Minus the Bear
When: Thursday 6/2 @ 5:45pm - 7:00
Where: Revival Tent
Minus the Bear have always avoided easy classification, preferring to tread their own inimitable path defined by energy and invention. OMNI, the Seattle-based band’s fourth full-length recording and debut Dangerbird Records release, sees a stunning evolution to their sound and vision. As evinced by the album’s all-encompassing title, Minus the Bear have merged their myriad influences into a sweeping collection marked by its slinky and sensual melding of city-stomping rock and deep funk grooves. That spirit of sonic lasciviousness is mirrored in the album’s raw take on human sexuality – a theme as intricate and elaborate as the band’s extraordinary music. Boldly experimental yet instantly accessible, OMNI is Minus the Bear’s most provocative and potent work to date.
“I think it’s a real leap forward,” singer/guitarist Jake Snider agrees. “It’s an impactful sounding record.”
Founded in 2001, Minus the Bear earned immediate attention with their distinctive spastic prog-pop hybrid, all serrated rhythms, swirling synths, and guitarist Dave Knudson’s multi-layered, pedal-hopping acrobatics. Prolific from the start, the band let loose with series of EPs and albums, each drawing escalating acclaim and a host of new fans. 2007’s Planet of Ice was followed by the band’s most intensive touring thus far, repeatedly traveling the US, as well as Europe, Australia, and Japan. The non-stop roadwork served to increase the band’s kinetic power and intensity – a mindset they were determined to bring with them when they returned to the studio.
“One of the things we wanted to do was capture more of the live energy,” says Knudson. “We feel like the live show is really where you get to see what we’re doing.”
Work officially began on the new album in mid-2008 as the band reconvened to begin shaping and developing Knudson’s early demo tracks. This time out MTB wanted to collaborate with an outside producer and began interviewing potential candidates. Joe Chiccarelli (My Morning Jacket, The White Stripes, The Shins) flew up to Seattle for his meeting mere hours after accepting a Grammy Award for his work with The Raconteurs and the rapport was immediate, with producer and band in agreement about how to proceed.
“We played the songs for Joe in our rehearsal space and he had a ton of ideas,” Snider says. “He had a great sense of where things could be trimmed, so he was a good set of ears to help us edit what we were trying to get across.”
On April 27, 2009, Minus the Bear began sessions at Seattle’s Avast! Recording Studios, opting to take a more organic approach towards recording. A conscious effort was made to play together as much as possible, eschewing the usual scratch tracks and overdubs whenever possible.
“He was really awesome about wanting to find the perfect sound before we even started tracking the songs,” Knudson says. “That was a big thing for us, changing the way we record, trying to keep as much of the performances that we were doing in the studio together to maintain the energy.”
“Joe kicked a lot of us in the ass more than any of us had ever been kicked in the ass before,” Knudson says. “We were doing 10 or 12 takes, more than any of us had ever played, but obviously all those takes paid off. He broke us down and made us evaluate what we were doing and maybe made us think of it from a different perspective.”
Where Planet of Ice was deeply informed by the band’s unified passion for classic prog-rock, OMNI sees each member bringing a diverse tableau of individual influences to the table, with keyboardist Alex Rose, bassist Cory Murchy, and drummer Erin Tate expressing a significant interest in jazz, hip-hop, R&B, and 70s funkadelia.
“Those underlying elements seeped through,” Knudson says, “whether or not we were cognicent of the fact that was happening. There’s a lot more groove, a lot more soul, a lot more feeling that comes across.”
The new music’s pulsating energy inspired a kind of sensual sprawl and carnal abandon. “Secret Country” features MTB’s most propulsive riff to date, inspired by Knudson’s purchase of a baritone guitar while on tour, while “My Time” – the album’s first single – is a rush of pure electro-pop lust, built around the glorious sound of another of the guitarist’s new toys, a vintage Omnichord synthesizer.
“The music just lent itself to dealing with these erotic themes,” Snider says. “There wasn’t a conscious idea to keep it all that way, but I didn’t really fight anything that came up when I was trying to put something to the music.”
None of which is to say that the quirky time signatures, hyperactive riffs, and prodigious hooks have left the building. The eddying tri-climax solo of “The Thief” and the album-closing “Fooled By The Night,” with its flowing arc and song-with a-song structure, reveal that MTB’s trademarks have simply been morphed and molded to fit a more straightforward – though no less ingenious – songcraft.
“We always wanted to see just how weird we can make a pop song,” Snider says, “but I think at some point we abandoned that and just started wanting to write really good songs.”
With OMNI finished by summer’s end, the band’s next step was choosing the right label to put it out. Fortunately, the band ultimately united with the Silverlake-based independent label, Dangerbird Records.
“We really care about this and whoever was putting out the record had to be a cool, awesome, artist-friendly, happening place to be,” Knudson says. “Once we met up with [Dangerbird co-founder] Jeff Castelaz and those guys, it was just kinda like, ‘Why would we pick someone else? This is exactly what we’ve been looking for.’”
The brazen and irresistible OMNI will undoubtedly bring Minus the Bear to scores of new listeners, keeping them on tour for the foreseeable future. The band are now ready to return to the road, knowing that their ever-increasing fan following awaits. Having built its base in no small part due to their exhilarating live shows, MTB have an advanced appreciation for the intimate connection between band and their audience.
“We’ve got a lot of fans that really care about us,” Knudson says, “that just love the music and keep coming out to show after show after show. I think about it every day, I think about how fuckin’ lucky we are.”
“The main thing we try to accomplish is putting together something that we’re going to enjoy playing forever,” Snider says. “We always make sure that we want to hear the song as much as anybody else.”
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
4 Days Until Wakarusa
Toots and the Maytals
When: Sunday 6/5 @ 8:00pm - 9:30
Where: Revival Tent
The Very Best Of Toots & The Maytals
Toots and the Maytals, originally called simply The Maytals, are considered legends of ska and reggae music. Their sound is a unique, original combination of gospel, ska, soul, reggae and rock. Frederick “Toots” Hibbert, the leader of the group, was born in May Pen in the Parish of Clarendon, Jamaica. He was the youngest of seven children. He grew up singing gospel music in a church choir, but moved to Kingston in 1961 at the tender age of sixteen.
In Kingston, Hibbert met Henry “Raleigh” Gordon and Nathaniel “Jerry” McCarthy, forming a group whose early recordings were attributed to “The Flames” and, possibly, “The Vikings”. Having renamed the group the Maytals, the vocal trio recorded their first album, “Never Grow Old – presenting the Maytals”, for producer Clement “Coxsone” Dodd at Studio One in 1962-63. With musical backing from Dodd’s house band, the legendary Skatalites, the Maytals’ close-harmony gospel singing ensured instant success for the 1964 release, overshadowing Dodd’s other up-and-coming gospel trio, The Wailers. The original album augmented by studio out-takes from the Studio One sessions was re-released by Heartbeat/Rounder Records in 1997, and is essential listening for Maytals and Skatalites fans.
