San Francisco Bay Area Concerts

An Interview with Charlie Hunter

2012-12-30T13:51:00.000-08:00

(Charlie Hunter - Credit: CharlieHunter.com)

Charlie Hunter is a phenomenal bassist/guitarist who currently plays a custom 7-string guitar. He came through the Bay Area a few weeks ago, playing in both Mountain View and San Francisco's Independent. We had a chance to catch-up with him for a quick interview before he heads to Japan for the next leg of his tour.

SFBAC: I've got to ask first about your custom guitar. What's the origin behind the guitar? How did you get introduced to it?

Charlie Hunter: I don’t know if… I didn't get introduced to it... I was just good at playing guitar... for many years... When I was in my early twenties I was like, it'd be nice to have a guitar that had more capacity... Guitar is just anyone's instrument. You can do whatever you want with it, generally. So, my attitude was man, I could do something different with this. So, I just felt like I'll put some different stuff on this instrument and I had one made for me, and it's been like, who knows, 24-25 years ago now. Something in those… maybe a little less, 22-23 years, and I've been evolving the concept ever since.

SFBAC: You started with an eight-string, didn't you?

Charlie Hunter: Well, I started, obviously, playing six-string and I played 7-string, different versions of the seven-string for a little while before I played eight-string and I played eight-string for a number of years and I switched to the current guitar that I play now... this iteration... seven to eight years ago, something like that. I sure like it a lot more. It's definitely a lot of fun.

SFBAC: How about your live rig? Did I see two amps? A Mesa and a...

Charlie Hunter: Uhuh!

SFBAC: Okay. So, how does that work?

Charlie Hunter: You need a bass amp and a guitar amp 'cause it's just too much range for one amplifier so I've got two sets of pick-ups and… that's how I get that to work.

SFBAC: Interesting. So, each pick-up goes to a different amp.

Charlie Hunter: Uhuh!

SFBAC: Okay, so you're a Bay Area native, you've been playing for a number of years --

Charlie Hunter: Well, I'm not a Bay Area native. I grew up in the Bay Area. I don't live there anymore. I haven't lived in the Bay Area in, boy, 16-17 years, something like that. I live in Jersey. I've been on the East Coast for quite some time. My family is originally from the East Coast and... So it just was natural to come out here at one point. Also, because the whole music thing back then, it actually mattered. The music scene out here, so that's why I relocated.

SFBAC: So of all the places you played, do you have any interesting stories? What stands out?

Charlie Hunter: I wish I could say that I have that but I've played at so many different places and I really can't say... it's always different all the time and it depends on the crowd that comes and some places are really more consistent. But I love going back to every place that I play. I'm not just saying that to be diplomatic. Most of the places I play are probably smaller than The Independent too. Coming in the Bay Area is always really great for me because I came up there and I play there so often and the people come out to see the music while I'm there. So it's always fun. But it's always different and it depends on what kind of music you're playing, what group you're playing with. So it's just really hard to be all to specific about that.

SFBAC: Any favorite venues in the Bay Area?

Charlie Hunter: Yeah, I like to play... Dana Street Roasting Company in Mountain View; The Independent has turned into our new fun place to play. There's a new place in Oakland called Duende that we played that was really fun. That's gonna be fantastic.

SFBAC: Who would you say your influences are?

Charlie Hunter: Oh, too many to name. I'm just a music listener so there's just so many great players that spent so much time with me to... It's too hard to say.

SFBAC: So, how about this. If you have a chance to play with anybody who you haven't already, who would that be?

Charlie Hunter: Well, they've all passed away.

SFBAC: So nobody still alive?

Charlie Hunter: No, I'm lucky, man. All my peers that I love playing with, I get to play with. I've had the chance to play with a few of the older ones, and when I was a kid I played with people who were a lot older than me and a lot better than me. Yeah, I'm really lucky in that. But hey, you never know what can happen and if someone wants to play and it ends up in a really cool connection then you just go there.

SFBAC: How about studio wise. Do you prefer commercial studios? Do you have a home studio? How's your studio?

Charlie Hunter: Oh no, I don't have a home studio. I just have a garage with some sheet rock in it. I practice in there everyday but I don’t record at home or anything like that. ‘Cause what we do is so immediate. Our last track that we made in two days, just recording direct to tape. I'm not one of those people that put up a recording studio in his house. I have two guitars, a couple amps, and a drum set and that's about the extent of it. I know a lot of people, that’s how they do their thing, but I'm just not one of them.

SFBAC: Back to when you started playing. Did you start on the bass and moved to guitar or the other way around?

Charlie Hunter: Well, I started on the drums, actually, and then I moved to the guitar and I played a lot of bass as well. So, I played acoustic bass on the streets for a while in Europe. So that was a big thing for me, and then I just slowly put the things together.

SFBAC: Looking at the audience when you tour. Do you notice any differences at a macro-level for example, the US versus Europe versus Asia or even within the States - West Coast, East Coast?

Charlie Hunter: Definitely you would notice stuff when you're travelling to different cultures for sure. It’s not in the States; it's not that different. It's definitely... there's small differences in the States, but we've become such a homogeneous society that the differences are pretty negligible. When you go to Europe, it's different in different parts of Europe. Northern European, Scandinavian people have a different way of dealing with music than the Southern Europeans do versus Eastern Europeans. Then Japanese, they have a very... their whole idea... decorum... and people being at the concert is very different than ours. They're very, very respectful and you'd think that they're not being... they're just ignoring you or something and being incredibly quiet. Then you realize, no, they're really into it. They're just being really respectful. Then you go to South America and people are super buoyant and really flippin' out at the music. Those things are definitely different.

SFBAC: So looking back over your career, do you feel like you had... what was the point where you think you feel you finally made it or you hit the, maybe, an inflection point where you reached that level?

Charlie Hunter: I don't think about it like that because when you get in there and you get in the whole mix of everything, it's always been about the music and trying to always better myself in that respect, and that's the most important aspect of it. The concept of kind of making it is really... it's just not... whatever I've been able to do in this music thing, it's just more than a function of following the music. Then there were times where there have been, kind of, economic success which is great. And there were times when it's been a total bust. The music success and the economic success don't always coincide with one another; nor do the busts and the music successes. So, I just don't think about it that way. I think there are definitely people in the more kind of pop world. And then you're not really dealing in that. Music is just a very small part of what they do. Their thing is more about physical, visual performance, and the music plays a small part in it. What people like myself do, it's just all about the music. Some years I'll do well and other years I won’t. But hopefully, the music is always evolving and if the opportunity to present themselves and it makes sense, you take them.

SFBAC: As far as the shift of distribution over the years from vinyl and tape to CDs and now digital, do you have any thoughts about where the industry is going, or the impact of what's happened?

Charlie Hunter: I don't even think about it.

SFBAC: No?

Charlie Hunter: Yeah, because I am such a small business that I did that thing with the major record labels and I did that whole thing when it was still kind of a viable option. And what I found out was really... there's two ways to go. You can try to be enormously successful in that world, economically. But then you really don't... then you make the music when you can, and you have lots and lots of people who were helping you and getting paid and you have the stress of having an organization and you're paying all these people. Or you can go the other way which is you follow the music and then the economic successes, hopefully, will present itself enough that you can make a living. And that just means you have to be really, really good and really practice all the time. There's ups and downs and you just… when you're a guy like me, you just try to keep it as small as possible and to keep the music, that's the most important thing that you're doing. And let everything else take a back seat. And that means you do everything yourself. You drive to all the gigs yourself. You set up everything except for the booking, you do yourself. I have a booking agent. But everything else you do yourself. And I gotta say, I'm much happier now doing everything myself than I was when I had a manager and a road manager and a record company and all of these external functions that were complications that on a daily basis were infinitely more frustrating than the one or two mistakes I make everyday myself. And also, they used up all the money. There were years when I generated a lot of money and I saw none of it.

SFBAC: Well, that's it from here and thanks again for your time Charlie. We're looking forward to catching your next show in the Bay Area!

Review - Dead Can Dance @ Greek Theater (8/12/2012)

2012-08-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

Dead Can Dance (Lisa Gerrard, Brendan Perry) - Credit: Kevin Keating

As San Francisco's Golden Gate park rocked out for the final night of the annual Outside Lands Music Festival last night, Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance (DCD) held court across the bay at Berkeley's Greek Theater and wowed the nearly sold out crowd for over 2 hours with their ethereal hymns and tribal soundscapes.

Brendan Perry - Credit: Kevin Keating

Dipping back through their catalog of material spanning nearly 30 years, Lisa and Brendan took turns at the mic showcasing their respective vocal capabilities before launching into several duets that blew away the audience. By the end of the night, the aisles on the floor of the Greek were alive with the crowd dancing to the beats.

Lisa Gerrard - Credit: Kevin Keating

Officially on tour to support their first album in 16 years 'Anastasis,' the band performed it in its entirety and sprinkled in fan favorites such as "The Host of Seraphim" and Lisa's Golden Globe Award winning "Now We Are Free" from the Gladiator movie soundtrack.

The full setlist was:

Children of the Sun
Anabasis
Rakim
Kiko
Lamma Bada
Agape
Amnesia
Sanvean
Nierika
Opium
The Host of Seraphim
Ime Prezakias
Now We Are Free
All in Good Time

Encore:

The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove
Dreams Made Flesh

Encore 2:

Song to the Siren
Return of the She-King

Encore 3:

Rising of the Moon

Lisa Gerrard - Credit: Kevin Keating

Brendan Perry - Credit: Kevin Keating

Preview - 8mm @ The New Parish (7/21/12)

2012-07-18T21:46:00.001-07:00

Juliette Beavan of 8mm (Photo: TJ Scott)

Name: 8mm with ManMade God
When: July 21, 2012
Where: The New Parish, 579 18th St, Oakland, CA (map)
Description: Juliette Beavan's sultry and seductive vocals combined with Grammy nominated producer & mixer Sean Beavan on guitar equals a treat this Saturday night that can't be missed. The duo make up 8mm and have had their music featured in popular TV shows including One Tree Hill and Grey's Anatomy. As they prepare to release their 3rd album this September, the band is playing a handful of shows on the west coast while having just launched a new Kickstarter campaign to support a larger US tour later in the fall. Don't miss this rare chance to catch 8mm in the Bay Area!
Sounds Like: Garbage, Aimee Mann, Portishead
Chances show will sell out: Extremely high - buy now
Video:

10 Questions with Freedy Johnston

2012-04-29T09:57:00.000-07:00

Freedy Johnston (Credit: Scarpati)

Freedy Johnston will be performing at the Cafe Du Nord on Thursday, May 24th and recently took time out of his schedule to speak with us. Below, we've got 10 questions with the man himself.

Be sure to get tickets soon to his show at the Du Nord here.

SFBAC: For those not familiar with your work, you've been described as the 'singer's songwriter' and named by Rolling Stone 'songwriter of the year' in 1994. How would you describe your music and your influences?

Freedy Johnston: Oh man, I really appreciate all that smoke of course. Everybody likes to be liked. I love my little songs, even if some of them still live at home. But please, we share the planet with [Jimmy] Webbs, and [Merle] Haggards and [Tom] Pettys and other deities. I just want to meet Paul [McCartney] someday.

SFBAC: You took a bit of a break between your 'Right Between the Promises' and 'My Favorite Waste of Time' albums. How did the break affect your two most recent releases? (ie. 'Favorite Waste of Time' and your 2010 release, 'Rain on the City'.)

Freedy Johnston: The first decade of this century was not my best decade, that’s all I can say. Ha ha. But, it’s over and it’s great to be back making a new record every three years or so. “Rain on the City” came out in ’10, and my next album, “Neon Repairman” will be finished in ’12. My advice: Kids, keep making records somehow, no matter what life deals you.

SFBAC: You generally seem to write with several recurring themes throughout your lyrics. Themes of loss or bad luck. How much of that comes from your personal experiences?

Freedy Johnston: Well, I’m just as morose and depressed as about any other songwriter I’ve met. That’s why I write songs I guess. But, I don’t really write about my life directly. Who can be a trusted narrator, right? Or maybe I’m just embarrassed to talk about myself. Regardless, when a song idea comes out, it always has a time/place, character, point of view, right from the start. And it’s really tough to change that.

SFBAC: Would you prefer to be on the road or in the studio?

Freedy Johnston: I’m a pretty lucky guy, to get to choose between being in a recording studio or a music club, but my choice would be out on the road. Nothing like traveling and playing for the folks.

SFBAC: Do you have a favorite venue in SF?

Freedy Johnston: Hey, that’s not fair. I love ‘em all. Great American, Yoshi’s, Slim’s, Noe Valley, Bottom of the Hill, Café du Nord, and the Phoenix Hotel because I have played there by the pool.

SFBAC: Of all the places you've toured in the past, what cities stand out and why?

Freedy Johnston: There are many more places I haven’t been, but Galway stands out for the wild weather and wilder crowd, Amsterdam for the coffee, and Valmy, Wisconsin for the gig at a log cabin bar in the woods.

SFBAC: What was your biggest break?

Freedy Johnston: Meeting Mr. T at KFOG in the late ‘90’s, and getting a photo of him holding me in his arms.

SFBAC: What’s currently in rotation on your ipod/phone/car/bus?

Freedy Johnston: Around the house I listen to WKCR, or Radio Neptune or Dub Xtra. And lots of others of course. I love any far-off radio station on the web. On the CD I listen to my Led Zep and my Beach Boys box sets and stare out over the lake. We just bought a new turntable for the Percy Faith and Mancini and Carpenters.

SFBAC: Of all the artists you’ve worked with over the years, who stands out and why?

Freedy Johnston: T. Bone Burnett. Because he’s just the best.

SFBAC: What artist(s) would you want to collaborate with in the future (who you haven't already worked with)?

Freedy Johnston: I’d sure love to record with Jason Bonham someday. I’m sure he hates hearing it, but he sounds just like his dad.

SFBAC: Thanks for your time Freedy and we're looking forward to your show at the Du Nord on May 24th!

An Interview with Matthew Sweet

2012-03-25T18:28:00.001-07:00

Matthew Sweet

It's been 20 years since Matthew Sweet released his seminal album 'Girlfriend' and he's returning to the Bay Area to play the Independent on April 21st. To celebrate the anniversary of the album, Sweet will play through the album and feature a few other fan favorites.

He recently took some time to speak with us about the impact that 'Girlfriend' had on his career, the upcoming tour, and his memories of the Bay Area.

Get your tickets here before they sell out!

SFBAC: Matthew, thanks for taking the time to speak with us today. First off, I wanted to understand how, or if, your writing and recording process has changed over your prolific career that's spanned over the past 25 years?

