Performer Magazine: October 2014

THE MUSICIAN’S RESOURCE

OCT. ‘14FREE

INTERVIEWSPETER JOSEPH BURTTTHE GREEN SEEDJILL BARBER

K.FLAYh

ON BREAKING OUT OF YOUR MUSICAL COMFORT ZONE TO SPARK CREATIVITY

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Rights Reserved. iOne, iTwo and Nimbit are trademarks or registered trademarks of PreSonus Audio Electronics, Inc. Capture and Studio One are trademarks or registered trademarks of PreSonus Software Ltd. All other marks are property of their respective holders. Except any smudges you get on this magazine. Those marks are solely your property.

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K&K is committed to helping musicians succeed by providing quality insurance and services designed to protect entertainers. K&K’s expertise is respected throughout the industry; we are your solution for affordable liability coverage. It’s easy to work with K&K—visit our website for more information.

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PUBLICITY AND TOUR SUPPORT(print press and viral)

Dresden Dolls Bad Plus

Girls Guns & Glory

String Cheese Incident

Esperanza Spalding

Medeski Martin & Wood

Steve Winwood

Gov't Mule 311

Janis Ian Jim's Big Ego

Stanley Clarke

Umphrey's McGee

Gretchen Parlato Miss Tess

Mike Stern Soulive

Maceo Parker

RADIO PROMOTION(terrestrial, satellite, internet)

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PERFORMER MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2014 3

VOL.24, ISSUE 8

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Cover photo by WILSON LEE

The Green Seedby Lauren Moquin

Alabama’s hip-hop collective chats about writing a record on country roads and interstates, as well as switching up people’s preconceived notions about the genre’s standard instrumentation.

14

Peter Joseph Burttby Tanya Fuller

The Lake Tahoe native recounts how his time spent in Africa and learning to play the traditional kora helped shape his world view and the way he approaches making music.

20

4. Letter From the Editor

5. Scene Spotlight: Philadelphia

6. Quick Picks: TheBestinNewMusic

11. Vinyl of the Month:EurekaCalifornia

12. Live Review:BruningMan2014

24. CDBabyLaunchesFreeServices

25. SESACAcquiresRumblefish

26. Studio Diary: JillBarber

28. My Favorite Axe:BramBessof

29. Recording: MicrophonePrimerpt.2

30. Gear Reviews: BlueMicrophones;

MackieCR3Monitors,D&AStarfish

GuitarStands

32. Flashback: 1966EpiphoneWilshire

16K.Flayby Jaclyn Wing

cover story

The indie hip-hop songstress opens up about life on the road, crossing gender and genre boundaries on the Warped Tour, and her personal recording process for her latest LP.

• Digital 24-bit/48 kHz wireless operation for ultimate sound quality & dependable performance • 2.4 GHz range – completely free from TV interference • 3 levels of diversity assurance: frequency, time, & space• Automatic frequency selection for seamless, interference-free operation

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Introducing rock-solid high-� delity digital wireless for performing musicians. Operating in

the 2.4 GHz range far from TV interference, Audio-Technica’s new System 10 offers advanced

24-bit operation, three levels of diversity assurance and amazingly clear sound. Wherever your

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4 OCTOBER 2014PERFORMER MAGAZINE

ABOUT USPerformer Magazine, a nationally distributed musician’s trade publication, focuses on in-dependent musicians, those unsigned and on small labels, and their success in a DIY environment. We’re dedicated to promoting lesser-known talent and being the first to in-troduce you to artists you should know about.

MUSIC SUBMISSIONSWe listen to everything that comes into the office. We prefer physical CDs, cassettes and vinyl over downloads. If you do not have a physical copy, send download links to [email protected] attachments, please. Send CDs to:

Performer Magazine Attn: ReviewsPO BOX 348Somerville, MA 02143

CORRECTIONSDid we make a heinous blunder, factual er-ror or just spell your name wrong? Contact [email protected] and let us know, cuz we’re big enough to say, “Baby, I was wrong.”

EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONSIn the words of our esteemed forefathers at CREEM: “NOBODY WHO WRITES FOR THIS RAG’S GOT ANYTHING YOU AIN’T GOT, at least in the way of credentials. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t be sending us your stuff: reviews, features, photos, recording tips, DIY advice or whatever else you have in mind that might be interesting to our readers: independent and DIY musicians. Who else do ya know who’ll publish you? We really will...ask any of our dozens of satisfied customers. Just bop it along to us to [email protected] and see what comes back your way. If you have eyes to be in print, this just might be the place. Whaddya got to lose? Whaddya got?”

PO BOX 348Somerville, MA 02143

CONTACTPhone: 617-627-9200

Fax: 617-627-9930

PUBLISHERWilliam House

Phone: [email protected]

EDITORBenjamin Ricci

[email protected]

DESIGN AND ART DIRECTIONCristian Iancu

EDITORIAL ASSISTANTBob Dobalina

[email protected]

CONTRIBUTING WRITERSBenjamin Hanson, Benjamin Ricci, Brent Godin,

Chris Devine, Chris M Junior, Christopher Petro, Don Miggs, Heidi Schmitt, Jaclyn Wing,

Julia DeStefano, Lauren Moquin, Matt Ingersoll, Michael St. James, Rosalyn Lee, Shawn M Haney,

Tanya Fuller, Taylor Haag, Taylor Northern, Teshanna Wilson, Vincent Scarpa, Warren

McQuiston, Zac Cataldo

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERSAntonina Lerch, Cary Norton, Chris M Junior,

Gabriel Burgos, Matt Adams, Rosalyn Lee, Wilson Lee

ADVERTISING SALESKathleen Mackay

[email protected]

Deborah Rice [email protected]

© 2014 by Performer Publications, Inc.All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any method whatsoever without

the written permission of the publisher. The magazine accepts no responsibility for unsolicited recordings, manuscripts, artwork or photographs

and will not return such materials unless requested and accompanied by a SASE.

Annual Subscription Rate is $30 in the U.S.; $45 outside the U.S.

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performermag.com /performermagazine @performermag

Hope you all enjoyed last month’s special Builders & Hackers issue. These special issues come directly from you – the readers – so please continue to send in your great ideas and topic suggestions. You might just see a special issue in the future that you helped inspire.

This month we’ve got a great collection of articles and features, including a cover story on the always-amazeballs K.Flay, who transcends genres and gender stereotypes at every turn in her career. We couldn’t be prouder to have her

grace the cover this time around. We’ve also got stories on kora-inspired folk music, Alabama hip-hop, choosing the right mics for your next studio project, new free services from CD Baby as well as a trip to the recording studio with Jill Barber.

Dig in!

Howdy, y’all!

- Benjamin Ricci, editor

PS – On a personal note, last month marked my 50th issue as editor of this fine publication. Let me tell you something; 50 issues is a lot of damn issues for any editor, regardless of the type of publication. Y’all know I love comics, and it’s exceedingly rare to see editors or writer/artist teams last 50 issues of a given title. I love what we’ve been able to do in these last 50 issues as a team: providing the best, most honest and most practical information for working musicians today. Here’s to another 50! After which point I’ll likely drop dead of exhaustion…

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philadelphiaAmerican history and music history run deep in Philadelphia: Daryl Hall and John Oates, Boyz II Men, Pink

and The Roots are among the many stars with ties to the city. (Philly also spawned American Bandstand and Philadelphia International Records.) But what’s happening today in the City of Brotherly Love? Three indie

acts talk about what’s good, what’s changed and what’s special there.

Photos and text by CHRIS M. JUNIOR

“There’s less punk and more folk, and we’ve been on the outskirts of both the whole time,” says John the Conqueror guitarist Pierre Moore, whose gritty blues-rock band formed in Philadelphia about three years ago. JTC recently toured the Midwest sup-porting The Good Life, which was recorded at Philly’s Retro City Studios; future plans include a hometown gig at MilkBoy in November.

“Honest, eclectic and DIY” is how Lawsuits bassist Brendan Cunningham describes the scene in Philadelphia, his genre-blending band’s home since relocating from New Hope, PA, around 2008-09. “You don’t get a lot of artists in Philly trying to be any-thing other than themselves, which I think is a good reflection of the city,” he adds. Tumbled, the latest from The Lawsuits, dropped in September.

Singer-pianist Avi Wisnia draws from jazz, folk and Brazilian music. “Because these styles have been well represented in Philadelphia, I’ve been able to find an audi-ence for what I do,” he says. A longtime Philly-area resident, Wisnia appreciates the regular jam sessions and open-mic nights held at various city venues. Look for his next album in 2015.