After staying at Studio One for about two years, the group moved on to do sessions for Prince Buster (released in 1974) before recording their second album produced by Byron Lee in 1965 . However, the band’s musical career was rudely interrupted in late 1966 when Hibbert was arrested and imprisoned on drugs possession charges.
Following Hibbert’s release from jail towards the end of 1967, the band officially changed their name to Toots and the Maytals and began working with Chinese-Jamaican producer Leslie Kong, a collaboration which produced three classic albums and a string of hits throughout the late sixties and early seventies – “Do the Reggay”, a 1968 single widely credited with coining the word reggae, “Pressure Drop”, “54-46 was my number” and “Monkey Man”, the group’s first international hit in 1970 . The group was featured in one of reggae’s greatest breakthrough events – The Harder They Come, the 1972 film and soundtrack starring Jimmy Cliff, named as one of Vanity Fair’s Top 10 Best Soundtracks of all time.
54-46 Was My Number
Following Kong’s death in 1971, the group continued to record with Kong’s former sound engineer, Warwick Lyn; produced by Lyn and Chris Blackwell of Island Records, the group released three best-selling albums, and enjoyed international hits with Funky Kingston in 1973 and Reggae Got Soul in 1976.
Toots and the Maytals’ compositions would be given a second airing in 1978-80 during the reggae-punk and ska revival period in the UK, when The Specials included “Monkey Man” on their 1979 debut album and The Clash produced their version of “Pressure Drop”. Having toured throughout the world for many years, Toots and the Maytals disbanded in the early 1980s, but reformed in the early 90s to continue touring and recording successfully. Sublime recorded cover versions of some Maytals songs in the 1990s as well.
The band recently won the 2005 Grammy award for best reggae album True Love, an album consisting of re-recorded versions of their classics alongside popular and legendary musicians such as Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Eric Clapton, and Keith Richards, as well as popular artists today such as No Doubt, Ben Harper, The Roots, and Shaggy.
Toots and the Maytals remains a relevant influence on today’s global music scene with artists from Amy Winehouse to Sublime re-recording classic tracks. Toots recieved another Grammy nomination for his 2008 release “Light Your Light. In recent years Toots has toured with The Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews, Sheryl Crow and Los Lonely Boys.
Always recording when not touring “Flip & Twist” will be release on 4/20/10 on Toot’s own D & F Music label. Look for Toots on the road spring and fall in the US and summer in Europe.
When: Sunday 6/5 @ 8:00pm - 9:30
Where: Revival Tent
The Very Best Of Toots & The Maytals
Toots and the Maytals, originally called simply The Maytals, are considered legends of ska and reggae music. Their sound is a unique, original combination of gospel, ska, soul, reggae and rock. Frederick “Toots” Hibbert, the leader of the group, was born in May Pen in the Parish of Clarendon, Jamaica. He was the youngest of seven children. He grew up singing gospel music in a church choir, but moved to Kingston in 1961 at the tender age of sixteen.In Kingston, Hibbert met Henry “Raleigh” Gordon and Nathaniel “Jerry” McCarthy, forming a group whose early recordings were attributed to “The Flames” and, possibly, “The Vikings”. Having renamed the group the Maytals, the vocal trio recorded their first album, “Never Grow Old – presenting the Maytals”, for producer Clement “Coxsone” Dodd at Studio One in 1962-63. With musical backing from Dodd’s house band, the legendary Skatalites, the Maytals’ close-harmony gospel singing ensured instant success for the 1964 release, overshadowing Dodd’s other up-and-coming gospel trio, The Wailers. The original album augmented by studio out-takes from the Studio One sessions was re-released by Heartbeat/Rounder Records in 1997, and is essential listening for Maytals and Skatalites fans.
After staying at Studio One for about two years, the group moved on to do sessions for Prince Buster (released in 1974) before recording their second album produced by Byron Lee in 1965 . However, the band’s musical career was rudely interrupted in late 1966 when Hibbert was arrested and imprisoned on drugs possession charges.
Following Hibbert’s release from jail towards the end of 1967, the band officially changed their name to Toots and the Maytals and began working with Chinese-Jamaican producer Leslie Kong, a collaboration which produced three classic albums and a string of hits throughout the late sixties and early seventies – “Do the Reggay”, a 1968 single widely credited with coining the word reggae, “Pressure Drop”, “54-46 was my number” and “Monkey Man”, the group’s first international hit in 1970 . The group was featured in one of reggae’s greatest breakthrough events – The Harder They Come, the 1972 film and soundtrack starring Jimmy Cliff, named as one of Vanity Fair’s Top 10 Best Soundtracks of all time.
54-46 Was My Number
Following Kong’s death in 1971, the group continued to record with Kong’s former sound engineer, Warwick Lyn; produced by Lyn and Chris Blackwell of Island Records, the group released three best-selling albums, and enjoyed international hits with Funky Kingston in 1973 and Reggae Got Soul in 1976.Toots and the Maytals’ compositions would be given a second airing in 1978-80 during the reggae-punk and ska revival period in the UK, when The Specials included “Monkey Man” on their 1979 debut album and The Clash produced their version of “Pressure Drop”. Having toured throughout the world for many years, Toots and the Maytals disbanded in the early 1980s, but reformed in the early 90s to continue touring and recording successfully. Sublime recorded cover versions of some Maytals songs in the 1990s as well.
The band recently won the 2005 Grammy award for best reggae album True Love, an album consisting of re-recorded versions of their classics alongside popular and legendary musicians such as Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Eric Clapton, and Keith Richards, as well as popular artists today such as No Doubt, Ben Harper, The Roots, and Shaggy.
Toots and the Maytals remains a relevant influence on today’s global music scene with artists from Amy Winehouse to Sublime re-recording classic tracks. Toots recieved another Grammy nomination for his 2008 release “Light Your Light. In recent years Toots has toured with The Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews, Sheryl Crow and Los Lonely Boys.
Always recording when not touring “Flip & Twist” will be release on 4/20/10 on Toot’s own D & F Music label. Look for Toots on the road spring and fall in the US and summer in Europe.
Friday, May 27, 2011
5 Days Until Wakarusa
Ben Harper and RELENTLESS7
When: Saturday 6/4 @ 8:00pm - 10:00
Where:Mainstage
In a hostile sea of disposable, throwaway singles, BEN HARPER AND RELENTLESS7 have made a true album. White Lies For Dark Times is a timeless rock record, with a cohesive collection of music that is as raw, unrelenting and thunderous, as it is arrestingly haunting and emotional.
On the raucous opening track, "Number With No Name," Harper bellows "the very thing that drives you -- can drive you insane" over an infectious guitar line and a deftly serious groove that both thumps and propels the listener. The band then brings the listener full circle in the closing track "Faithfully Remain," as Harper sings, "the truth just wastes away in all we can't explain, but I faithfully remain." The beauty of these lyrics works as a breathtaking release which balances out the anthemic urgency of songs such as "Shimmer and Shine" and "Up To You Now," both of which are surely soon to be familiar staples at radio.
