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2 years of secretly-important

December 10, 2012 in columns

Today marks exactly two years since I started Secretly-Important.  Actually Secretly-Important started a few months later, the site originally began as a personal blog at blogspot called Secretly, I’m an Important Man.  When I grew tired of talking about myself all the time I shifted gears and began talking about things that I thought were secretly-important.  So technically the website began in June of 2011 but I consider the official start December 2010.

Last year I simply republished my very first article, I acknowledged how poorly written it was back then, and then this year I reread it and realized that it is basically unreadable.  So I will not be republishing it a second time.  If you really wish to visit the old blog you can do so here, please be kind.

Instead I want to take a moment to reflect on the amazing things that have happened since December 10th 2011.

2011 for me was a learning experience.  I knew nothing about how a website worked and assumed they appeared magically on the internet and were maintained by wizards who could speak its magical numerical language.  I know better now.  By the beginning of 2012 we had a new design (but we’re always working on making it better) and I even figured out how light coding worked.

By the end of 2011 I’d interviewed singer Caety Sagoian, artist Stacey Rozich, musician Karl Blau, and filmmaker Matt Vancil.  Every interview was recorded on a hand held Xoom digital recorder, and though it’s a great recorder, was sensitive as hell.  I’m serious you could almost hear your eyes blinking.  In 2012 I continued to interview amazing people… people far more amazing than I probably deserved: Molly Prather, Josh Kornbluth, Jessica Dobson from the band Deep Sea Diver, Lindsay Schief, Angelo Spencer, The The The Thunder, Lemolo, Shana Cleveland, and She Keeps Bees.  I had a set of actual microphones and a mixing board.  Not only that but my editing skills got better and I think that the listening experience you get now is better than ever.

I can’t even begin to thank everyone who’s appear on the podcast enough.  Often people want to know how I get in touch with these artists, well, I just email them.  That so many respond to me and agree to either come to me or let me into their homes to spend a couple hours talking about themselves, is baffling.  I am oh so grateful for every guest I get.

I attended two major festivals, both Sasquatch and Bumbershoot.  I took thousands of pictures at these events, and even did some interviews.  2012 was also the first year that I began to feel like what we were doing here was getting noticed.

Not only do I want to thank the artists who have appeared as guests on the podcast or written for the website, I also want to thank everyone who reads or listens to the website.  I sincerely hope you find it informative, fun, entertaining, and useful.  Please recommend us to your friends, and if you or your friends have a chance rate and review us in itunes.

So what is coming in 2013?

I am so excited for all the things that 2013 will be brining.  In November I interviewed LAKE which was a dream come true for me.  You can expect to see that interview pop up in December some time.  By January we’ll be publishing an interview with the PNW blues band Lonesome Shack.  Beyond that we’re working on some other really wonderful guests, including some who will be returning for their second go-round on the podcast.  I’m also working on expanding the podcasting experience by adding a few other segments… no specifics yet.

You can also expect some new columns this year written by past guests and others.  This will go hand in hand with the sleeker website program that will become more specific.

Then there’s the super secret project that I’m in the early stages of that I think has the potential to be really, really cool.  I can’t say what it is just yet (not till I start getting confirmations) but I think it has the potential to set us apart from what other similar websites are doing.  I’ve got meetings in early January and hopefully by February I can start to leak some of the details to you.

Again, it’s been a really wonderful two years, and I can’t wait for everything we have coming in the year ahead.  I’m so glad you’ve stuck with me this long and I hope that you’ll continue to make the poor decision to do so this year as well.

sincere thanks!
brian snider

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interview with shana cleveland

October 17, 2012 in interviews, shana cleveland

Perhaps you’re familiar with Andrew WK’s Cartoon Network show Destroy Build Destroy?  The concept is obvious, two teams Destroy a set of random objects like cars, musical instruments, or boats.  In turn they salvage parts from their destruction and Build them into another device, compete against other team and the winner Destroys the losers contraption.  This was immediately what came to mind when I thought of Shana Cleveland’s career, well, on a far more simple level.

It’s safe to say that this would not have been the image that first came to mind had Shana and her band mates in the infamous Curious Mystery not decided to call it quits just a few short weeks before our interview.  The Curious Mystery had become a centerpiece of K-Records and their Olympia Washington indie rock empire.  We Creeling, their 2011 follow up to the album Rotting Slowly was beautiful, intense, and nothing short of amazing.