Matthew Sweet: Wow, that’s a good question! I’ve always tried various ways you know, so… it probably has changed around, or maybe gotten wider on how I approach things. But you know in a certain way it’s the same. Generally, because I play a lot of instruments myself, usually drums are first for instance. Although now having said that, I think there was some stuff on 'Modern Art' [Sweet's most recent release - Ed.] where we kind of grafted the drums on. But you know, 'Modern Art' was different because the thinking was sort of different about it, but I’m not sure if the approach was that different or not. I mean it was very 'one takey', we didn’t change much stuff, as we put stuff on it, they kind of stayed there. But that’s always been sort of how I've worked. I think I’ve always worked a little faster and more haphazardly then maybe people think that I do, you know? Especially, I remember, way back with 'Girlfriend' where people would say “Oh! It’s so carefully crafted” and everything, and I was like “I’m not really that way exactly”, you know?

SFBAC: You mentioned your album 'Girlfriend', arguably that’s been your biggest breakthrough hit, both critically and commercially. Wouldn’t you agree?

Matthew Sweet: Yes.

SFBAC: So how did that album impact your career? Not only at the time, but since its release back in ’91.

Matthew Sweet: Well, it just sort of changed everything. I mean I made a couple of records before it, so I knew a little bit of, you know, recording and studios, and all that. But, I’d really never had any amount of people knowing who I was or touring very much, and so it changed things a lot for me in terms of just, not only to have some success, but just the amount of work that entailed -- which sort of hit me off guard even, and I think in some way you can sort of see that in 'Altered Beast' [Sweet's follow-up album to 'Girlfriend' - Ed.] which is kind of like the reaction to 'Girlfriend'. Everything that was happening during that time... But you know, it’s awesome, people ask me often, "are you sick of it?" Or "do you hate that people always bring up Girlfriend?", and I really never felt that way about it, because I was always just glad I had something people like.

SFBAC: Looking back at that album, are there things that you would change about it?

Matthew Sweet: I don’t think so, no, I’d leave it just the same. I mean we really got it how we liked it at the time. I’m the kind of person that never looks back, once I've gotten through making a record. For instance, I rarely listen to it, it’s like I have that thing, if someone is playing my record I just freeze and wish it wasn’t on. But now, when I go back, and I had to do a little bit to learn a couple of the songs that I just didn’t remember very well off 'Girlfriend', I was pleasantly surprised at how cool it sounded, you know?

SFBAC: So on this tour, is it mainly going to focus on 'Girlfriend'? How much of the rest of your catalog is going to be incorporated into the show?

Matthew Sweet: Not very much. I mean 'Girlfriend' is kind of big, it’s 15 songs, so it takes up a lot of time, and in some ways it kind of takes a lot of me. I don’t know why. Just revisiting that whole album is a slight challenge you know, so there’s not a lot more we play, a handful of other well known songs for encores. We’ll play at least ‘She Walks the Night’ off 'Modern Art', maybe another song from it, but mostly it’s just 'Girlfriend'. We did it a lot on the east coast last fall, and we played a couple of shows in San Francisco at the end of December. Amazingly we're coming back and playing it again, so it’s kind of the west coast 'Girlfriend' I guess, we’re going to Portland and Seattle and everything after...

SFBAC: How receptive have the fans been?

Matthew Sweet: They’ve been awesome, it’s just sort of sweet how much it meant to them when you see people reliving it. We're quite a bit older, but in a weird way it takes everybody back and it’s funny to have a thing that’s nostalgic. It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years, I don’t feel that old! I know the people that come don’t feel that old. But it’s been awesome, the crowd has been great, there’s been a really good turnout for it, and they are very into it.

SFBAC: So specific to San Francisco, do you have a favorite venue where you like to play?

Matthew Sweet: You know I’ve played a whole lot of different places there, it’s kind of hard for me to pick one favorite, I know we’re playing...this time I think we’re playing somewhere I’ve never played if I’m not mistaken.

SFBAC: It’s going to be the Independent, on 21^st.

Matthew Sweet: Yeah, what’s the Independent, I don’t think I’ve ever played there?

SFBAC: It’s a good sized space, kind of an open rectangular room that's primarily standing-room only.

Matthew Sweet: So that is probably more for a rock’n’roll type of vibe, when we played at the end of December we played at a place called Yoshi’s, which is I guess sort of known as a jazz place, but it was great, the sound was great, the people were awesome, and we play more in those kind of places. There’s a place in New York called City Winery... I think they are opening one in Chicago, that’s a place where people sit down, but they still have legacy rock-outs and stuff, but it’s always a little different when it’s more like everybody standing, it gets a little bit more riled-up.

SFBAC: So of the times you’ve played in San Francisco, do you have any interesting stories you can share?

Matthew Sweet: I’m trying to think... it was awesome when I played a few times at the Fillmore, but one time they actually made a beautiful poster and so that’s a great memory of getting a Fillmore poster for one of my shows, but there’s so many things... going to visit friends of mine who are into Japanese animation and comic books that were from there, this guy Torrance Smith is a friend of mine there, the Keane Eyes gallery where I learned about Keane paintings which I collected a whole bunch of originals over the years, and so there’s a lot of San Francisco things I like.

SFBAC: And besides San Francisco, do you have any other favorites of places you've played in the world?

Matthew Sweet: Places I’ve played around the world, wow, well I really loved Japan, so I’m always happy when I go and play there. It’s hard because the jet lag is perfect so you’re playing kind of in the middle of night time when you go there, but I really like Japan. I’m trying to think, when I was in the Thorns we were opening for the Dixie Chicks in England in Europe, and we played 2 nights in a row in the Royal Albert Hall which was unbelievable, it’s a really really cool place. And I had to do this one song where I was the only one that played anything, I played like a baritone ukelele, and the rest was just the 3 of us singing, and it was just and unbelievable vibe and sound, it was extremely scary. But you know I’ve been in so many places, I love...Spain has always been great, we’ve had some good ones in England, but...nowhere is as good as here you know.

SFBAC: I would agree. And of your influences, would you say your influences have changed over the years?

Matthew Sweet: Well, I think they did probably more when I was younger, like when I was in high school I was into a lot of current sort of things that were probably more English stuff, groups like XTC, or Nick Low and the Buzzcocks and all that kind of stuff, from that invasion. And as I got into my twenties, I went further and further back, and got into things like the Beatles and the Beach Boys, much much better than I did as a teenager. So, in that sense, I think a lot of things that are very influential to me may have come a little bit later, but I don’t know. I still think I like kind of the same sorts of things, I love when there’s some sort of melody, I love when things aren’t just super slick and produced, kind of mindless you know, I like when there’s some feeling of humanity to it or whatever. That’s lost in a lot of modern pop music, I guess it’s almost like being a jazz guy or something...not that I don’t like jazz you know, I love Bill Evans.

SFBAC: Do you think that the change of influences over the years have impacted your records at all?

Matthew Sweet: I think they probably have...whatever I’m kind of into probably gets kinda reflected. I don’t know how much things pop-up, but other things that have influenced me besides music, it’s the kind of mood I am in, how desperate I feel at the time...making pottery influenced me a lot in the making of 'Modern Art' where I was kind of thinking... what if just there’s no rules and it just kind of is like an abstract in some way. So things do influence, but to some degree I think I’m always me, you can only make yourself sort of so different.

SFBAC: Well, looking at your catalog, I don’t want to kind of bait you into Girlfriend, but do you have a favorite album of yours? Or maybe one that didn’t necessarily do commercially as well as you thought it would?

Matthew Sweet: Gosh...it’s hard cause I like them all you know? I don’t like to just pick one and I’ve never had expectations of how much something would sell. Just selling any makes me happy. I mean the music business has changed so so much during the time of me getting older. As an artist it’s like the whole thing’s been exploded or something, there’s so many records that are sold in smaller quantities that it just sort of changed everything. But all of us are still around and want to make music, and we do have the internet to find those few people that care. I don’t know how I got into that or if that kind of answers your question?

SFBAC: Basically, it's too hard to pick a favorite, all your albums are your favorite?

Matthew Sweet: Yeah, I mean, sure, Girlfriend, I guess it’s Girlfriend, I don’t know, I really like the record I made for Japan, Kimi Ga Suki Raifu right around 2001. I know some fans that are really into that too, but I like all of them when I make them, and I really don’t go back to decide I don’t like them later, cause I don’t want to know.

SFBAC: Do you think that emerging artists of today have the staying power and the longevity of artists who might have emerged prior to the Napster and iTunes?

Matthew Sweet: You know, I often wonder about that. I like to think I’m really lucky that I came before the Internet. Cause now there’s just so much. It just isn’t the same as the mystery of it when we didn’t have the Internet. I don’t know, it’s kind of hard today, I mean I guess they might. Although, I think a lot of people that are super famous aren’t necessarily super sticking power artists. So I guess it’s hard to say, I mean, I know we’ve seen a lot of famous acts in the last 10 years, and I guess I don’t pay enough attention, to know which one stayed relevant or not, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s a lot harder to stick around for a long time...however, no matter how small you are, the Internet can insure that you stick around and people that want to find out about you can, which I would guess would probably result in some people getting attention long after they did their thing.

SFBAC: You mentioned the changes in the music industry, everything from the distribution of music to the recording of music...is there one change that has affected you the most?

Matthew Sweet: That’s a good question. It’s hard to say cause as I said, I’m on the curve of being an artist that had my most famous record 20 years ago. So I’m on that curve, and then also hitting what happened to the music industry, it’s a little hard for me to ascertain what would be different, had the industry not caved in. I mean certainly everyone would be selling more records, which would probably really help all the artists still be viable for things like labels. On the other hand it’s awesome that it's become so independent, and I can make a record at home, because of the technology. I've always wanted that, I remember people doing interviews in 1986, where they were like, "what’s your dream of the future?", and I would be like, "one little box, that can do multi-track and sound great, and you can just use it at home." And that did come true. So you know it’s a double edge sword, I think it’s not going to be just the music business, you can see it happening in film, television, so many things, obviously newspapers and magazines, we just all have to adapt to find out what it means.

SFBAC: As far as internet exposure goes, your website, fan sites... are you involved in any of the social networks? Do you engage your fans at all and how active are you?

Matthew Sweet: I don’t really, I’ve been bad about that. Although I did get on twitter and on occasion I send a twitter. And I have a Facebook page but I don’t really administer it. Missing Piece [Sweet's record label - ed.] has really been instrumental in helping me get set up for the new web, and Michael Krumper [CEO of Missing Piece - ed.] and I go way back and it’s been awesome to do a record with him...But how social I am? Some days I want to do it, but like so many days, I don’t want to do it, and I never seem to get a foothold into engaging.

SFBAC: So, on your typical day when you’re not on tour, and when you are not in the studio, what interesting stuff do you do?

Matthew Sweet: Well, sometimes I make pottery, I do an incredible amount of reading on my iPad, I have hobby topics that I am really into, like physics, cosmology...I am kind of a science nerd...but usually I am either making music, or making pottery, or doing things related to music.

SFBAC: How much do you enjoy touring? Is it more of a challenge for you, do you enjoy it?

Matthew Sweet: You know what? I like it! It was the thing that I was the most afraid of in the beginning. I used to just be so nervous and now I just don’t feel anything like that. And it’s fun to play, and it’s fun to see people that care about it, so I really enjoy playing. It can be just physically a challenge being out on the road and not getting enough sleep and driving all the time or whatever, but it’s always great once we play a show.

SFBAC: So last question I’ve got is a generic one, what are you currently listening to?

Matthew Sweet: What am I currently listening to...let’s see, I’ve been listening to some old stuff, girl groups like the Shangri-La’s, which I’ve got a big compilation of, and I’ve always loved them, but I’ve been kind of back into them. And funny, weirdly related there’s a label in Orange County, Burger Records, that my friend Rick who plays drums with me, he’s in a band called the Tide down here [Los Angeles, CA - ed.], that I guess he’s friends with them, and they are just like a little indie label that mostly puts out cassettes and vinyl. But they have a young group called the Summer Twins, that’s 2 sisters, one of them plays the drums and then the other one plays guitar and sings. And there are couple guys playing bass and guitar and they made this album that’s kind of really cool and it’s in a weirdly Shangri-La’s music vibe, it’s kind of girl groupey. For kids that are 20 or whatever, so you can check that out, the Summer Twins, I really like their album. And it’s rare for me to say I like anything new, but Rick and I were surfing around and we heard their record and got into it together.

SFBAC: Thanks again for making the time to speak with us and we're looking forward to your show at the Independent on April 21st!

An Interview with Richard Patrick of Filter

2011-11-10T20:29:00.001-08:00

Richard Patrick (Filter); Credit: Kevin Keating

Filter, fronted by signer and guitarist Richard Patrick, swung through the Bay Area this past weekend when they rocked the Avalon in Santa Clara to support their 2010 album 'The Trouble with Angels'. We had a chance to spend some time with Patrick before the show to talk about Bay Area memories, leaving Nine Inch Nails, his side project Army of Anyone, and the current state of the music industry. The full interview is below and be sure to check our our prior coverage here.

With any luck, we'll see more of Filter in 2012!

SFBAC: You've played a number of times through the Bay Area, do you have any favorite memories?

Richard Patrick: We played that place, the Warfield Theater. It was a nice place and we had a good time. I played here with Army of Anyone, at a place called Slim's. That was a good time.

SFBAC: Any venues you haven't played that you want to?

Richard Patrick: I think those are the two, I remember meeting Bill Graham, he had this Amphitheater that he was running on the first Lollapalooza. He would take us around to all the different little areas and there was a tent set up for people who were having bad trips on acid, and you know it was cool. Only 20 years after Woodstock and, you know, kind of seeing this living legend bigger, larger than life personality... teaching us newcomers a thing or two about rock venues and what they should be like and all the different things that promoters can do for us musicians.

SFBAC: So of the places you've toured in the past what cities stand out?

Richard Patrick: I think Moscow is a big deal because I made the realization that literally... these are Russians who don't know any English and they're singing the words to the songs... and that was when I realized that music is definitely border-less and it has no government... and I go "we're from America" and they kinda booed a little bit and I go "but we're here because we love music" and they were like "yay" and it was just this amazing thing. I remember seeing Peter Jennings or whoever standing in front of the Kremlin and St. Basil's Church, and just thinking to myself "wow I'm never gonna go there" and one day I'm standing in Red Square with fans that were singing my lyrics and just thinking to myself that's probably the furthest I've ever been from home. Just what an amazing thing that music has given me, this ability to see the world, and that people are people, they are literally the same people. The crowd that comes to see our shows are music fans and that's all they wanna do, is hang out and hear music and they're all the same all over the world and they all know the lyrics, they just wanna have a good time.

SFBAC: Are there any differences in the crowds across the world?

Richard Patrick: Germans are crazier, the Germans are definitely crazier. The Europeans in general are way more participatory. Hollywood is definitely "too cool for school" but I don't care, like, I'm going to get them dirty, the first thing I do is throw water on them and like "you will get sweaty tonight, I don't fucking care, you're not cool, you're not too cool for school here at this concert."

SFBAC: How about your writing and recording process over the years, how has it changed and can you describe how you typically go through recording a new record?