This is American rock, the way it is supposed to sound and feel.
In what may possibly be the greatest "how the band formed" story ever, Harper met guitarist Jason Mozersky in the late nineties, when the lead singer of Mozersky's then band, WAN SANTO CONDO was working as a van driver shuttling bands back and forth to the venue for a Texas promoter. (The three members of the 7 all hail from Texas) The part time driver, part time musician took a risk that all artists must take at some point in their lives in order to succeed. He asked the then captive Ben Harper, "Can I play you my demo?" Harper obliged, and in his own words "was blown away," and helped the band secure a record deal and release the self-titled Wan Santo Condo / Everloving Records, 2004. The band broke up after one record, but what survived was a lasting friendship between Harper and Mozersky.
In 2005, Harper began recording sessions that would become a double record entitled Both Sides of the Gun (2006, Virgin Records). He invited his now long time friend Mozersky to lay down some guitar work on a track. Upon invitation to continue recording the next day, Jason arrived at the studio with longtime friends, drummer Jordan Richardson and bassist Jesse Ingalls. The session would spawn not only the song "Serve Your Soul" but the framework for Relentless7.
In the summer of 2008, the chance arrived for these four uniquely talented members to reunite in the studio and dig deeper into the chemistry that was born during the Both Sides of the Gun sessions. It was soon apparent that their instincts were correct as the record quickly began to take shape. The songs from White Lies For Dark Times sound off with both the vast musical depth and experience of Harper, while commanding the pure urgency and intensity of an unknown band fighting for its life.
This is clear in the song "Fly One Time" with the lyric "I'm caught in between what I can't leave behind, and what I may never find" where BEN HARPER AND RELENTLESS7 capture universal emotion while the song pulsates into a bass, drum and electric guitar anthem that would captivate any arena and crush any small club.
In November 2008, the band debuted their new material on the Vote For Change Tour, where they also breathed new life into the Queen/David Bowie classic "Under Pressure," which has since become a staple of their live set. They ended the year cutting their teeth with a series of small club shows from famed venues such as Spaceland and The Mint in Los Angeles, to The Mercury Lounge and Kenny's Castaway in NYC. The band is scheduled to tour extensively across the world in 2009.
BEN HARPER AND RELENTLESS7 intelligently has one foot in Harper's past while every other limb and appendage reach towards the future. Any preconceptions or misconceptions in regards to a "Ben Harper sound" must now be adjusted, or thrown out all together. With BEN HARPER AND RELENTLESS7, the story of modern rock music is now being rewritten.
When: Saturday 6/4 @ 8:00pm - 10:00
Where:Mainstage
In a hostile sea of disposable, throwaway singles, BEN HARPER AND RELENTLESS7 have made a true album. White Lies For Dark Times is a timeless rock record, with a cohesive collection of music that is as raw, unrelenting and thunderous, as it is arrestingly haunting and emotional.
On the raucous opening track, "Number With No Name," Harper bellows "the very thing that drives you -- can drive you insane" over an infectious guitar line and a deftly serious groove that both thumps and propels the listener. The band then brings the listener full circle in the closing track "Faithfully Remain," as Harper sings, "the truth just wastes away in all we can't explain, but I faithfully remain." The beauty of these lyrics works as a breathtaking release which balances out the anthemic urgency of songs such as "Shimmer and Shine" and "Up To You Now," both of which are surely soon to be familiar staples at radio.
This is American rock, the way it is supposed to sound and feel.
In what may possibly be the greatest "how the band formed" story ever, Harper met guitarist Jason Mozersky in the late nineties, when the lead singer of Mozersky's then band, WAN SANTO CONDO was working as a van driver shuttling bands back and forth to the venue for a Texas promoter. (The three members of the 7 all hail from Texas) The part time driver, part time musician took a risk that all artists must take at some point in their lives in order to succeed. He asked the then captive Ben Harper, "Can I play you my demo?" Harper obliged, and in his own words "was blown away," and helped the band secure a record deal and release the self-titled Wan Santo Condo / Everloving Records, 2004. The band broke up after one record, but what survived was a lasting friendship between Harper and Mozersky.
In 2005, Harper began recording sessions that would become a double record entitled Both Sides of the Gun (2006, Virgin Records). He invited his now long time friend Mozersky to lay down some guitar work on a track. Upon invitation to continue recording the next day, Jason arrived at the studio with longtime friends, drummer Jordan Richardson and bassist Jesse Ingalls. The session would spawn not only the song "Serve Your Soul" but the framework for Relentless7.
In the summer of 2008, the chance arrived for these four uniquely talented members to reunite in the studio and dig deeper into the chemistry that was born during the Both Sides of the Gun sessions. It was soon apparent that their instincts were correct as the record quickly began to take shape. The songs from White Lies For Dark Times sound off with both the vast musical depth and experience of Harper, while commanding the pure urgency and intensity of an unknown band fighting for its life.
This is clear in the song "Fly One Time" with the lyric "I'm caught in between what I can't leave behind, and what I may never find" where BEN HARPER AND RELENTLESS7 capture universal emotion while the song pulsates into a bass, drum and electric guitar anthem that would captivate any arena and crush any small club.
In November 2008, the band debuted their new material on the Vote For Change Tour, where they also breathed new life into the Queen/David Bowie classic "Under Pressure," which has since become a staple of their live set. They ended the year cutting their teeth with a series of small club shows from famed venues such as Spaceland and The Mint in Los Angeles, to The Mercury Lounge and Kenny's Castaway in NYC. The band is scheduled to tour extensively across the world in 2009.
BEN HARPER AND RELENTLESS7 intelligently has one foot in Harper's past while every other limb and appendage reach towards the future. Any preconceptions or misconceptions in regards to a "Ben Harper sound" must now be adjusted, or thrown out all together. With BEN HARPER AND RELENTLESS7, the story of modern rock music is now being rewritten.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
6 Days Until Wakarusa
EOTO
When: Friday 6/3 @ 2:30am - 4:00 When: Sunday 6/5 @ 10:30pm- 12:00
Where: Revival Tent Where: Mainstage (Superjam Style)
As electronic influences continue to penetrate the live rock, jazz, and jam ethos, one band consistently rises to the top, bringing together fans from across the musical spectrum. EOTO crisscrosses the country blowing out basement dives, packed theaters, and stages under the stars. Check your festival schedules: this 100% improvised dubstep/breakbeat/house/drum & bass/trip-hop duo is the premier late-night party in the country.
Throbbing bass and thudding beats are the signatures of this project from drummers Michael Travis and Jason Hann. Born out of their shared love of electronic dance music, EOTO’s M.O. is to take the free-wheeling party vibe of a DJ set to the next level by using organic instruments, innovative performance technology, and uncharted musical exploration. Live drums, guitars, and keys, and vocals are mixed, remixed, and sampled on the fly using cutting-edge programs. This is all done without a script, and without a net.