The specific image that penetrated my brain was of Shana gently planting a tightly wound bundle of dynamite underneath the rusty hulk of a handful of musical styles.  She runs quickly unraveling the fuse before attaching it to a comically large plunger marked TNT.  She pushes down and watches as shrapnel of notes, trebel clef’s, and bars go flying.  When the dust settles she marches back into the blast zone with a wicker basket and precedes to gather the building blocks she’ll need for her next project.

Then off in a laboratory somewhere she sits at a work bench delicately reassembling the pieces into something new and beautiful.  When she tires of this construction she’ll start this whole process over again.

Generally I find that I really like about two thirds of any given musicians projects.  It seems there’s almost always one that just misses the mark for me, when it comes to Shana Cleveland the projects she’s been involved in, I love them all.  No matter what she stamps her seal of approval on, it always lives up to my expectations.

It began in her collaboration with Nick Gonzalez forming The Curious Mystery a psych-folk-indie-rock band that included everything and the kitchen sink.  While working with TCM, Shana joined with Olie Eshleman to record an album under the name Evening Plains.  It’s an album brimming with so much airy folky(ness) that you can almost literally see and feel golden grass blowing in the wind with a bleached cow skull nestled near the roots.

Another of Shana’s musical involvements is with The Sandcastles.  A “quiet time collection” of soulful folk music that is absolutely delectable.  In many ways that band might be the best pure expression of what Shana is capable of, a sultry voice that swirls and wafts like freshly blown cigarette smoke.  Smooth folky guitar that has so much texture to it you could literally pick it up with your hands.

Then you have Shana’s most recent project La Luz, an all girl surf rock band.  It’s that classic surf music constructed with classic rock and roll structures and wavy distortion pedals like water logged ears.  I’ve been a longtime fan of bands like the Ventures, and Dick Dale & the Del-Tones, La Luz cuts right into that genre with a switch blade and inserts the lovely twist of female voices, namely Shana’s.  Which also happens to be exhibited at its best.

I almost feel as if a big thanks is owed to Shana’s mother (a singer herself) who visited Seattle while Shana was wandering the strip malls of North Hollywood and the Valley.  It was an issue of the Stranger sent to her from her mother that sparked her interest and initiated a move to the PNW.  It’s possible she would have gone on to play music elsewhere, but we have her right here in our back yard.

I met Shana in her University District home in North Seattle, just a few blocks from where my wife and I lived years before.  The house is nestled in between a series of tall trees that wrap its branches around it like a great leafy hug.  Inside it was just as I’d imagined Shana’s home to be, earthy, organic, and textural.  All around was a mixture of her own beautiful artwork and a number of oil painted landscapes; a mountain towering over a placid glacial lake, or golden rolling hills.  Shana Cleveland’s music practically radiated straight out of the canvases.

After the interview was finished Shana and I spent a little time out on her porch (as I waited for my wife to pick me up) talking music, Los Angeles, and Anacortes.  I’m trying to prepare myself for the day I encounter some really nasty artist who hates me and my interview, but that hasn’t happened yet, as once again Shana was an absolute delight to meet and spend a couple of hours with.  As I said before, it’s rare to find a musician who’s various projects are as consistently incredible as Shana’s.

As an interviewer my goal is constantly to become more relaxed and conversational, every time I sit down with an artist I get a little closer and this might be my best attempt yet.  We covered so much more ground than what I had initially planned and the end result is some fascinating audio.  What follows is just a microscopic fraction of my conversation with Shana and I highly encourage you to download the full audio podcast, which you can hear for free here or in itunes.

brian snider
For the past six or so years you’ve been most associated with your role in The Curious Mystery.  What made you all decide to move on from that band?

shana cleveland
We’d been doing that for a long time and I felt like it had run its course.  We went on this long tour last Spring and I started listening to different styles of music and forming an idea for a band that I would start when I got home.  Then I realized that I really couldn’t be doing three bands, so I had to get rid of one of them.  I love The Curious Mystery, but I felt like I’d grown past it in a way.  My whole life I’ve really love building and then being okay with leaving it.  I think it’s really important as an artist to not just stay with what’s working, to challenge yourself to move forward.

What did it do for the band to meet Calvin Johnson of k-records and his network of musicians?