Richard Patrick: It used to be, I'd have a couple hundred grand and I would put my friends on salaries and everyone would sit around and just make music slowly and we would build something together. And now it's like, build five hits as quick as you possibly can, record it on your iMac and completely avoid the entrapment's of huge costly studios and pull one over on everybody and kind of force yourself to be creative with literally no money.

When I worked with Bob Marlette, he showed me how to write, literally how to write, because I've always had great ideas, but he showed me how to tie things together better. And taking that knowledge and working with all the other components of my band -- whether it's Rob Patterson who does a lot of the heavy stuff or maybe Jon Radtke who is our new guitar player or maybe Mitch Marlow -- I can start five or six songs per guitar player and rally this entire record quickly and get it done with an iMac. You can make your guitar sound like it's coming through a vintage AC30 from 1968 and you can replicate those sounds virtually and it's identical, it's just identical.

And so hanging out with the young people like Mitch Marlow and Jon Radtke, with the experience of someone like Bob Marlette, lets me be the head of an organization that I'm the focal point and I can just kinda sit back and be the singer and quickly run through and quickly get stuff together to put out what I call the "last CD". Someone's gonna end up buying the last CD in the next ten years and we're all trying to make that last CD. It's amazing the amount of talent that we have around, and this next writing session should just be gigantically fast and I'm gonna like rip out another record as soon as possible because we went on tour with Bush and Chevelle and there was a bunch of record companies that saw us and were like "fuck, Filter's really good now!" or "Filter's just really great, I never noticed how great Filter was". So all of a sudden there's these record companies that are like "well we'll fuckin' get behind this and we'll do this" and I'm like "Okay". So we're just jumping back into writing and jumping back into making another record.

SFBAC: Your first record, 'Short Bus' was released on Reprise Records in 1995 and over the years you've been with a number of labels. You've been with Sanctuary for the past year. Would you consider going back to a major label?

Richard Patrick: Yeah because the reality is that the name still has enough pull that I could always kind of have the record deal that I want as opposed to the record deal that some of these kids are signing. These kids are signing these 360 deals and if you're not Justin Bieber you're just never gonna make any money. So I can do whatever I want in fact I could probably release a record on my own and make 100% of the money and do fairly well and make actually a lot of money, but I still like the resources of a big company. I don't know, it's hard for me, like some of the salaries of these guys, some of the salaries of these record company guys, I don't think they're worth it. Nevertheless, if someone's going to pump a lot of energy behind your band and they've got a whole network of friends that are all over the country and they're like "yeah, this is really great, we've got to get behind this" then there are certain circumstances.

But yeah, Carl Stubner [Sanctuary CEO] and Jamie, they are key to this band right now, they are literally, I love all my other managers but it's clicking like it works with these guys and so I work really hard for them and I've told them it's time to manage me and tell me what to do, tell me what I need to work on, and they're like "Well you need to do this" and I'm like "Done". I enjoy that, I like being kind of aimed and told "you need to sit back" and "you need to go do these shows, you need to go do this, you need to go do that." So with the understanding of Carl and Jamie they were like "we're gonna work with you but we wanna manage you and we want you to be willing to be managed," which I thought was interesting.

SFBAC: You were one of the earlier bands to communicate with fans and embrace the whole social experience, MySpace and now Facebook, direct Email to fans. How do you see, if at all, that's helped cultivate your fanbase, career or your music?

Richard Patrick: You know, the reality is, if a fan wants to get in touch with me, they literally can. I think one of the most amazing things with me is, with MySpace and with all these other social networking things is that I'm kind of openly a recovering alcoholic and I've had the ability to communicate with others, especially young people, that are like "I'm 17, I've got my third DUI and I drink a fifth of Vodka every night by myself in my room and I don't know what to do" and I'm like "Wow, you're absolutely an alcoholic, you need to admit that and then you need to start going to some meetings and that's pretty much all I can tell you to do but you can do it." Because I was waking up drinking at 7am just to tie my shoes, literally like "Oh my God, I gotta get ready to go get sued, okay, well I better put my shoes on, I better have a drink, you know, fuck you I'm not goin'!".

The social networking is just so amazing because that kid actually, this one kid, actually stopped drinking, got into an organization of recovery, and he ended up getting a scholarship to the school of his choice in the state that he lives in. He's in med school and he's like this genius and if it wasn't for, and I certainly don't think that I hold myself totally accountable, but he loved my music, he heard that I got sober, he contacted me on MySpace, we communicated, he got his shit together and now he's going on to become this insane doctor, this great doctor, and to me it's just mind-blowing because he will go on to change thousands of lives.

I love getting on Facebook, I love talking to the fans, I say "I'm upset, I'm hurt, I'm not feeling well today, I've got a bunch of problems, put me in your thoughts" you know what I mean? 'Cause I don't even think that there should be a wall, it's just like Imogen Heap, she's like 'I don't believe in a wall between me and you' and I don't either.

I mean, the more down I dress and the funnier I am in concert, like in real life I'm actually a really goofy funny person and when I get on stage and I'm like super serious sometimes, I just feel like there's a part of me that's missing. I've actually started to laugh at myself, I just don't take it that seriously anymore, I just don't think that life has to be that serious, especially when you're singing and entertaining. The audience is like sitting there laughing having a great time. That, at the end of the day, is why I got into this.

When I was a kid, there was an amazing party at my house once, in like '97, we were all drinking and it was all these lead singers who will remain anonymous and all these lead singers are sitting around my coffee table and we're all sitting there smoking and partying, doing all this shit. And every one of these guys were like "I got into it because I wanna be fuckin' rich" and "I got into it because I love the girls" you know, and then "I got into it because I love attention man, I love being fuckin' the center of attention". And then it got to me and it was like, I mean I hated to top them, but I was just like "I got into it because I wanted to bring people together and make them feel happy" as opposed to feeling like shit or feeling like anything, I wanted to make a difference. They all kinda sat there like "that's the shit, Richie Patrick man he just kinda showed us up", but really that's the thing. Every time I sign an autograph after the show, I walk right off the stage right to the merch table and I just sit there and sign autographs because usually they start hanging out by the bus and they smell the diesel and they got all that crap and it's rainy, I just make it easy. I just walk right off stage and I sign some autographs and people are just genuinely happy and entertained that I'm doing what I'm doing and I'm just like "alright!". My kids get to eat, you get entertained, thanks for buying the shirt because at the end of the day it's about selling shirts at this point [laughs].

Richard Patrick (Filter); Credit: Kevin Keating

SFBAC: You've had a public battle with alcoholism and drug abuse, how has that affected your music over the past twenty-five years? And you've been clean now for close to ten?

Richard Patrick: Nine years, nine working on 10. I just turned nine in September, late September. It's insane how, it's surprisingly bizarre how it literally is a mental illness and you believe in your soul that you're not doing anything wrong and that when you're high, you know my favorite lyrics and Bob Marlette, it's funny I'll tie this all together somehow. Bob Marlet sat me down and he goes "Hey Rich, I heard Army of Anyone and you're positive and you're happy and you're writing what you know" because before it was always Hunter S. Thomspon lived Gonzo lyric writing, that's what I thought, like Gonzo lyrics, writing, live it now, record it now! Don't even fuckin' write it down just fuckin' record what you're saying and thinking and feeling. "It's Gonna Kill Me" was all at the mic, there was no lyrics I was just frying my brains out on drugs but it was so real and you could hear it in my voice. Then I got sober and it was happy time, then I was happy, and Bob goes "We wanna hang out with a nutter, we wanna hang out with the crazy because we all know normal and happy we want nutter, we want crazy. Why are you talking about this guys public suicide? Why you talking about that shit, why are you so creepy?"

So we started talking about this song "Drug Boy" and he goes "What were some of the things you were thinking about?" and I was like "When you're really, really high and it's the perfect combination of drugs, you felt like God." I walked in a realm of happiness and confidence that must have felt like winning the world series or winning every fuckin' Oscar for everything or going triple quadruple platinum or whatever. And he's like "well, what does that mean?" and I said "tonight these chemicals are God" and he's like "write that down". So what Bob told me was it's great that you're happy, but we need you to tap into that span of time between 19-34 and talk about some of the issues that you had and write from an experienced, personal... you know, it doesn't have to be lived, it just has to be experienced. So I thought to myself, now I can be reflective, which is great because at 43 I have so many memories and there are so many thoughts that fly through my brain, writing is actually really easy. So when it comes to writing, when it comes to making music, it's fast and it's genuine and if I say I was hurt you know damn well I was hurt and I didn't have to conjure the feeling in the lyric book I had to just think about it and go "Oh man, I remember that day" and it's just become this amazingly wonderful thing. I literally will sit at the mic and just sit there and go "check this out" and it'll all make sense. So writing has actually become this incredibly fun thing after a long time of just not really knowing what to say, 'cause nine years of sobriety, you've figured yourself out and I like the chaos of where I came from. Boy, Trent and I were so confused, we didn't know what we were doing, he was crazy, I was crazy. He was very smart but I was crazy, I was nuts.

SFBAC: Were the drugs or alcohol the reason you left Nine Inch Nails?

Richard Patrick: Well, Nine Inch Nails is Trent's band. Trent's trying to make his music the best way he can think of. What am I doing in it? I'm not that great of a guitar player, I'm a great performer. Piggy was a great character, he was this crazy skinny guy on stage, I made him laugh. Trent, I used to make that fucker laugh 24 hours a day and just be his sidekick, his piggy, his goofy "come here piggy, what do you think about this? Ehh fuck it" you know? And I would go out of my way to be his, the extension of his chaos. I would be his right hand man and he wouldn't wanna get himself in trouble but I would do it and he would go "Piggy, what do you think about that?" Like there was this day, Chris Vrenna had his... his laundry was all being put together and we were all in a hotel room and my bags had like shit all in it and everything is stinky and Chris Vrenna's bag is packed immaculately and he's like "Piggy, look at that man, doesn't that just make you sick, look at how perfect he is, socks are in the sock thing and he's got his underwear over there, he's got his little dopp kit all set up, what do you think of that?" and I'm like "Piggy not like". I would just go over and just attack it. Chris and I ended up getting into a huge fight and I threw him into a coffee table and he bled all over the place but we didn't know what we were doing but we knew that the extremism that we had was powerful. People would hand us their records and be like "here's my new record" and we would smash it in front of them and rip it up, take out all the tape from the tapes, it was tapes back then and we would light it on fire you know "that's what we fuckin' think of your fuckin' shitty fuckin' music man", we were so horrible. People were like "I can't believe they just did that."

The way Trent lived... he signed a deal with TVT Records that said I will give you all of my publishing for four records, forever, in perpetuity for like 20,000 bucks. Now I own 100% of "Hey Man Nice Shot," that song's gonna put my kids through college. The publishing on "Take A Picture," if a car company buys that and uses that song or a camera company or someone like that uses that song I get like 95% of that money because I own the publishing. Trent was so short-sighted with Nine Inch Nails and we were so downtrodden and you gotta think 1989 man, that music, that fuckin' shit that was out there, and bless his heart Jani Lane never lived it down but guys like Kurt Cobain and Chris Cornell... we just literally didn't think we were gonna make it, Trent and I were just like, we are never gonna make it and so he grabbed some quick money and you know this guy got him. So when Trent started getting really successful and I was 25 and I'm Piggy and I'm making 400 bucks a month on retainer and, I always tell this story 'cause it's kind of the basis, the kind of function or defunction of our relationship, I had "Hey Man, Nice Shot" and I wrote this song. I had five record companies going "This is the shit, it's gonna be a huge hit, we love it, we wanna put it out" here's Warner Brothers, 500,000 bucks, here's all these other companies "we just believe in you, you're voice is amazing". You know, I had never heard that before. Record companies telling me my voice is amazing, I always just thought I was shit because I was standing next to someone who was awesome and I was always just kind of overlooked. And I even played "Hey Man, Nice Shot" to Trent and Trent was like "Ehhh, maybe we'll do a little EP, we'll do a little thing" and he would put all of his money into Meat Beat Manifesto and all these other records, on Nothing [Reznor's Record Label] and I'm like standing there making 400 bucks a month living with my brother. I didn't wanna live with Trent at the band house that he had set up for Brian Liesegang and other people, and then I got a call from John Malm and it was like "Hey Rich, we know that you want more money, we don't see you that much, what are you working on?"

"Well, I'm just doing my own thing, just doing some music, I'm trying to come up with some music to present to Trent" which was true, and then they were like "Well alright listen, we know you want some more money and Trent wants you to learn a bit about responsibility and there's a little Pizzeria that's down on the bottom of Cielo Drive in Coldwater, two good things: you learn the city a little bit more, you'd be driving for eight hours a day and you'd make some money. It's a little driver's pizza delivery job down the street, we think maybe you should try and get that". Trent Reznor was driving a $400,000 Porsche, limited edition car living in a mansion house, the Sharon Tate mansion house and they were like seriously telling me "Hey, great song, we love what you do, why don't you go learn the meaning of the word respect and drive pizzas to people".

I was like holy shit that just happened and literally the phone clicked, call waiting, you know you hit that button and "Hey, it's Richard Bishop, I just wanna let you know we've got dinner with Atlantic tomorrow, please don't be late for that, it's Danny Goldberg the President of the company and then we've got Warner Brothers, Mike Austin so loves you, they've already offered you something, don't tell anybody that they've offered you, we don't wanna start a bidding war because that's not the way we wanna do this" and I'm like "okay." I go "John, I hate to say this but I mean, I'm gonna get offered a million dollars to go put a record out and it's gonna be my record" and I'm so glad that "Short Bus" was a, it's a couple of kids who are obviously drinking, I have more in common with Ween's "Pure Guava", remember that record? Four track, it was written in the contract, their record deal was written in the contract it can only be a four track recording. You can never allow us to go beyond this, we will never go beyond a four track recording and we were like "well we're never gonna fuckin' put real drums in, because we want drum machines, right? I guess". We were so totally completely out of our minds and breaking the rules, Moby was like "I didn't realize it was a drum machine until the third listening and I'm like Mr. Electronic."

It was just that and it wasn't refined and it wasn't 'Downward Spiral' and it wasn't even Ministry, it was grunge and anger and a real avante-garde approach to song writing with computers and samplers and Brian Liesegang and there's heavy element. Short Bus to me is one of those records where it's just like I hope I... the new record I literally want to release like two records, I wanna put one out called Gurney which is the follow up to Short Bus and then another record called Burning The Books which is the next Filter record in progression of what it should be naturally, you know what I mean? So Gurney is literally just the angry Short Bus, not refined, you know you can sing things a million times and it'll sound perfect. I kinda like some of the takes where I was like "I don't know what's going on dude, whatever, fuck it, who cares!" that's the way it was back then you know "fuck you, it sounds fine go fuck yourself" you know what I mean. I just love that, but that was my Nine Inch Nails thing, it was just like "Hey man, I know you want me to be your friend and I know I'm funny but at the same time I don't think I'm doing anything other than entertaining you and being funny". Would "Hey Man Nice Shot" have been the perfect Nine Inch Nails song? I don't think so, so I think it was a great thing, I'm glad I left when I did and I have everything I need in my life and I wish him all the best.