CONQUEROR LAWSUITS WISNIAJohn the The Avi


6 OCTOBER 2014 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

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Here you’ll find the best new music our writers have been digging this past month. For full reviews and to stream tracks and videos from the artists featured on these pages, please head to performermag.com. Enjoy!

BASS DRUM OF DEATHRip ThisOxford, MS(Innovative Leisure Records)

Bass Drum of Death is a band from Mississippi that cranks out raw sounding garage rock. The group was formed by John Barrett, who at first he recorded all the songs by himself and toured with a drummer. Now he’s got a second guitarist on board as well and drummer Len Clark as an official band member. This album is considerably more energetic than their last two, with faster tempos and more driv-ing drum parts. Thanks to new producer Jacob Portrait, the album has a cleaner sound, making it more powerful without getting too messy. Songs “Electric” and “Lose My Mind” are straight-to-the-point rock numbers. “Better Days,” featuring acoustic guitar, takes the band’s sound in a whole new direction, while still retaining that gritty feel you’ve come to expect from BDOD. cidedly song-oriented and instantly accessible.Follow on Twitter @Bassdrumofdeath Benjamin Hanson

ELIJAH OCEANBring It All InBrooklyn, NY(New Wheel)

This is the most beautiful, aching record we’ve heard all year. Gorgeous vocals cascade over simply arranged acoustic guitars and tender harmonies. Fans of Gram Parsons and Graham Nash will be singing the praises of Bring It All In for years to come. Starting off strong with “Ride It Out,” the record is a brilliant mix of folk/country and acoustic balladry with elegant mixes and articulate production val-ues. Simply put: the album is full of amazing songs that sound amazing. Guitars sparkle, vocals shine and everything just flows effortlessly out of the speakers. A fantastic effort all around, from the musicianship to the production team, we cannot recommend this highly enough. Follow on Twitter @elijahocean Benjamin Ricci

MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACKGod Help The GirlGlasgow, U.K(Milan Records)

Delving into Belle & Sebastian’s occasional the-atrical urge, the soundtrack by B&S leader Stuart Murdoch lays out a vast adventure. Fans have the opportunity to hear tracks from the band’s original 2009 album, God Help The Girl, jump from front-man Stuart Murdoch’s head to the voices of the characters he intended the songs to illuminate. While older songs push to fill a bigger space with a fleshed out storyline behind them, there are three new tracks and endearing dialogue snippets to pull it all together....Although Murdoch’s songwriting is taken to a slightly different medium, the tenderness of Belle & Sebastian still finds its way as the driv-ing factor. The new versions of the already beloved tracks “Act Of The Apostle” and “Dress Up In You” center the soundtrack to its roots and connect lis-teners to something new with a bit of nostalgia. Follow on Twitter @nee_massey Lauren Moquin

HORSE FEATHERSSo It Is With UsPortland, OR(Kill Rock Stars)

So It Is With Us still captures lead singer Justin Ringle’s sweet crooning and soulful lyrics, but the latest offering from the Portland band is significantly more upbeat than their previous four albums. This is partly due to the addition of Justin Powers on bass and vocals to form a rhythm section with long-time band member Dustin Dybvig on percussion, drums and keys. Thankfully, the swooping strings and man-dolin of Nathan Crockett are also still present...There are still dark and brooding songs, like “Why Do I Try,” and the album’s closing track “What We Become” is a sad tale of the duality of life. But the record kicks to life with the leadoff number “Violently Wild” and keeps the tempo up through “Thousand” and “Old Media.” Horse Feathers is in no danger of being mis-taken for a dance band anytime soon, and probably hits its sweetest spot in slower, introspective tunes, but the new sound is a welcome change from the despondency of the past. Follow on Twitter @krshorsenews Heidi Schmitt

LOOSE BUTTONSDamage Gallery EPNew York, NY(Moon Crawl Records)

Together since 2006, when the members were bud-ding 14-year-old musicians, NYC's four-piece Loose Buttons has gained its catchy alternative rock footing. Their sophomore release, a sweltering four-song EP, blazes with flickering electronic accents, quasi-surf guitar noodling and a nebulous wash of fuzz....“Two Wolves” sweats the sexy, echoing yesteryear like an ’80s time capsule. The song drips with a grooving gui-tar and youthfully plodding vocals; it bares its neon hooks and playful rhythm serving to distance the band from the beleaguered stereotype of a dark and end-lessly brooding NYC band (Interpol, The Strokes, etc)...Damage Gallery moves hastily. Each song is a strident turn from its predecessor, yet maintains colorful electronic nuances, driving electric guitar mazework and danceable rhythms. Although the lyrical phras-ing could use some polish and matured development, Loose Buttons bursts with novel, inspired ideas. Follow online @loosebuttonsband.tumblr.com Christopher Petro

LORI MCKENNANumbered DoorsStoughton, MA(Hoodie Songs)

Numbered Doors is an achievement on multiple lev-els, not the least of which is that this record finds McKenna branching out—with great success—to self-described “story songs.” Using the motel room as an entry point into mining the lives and stories of others, McKenna has captured, in just ten songs, a sliver of what it is to be alive. Listening to tracks like “Stranger in His Kiss” and “The Time I’ve Wasted,” it isn’t difficult for one to imagine the lives these songs might have come from, or for one to imagine oneself into them, for that matter.Numbered Doors is also one of McKenna’s best-sounding records to date. The production is smart and unassuming, never taking precedence over the lyrics for which McKenna is most adored. And the team of co-writers at work here—including artists like Liz Rose, Hillary Lindsey, and Brandy Clark—only serve to elevate this record to an ever-greater altitude of splendor. Follow on Twitter @LoriMcKennaMA_ Vincent Scarpa


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MARC FORDHoly GhostLos Angeles, CA(Naim Edge)

Back when he was still in The Black Crowes, Marc Ford and bandmate Rich Robinson were a modern, louder, wilder Taylor and Richards. It was perfect. So naturally, Ford had to quit, because God treats the Black Crowes the same way he does Cleveland.Before all this, between stints with the Crowes, Ford recorded a cover of “I, Me, Mine,” a Beatles song written by George Harrison, whose later, less opulent solo work is the mold from which this album is cast. Like Harrison, Ford is a guitar legend who’s not going to let rip all the time. On Holy Ghost he’s keeping things comfortable at mid-tempo with lots of acoustic guitar, organ and back-up singers to thicken things up (again, like Harrison’s mid-’70s albums). The lyrics make it clear that Ford went through some rough times and is doing better. (Ford is also following Hari’s style of writing songs that can either be about “you” or “You.” Holy Ghost isn’t just a clever name for Ford). This is music made by someone who’s discovered relief.Follow on Twitter @MarcFordMusic Warren McQuiston

MIKE FARRISShine For All The PeopleNashville, TN(Compass Records)

Shine For All The People might sound a bit familiar to those that grew up around a church in the South. It doesn’t take long to realize that some of the lyrics you’re rocking to are a variation of familiar hymns and for a split second, you almost feel bad that you’re enjoying it so much. The music varies in style and sound but the constant across the LP’s ten songs is the soul in Farris’ voice and the power it has to stir emotion. It’s evident in songs like “Mercy Now,” where even a plea for mercy sounds full of hope. From the horns blaring on the opening track, “River Jordan,” to “This Little Light” at the end, Shine For All The People gives the listener a glimpse into the words and sounds that have been shaping music as a whole for generations.

Follow on Twitter @MikeFarrisMusic Teshanna Wilson

WAMPIREBazaarPortland, OR(Polyvinyl Records)

Coming off their 2013 debut, Curiosity ̧Portland’s hazy dance band Wampire maintains its darkened musings with their haunting sophomore release, Bazaar. Although jutting less fuzz than before, the group pushes clearer vocal production and the outer edges of trippy and furtive bedlam songwrit-ing within the verse-chorus framework. Opening with “The Amazing Heart Attack,” frantic mania-cal laughter taunts the listener, then pace-setting chapel bells, electric guitars and a runaway rhythm thrust forward. Charismatic front man Rocky Tinder sings within a blurred, but defiantly catchy wash (think Crystal Castles)...Wampire’s bailiwick is their hook-filled complexity; not only do they rig-orously dabble with electronic synths, horns, keys and percussion, but each song prods at a different atmosphere altogether. Yet Bazaar’s lasting appeal lies in its satisfying, peculiar listenability.

