginning. We've definitely settled down in comparison to how we were early on, but we wouldn't be where we are now without sites like MySpace and The Sixty One. I feel were at a point though where online promotion has done as much as it should for now, and we need to begin trying to play for living people, instead of their online alter egos. Of course the internet would/will be a big help in that, but I'm ready to start trying things from another approach as well.
Mark: MySpace used to be cool, but I've almost totally neglected it since I found T61. People on T61 actually want to hear your music, and you don't get pestered by high school scream-o bands that totally missed the wave 10 years ago (and what a wave that was...). I think printing out flyers for shows if you're not hot shit like Do Make Say Think or Mogwai is crappy and a waste of trees. I don't know if this happens as much in other cities, but nothing bothers me more than people who come up to you on the street, pretend that they want to talk to you and get to know you for about 1.5 seconds, and then shove this mini flyer in your hand as if you didn't have better things to do next Saturday than see a stupid jam band fart on their instruments for 2.5 hours. It's a horrible waste of money on an already un-lucrative endeavor, so we do everything free or cheap. We've never used any spam bots and every message I've sent out to our "friends" on MySpace, or our friends on T61 had been done by me sitting at the computer for hours and hours on end. But it really pays off cause cool stuff like this interview happen because of it. I don't think we would HAVE a fan base if we didn't promote the shit out of ourselves. I think Luke Brandfon is the perfect example of this--don't get me wrong, I love the guy, and I know he's not the kind of person to sit on a computer and send the same thing to a thousand or more people, but if he put just a little more effort into promoting himself I'm sure his music career would take off. You can find him on T61, you'll see what I mean.
Michele: I am sure a lot of 61ers were blown away by the number of tracks you uploaded this past week. What spurred that mass upload?
Mark: Think of it this way: we have 51 tracks of stuff we'd want to make available for download for our friends and fans. If we uploaded them at what is generally considered a fast rate of one song every three days, I would be uploading old ass songs for the next 6 months. And it would be a full time job too. I've never been that sure of how T61 works, and that mass upload was never meant to cramp anyone's style, we just wanted to give our songs away for free. It's kinda funny cause although I love T61 to death, it's the only place on the internet where you can get seriously bitched out for giving away nearly 5 hours of your music for free just because you did it all in one day. I know people want to play the game, but I'm sure there are plenty of people on that site that care more about the music. In the future, we'll do the normal thing where we'll tell everyone the date and time of the upload and let them do the whole discovery thing, and really, it'll be better cause they'll be better songs and people will probably get more points or hearts of bumps or whatever out of them. Most of the people who posted on our wall seemed overwhelmed but happy we did it, so I'm down with those people.
Michele: Kind of funny about how people get mad when you upload a lot of music at T61. Some people are really into the game. I can't deny playing myself. Changing subjects... you mentioned that you're building this effects unit called The Gristleizer, which you use in the song "Pages & Pages". What is exactly is a gristleizer? Are you selling them?
Michele: And, you were a finalist on BBC's Next Big Thing Contest, with your song What You're After. That is pretty awesome. Congratulations! Has that brought you a lot of attention and opportunity?
Mark: Other than bragging rights? No, not that we know of! It was fun though. We dreamed of playing at the BBC, but maybe someday.
Michele: Thanks again for the interview. You guys are incredibly talented and I really enjoy your music. Best of luck with your new release.
Mark: THANKS AGAIN! You're the bestest.
A Conversation with Sum: The Lone Wolf
All of you from The Sixty One are certainly familiar with SumKid. I spoke with him about his incredible new album with Belief, The Lone Wolf. It is available at iTunes, The Orchard and all over the web and I highly recommend it. It's one of those albums that gets under your skin and you just want to listen to it over and over.
A Conversation with Sum: The Lone Wolf from Michele Yamazaki on Vimeo.
A Conversation with Garcia Freundt
I was contacted about the band Modernage about reviewing their album Sirhan Sirhan. The music is fantastic, with sort of a Joy Division feel, but with much more warmth and melody. What really struck me, though, was the cool video. I had recently been complaining about how videos nowadays just seem like a way to market a band and there's a lack of art in a lot of music videos. The music video for the song Creatures uses stop motion with wired up stuffed toys. What is also great about Creatures is that the video was created by a band member. I talk with the multi-talented Garcia Freundt of Modernage, musician and visual effects artist.
MY: You did an amazing stop motion video for your band Modernage for the song Creatures. Do you have a background in photography and video?
GF: I've been working on tv and film for about 12 years. I've never been into photography, just took a couple of classes in college, but I'm thinking of buying a still camera but mainly to work more on stop motion.
MY: Have you done much stop motion work? This looks like a huge undertaking.
GF: This is my second project with stop motion. I've always liked stop motion because it is a unique medium. I fell in love with the textures of the environment and the not-so-perfect movements. My opportunity to explore this medium for the first time was last year, when I was asked to develop some Halloween IDs for a TV cable network. I instantly knew that it would be a great opportunity to create a bizarre world... the short length of the pieces - 10 to 12 seconds - was perfect for a first timer using this technique.
Another reason I like stop motion is the fact that you don't have to work with a lot of people. It's kinda like sculpting and painting, it's very different that normal filmmaking. Roberto Vasconcelos, a great DP I love to work with, worked with me on all the shots with the yellow background, but that's the only person I had to work with.
MY: One shot in the beginning that grabbed me was the change of focus from the rocker to the marble. There's a lot narrow depth of field shifts thought the video, actually. Was that type of effect something you pulled off in camera or in post?
