Songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Seth Kauffman has been crafting exotic music for over a decade. Whether he's recording albums under the moniker, Floating Action, sitting in on sessions with Dan Auerbach and Ray LaMontagne, or producing albums for other artists like Courtney Jaye, Seth brings a distinctly laid-back vibe to each project. I recently had the pleasure of chatting with him at his home in Black Mountain, NC.
How did you get started recording? The oldest thing I found was the Choosy Beggars self-titled album from 2003.
My friend, Bryan Cates, who was the singer/songwriter, did most of our recording. He did The Choosy Beggars to ADAT. Then our friend, Thad Cockrell, recommended Chris Stamey to mix it.
When did you start recording yourself?
After [The Choosy Beggars], I had a 4-track and was messing around. That's when I got into the idea of doing everything myself. When I got married and moved to Durham, [NC], I thought, "Man, if I could do more tracks, I could make real-sounding things!" For years after that, I used Cakewalk [Software]. It's really cheap, like $35 at Best Buy.
What's your setup now?
I've got [PreSonus] Studio One. Bill Reynolds [of Band of Horses] talked me into getting a better interface. I couldn't get multiple tracks at the same time with Cakewalk. I could only do left and right to get two simultaneous [tracks]. Now I can get more, but I don't really know how to use the program. [laughs] I hit record and that's pretty much it. I've still never used any onboard effects. I always use Echoplex delays, or spring reverb units, before it hits the computer.
What sounds are you chasing?
I grew up in Greensboro [NC]. In the early '90s, we were in high school figuring out music. That period was the worst for popular music. It seems like every period is the worst! [laughs] Every sound that was happening, especially in Greensboro, was not cool, and we hated that; but we didn't know how to articulate it. We liked Robert Johnson, '60s Motown, and the Rolling Stones. We [The Choosy Beggars] recorded this gospel album called Bring it Back Alive, trying to get that old sound. It was really a cool thing, but we just had our local recording guy, so it was super cheesy and sounds awful.
What's your approach to recording your songs?
I usually start with rhythms. Everything that's happening is simple. I'm not virtuosic at any instrument. I'm always trying to create some weird polyrhythm to help the song. Whatever creates some new groove.
Do you ever use a click?
I've never used an actual click that's from the computer. I'll use a ['60s Ace Tone Rhythm Ace] drum machine and record it for four and a half minutes. I then use it like a click to play the drums to, and mute it after that. There are some songs where it's even left in.
Do you already have songs written before recording?
Usually it is rhythm first. That's what I'm doing now. I recently got this tabla drum machine. I've been tracking it to a [4-track cassette recorder], then flipping the tape over and recording that to the computer — backwards. There's this weird rhythm that doesn't make sense forwards, but then backwards it does. Then I figure out some hip-hop drumbeat and see if I can make that work. There's no go-to; I try to do something different [every time].
Do you write song structures around the beats, working with the fills and fluctuations that are already there?
That's why it's fun to do it myself! I can get risky with it because the fill is not in the right place. There are happy accidents where I'm like "Whoa, I would've never put [the fill] there, but it sounds cool!"
You end up with an extra bar.
Right. In a lot of ways I let it write itself.
I like your arrangements. There's plenty going on, but each instrument has its own space.
That's part of doing it all myself. I'm real shy. In the studio people are butting heads. I'll have an idea, but can't defend it because I don't know where it's going to lead, and then it gets shot down. If it's just me, I can spend hours on it, even if it doesn't work. With each album, I've gotten logistically better at doing it all myself. Sometimes I sit down at the drum kit first and, in my head, do the whole arrangement, and try to get all the fills right. I enter this mental zone and get real intense. My face turns red — it gets crazy. It's a mad scientist world.
Is it easier to explore crazy ideas when you're not "wasting" anybody else's time?
Yeah, I'm totally free to pursue ideas. I can make everything complement each other; nothing's fighting each other.
On the new record [Body Questions, out in Aug 2014], you recorded all the instruments at home, and did the vocals with Bill [Reynolds]. What was that like?