SFBAC: Would you guys ever work together again?

Richard Patrick: Yeah, well he's doing this thing called Tapeworm, he's talked to me about it a couple of times but I think he's now moved into movies and doing all that stuff, he loves scoring so good for him.

SFBAC: How about the DeLeo Brothers?

Richard Patrick: Those guys are amazing, it's basically this simple: Robert has a studio in his basement where he can totally do his old-fashioned kind of classic sound. They can write and record at any moment in time, they can get Ray Luzier in to play drums and I can take it for a week or two and write vocals or sing it. So it's as easy as them kind of recording everything, which is actually probably tough because they're constantly working with Scott on Stone Temple Pilot stuff. So the band is always there, you know what I mean, we're alive, we talk, Dean and I are constantly in communication. Ray Luzier, every time I see him he's like "Man that Army of Anyone record is still, people still come up to me and talk about that Army of Anyone record". And I think that I honestly could probably do a way better job just 'cause of what I've learned lately as a singer. I just always think I'm improving, hopefully, once you stop improving I think that's when you should hang it up. I think the best Army of Anyone record is still to come, it's still totally doable and could be even better.

SFBAC: Where do you see the music industry of going? Do you have any thoughts about Pandora or Spotify?

Richard Patrick: Pandora pays, 70% of it's money goes towards artists. It's got to be really hard for bands that are trying now because they will just not get a fair shot. If U2 released Boy, which failed, and October, which failed and War which kind of did okay, their records didn't sell much but their live shows were big because they were a Christian rock band and they would cart all these Christian groups and all these youth groups into their shows, that's why they were so huge. And they got this big live following, but if U2 were 17 again or 18 today trying to make it, they wouldn't make it. Same with Bruce Springsteen. Bruce Springsteen's third record, which cost a million dollars for one song "Born to Run," you know he wouldn't have made it. He would have been Bruce Springsteen, the guy down the street that plays guitar but no one cares about.

That's the tragedy, is that there's this amazing homogenized, blended, superficial, musical shit out there, you've got three judges picking out your favorite singers and once in a while you're gonna find someone like, I think Justin Timberlake was literally a... he is a huge gigantic talent like Frank Sinatra talent. He literally can sing his ass off, he's now an actor, he's funny, he literally is a gigantically talented person but I just wonder, it's the quirky, it's the Perry Farrells, it's the Neil Youngs. He's got such a bizarre voice I just wonder if Neil Young would really make it today and that's the scary thing, 'cause it's really it's all hard. From my perspective, I've had such a crazy up and down career and so have all my friends in music, I take it day by day because I keep getting these bizarre things like "Hey, go make another record because there's record companies willing to put a ton of money behind it" and I still get those.

My options keep expanding the harder I work, these last couple of years, the better it gets. So to me it's always just about the next opportunity but for these young bands that have nothing, like if you don't make it in your first fuckin' single you're gone, they just won't put the money behind you because there's no money and its because people fucking don't pay for music. That's the sad thing, the audience is destroying new music, the audience is destroying an industry that might have been a little bloated during the 90's or maybe even the 80's but still, I mean, look what oil is doing. Oil is making the most profit they've ever made, profit not just...it's net, it's not gross it's net, you know what I mean? So, I don't know why the audience thinks where everybody is just a rich fuckin' rock-star but it's not the case.

You know what, I mean, there are bands making it so we're all trying to figure out how to do it man. You still need record people, you know someone once said Facebook is just a big telephone book and the average consumer wants to hear something new, it's like someone has to kinda sift through the shit to go "Hey, this is a band that we think you might like" you know "here's Avenged Sevenfold". At some point someone had to sit down and go like well Avenged Sevenfold is connecting and they're cool and they're really good musicians. At some point someone kind of has to A&R it and that's the thing. I just hope it's not Usher 24 hours a day A&Ring everything you know or "Simon", whoever the fuck Simon is. I do know that Randy is a big Filter fan, yeah he's a big Filter fan and I found this out, this will fuckin' blow your mind. The guys that run the Mars Rovers, I'm a huge fan and I know someone in NASA that somehow got to that thing and said "Do you know the band Filter?" and they're like yes we love Filter and she goes "The singer of the band is the biggest pro-NASA guy, he's so totally all about research and Mars" and they're like "That's badass! Cool, we love Filter" and I'm thinking to myself the fuckin' Mar's Rovers are being controlled by people who might know my music! How fuckin' badass is that?

SFBAC: That's great. Thanks again for your time and we're looking forward to new music from Filter soon!

An Interview with Mike Doughty

2011-10-17T00:26:00.000-07:00

Mike Doughty (Credit: 60 Cycle Media)

Mike Doughty will be playing two nights at the Independent on November 5th and 6th and took some time out of his current US tour schedule to sit down with SFBAC and answer a few of our hard-hitting questions. His new album, 'Yes and Also Yes', was released August 30th to critical acclaim.

Be sure to get tickets while they're still available!

SFBAC: Mike, you’ve performed a number of times in San Francisco, do you have any interesting stories from any of those performances?

Doughty: They're not necessarily performance-based, but they all involve the same venue. I remember an interesting night sniffing heroin with Jeff Buckley in the basement of the Great American.   

Ten years later, in a nearly opposite story, a guy that worked at the Great American came down to the dressing room, and asked if I needed anything. Nah, I'm alright, I said. He said again, But do you "need" anything? He meant drugs. Aha. No, totally good here, man, I said, with a smile. A few years later, I saw the same dude at a 12-step meeting in Brooklyn--and he'd been sober for a couple of years.  

In the first days after I quit Soul Coughing, and was feeling really free and grateful, I played the Great American as a solo dude--I was literally driving thousands of miles, absolutely by myself, and selling CDs off the front of the stage post-show. The club had blocked off a massive parking space, right in front of the venue, for a big tour bus. I pulled up in a little silver Mercury Sable and parked in that gigantic space, and got out of the car totally alone, getting my car out of the trunk. It felt super DIY. I was really proud.

SFBAC: Do you have a favorite venue in the Bay Area and is there a venue you haven’t yet played in SF that you would love to?

Doughty: The aforementioned Great American, of course. I love the Independent--and they've been extremely kind to me in the past few years. I'm always awed to play the Fillmore. I've never set foot in the Cow Palace, but it had a legendary aura for me as a kid, because the Sex Pistols played their last gig there--Johnny Rotten famously ending the show with "Do you ever get the feeling you've been cheated?" and stomping offstage. And the weird and mysterious name! I was a big student of musical mythology as a teenager.

SFBAC: Of all the places you've toured in the past, what cities stand out and why?  

Doughty: So many places have been amazing, and continue to be amazing. At this point, I know how to get around every major city in America. Where my favorite thing to eat is, where I get coffee. In much of America, even in the giant places, good espresso was in short supply, and in just the past five years has there emerged a fantastic coffee spot in every town. Of course, espresso on the West Coast has always been top-notch. But even in New York it was terrible, for years!

SFBAC: What type/size venues do you prefer to play?

Doughty: It really depends on the show. At this point, I've played all the New York rooms I dreamed of playing as a kid: Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, David Letterman, and CBGB (RIP). All the SF rooms are great. It's more about what form I'm playing in--it'll be a quartet, an actually full band this round, but I'm thinking about doing it ultra solo on the next tour--even sans Andrew "Scrap" Livingston, my usual partner. There's no kvetch or anything, I'm just hungry to revisit that vibe.

SFBAC: Can you describe your writing and recording process?

Doughty: The writing starts with two kinds of fragments. There's verbal fragments that I write down in a notebook, or cull from my journaling, just the gems. Totally separately, I'll mess around with guitar fragments, and record the good riffs. At some point, I'll sit down and combine the two, and try to spin melodies between them.  

Recording, for the last couple years, has been slow and fragmented. I'll be in the studio five or ten days in a month, and the process will stretch over more than a year. I rarely do live band recordings. I bring in each individual musician separately, and they'll lay down parts to each song in an intensive collaboration. The process comes from financial necessity, but it's funnily productive. Having a lot of thinking time between sessions is amazing for perspective.

SFBAC: What’s your opinion of the state of the record industry and how has the evolution of the industry over the past 20 years impacted you the most?

Doughty: I have an audience. I've had an audience for a bunch of years. So I've been able to play shows all over the place. In that sense, I haven't really been affected negatively. Word of mouth is much more efficient, clearly, given the internet.

I might've been a richer man as a solo artist, were the music industry booming as it used to. I don't really know. I allowed my bandmates in Soul Coughing to split up my songs' copyrights, so that lost me a lot of money. They largely controlled the business end, and, in my opinion, as a business we were woefully inefficient, unwise, and wasteful, and utterly fucked ourselves economically. If I had the brain I have now, and the recording industry was in the shape it was in, then, there might've been more money coming in. But I just don't know.

SFBAC: Can you describe what you feel has been your biggest ‘break’ so far?

Doughty: I don't think that, for a left-of-center artist, there are big breaks. There are many, many small breaks. Individual listeners find their way to the music via a friend, a blog, a performance on a talk show, the radio, and four dozen different other ways.

SFBAC: Do you think emerging artists of today have the staying power and longevity of artists who emerged prior to Napster and iTunes?

Doughty: Musically, yes, absolutely. But careers are more difficult, because there aren't labels with the cash to cover a new artist's touring. There's years of slogging around the country before you can really be a working artisan, and oh boy is that expensive. Not for Warner Bros., but expensive for a struggling musician. There's lots of great singers and songwriters, many I know personally, that may always need a day job, and that's a shame. The culture needs them.

SFBAC: What are you currently listening to?  

Doughty: I love all the Sublime Frequencies radio collages. I just soak them up. Lately, their albums that I've been inexorably drawn to is Arabic-language music. So fascinating. Bon Iver is incredible. So is Jose Gonzales. There's almost always a Max-Martin-written pop song I'm obsessed with, and of late it's Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream".

SFBAC: Who have you been influenced by most?

Doughty: I think I really puzzled together my sound from Billy Bragg and A Tribe Called Quest.

SFBAC: Thanks for your time and looking forward to the show!  

Doughty: Thank you! Me too. Until then.

Preview - Dredg @ Great American Music Hall (8/6/11)

2011-08-02T21:42:00.000-07:00

Name: Dredg
When: August 6th, 2011
Where: The Great American Music Hall
Description: This is the rescheduled May 6th date that we previewed a few months ago, and your second chance to catch the Bay Area's own, Dredg. With a body built on growling, hard-hitting, straight-up rock, and incorporating elements of pop, operatic vocals, haunting piano accompaniment, celtic lilts, tibetan bowls, and scratchy voice-over samples, Dredg at times embodies the energy of punkrock and still possesses the powerful, graceful makings of a movie score.
Sounds Like: Pink Floyd, Tool, The Mars Volta
Performances known for: Contemporary prog rock artists with haunting vocals mixed with punchy drum/rock riffs.
Chances show will sell out: Extremely high - buy now
Past Reviews: Click here
Video:

Review - Zoe Keating @ the Great American Music Hall (6/25/11)

2011-06-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

Zoe Keating performed her second of two shows at the Great American Music Hall last night and treated the audience to 3 acoustic pieces backed by the Magik*Magik Orchestra sextet.

Overall, the evening's material spanned across both full length albums, One Cello x 16: Natoma and Into the Trees, along with a few covers and soundtrack pieces. It was another great set by Zoe that stretched nearly 2 hours long.

Here's "We Insist" with the Magik*Magik Orchestra:

Preview - Zoe Keating @ the Great American Music Hall (6/24 & 6/25/11)

2011-06-20T21:57:00.000-07:00

Zoe Keating (Photo: Nadya Lev)

Name: Zoe Keating
When: Friday & Saturday, June 24/25th, 9pm
Where: Great American Music Hall
$: 23

Description: Touring in support of her new album, 'Into the Trees', Bay Area native Zoe Keating performs at the Great American this weekend. Armed with a cello and MacBook, Zoe layers brooding cello loops into masterful creations. Click here for previous reviews.

Sounds Like: A full string orchestra.

Chances shows will sell out: High - Click here for tickets: Friday | Saturday

Video:

Preview - ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead @ Slims (6/18/11)

2011-06-16T20:52:00.000-07:00

Name: ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
When: Saturday June 18, 9pm
Where: Slim's
$: 18/20

Description: Coming of the heels of their last critically acclaimed release "The Century of Self", Trail of the Dead come to San Francisco to support their new album 'Tao of the Dead'. The band mixes psychedelic rock with 90's fuzz alt-rock jams.

Sounds Like: Sonic Youth, Fugazi, Helmet, Pink Floyd

Chances show will sell out: Moderate to high - Click here for tickets

Video:

Review - Peter Gabriel @ Greek Theater (6/10/2011)

2011-06-11T16:37:00.000-07:00

Peter Gabriel kicked off his North American tour and performed with his 'New Blood Orchestra' last night at the Greek Theater in Berkeley to a sold out crowd that looked to have an average age of about 45. The show started promptly at 8pm with Ane Brun, one of his two background singers, taking the stage to warm up the crowd with a two song set before Peter and the full orchestra came on at about 8:30pm.

Having caught clips of earlier shows during his European tour, I was skeptical that orchestral versions of his classics would work, but it seemed as if his team was able to work out the earlier kinks and miscues and put on a terrific show. I'll let the videos below speak for themselves.

The full setlist was:

Heroes (David Bowie)
Intruder
Wallflower

Boy in the Bubble (Paul Simon)
My Body is a Cage (Arcade Fire)

The Book of Love (Magnetic Fields)
Darkness
The Power of the Heart (Lou Reed)
Biko
<Intermission>
Sam Jacinto
Digging in the Dirt
Signal to Noise

Downside Up

Mercy Street
Rhythm of the Heat
Blood of Eden
Red Rain

Solsbury Hill
<Encore>

In Your Eyes
Don't Give Up

The Nest That Sailed the Sky

Paul Simon's "The Boy in the Bubble":

The classic "Biko":

"Signal to Noise":

Here's one of my personal favorites, "Mercy Street":

Another personal favorite, "Red Rain":

Preview - Detroit Cobras @ The Independent - June 10th

2011-06-05T17:41:00.000-07:00

Name: Detroit Cobras
When: Friday June 10, 9pm
Where: The Independent
$: 15

Description: The Cobras specialize in 2 minute long fuzz-bomb remakes of mostly classic r&b tracks. A great formula, owed in part to the fact that these are not tracks you've heard of unless you're a straight A student of Stax Records. As a result they sound not like a cover band, but like an original higher-octane version of the classic Motown sound.

Sounds Like: Pretenders, Ramones, Strokes, or the love child of Chuck Berry, Blondie and the Sex Pistols

Chances show will sell out: Moderate - Click here for tickets

Video:

An Interview with Anthony Pateras of PIVIXKI

2011-04-29T23:26:00.000-07:00

PIVIXKI (Pateras, Kohane; Photo: Aaron Chua)

On May 18th, the Bay Area will be treated to a performance at the Great American Music Hall like no other. The legendary, Mike Patton, will spend an evening with the Australian duo known as PIVIXKI, made up of Anthony Pateras (piano) and Max Kohane (drums.)