Follow on Twitter @wampiremusic Christopher Petro

VARIOUS ARTISTSPeru Bravo: Funk, Soul & Psych from Peru’s Radical Decade(Tiger’s Milk Records/Strut Records)

This 13–song collection of unearthed electric ruckus stems from a transitional period of Peruvian culture, with the rousing tracks having been recorded between 1968 -1974 by a spread of her-alded groups and unsung outfits, capturing wild cross-cultural musicality.Coming in at 1,000 kilometers per hour, the compi-lation rocks with Black Sugar’s vivacious “Checan,” a rhythmic sprint adorned in wah-wah, congas and hulking back-up vocals…The compilation features a standout cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Hey Joe” by Jeriko. With mystifying Spanish vocals and jump-ing bean percussion, the track expands on themes from the original while adding a red-hot raciness to the classic rock standard. Providing a glimpse into the universality of music, Peru Bravo showcases psychedelic-funk music with a genuine Latin flavor that is uniquely engag-ing and transformative.Follow on Twitter @StrutRecords Taylor Haag

THOUSAND FOOT KRUTCH Oxygen: InhaleToronto, ON(TFK Music/The Fuel Music)

By bending genres and styles, the new TFK record highlights the group’s unique sound. The album is raw; over-production is limited, leaving just the instruments and vocals. Vocalist Trevor McNevan sings with passion, letting the lyrics reach their full potential as an anthem, an open letter to every-one, noting our similarities. “In My Room” and “Oxygen” release a warm energy through orchestral elements, fervent vocals, and distinct drumming to craft a balanced sound. “Born This Way” begins with a gut-wrenching gui-tar riff à la Alex Lifeson or Joe Perry; it’s an anthem for everyone who creates, not follows...

Follow on Twitter @OfficialTFK Jaclyn Wing

MARK LANEGANNo Bells on SundayLos Angeles, CA(Flooded Soil/Vagrant Records)

“I’m sorry / I’m sorry / I’m sorry,” the hushed tones of Mark Lanegan’s solemn chants echo through the atmosphere – once more enveloping listeners in his emotive landscape of sound and lyricism. The song is “Dry Iced.” The EP is the precursor to Phantom Radio, his forthcoming ninth full-length. “Now the vanishing’s begun,” he sings amid the minimal instrumentation of “No Bells on Sunday,” only then to deliver the record’s most profound line: “The blown glass setting sun weeps electric light” - further painting a picture of melancholy and subsequent self-inflicted madness likening the narrator to Edgar Allan Poe…Ambient soundscapes abound within the closer, “Smokestack Magic,” which draws on the hypnotic territory of Blues Funeral (2012). If No Bells on Sunday is, indeed, a collection of outtakes, one can only imagine the magic Phantom Radio will bring.Follow on Twitter @marklanegan Julia R. DeStefano


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review by MATT INGERSOLL

Follow on Twitter: @valerygore

Toronto, ON(Self-released)

Valery GORE

Idols in the Dark Heart

Valery Gore is a Canadian goddess of indie pop, and Idols in the Dark Heart just may be her most ambitious record yet. The classically trained singer/songwriter plays around with electronically-charged melodies and distorted synthesizers to create this ear-melting sound, sure to blow you away. And if that isn’t enough, Gore’s vocals and songwriting really shine on Idols, giving first listeners a very mature impression of an amazing musician who has already gone so far for just three LPs. Lyrically, the album takes on a rather dark tone, capturing raw human emotions in such a poetic manner. Gore observes in “Hummingbird in Reverse” that “we’re as loyal as fire…we stick around just long enough to burn things down.” I don’t recall ever hearing such an illustration of burning bridges and mending and breaking relationships as this one. The haunting, almost ritualistic beat of the song throughout is also worthy of noting.Gore does not fail to impress with Idols by any means. She will leave you wanting more and you’ll want to keep coming back to her for beautiful descriptions and depictions of your feelings that you just can’t come up with yourself.


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review by SHAWN M. HANEY

Follow on Twitter: @KoolStuffKatie

Portland, OR (Self-released)

Kool Stuff KATIE

Self-titled

Indie rock, fuzz punk, a mixture of new wave and garage delight… Frontman/guitarist/singer Shane Blem and drummer Saren Oliver put together this delightfully charged self-titled release with a fervent sense of independence and new wave fashion. Kool Stuff Katie is a remarkably hip duet from Portland, Oregon who continues the tradition of garage punk and pop rock, redelivering the powers of past grand acts such as the Ramones, The White Stripes, The Strokes and OK Go. With pizzazz, style and grand kinetic energy, this duet brings out the best that Portland’s indie scene offers, including the compelling and free-spirited single, the opener “Hard Girl to Know” and the fasci-nating, melodic fuzz guitars and enticing synths of “Show Me.” This ten-song album explores a great deal of sonic and lyrical territory, excellent for passing time ref lecting on a road trip, or a grand party with friends. “Simple” buzzes with adventurous guitars and dashing, dynamic harmony vocals. “What Do You Say” is charming, haunting in its creative and dazzling virtuosity.


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San Francisco, CA / (Drag City)

Ty SEGALL

Manipulator Follow on Twitter: @tysegall

review by TAYLOR NORTHERN / photo by DENEE PETRACEK

A constant workaholic, Segall has released an album annually since 2008, however his last three Drag City releases (Goodbye Bread, Twins and Sleeper) made him a household name amongst the capricious and toffee-nosed Pitchfork elite. After a careful sit-down with Manipulator, it’s made clear how an artist like T. Rex influenced Ty Segall. One can listen to the melancholy strings and slow build-up of the “The Singer” and hear pieces that echo the album Slider. The vocal melo-dies and processing on “Don’t You Wanna Know” and “Susie Thumb” scream T. Rex and for all we know (Marc Bolan and David Bowie’s producer) Tony Visconti himself could’ve been twiddling the knobs behind the mixing board for these two tunes. Segall largely manages to contrast lighter and darker shades by altering his instrumentation. Like the Brian Jonestown Massacre, he effectively uses softly strummed acoustic guitars and soul-ful backup vocals to counteract the massive walls of fuzz guitar steamrolling through many of his tracks. Several songs may feature loud electric guitar, but others such as “Mister Main” and “The Connection Man” brilliantly utilize tambourines, acoustic guitars and vintage sc-fi synthesizers to add diversity and space to otherwise sparse arrangements. These clever arrangements and well-proven studio techniques add polish and glitter to the mix, making sure that sonically Manipulator will not fail to disappoint. In general, the new record is an excellent garage/psychedelic rock album for the Spotify and Pandora generation, and it’s probably Segall’s best release to date. It’s a brilliant effort and signals the start of a new era and level of maturity for the Bay Area artist.


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Recorded by Jake Ward in the Oglethorpe Caverns

Artwork by KT Austin, Stacey Piotrowski, Andy Hart & Mike Turner

Size: 12-inch

Speed: 33 1/3 rpm

Color: Black Vinyl

Athens, GA (HHBTM Records)

Eureka CaliforniaCrunch

Follow on Twitter: @tysegall

Follow on Twitter: @eurekacalifone

review by BENJAMIN RICCI /

photo by STACEY MARIE PIOTROWSKI

“Frenetic blast of fuzzy ’80s college rock with bombastic melodies”

Athens’ HHBTM Records has been knocking it out of the park lately. Like labelmates Muuy Biien, Eureka California is loud, buzzy, kinda

punky and a little beyond definition. Like their (probable) ’80s garage/college rock idols, EC

blends jangly, fuzzed-out guitars with bombas-tic melodies and a touch of humor. A frenetic

energy that causes tracks to spit forth every two minutes with a kinetic palpability keeps both A

and B-sides moving at a whiplash pace.Standouts include the über-catchy “There’s No Looking Back” and “Twin Cities,” which makes sense seeing as how fans of Twin Cities staples

like The Replacements, Soul Asylum and Hüsker Dü will likely fall in love with this record upon

first listen.Crunch is a badass record for badass people

from a badass lab el with badass taste in music. Thumbs up.


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The Opulent Temple Stage at Burning Man Black Rock Desert, Nevada / August 25-September 1, 2014

Fire, desert, nudity, hypnotic music, a sense of community and of course, bitchin’ drugs...

Setting foot on the sacred desert land, called The Playa, it’s commonplace to receive handshakes, hugs, blessings, and kisses

from strangers who become instant family. Walls built by egos crumble and you are immediately accepted, just as you are, into a community of love. Greeted with the words “Welcome home” are seasoned burners and newcomers alike. Being open, free and accepting of all is what makes this place the paradise it is for the timeless week that *Black Rock City* thrives.