Hann plays a hyper EQ’d drumkit, chock full of multi-touch screens and MIDI controllers, and throws a number of effects on his otherworldly vocal styles. Travis takes on subsonic frequencies, generating the band’s crushing low end with analog, digital, and software synthesizers, occasionally picking up guitar or a bass guitar and showing off his proficiency with instruments of all shapes and sizes.
Hann, has been playing percussion professionally since the age of 12. Years of collaborating, touring, and recording with the likes of Youssou N’Dour, Isaac Hayes, Dr. Dre, Loreena McKinnett, SCI, and a slew of other established artists running the gamut from Latin jazz to R ‘n’ B and soul allows him to move fluidly between styles. Adding to this is his depth in African and Latin drumming traditions, allowing the futuristic EOTO sound to keep itself rooted in the past.
For the last 16 years, Travis has been the drumming octopus in SCI. He morphs roles to melodic multi-instrumentalist in EOTO, providing the raw basslines and harmonic tapestry that fill out the soundscape of the duo. Both Hann and Travis have the chops and stamina for physically demanding, EOTO improvised sets, which have been known to go upwards of 4 straight hours. “When we’re playing live for 3 hours a night, it’s like playing tribal drums in a ceremony,” Hann explains. “I’m looking at one person at a time out there, and thinking ‘what can I do to make you dance?’”
An EOTO set is a nebulous beast. Setlists are only broken up into tracks for the sake of posterity. In reality, changes in mood, energy, and inspiration are reflected—in real-time—by rhythmic and melodic shifts. The duo moves effortlessly from choppy dubstep to whip-smart, four-on-the-floor house to psychedelic trip-hop. It’s a dance marathon, but everyone’s in it together. The EOTO set is dependent on crowd energy and activity, effectively breaking down the wall between artist and audience.
Because EOTO starts fresh every night, the band’s evolutionary progress has been thrust into hyperspeed, eclipsing standard acts who return to their dusty catalog for every performance. This is apparent when following the musical evolution of their live performances, which are recorded every night and made available to their fans. On EOTO’s first 2 studio releases--2006’s Elephants Only Talk Occasionally, and the 2008 release Razed, EOTO bounced playfully between house, trance, and breakbeat. A huge change in their sound came when Travis and Hann first saw, felt, and heard the cathartic vibes that dubstep could produce at DJ Skream’s set at Shambhala during the Summer of 2008. This influence saw the duo become the first National, live, dubstep act in the US. The wobbly, buzz-saw bass and heavy backbeat style has become a signature of their sets, as heard on their live recordings and on the 2009 studio release, Fire the Lazers!!! Newer material has the duo co-opting sounds from outside the realm of electronic music with scratchy punk riffs and fuzzy sludge metal bass.
While the recording of each album is no different than the live performance—completely improvised in one take—the records are an appetizer to the live performance. Hann and Travis are consummate road dogs, playing almost 200 shows a year. EOTO has played more than seven hundred unique showcases in 48 different states in the five years since the project’s inception. Each set is recorded and released (www.livedownloads.com ) so fans can capture their unique EOTO dance throwdown, reliving the experience again and again.
When: Friday 6/3 @ 2:30am - 4:00 When: Sunday 6/5 @ 10:30pm- 12:00
Where: Revival Tent Where: Mainstage (Superjam Style)
As electronic influences continue to penetrate the live rock, jazz, and jam ethos, one band consistently rises to the top, bringing together fans from across the musical spectrum. EOTO crisscrosses the country blowing out basement dives, packed theaters, and stages under the stars. Check your festival schedules: this 100% improvised dubstep/breakbeat/house/drum & bass/trip-hop duo is the premier late-night party in the country.
Throbbing bass and thudding beats are the signatures of this project from drummers Michael Travis and Jason Hann. Born out of their shared love of electronic dance music, EOTO’s M.O. is to take the free-wheeling party vibe of a DJ set to the next level by using organic instruments, innovative performance technology, and uncharted musical exploration. Live drums, guitars, and keys, and vocals are mixed, remixed, and sampled on the fly using cutting-edge programs. This is all done without a script, and without a net.
Hann plays a hyper EQ’d drumkit, chock full of multi-touch screens and MIDI controllers, and throws a number of effects on his otherworldly vocal styles. Travis takes on subsonic frequencies, generating the band’s crushing low end with analog, digital, and software synthesizers, occasionally picking up guitar or a bass guitar and showing off his proficiency with instruments of all shapes and sizes.
Hann, has been playing percussion professionally since the age of 12. Years of collaborating, touring, and recording with the likes of Youssou N’Dour, Isaac Hayes, Dr. Dre, Loreena McKinnett, SCI, and a slew of other established artists running the gamut from Latin jazz to R ‘n’ B and soul allows him to move fluidly between styles. Adding to this is his depth in African and Latin drumming traditions, allowing the futuristic EOTO sound to keep itself rooted in the past.
For the last 16 years, Travis has been the drumming octopus in SCI. He morphs roles to melodic multi-instrumentalist in EOTO, providing the raw basslines and harmonic tapestry that fill out the soundscape of the duo. Both Hann and Travis have the chops and stamina for physically demanding, EOTO improvised sets, which have been known to go upwards of 4 straight hours. “When we’re playing live for 3 hours a night, it’s like playing tribal drums in a ceremony,” Hann explains. “I’m looking at one person at a time out there, and thinking ‘what can I do to make you dance?’”
An EOTO set is a nebulous beast. Setlists are only broken up into tracks for the sake of posterity. In reality, changes in mood, energy, and inspiration are reflected—in real-time—by rhythmic and melodic shifts. The duo moves effortlessly from choppy dubstep to whip-smart, four-on-the-floor house to psychedelic trip-hop. It’s a dance marathon, but everyone’s in it together. The EOTO set is dependent on crowd energy and activity, effectively breaking down the wall between artist and audience.
Because EOTO starts fresh every night, the band’s evolutionary progress has been thrust into hyperspeed, eclipsing standard acts who return to their dusty catalog for every performance. This is apparent when following the musical evolution of their live performances, which are recorded every night and made available to their fans. On EOTO’s first 2 studio releases--2006’s Elephants Only Talk Occasionally, and the 2008 release Razed, EOTO bounced playfully between house, trance, and breakbeat. A huge change in their sound came when Travis and Hann first saw, felt, and heard the cathartic vibes that dubstep could produce at DJ Skream’s set at Shambhala during the Summer of 2008. This influence saw the duo become the first National, live, dubstep act in the US. The wobbly, buzz-saw bass and heavy backbeat style has become a signature of their sets, as heard on their live recordings and on the 2009 studio release, Fire the Lazers!!! Newer material has the duo co-opting sounds from outside the realm of electronic music with scratchy punk riffs and fuzzy sludge metal bass.