We were recently able to catch-up with Anthony Pateras to get the scoop on what to expect for the show and to learn more about the duo known simply as PIVIXKI.

SFBAC: For those who may not be familiar with your work, how would you describe PIVIXKI?

Pateras: Drums and piano used in a combination that may not be immediately obvious, but after a few songs makes total sense.

SFBAC: Where does the name PIVIXKI come from?

Pateras: Its a secret.

SFBAC: You seem to float in-between various collaborative groups depending on the type of music being created. Where do you feel most comfortable performing/composing? Which is most challenging? Which do you prefer?

Pateras: I’m very comfortable performing with Max (PIVIXKI drummer) - its great because he cancels out the strict composer side of my personality with his loose attitude, but he’s also really disciplined. Most challenging I have to say is writing new pieces – making something from nothing, with just a pen and paper. That can be terrifying, but immensely satisfying when something great happens.

SFBAC: How did you connect with Mike Patton and how did this show come about?

Pateras: We’ve been talking about working together for a while, and this seemed like a good place to start.

SFBAC: PIVIXKI has been self-described as 'high velocity piano/drums explorations', what can we expect at your upcoming show at the Great American Music Hall?

Pateras: Super-tight piano/drums songs with electronic bits with Mike singing over the top?

SFBAC: Should we expect more from PIVIXKI / Patton in the future?

Pateras: One show at a time!

SFBAC: Your site mentions the Victoriaville Festival in Canada after your show at the GAMH, do you have further touring plans after these two upcoming shows?

Pateras: We’re doing a big European tour in October/November with a friend of ours Marco Fusniato from one of my other bands POLETOPRA...afterwards we’re hoping to go to New Zealand, because it's the best.

SFBAC: You've worked with a number of impressive artists throughout your career, who's impressed you the most and why?

Pateras: There’s no hierarchy. I will say that Chris Abrahams (pianist from the Necks) is one of the most musical humans on the planet and listening to him play just makes me feel like there’s a point to all of this nonsense. He’s also hilarious. Composer Brett Dean is also a constant source of inspiration and one of the only conductors I know with truly open ears, and just a master orchestrator in every sense. Erkki Veltheim just plays the hell out of the violin like no one - hearing that guy play makes me get up in the morning. I’m also lucky to play in THYMOLPHTHALEIN with Jerome Noetinger, Clayton Thomas, Will Guthrie and Natasha Anderson – as a unit some seriously inexplicable magic happens that will sound lame if I try and articulate it here, but suffice to say, these people are gems.

SFBAC: Who have you been influenced by most?

Pateras: Recently deceased whom I wish I had a chance to talk to: Teiji Ito, Louise Bourgeois, Iannis Xenakis, Morton Feldman, Leigh Bowery, Moondog, Len Lye, J Dilla, Arthur Russell, Henri Chopin, Nam June Paik, David Tudor, Francis Bacon..living people whom I hope to talk to: Bernard Parmegiani, Colm Toibin, Caetano Veloso, Eliane Radigue, Cecil Taylor, Brigitte Fontaine, Lee Perry, Lo Borges, JG Thirlwell, Gary Indiana, Romeo Castellucci..contemporaries who I feel I can learn a lot from : Gisele Vienne, Peter Rehberg, Philip Brophy, Christos Tsiolkas, Marcus Schmickler, Michael Stevenson, Peter Evans, Bruce Russell....and this is not just a list of names to sound informed – these people keep me going with their imaginative, elegant and truthful work.

SFBAC: How did you 'find your calling' as an artist/composer/performer?

Pateras: When I realized that I felt really strange and depressed when I wasn’t making music.

SFBAC: Were you classically trained as a kid?

Pateras: Yeah I started when I was 5, stopped that training when I was 17 because I didn’t want to play other people’s music anymore and walk into that whole myth.

SFBAC: What type/size venues do you prefer to play?

Pateras: As long as the piano sounds good, the PA is killer, the room sounds nice, and the band is cool, I don’t care. And by band I mean orchestra, or playing with Marco or whatever....there are great people in all musical contexts...

SFBAC: What's your most memorable performance and why?

Pateras: Playing solo at Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2006, just after the LA Phil strings played an octet of mine (Chromatophore), was a trip. PIVIXKI Gravissima Launch at the Tote last year was a killer...playing in the oldest monastery in Europe in Catania with Pateras/Baxter/Brown, Music Unlimited 2010 with Thymolphthalein Quintet, or my new violin concerto for spatailized orchestra and 4-channel electronics at Federation Square in Melbourne last November, Now Now solo piano piece from 2009...there’s been quite few good ones....

SFBAC: What artist(s) would you like to work with and why?

Pateras: That’s a secret too.

SFBAC: Thanks again for your time and we're looking forward to your show in a few weeks at the Great American!

Review - Cold War Kids @ Fox Theatre (4/16/11)

2011-04-25T21:54:00.000-07:00

When: April 16, 2011
Where: Fox Theatre
Description: Granted, the fact that I spun the new record to death and beyond the weeks before the show DID pre-dispose to a favorable review. And yea, Mine is Yours is so deep that a show of it alone would be a gem. But the Kids delivered the energy throughout on material new and old. Soaring vocals a la Jeff Buckley, guitars spiraling up and out, the songs sticking to structure but stretching out on stage. Be advised; get the album and get obsessed.
Sounds Like: Arcade Fire, Kings of Leon, Third Eye Blind

Sample vids:

Preview - Dredg @ GAMH May 5th & 6th

2011-04-06T21:24:00.001-07:00

Name: Dredg
When: May 5th & 6th, 2011
Where: The Great American Music Hall
Description: With a body built on growling, hard-hitting, straight-up rock, and incorporating elements of pop, operatic vocals, haunting piano accompaniment, celtic lilts, tibetan bowls, and scratchy voice-over samples, Dredg at times embodies the energy of punkrock and still possesses the powerful, graceful makings of a movie score.
Sounds Like: Pink Floyd, Tool, The Mars Volta
Performances known for: Contemporary prog rock artists with haunting vocals mixed with punchy drum/rock riffs.
Chances show will sell out: Extremely high - buy now
Past Reviews: Click here
Video:

Roger Waters @ HP Pavilion (12/7/10)

2010-12-08T22:34:00.000-08:00

It was San Jose's turn last night at the HP Pavilion to hear Roger Waters perform the 1979 classic, 'The Wall', in its entirety as part of the album's 30th anniversary. The first of two nights at the arena, and only a couple of days after his show in Oakland, Roger took to the stage just after 8pm and took the near capacity crowd on a trip through The Wall.

Roger and his 10+ person band played through the album nearly flawlessly while having a 100' wall built and then torn down in front of them. This was less of a rock concert and more of a broadway musical with everything from pyrotechnics, an incredible light and video show, a flying pig, exploding planes and giant inflatable puppets.

This was by far, one of the most elaborate concerts I've ever seen and well worth the price of admission. Take my word for it, if this show comes to your town, make sure you get to experience the wonder of The Wall.

Here's the performance captured from an iPhone:

Gary Numan @ The Fillmore (11/2/10)

2010-11-03T21:11:00.000-07:00

New Wave was cool again last night as Gary Numan performed 'The Pleasure Principle' in its' entirety in front of a nearly sold out crowd at the Fillmore.

We had the chance to ask Gary 10 questions before the show that you can find here.

Gary was joined on stage by 3 other keyboardists, a drummer and bassist, which all seemed like overkill during the performance of 'The Pleasure Principle', a fairly minimalistic album celebrating its 30th anniversary. The band was dead-on replicating the sound of the album and the crowd seemed mesmerized.

Here's the band performing the classic "Cars":

At the conclusion of "Cars," Gary and one of the other 3 keyboardists grabbed guitars and proceeded to bring the rock with tracks from his more recent albums that sound more industrial than new wave.

Here's the band performing "Are Friends Electric":

Setlist from the show:

"The Pleasure Principle" album
Random
Airlane
Metal
Engineers
Films
Tracks
M.E.
Complex
Observer
Conversation
Cars

The Fall
Pure
Down in the park
Haunted
Halo
Jagged
Are Friends Electric?

Encore:

I Die You Die
Zulu
A Prayer for the Unborn

10 Questions for Gary Numan

2010-11-02T18:56:00.000-07:00

Gary Numan (Photo: Ed Fielding)

Electronic music pioneer, Gary Numan, performs live tonight in San Francisco at the legendary Fillmore and we had a chance to ask him 10 questions before the show. Numan's prolific career has influenced countless electronic musicians including Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails and we're grateful that he made the time for SFBAC!

SFBAC: Since this is a tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of 'The Pleasure Principle', can you talk about what it was like writing and recording that album? Did you have any idea it would be as influential as it's been?

Gary Numan: No, there is no way of knowing that an album will, over time, become influential. When I was making The Pleasure Principle, I was reacting a little to the media attacks upon my previous album Replicas. Replicas had guitar as well as synths on it, but the media at the time were pretty scathing about electronic music in general. And although the album went to #1, they were very dismissive about the contribution that synths were making. I decided to make The Pleasure Principle without guitars to try and prove that they were not entirely necessary and you could still make music without them. When you take away a primary instrument like that, it forces you to think a little differently, in that you need to find ways around the missing hole left by the guitar’s absence. It's interesting. It was a very important learning experience for me and, as The Pleasure Principle has shown, did prove that there is life beyond guitars. Having said that, I have also used guitars on every album since.

SFBAC: Can you describe how you felt when you had your first #1 single?

Gary Numan: It's hard to describe, but imagine everything you have ever dreamed of, dreams so big everyone you knew said you were crazy, but they come true. It is the crowning moment of any musician’s life, something that can never be taken away. An accomplishment that makes its mark, in a small way, on history itself. So, yes, you feel quite good.

SFBAC: What do you feel was your biggest break?

Gary Numan: I've had two, really. In the U.K., I was lucky enough, as a complete unknown, to be given a slot on the TV music show called “Top Of The Pops,” a week or two after that I was #1 in the U.K., so that TV appearance made me. In the U.S., I was lucky enough to get a slot on Saturday Night Live and Merv Griffin in the same week. That also changed things quite rapidly.

SFBAC: You’ve performed a number of times in San Francisco, do you have any interesting stories from any of those shows?

Gary Numan: Mostly we've played at The Fillmore in San Francisco, which is such a legendary venue it makes you proud to be there. Inside, the walls are decorated with the many posters of previous acts, spread over many decades, that have also played there and it's pretty much an A to Z of every important band the world has ever seen. To be there, to be even a tiny part of that list, is an amazing thing. As far as interesting stories go though, I have none I'm afraid. San Francisco does have the dubious distinction of being the only city on my last three American tours where a fight has broken out in the crowd each time during the show.

SFBAC: Of all the places you've toured in the past, what cities stand out and why?

Gary Numan:

Manchester, England. Quite possibly the best crowds I've ever played to.
San Francisco Fillmore. Legendary venue. Great crowds.
Los Angeles. Amazing atmosphere.
London. Always good to play at home.
Sydney. Beautiful city, fantastic people.
Tokyo. Strikingly different.

SFBAC: Of all the artists you’ve worked with over the years, who stands out and why?

Gary Numan: I have worked with some very impressive people, but for me Trent Reznor stands out. He has pushed music forward again and again, has written some truly great songs, has pretty much defined an entire genre and has a work ethic that puts almost everyone to shame. He’s ultra professional, highly intelligent and extremely creative.

SFBAC: Wikipedia briefly touches on the mutual admiration between yourself and Trent Reznor, with you going so far as stating that Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" is your favorite song of all time. Can you talk about how the two of you initially met and if/when fans can expect the two of you to collaborate on new music?

Gary Numan: The two of us doing some music together is something that we have talked about once or twice in the past, but nothing is planned at the moment. Hopefully, that will come together one day though. I'd certainly love to collaborate on something with Trent.

SFBAC: Do you find it challenging translating studio material for the live environment?

Gary Numan: Actually, I love doing that. With this Pleasure Principle Tour, I decided to play all the old songs as they were originally recorded as it's all about celebrating the 30th anniversary of the album’s original release. It seemed appropriate to do them as they are on the original album. Usually though, I like to rework things for live performances. Even songs from the most recent album will often get a makeover when we take them out on the road.

SFBAC: Of your previous work, what are you most proud of?

Gary Numan: The second album of my career was called Replicas. It went to #1 in the U.K. and that album launched my career. It also had a song on it called “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?,” which did very well and another called “Down In The Park,” which has been covered by many bands including Marilyn Manson and Foo Fighters. I have grown to be proud of The Pleasure Principle as it is now considered to be a very influential album. Apart from those two, my other favorites would be Pure, from and Jagged album from 2005.

SFBAC: Of all the artists who have covered your material, is there a particular cover that's your favorite?

Gary Numan: It is very hard to choose because there have been so many by so many very cool people, but I will go for the Nine Inch Nails version of a song called “Metal.” I had the honor of singing this song with Nine Inch Nails at their final shows in Los Angeles last year. We are playing it on our Pleasure Principle Tour as well.

SFBAC: We had the chance to catch that show in LA last year and would agree that NIN does the song justice. Thanks again for your time and we're looking forward to the show!

Here's Nine Inch Nails and Gary Numan performing 'Metal' last year at the Wiltern:

Recoil, Architect & Conjure One @ the Mezzanine (10/21/10)

2010-10-22T21:38:00.000-07:00

Alan Wilder (Recoil)

Renowned electronic musicians, Alan Wilder, Daniel Myer and Rhys Fulber graced San Francisco's Mezzanine on Friday night as their respective performing moniker's Recoil, Architect and Conjure One.

We had the chance to interview Alan a few weeks before the show that you can find here.

Conjure One, after joining the tour that night, was up first and was joined on stage by Leah Randi who has joined Rhys before with his other role in Delerium -- the mellow offshoot of industrial trailblazers Front Line Assembly. The duo performed for about 30 minutes supporting their newest release, Exilarch.

After a short break, Alan took to the stage to introduce Daniel Myer's Architect as seen here:

Architect played another relatively short set of about 30 minutes before leaving the stage for what the crowd was really there to see.

Alan was joined onstage by Paul Kendall who shared laptop and knob twiddling duties throughout the night. The music was accompanied by a movie shot specifically for this tour as explained by Alan in our previous interview here. And as I looked around at the crowd, I had the feeling that half of them were expecting Alan to break into Depeche Mode songs, with the other half clearly getting into the performance of the night. Luckily, those DM fans got their wish with a remix of 'Never Let Me Down Again'. Here's the song from a performance in Hamburg I pulled from YouTube:

A conversation with Page Hamilton of Helmet

2010-10-07T22:44:00.000-07:00

Helmet recently played the SF Bay Area with stops at both Oakland's Uptown and San Jose's Blank Club -- a review of the Blank Club show can be found here.