That whole network of k bands was really inspiring because it’s people doing their own thing.  There’s nothing really trendy happening there, it’s all people who just make the music that they want to make, and it’s not with an eye towards what’s going to sell or be popular or cool.  It’s just about pure artistic expression.  It’s also so diverse, the roster of artists on k, it’s all over the place.

There’s a really sweet story about how your parents met.  Would you mind telling that story.

My dad met my mom when he was on tour with a band, I think a Country Swing band.  My mom was dancing, she’d just gone to the bar to dance.  They liked each other and then my dad would come through every now and again on tour and try to get ahold of my mom.  Eventually she just started traveling with them, she ran their sound for awhile to pull her own weight.  Then she started back-up singing.  And she’s a singer now, and a harmonica player.

What was the catalyst to get The Sandcastles started?

There’s a bunch of folk musicians that are really inspiring to me.  Certain albums are really exciting as far as albums that sound quiet and relaxed but also feel sloppy, like you’re just hanging out in a barn with these people.  Like Viva Last Blues and this girl from Maine, Caethua, her albums were influential to me and I really wanted to get at that intimate rough folk sound.

On your bandcamp page you called these songs, “quiet time songs… I think they sound best on a windy morning or at night with no lights.”  I really like that description  because while it’s not exclusive to how you should listen to the album, it’s very accurate of the sound.

You’re not going to put them on and party, it’s not going to make you want to get up and move.  There’s some albums that make you want to turn off the lights, and just sit in a room and listen to them by myself. That’s what I had in mind for the album.

Tell us about your latest band La Luz.

It’s pretty much a combination between surf rock and a girl group.  Not that we’re all girls, which we are, but the 60’s girl group, the Phil Spector sound.  I was listening to a lot of girl group music and was getting into four part harmonies; ooh-ah’s and doo-whops.

You mentioned that this is the music that you’ve been wanting to play for a long time.  Why is that?

I’ve been getting into early rock and roll in a lot of different areas of the arts.  The late 50’s and 60’s rock and roll style is so powerful, you can see that in the fact that on every continent people have tried to imitate that style.  It’s not white music or black music, or even American music, even though it started as American music.  It’s cheesy but it’s like the power of rock and roll music.

The Northwest has a tradition of female rock bands, especially with the whole Riot Grrrrl movement in the early 90’s.  What was your inspiration for wanting an all girl band?

I really like the way that women’s voices sound together when it’s all women.  And I don’t really run across a ton of sexism in the music industry, but I do every now and then and I just got tired of playing shows where the sound guy didn’t take me seriously.  I got tired of that attitude.  I really liked the idea of being in a band with four women that are really awesome, not just that we’re all cute, it’s that we’re really good.  You kind of have to take us seriously.  Even though I’ve always played with open minded guys, I just got tired of people adjusting my amp or thinking that I couldn’t do those things myself.

Another thing that makes me excited to be in an all girl band was, I have this goal to be the most killer guitar player ever [laughs].  I was just feeling like there was a lack of really awesome female rock guitar players, and part of my goal is to try and fill that space.***

To hear the entire podcast interview go here or subscribe to our podcast in itunes.

 

The purpose of Destroy Build Destroy is two fold, make awesome machines from scrap, and blow shit up.  This is where the analogy fails when talking about Shana Cleveland.  It’s just the end result of years spent perfecting one sound and the desire to create something new.  La Luz is still just a newborn less than a month removed from its mothers womb, there are still plenty of years before a stick of dynamite is placed at its feet.

In September La Luz released their debut EP Damp Face which you can find at laluz.bandcamp.com.  In October they began playing live with one final performance on October 26th opening for Lonesome Shack at Cafe Racer in Seattle.  You can find the Curious Mystery’s albums at k-recs.com, and The Sandcastles at shanacleveland.bandcamp.com.

Again, there is so much more to hear that you’ll completely miss out on if you don’t listen to the podcast.  I’m really proud of the conversation we had and the topics we covered.  You can listen to the full audio podcast here or in itunes.  And while you’re there please take a brief moment to rate and review us, thank you.

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new blog: fatherhood in babylon

August 28, 2012 in columns

This isn’t something I do often, but since my articles have been so sparse recently as I take care of my newborn daughter and prepare for Bumbershoot, I thought I would share with you a little side project I’ve been working on.

Fatherhood in Babylon, is my way to both tell the story of becoming a parent from the day we found out we were pregnant, up to the day she was born, and I will continue to document this journey until… I don’t know… until the internet collapses upon itself like a dying star.  At this point I don’t know how regularly I’ll be updating that blog, but rest assured that soon secretly-important will be pumping out fantastic stuff for your reading, viewing, and listening pleasure.