From a tribe of eclectic souls of all sorts a community arises. There is a felt-by-all permission given to really let go, to seep out the inner colors of the rainbow and to share and spread yours around. People need to let their freak flag fly and this is the ultimate place to do it. It can be like a psychedelic

words and photography by ROSALYN LEE


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Follow on Twitter: @burningman

fashion show ...but people truly wear whatever they want or nothing at all. Anything goes!

This event overflows with every type of art imaginable. There’s fire dancing, and spiritual healing of all sorts. This healing happens not only through scheduled classes, courses and events but they also arise spontaneously when the moment is right and two or more souls connect. The vast, open, desolate space becomes home to great sculptures, made of myriad materials as well as beautifully, magically constructed art cars straight out of a child’s imagination. Strobe lights of every design and color illuminate the landscape and dancers. Music pulses through everyone’s rhythmically beating hearts.

There was so much to see and so much to do, I spent much of my time indulging at the Opulent Temple. The OT stage returned for its 11th year and is built and driven by volunteers based out of San Francisco. Syd Gris, the legendary musical innovator is the mastermind behind this divine madness. He and his team deliver an entertaining, unique, raw experience like no other. It stands in stark contrast against the background of millionaire-funded sound camps. The stage was lit by 3D video mapping screens and firelight, while the DJs artfully controlled flamethrower effects. The main attraction was the DJ Pod that looked like a gigantic sci-fi teardrop of light floating above the surface of the ground. The speakers exploded with sound as the bass reached through the ground and compelled the crowd to dance.

The Opulent Temple featured many amazing acts that attracted a mass of gatherers who danced around the stage, surging with energy of joy and freedom. Some of my favorite acts were Skrillex, Diplo, Syd Gris, Carl Cox, Rob Garza of Thievery Corporation, Billy Casazza, Infected Mushroom, Billy Seal, DJ Dan, and Ken Gordon of Crystal Method. Every night the set list was packed with at least twelve phenomenal world acts. The music and spirit of Burning Man’s Opulent Temple revealed to me my true home.

When I first arrived at Burning Man the things I saw were questionable. But the feeling of freedom and my comprehensive awakening overcame any feelings of doubt or fear. Finding my true connection, healing, and seeing the reflection of myself in the art, dance, music, and friends is what made this home for me, and for everyone. Free of judgment we played, we danced, we lived and we loved under the fire and the stars. They all were right; it was nice to be home.


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How to Write a Record on the Interstate & Surprise With Hip-Hop Instrumentation

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R-Tist, an emcee with the Birmingham-based hip-hop group The Green Seed, has been a firm believer in taking the

time to harvest the best of a band’s abilities. Their recent release of Drapetomania marks the group’s first full LP and is a product of patience. Anxious to continue performing songs off of Drapetomania, including their CMJ perfor-mance this month, R-Tist took the time to speak with us about the production of the album and the collective’s Alabama roots.

How has the Alabama influenced you along the way?Oh, God! Well, there’s some people in Seattle at KEXP and one of our local DJs, Lee Shook, who are comparing the Birmingham music scene to a cultural renaissance. Birmingham hasn’t always been like this, but I heard an interview with Lee Bains III from The Glory Fires and he said something that I’ve been thinking. Until the venue The Bottle Tree Cafe solidified

itself as a great place for touring bands to come through here, it was really kind of a dead music scene. Rappers, emcees, rockers, and coun-try [acts] were all pretty split. Now what we’re seeing is everybody coming together, playing shows in the same field. It’s not uncommon to see a hip-hop group with a metal group and maybe a jam band. Ten or fifteen years ago, you didn’t see that. This is something we always strived to do. We’ve always hated playing shows with only hip-hop groups. The scene here is incredible now, especially because we can do this. There are people from Nashville who have moved back to Birmingham because there is a viable resource for musicians now.

Did you originally feature brass or did it work itself into your music over time?Oh no, it was something that we always wanted to do, but because the spotlight wasn’t really on us,

we wanted to hold it and save it until there was a right moment. This isn’t a knock on musicians or anything, but sometimes people see what you’re doing and if you don’t have a spotlight on you yet, they can take it and incorporate it before you have a chance to fine tune it and they can make it more popular before it’s your time. It’s definitely something we were holding onto right before this record [Drapetomania] came out. We’ve been working and planning on it, but we just wanted to make sure that we had that unique look of ‘We’ve got two DJs and two rappers and one of the rappers plays guitar and trumpet, while the other plays trombone. They have the beat machine, they’ve got keyboards, etc.’ We just wanted to spring it on people at the last minute where it would be more exciting.

How was the production of Drapetomania different than anything else?Before this record came out, we were always

The Green SeedThe Green SeedThe Green Seedby LAUREN MOQUIN / photo by CARY NORTON


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Follow Art on Twitter: @thegreenseed_

LISTEN NOW @ PERFORMERMAG.COM

THE GREEN SEEDDRAPETOMANIA

STANDOUT TRACK: “JUDE LAW”

using our stuff out pretty slim. I’m extremely cheap and I was always trying to keep us finan-cially in a place where we could operate and not have it feel like a burden. We’ve seen these groups go out and order all these CDs and spend all this money on t-shirts and they pay for all of this bullshit studio time. After that, it becomes a burden and I have always been very mindful of that and always want to do everything on the cheap. Our album before was a very lo-fi hip-hop record. All we wanted was to have an outlet for people to be able to hear our music.

It was time! We got to work with Jeffrey Cain [former guitarist of Remy Zero] and other peo-ple that actually know the business, who took us into Jeffrey’s studio to make sure everything was mixed. We knew that we had to put all of our eggs in one basket when it came to songwriting and the song structure, so organizationally and the recording process itself, was very different. Then, of course there was the waiting. If there is one thing that our band has learned is that sometimes your record is done and you just have to be patient, you have to wait for that moment, and now we feel like that perfect moment is here.

Didn’t you write most of the album on the road?We were at SXSW three years ago when we were writing the exoskeleton structural set up, figur-ing out how we where we wanted the bass to be

and how we wanted the cadence. Then, I have a job where I have to be out on the road in these remote locations and if I knew I had a 45-min-ute drive, I organized all of my thoughts and listened to the structure that we had already put together. I would come up with ways to con-nect the verse to the chorus or connect where we wanted to place a DJ, so the writing for this entire record was all written on the interstate systems and the county roads of Alabama.

When you perform songs from Drapetomania, who are you thinking about?I’m generally thinking about the audience; I want to connect with the audience in a way where they can look in my face and they can see the passion and the fervor in my delivery, so that maybe they can connect to exactly what I’m talking about. A lot of rappers like to get into interacting with their partner on stage and looking at girls or whatever, but I want to connect with each and every person. I try to get eye contact. At this point, it’s much easier because the crowds are much smaller, but I try to get to a place where I can look at each of them in their faces. Hopefully, if they’ve listened to the record, they already have some connection to the music, and they are just connecting to it more with the live experience. I can honestly say, I’m just thinking about who’s in front of me when I’m out there performing.

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by JACLYN WING

photography by WILSON LEE

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How a Female Hip-Hop Artist Crashed The Biggest Stage in Punk

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Life As A Dog is combination of infectious beats and meticulously crafted lyrical ele-ments, so it is no surprise that the career

of K.Flay (aka Kristine Flaherty) has taken off recently. Life As A Dog is the perfect blend of melodic rap and indie rock, layered with strong lyrics and melodies. The 29-year-old Stanford graduate, originally from Wilmette, Illinois, has released a handful of mix tapes and EPs leading up to the new full-length, but it wasn’t until the past month that she truly entered the mainstream radar. In our interview with Flaherty, she discussed Life As A Dog, her recording process and life on tour.

There has been a buzz surrounding K.Flay in the past few months. Members of the music industry, as well as fans, have been talking about how Flaherty began her music career in a college dorm room and funded her first album through PledgeMusic. When she began dabbling with music in college, she had no broader intention other than experimenting with making sounds, being a bit clever, and doing “this strange thing” we call being a musician. What started off as playing on campus and throughout the Bay Area became an emotional experience, and an integral part of who she was and who she wanted to be.

Flaherty began by putting out music online and ended up signing with a major label; she was with them for a couple of years and put out two mix tapes and three EPs but was never able to release a full-length album. When she left the label, she started from scratch in a really exciting way. When Flaherty first started making music and perform-ing the “ethos of the project was DIY, self-motivated, and believing that the person who’s going to care most about what you do and making sure it’s right, is yourself and your team.”

Flaherty’s recording process varies from song-to-song, but the most common thing that occurred on Life As A Dog was first working on a demo and constructing a basic structure, followed by cre-atively developing those ideas with her producer and co-producer, recording final vocals, and allow-ing time and opportunities for revisions.