I've worked with Bill quite a bit. He produces a lot of singers, and vocals are his forte. I hadn't sung the songs before, so they were fresh. He was super patient. It was in Ojai, California, north of L.A. Orange groves are a big thing and there are all these meditation gardens. It's a lot like Black Mountain, [NC]; a real small town. He had this little house there; we'd get up at 7 a.m., have coffee, start singing, mix, and then go to bed at 10 p.m.
What gear did he use?
He had a big bass amp and he would send vocals [through that], mic it, and send it back in as reverb. He had a 1/4-inch tape machine that he would set up for slapback tape delay, but we also used a lot of plug-ins too. They almost sound as good as the real thing. When we got the final mixes, we would put that on tape and it all got mastered from tape.
You also produce other artists' records. Was there a particular one that you enjoyed?
The Courtney Jaye album [The Exotic Sounds of Courtney Jaye] worked because I'd never produced anyone else at that point. She used to be on a major label, and it was a big deal at the time. I'd done my album, Research [2007], and she wanted that sound; a lot of Hawaiian percussion. It's a really good record. She sent me some acoustic demos and I picked out the ones I thought would be best. I was able to give it movement.
You play the roles of producer and artist simultaneously.
I don't really see it as two roles. I'm obsessed with trying to make things that don't exist yet. It's no good if it sounds like a generic rock song. At the same time, I'm creating it from the engineer's standpoint. I've got a vision that it'd be cool if it sounds like "this." So I'm aware of that the whole time.
"This" is an era, or a style?
Yeah. Drum sounds. Maybe it doesn't matter if they're clean, or they need to be super fucked-up. The answer is usually they need to be really fucked-up sounding! [laughs]
Do you mean cranking gain knobs, blowing them out?
I still don't know what I'm doing. On my older albums I knew even less. Sometimes I would crank the digital distortion. For years I took shit for that.
Have you ever tried consciously to be lo-fi?
I can't do that anymore. There's something about it, but there's something more to what Noah [Georgeson] does. I wouldn't really call it lo-fi; it's more like rolling off top- end, or using ribbon mics on tape. It's not lo-fi, but it's this organic warmth.
You've started on another record. What's it like, so far?
I can't repeat myself. I've gotta do something different, so I'm trying to delicately build some beats and sit with it for a while. I'm getting closer and closer. There's some migratory sense, where I can tell when it's time to do it. I didn't want to do it too soon and make it sound like the last album. I'm trying to gather all these things, get to a new spot, and then do it. It needs to be different, but it also needs to be good.
Do you feel like it's infinite, how much you can keep doing new things?
No, that's really scary to me! Everything has been done, but I still think mankind will never write the perfect song. The great songs of all time hit some percentage; some aspect of perfection.
Seth's Role on Ray LaMontagne's Supernova — with Dan Auerbach Producer Richard Swift was the drummer, even though he can play everything. Dan's got this guy, Leon [Michels], who plays keys, mainly, but also plays horns — part of the crew on the Dr. John record [Locked Down]. He got Dave Roe, who was Johnny Cash's bass player. Russ [Pahl] played pedal steel and Kenny Vaughan played guitar. I didn't know what Dan knew about me, or what he thought I was gonna do. I guess he wanted me to be a rover. Richard Swift and I did some doubled drums. I also did a lot of percussion, some guitar, a little bit of keys, and I ended up singing a lot of background vocals. Collin [Dupuis] is the secret weapon of Dan's. He's the quintessential transparent engineer guy; a mad scientist who runs around and gets all the sounds. He knows a lot about the old gear. Dan likes to do everything live with no click; just the idea of "in a room." There were seven dudes playing at once. It was half older Nashville legends and half younger indie dudes, or whatever [we're called]. We did first takes, knocking out one or two songs a day. We would get the arrangement barely down, do a couple of takes, and no overdubs. Ray played acoustic guitar and sang it all live. It's happening, it sounds so good, and that's what comes out on the record. It's unconventional and looser, with more bleed — tactics that are unacceptable to most people. Dan gets a team; people with the right vibe. He is a really good leader too; he keeps everybody together.