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fear and loathing at sasquatch 2012 part ii

June 13, 2012 in event reviews, reviews, sasquatch festival 2012

Day two began on a much more relaxing note.  Knowing that press wouldn’t get in until 10:45am, I was able to leisurely take my time in getting up, which meant that I awoke at 8:00am.  My body was already feeling the pain from the day before, mainly in my over loaded shoulders and calves.  I punctured three massive blisters on the bottom of my feet and covered them with band aids.  Wiser and more experienced than the day before, I emerged from my tent ready to conquer Sasquatch.

It seemed that each day became progressively harder for people to get out to the festival when the gates opened.  Saturday morning there was roughly two hundred people eagerly waiting to enter.  Sunday it was more like fifty, these were the die hards who literally crawled out of the tent in their pajamas and crashed at the gate.

the staves at sasquatch

The Staves

If you were having a hard time waking up, then the place to be was the Bigfoot stage.  The first show of the day was a beautiful and subdued performance by the Watford, England trio of sisters, The Staves.  They sang in pitch perfect three part harmony with minimalistic instruments, sometimes a guitar, sometimes an accordion, sometimes an ukelele, sometimes a cappella.  They played with such passion for the American folk masters, I had to remind myself that they were from the UK.

It was a sublime way to begin the morning, with a moderate crowd who swayed gently to the music, and relished the soft sounds amidst the early afternoon sun, washing us all in its glow.

Greylag at Sasquatch

Greylag

If The Staves were attempting to wake the audience with a soft song in their ear, then Greylag was a soft tap on the shoulder.  I tried to get a feel for every band that I would be covering, but with little association it was hard to really tap into their core, or at times even remember which band was which.  I didn’t have a good grasp on who Greylag was, and at times it was fun to go into a performance this way, because that surprise of hearing something truly earthy, and full, and wonderful, is addictive.

There’s a growing stigma concerning folk music emerging from the PNW.  It’s true that for every Fleet Foxes, Head and the Heart, and Cave Singers, there are ten other carbon copies without the formers originality and talent, that doesn’t mean that every now and again a folk inspired band can’t come around that has the potential to reach the level of a Head and the Heart.  Greylag is one of those bands.  What makes them all the more impressive are their stripped down songs that are so basic at their core that you could mold almost any genre around them.  I highly suggest  picking up their debut EP, The Only Way to Kill You.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.

I’ll admit that the only reason I went down to the Sasquatch stage to see Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. was for the name alone.  That’s not entirely true, I’d run across their music once before, the hook that kept me interested was the name.  Not entirely different from Saturday’s Electric Guest, I’ve been having a difficult time categorizing exactly what they are.  I suppose they provided the best answer by playing a cover of the Beach Boy’s, God Only Knows, so think that, with more modern drum beats.  It came as no surprise to learn that Brian Wilson was a major influence on the band.

My press pass didn’t gain me access to the photo pit at the main stage, so I chose the shows that I would watch there very carefully, so not to miss something else that I could photograph.  Perhaps all you really need to know is that I stayed for the full performance.  They were just as awesome as their name.

hospitality at sasquatch

Hospitality

Back at the Bigfoot stage I was treated to Hospitality.  They might have been the most deceptive band I came across that weekend, five chords in you think you have them all figured out, but wait just a little longer and they’ll show you just how complex they are.  The surface reaction is to call them bubble gum pop, with very little edge.  You don’t have to dig very deep to find melodies and sounds of much greater sophistication.  

They retain that bubble gum popness, while kicking that concept around a bit and in some ways deconstructing it.  This year they released their debut album Hospitality a challenging blend of sweet, sway worthy songs, and harder edged rock.  As a side note, their 2008 EP of the same name was produced by secretly-important person Karl Blau.

howlin rain at sasquatch

Howlin Rain

It could be said that perhaps the most fascinating bands I saw in my three days were at the Yeti Stage, on Sunday it was the San Francisco quintet Howlin Rain.  Even by day two the Yeti stage was building a reputation among the other journalists as a place where a lesser known band could explode like a time bomb, sending bits of stage shrapnel flaming across the grassy field before it.  It happened time and time again, and Howlin Rain was no exception.