“There are stages to the recording process, and a methodology behind it all. Specifically regarding the first song of the album, I produced it on my own, did a demo, re-tracked the guitar, and that’s the ver-sion we went with.” On a technical note, to record the album, Flaherty used a Pro Tools HD rig in stu-dio, an analog device when mixing, and an Mbox when recording on her own.

An infectious beat, catchy and relatable lyrics, strong musicianship plus great vocals and arrange-ments make an album great; Life As A Dog reflects all of these. The 11 tracks are all quite unique and leave you wanting more. The indie rock and melodic hip-hop feel comes through in the rhythmic verses, creating a strong balance that you can’t help but to

“The ethos of the project was DIY, self-motivated, and believing that the person who’s going to care most about what you do and making sure it’s right is [you].”

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Follow on Twitter: @kflay


K.FLAYLIFE AS A DOG

STANDOUT TRACK: “EVERYONE I KNOW”

rock and sway along to. While the lyrics deal with more serious content than K.Flay’s past work, it is most certainly something that most twenty-some-things can relate to.

When Life As A Dog was released, it landed itself at number 14 on Billboard’s Rap Albums Chart. Flaherty had wanted to record a full-length record for quite some time, and finally seeing her name up there was validation. As an independent artist, she has been able to “re-center without any preconcep-tion of what it should sound like and what it should be” and has been able to create something that she is genuinely proud of.

Vans Warped Tour 2014 featured big name, heavy-hitting artists, including K.Flay. Joining the tour was unexpected, but she was genuinely happy to be part of it. She brought a scaled back team with her - just her drummer Nick Suhr, her merch person and herself: “We are a powerful trio,” she remarks.

Flaherty noted that the tour placed an empha-sis on camaraderie, connecting with artists, and building relationships with other bands. “On a per-sonal level, one thing that’s been really cool is that the record came out in the middle of Warped Tour,

June 24th, so watching with each show as more people are singing along and knowing the lyrics, just because more people are having access to the record, has been cool,” says Flaherty.

While the tour is generally known for featuring punk and harder edged rock acts, Flaherty felt more than welcomed as a female hip-hop artist. “The tour is unique in the sense that every body waits in the same catering line, whether you are the singer in one band or you’re the merch person of another.” Flaherty emphasized that “it’s a very egalitarian thing and I think that it transcends across all the dif-ferent bands and artists, so from the get-go it’s been a very welcoming environment, which is cool because when you initially and automati-cally feel like a part of something, you perform better.” This year’s tour occurred over 44 days at various venues and grounds and was truly a grueling experience, but Flaherty assures us

“Touring, on the whole, is 90% really awesome, 10% stressful, and only momentarily distressing.”

that once you get into the swing of the routine, life on tour feels normal.

She offers these words of wisdom to other art-ists regarding life on tour: “You’ll find ways to stay connected to the normal world and how to main-tain connections to individuals who aren’t with you every day in this suspended reality. Most impor-tantly, make sure to surround yourself with a team of people that you are comfortable with and commu-nicate well with. Touring is like a family road trip; it’s key to have a good sense of humor.”

While on tour, life is an emotional roller coaster but performing is most certainly the high point of the day. “I wake up excited every day just to have to opportunity to play a show and play music for people and to connect with people because I can remember times in my life when I couldn’t get a show,” she says. “Touring, on the whole, is 90% really awesome, 10% stressful, and only momentarily distressing.”


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by TANYA FULLER

photography by ANTONINA LERCH

Finding Inspiration on the Road and Around the World

Peter Joseph

Burtt and The

King Tide


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Drawn to music since childhood, Burtt starting making his first recordings in the 1960s on reel-to-reel tape, sending

the recordings to relatives serving in Vietnam. “If you can talk you can sing, if you can walk you can dance,” says Burtt. This is one of the many bits of sage advice Burtt sprinkles into our conversa-tion. Simple and to the point, but deep when it soaks in. Burtt is all about simplifying to find the right vibration. Best advice given to him on writ-ing music? “My friend, English guitarist Martin Simpson once told me…just let the music come,” he says.

Burtt is full of interesting tidbits and stories from his past that all seem to have an underlying common theme: see what life hands you and figure out why it’s handing it to you.

“Like rungs on a ladder, meeting people you need to meet, it all helps inspire and take you

where you’re supposed to be,” says Burtt. The important thing is being open, figuring out how a situation applies to personal intentions and then going from there. “Looking to soak in ways to write, to create… for inspiration…that’s key for any musician,” says Burtt.

That being said, Burtt stresses the importance of finding a balance when soaking in inspira-tion, of “maintaining original thoughts.” When it comes to remembering songs, Burtt has a memory of an elephant - those songs will imprint after one time. This is a surprising fact considering he caught malaria, known to affect the body neuro-

logically, when living in Africa. “Different artists have different ways to find inspiration, everyone has their own method.” says Burtt, “I’m a double Gemini so for me, what works one day, doesn’t work another.”

Burtt studied creative writing at San

Francisco State in the ‘80s, and as fate would have it, his advisor was poet Stan Rice, husband of famed vampire novelist Anne Rice. This influence helped build the foundation that would lead Burtt to study abroad in search of cultures that link oral traditions to music and spoken word. Burtt has always been attracted to the notion of cultures influencing art, and in his case, words, music, and the roots of ancient things, especially within African culture. After seeing Toumani Diabate, considered the most influential living kora player, play a show in Berkeley, Burtt was inspired to travel to Africa in the ‘90s to learn the instrument and the culture surrounding it.

The kora is a type of harp made from a large calabash with 21 or 26 strings that sounds simi-lar to a flamenco or blues guitar. While spending extensive time in Ghana, The Gambia, and Zimbabwe, Burtt spent 12 hours a day studying while driving a taxi and working in a rice shop to make ends meet. He pursued different avenues of instruments and language, including the mbar, a thumb piano from Zimbabwe, as well learning the traditional language of West Africa, Mandinka, in order to fully immerse himself in the culture.

A turning point in his life as a musician and artist came in the shape of a nearly blind 70-year-old man who worked in a car upholstery shop. The man would walk miles in the African heat to visit with Burtt and sing. These visits became “sing-ing” lessons in the sense of observing singing in its purest form, without filters. He didn’t teach Burtt to sing but rather showed him a different way to

“Chemistry is the hardest thing to find in a band, but with these guys we’ve definitely got it.”


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sing. Simple but natural, he would start by hum-ming and as it gathered momentum, a song would explode out of him and take off. For Burtt, this insight into tapping into the soul changed the way he would sing for the rest of his life. Inspired by liv-ing in Africa, Burtt is attracted to the honesty that comes with living in such a place and recalls thriv-ing in the kind of environment that was “heavily influenced in ancient traditions in poetry of song, ceremonies.” He further observes that Africa functions on a totemic level where reactions are honest and there’s no glossing over of things.

Burtt finds it interesting to watch other bands to see what works for them and how they use the space between the audience and stage. “David Byrne is a master at casting a spell over the room,” he says. Every time Burtt goes on stage he sees it as a new opportunity. The dynamic is different every time depending on who’s in the audience, what the mood is like, and what type of ears are out there. On stage he tries to tap into an energy that cre-ates a balancing act or dance with his audience. “It’s a lot like those Japanese marionette shows [Bunraku], with the image of the puppets reacting to certain movements and sounds, very fluid and natural… and that’s most important to me, to be natural, communicate, respect the audience,” he says.

Burtt’s backing band call themselves The King Tide and consists of seasoned musicians who originally played together in the band Mama’s Cookin’ (with the addition of groovy jazz based bass player Miles Keitchler who joined The King Tide later in the process). Having met Burtt through the Tahoe Conservatory of Music a few years back, the band approached him and asked to be his backing band. “It was intimidating for

me, because they’re this well-known, established band with their own good thing going and here they were asking to be my backing band,” Burtt ponders. With mixed pedigrees among the group, it’s no wonder the King Tide is an ideal fit for Burtt, who’d previously been a professional tour-ing musician and done the solo thing for much of his life. “Chemistry is the hardest thing to find in a band, but with these guys we’ve definitely got it,” says Burtt. The making of their debut album Bone To Stone was funded collectively by the band through booking more gigs than usual in order to get the music recorded professionally. Produced by Eric Matlock (Jelly Bread) of Tahoe-based Matlock Studios, the record was tracked in two days, everything tracked live, but mixing took nearly a year.

Burtt usually has two songs going at any given time, writing them all on guitar, but never really sitting down and composing a song start to finish. “Every song has a great ghost in it, like a play,” says Burtt. “It’s getting to the space to create and let-ting it flow that’s the challenging part.”

