For two years I had the honor of drumming with Scotland Barr & The Slow Drags. Last fall Scott was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He battled it hard and never gave up. He continued to write, record, and perform. Scott is the greatest songwriter I have ever known and rightfully should one day be known by many more than the lucky few who got to share the stage with him or see him play. Scott was constantly creating. In addition to music, he was an incredible chef. If you've ever been to Salvador Molly's or enjoyed some Secret Aardvark sauce then you know what I'm talking about.
Scott gave much more to the world than he ever asked for in return. The ultimate goal of any artist is to have their work be enjoyed by as many as possible. What I ask for from all of you now is this: enjoy and share. If you own a copy of either "Legionnaires' Disease" or "All The Great Aviators Agree" take it out and give it a listen. Go to www.scotlandbarr.com and you can stream them both, as well as 4 brand new tracks (his best work in my professional opinion.) Play them for a friend. Buy a few cds and send them to music lovers you know. If you or someone you know is a foodie, pick up a few bottles of Secret Aardvark. The now famous hot sauce is available all over Portland along side the Drunken Garlic Black Bean and the just released Drunken Jerk.
Personally I'd just like to express my deepest thanks to those of you who took the time to attend our shows over the years. Scott didn't write songs for twelve year olds, you had to listen intently many times to really get inside them but it was always worth it! I know we're all busy with our social lives and it's not always top priority on anyone's weekend agenda to watch a band play songs that aren't "Jessie's Girl" or "Lady GaGa". Anyhow to my many friends who did make that effort, thank you. Not once did it go unnoticed by myself and the rest of the band. God Bless Scott, you will not be forgotten.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Thoughts on The Shins, etc...
1st of all, it's been way too long since I've updated this thing. To my loyal reader(s), sorry.
Mickey, former bass player for Scotland Barr, and I just got together recently for quite a long chat. He told me about the Jesse Sandoval interview in the Portland Mercury. Jesse Sandoval, along with Marty Crandall, was recently fired from The Shins. Jesse has long been one of my favorite drummers and thus one of my main influences. You should go over to PortlandMercury.com and read it for yourself. I didn't find anything in that interview that I hadn't already deduced for myself.
As a drummer, I have been fired from many bands, and it seems to be the same everytime: It's always a surprise. Sure, looking back I could see the writing on the wall. But it's never easy when it happens. The way Jesse and Marty were dismissed is very typical. The singer / songwriter of the group (in this case, James Mercer) is the tormented genius. It's a stock character, the troubled introvert who writes and sings amazingly and creates incredible works of art. Then there's the goof-ball class clown drummer. Not shy, not introverted, couldn't write a great song to save his life but loves being in a band.
This was a great source of conflict in the Drags because Mickey and I were always up on stage grinning like idiots even if the show wasn't going well. Others in the band took this to mean that we simply didn't give a shit. I think I had some degree of success in explaining that the reason I tried to always appear to be having a great time on stage is that I feel it is crucial that the band project an image of fun while playing. After all, we want the audience to enjoy the show, and why would they if we aren't enjoying it ourselves. Just because I have this happy-go-lucky demeanor doesn't mean mistakes don't bother me.
This was Jesse and Marty in The Shins. Probably not the most talanted musicians in the band, but certainly fan favorites. They were probably also the ones who could make the other guys laugh, albeit at their own expense, when things got heated. There is a certain dynamic that a band has, when it is made up of friends who started playing together before any of them were really very good, or at least accomplished. There's much more to the sound of a band and the music that band creates , either on stage or in the studio, than the sum of it's parts. Unfortunately craigslist is changing that. Band members are nearly always auditioned and hired based on their ability to learn the parts quickly. It seems like the organic method where 5 friends start jamming in the basement is fading fast. Replacing it is the very business-like weighing the pros and cons of a pool of applicants and selecting the best one on paper before actually really getting to know the person.