GF: That change of focus was done just with the camera. I was using an HVX200. For the stop motion, I just used the feature in which the camera takes only 2 frames each time you press the record button. In that rack focus I was rolling at 24fpsand with one hand out of the frame I was moving the rocking chair and with the other one I was turning the focus wheel. In general, I've always loved a narrow depth of field and using mainly close-ups to tell stories, and it's easier to get a narrow depth of field when using tight close ups.. so it just works for me.
MY:I'm guessing you took large images and did your pans and zooms in a program like After Effects. Can you talk a bit about your post production process?
GF: Almost all the pans and zooms were done with the camera rolling at 24fps. I tried to stay away from moving the puppets while doing camera moves... maybe for the next project.
MY: What type of plug-ins do you like to use? For the film effect for example, did you use a plugin on that or use some other method to achieve the old film look?
GF: For the film look I just put a vignette (to give it a more fairy tale look) and just added some grain to reduce the sharpness of the video.
MY: Nice particles too!It looks like you shot a portion of it over greenscreen too. You really have a lot of different techniques in a single video!
GF: The only 3 sequences with post effects where done with Motion; the first one is the ball going up and turning into a "planet". The second was the pink puppet going up to the planet (the puppet was on a green screen). The last one was a composite the grey puppet looking at the pink one who is in the planet. The star field is a Motion particle.
MY: I love Motion particles. They're so easy to use and so fast. I'll admit, I've only done stop motion work once and it was in college. It didn't turn out too well. I know stop motion can be tedious work... everything must be so precise. Do you have any methods that you use to time things out?
GF: It really didn't take me a lot of time to do the filming, maybe 20 to 25 hours. The post didn't take me that much either, just working on the three composites I described earlier. With stop motion you don't do much editing, because you don't do any coverage - its very time consuming; you just plan every scene and know in you head how it's going to cut. However, the pre-production part was the longest one but to me the most fun - it took me 5 months, working whenever I had a chance; this involved designing and sewing the puppets and building and painting the set. I guess I didn't want it to end because I love doing stuff with my hands.
MY: So, the dolls... did you put wires inside to get them to pose or did you have another technique?
Yes, I used wires. Now I'm actually learning how to make proper dolls with armatures. The dolls I made were very rudimentary, and I had a lot of problems making them stand right or to have controlled movements...it was a bit of a nightmare, but a learning experience.
MY: How long did it take to make the video? Did you learn any good tricks?
GF: Over a period of seven months, working on it whenever I felt like it. If I had worked on it not taking breaks, maybe 20 days for pre-pro, 6 days for filming and 5 days for post. I started working on it long before the song was recorded. For me, like everything I do, it is just a stepping stone: don't make the same mistakes and build on the good things. I learn by doing.
MY: The opening scene reminds me of something by The Brothers Quay? Do you have any influences in your work? That moving potato is very creepy! The "eyes" look like tentacles.
GF: Yes, among my favorites are the Quay Brothers, Henry Selick and the works of czech animators like Jirí Trnka and Jan Svankmajer. I included the potato cause I always like the "eyes" that grow on them. It gives the potato character...
MY: What do you do in the band?
GF: Keyboards, guitars...and the videos.
MY: When you do a video like this for your band, does everyone have input or do you just do what you envision?
GF: I enjoy doing videos for Modernage mainly because I love the music. I love Mario's lyrics because he has a great sense of storytelling. When I heard the track I felt that it would be good for stop motion. I do most of my creative thinking in bed, right before going to sleep, when my mind is in that weird half-sleep state. I developed the main story line in my head and on the next band rehearsal I showed Mario, the singer, the IDs I had done using this technique, to see his reaction and propose to do a stop motion video for "Creatures", since he was the one who wrote the song. After I showed him the IDs, before I proposed anything, he said: "that's exactly what we should do with Creatures!".. and with that I started working on it.
MY: Have you done other videos as well?
Creatures" is the fourth video I've done for Modernage. I've also done one for a band called "Santos Renuentes" and another one for "Union Cell".
The other 3 Modernage videos are here if you wanna take a look:
- 7/9/12 video for Modernage's 7/9/12 from the EP Sirhan Sirhan.
- Bella - The second video-single off of Modernage's debut EP Receiver.
- Four Eleven - The first hit video off of Modernage's 'Receiver' EP.
MY: Thanks so much for the interview. Best of luck with your music and music video careers! I really love your video work. You have a lot of variety in your style and you're so talented in both fields.
GF: Thanks again!
Bands from other Lands: It's a Hidari!
This interview was done in August 2008 by Charlie Daugherty aka Zagaduba. Enjoy!
In a downtown city sprawl, lies a coastal city of Kobe, Japan. Across the street from a convenient store and up a spiral staircase is a lounge where the sounds of something unique lingers. Sometimes these resonances can be heard on the street in ill-shaped stone-covered parks. Wherever heard the band Hidari is sure to follow.
Some of their songs, although seemingly shallow, have a deep and rich soundscape that pulls the listener in with its smooth lyrics and atmospheric tunes. There is a bite and a punch to the songs driven by the rock music foundation that doesn't falter even on top of the synths and catchy sound effects.
The band consists of its three members Hiroshi Ohta, guitarist and vocalist, Daisuke Kozuki, the bassist, and Justin Bacon, known in Japanese as the Mecha or producer of beats and sounds. Having formerly lived in Olympia, Justin is the band’s newest member with his foreignness occasionally exploited as one of the selling points or novelties of the band. Although most of this is contrived you can find Justin ejecting random gibberish in English as onlookers stare in fascination. Justin is also the pioneering individual introducing the band to an international audience. They can be found stomping Internet playgrounds like MySpace, Last.FM, and The Sixty One. You can also find them at there website hidaridesu.com. Recently I had a chance to do an email interview with the band highlighted as follows (some of the responses have been translated from their original Japanese):
Charlie: So, Justin, compared to music you’ve done in the past what’s unique about being in the band Hidari? And what does being the Mega mean?