Of everyone I covered HR was the most pure retro rock-n-roll, from the moment lead singer and guitarist Ethan Miller walked out on stage with his long bushy beard flecked with grey, I knew these guys would be something to behold.  There’s no better way to put it other than they rocked.  A retro revival of classic bluesy rock that harkens back to Steely Dan, Bruce Springsteen, even a little Zeppelin.  These were serious musicians who brought it hard and heavy, giving the crowd wind-blown hair.

Todd Barry at Sasquatch

Todd Barry

Scheduling conflicts caused me to miss much of the comedy of day three, one comedian I was NOT going to miss was the languid comedy of Todd Barry.  He’s one of those comedians who you may not immediately recognize by name, but he’s been around so long that you’ve probably seen him in something.  In recent years he’s best known for his role as the bongo playing Todd and third Conchord in Flight of the Conchords.

Some comedians are energetic and hop around the stage, some, like Saturdays Pete Holmes, yell and inflect their voices to make their jokes land, Todd Barry stays calm and even keeled all the way through.  He does this without having to play some impotent character on stage, he has a commanding presence, one that is always in control while on stage.

The major flaw of the Banana Shack was that it opened up into the festival and acted like a wind tunnel of sound.  Any bumping bass from the “Maine” stage was funneled right into the tent and onto the stage.  This made for a more challenging environment, and Todd handled the most distracting music of the weekend perfectly, and hilariously.

I made the same terrible mistake as Saturday by needing a break and walking back to my tent to eat and change into warmer clothes for the evening.  This time I didn’t even make food on the stove, I just collapsed onto my sleeping bag and laid there, wishing that someone would poke their head into my tent and offer me a plate of warm food.  That didn’t happen, and instead I ate a string cheese, a yogurt, and a peanut better and jelly sandwich.  Food wasn’t about enjoyment so much as it was about filling my stomach.  Walking back to the festival I felt less refreshed than the night before, this was just a case of taking more and more water from the well, until it was empty.

Active Child at Sasquatch

Active Child

Occasionally you will stumble across a performance passing by the stage.  It was the massive harp sitting stage left that got me to stay and figure out just want was going to occur here.  Musically I really respected what Pat Grossi was able to do, but I’ve got to be honest, this just wasn’t the kind of music that I could ever really see myself listening to.

It was an intriguing blend of Church choir music with electric beats, not too dissimilar from what say, Pure Bathing Culture is doing, but just dissimilar enough that it wasn’t exactly my thing.  More than anything the performance was perfect for that moment in the day.  What had been cloudy and threatening to rain for hours, opened up to a sapphire sky with story book clouds.  A decent breeze blew in and Grossi looked like a ginger haired angel blowing in the wind.

The Head and the Heart

If there was one performance that I wished I could have photographed but couldn’t, it would be The Head and the Heart.  They seemed to instantly rise to fame with their addictive Americana folk, and their self-titled debut is one of my all time favorite albums.  I’ve desperately wanted to see them live, our schedules just never aligned.

They could have closed the evening, they were that good.  Musically they were spot on, playing songs from their album as well as stripped down versions from their itunes session, they even played brand new songs that might have been their first live performance.  More than all that the audience was more into them than any other concert I attended all weekend.  There’s an asphalt tarmac in front of the Sasquatch stage which always had people dancing and physically engaging with the music.  The grassy hills all around were generally full of people laying calmly on blankets, baked out of their minds, or just enjoying music.  The Head and the Heart had those people on their feet dancing and engaging as if they were down below.

The Sasquatch stage performances were the one time that I really got to experience the festival as a pure music lover, I had no pictures to take, not jockeying for optimal camera position, I was able to lay back and become a part of something with forty thousand other people.

Zola Jesus @ Sasquatch Music Festival

Zola Jesus

Rumblings within the press crowd concerning Zola Jesus convinced me to check them out.  Even standing atop a five foot stage could make Zola’s lead woman, Nika Roza Danilova seem tall, but her presence was something to behold.  At just 4’11” and 90 lbs he was amazing to see so much voice and power come out of that tiny frame.

She followed a similar trend to other bands like Electric Guest, Little Dragon, tUnE-yArDs, and Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr, with an eclectic mix of traditional rock instruments with electronic synthesizers and beats, but her voice steals the show.  To me the lyrics were unintelligible and sparse, but her lusty whaling was beautiful, bigger than the meager Yeti stage on which she was performing.  People were talking about her long after the show was over and when there are more than a hundred other bands performing, sticking in your mind is high praise.