While the recording of each album is no different than the live performance—completely improvised in one take—the records are an appetizer to the live performance. Hann and Travis are consummate road dogs, playing almost 200 shows a year. EOTO has played more than seven hundred unique showcases in 48 different states in the five years since the project’s inception. Each set is recorded and released (www.livedownloads.com ) so fans can capture their unique EOTO dance throwdown, reliving the experience again and again.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
7 Days Until Wakarusa
Mumford & Sons
When: Saturday 6/4 @ 6:00pm - 7:30
Where: Mainstage
Since they formed in December 2007, the members of Mumford & Sons have shared a common purpose: to make music that matters, without taking themselves too seriously. Four young men from West London in their early twenties, they have fire in their bellies, romance in their hearts, and rapture in their masterful, melancholy voices. They are staunch friends - Marcus Mumford, Country Winston, Ben Lovett, and Ted Dwane - who bring their music to us with the passion and pride of an old-fashioned, much-cherished, family business. They create a gutsy, old-time sound that marries the magic of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young with the might of Kings Of Leon, and their incredible energy draws us in quickly to their circle of songs, to the warmth of their stories, and to their magical community of misty-eyed men.
The four friends were playing various instruments in various bands in London throughout the summer of 2007. They were united to perform impromptu renditions of Marcus’ earliest attempts at song-writing in front of crowds of friends in sweaty underground folk nights in the capital. They bonded over their love of country, bluegrass and folk, and decided to make music that sounded loud, proud and live - taking music that could often be pretty and delicate, and fill it with enthusiasm, courage and confidence. "It was a very exciting time, and though we loved it and were in awe of the music going on around us, we didn’t consider ourselves contenders in the pretty daunting London music scene. There was never any idea of competition, just pure enjoyment", says Marcus. They loved live music so much that they would practise their sets on pavements outside the venues, and also act as backing musicians for the peers with whom they played.
This sense of playing music for the love of it has continued as the main theme through the band’s short history. They booked their first rehearsals in the late autumn of 2007: "As soon as we sat down together, just the four of us, we knew we had become a band cos what came out was unique to us four as individuals," says Ben. Out of this session came their first band songs: Awake My Soul and White Blank Page, highlights on their debut album.
As soon as they had their first rough cluster of songs, they hit the road. Straightaway, they won the hearts of their audiences with their harmonies, the way they engaged with their instruments, their bandmates and their crowds - and chased the friendly live reception they got all over the country.
Word spread quickly. The band toured extensively throughout 2008; from a barge-tour of the Thames with eight other acts, through to an island-hopping tour of the Scottish highlands, and a triumphant set at Glastonbury in June, they sold out London's Luminaire in July, only half a year after they got together. Their first American tour followed in support of Laura Marling and Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit. A trilogy of beautiful 10" EPs all on Chess Club Records also followed, recorded simply at home. Their eponymous EP debuted the same month as their Luminaire show; Love Your Ground followed in December; while The Cave And The Open Sea arrived in May.
With each release, the music of Mumford & Sons got brighter, bolder and brawnier, with an increasing focus on their empassioned and intimate lyrics. "What we write about is real, and we sing and play our instruments more passionately cos we feel like we need to. We love honest music," says Winston.
Their success continued to build, too, with two glorious benchmarks being their place on the BBC Sound Of 2009 Poll shortlist, and their London ICA show selling out in 24 hours.
Then came the time to record their debut album - and then came the extraordinary producer who wanted to work with them. Markus Dravs recorded Arcade Fire's Neon Bible, Björk's Homogenic and The Maccabees’ Wall of Arms, and he saw similar crossover potential in the Sons. He took them to the legendary Eastcote Studios where Arctic Monkeys, Brian Eno, Tindersticks and Laura Marling have honed their music on its vintage equipment; made the band buy good instruments; set them a daily routine; and encouraged them to try and work even more instinctively, to strengthen their already-powerful musical personality. "He wanted us just to sound like us", explains Ben. "He talked about us working on our music's most jubilant and melancholic moments, and make them even more evocative. And over those four weeks, everything came together."
The album begins with the extraordinary title track, Sigh No More, a statement of intent that references the romantic language of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, as they sing: "Love it will not betray you, dismay or enslave you / It will set you free / Be more like the man you were made to be." Amongst darkly reflective tracks such as Thistle & Weeds and ballads like White Blank Page, Winter Winds and Roll Away Your Stone, by contrast, show the band's sprightlier side, the rollicking banjo of the former conjuring up stormy weather that "litters London with lonely hearts"; the latter a fabulous hoedown about a man unsuccessfully filling the hole in his soul.
As the album moves on, this fervour never dies. Little Lion Man - a track that Zane Lowe named the "Hottest Record In The World Today" on a recent Radio 1 show - is a rampage about regret and unresolved heartbreak: "Tremble, little lion man / You’ll never settle any of your scores / Your grace is wasted in your face / Your boldness stands alone among the wreck". And finally, after a wild lashing out in the murderous fable of Dust Bowl Dance, After The Storm arrives, the only track Mumford and Sons wrote in the studio, away from the live stage they knew so well. It stands an incredibly moving final track to an incredibly moving album - the story of a man scared of what's behind and what's before, and creates a considered conclusion to the band’s epic debut album.
Mumford & Sons’ live reputation goes before them, and now their incredible debut reveals the extent of their magic and majesty on record. Feel the fire in your belly and the romance in your heart as you listen, let your voice break into rapture - and you too sigh no more.
Mumford & Sons are: Marcus Mumford, Country Winston, Ben Lovett, and Ted Dwane.
When: Saturday 6/4 @ 6:00pm - 7:30
Where: Mainstage
Since they formed in December 2007, the members of Mumford & Sons have shared a common purpose: to make music that matters, without taking themselves too seriously. Four young men from West London in their early twenties, they have fire in their bellies, romance in their hearts, and rapture in their masterful, melancholy voices. They are staunch friends - Marcus Mumford, Country Winston, Ben Lovett, and Ted Dwane - who bring their music to us with the passion and pride of an old-fashioned, much-cherished, family business. They create a gutsy, old-time sound that marries the magic of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young with the might of Kings Of Leon, and their incredible energy draws us in quickly to their circle of songs, to the warmth of their stories, and to their magical community of misty-eyed men.
The four friends were playing various instruments in various bands in London throughout the summer of 2007. They were united to perform impromptu renditions of Marcus’ earliest attempts at song-writing in front of crowds of friends in sweaty underground folk nights in the capital. They bonded over their love of country, bluegrass and folk, and decided to make music that sounded loud, proud and live - taking music that could often be pretty and delicate, and fill it with enthusiasm, courage and confidence. "It was a very exciting time, and though we loved it and were in awe of the music going on around us, we didn’t consider ourselves contenders in the pretty daunting London music scene. There was never any idea of competition, just pure enjoyment", says Marcus. They loved live music so much that they would practise their sets on pavements outside the venues, and also act as backing musicians for the peers with whom they played.