They're continuing to crisscross the States over the next month, so be sure to check their tour schedule for details on if they'll visit your town!

We had the chance to catch up with Helmet's lead singer/guitarist, Page Hamilton, for what was expected to be a brief interview, but which turned out to be a 45 minute conversation that covered topics as diverse as the San Francisco 49ers and Mozart.

Page Hamilton (Photo credit: www.roderickangle.com)

Here's how it went down:

SFBAC: Seeing Eye Dog is the first Helmet album in 4 years. Let's talk about the writing and recording process, what went into it and why it took 4 years to release?

Page Hamilton: We got a new booking agent about 4 years ago and started doing a lot of shows and found that he was getting us into the right venues; and I just wanted to tour and kinda break the band in and I've been through a bad experience with our last record label, Warcon, after having many, many wonderful years at Interscope and Amphetamine Reptile, we've always had these good experiences. So I wanted to focus on playing and getting the band going. I had done two albums back to back, Size Matters and Monochrome, and just felt like I kinda wanted to reassess, and I'm not the kinda person who can write a new Helmet album every year. I've got all these side things, I do my Jazz thing, instructional DVDs, and work on movies and produce bands. So I thought it was good to take some time away from it and sort through the options as far as how to put the music out. And it's kinda boring stuff, but when you have your creative property taken from you by someone, it's kinda crushing. And I've never experienced anything like that before. So I became more protective of my songs and I didn't want to be involved with just anybody. And I'm really happy with the way things are working out and hope that people are able to find the record and that's all I ever hope for.

SFBAC: How's your experience with Topspin been and what's it like releasing material independently now?

Page Hamilton: I met with Ian [Rogers] and David Whitehead, my manager, god a while back, a year ago at least, and I just got a really good vibe from him and dig what they're doing. So, Dave... and to be honest, I'm not so much a business man and not so interested in it, and I trust David and I'm involved, obviously, in every decision, but all the creative things like the music, artwork, photo shoots, that stuff is the fun stuff for me. So this has been a shitload of work, like driving... you know, I'm not a rich artist with a bunch of people helping me out, so I'm driving down to 139th and Compton to pick up posters and then get back to the rehearsal space and open the box to sign them and find out they're the wrong posters... It's been a lot of that shit, you know? I'm working with the artist to get the album artwork done and to put the deluxe box together and all those things, which at the end of the whole process, which i hope is done, we just mailed off posters and stuff yesterday, it's really kind of a beautiful package and a nice option for fans of the band to have.

SFBAC: You’ve played a number of times in the Bay area over the past 20 years, what’s your most memorable experience?

Page Hamilton: Oh boy. There’s been so many amazing shows. Is it the Fillmore, that sort of big open venue where the stage is kind of that wide open- is it the Fillmore? I remember that show on the SnoCore tour being a lot of fun, even though it was a shorter set and we weren’t the headliner. But I remember having a really good time at that show. And Slim’s has always been a great place for us. The people there just treat us like kings and it’s another great stage with good sight lines to the stage and for us a good view of the audience, which is really nice. And the sound is impeccable. And we’ve played there a bunch.

Back at one point I remember we did a couple of nights there in a row with the Melvins and that was one of my favorite Bay Area shows. Melvins opened up and I think it was in ‘96 or ‘97 or something like that. And there was another show and I can’t remember the name of the venue, I think it used to the Mabuhay Gardens but they changed it. Maybe it was still Mabuhay when we played there, I’m not positive of the venue, but I saw some YouTube footage from there. I remember that show. It was around ‘94 I think because it was the Betty album, and I think Rob [Echeverria] was in the band. And I had this really cool blue guitar that I called ESP about. I said ‘What happened to that guitar?’ It was probably a loaner, and they’re like ‘We can make you another one.’ I’m like 'ah nah.' I remember them, they would send me guitars for loaners and I was like God that is a beautiful instrument.

But there have been a lot. Knock on wood, but I don’t have any memories of bad shows in the Bay Area. The Warped tour show was fun, we played at like noon right when we woke up and I think I even said in the microphone, I might have deleted a lot of the banter for the live because we released the San Francisco Warped tour show in part of the new album package. I might have deleted the banter but I remember listening to the show several times to make sure I liked it for release, and saying that usually we start drinking when we play but we were still drunk from last night. And the good news is we got done early so we had a whole day and night in San Francisco which was really great, it’s one of my favorite cities in the world. But the bad news is we were barely awake when we played.

SFBAC: Any venues you haven’t played in San Francisco that you’d like to?

Page Hamilton: We’ve played the Warfield, I believe. I think that was the one that was the really beautiful theatre with the great food that treated us well. Of course, I don’t remember the show. There was a show that I stopped because the bouncers where wailing on somebody. I don’t think it was that venue. I think I did a photo shoot there, I don’t know. I think we played- I’m not sure if we played the I-Beam, or... that’s up in Haight-Ashbury, I mean it used to be?

The Independent, that was really fun. I don’t know if there’s any place we played- I mean we’d like to play the Cow Palace. That’s what we’d like to do. But we don’t have 20,000 fans that would come out to see us so that would be awesome. I’d like to play Candlestick up there too. Apparently for the game, the Monday night [football] game, they played ‘Unsung’ before the kick off.

Some friends of mine where flipping out and texting me. We were at Applebee’s and, shit I don’t even remember, we were in Billings, Montana. So we didn’t even have any sound until the second half. I was like that’s cool, I wonder if we get royalties for that, but I’m stoked that the Niners are playing my music. I just wish they’d win a game now.

SFBAC: Of all the places besides San Francisco, what cities stand out for you? And what cities are you looking forward to on the current tour?

Page Hamilton: Well, of the shows we have booked between now and Christmas, I’m really looking forward to Chicago. That’s always been an amazing music city. And we’re playing at the place called the Double Door, which we played several times, and we love the people there and we love the room. Chicagoans are just- it’s just one of the best music towns in the country. It’s amazing. We always do well there and they’re just really appreciative, so that’s going to be fun. We’re looking forward to New York City because Helmet hasn’t played in New York City for 5 years, and at the Gramercy Theatre, which is a venue that I’m not familiar with. I know where it is, I know it used to be a movie theatre, but I don’t know- I can’t think what else specifically that I’m looking forward to. Dammit, one of my band mates is making sexual, rude, humping motions towards me. Um, sorry. We’re in the back of the bus.

We’re not playing Minneapolis on this tour which is weird and unfortunate because that was our home away from home in the Amphetamine Reptile days and one of my favorite cities. But [Tom] Hazelmyer and AmRep made an offer to us already so we’re going to catch that on the next jump.
I always liked Boston, too. It’s another really good music town. I look forward to that and then Texas. For some reason Texas hangs in there on the rock, we always do well down in Houston and Austin. We’re doing Houston, Austin and Dallas. Houston and Austin are always the best and then Dallas and we have all 3 of those on this run. I’m trying to think what else stands out.

We head to Europe in early November and my homeland of Scotland is always a blast. We end the tour in Glasgow, where the Hamilton family is originally from. So I always get drunk and make an ass of myself over there, which is fun. Because I have to drink scotch whiskey all night long, along with the amazing ales that they have over there.

And Paris will be fun. We’re playing- Hamburg, Berlin, and Stuttgart is- Stuttgart we played last winter, was a place that I lived in college for a year as an exchange student studying classical guitar over there in German. And we did more encores there than we’ve done anywhere ever in the history of the band. They just would not let us go and the gear was being packed up. And it’s happened in Hamburg before too, where the pedal boards were getting put away and lights were on and they just would not leave, so we had to come out and do more. And that makes you feel really good. I don’t like to be the obligatory encore guy so on this tour I’m kind of just hanging out, if they don’t cheer and go crazy then we’re just kind of like, ‘Yeah, yeah let’s just drink beer.’ In Germany they’re extremely enthusiastic so that’s always fun.

Italy is insane. They’re really really fun down there. Ravenna, I think we have Ravenna, Milan, on this tour. And Torino which we have not played since the very last original Helmet line up show was in Torino, December 10th ‘97 and that’s going to be fun to go back there and I hope it’s the same club so I can kind of make up for the fact that we just completely nonchalantly walked off stage and opened beers and didn’t do an encore and didn’t say goodbye to each other we just were like... have a nice life, nothing. It was a really really weird show. So I’m looking forward to that. Just kind of seeing what kind of emotions it stirs up.

Where else? We’re not doing Spain this year unfortunately. That’s one of my favorite places to play. We did Vigo, Bilbao, Madrid, and Barcelona last year. Those were fun shows. Particularly Madrid. Well, Bilbao is the biggest of the four which was insane too. But next year we’ll be down in Australia in April and that’s always amazing. I can’t believe that after all those years away, we sold out Melbourne, the Hi-Fi two years in a row. Which is a big venue. It’s really fun. They always surprise me down there. They’re just so into music and I hope that continues.

Oh, Vienna is another place that I’ve always loved. And Budapest, I forgot, we shoe-horned in a Budapest gig, these guys that we got to know last time we were in Budapest. And they came to see us in Vienna last winter. Brought me some Bela Bartok music as well as the sheet music for that which is really cool, and they were really determined to get us into Budapest so they’re picking us up in Vienna; then flying us down to Switzerland then putting us up and providing backline and everything so we can get to Budapest again. And that’s an unbelievably gorgeous city and a lot of fun. It’s funny because the first time we went there the people were, they kind of flipped out. These girls were squealing and I’m just like, calm down, I’m a 50 year old punk rocker. Don’t get all worked up there. You’re like 12. It’s pretty funny.

And Vienna is obviously the musical city in the world. And last time we were in Vienna I visited Mozart’s apartment, the Figaro House they call it now. It’s on Dome Gaza 5 right behind the dome, like a block kind of around the corner and it’s the only surviving apartment that Mozart lived in aside from his birth house in Salzburg which is also pretty moving. But that was awesome to go into there. The room there where Mozart gave a 16 year old Beethoven piano lessons and was also visited by Franz Joseph Haydn so you have these 3 biggest, most important composers in the Viennese era and arguably in the history of music were in that apartment. It’s kind of deep. I had tears in my eyes, looking out the window that Mozart looked out, it was fucking intense. It’s a really heavy thing to imagine. Can you see Mozart giving Beethoven- this would have been about 1786 I think it was, giving him a piano lesson? Jesus. Wow. That’s crazy. Between the 3 of them, you had 41 symphonies, 9 symphonies, and 103 symphonies alone. Like, yeah, that’s kind of a powerful place. Anybody that’s not moved by that doesn’t like music.

SFBAC: Well, of all the artists that you’ve worked with, who are the musicians that stand out?

Page Hamilton: Well, yeah there are two that come to mind. Obviously to get a phone call from David Bowie is pretty earth shattering and to get to play lead guitar with David Bowie on the Hours tour and do Wembley stadium in front of 80,000 people with 1 billion watching worldwide, including Mick Jagger standing 6 feet away from me on stage, you know? Probably going, ‘who the fuck is this kid?’

And that was pretty mind blowing. I love Bowie so much. And he’s just such an amazing guy and such a nice guy to be around and I learned so much from him and that’s a huge, amazing experience. And the other person that comes to mind is Elliot Goldenthal who hires me every year, year and a half or so, to play on his movie scores. And I get to work with Elliot and his producer Keith Gohl, who also happens to be a genius. It’s kind of crazy in that his guy’s like Joel and Rick Martinez are people who used to play in Blood, Sweat and Tears. He does a lot of the sample stuff. He’s just got an amazing group of people around him. And Mark Stewart, one of my guitar heroes, who was Paul Simon’s musical director, the other guitar player they hire a lot. I got to work with T-Bone Walk, the late, great bass player from Hall and Oats and Saturday Night Live, who we all did Across the Universe together.
Charlie Drayton, Mark, T-Bone, myself, T-Bone Burnett was there as well who’s amazing. It’s just stunning, all the people. Through Elliot and Keith, I did a track with Bono for a Neil Jordan movie that was really fun. It was very musical. I’m impressed by his approach. I am not the world’s greatest YouTube fan at all but I was really impressed working with him. I thought, what he did with the Sinatra song was one of the better things I’ve heard him do. It must have been my crappy guitar that inspired him. As he said, [in an english accent] ‘it’s got comedy and pain.’ And I said 'it’s mostly comedy,' he didn’t laugh.

So Elliot- I’ve learned so much from him. He’s phenomenal. The guy studied with Arron Copland. Elliot talked about there’s a direct “descendentsy” if that’s a word, a direct connection to Beethoven because Copeland, I forget... Litz studied with Beethoven, and somebody studied with Litz, and Copeland studied with somebody who studied with... I forget the lineage. But it goes back to Beethoven. And you’re like wow, okay. This is like getting knowledge, wisdom and musicality passed down from the master. And obviously, Haydn and Mozart passed on their wisdom and whatnot to Beethoven so it’s kind of cool. Not kind of cool, it’s incredibly cool. I mean Elliot loves my playing so much he calls me a poet and says I don’t sound like those car commercial guitar players and he’s very complementary and loves what I can do and if I do something- he loves that I can put on the lab coat and take chances, and sometimes I step in big piles of crap.

I will tell him if I play something and I go 'oh God that was awful,' and he’s like ‘yeah, man, don’t do that again.’ Any musician needs to be willing to accept the criticism with the praise and Elliot and I work so well together. He’s brought things out of my playing that I never- he’s partly insane and a genius and so it’s like, he makes noises with his mouth. ‘Can you get like a didgeridoo like (imitates didgeridoo noise)?’

Like 'yeah, I think I can do that.' He’s like ‘what would happen if we untuned the guitar and did this?’ And I go, ‘well that’s something like I did from the song ‘Murder’ from Strap It On. I detuned all the strings. So they’re out of tune. I came up with that wall of shit that 'Murder' is built on. So I love doing that kind of stuff and he loved it too. And it’s just great working with somebody that’s that brilliant musically and that willing to take chances and be creative. I think a lot of people have one or the other. They have technical ability and musical ability and knowledge and they’re afraid to do anything that lets the soup spill over the rim of the bowl. I’ve always been- I’ve worked very hard and I practice and I know scales and arpeggios and chord changes and harmony and all this stuff. But to me if it doesn’t sound like you’re exploding at the seams it’s not exciting. The people that love Helmet love that about the band. The band, the arrangement are very tight, and very musical, but then there’s me like spazzing out on these solos and vocals which sounds like my lungs are going to fly out my nose. That, to me, is the joy of music and Elliot really gets that.

There are many other people. All my band mates that over the years I’ve been really fortunate to play with are such great musicians. They always say they’re so honored to play with me and they love what Helmet represents to them and everybody that’s played with me has Helmet stories and why it’s important to them. And that always makes me feel good. Like I have Dan [Beeman] who’s 16 years younger than me, reminding me parts of my own songs. Like, ‘ah, no Page, actually this goes to a G here.’ ‘Oh right, right. Okay, thanks Dan.’ He was 11 when Strap It On came out, you know? He’s correcting me in my own songs.