Justin Bacon: First of all, it's actually 'Mecha', and it is proficiency in building, using and repairing machines of all shapes and sizes. It is augmented by my intelligence score.
Before joining Hidari, I've always been a solo artist focused on recording and never played my own music live. Now I am doing shows on a weekly basis, and all across the country. In terms of recording, I am focusing more on composition and sequencing since I don't have to worry about trying to play guitar or bass with my hamfingers or getting a decent and in-tune take for a lead vocal with my wobbly vocal cords. Which is nice.
C: My bad... Before I ask this next one is it correct of me to say that people call your music Japanese pop rock right?
J: You can call it whatever you like. Nobody ever knows what to call it.
C: Given that problem what do you yourself call it? What kind of walls do you run up against when compared to other music in Japan?
J: Oh, I don't know. Not to be too pedantic, but I always resist classifying music unless it's clearly idiomatic and the musicians seem to be intentionally trying to replicate something else or create something that fits into a particular genre. Our music is definitely rock, it's got a certain retro bent to it, it's catchy, so I think power pop is pretty accurate. But there are also elements of chiptunes and classical music (mostly from me). The other day we were called Techno Pop, our label calls us Shibuya-kei and Japanese New Wave. Which is fine - they all have elements of truth, I suppose–but one consequence of not being easily categorizable is that the label doesn't seem to be quite sure how to market us, and we get booked for extremely odd shows. We play with everything from prog and punk bands (generally our friends who we play with locally are more on this side of the spectrum) to cutesy pop groups and generic J-Rock outfits. The oddest show we've played would have to be the time we opened for the insipid girl pop group Perfume, who have since taken over the airwaves in Japan. We sold a lot of CDs and t-shirts at that show, though, so apparently there's some crossover.
C: What kind of exposure have you gotten overseas? Do you think a Hidari avalanche is possible?
J: Sure, we tend to attract foreigners when we play downtown, and I think our music is quite accessible... excepting the lyrics, of course. All of our exposure outside of Japan thus far has pretty much been through websites like thesixtyone.com and to a lesser degree, MySpace and their ilk, and we've had a decent response. One barrier in the U.S. is that people generally seem put off by things that aren't in English. How else do you explain Hollywood spending millions of dollars to remake Japanese films almost shot for shot just so audiences don't have to strain their eyeballs reading subtitles. Personally, I think we have a better shot in Europe.
C: Do you ever have communication issues how do you get along outside of doing sets?
Daisuke Kozuki: There aren’t really any big communication issues. It's a matter of perspective I guess. Justin is serious about music and friendly so I would have to say no.
Compared to way back when we were young we don’t hang out nearly as much but rather then being due to bad relations its just become less of a necessity to be together all the time I think. When we’ve already been together for a long time and know each other real well for example. We like taking advantage of meeting new people and trying new things. However, even now we’ll occasionally go out partying or end up doing birthday parties which is always fun. It’s definitely one of our specialties.
C: Daisuke, you’re always the one with the highest energy at shows where does it come from?
D: Originally I was never the type to show off on stage, I didn’t really like that. But I can remember seeing ourselves on TV without any movement. It gave too much of a visual like we were detached and unfocused. I thought this was a problem seeing as when we played on the street not very many people stopped to listen. So I thought, lets stop some people, and that's when the crazy movements started.
C: This ones for Hiroshi, as the vocalist what was it that pushed you to join a band and sing? If you weren’t in a band what would be taking up your time?
Hiroshi: It wasn’t about wanting to join a band and singing. Casually, I tried writing some songs and since they turned out pretty well that started me in music. As for becoming the vocalist there wasn’t any other singers in the band. If I weren’t in a band I’d be leading a more serious life I believe.
C: Ok well finally is there any cryptic news about the release of a new album?
D: Naturally our music now compared with our previous albums is a little different. Justin is included in the new album for one. This time around challenging ourselves with something different has been important and interesting I think. Just producing art that's been well crafted has always been our one vision.
C: Alright, that's all for the interview thanks for your time.
A Conversation with TETRAEON by myktoronto
Two young guys, an ocean apart, jointly pulsing the airwaves with sweet soothing trance... I give you one of my favorite duos on t61 TETRAEON !
mykroronto: I was reading your bio where it said you started with a gaming community of two and a theme song "Relentlessly Destructive and Corrupted". That’s a pretty cool beginning.
Raju: About a year ago me and Alex were playing on the same server in a game called Team Fortress 2. We were just messing around, singing strange songs, and screaming at each other, so we added one another as friends in the community after the game.
Alex: As we got to know each other more, we found out we had a lot in common, and started to get to know the other person more personally. We talked over MSN and soon were having regular video chats.
Raju: And that's when the "freaky shit" started happening.
myktoronto: I know your music has certainly progressed over the past year, what about the gaming community? Do you still play?
Alex: Ha, we still play the game, but the community (Random Destruction Clan) started going downhill, and we started focusing more on the music.
myktoronto: So, Raju, is that London, Ontario, Canada, or London, U.K.? I know that Alex lives in Toronto.
Raju: London, UK.
Alex: I wish it was London, Ontario. That would be a lot more convenient!
myktoronto: I think one of the greatest things about the internet is enabling artists and individuals the ability to collaborate in real-time. Have you guys ever met in person?
Raju: No, but it has been planned, and we are meeting this coming summer.