Jeff Tweedy famously fired Jay Bennett from Wilco and then took the band on to far greater levels of commercial success. Jay says in the documentary something like "I think Jeff simply wanted his band back." In that movie Jay comes off as a real asshole, but let the record reflect that as soon as "A Ghost Is Born" was released I pointed out and my friend Brian Bergstrom agreed that infact Jay had a much bigger positive impact on the sound of Wilco's records than most people knew. Anyhow, since this famous incident I believe it's become almost a right of passage for singer / songwriters. Re-assert your control of the band. Make the bold move. Fire the person who maybe you clash with the most. It really has a galvanizing effect initially on the remaing members. I've been on both sides of this. Once the naerdowell is gone, he is scapegoated with all of the past problems. Any insecurities on the part of the other players will disappear with the circling the wagons. Only after many months and shows and recordings do you really start to realize exactly what you've lost.
I also feel that a bandmember who on the surfface appears to be the least talanted might just be the key to success. Maybe they can push the songwriter's buttons like no one else. Maybe it's that constant conflict that drives the songwriter and makes the finished product better. Once you jettison everyone who disagrees with you, you have free reign- not necessarily a good thing.
Concerning The Shins, I'm sure James was encouraged by yes-men and business types in his inner circle to make the bold move. Now he is free to bring in the most talented musicians without the constraints of keeping the band togther. He will likely go on to world superstardom while Jesse runs his taco cart and Marty does whatever he's going to do. But it will never be the same. The 4 kids from New Mexico, high school chums out to take over the world, are gone. It's now a corporate machine, where the bandmates are paid employees who know their place and can be hired and fired on a moment's notice.
Anyhow, I'll write more about what it's like to be a drummer in a band of musicians later. And in the meantime, check out the Bradley Wik & The Charlatans show at Berbati's on 8/23. We've been practicing real hard and can't wait to rock P-Town again.
Mickey, former bass player for Scotland Barr, and I just got together recently for quite a long chat. He told me about the Jesse Sandoval interview in the Portland Mercury. Jesse Sandoval, along with Marty Crandall, was recently fired from The Shins. Jesse has long been one of my favorite drummers and thus one of my main influences. You should go over to PortlandMercury.com and read it for yourself. I didn't find anything in that interview that I hadn't already deduced for myself.
As a drummer, I have been fired from many bands, and it seems to be the same everytime: It's always a surprise. Sure, looking back I could see the writing on the wall. But it's never easy when it happens. The way Jesse and Marty were dismissed is very typical. The singer / songwriter of the group (in this case, James Mercer) is the tormented genius. It's a stock character, the troubled introvert who writes and sings amazingly and creates incredible works of art. Then there's the goof-ball class clown drummer. Not shy, not introverted, couldn't write a great song to save his life but loves being in a band.
This was a great source of conflict in the Drags because Mickey and I were always up on stage grinning like idiots even if the show wasn't going well. Others in the band took this to mean that we simply didn't give a shit. I think I had some degree of success in explaining that the reason I tried to always appear to be having a great time on stage is that I feel it is crucial that the band project an image of fun while playing. After all, we want the audience to enjoy the show, and why would they if we aren't enjoying it ourselves. Just because I have this happy-go-lucky demeanor doesn't mean mistakes don't bother me.
This was Jesse and Marty in The Shins. Probably not the most talanted musicians in the band, but certainly fan favorites. They were probably also the ones who could make the other guys laugh, albeit at their own expense, when things got heated. There is a certain dynamic that a band has, when it is made up of friends who started playing together before any of them were really very good, or at least accomplished. There's much more to the sound of a band and the music that band creates , either on stage or in the studio, than the sum of it's parts. Unfortunately craigslist is changing that. Band members are nearly always auditioned and hired based on their ability to learn the parts quickly. It seems like the organic method where 5 friends start jamming in the basement is fading fast. Replacing it is the very business-like weighing the pros and cons of a pool of applicants and selecting the best one on paper before actually really getting to know the person.
Jeff Tweedy famously fired Jay Bennett from Wilco and then took the band on to far greater levels of commercial success. Jay says in the documentary something like "I think Jeff simply wanted his band back." In that movie Jay comes off as a real asshole, but let the record reflect that as soon as "A Ghost Is Born" was released I pointed out and my friend Brian Bergstrom agreed that infact Jay had a much bigger positive impact on the sound of Wilco's records than most people knew. Anyhow, since this famous incident I believe it's become almost a right of passage for singer / songwriters. Re-assert your control of the band. Make the bold move. Fire the person who maybe you clash with the most. It really has a galvanizing effect initially on the remaing members. I've been on both sides of this. Once the naerdowell is gone, he is scapegoated with all of the past problems. Any insecurities on the part of the other players will disappear with the circling the wagons. Only after many months and shows and recordings do you really start to realize exactly what you've lost.
