Hi Tom!
Hey, sorry I'm late! I got a new modular rack setup, and I was deep in re-patching my clocks and resets.
Did that system just get dropped off?
No, I’m moving the studio. I had all these little cases, and I just ordered this big case. It showed up, and we spent five hours putting it all in. I'm excited. I can actually use it today, so that's good!
You were working out of your house before this, right?
Yeah, I was. The last few years I've been in here – I rent this house here as a studio. I've got young kids and my son would come in – we had everything running from a power strip. I'd be working and suddenly the whole thing was powered down. This is when he was about three, and he'd switch it off. Really pleased with himself! I'd say, "What did you do?" And then I’d get the slow cry, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." [laughter]
Yeah. At the studio a couple of years ago, a little grandchild came in and flicked off one of our power conditioners!
Yeah. Now I run everything off a battery setup. The landlord here sucks, so I’m moving the studio. I have a spot that I'm building out a studio in. It's needed a lot of work, and it’s been two years of permitting and getting everything sorted. A lot more than I bargained for! But that's going to be ready in about six or seven months. So, I'm preparing. I got my board set up to test out here, ahead of moving in there.
You've been busy lately.
Yeah, it's been fun. It's been funny, because I started as an artist and then a songwriter. I was coming up with rough productions and then I'd be at the mercy of whether or not people could finish them for me. Then I thought, "I need to get good at finishing." The last six years has been working on that and becoming more of a producer. I've been busy, but it still feels relatively new being on more of the production side.
I know you did a solo album, Once, with Trevor Horn [Tape Op #89] in 2009. I've interviewed Trevor before. He's fantastic.
Yeah. He'd signed my publishing deal, and then I made a record. I had a bit of a punk kind of ethos. "I'm going to do this punk acoustic album." The record I made with Trevor is quite different to what I was doing live, which was more like Gogol Bordello – that punky gypsy vibe. Initially, I said, "I want to make my own record. I don't need big producers." I got an engineer friend of mine, we made a record, and I said, "I want to cut it to tape." When it came time to mix, it was all really hissy. I took it to Trevor, and I asked, “Why is everything hissy?” He said, “Because you've recorded it like you would to Pro Tools. Now you've boosted all the levels up and you're bringing all the hiss up.” He said, “You're going to have to redo this. This isn't going to work." Trevor then said, “I'll tell you what; I'll do your record." We made the record and, I think truth be told, the momentum had probably gone. Art is all about momentum, and the momentum started to dip. I didn't make the record that necessarily represented what I was doing. It didn't work out, but it was a blessing in disguise.
How so?
When I worked with Trevor, I was seeing someone do something where it's so natural to them. I thought, “Oh, that's how you do it." I saw his attitude, and something switched on. I realized, "Oh, I could be good at that." To be an artist, you have to be so solo and singularly focused. The problem with me is that I just love making music. If you said to me, "We're going to make a metal album today," I'll say, "Fuck, yeah. Let's go." People with that kind of brain are much more suited to this side of the glass than the other way around. I know it's like that with David [Byrne, Tape Op #79], just a singular vision. The guy is laser focused.
I've talked to David Byrne about making demos at home. He's just writing and writing.
He does a drum loop and a guitar. I said, "This keyboard sounds crazy!" And he said, “Oh, I used a MIDI guitar." He has one of those cheap Casio guitar synths [DG-20]. That's how he does his keys! Awesome! But there's a subtlety in his drum loops. He'd pull in a drum loop and when we'd go to do it, people would interpret the loop. But I'd be, "No, no. You're missing it. There's a slight variation here." There are a couple of songs on that record where they'd missed ghost hits. David's demo would be just that drum loop, and he'd be so locked into it. His natural understanding of rhythm is unreal. He's not a dancer in the way that Michael Jackson was, but I feel those musicians who want to dance and move on stage are in tune with the rhythms. That was amazing, watching him do his thing.
His rhythm guitar playing in the Talking Heads was always so core to what they were doing.
Yeah, exactly. So straight, not really as funky as you think. In a way that it becomes funky again, which is so crazy.
Like how Kraftwerk grooves.
Yeah, exactly.
Part of your journey is looking for sounds. Songwriting is so different than it was 50 years ago.