By the evening of my second day at Sasquatch I began to understand the logic behind their scheduling.  Soft and warm music from noon to about three, then you gradually mix in heavier rock and bumping hip-hop.  As the sun began to set the ravers emerged and many of the acts got more trippy, more danceable, and more electronic.  Zola Jesus blending seamlessly into Little Dragon is exactly what they had in mind.

Little Dragon

Little Dragon

Mid set I ran back to the media building to use the bathroom, (we had a real bathroom there, not a port-o-potty).  When I got there several other members of the media were telling anyone who would listen, “hey something really great is going on over at the Bigfoot stage, you should check it out.”  They of course were talking about Little Dragon who was in the middle of impressing the socks off everyone.

I was mildly aware and looking forward to this Swedish band who, despite working against all the odds has attained a significant level of success in America.  When it comes to this electronic cum soul cum hip-hop cum indie rock quartet, Little Dragon has mastered the style.  There are few artists who you can listen to and say to yourself, this is the future.  Lead singer Yukimi Nagano has the voice of any great soul singer and it becomes the glue that holds all the genres together.

Everyone in the media building was right, something was happening over at the Bigfoot stage, it was an incredible performance that along with The Head and the Heart was the concert of the day.

Bon Iver

The evening closed with the landscape of sound that is Bon Iver.  I’d heard about them for a while but I could not have told you one of their songs, even after watching them for ninety minutes I couldn’t identify anything as Bon Iver.  Don’t misconstrued that last sentence as a poor review, I loved the show, for me Bon Iver is someone I would love to see live again I just don’t think I’ll listen to their music in my car.  Unlike Jack White, Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr, or The Head and the Heart, Bon Iver is not the toe tapping, sing-along kind of band.

The stage was littered with large candelabras and shredded dangling chunks of draped fabrics, it looks like a haunted house set for a seance.  Maybe that’s what they did, raise the spirits with a cacophony of beautiful sounds from a variety of instruments.  I stand by what I said earlier, The Head and the Heart could have played this slot and done so perfectly, but I can understand why Bon Iver closed the evening.

Day three, my second day of Sasquatch, came to a close and I made my way back to my campsite.  The following day would be the last of the festival and I was preparing for a marathon day, where I would try to fit in as many performances as possible before I turned back west and crossed the Cascade mountains home.

As I lay down on my sleeping bag my mind briefly reflected on just how much music I’d already seen in just two days.  If I were to wait for every band to come to Seattle and see them individually it could take years, this was a like a hundred yard dash of music.

UPDATE: Okay, in preparation for this article I listened to all the bands again (that I haven’t been obsessed with) and I’d like to change what I said about Bon Iver, I’ll totally listen to this in my car.

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thank you jesse thorn

February 28, 2012 in podcast reviews, reviews

 

It is fair to say that had it not been for Jesse Thorn and The Sound of Young America now called Bullseye, you wouldn’t be reading this article here on secretly-important.  That’s not to say that he had anything directly to do with this website, but it’s safe to say that he was my inspiration.

Jesse Thorn began The Sound of Young America as a college radio show at UC Santa Cruz, ten years later it is a nationally syndicated public radio show and one of itunes top rated podcasts.  He has amassed a virtual empire of fantastic programing including Stop Podcasting Yourself and Jordan Jesse Go, he’s created the delightful series about mens fashion Put This On, and holds an annual convention for his most devoted fans, MaxFunCon.  Need I bother saying that he’s a success story.

It was his humble beginnings that got me thinking that perhaps I could do it too.  So I did.  No one lied to me and I didn’t have any delusions of grandeur, I knew this would be a very difficult venture from the beginning.  As it turns out this has been the most difficult and time consuming project of my life.  Don’t assume when I use the words difficult and time consuming that I believe my efforts are futile or pointless, because this has also been the most rewarding project of my life, each little milestone I reach is all the more fulfilling because I’ve worked so hard to get there.

As with anything you do, even with the things you love, there will be hard times, dark times, times when you feel like packing it all in.  The past few weeks the struggle has been so great that on multiple occasions I thought about selling all my equipment and just giving up.  In some ways this sounds like an artistic suicide, I could leave a final article or suicide note on the website and just disappear from the world wide web.  I’d still continue to live, just not here at secretly-important.

I’ve had these periods before over the last year and a half and I suspect that it’s perfectly normal.  Artists need someone to inspire them, some one you show them the way, someone to reveal that eventually there will be a light at the end of the tunnel.