Alex: We're definitely going to be taking advantage of our time as a "musical group" in the same continent, so we're most going to take pictures and hopefully set up live gigs here and there. We'll keep you posted. :D
myktoronto: That would be great meeting you guys and hearing you at a venue. Being a photographer and a music geek I especially enjoy an opportunity to take concert shots. When did you buys get interested in playing and composing as opposed to just listening to the music you love?
Raju: First it started in year 2, when I was about 6 years old, and I loved the hymns and stuff, I joined the school choir, and when I got to secondary school I joined the boys choir. Around 2001 I began my love for trance, about the time when such songs as Delirium - Silence, and artists like DJ Tiesto were hitting it big. Since being 11 years old, I had played piano, and taken grades 1 till grade 5, and I continue to take my grade 8 next year. In 2005, with my love for metal and rock blooming, I took up guitar and bass, and in 2003 I took up clarinet, and moved on to the saxophone which I later gave up due to boredom. It has only been in the past year that my love for trance music has once again struck me, but this time I feel I need a new path with my love in music.
Alex: In public school, when I was 6 years old, I was in the choir and played the recorder like the rest of the kids. But my real musical interest started a few years after, when I got this really cool toy keyboard as a gift for christmas. I was playing around with it and, I guess it grew into a larger interest. Up through Grade 8, I played the trumpet in school, but lost interest as the guitar and piano appeared on my radar. My musical interest drifted from classic rock of the past decades to new rock, techno, and orchestrated songs at around 2005. I played the piano more as I grew older, and soon the guitar was set aside and my focus was solely on the keyboard. Then I became interested in music on computers, and started messing around with full programs such as Garageband and demos of others, such as FL Studio and Audacity. The more I played with these, the more I learned about musical composition, and how a track is arranged to make it appealing to the listener. Nowadays my interest is still on the keyboard, working with new synths and voices, and learning new techniques to play better.
myktoronto: So, why trance? What grabs you about it?
Raju: In trance, there is nothing that can hold you back, in terms of style and content, and in terms of the actual ambiance of the music.
Alex: To be honest, I didn't even know trance existed until a few years ago, when I was 14. When you hear it, it hits you. This music is the definition of freedom and customization. Anything is possible, and variety is everywhere. Trance is like the photography of music - it's pure, and it's real.
myktoronto: Are your family and friends supportive in your musical endeavors and aspirations?
Raju: Yeah, my friend friends all enjoy our music and cheer me and Alex on. My family is not into the kind of music we make, but they support us as well.
Alex: In Canada, trance isn't as popular, and many of my friends didn't know what it was we were making. Later on, they warmed up to it, and now interest is spreading. My family supported me from the beginning, and they actually seem to enjoy the music.
myktoronto:What was the first CD you ever bought?
Raju: Hybrid Theory, by Linkin Park, probably the best CD on the planet. Around 2005 it was the first album I ever bought independently. I love Slipknot, they are my favorite band, but this album is probably the god of all albums. It has the techno, the metal, the R&B, the rave, it's just, ****ing in there.
Alex: I think it was Out of Exile by Audioslave. I still listen to that CD. Chris Cornell has an amazing voice, it really sticks with you after the songs are done. I guess it goes to show how a memorable voice can make or break an album, and in this case, it made it.
myktoronto: If I were just getting into trance what three tracks, new or old, and from any artist, would you recommend to introduce me to the genre?
Raju: Castles In The Sky by Ian Van Dahl, The Future by DJ Joop, and The Theme by Jurgen Vries.
Alex: Last Experience by Nu NRG, Ride (Remix) by DJ Tiesto, and Castles In The Sky by Ian Van Dahl.
myktoronto: With the amazing array of performance and recording software available, what kind of equipment do you use?
Raju: I use a DELL 720 XPS System, Goodman's UniDirectional Dynamic Microphone (ACC2011), Logitech Webcam (for microphone use), FL Studio, and Sony Erricson K850I's sound recorder.
Alex: A MacBook Pro 15" 2.4 Ghz Dual Core Laptop, Logitech ClearChat Pro 2.0 USB Microphone, Garageband 08, and a Yamaha PSR-E203 (YPT-200) keyboard are what i use.
myktoronto: Does one of you take the lead with creating a track or is it pretty much back and forth? Do you have areas you specialize in individually, like is one of you the percussion guy and the other more into the instrumental bits?
Raju: I am solely based in creating the music, although Alex contributes around 30% into the tunes used, and the beats made. The lyrics and names are generally 100% from him. I just have the technology, the knowledge and musical understanding, making me musically-apt.
Alex: I think of myself as a main sounding board. I come up with themes and ideas for songs, then Raju begins on a beat and the song. I contribute what I can, modify some areas, and suggest what I think will make the song better. I'm more of a lyricist - sometimes I can't believe the song names I come up with, or the lyrics that I write.
myktoronto: Where do you see yourselves or wish to see yourselves five years from now?
Raju: That's a difficult question for me, I know my families expectations, and my sensible expectations, would draw me towards a career in science, although my dreams have always dragged me towards a musical career. Although I feel it is a distant "dream", it is something I have always wanted, more than anything, and I'd give anything to have it.
Alex: I've always loved the film industry, and I'd really love to take up a career as a director in the future. I've never really seen myself as a complete musician, but as time passed with Tetraeon, I thought about what could happen. It's really cool, how that something that originally started out for fun turned into an event that we look forward to each week, an outlet for our creativity and feelings, and a way to introduce others to the genre. Really, you never know until you go for it, and there is always an event waiting to be found.
myktoronto: What's the funniest or stupidest thing to happen when you were making music?
Raju: It was when I stood in the pouring rain, in the middle of a thunderstorm, with my mom shouting at me to come back inside, as I was trying to record a thunder sample for one of our songs, which unfortunately turned out to be one of the worst ones that we have ever made (Epos035).