Burtt has traveled and worked extensively with musicians like Corey Harris, an American blues and reggae musician and a MacArthur Fellows Program award recipient, blues soul musician Eric Lindell, and acoustic blues guitar-ist John Cephas. He’s made connections through playing on other people’s records, and because of the variety of instruments he plays, studio work has always been steady. But playing live, backed by a band that believes in the synergy is where he feels most at home. “When I’m on stage, it’s like surfing on a really good day when conditions come together,” Burtt says, “there’s nothing like it. Best two hours of my life, I’m lucky to experience it.”

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PETER JOSEPH BURTT AND THE KING TIDEBONE TO STONE

STANDOUT TRACK: “AIN’T NO LOVE”

Follow online: peterjosephburtt.com

“Every song has a great ghost in it, like a play. It’s getting to the space to create

and letting it flow

that’s the challenging

part.”


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CD Baby, the world’s largest distributor of independent music, has recently unveiled CD Baby Free. Artists will no longer need

to pay a one-time sign-up fee to join CD Baby. They’ll be able to enjoy complete digital sales from the CD Baby store, as well as use many of the tools that CD Baby offers, but without any commitment, for a fee of 15% of the sales price (comparable to other, similar services like Bandcamp). Distributed CD Baby artists are subject to a lower revenue share of 9% on digital sales.

“We’re officially opening the cdbaby.com retail site to every artist on the planet,” explains CD Baby Director of Marketing Kevin Breuner. “Artists who have previously used a different distributor and not been able to get their music on the cdbaby.com can now tap into the customer base CD Baby has to offer.”

With 1.5 million unique monthly customers, the CD Baby store has a very dedicated audience of diehard independent music fans. Established in 1998, CD Baby is home to more than 350,000 artists. Some, like Macklemore and Bon Iver, began their careers with the company, and their catalog titles remain there. Others, such as Willis Earl Beal and Greg Brown, have left the old label system to take charge of their own careers with the help of CD Baby.

And CD Baby is making a huge addition to the tools it offers to artists to market their work with the introduction of the new CD Baby Player. With a click-through to purchase, the widget allows musicians to combine streaming with e-commerce on their site or on any website, including those of their fans or bloggers. The player brings control and versatility, even on mobile devices.

“Our new player gives artists the incredible flexibility when featuring their music online,” comments Breuner. “It was built off the feedback we’ve been hearing from artists for years. Whether you’re an artist or a label, this player was designed with you in mind.” For artists distributed by CD Baby, physical album fulfillment from the player is handled by CD Baby, something not available with other players (where artists have to fulfill themselves, a challenge for many busy musicians).

All versions of the player are in HTML 5, and designed to function with all mobiles devices. Vitally, the CD Baby player offers artists the choice between streaming full tracks or just 30-second clips, minimizing the possibility of pirating that exists with other players that only play full tracks. This is a feature not available by other music players in the industry.

It’s a tool that’s designed to help the artist. They can embed a player on the fly and put multiple

albums in a single player. For customization, they can create specific playlists for each player, to target specific audiences. An unlimited amount of custom players can be saved, making it a perfect marketing tool for labels as well as individual musicians, and all sales that result from the player are reported to Soundscan.

Setup only takes a few clicks, and it’s simple for artists to drop tracks from different albums into a player. Fans will be able to grab the player and embed it in their own blogs, too, helping to spread the word far wider than ever before. With 10-point tracking, artists and labels will be able to see the amount of plays a track or album receives, how long people listen, where the players are embedded, and more. Data will allow them to see where sales were generated and how many originated with the player.

With CD Baby Free, every independent artist can now access the marketplace with no risk. And with tools like the CD Baby Player, they can keep everything under a single roof and in their control.

“We’re excited to give all artists access to the music fans at cdbaby.com and give them tools to help them sell more music,” notes Breuner, “tools that help them attract and engage with more fans.”

� For�more,�visit�cdbaby.com

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CD Baby Launches CD Baby Free New Features Include Improved Data Tracking & Direct-to-Fan Fulfillment


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I’ve long said, “Where there is video, there is music.” With CD and download sales all but obliterated, abysmal streaming rates, and

pressure on live ticket sales, video monetization will be the leading revenue source of any independent music rights holder in the next five years. The beauty of online video monetization is that you do not have to be on a major label, be a star, or have a ton of financing to score licensing deals. You just have to have great music, and a partner who can scale, exploit, and most importantly, track your music’s usage.

This is what Rumblefish does. And they do it well. They represent over 5 million copyrights in their catalog, and have tracked over 1.4 billion views per month on YouTube alone. I spent some time talking to Paul Anthony Troiano, President and CEO of Rumblefish, about the recent announcement of an acquisition by SESAC, the company’s future, and his views on the future of music licensing, in general.

Congrats on the deal. Will this acquisition change what Rumblefish does?Paul Anthony Troiano: No, we are still focused on being the world’s best micro-licensor of music. Really, it means more opportunities for us to scale faster. But ultimately, we are business as usual. We’re expanding the team, and investing a substantial amount into our tech platform, with some surprises coming later this year. All of this is oriented to provide more revenue to our music family.

I believe this is the first time a PRO (SESAC) has acquired another company. How did you decide this was the best move for Rumblefish?Paul: You’re right; it’s a first. Our view, really our mission, is to simplify music licensing by utilizing technology through our platform. SESAC is also interested in simplifying the licensing process. So, that was a big factor. They fully understand the complexity of the landscape.

What does this mean for, say, a BMI writer or ASCAP-published song in your catalog?Paul: We are PRO and society agnostic. We’re still running Rumblefish as a fully functioning, separate company. This investment just provides us more resources at a time where we

need to grow fast. The fact that this deal involved a PRO is more about them understanding how complicated music licensing is, and how important it is that we provide solutions to fix it quickly.

Everyone talks about YouTube (for good reason). Are they still the king monetized music in video?Paul: We create a lot of revenue, video is the main driver, and YouTube is the main engine. We did one of the first YouTube partner deals, and were the only non-major label to test products. So, YouTube is still a huge part of what we do. But, the larger picture is that the online video movement is going full steam ahead with thousands of new apps and sites all over the world. We’re all shooting video, making movies. Social video is absolutely pervasive, and it is growing. Rumblefish is creating the infrastructure to build alongside that from the music perspective. This is a massive opportunity. Music streaming completely took off because bandwidth became available

on mobile. That moment has just happened in video micro-licensing. The rocket ship of online video is just launching and we’re the fuel.

It seems as though identifying music use over billions of videos is still a very heavy lift. How is Rumblefish tackling that problem?Paul: That is exactly the right question. Most of the data tags and content ID mechanisms are at the “work” level. But, there needs to be a unique identifier for the “use” level. We are working at being the “Licensing Jukebox in the Sky.” Our vision is to simplify music rights the same way Spotify and Beats simplified streaming. We think there’s a way to log those rights usages uniquely, and then communicate those rights across

SESAC Acquires Rumblefish: Monetizing Your Band’s Video Spins Just Got Easier

“We are still focused on being the world’s best micro-licensor of music.” - Paul Anthony Troiano

platforms. We’re excited to share that news soon.

What advice do you have for independent artists working with Rumblefish on how to prepare their work for success? Paul: So, I often say having bad metadata is like putting your music in an unmarked box in a warehouse. Metadata and tags give us the ability to find needles in haystacks. We’re interested in

objective and subjective information. Of course, the style, ISCRC/ISWC codes, tempo, lyrics, etc. are important as ever, but in licensing we want more actionable information. How does your song feel? What situations could you see this song used in? Cinematically interpret every single one of your songs. This is the surest way to stand out. We have an FAQ on our site to assist you. Check us out at http://rumblefish.com and let us start licensing your music.

ABOUT THE AUTHORMichael St. James is the founder and creative director of St. James Media, specializing in music licensing, publishing, production and artist development.

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interview by BENJAMIN RICCI

photo courtesy of SHORE FIRE MEDIA

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On tracking contemporary pop to sound like vintage vinyl

JillBARBER

LISTEN NOW at jillbarber.com

and follow on Twitter @jillbarber

“Our goal was to find a sound that felt classic, and yet simultaneously new and original.”

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What was your pre-production like on this project?Jill: Our production approach was always to make decisions about how to best serve the song regardless of style or genre. If the song shines then the production shines. We also did a lot of pre-production workshopping sessions with the band before we entered the studio.