SFBAC: I first saw you guys back in, I think it was '92, on the Meantime Tour at a small little club in Philly at the Trocadero, which was a fantastic show.

Page Hamilton: The Philly, the Troc?

SFBAC: Yup, the Troc. It’s always stuck with me, it’s always been one of my favorite shows.

Page Hamilton: Oh, God, classy venue. Is that when the Boston band opened up? The Bosstones?

SFBAC: Yeah, that was the show.

Page Hamilton: I think they did [Metalica's] 'Enter Sandman,' and I go, 'this is awesome.' They were great. They were so high energy and cool. And it wasn’t our thing, I listened to the ska kinda thing when it was the English Beat really early on. And these guys come along and they were just hilarious, man. I remember the Troc specifically, I’m not sure if this is the show. But I hate them [venues] playing music before and after a show that’s crappy rock music. Like new metal or whatever they play. So I always bring my own mixed thing with me and at that time I was really into this Sammy Davis Jr Warner archives thing and I just remember the Troc, of course, typical Philly. Somebody’s screaming from the audience while we’re setting up like, ‘fucking turn this shit off! Fuck!’ They were so bummed out. Didn’t have the same musical taste as I have I guess. It was pretty funny. Philly is an amazing music town. I don’t think we’re playing Philly on this run, oddly. That’s why I didn’t mention it’s a show I’m looking forward to, because we always look forward to playing there. It’s weird; we’re not playing Atlanta, Minneapolis or Philly which have always been kind of good music towns for us. I need to try to figure out what’s going on.

SFBAC: The other question I wanted to ask was, back about 10 years ago you worked on the Tapeworm project with Trent Reznor and Maynard James Keenan. Can you talk about what the recording process, the sessions were like?

Page Hamilton: You know, I worked with Charlie Clouser, specifically, we worked every day. I would go down for a week from New York to New Orleans and we liked it, so we got together again and 2 and 3 weeks at a time I was down there. Even longer. And Trent was just so generous, and he said 'you can stay here as long as you want. I love having you here.' And Charlie and I were writing- it was essentially music for me which became Gandhi, and later Helmet songs like 'Enemies' and 'Just Like Me' and 'Speak and Spell.' Some things are b-sides and some are on albums. And then some of the stuff that Charlie and I did ended up in that Tapeworm pile. And then Trent and I did some things a couple of days and we just kind of sat and jammed to be honest with you. I had a guitar and Charlie is a great computer guy and keyboard manipulator and so is Trent. Trent is kind of a technical genius.
He’s the only guy I think that could operate every single piece of equipment in his control room and there was a lot of it. And he had a Kurzweil keyboard and I had a guitar and we just kind of jammed some stuff up. I have no idea if anything ever got used. I know that one of his sample guys used some of my stuff for a sample CD. So Trent paid me for that stuff, I felt like Chuck Berry showing up and wanting his suitcase of cash for my work, but Trent and I, we do this kind of a mutual admiration. He was looking at my hands and saying ‘what are you doing, how are you getting that to come out of the guitar, what’s in your hands?’ And I just showed him, ‘it’s a guitar pick.’ And I was watching him and I was like, ‘what? How the fuck are you doing this?’

We have such different musical skills but we both have kind of compositional minds. Bowie and I talked about that about Trent. He thinks Trent has a really great compositional mind. Knowing what you can and can’t do, or what you’re capable of in music, as a musician. But knowing the bigger picture. Bruce Gilbert from Wire and I had a conversation like this a million years ago that, knowing how all the elements fit together but stepping back and being able to see the entire picture. And that’s kind of what I do, and I believe that’s what Trent is really good at. You kind of learn, we just learned a lot from each other. I don’t know that anything would ever come of- I know that I had an idea for the song 'Enemies' and Charlie spilled the beans to those guys and I heard a song called 'Perfect Enemy' or whatever and I was like 'thanks Charlie.' They probably sold a million copies or a gazillion people heard their song and then Size Matters we probably sold 100 copies. But those guys are great. I didn’t work with Maynard, we met one time when he was singing with Rage Against the Machine on a New Years Eve show. He was really nice and very talented singer. So I don’t know what became of any of that stuff or if it will ever be released. And I don’t even know if it is, if anything that I did got used. It’s a nice idea, certainly, to put all these people with different talents together and try to do a band but I think we’re all kind of wrapped up in our own thing. But Trent, in particular, I’m a huge fan of what he does. I try to keep up on stuff. I’m on like the Nine Inch Nails fan club mailing site or whatever. I just got a new EP... You know what I mean? I love what he does.

SFBAC: Are there any artists that you haven’t worked with that you’d love to?

Page Hamilton: Well, I wouldn’t ever put myself even close to the same category or even like- it’s like, I am not worthy is an understatement. But Wayne Shorter is still living and he’s the greatest living composer, musical genius, that I know. He’s mind blowing. He’s on another level and he’s been doing it for- since the 50’s? I think he’s my father’s age, I believe he’s 80 years old. I think he was born in 1930 in Newark, New Jersey. Yeah, I would just like to spend a couple of hours with him and just see what happens. He’s on another level though harmonically and arrangement-wise it’s just sick what he does.

Jim Hall, if I could sit in a room with him at some point and pick his brain. The great jazz guitarist. That would be kind of amazing. There’s a lot of people, I’ve met Billy Gibbons and Neil Young and had great conversations, I’ve hung out with Billy a couple of times. Both those guys I’m sure would be amazing to work with. My dear friend Danny Kortchmar who’s a great producer and guitarist, I think he just did the James Taylor / Carol King tour, he produced [Don] Henley and Billy Joel and all those people. He’s like Neil Young, he’s intense, he’s like Coltrane or something. He’s still got this intense passion and you hear it in his music, he still goes after it. He’s not half-assed and resting on his laurels.

SFBAC: Back to your stuff. I was looking at the calendar and it looks like Meantime is coming up on the 20th anniversary pretty soon? Are there any plans for a re-release or something special for the anniversary?

Page Hamilton: I hope so. It’s not really up to me. They re-released the Betty album which is cool. My manager asked me if I was into it, and I was like, of course, I’m thrilled. But I don’t know whose decision that was. I certainly can’t afford to do it. Interscope owns those masters so that’s all up to them and I know that Size Matters and Aftertaste are both out of print. So the only hope we have for another re-release would be Meantime at this point. I doubt they will re-release Strap It On. I don’t know how any of those records do, or did. I don’t know how records do period now, but I like having the music out there and available in all formats so I hope at some point I can put Aftertaste out again or whatever. We’ve played stuff from every album and it’s nice to have it available for people. It’s cool that I meet these... I met a bunch of people last night, there was one kid that had to be about 6 or 7 years old there that was with his dad and another kid was maybe 20 years old and there were people that were my age.

And to have someone come up to me and say, ‘Size Matters is my favorite album of all time’ a 20 year old who wasn’t ever- when Meantime came out, was 1 or something, or 2. It makes you feel good that you did something right and that the music’s been sticking around for all these years. We’ve never been a huge band. We have a nice little worldwide following and we can go play from Australia, Japan, and Europe and the US and Mexico and South America to our audience. And that’s all one can hope for, to do as long as it’s fun and exciting for me.

SFBAC: On a personal note, "Unsung" was one of my anthems back when I was a kid and it’s still a fantastic song. So you definitely had an effect on me as a kid and to this day.

Page Hamilton: That’s cool. I just got a thing from MSO [publicity]. She linked to a couple of previews for some of the shows and the guy or girl, I can’t remember, wrote something about "Upsung." U-p-s... I’m like, 'I don’t remember writing "Upsong."' I had actually, when we played the Youth Fest in April in Arizona, we did a signing meet and greet thing. And a kid came up to me and said, ‘Man, I heard you guys playing that Sepultura cover, and I had to come running over, I love that song!’ And I go ‘oh, was that the "In the Meantime" song?’ And he goes ‘yeah!’ ‘Um, actually, I wrote that, and it was on an album of ours called Meantime.’ And he’s like, ‘No shit?’ I’m like ‘Yeah! Yeah. Thanks though, I’m glad you like it!’ Ah, what are you going to do? And we get more requests for "Sinatra" than any song because the Deftones covered that and I’m like, I always ask them, ‘are you asking for that song because you love the Deftones or do you love Strap It On?’ They’re like, ‘Oh, we totally know Strap It On, of course we do’ - yeah right.

SFBAC: Last question I’ve got for you. Any advice for a new artist trying to break into the industry?

Page Hamilton: I’ve said all along that if you’re doing this because you love music and you want to be a musician then you’re never going to want to quit. You might be dissatisfied and you might become disheartened and disillusioned from time to time, but if you make it about the music, you’ll have something to look forward to every day. If you want to be a rock star and make it, and be in videos and do all that stuff. I don’t have any advice. I really don’t. I just know how to tell people how to practice and how to work and how to be a better musician. I can’t tell somebody how to be intense and impassioned about what they do. And I think those are personality traits that you’re born with, either that or you’re a hyper-active nut job like me and just like, I get so excited. And I've talked to so many musicians that talked to friends that said they met Page and said ‘I couldn’t believe how excited he was about music still, he’s like 50 years old, and he’s been doing it for so long.’ Because I’ve never made it about financial commercial success or popularity contests or whatever. I don’t think music is a marching band competition. I don’t watch American Idol, I don’t want to sound like that. I always- in New York, even when I was at University of Oregon, I always felt like it was important to develop your own vocabulary and your own style as a guitar player and as a musician. I encourage people to do that. Learn the elements of music and that’s everything from chords and how to build them and scales and arpeggios. Harmony, melody, rhythm, form, which is your structures, and texts, words, when you’re writing rock songs those are the things. And absorb everything you can.

Nobody knows everything. Look at Billy Gibbons, he’s out there with his camera taking pictures of Dave Sardy’s pedals, pedal board and amp set up when Barkmarket was playing. Then you hear his album Rhythmeen and he tunes way down, and comes up with the whole new sound for ZZ Top. He’s Jimmy Hendrix’s favorite guitar player, one of the best guitar players in the world and he’s still a student of music and that’s a great lesson to anyone. Nobody knows everything. If you think you know everything and you got it, you’re done. It’s over. You’re probably going to be dissatisfied. I think the Rolling Stones, they’re so rich and they’ve got so many homes and such high overhead that they’ve got to maintain a lifestyle. That’s not to say that they’re not capable of greatness because they’re one of the greatest bands ever, but when I saw them I was kind of disappointed. This seems kind of cartoonish, you know? It’s so big and so over the top and I would like to see them do one of those club shows like Toad’s Place in New Haven I heard they did one year. I’m sure they still love to rock and I think a lot of these bands of my generation or bands that were supposedly inspired by Helmet, they’re about a lifestyle and maintaining a lifestyle that they get Desmond Child to write songs with them and they got to get outfits and do videos and all that stuff, and that takes away from music. I think MTV is one of the worst things to happen to music. I can say that because it’s not like they give me any love. I don’t give a shit about videos. I make them because they’re kind of fun to make and to lip sync and make fun of your band mates and you do a cool fake background. But it’s not what I’m driven to do. I guess it can be another creative thing. I don’t watch MTV and I haven’t for 20 years. I’ve never seen- when it first came out, I had just gotten back from Germany, and my sister had it on her sorority and I was like what is this?

SFBAC: I don’t think they even play videos anymore.

Page Hamilton: Yeah, they have reality shows right?

SFBAC: Yup it’s all reality TV now.

Page Hamilton: Yeah. I don’t own a television set, I mean I own one but I gave it to this girl I was dating like 5 years ago in the Valley in the studio and she has it I guess still. I just never plugged it in since I moved to LA – 8 years and I go to watch sports at a bar so, that way I won’t sit there and watch highlights for 3 hours. It’s a social event to go watch the Niners with my friends and stuff but I’m interested in music. I don’t expect every guitar player to get into Wes Montgomery or Maurice Ravel, but I guarantee it will provide nothing but positive growth and positive energy for musicians. It’s amazing. I ask Elliot, I’m like ‘I really want to study orchestration’ – this is 6, 7 years ago before I studied with this guy Jack Molly, he’s like ‘I’ll teach orchestration.’ I’m like ‘yeah and when are you going to do that? In between winning academy awards and doing the next million dollar score or whatever?’ He said ‘I got a great exercise for you, take home the Tu Te sections by 'Rapsodie espagnole' by Ravel and leave them up a minor third and down a minor third. It presents some really interesting orchestration problems.’ I’m like ‘are you fucking kidding me? I was talking about maybe what arrangement of the obo? How does it sound when I put it with the violas? Thanks Elliot, okay.’ And that said to musicians- never be intimidated by there being so much to learn or by someone being better than you. Learn from them. You’ve always got something to learn. I wake up every day and I still am excited, I still figure out new chord voicing’s, how to get through Giant Steps, what did [Col]Trane do? What did Charlie Parker do over ‘How High the Moon’, he wrote Ornithology, it’s all- it’s exciting. Music is exciting. I love it. It’s the most amazing thing to me. And that will always- I’ve said that to every musician I’ve ever met that’s ever asked me for advice, the music business can be a big steaming turd at times and it will let you down but music will let you down ever. It will frustrate you and challenge you and that’s a good thing.

Band of Horses @ The Greek (9/24/10)

2010-10-03T17:27:00.000-07:00

It’s a real test of a band to have a full-on newbie come to your show and convert them on the spot. I could see that happening at this show, though the major chunk of the crew there were FANS… flannel clad brohans and the girls sporting the nouveau hippy façade (you know, the straight long hair held back with the Joni Mitchell mini head-band…)

Anyway, I was more of a tweener when it comes to Band of Horses. I’d heard their stuff a few times, but not enough to be ALL IN. Just enough to be curious, and to check the show.

And a nice, sweet show it was. This is a band that represents well on record, and does it just a bit better live. Not quite like Vampire Weekend say, a RECORD band who faithfully repro’s the recording live, or on the other side like an Audioslave who transforms on the stage.

An in between. If you like the records, you’re gonna like the show. And vice versa. After checking the show and then going back to the vinyl (in a manner of speaking), I can see the key. The songs are good! BOH is more on the mellow side, but many tracks have an ascending quality to them, building on layers of voice and guitar much like a backwoods brand of Built to Spill. Or like a lovechild of Radiohead and Dan Fogelberg (look him up), if a band and a man could procreate.

The best tracks at the show, like The Great Salt Lake etc, a climbing Shins-like piece of jangle pop, or Islands on the Coast, a rolling soaring piece, have a touch of the anthemic to them and so translate well on the bigger stage. Especially a bigger stage like the Greek in Berkeley where you can still catch a whiff of the Summer of Love wafting in from the big city across the bay.

It’s all groovy and love-y, with the BIG tracks like Ode to LRC stepping up and rocking, and the crooners like the Marry Song making you want to break out the lighter and sway to and fro with your girl by your side. Even the light Seattle-centric Detlef Schrempf (the song, not the hooper) came off real nice live, in a dreamy sorta rolling-along-in-a-70s-station wagon kinda way.