Alex: Hmmm... It would have to be either when we were recording the vocals for "Relentlessly Destructive and Corrupted", where we had to basically cry at each other for 5 minutes straight, in very strange voices, or when we had a "revelation" for a song name, in which mispronunciation transformed "The Reason We Came" to equal "Freezing Kaine".
myktoronto: OMG... that’s hilarious... well certainly no one could doubt your dedication to authenticity and creativity in your music.
***this interview was written a few months ago I apologize to Alex and Raju for the delay in getting this posted. It was the result of part circumstances in my life and part procrastination.
Certainly Tetraeon has not let the time go by idly as you can hear by visiting their MySpace and other social networks listed here and on their t61 profile.
Thanks so much guys for you patience and all the great tracks!
merchandise • GarageBand • YouTube • MySpace • Stereofame • email
A Conversation with The Shift
This is a conversation with Arrie Oliver of The Shift by mathmanmrt.
mathmanmrt--I notice that the gig you have up on your artist page is going to be in Georgia. Are you guys originally from Georgia? If not where are you guys from?
Arrie Oliver--Absolutely! We were all born and raised in Atlanta, and have pretty much lived here all of our lives. That being said, we've done I think just about everything there is to do in this wonderful city though, so it's wearing on us a bit, haha. If anyone reading this lives in Atlanta, shoot us some ideas for a great Saturday night, because even an insane pack of guys like us can't find anything fun to do!
How did you get together as a band?
Well, it's actually an epic tale of love, betrayal, loss, fortune, and fame. But in a nutshell, Seyt and I (Arrie) have been best friends since we were 3 years old. We've been practically inseparable our whole lives. We were at Summer camp one year, I think as we were going into 11th grade, and we wrote our first song. It felt really good to create, and everyone we showed (even though it was DEFINITELY a juvenile attempt, haha) really liked our song. To be able to affect and inspire people with just an experience you've had turned audio, is the absolute most amazing feeling in the world. I started learning guitar, and he learned drums, and here we are today. We added Chad and Ben, our amazing guitarist and bass player, respectively, and even though the core of the band really consists of Seyt and myself, we'd love to find really permanent members who are as dedicated as we are.
How did you come up with the name of your band? Does it have significance?
Seyt and I were sitting around one day, and came to the realization that we really needed a name for our musical ventures. We chose "The Shift" for various reasons. First off, pursuing music was quite literally a huge "shift" for us out of a lot of our previously defined comfort zones. This band was in our minds a sure harbinger for greater musical horizons, in addition to new life experiences. It's something we've decided to stick with till the end... and while musical pursuits, and such a long commitment might sound very fickle to some, to us it's everything we love, and what we feel like we're here to do. Not only that, but we've been best friends our whole lives, so I don't think we could even escape being in some sort of musical group if we had to. Second, it was a huge stylistic change for us from what we had previously been playing (the hardcore scene wasn't really our thing, haha) so we just felt it fit. Mainly it's the first part of the answer though :-P
What kind of musical experiences did you guys have before you got together? What kind of music were you listening to when you were growing up?
Well I really was raised on Folk and Country music, so I was naturally a child of the pop scene in every sense of the term. I like powerhouse choruses, vocal harmony, and the songs "Empty Apartment" by Yellowcard and "I'm With You" by Avril Lavigne (I'm prepared to get thrashed about this, haha) totally shaped my mind as far as what an ideal song should sound like, haha. Seyt was raised by wolves (Finnish people) on Speed Metal. He's extremely technical if I don't bash him into a pop mold, but never fails to impress me with his unique blend of stylistic flair. On the recordings, naturally, he has to hold back a bit, but when people see us live, they're really impressed by the raw energy he brings to performance. As far as experiences we had together, we were always in bands together and/or with mutual friends, and about 10 people in our immediate lives sort of all grew as musicians together. We were the only ones that took it to the next level and actually decided to pursue anything musically related though.
How do you go about writing your songs? Is there a collaborative process or is there a member or members more responsible for song writing than others?
It's definitely a little bit of both; let me clarify. Essentially, I end up writing all of the songs, be it music and lyrics, but as far as shaping the song after that skeleton is formed, some of the best hooks in our songs are not even often added by me. Seyt definitely has a huge influence over the sound of the songs, if not just as much as I do in initially shaping them. They're usually my experiences, and he helps me express them accordingly.
What do you think are the biggest influences on your sound? And how long did it take you guys to develop your sound?
Well, it took a very long time to develop our sound. It took 4 years of pretty much just trying every style of music and learning everything we could about music to narrow things down. We spent time in hardcore, metal, rock, country, punk, ska bands and even a jazz group before we really found what we wanted. Our biggest influences I'd have to say would be the bands Blink-182 and Stratovarius. A VERY odd combination indeed, but they really influenced our individual style of playing even though there aren't so many direct stylistic similarities. But yeah, so one day I came to Seyt with an idea (a song now called "Innocence" ) and he loved it. So we ran with what we had; a pop-rock group that was going to forge amazingly melodic, somewhat technical, and extremely moving music.
Your website, heartheshift.net, says you have an album on the way. Is it available for purchase yet?
Although it's not available for purchase, it is DEFINITELY in the works, and it sounds really good so far. I wish there was a preview I could offer you, but unfortunately it would violate some agreements with our producer. Keep checking the website, and you're bound to see something soon. The interesting thing about the website is that it's really only there as a quick reference. See, websites are very impersonal, and they provide little if any actual interactive content. We much prefer websites like T61 just due to the fact that there's so much more opportunity for communication with the people who actually listen to our music rather than just sending them aimlessly to a place on the web.