This sense of playing music for the love of it has continued as the main theme through the band’s short history. They booked their first rehearsals in the late autumn of 2007: "As soon as we sat down together, just the four of us, we knew we had become a band cos what came out was unique to us four as individuals," says Ben. Out of this session came their first band songs: Awake My Soul and White Blank Page, highlights on their debut album.
As soon as they had their first rough cluster of songs, they hit the road. Straightaway, they won the hearts of their audiences with their harmonies, the way they engaged with their instruments, their bandmates and their crowds - and chased the friendly live reception they got all over the country.
Word spread quickly. The band toured extensively throughout 2008; from a barge-tour of the Thames with eight other acts, through to an island-hopping tour of the Scottish highlands, and a triumphant set at Glastonbury in June, they sold out London's Luminaire in July, only half a year after they got together. Their first American tour followed in support of Laura Marling and Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit. A trilogy of beautiful 10" EPs all on Chess Club Records also followed, recorded simply at home. Their eponymous EP debuted the same month as their Luminaire show; Love Your Ground followed in December; while The Cave And The Open Sea arrived in May.
With each release, the music of Mumford & Sons got brighter, bolder and brawnier, with an increasing focus on their empassioned and intimate lyrics. "What we write about is real, and we sing and play our instruments more passionately cos we feel like we need to. We love honest music," says Winston.
Their success continued to build, too, with two glorious benchmarks being their place on the BBC Sound Of 2009 Poll shortlist, and their London ICA show selling out in 24 hours.
Then came the time to record their debut album - and then came the extraordinary producer who wanted to work with them. Markus Dravs recorded Arcade Fire's Neon Bible, Björk's Homogenic and The Maccabees’ Wall of Arms, and he saw similar crossover potential in the Sons. He took them to the legendary Eastcote Studios where Arctic Monkeys, Brian Eno, Tindersticks and Laura Marling have honed their music on its vintage equipment; made the band buy good instruments; set them a daily routine; and encouraged them to try and work even more instinctively, to strengthen their already-powerful musical personality. "He wanted us just to sound like us", explains Ben. "He talked about us working on our music's most jubilant and melancholic moments, and make them even more evocative. And over those four weeks, everything came together."
The album begins with the extraordinary title track, Sigh No More, a statement of intent that references the romantic language of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, as they sing: "Love it will not betray you, dismay or enslave you / It will set you free / Be more like the man you were made to be." Amongst darkly reflective tracks such as Thistle & Weeds and ballads like White Blank Page, Winter Winds and Roll Away Your Stone, by contrast, show the band's sprightlier side, the rollicking banjo of the former conjuring up stormy weather that "litters London with lonely hearts"; the latter a fabulous hoedown about a man unsuccessfully filling the hole in his soul.
As the album moves on, this fervour never dies. Little Lion Man - a track that Zane Lowe named the "Hottest Record In The World Today" on a recent Radio 1 show - is a rampage about regret and unresolved heartbreak: "Tremble, little lion man / You’ll never settle any of your scores / Your grace is wasted in your face / Your boldness stands alone among the wreck". And finally, after a wild lashing out in the murderous fable of Dust Bowl Dance, After The Storm arrives, the only track Mumford and Sons wrote in the studio, away from the live stage they knew so well. It stands an incredibly moving final track to an incredibly moving album - the story of a man scared of what's behind and what's before, and creates a considered conclusion to the band’s epic debut album.
Mumford & Sons’ live reputation goes before them, and now their incredible debut reveals the extent of their magic and majesty on record. Feel the fire in your belly and the romance in your heart as you listen, let your voice break into rapture - and you too sigh no more.
Mumford & Sons are: Marcus Mumford, Country Winston, Ben Lovett, and Ted Dwane.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
8 Days Until Wakarusa
SKRILLEX
When: Saturday 6/4 @ 2:45am - 4:15
Where: Outpost Stage
"I've been deep into electronic music my entire life. The first records I ever owned were ‘Fat of Land' by the Prodigy and ‘Come To Daddy' by Aphex Twin," raves Sonny Moore, better known as emerging electronic visionary SKRILLEX. "Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails
were also early influences. I've been dabbling in making electronic tracks on programs like Fruity Loops
since I was 14 years old."
For fans of Moore's past incarnation as the lead singer of hardcore band From First To Last, the bass bin crushing dance floor beats of SKRILLEX might come off as something of a shock. But SKRILLEX is part of a new generation of artists that refuse to be restricted by preconceived notions or outside expectations. "Genre has never been important to me," he insists. "I've never thought about music that way."
Describing his current sound as "a mix of dubstep, electro and glitch all thrown together," new SKRILLEX release "SCARY MONSTERS AND NICE SPRITES" reflects all of the above and beyond. The uplifting post-trance synth melodies of "ALL I ASK OF YOU" (featuring the soaring vocals of Penny) stands in stark contrast to the face-melting electro bass blasts of the massive electro-dubstep hybrid "ROCK N' ROLL (WILL TAKE YOU TO THE MOUNTAIN)."
"I've listened to so much music for so long, it's more about instinct than influence," Moore explains about his sonic inspirations. "Coming up, I was into a lot of artists on the Warp record label like Autechre, Squarepusher, and Aphex Twin, so SKRILLEX tracks are inclined to have more changes than most dance tracks normally have. I can draw influences from almost anything. I just like to mess around and create cool new sounds and noises. I just go where the music takes me."
After just one hugely successful independent release, "SCARY MONSTERS AND NICE SPRITES" is the first SKRILLEX release on Big Beat Records, in conjunction with fellow electronic revolutionary Deadmau5's freshly minted Mau5trap record label.
"For years, the artists needed the record labels. I don't feel that way at all," Moore stresses. "SKRILLEX has been 100% independent until now. I think it's so important to be self-sufficient as artist. Working with Atlantic / Big Beat, and cooperating with Mau5trap, allows us all to work as a team and expand on what's already been built."
Following its release on Beatport, the 9-song EP dominated the charts on the site, with the title track claiming the site's #1 slot (the first time a dubstep track has ever done so), 8 songs breaking into the top 10, and multiple tracks claiming the #1 slots on several of the site's subgenre charts, including Dubstep, Electro House, Progressive House.
Aside from the immediate success of "SCARY MONSTERS AND NICE SPRITES
," SKRILLEX has also made a name for himself as a highly sought-after remixer. He's already produced officially commissioned remixes for such A-list artists as the Black Eyed Peas ("Rock That Body"), Lady Gaga ("Bad Romance" and "Alejandro"), and La Roux ("In For The Kill")
.
SKRILLEX stands not only at the vanguard of electronic dance music, but the perpetually evolving new music industry as a whole.
"For me, it's important to believe in and love the music you're making. I gave away my first EP on my manager's website, just so people could hear the music," he enthuses. "It was downloaded by the thousands in just a couple of months, and it hasn't let up since. That's all the inspiration I need to keep making music.
"SKRILLEX
can be anything I want it to be," he continues hopefully. "There are so many different avenues for music now. Video games, movie scores - the possibilities are endless, and I'm excited to be a part of it."