All topped off with the most massive Happy B-day I’ve ever witnessed (check the Guinness book for the real record), it was a show to get you juiced on your new favorite band of the moment.

And the Songs…

Ode to LRC
Wicked Gil
NW Apt.
The Great Salt Lake
Is There a Ghost
Blue Beard
Compliments
Cigarettes, Wedding Bands
Factory
Marry Song
Laredo
Detlef Schrempf
Just The Other Side of Nowhere
Part One
Older
Weed Party
Islands on the Coast
The General Specific
Am I A Good Man
---
Evening Kitchen
Happy Birthday!
No One's Gonna Love You
The Funeral

An Interview with Alan Wilder of Recoil (ex-Depeche Mode)

2010-09-21T20:21:00.000-07:00

Alan Wilder's Recoil will be performing at San Francisco's Mezzanine on October 21st and graciously took time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions for SFBAC.

Get your tickets while they're still available here.

For those of you not already familiar with Alan Wilder, Alan was nearly a founding member of Depeche Mode, replacing Vincent Clarke in 1982 who went on to form Yaz and Erasure. Alan was an integral component of DM's signature sound and ultimately left the band in 1995. In the late 80's and in his spare time between DM albums and tours, Alan began to compose his solo material under the name, Recoil.

With that as some background, let's get to the interview!

On San Francisco / Touring:

SFBAC: We're looking forward to your performance at the Mezzanine in San Francisco on October 21st, do you have any favorite stories from previous time spent in the city?

AW: Nothing immediately comes to mind apart from certain late night activities which I couldn’t possibly mention in an interview! Apart from the touring, I have visited as a tourist on several occasions and I do remember plenty of enjoyable times just wandering around the city. There are so many cool areas, great restaurants and so on. I’d say SF is easily my favourite city on the west side of America. It seems to possess more of a European flavour compared to other west coast cities. Previous shows with DM were always great (but we were generally spoilt with receptive audiences everywhere in California).

SFBAC: Do you prefer performing in large venues or smaller, more intimate settings like the Mezzanine (ie. capacity 1000)?

AW: With Recoil, I have enjoyed being nearer to the audience, being able to actually see people’s expressions. With DM one felt very removed at times, enveloped within a huge production which almost seemed to run itself at times. I did enjoy those shows though - I mean how could you not playing to so many people, with the power of those massive events?

SFBAC: Of all the places you've toured in the past, what cities stand out and why?

AW: At the risk of sounding patronising, usually the more ‘rock ‘n’ roll-deprived’ places garner the most vociferous reactions. If you combine that with say a Latin temperament, then you get amazing response. I think the best ever crowd I experienced was in Santiago ’94 during ‘the ‘Devotional’ tour. Also the Mexicans are always incredible. Russian audiences and people from other ex-iron curtain countries are always extremely enthusiastic. The legacy of these country’s histories still effects the mentality today. I’d say on this recent Recoil tour, the best crowds were in Mexico City, Moscow, Budapest, Bucharest, Prague, Lodz, Barcelona, Berlin and Paris.

SFBAC: Do you find it challenging translating studio material for the live environment? Can you describe what gear you'll use onstage during the tour?

AW: It’s a challenge I really enjoy - trying to imagine how the music would work in a venue at loud volume where the listener is in a completely different frame of mind than at home or with headphones - maybe ready to dance with a drink in their hand. Using mainly laptops, a synth for filtering and live effects, we have tried to pair back the music and tailor it with these thoughts in mind. I used to do the same job preparing the Mode live versions and, in some ways, I found this work much more creative than actually going out and playing on stage.

SFBAC: What can fans expect during the 'Selected' tour?

AW: The events are not so much ‘live’ band but more art installation. Paul Kendall and I have just extended what we do in the studio into the live setting where we add spontaneous effects and extra parts to a pre-prepared bedrock. As I alluded to above, the music is comprised of stripped down, edited sections from many Recoil remixes and alternative versions, combined so that what we end up with is recognisably Recoil but doesn't necessarily sound like what you hear on the studio versions. We have some flexibility to tailor the sound for each venue but we are also tied in to a continuous film which accompanies everything.

In fact, this film element is what swung it for me to take the plunge with these events. With the advent of cheaper, portable HD cameras as well as affordable editing software, making films has suddenly become viable. I spent the first 3 months of the year collaborating with 4 different directors for this project using a central server where we could all upload (and feedback on) our work-in-progress.

SFBAC: You've had a number of guests perform with you already during this tour, do you have any surprises lined-up for the SF show?

AW: At this time, we are working on various possibilities - keep an eye on the Recoil forums for details. We definitely already have Architect and Conjure One as extra acts for the evening. We also hope to host an after-show DM/Recoil party and I will be around to sign items, meet with people and so on.

On recording:

SFBAC: Can you describe how your writing/recording process has evolved over the years just as technology and software has evolved?

AW: I have always struggled to write songs in the conventional way. Lyrics don’t come naturally to me so my process has always been a bit different. I guess ever since the advent of the first samplers I have been fascinated with looping performances and trying to turn those into something which occasionally (if I’m lucky) forms a new piece or a song. I guess the technology has helped with certain tools greatly increasing the potential of those experiments. Being a perfectionist however does tend to slow me down in that I like to explore every avenue before committing. And there are so many possibilities these days.

SFBAC: What's your favorite gear within your home studio?

AW: My needs are quite simple these days. Logic Audio, Ableton Live, plenty of plug-ins. I just bought a MacBook Pro so I’m much more portable these days, finally making music on the move (at least sometimes). In the studio, I love my 1970‘s Neve console, Roland space echo, Manley amps and compressor, VCS 3, Minimoog and Oberheim synths, and that’s about it. I have plenty of other gear but it’s largely redundant.

SFBAC: Do you have a theme or sound in mind before you start searching for a sample? For example, how did you decide to use Bukka White’s “Shake ‘em On Down” for your earlier single, ‘Electro Blues of Bukka White’?

AW: Usually I just get a vague notion for a starting point and start listening out for possible sounds to loop. Hopefully (but not always) that will inspire me to add something else and an atmosphere starts to emerge. It’s trial and error and I’m looking for ‘happy accidents’ which will suggest overall direction. From there, I can more efficiently put a picture together although the process often takes unexpected twists and turns. In fact, these are the moments I crave - when one so-called sound accident renders everything you’ve done up to that point useless, because the new element is much better or sparks a completely new and more exciting direction. In the case of Bukka, the music just naturally took a blues direction with the chords, but with a very electronic basis, and that’s when I started trawling through some blues records to find something that fitted.

SFBAC: A few years ago, you wrote an editorial describing the shifting landscape in the music industry due, in large part, to the napsterization of music. Has there been any meaningful change within the industry since you wrote that?

AW: Since then, there have been some marketing re-thinks for the better. A more tactile approach perhaps. We are seeing a return to higher quality formats, collectible editions, vinyl and so on. Mute have embraced the idea of limited editions where everyone can benefit - the consumer who gets total choice ranging from a simple download right through to the most luxury items, the artist who can indulge all his creative whims, and the Record company who can charge the appropriate price for each product in order to make some profit - as long as they do not over produce and get lumbered with expensive stock. The music business is of course one of the fastest mutating industries and one has to try to understand why things adapt in the way they do. If the consumer isn’t particularly passionate and wants free music (which now seems inevitable amongst most listeners) then I’m not against the Spotify-type concept for example where, in effect, the artist receives his payment via advertisers.

SFBAC: Another topic you hit upon in your editorial was the notion of decreasing audio fidelity, specifically MP3’s lossy format. Did you entertain higher fidelity formats with this years release of ‘Selected’? DVD-Audio? SACD?

AW: I spoke about formats and mastering techniques, the loudness war, dynamically-reduced, over-compressed, souped up final products, spewed out into the market place without much care or proper musical consideration. This is more of a marketing-led problem rather than as a result of poorly produced music. There are many extremely well produced pieces of music which do not deserve this careless dumbed down process at the end of the chain. The problem occurs due to paranoia over the attention span of the listener resulting in desperate measures in order to gain that attention back.

We have DVD audio in the ‘Selected’ box set. This is higher bit rate than CD. If you listen to a Recoil release, it should sound clear and dynamic, not necessarily (apparently) loud but a musical, enjoyable experience. If the listener wants to hear it loud, they can turn up the volume on their amp - genius. My suggestion? Step back, stop texting and tweeting for a while, close your eyes and just listen.

Miscellaneous:

SFBAC: When can we expect to hear new Recoil emerge?

AW: Realistically, not before 2012. My intention is to work on new material after the tour and with all that goes into any release these days, the turnaround time to get things released is quite long. Plus I’m quite a slow worker anyway!

SFBAC: Can you envision a time where Recoil could tour with DM?

AW: Hmm - cant see that one somehow.

SFBAC: Looking back at your career with Depeche Mode, do you have any regrets about leaving at the time you did?

AW: No regrets. For the most part, I enjoyed my time in the group but I wanted to concentrate on other things and have been lucky enough to continue doing what I love with little compromise along the way. In fact, much less compromise than when I was in DM. I consider myself very fortunate in that respect.

SFBAC: What DM album are you most proud of?

AW: ‘Songs of Faith & Devotion’ is my favourite, even though paradoxically it was the most difficult to make. Communication was very poor between us all during that period and tensions ran high but, as is so often the case, that kind of chemistry must have been instrumental in helping to create some of the strongest material, such as ‘In Your Room’, ‘Walking in my Shoes’, ‘I Feel You’ and so on. Even though ‘Violator’ was very successful, for me, it doesn't contain the depth and looser feel that I love about ‘SOFAD’.

SFBAC: What are you currently listening to?

AW: Currently, I am quite impressed by the last Gil Scott Heron album and Architect. I like some of the latest Massive Attack material (Hope Sandoval, Martina Topley-Bird tracks). I listen to many varied things at different times depending on my mood. Styles can range from avant garde, blues, electronic, classical. I have no rules really. Unfortunately, due to a complicated life (which seems to get more so by the day), I never find I have enough time to research and discover much new music but I enjoy trawling through my catalogue, built up since I was a teenager, and occasionally something new comes along to excite.

SFBAC: As a Douglas McCarthy fan, can we expect to hear more from him on future Recoil material?

AW: Possibly - it’s difficult to say until I have new material properly underway. I like to work intuitively which means that the musical direction is a discovery process and somewhat unpredictable. Only once I have something established does it suggest who would be appropriate to vocalise.

SFBAC: Of all the artists you’ve worked with over the years (remixing, producing, collaborating, performing, etc.) who stands out and why?

AW: I’d say for sheer talent, Joe Richardson and Diamanda Galas. Both were easy to work with and exuded confidence (not arrogance). Joe has this incredible array of talent - he is a prolific songwriter, fantastic guitarist & harmonica player and has a unique soulful blues voice. It’s a dream for me to have someone like that at my disposal, especially as he has a very open-minded attitude to recording techniques and modern approaches. Diamanda likewise is open and multi-talented. In both cases, you can just let them go, record everything they do and know you will end up with a wealth of material to play around with.

SFBAC: What artist(s) would you want to collaborate with in the future (who you haven't already worked with)?

AW: I’ve been missing Mark Hollis since he made those last three Talk Talk albums. His voice would be a great match for some of the atmospheres I like to make. How sad that he doesn’t do anything any more. Morrissey would also be part of any Recoil dream team. There’s Lisa Gerrard, Guy Garvey - many singers actually that I like.

SFBAC: Alan, thanks so much for making the time for this interview and we're looking forward to seeing you in October!

Helmet @ the Blank Club (8/11/10)

2010-09-13T20:46:00.001-07:00

Helmet brought the 'thinking man's metal' to the Blank Club in San Jose this past weekend and delivered a blistering performance spanning over 20 years of material. This was the third show of their first headlining US tour in a few years to support the release of Seeing Eye Dog with Bison BC opening in support.

Page Hamilton

Over the years, the Helmet line-up has changed but Page Hamilton, lead singer/guitarist and founding member of the band, has stayed consistent with the sound and delivery. Page was backed-up by Dan Beeman (guitar), Kyle Stevenson (drums) and Dave Case (bass) who each joined the band over the past few years.

Ultimately, the performance that night was tight, but showed signs of being early in the tour. Page often chatted up the audience in-between songs, and asked for requests throughout. Although the setlist is below, the order of the songs played jumped around a bit as Page admitted that he’d accidentally skipped one of the earlier songs in the night (I think it was “Exactly”), which they later played after realizing it had been skipped.

Here’s one of my personal favorites from the 1992 album, Meantime, “Unsung”:

And another 1992 classic, "Ironhead":

Here's the official setlist:

Be sure to check them out when they come to your town!

An Interview with Jennifer Lewis of Jenny & Johnny

2010-08-27T21:11:00.000-07:00

Jenny & Johnny (Photo credit: Autumn De Wilde)

Jennifer Lewis and Johnathan Rice, aka Jenny & Johnny, are playing two nights next week at the Great American Music Hall on Sept 2nd and 3rd. They're out supporting the release of their recent album I'm Having Fun Now and took a break for a quick Q&A with SF Bay Area Concerts.

To catch the duo live, be sure to get tickets while you can for: Sept. 2nd or Sept. 3rd

SFBAC: Jenny, you’ve performed a number of times in San Francisco, do you have any interesting stories from any of those performances?

J&J: Once we had an after-hours jam at a certain music hall that is both "american" and "great" with Benji Hughes. Pretty sure that was Will Oldham's gear on stage. We didn't think he would mind his microphone being tickled by the beard of another (beard was Benji's).

SFBAC: Do you have a favorite venue in SF and is there a venue you haven’t yet played in SF that you would love to?

J&J: Love the Fillmore. One of the best in the hemisphere.

SFBAC: Of all the places you've toured in the past, what cities stand out and why?

J&J: I love all cities in Florida. Particularly Wibor City, where I played with M. Ward, who is the Elvis Presely of Wibor City.

SFBAC: Can you describe what you feel has been your biggest ‘break’ so far?

J&J: At a concert in Lake Tahoe, Common, the rapper, jumped up and down on a onyx victorian mourning key that Johnathan gave to me as a gift and I had left onstage, breaking it into three pieces. It was an accident, of course. The pieces have been salvaged and reassembled. No harm done.

SFBAC: You’ve been compared to bands such as Pavement and the Lemonheads. Do you think those comparisons are valid, and who would you say is your music most influenced by?

J&J: Love Dando. Love Malkmus. Can't put ourselves in that lofty company.

SFBAC: What’s currently in rotation on your ipod/phone?

J&J: Band: Harlem. Album's called ‘Hippies’. Also, "The Umbrella of US Power" by Noam Chomsky.

SFBAC: Of all the artists you’ve worked with over the years, who stands out and why?

J&J: Mike Mogis. He's been there every step of the way. Thanks Man!

SFBAC: What artist(s) would you want to collaborate with in the future (who you haven't already worked with)?

J&J: Burning Dan.

Thanks for your time and good luck on the rest of your tour! We're looking forward to catching you in San Francisco next week!