All of your songs are currently downloadble for free. That's a great way to treat your fans. What went into that decision?
It was literally not much of a decision. In fact, it was just a no-brainer for us. We want people to hear and be inspired by our music. And if it means them downloading them for free, then so be it. Plus if it weren't for people spreading music, then we wouldn't be anywhere. Fans are just as crucial in the process as we are. We don't look at it as a way to treat them, as much as we look at it as something they deserve.
I believe you are going to college. Are any of the other band members? And what are you all studying?
We are all in school at the time of this interview. Seyt is studying to be a chef, Chad is studying to be an engineer, Ben is studying to be a teacher, and I'm studying to be an English major. We don't really know what we want to do with any of that other than support the music we make. Music, music, music. After we graduate from school, well, more music. College is great for spreading the musical word though, for sure. It's opened a lot of doors for us.
What do you mean by that last bit about opening doors for you?
School opened a lot of doors, and was a great move. We met TONS of new people, which gave us more honest feedback on our music, and caused us to be even more critical of ourselves. It also opened doors for us socially, which increased our networking and communication skills with not only individuals but also more massive audiences. We also met a lot of very wise people in the music program that taught us a lot about the actual musical side of things, and even though neither Seyt or I are classically trained, it was definitely a great learning experience.
Over on your myspace page you have a cool song called "Springtime." Any plans to put that up on the sixtyone?
We might, it's definitely a bit of a stylistic deviation from our usual sound, but who knows. It's definitely a good song, and I encourage everyone to go check it out. It was one of the first songs we actually ever recorded, and it's definitely more upbeat. Although we've moved away from that sound a bit, it's still a great and energetic song to play, and the absolute best sound-check song ever, haha.
Are there any songs you like to cover? If so, what?
Well, we all have our personal favorites. And even though we don t usually throw in covers, a couple songs we've played in the past couple months include: "Crazy for This Girl" by Evan and Jaron, "Hemorrhage" by Fuel, "Kokomo" by The Beach Boys, "Enlightened by The Cold" by Shadows Fall (that was a one time thing, haha), and "7 Things I Hate About You" by Miley Cyrus. Yes, a very diverse group of covers, but we like to throw it up a bit. It's always fun to do stuff like that, and if anyone has any suggestions, we ll play whatever you can throw at us. ;-)
Of course no interview for maxbumps would be complete without this question, so let me ask you how you heard about the sixtyone and what you think about it so far?
Well, to be honest, I heard about it completely by fluke. I was literally really bored one night when I started clicking random links off of a couple of music-related websites, and I don't really know how, but I ended up at the T61 homepage. I created a profile, uploaded a song, and people really gave us a positive response, so I stuck around. T61 is an AMAZING community of listeners and artists, and it 's constantly growing into an even better environment for everything music. It's built off of a very unique system and a very fun idea. Props to the creators!
Your drummer is listed as Seyt, son of Jorg. What's up with that?
Well, his real name is Tzvi Weinreich . Try pronouncing that :-) So we gave him a stage name after his favorite drummer, Jorg Michaels of Stratovarius, and it just sorta stuck. The name Seyt honestly came from someone slurring his real name, and for some reason that stuck too. Kind of an odd background, but that s exactly what happened.
Have you been putting together any songs for another album?
Absolutely! In fact, we never stop writing, and it sometimes turns into a problem. We keep writing better and better music, and can't ever decide what to actually track on the record. I have nearly 200 songs written on my computer, some of which I have demos of, but when we went into the studio we had a list of about 50 songs that we had to narrow down to 12. Talk about your all-time hard decisions.
With respect to the last questions, what are your plans for The Shift for future?
We want to pursue music. We're currently looking for a manager/management team so we can take the next necessary steps in our musical career, but that proves to be hard. Any fingers in the right direction would be great. Long term though, we love music. It's absolutely everything in the world to us, and it's everything we want to do for the rest of our lives. So what the future has in store, we have no clue, but what we will be doing is taking this as far as we can for as long as we have the will within us. We have such a drive and passion for all of this, that nothing ever stops us from taking the next step, and we can't be slowed down. I don't mean to sound conceited, honestly, but we just love what we do so much, that we can't afford to let anything get in the way.
What have I missed? Tell me anything you think we need to know about you that I haven't thought to cover.
Well, we pretty much summed up everything that has needed to be said. Thanks so much for the interview, and I really hope that I didn't leave anything out, haha. All I really want is for people to listen to our music and try to take it for what it is. We've put so much into this and it's what we love doing more than anything else in the world. Tell your friends, family, loved ones, or whoever, so that maybe just one other person can get what we do from these songs and all that we do. And if you live in the Atlanta area, come see us live. We promise not to disappoint. And talk to us if you'd like! We're goofy, fun loving guys, and we're gonna throw our contact information up on our profile page in a couple days.
An Interview with Heavy Jack
The following is an interview with Heavy Jack, one of my favorite bands on T61.
On July 15th, 2008, I met Heavy Jack. From the moment I heard their music I was seriously blown away. Not long after posting a comment on their wall I was even more amazed that thee seasoned musicians were so young yet performed with a solidity of an established band.
I have never seen 20 wall posts on a band's 'wall' for just the first upload. The enthusiasm these guys generate through their hard driving music and grateful acknowledgment of listener appreciation is contagious.
Here's the story of a band of brothers in their own words. I asked the questions and here are their unedited responses.
myktoronto: How did you come up with the name Heavy Jack?
Ben Falk: Heavy was always going to be part of the name in regards to the Heavy rhythm section that Adam and Jon laid down. Initially I thought of Heavy Cherry and envisioned this massive cherry. However after closer consideration a massive cherry wasn't a moniker any of us wanted to wear.