When: Saturday 6/4 @ 2:45am - 4:15
Where: Outpost Stage
"I've been deep into electronic music my entire life. The first records I ever owned were ‘Fat of Land' by the Prodigy and ‘Come To Daddy' by Aphex Twin," raves Sonny Moore, better known as emerging electronic visionary SKRILLEX. "Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails
were also early influences. I've been dabbling in making electronic tracks on programs like Fruity Loops since I was 14 years old."For fans of Moore's past incarnation as the lead singer of hardcore band From First To Last, the bass bin crushing dance floor beats of SKRILLEX might come off as something of a shock. But SKRILLEX is part of a new generation of artists that refuse to be restricted by preconceived notions or outside expectations. "Genre has never been important to me," he insists. "I've never thought about music that way."
Describing his current sound as "a mix of dubstep, electro and glitch all thrown together," new SKRILLEX release "SCARY MONSTERS AND NICE SPRITES" reflects all of the above and beyond. The uplifting post-trance synth melodies of "ALL I ASK OF YOU" (featuring the soaring vocals of Penny) stands in stark contrast to the face-melting electro bass blasts of the massive electro-dubstep hybrid "ROCK N' ROLL (WILL TAKE YOU TO THE MOUNTAIN)."
"I've listened to so much music for so long, it's more about instinct than influence," Moore explains about his sonic inspirations. "Coming up, I was into a lot of artists on the Warp record label like Autechre, Squarepusher, and Aphex Twin, so SKRILLEX tracks are inclined to have more changes than most dance tracks normally have. I can draw influences from almost anything. I just like to mess around and create cool new sounds and noises. I just go where the music takes me."
After just one hugely successful independent release, "SCARY MONSTERS AND NICE SPRITES" is the first SKRILLEX release on Big Beat Records, in conjunction with fellow electronic revolutionary Deadmau5's freshly minted Mau5trap record label.
"For years, the artists needed the record labels. I don't feel that way at all," Moore stresses. "SKRILLEX has been 100% independent until now. I think it's so important to be self-sufficient as artist. Working with Atlantic / Big Beat, and cooperating with Mau5trap, allows us all to work as a team and expand on what's already been built."
Following its release on Beatport, the 9-song EP dominated the charts on the site, with the title track claiming the site's #1 slot (the first time a dubstep track has ever done so), 8 songs breaking into the top 10, and multiple tracks claiming the #1 slots on several of the site's subgenre charts, including Dubstep, Electro House, Progressive House.
Aside from the immediate success of "SCARY MONSTERS AND NICE SPRITES
," SKRILLEX has also made a name for himself as a highly sought-after remixer. He's already produced officially commissioned remixes for such A-list artists as the Black Eyed Peas ("Rock That Body"), Lady Gaga ("Bad Romance" and "Alejandro"), and La Roux ("In For The Kill").SKRILLEX stands not only at the vanguard of electronic dance music, but the perpetually evolving new music industry as a whole.
"For me, it's important to believe in and love the music you're making. I gave away my first EP on my manager's website, just so people could hear the music," he enthuses. "It was downloaded by the thousands in just a couple of months, and it hasn't let up since. That's all the inspiration I need to keep making music.
"SKRILLEX
can be anything I want it to be," he continues hopefully. "There are so many different avenues for music now. Video games, movie scores - the possibilities are endless, and I'm excited to be a part of it."
Monday, May 23, 2011
9 Days Until Wakarusa
Michael Franti & Spearhead
When: Thursday 6/2 @ 8:15pm - 9:45
Where: Mainstage
The Sound Of Sunshine -- the inspired and inspiring new album by Michael Franti & Spearhead -- is a kind of musical sun shower, a bright, beautiful and often buoyant song cycle created to bring all kinds of listeners a sense of hope during rough and rainy times for so many in our world.
“Music is sunshine,” says Michael Franti, one of the most positive and conscious artists in music today. “Like sunshine, music is a powerful force that can instantly and almost chemically change your entire mood. Music gives us new energy and a stronger sense of purpose.”
“Music is something you can’t hold in your hands, smell it, taste it or even see it, yet somehow just coming together and feeling these little vibrations that tickle our eardrums can somehow lift us all up out of our most difficult moments in life to unimaginable heights.”
Ironically, often joyous and uplifting The Sound Of Sunshine actually came out of a darker and tougher personal experience for Franti. “Last August, my appendix ruptured suddenly in the middle of a tour and I ended up in the hospital for eight days while they figured out what was wrong with me,” recalls Franti. “I almost died and I wrote many of these songs coming out of that experience while I was in the hospital for another week or so after that. During that time, I really took a moment to prioritize what’s truly important in my life -- and in the end, that’s really about the people who I love. Even in that hospital, I could laugh with the people I love, cry with them, and start to find the sun again.”
Well aware that countless others face far worse problems than he did, Franti wants The Sound Of Sunshine to communicate a sense of hope and possibility for anybody who needs it. Franti’s singularly open spirit reflects his own eclectic and intriguing background. Michael was born to an Irish-German-French mother and an African American and American Indian father in Oakland, then adopted by a Finnish American couple who raised him along with their three biological children and another African American son. While studying at the University of San Francisco, Franti formed the punk band The Beatnigs, and later the far more hip hop-inflected The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. Through it all, Franti has crossed all sorts of musical and physical boundaries in order to make music for everybody.
In the mid-Nineties, Franti first formed Spearhead, and increasingly in recent years, he’s found his own voice musically and his own organic brand of popular success. Franti and Spearhead’s last album, 2008’s All Rebel Rockers -- recorded in Jamaica with legendary producers and players Sly & Robbie – became the biggest hit of Franti’s career, hitting the Top 40 on the Billboard 200, and yielded his biggest hit, the Top 20 “Say Hey (I Love You).”
“I had a nice, long time to get ready for that first hit, and so I really appreciated it when it happened,” says Franti. “So when we were just mastering the new album, I was saying to my manager, “Boy, wouldn’t it be fun to have a sophomore hit?” He was like, “Sophomore hit? You’ve already been through grad school, man” So yes, I’ve paid some dues, and that’s made getting this far -- and still being here -- mean even more to me. The funny thing is that `Say Hey’ went into the Top Twenty right as I was being wheeled into surgery. I got the text, and I thought, `Wow, I’ve finally got a hit record, and I’m not even going to live to enjoy it.’ That put everything in perspective too.”
Michael Franti is not a man to openly chase success – in fact; he’s not a man who even wears shoes(for the last ten years). Still, Franti has absolutely no problem hearing his music on the radio now. “When I was a kid, I used to listen to AM radio on family vacations in the car, and at family barbeques and my dad would leave the radio on.
So songs that were the silly pop hits became a really meaningful part of my childhood - and of my adult life now. So when I think of the fact that there’s some family out there on the beach in the summer together listening to `Say Hey,’ it makes me feel really good. The truth is a good pop song that makes you feel good can be something of value and meaning to people.”