How did you choose the studio? Jill: I recorded my last album Chansons at Noble Street Studio in the heart of Parkdale, Toronto, so there is a comfort and confidence there. The facil-ities are excellent, comfortable and the staff are pros. Justin Bieber had been in to record a track the day before us. Not that that had in bearing on our decision. But I did request to use the same pop shield as him just for fun.

PRODUCTIONWhat kind of sound were you looking for and how did you achieve it? From producer Drew Jurecka: In terms of arrangement, our goal was to find a sound that felt classic, and yet simultaneously new and origi-nal. We struggled a lot with instrumentation, harmony and feel to make this come together.

As for recording, I always try to use a microphone choice and placement that sounds the most like I envision the instrument to sound in my mind as it relates to the song.

Sometimes that means close-mic’ing a violin with a vintage tube mic (such as the saturated strings in “Lucky in Love”) and sometimes it means using modern mics and more conven-tional mic techniques to accurately reproduce the sound without as much coloration.

Producer and mixing engineer Les Cooper: It was a fun challenge to find a way to make the mate-rial feel larger-than-life and enveloping and still retain a sense of natural space and dynam-ics. From a mixing perspective, I really leaned away from using compression or EQ. Those tools are, of course, used but are used extremely sparsely. The focus was on arrangement and position in space, whether that was through pan-ning, use of reverb/delay, or volume. I worked hard to keep the sounds as natural as possible. The Bricasti M7 Reverb was essential in creating this sound. It has an uncanny ability to simulate real spaces while staying out of the way. Aside from the Bricasti, most ambience is achieved through the use of room mics and short delays. The Moog 500 series delays played an important role in these mixes, too.

How does it compare to your last release in terms of style and the creative process?Jill: My last record was a French covers record, and I worked closely with a vocal coach to mas-ter my pronunciation. Whereas Fool’s Gold is an original record, so the goal was mainly to sell the emotion in each song, which for me is a challenge in studio. It helped to work with producers who are also bandmates. They know what I am capa-ble of live and tried to bring some of that energy into the studio environment.

Les: My hope is that every album that an artist does represents how he/she is seeing and hear-ing things at that point in time. We spent a lot of time having conversations about this well before the actual pre-production or recording process began. The most essential stage was the writing process, of course, but things really started to take shape when we had a real band in the room with everyone throwing ideas into the pool.

Did you use any special gear or recording techniques on this one?Drew: We had some fun playing with mic place-ment, some great vintage Neumanns, modern ribbon mics and other toys.

Les: A lot of room mics were featured on this recording. A lot of credit should go to the fantas-tic staff at Noble Street and to our engineer, L Stu Young

What was your philosophy on live, full-band takes versus individual tracking?Drew: Almost all of the bed tracks were recorded live at Noble. The rest of the parts (additional guitar, sidemen, strings, horns, vocals) were all tracked individually or in small groups as over-dubs. This was less of a philosophical and more of a logistical consideration, though there is something fun about having the freedom to play around with bed tracks and try various arrange-ment options before deciding on a direction. Tracking gives you that freedom, though at the danger of losing the excitement and vibe of a big session with all of the players in the same room.

What did you try to accomplish in the stu-dio that you’re not able to do live?Drew: Breadth of arrangement. When we per-form live, we’re limited to the smaller touring band. Studio albums are our chance to go nuts and fully flesh out the songs. Sometimes that means full strings, horns, vibes, and a partridge in a pear tree. Sometimes it’s just solo par-tridge. Either way, it’s nice to feel the freedom to make decisions on whatever scope we feel serves the material best.

Any funny stories from the session that you’ll be telling for a while? Jill: My infant son was six months old while I was recording this record so I was nursing him a lot throughout the recording process. Sometimes the whole band could hear the sloppy sucking noises of him suckling in the vocal booth through their head-phones and wonder where the noise was coming from. We needed a breastfeeding mute button.

POST PRODUCTIONHow did you handle final mixing and mastering? Les: Mixing was more about arrangement than gear. I kept the use of compression and EQ to a minimum where possible. Everything is mixed LCR (left, center, right) and through the use of room mics, the Bricasti M7 and analog delay with the Moog 500 series, I did my best to create a nat-ural sounding space that felt like everybody was in the same room.

KEY RECORDING GEAR· Klaus Heyne modified Neumann

U67 on vocals, through a Crane Song Falcon compressor and BAE

1073 pre. · Vintage Neumann KM54 micro-

phones on violins and guitar.· Bricasti M7 Reverb was essential to the sound and creating realistic

sounding spaces for mix.

Have a unique studio story to share? Email [email protected]

Artist: Jill BarberAlbum: Fool’s GoldRecording Studios: Noble Street Studio/Small Dog Sound, Toronto, ONRecord Label: Outside MusicRelease Date: August 26, 2014Produced by: Les Cooper and Drew JureckaEngineered by: L. Stu Young and Drew JureckaMastered by: Gavin Lurssen.

ALBUM INFO & CREDITS

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Got a favorite instrument you’d like to share? Email us at

[email protected]

Bram Bessoff (pictured on the left) started his career as drummer for long-time tour-ing and successful indie band Soup. Now off the road, he speaks at conferences nationwide and helps artists get the most out of their live show and #makeitcount

with live music production and sales reporting to Soundscan and Billboard.

MAKE & MODEL

2004 Custom Kit: Eames Drum Shells, Odery Drums Lugs, Pearl Hardware.

WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU

I promised my mother I would never get a tattoo so I inked my dream kit. The artist [Matt Poje, pictured on the right] burned in the lines and then stained the fills with custom colors. It embodies everything I love about music and family.

SPECS

14” x 6” snare; 16-ply snare give the brightness of a piccolo with the depth of a 6” snare drum; 22”x18” kick; 10” x 10” tom; 15” x 14” floor tom

Follow on Twitter: @bram_rocks

BESSOFFBram

LISTEN NOW @ www.indiehitmaker.com

photo by MATT ADAMS


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With so many models to choose from, what should you look for in picking your next microphone? We like to think of picking a microphone like picking a car. First jot down what features are you looking for - do you need 4-wheel drive? Do you need good gas mileage? Or in our case, what is this microphone for? Will it be dedicated to recording kick drums at live gigs? Will it be recording a guitar rig? Will it just be living in a studio environment or will it have to handle the abuses of live gigs and rehearsals? What’s your budget? Okay so here’s a jumping off point with some of our picks for mics that work well in the following cases.

DRUMSKick drums are a special kind of instru-

ment that put out incredible amounts of sound pressure waves and to make them sound good they require a specialized microphone. You will almost always want a dynamic mic because of this. Our recommendation after years of trying many different mics is that

you can’t really go wrong with the AKG D112. This weird-looking, egg-shaped microphone has never let us down and retails for about $250. There are others that work well too, like the Shure Beta 52 ($240) and Audix D6 ($300) and some opt for the large dedicated Yamaha SKRM-100 SubKick ($600) to help capture the really low end of the instrument.

The snare puts out a crack that requires a fast moving dynamic coil to capture its sonic qualities. The tried and true, which has recorded more snare drums than any other, is luckily very affordable and rugged – the Shure SM57 ($100). The nice thing about the SM57 is that it is also equally at home recording hi-hat, guitar rigs and even vocals. Some producers like the sound of a large capsule condenser mic placed a few feet above a snare drum to capture more of the “air” – for this purpose you could use an AKG C414 ($1,200) or the AKG C214 ($400) for a similar sound on a budget.

Toms offer a challenge, in that generally you would like to use a smaller mic that can attach easily to the drum without the need for many large mic stands getting in the way. The Audix D2 and D4 ($140) are small and can mount on a rim-mounted mic clip to save space. The venerable (and large) Sennheiser MD421 dynamic mic ($400) sounds great but can be a bit pricey and harder to maneuver on tight drum sets.

CYMBALS & DRUM ROOMWe have had good luck capturing drum

rooms and cymbals with a matching pair (ste-reo) of small diaphragm condenser mics like the stereo Rode NT-4 ($600) or a pair of AKG Perception 170’s ($100) each.

GUITARSThe SM57 is again the fallback to close

mic an electric guitar rig, but often we’ll use the Sennheiser e609 ($125). Acoustic gui-tars have many options depending on the style and sound of the guitar; our fallback ste-reo setup might be a pencil (small diaphragm condenser) mic near the neck like the Audio Technica AT4041 ($300) and a large dia-phragm condenser near the sound hole like the AKG-C3000 ($400).

STRINGSStrings have subtleties that are captured

well by large diaphragm condenser mics. On

a super tight budget but still want a large dia-phragm condenser mic? The MXL 990 ($125) comes with a shock mount and sounds sur-prisingly good for the price.