Adam Falk: Both me & Jon agreed that it needed to be Heavy something and I suggested Heavy Jack - Jack being the name of Ben's guitar whom he had named in memory of our Grandfather, Jack, a proud Canadian soldier. If you want to meet Jack you can find him relaxing inside the J of the Heavy Jack sign on the main entrance page of our website www.heavyjack.com
myktoronto: So, about your first gig... how did it go? Anything embarrassing, funny or incredible happen?
Ben: There are two gigs that come to mind, but the one that meets the true definition of "first gig" would be at "Manhattan's," a local pub in Cowtown, so not quite New York. I was outside the Mac's convenient store with some buddies when I heard music coming from Manhattans. I was underage at the time but I strolled in and talked to the owner Mark. He was really supportive of local indie music and was just a really nice guy. We had a great time and great night that show. Shortly there after we headed west and moved to the Okanagan Valley on B.C. Canada to look after our other Grandfather Jake (not Jack) where events would come together that would eventually lead to the gig that solidified our commitment to Rock & Roll.
Jon: When we arrived in the Okanagan we had a chance encounter with a resident nurse Bernie, who was looking after our Grandfather in the extended care hospital. He heard our sound and suggested when we were out in Vancouver we go see his brother-in-law.
Adam: His brother-in-law was John McLaughlin, an Entertainment Columnist for The Province Newspaper in Vancouver. We showed him the demo CD we had recorded at the time & he said he knew some people @ the Yale and he would pass it on to them.
Ben: We lined up the show and had three weeks to come up with three hours of material so we headed back to the Okanagan and made that home. A local Penticton Pub, Cousin Larry's, gave us the ability to road test our sets for the upcoming gig at the Yale. Our show was on a Thursday night the 20th of September, nine days after 9/11. We didn't know what type of atmosphere we would be walking into. Turned out that there was an ample crowd but not a full house for a Thursday night. We were still underage at the time and when we showed up we heard the usual remarks like, "great, what are we in for tonight?" and ," What is this the Hanson brothers???" We set-up and fired off a quick rendition of Gate Mouth Brown's ,"Better Off With the Blues," for sooooouuuuund check. Which quickly grabbed peoples attention and quashed the earlier comments.
Jon: The show didn't start till nine so we decided to take stroll up Granville street to help with the nerves, leaving all our gear unattended on the stage.
Ben: We get back and are informed that "This is the big city boys and leaving your gear unattended is not a very wise move." We then began our three hour tour of the Yale stage, dropping originals and covers alike in front of an enthusiastic crowd. At the end of it of it all we felt pretty damn proud of our selves and were certain that this was the road for us.
myktorontoIs there one of you that does the majority of songwriting and where do your themes come from?
Ben: As the guitarist I do most of the writing however anything I bring to the table is then re-evaluated as a band. The approach to song writing I choose is kind of a different process in my view.
When I first started out on the guitar I took lessons from a local guitar instructor Brian Griffiths. An incredible player who has a great story himself (read some on our website www.heavyjack.com) He taught me how to listen more than read and how to feel more than play. This was done using Blues as the vehicle for inspiration.
My buddy at the time, Dan, handed me a cassette tape with a few Hendrix songs on it. The one that spoke to me was "Red House" from there I became enthralled with Blues artists like John Lee Hooker and Buddy Guy. When I got back into the Rock guys. I heard a definite thread that connected them to the blues. In reading about both musical scene's, the blues scene and the rock (mid 60's mid 70's) in guitar magazines and other resources, I became puzzled in the conclusion these publications were making. That conclusion being that there would never be another time period in music like that again.
I thought of course there can't be another time like that, but maybe one could get similar results applying some of the same methods. In the beginning of my guitar lessons I tried to place myself in the times of, for example, a youthful Beck or Page, listening to the music that they grew up listening to as well as the music they would eventually create. I was also being influenced by the music my peers were listening to, music from the 80's 90's and on. Because of technology (DVD, You Tube and Mp3) coupled with the access to a massive back catalogue of music and with the guidance of Brian, I was able to recreate my own community which I was then able to apply in real time with Adam and Jon.
As our band began to take shape and work cohesively as a unit we imagined that Heavy Jack had come out as a peer to the groups of the great Rock & Roll movement during the late 60's and early 70's. This helped in the inspiration and the crafting of our own original material. Another crucial element was in not learning any songs by our favorite artists note for note. Instead we would take their songs and rearrange them so there was a familiarity of the original but also an original approach from our end. Now through the feedback from sites such as thesixtyone.com and stereofame.com along with reviews coming in on our music, it looks like we are achieving our aim of creating a new sound based on familiar themes.
As for the theme of Multiply the songs were written with current events and universal themes in mind. In doing so, I was able to create a sort of character foil for the more personal themes that the songs are about. Lending a familiar ambiguity to them with out having to wear my heart on my sleeve.
myktoronto: Once a song is written what's the process that brings it all together?
Ben: I have never written anything down, if it's good then it will stay with me. So the process is coming up with many good pieces and constructing a finished product that is refined and tempered through a constant process of jamming. Music usually comes first then words follow. However "Peace Soldier" and "Bandits In the Night" are the exception.
Adam: I approach the bass as a supportive role, so I tend to write parts that help push what Ben has already laid down. In a live situation I have more freedom to play both rhythm guitar parts & bass parts @ the same time because of the trio format. It is easy play rhythm parts on a bass guitar using power & diatonic chords in the mid-to-high registers - allowing Ben some room for strict lead playing when needed.