Arguably the most cohesive, romantic and life-affirming album that Franti and Spearhead have ever made, The Sound Of Sunshine reflects the fact that, as Franti puts it, “With time, you get a better sense who you are and how to put together all your musical passions into your own sound. I feel like for a long time, I dabbled in other sounds. Like `Let’s do something with a reggae vibe here.’ Or `Let’s really rock here.’ But now, I write everything from the acoustic guitar up -- which keeps you honest. Then Jay Bowman, my songwriting partner and I, take a lot of time figuring out what’s the best way to present this song and make every word of it come across and ring true.”
Even the recording process for The Sound Of Sunshine reflects Franti’s desire to communicate directly with his audience. “We started in Jamaica actually recording a bunch of tracks with Sly and Robbie who are, of course, great, and we used some of those tracks. Then we got home and started mixing the record. Then I went to Bali and wrote some more songs, but we still didn’t have it finished. So we said let’s bring a portable studio on the road with us. We’d literally recorded the drums in the locker room of the Toronto Raptors or in the shower of some NHL team. Then we’d go right onstage and play the song and see how other people would react to it. We’d see what worked and go back and record it again the next day. So these songs have really been road tested in front of live bodies.”
For Franti, “To play for people and share your songs with them is to make a real connection. That’s why we play outside our shows for those who can’t afford to come inside. They need the songs too – maybe more. That’s the reality. And as a musician I was on tour with put it recently, “Our fans didn’t come to us from a reality show. They came to us from reality.” And so, we mean something in their lives. We’re the music they put on when they drive their little kids to school, or hang out with the person they love at night. There’s no higher honor. So they have an investment in the music. And that means so much because this music is very personal to me too.”
When: Thursday 6/2 @ 8:15pm - 9:45
Where: Mainstage
The Sound Of Sunshine -- the inspired and inspiring new album by Michael Franti & Spearhead -- is a kind of musical sun shower, a bright, beautiful and often buoyant song cycle created to bring all kinds of listeners a sense of hope during rough and rainy times for so many in our world.
“Music is sunshine,” says Michael Franti, one of the most positive and conscious artists in music today. “Like sunshine, music is a powerful force that can instantly and almost chemically change your entire mood. Music gives us new energy and a stronger sense of purpose.”
“Music is something you can’t hold in your hands, smell it, taste it or even see it, yet somehow just coming together and feeling these little vibrations that tickle our eardrums can somehow lift us all up out of our most difficult moments in life to unimaginable heights.”
Ironically, often joyous and uplifting The Sound Of Sunshine actually came out of a darker and tougher personal experience for Franti. “Last August, my appendix ruptured suddenly in the middle of a tour and I ended up in the hospital for eight days while they figured out what was wrong with me,” recalls Franti. “I almost died and I wrote many of these songs coming out of that experience while I was in the hospital for another week or so after that. During that time, I really took a moment to prioritize what’s truly important in my life -- and in the end, that’s really about the people who I love. Even in that hospital, I could laugh with the people I love, cry with them, and start to find the sun again.”
Well aware that countless others face far worse problems than he did, Franti wants The Sound Of Sunshine to communicate a sense of hope and possibility for anybody who needs it. Franti’s singularly open spirit reflects his own eclectic and intriguing background. Michael was born to an Irish-German-French mother and an African American and American Indian father in Oakland, then adopted by a Finnish American couple who raised him along with their three biological children and another African American son. While studying at the University of San Francisco, Franti formed the punk band The Beatnigs, and later the far more hip hop-inflected The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. Through it all, Franti has crossed all sorts of musical and physical boundaries in order to make music for everybody.
In the mid-Nineties, Franti first formed Spearhead, and increasingly in recent years, he’s found his own voice musically and his own organic brand of popular success. Franti and Spearhead’s last album, 2008’s All Rebel Rockers -- recorded in Jamaica with legendary producers and players Sly & Robbie – became the biggest hit of Franti’s career, hitting the Top 40 on the Billboard 200, and yielded his biggest hit, the Top 20 “Say Hey (I Love You).”
“I had a nice, long time to get ready for that first hit, and so I really appreciated it when it happened,” says Franti. “So when we were just mastering the new album, I was saying to my manager, “Boy, wouldn’t it be fun to have a sophomore hit?” He was like, “Sophomore hit? You’ve already been through grad school, man” So yes, I’ve paid some dues, and that’s made getting this far -- and still being here -- mean even more to me. The funny thing is that `Say Hey’ went into the Top Twenty right as I was being wheeled into surgery. I got the text, and I thought, `Wow, I’ve finally got a hit record, and I’m not even going to live to enjoy it.’ That put everything in perspective too.”
Michael Franti is not a man to openly chase success – in fact; he’s not a man who even wears shoes(for the last ten years). Still, Franti has absolutely no problem hearing his music on the radio now. “When I was a kid, I used to listen to AM radio on family vacations in the car, and at family barbeques and my dad would leave the radio on.
So songs that were the silly pop hits became a really meaningful part of my childhood - and of my adult life now. So when I think of the fact that there’s some family out there on the beach in the summer together listening to `Say Hey,’ it makes me feel really good. The truth is a good pop song that makes you feel good can be something of value and meaning to people.”
Arguably the most cohesive, romantic and life-affirming album that Franti and Spearhead have ever made, The Sound Of Sunshine reflects the fact that, as Franti puts it, “With time, you get a better sense who you are and how to put together all your musical passions into your own sound. I feel like for a long time, I dabbled in other sounds. Like `Let’s do something with a reggae vibe here.’ Or `Let’s really rock here.’ But now, I write everything from the acoustic guitar up -- which keeps you honest. Then Jay Bowman, my songwriting partner and I, take a lot of time figuring out what’s the best way to present this song and make every word of it come across and ring true.”
Even the recording process for The Sound Of Sunshine reflects Franti’s desire to communicate directly with his audience. “We started in Jamaica actually recording a bunch of tracks with Sly and Robbie who are, of course, great, and we used some of those tracks. Then we got home and started mixing the record. Then I went to Bali and wrote some more songs, but we still didn’t have it finished. So we said let’s bring a portable studio on the road with us. We’d literally recorded the drums in the locker room of the Toronto Raptors or in the shower of some NHL team. Then we’d go right onstage and play the song and see how other people would react to it. We’d see what worked and go back and record it again the next day. So these songs have really been road tested in front of live bodies.”
For Franti, “To play for people and share your songs with them is to make a real connection. That’s why we play outside our shows for those who can’t afford to come inside. They need the songs too – maybe more. That’s the reality. And as a musician I was on tour with put it recently, “Our fans didn’t come to us from a reality show. They came to us from reality.” And so, we mean something in their lives. We’re the music they put on when they drive their little kids to school, or hang out with the person they love at night. There’s no higher honor. So they have an investment in the music. And that means so much because this music is very personal to me too.”
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