I also feel that a bandmember who on the surfface appears to be the least talanted might just be the key to success. Maybe they can push the songwriter's buttons like no one else. Maybe it's that constant conflict that drives the songwriter and makes the finished product better. Once you jettison everyone who disagrees with you, you have free reign- not necessarily a good thing.
Concerning The Shins, I'm sure James was encouraged by yes-men and business types in his inner circle to make the bold move. Now he is free to bring in the most talented musicians without the constraints of keeping the band togther. He will likely go on to world superstardom while Jesse runs his taco cart and Marty does whatever he's going to do. But it will never be the same. The 4 kids from New Mexico, high school chums out to take over the world, are gone. It's now a corporate machine, where the bandmates are paid employees who know their place and can be hired and fired on a moment's notice.
Anyhow, I'll write more about what it's like to be a drummer in a band of musicians later. And in the meantime, check out the Bradley Wik & The Charlatans show at Berbati's on 8/23. We've been practicing real hard and can't wait to rock P-Town again.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Saturday Night in Southeast
Played a very fun show with Bradley Wik & The Charlatans last night at Duke's Landing on SE Belmont. The cool thing is the place has an open garage door, so the rock and roll can spill out into the night. The other cool thing is all the people meandering around the sidewalk at night could hear us and drifted in to see the show. It's one thing to guilt your friends into coming to the gigs, but the real goal is to take your music to new people. So without further ado, here is the setlist:
Drive All Night
Dance With Me
To Hell With You
Polar Opposites (Modest Mouse cover)
Johnny And Mary
Back To Brooklyn
Friday Night
I Got You (Wilco cover)
Midwest Winters
Leavin' The City
I've Never Slept On The Avenue
EP coming soon to iTunes!
Drive All Night
Dance With Me
To Hell With You
Polar Opposites (Modest Mouse cover)
Johnny And Mary
Back To Brooklyn
Friday Night
I Got You (Wilco cover)
Midwest Winters
Leavin' The City
I've Never Slept On The Avenue
EP coming soon to iTunes!
Sunday, June 7, 2009
On Stage Sound
Just played a great gig with Bradley & The Charlatans. It's an exciting feeling when a band starts to hit it's stride on stage. All the rehearsal in the world doesn't make you great. Don't get me wrong, it is necessary, but what really has to happen is the cohesion and chemistry amongst the band members during a show. Maybe I'm just getting better, or maybe I'm playing with better people it's hard to say. But both the John O'Mara band and The Charlatans are really starting to go off.
With Bradley, we record all of the shows to video. I have beaten this drum in every band I've played with, so I'm glad to have finally found one that will listen. The acoustics on stage differ greatly from venue to venue. And no venue sounds like our practice space. Consequently, the feel and the dynamic can be tricky. Such was the case last week when we played at Kelly's Olympian. Kelly's is a very loud, very rock and roll sounding room. High ceilings, hardwood floors, loud PA, very live. The tendency for bands is to start basking in the loudness of their own sound and stop listening to each other. I think we all felt that to a certain degree after the show. Maybe we hadn't played as tight as we could've. Fortunately in this band, we follow the golden rule of not over analyzing every note right after the show. Instead, we talk about the good things, mingle with fans and sell CDs, and call it a night. Then, when we watch the tape, re realize that the gig was much better than it sounded on stage. So, even though we weren't necessarily listening to each other as well as we could have, all that rehearsal payed off and we played a great show anyhow.
Setlist:
Drive All Night
Dance With Me
To Hell With You - watch it here
Johnny And Mary
Back To Brooklyn
Friday Night - watch it here
I Got You (Wilco cover)
Midwest Winters - watch it here
With Bradley, we record all of the shows to video. I have beaten this drum in every band I've played with, so I'm glad to have finally found one that will listen. The acoustics on stage differ greatly from venue to venue. And no venue sounds like our practice space. Consequently, the feel and the dynamic can be tricky. Such was the case last week when we played at Kelly's Olympian. Kelly's is a very loud, very rock and roll sounding room. High ceilings, hardwood floors, loud PA, very live. The tendency for bands is to start basking in the loudness of their own sound and stop listening to each other. I think we all felt that to a certain degree after the show. Maybe we hadn't played as tight as we could've. Fortunately in this band, we follow the golden rule of not over analyzing every note right after the show. Instead, we talk about the good things, mingle with fans and sell CDs, and call it a night. Then, when we watch the tape, re realize that the gig was much better than it sounded on stage. So, even though we weren't necessarily listening to each other as well as we could have, all that rehearsal payed off and we played a great show anyhow.