HORNSBrass and horns can put out quite a bit of

sound pressure when mic’ed up close, so in the studio we favor dynamics like the EV N/D468 ($225) for those situations. Horn play-ers also move around a lot so if you are talking live gigs you should seriously look into mics like the AMT LSW ($550) which clip right onto the instrument and feature an integrated shock mount. A great all around mid-size cap-sule condenser mic that works well for room mic’ing horns and many other instruments is the Blue Spark ($225).

VOCALSVocals have so many characteristics that

trying to recommend just one or two mics is bound to get us into trouble, but suffice it to say that a great place to start is a large diaphragm condenser mic like the Rode NT-1A ($300) or the Blue Baby Bottle ($400). Make sure to always use a pop filter and we also recommend an isolator (like the Auralex Mudguard) behind the mic to cut down on room noise.

CLOSING THOUGHTSA good mic cabinet has mics that cover all

the bases and it can take years to collect. So when you’re starting out, we recommend that you look for some versatile mics that can han-dle many situations well. Then start adding mics for specific purposes (like kick drums). Whenever possible, use shock mounts and pop-filters for singers. Read reviews and talk to peers to find those mics that offer the best bang for the buck.

ABOUT THE AUTHORSZac Cataldo is a musician and owner/pro-ducer at Night Train Studios, a recording studio in Westford, MA. He is also co-owner of Black Cloud Productions, a music publishing company. Reach him at [email protected].

Brent Godin is a bassist/guitarist and engineer/producer at Night Train Studios. He is also a talent scout at Black Cloud Productions. Reach him at [email protected].

LISTEN NOW @ www.indiehitmaker.com


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Small, easy to use, great sounds, plenty

of applications for media geeks and

musicians.

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Rock solid, won’t damage a nitro finish, easy to adjust, works with basses and odd

shapes.

None.

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BLUE MICROPHONESMikey Digital Microphone with Lightning Connector - $99

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The new Starfish+ guitar stand (named for its five legs) from D&A delivers exactly what it promises: a rock-solid stand for

your prized instrument, one that’s made to with-stand the kicks, bumps and knocks of your typical stage or rehearsal room, and one that continually protects your axe from accidental damage.

Rather than the cheapo metal stands you find on clearance at Guitar Center, cough up an extra few bucks for a Starfish. Seriously, you just dropped two grand on that new PRS and you’re gonna rest it on a $9.99 stand? For starters, the Starfish is able to be tilted at angles up to 30 degrees without tipping (saving you from any “whoopsies” your drummer might inflict) and it’s super easy to fold up and move around if you want to set one up at a gig.

Better yet, they lock your headstock in place, and they’re safe for all guitar finishes. So if you’ve got a nitro finished Gibson Les Paul, no need to worry like with those cheapos.

With the easy adjustment tabs, these stands can pretty much accommodate most guitars and basses, from your standard Strat and Tele styles guitars to the more pointy varieties (like my B.C. Rich Mockingbirds).

We can’t say enough great things about the Starfish stands from D&A. If you’re a klutz like me who still wants easy access to all his guitars, then you owe it to yourself to grab one for each of your axes. � Benjamin�Ricci

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Microphone Type: Condenser

Mono/Stereo: X/Y

Polar Pattern: X/Y stereo

Frequency Response: 35Hz-20kHz

Color: Black

Connector: Lightning

D&AStarfish Guitar Stands - $55-70

Apple’s por-table devices have set the

standard for being a multi-tool for musicians. Accessory companies have followed, and Blue

Microphones have joined in, bringing superior sound

quality to their latest mobile mic.

It connects with the new Lighting connector, and the options are

very simple with just three settings; Auto, Low Gain, and High Gain. There is a USB con-

nection on the side, allowing the iPhone to be charged while the mic is occupying the Lighting connection. A 1/8” input is on the top side as well, allowing direct recording, too. Included is a 1/8” to 1/4” adapter for plugging in most line-level instruments.

The stereo microphones mounted inside are a cardioid type, and can handle up to 130dB (that’s louder than most jet engines), so recording a death metal band’s rehearsal should be a piece of cake. The mic can swivel at 230 degrees, giving plenty of options for optimal positioning. Not only will it work for audio, but video recording as well, using a variety of iOS apps.

Sound wise, it’s excellent. There are three LEDs that light up green for a good clean signal, and turn to red when it’s too “hot” of a signal. Placement in the room, the sound sources, and the orientation of the mic will play a factor, but is well worth some experimenting to fine-tune the settings.

So what are the best applications of this? Well, any field recording (audio or video), interviews, podcasts, recording a band’s rehearsal sessions, just to name a few. For a band on the road, work-ing on new material, that used to mean bringing a 4-track (which was cumbersome), or a micro cassette recorder (and with it, very questionable sound quality). Now there’s a small easy way to record ideas, jams and that new riff or vocal idea. � Chris�Devine


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GREAT price, great sound, worth it!

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50 watts of clean, articulate stereo sound

3” polypropylene-coated woofer

.75” ferrofluid-cooled silk-dome tweeter

Ultra-wide frequency range (80Hz – 20kHz)

Convenient front panel volume knob with lit power ring

Front-facing headphone jack auto-defeats speaker output

Choice of inputs (1/4”, 1/8”, RCA)

All-wood cabinet

In the past, the gap between computer speakers and stu-dio monitors was a pretty big

one, but Mackie has closed the gap both in price and performance with their CR3 Monitors.

Size-wise, they’re fairly compact, and inside the wood cabinet sits a 3” woofer and

a .75” tweeter, in addition to a rear port that allows for enhanced bass

response. The back of the main controlling speaker has 1/4” inputs, as well as connec-tions to the secondary speaker. RCA jacks are also available. The main speaker (the one with the volume control) has a selec-tor switch, allowing the control to be on the left or right side, which depending on the setting (and whether you are right or left handed), is a nice ergonomic feature.

The front panel has the lighted on/off/vol-ume control, and a 1/8” headphone out, and a 1/8” input jack as well, allowing an external device to be plugged in, such as an MP3 player, tablet, or smartphone. All the cables are included, as are acoustic isolation pads to angle the speakers and keep unwanted vibrations to a minimum. Rated at 50 watts, the CR3s have plenty of clear headroom.

Sound-wise, they are simply fantastic. Plenty of bass, and excellent clarity in the top end. The ability to plug in an external device (to compare mixes) is sweet. Not everyone listens to music on a high end set of speakers (in most cases it’s ear buds or a set of computer speakers), so running a mix through these can show any deficiencies that a high end set of speakers might wash out. These are closer to consumer level speakers, with better construction and components, and comparing a mix through a second type of speaker (usually less “pro audio” type), is well worth the time.

For a high-end multimedia studio, find it in your budget to get a set. A small home studio will really benefit from a set of these as well, and they won’t break the bank. You don’t have to be a pro-fessional engineer to get a good sound, and these will work great for even home audio use, but they are so much more than that. At a $99 street price, they’re worth every penny.� Chris�Devine

MACKIECR3 3” Multimedia Monitors - $99 COMING SOON!

-Review of the Chapman Guitars ML-1 -PLUS interview with Rob Chapman

-Stay tuned...

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BACKGROUNDDesigned as a low-cost alternative to the higher-end model, the Crestwood, it was produced from 1959-1970.

WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKEBoasting two P90 pickups it is praised as “perfect for old-school rock” - it has an almost acoustic quality for resonance and sustain. It’s super light and easy to handle, but is better served for rhythm playing.

NOTABLE PLAYERSMy friend Wayne Kramer (shameless name dropping) of the MC5 played it, as well as Jimi Hendrix (would love to see a pic of that!) and Bruce Springsteen, who had this same color, a gift from his Mom.

INTERESTING FEATURESIn 1966 they stopped making this tailpiece an option. Mine has it and it hasn’t been modified so it seems it was completed before the switchover or I’ve been misinformed. Possible. The Inverness Green was a rare color and since less than 400 Wilshires were made in 1966 it is even more collectible.

ABOUT THE AUTHORDon Miggs is a singer/songwriter/producer and fronts the band miggs (Elm City/Capitol Records). His love affair with vintage instruments and gear only presents a problem when he’s awake. Find out more at miggsmusic.com, @miggsmusic, thelalaman-sion.com or on his radio show, @thefringeAM820 (Saturdays 5-7pm EST).

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1966 Epiphone Wilshire

Classic Solidbody Played Early by Jimi Hendrix and Bruce Springsteen

photo by GABRIEL BURGOS

Documents

Performer Magazine: October 2014