Jon: As a drummer I have a very different approach than most. I guess it is due to applying my fills and beats around the guitar more than the bass in our early years of playing. Now I have married the two styles and try to incorporate ideas on the drums that revolve around both the guitar and bass at the same time. For me it's all about feel - Ben or Ad come up with a riff or idea and I feel out the best beat to fit that riff or idea.
myktoronto: Would you say, or how has your music evolved since your early tunes?
Ben: The tunes on Multiply are some of the first songs that we wrote, Bandits In the Night being the first. These songs were not written with much musical theory in mind. They were more like a musical jungle gym for us in the beginning that allowed the freedom of exploring music and sound without boundaries. The studio allowed us to solidify the arrangements of these 8 songs. In terms of writing and playing there is a continuous evolution.
myktoronto: Did you experience any obstacles or challenges along the way outside of an obvious artistic challenge to do better?
Ben: Yes we have encountered challenges and obstacles along the way but hardship and struggle are the two main ingredients that go into being a successful Rock & Roll band.
myktoronto:Are either of your parents musical or from families with musical backgrounds?
Adam: Both of our parents have always had an appreciation for music, but are not musically knowledgeable. Outside our immediate family we haven't had much contact with the extended family for many years, I think some of them did have some ability - who knows we could have an entire brass section lined up and not even know it.
myktoronto: Have your parents always been supportive of the band and the fact that even though you were underage you performed in clubs?
Ben: Our parents always support us in anything we do. In the beginning they had to be present as we were underage and required a guardian to play jams or gigs in the bars. Initially we even had to get permission from the government to play the bar stage. Now that we are all of age the humour of having to get government permission to Rock & Roll has never really escaped us.
myktoronto: Can each one of you list the brand or brands on instruments you use and the ones that are fav's and why they are special?
Ben: I have two electric guitars and an acoustic. My electrics are both Strats. I find them to be the most versatile guitars suitable for anything I demand of them. I use a Fender "Evil" Twin amp for both clean and distorted sounds. As well as delay and wah wah pedals for colour. I like to keep it simple so I rely on my fingers more than my gear. For the album I mainly recorded the guitar parts through an old Matrix MA20X - a 20 watt amp with an 8 inch speaker.
Jon: I have been fortunate to have drummed on many different kits in my time but I have only ever owned 2 sets. The first being my Duke Dixon drum kit and the second being my Pearl expert series. My true favorite kit, and the one that was used primarily on the album, is a Yamaha stage custom which we borrowed from Bully's Rehearsal Studio. I like to use SD1 Generals for my sticks because they are short and heavy which really gives me a bombastic sound behind the kit. Sabian and Zildjian our my cymbals of choice and I prefer to use a single bass drum pedal made by Gibraltar, it gives a really bouncy feel for my bass drum.
Adam: I own a Fender P-Bass deluxe, as well as an Ibanez TR-50. Both which I use for different purposes. On the album I mainly recorded through direct input, though the bass-line to Bushfire was recorded live through my vintage 70's Ampeg V-6B amp head. I also have an Epiphone El Capitan Acoustic bass which I recently had modified by Barry Ewert of Ewert Guitars in Vancouver - who added a thumb-rest to the sound hole - it's pretty bitchin'.
myktoronto: What three artists or album or songs are each one of you currently listening to the most.
Ben: For me music has to have had a 20 year shelf life and be nearing its expiration date before I listen to it. Lately I've been listening to a lot of old R&B stuff, big horn arrangements and tight pockets, artists like Curtis Mayfield, James Brown and Joe Cocker. This is because of the desire to write something that could stand along side those artists. Listening on an enjoyment level is a revolving door for my ears, the two constants being Jimi Hendrix and the Stones.
Adam: Lately I've been listening to English Settlement by XTC quite a bit - but the last two albums I listened to on my mp3 player were AoxomoxoA (the '69 original mix) by The Grateful Dead & Remain In Light by Talking Heads. The groups/artists that have had the biggest effect on me are The Doors, The Band, Frank Zappa, & Oingo Boingo.
Jon: I usually am pretty open to all sorts of music. I like to take into consideration a lot of varieties because it's just more musical taste that I can throw into my instrument. The bands and artists that my brothers listed above often have my ears attention but I also like good old classic rock & roll like Led Zeppelin, The Who, Supertramp etc. I also dig Canadian artists like the Tragically Hip, Neil Young, the Band and so on. To obtain a greater library of bands that we might not have heard of otherwise we started our own collection of vinyl to satisfy our massive musical appetite. I know that this is not three artists, but what can you expect from a musician.
myktoronto: How often do you rehearse and where?
Jon: As a band we try to get in as much time as possible behind the rig if you will. Our time is somewhat constrained as we live in an apartment and are considerate of our neighbours. We play on a broken down set-up, Ben and Ad with two small combo amps and myself playing with brushes using a drum throne as my snare and a old box as my bass drum. We still manage to throw down a pretty good sound on it though.
Ben: To satisfy the need to play on the big rig we go to our local rehearsal space, "Bully's Rehearsal Studios," located in New Westminster here in the Lower Mainland. They have a variety of rooms and gear so it's easy to just go in, setup, and unwind for a few hours and we also like to show up for local open mic jams around town when we can fit it in.
I can still think of a ton of questions I'd like to ask these guys. It's not hard to predict a great and well deserved musical future for the Falk brothers. Certainly Jon could go far as a band promoter as well. He's everywhere, introducing himself, returning tboxes, answering and posting on listener walls and keeping in touch with the Heavy Jack listener base by dispensing a steady diet of Radio Bumps.
Kudos HJ! and thanks for your great words and thoughts both musical and written
Visit Heavy Jack at: MySpace: myspace.com/heavyjack, YouTube, Official Heavy Jack Web Site
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