Setlist:
Drive All Night
Dance With Me
To Hell With You - watch it here
Johnny And Mary
Back To Brooklyn
Friday Night - watch it here
I Got You (Wilco cover)
Midwest Winters - watch it here
Monday, May 18, 2009
The Ferris Project
So my collaboration with Ryan Ferris has been on the backburner for a long time. We're both in other bands that play quite a bit so it's just a side thing we do. It really has almost no direction, except that we are both trying to break some new ground as musicians. I am trying to take a more active role in the songwriting process, contributing lyrics and helping to shape the musical arrangement. Also, I've always wanted to develop my singing ability. I'm really looking to make music with lush vocal harmonies, and I figure a good place to start is with my own voice. I'm finding that my voice has improved drastically in the last few months, simply from harmonizing. Ryan has been good enough to teach me some vocal parts he had written for his song, and then practice with me until I got it. Most bands just haven't had the time or patience for this, either you can sing or you can't and that's the end of it.
Anyways all of this is fresh in my mind because we had a really great session this afternoon. Another thing I've noticed about music is that you can't judge the potential of a particular band configuration right away. At first, I was mainly in it for the enjoyment and the laughs. But then the songs start to cross the hump and really sound like good tunes. The band starts to take shape and take on a life of it's own. That is a great feeling.
The best piece of advice I can give to any other musicians at this point is to stick with it. Maybe you were in a band that was functioning at a very high level, and now you're in a new one that doesn't seem as good. Give it time, and effort. It will happen.
Anyways all of this is fresh in my mind because we had a really great session this afternoon. Another thing I've noticed about music is that you can't judge the potential of a particular band configuration right away. At first, I was mainly in it for the enjoyment and the laughs. But then the songs start to cross the hump and really sound like good tunes. The band starts to take shape and take on a life of it's own. That is a great feeling.
The best piece of advice I can give to any other musicians at this point is to stick with it. Maybe you were in a band that was functioning at a very high level, and now you're in a new one that doesn't seem as good. Give it time, and effort. It will happen.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Random Tidbits
Here's the latest on all of my pending projects:
BW/C (Bradley Wik & The Charlatans) - we have two shows coming up here in Portland. We're booking more soon and will be expanding our circle beyond the Rose City (Seattle and Salem in the works). Also, the EP is selling quite nicely considering it's only in one store- Ranch Records in Salem.
The Winebirds - We have been rehearsing a lot lately, but not for shows. We have a very important studio session coming up at the end of this month. I'm very excited because it'll be my first time in the studio with them. They have the album about half completed already so we've got our work cut out for us. And they record analog! Right, remember that thing called tape? It's much more expensive, time consuming, and the musicians really have to get it right the first time because you can't just touch it up on a computer. Also, they track everything except vocals live with the whole band in the studio playing together at the same time. Sounds normal right? You'd be surprised how few bands actually do this anymore.
John O'Mara - We are doing a small tour in Southern California in mid June, as well as a couple shows in the Seattle area. The addition of the keyboards really adds a lot, and we are starting to play some incredible live shows. His new album is also available now.
Ryan Ferris and the Nick of Time - Ferris and I just played in his studio again today. We've got one song tracked and another about ready to be tracked. It's a really slow moving project- but not in a bad way. We meet about once a week, have a few beers, talk about music and other stuff, and play some songs. It's a great creative process which is never dull and sooner or later we'll get around to finishing some tunes.
Dallas - Haven't seen these guys since I was last in Seattle, which I guess was less than a month ago but feels like an eternity. I know we've got some shows coming up soon, just don't know when. Also, there is more studio time on the horizon, we are waiting for our producer to finish building his new studio.
I should also give a plug for my former band, Scotland Barr & The Slow Drags (not that they need it). They just played to a capacity crowd at the Doug Fir, and the show was filmed for PDXPosed, so watch for that. Scot is writing his best songs ever now, so head on over to www.scotlandbarr.com and catch a show. If you've seen them before, like say when a certain tall and handsome drummer was there, but haven't seen them lately, now would be a great time. The new tunes are great and the band sounds better than ever. Sheesh you'd think they were giving me free hot sauce or something!
BW/C (Bradley Wik & The Charlatans) - we have two shows coming up here in Portland. We're booking more soon and will be expanding our circle beyond the Rose City (Seattle and Salem in the works). Also, the EP is selling quite nicely considering it's only in one store- Ranch Records in Salem.
The Winebirds - We have been rehearsing a lot lately, but not for shows. We have a very important studio session coming up at the end of this month. I'm very excited because it'll be my first time in the studio with them. They have the album about half completed already so we've got our work cut out for us. And they record analog! Right, remember that thing called tape? It's much more expensive, time consuming, and the musicians really have to get it right the first time because you can't just touch it up on a computer. Also, they track everything except vocals live with the whole band in the studio playing together at the same time. Sounds normal right? You'd be surprised how few bands actually do this anymore.
John O'Mara - We are doing a small tour in Southern California in mid June, as well as a couple shows in the Seattle area. The addition of the keyboards really adds a lot, and we are starting to play some incredible live shows. His new album is also available now.
Ryan Ferris and the Nick of Time - Ferris and I just played in his studio again today. We've got one song tracked and another about ready to be tracked. It's a really slow moving project- but not in a bad way. We meet about once a week, have a few beers, talk about music and other stuff, and play some songs. It's a great creative process which is never dull and sooner or later we'll get around to finishing some tunes.
Dallas - Haven't seen these guys since I was last in Seattle, which I guess was less than a month ago but feels like an eternity. I know we've got some shows coming up soon, just don't know when. Also, there is more studio time on the horizon, we are waiting for our producer to finish building his new studio.
I should also give a plug for my former band, Scotland Barr & The Slow Drags (not that they need it). They just played to a capacity crowd at the Doug Fir, and the show was filmed for PDXPosed, so watch for that. Scot is writing his best songs ever now, so head on over to www.scotlandbarr.com and catch a show. If you've seen them before, like say when a certain tall and handsome drummer was there, but haven't seen them lately, now would be a great time. The new tunes are great and the band sounds better than ever. Sheesh you'd think they were giving me free hot sauce or something!
Friday, May 1, 2009
BW/C 1st Show Setlist!
We played the Ash St Saloon Wednesday night. Unfortunately, when it's your first show you don't get first pick of time slots. Alas, we didn't take the stage until after midnight. Thanks to all of you who stuck it out. The band before us was, hmm how to put this delicately.... SHITTY! Normally it's never a good idea to badmouth other bands, but I have to break from the standard BS. My conscience is clear. It was a crappy blues band who had probably never rehearsed. Worse than anything I've ever seen, and believe me play enough open mics and you'll see a lot of crap. Word to the wise- don't cover songs like "Crossroads" and "Voodoo Chile". And for those of you with long memories, yes I've covered those and many other shameless over played tunes. But that was a long time ago, I suck for having done it, and I'm here to help the youth of America to not make the same mistakes I did.
OK the good part:
Drive All Night
Back To Brooklyn
Too Hell With You*
Johnny And Mary
Dance With Me Darlin'
Midwest Winters*
I've Never Slept On The Avenue
encore:
Morning Glory (Oasis cover)
The songs with the * are originals we have yet to record, the rest are on the EP- except the Oasis tune of course.
We sold a few EPs, make sure to pick up your copy. Currently only available at shows or from us, but coming soon to iTunes and a store near you!
OK the good part:
Drive All Night
Back To Brooklyn
Too Hell With You*
Johnny And Mary
Dance With Me Darlin'
Midwest Winters*
I've Never Slept On The Avenue
encore:
Morning Glory (Oasis cover)
The songs with the * are originals we have yet to record, the rest are on the EP- except the Oasis tune of course.
We sold a few EPs, make sure to pick up your copy. Currently only available at shows or from us, but coming soon to iTunes and a store near you!
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