Today I got that inspiration when I was directed to this fabulous article by Jesse Thorn: Make Your Thing: 12 Point Program for Absolutely, Positively 1000% No-Fail Guaranteed Success.  As the title suggests Jesse makes twelve points to show you how you too can find success.  The article is informative, funny, inspiring, and well written, what I most enjoyed was how he had a specific person as an example for each step.  For example: step 6. Follow Your Passion (Chris Hardwick).  Unlike the thousands of articles circulating the endless expanse that is the information superhighway claiming to give you 10 steps to success, Jesse gives you twelve steps and actual examples.

This could not have come at a better time for me.  Like a shot of Redbull to my arm, I was inspired to get out there are start making connections again, take some risks, and jot down notes for a flurry of articles.  Thank you Jesse Thorn, this is just what I needed.  If you’re an artist, make something this article is a must read, but really these are great lessons for anyone to apply to any aspect of their lives.

To listen to, read, and experience the genius that is Jesse Thorn and his many projects go to Maximumfun.org and enjoy.

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the soft hills and karl blau @ the sunset tavern 1/21

January 20, 2012 in events

Here in the PNW the snow is beginning to melt, and the Seattleites suffering from cabin fever are emerging from their dens.  What better way then to reintroduce yourself into society then with a really great show at the Sunset Tavern in Ballard.

Karl Blau, who has appeared on the website a number of times with a song of the week and two podcasts, will be performing with the delightful indie folk rock band The Soft Hills, who we’re currently working on setting up on interview with.  The Soft Hills are promoting the release of their latest album (the bird is coming down to earth), which I’ve been listening to for about three weeks straight, and can’t get enough of.  Karl Blau is promoting his general greatness as an incredible musician.

All in all this looks to be an exceptional Northwest showcase of some of the best that the region has to offer.  Don’t stay home and watch a rerun of the Newheart show instead of having your mind blown by some incredible musicians.

You can buy tickets online here: $7, or at the Sunset Tavern.  This is a 21 and over show, so leave the kiddies at home.  Doors open at 9pm show starts at 10pm

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if you give a mouse a cookie: sopa & pipa

January 18, 2012 in columns, mostly non-fiction

Today you might have noticed that some of your favorite websites such as Wikipedia and Reddit are dark (offline).  I’m sure in place of their usual content they have an explanation as to why this is.  Maybe you haven’t visited any of these websites, maybe you have no idea what this protest is.  Let me explain.

The January 18th blackouts were devised as a protest against the proposed bills SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act).  For the most part all the major online players are against it, Craigslist, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, AOL.  You’re probably still a little fuzzy as to what exactly SOPA and PIPA are.  Both bills were designed as a way for the US law enforcement and copyright holders to expand their capabilities to fight against online trafficking of copyright and intellectual properties’ and counterfeit items.

This bill was originally a vehicle for major drug companies like Pfizer to help stop counterfeit drugs from Canada or Mexico.  Hollywood saw this as a perfect opportunity to try and stop the sale of bootlegged videos from Asia.

How does any of this affect you?  Actually it could affect you greatly.

If these bills were to become a law many are predicting the end of websites like flickr, vimeo, etsy, and youtube, basically anywhere that relies on user generated content.  It could spell the end of free speech on the internet (which is already limited).  I’ve read where this could extend to the links you post on Facebook and Twitter.  You might say that I and many others are overreacting, consider this analogy for just a moment.  If you’ve read tech news in the last few years you’ve probably seen a slew of articles concerning patent infringement by Apple, Samsung, Nokia, Microsoft etc.  In a nutshell what’s occurring here is that each company is busy buying up patents for broad hardware and software components, then suing their competitors for patent infringement.  It’s not good for the companies, it’s not good for the government, and it’s not good for us, but because it’s another way to get a leg up on your competition by restricting them, it happens every day.

This is essentially what I see happening if SOPA and PIPA pass.  Large corporations, like who? (RIAA, MPAA, News Corp, TimeWarner, Walmart, Nike, Tiffany, Chanel, Rolex, Sony, Juicy Couture, Ralph Lauren, VISA, Mastercard, Comcast, ABC, Dow Chemical, Monster Cable, Teamsters, Rupert Murdoch, you know a list of real honest and trustworthy companies) flexing their greedy muscles to take down companies for copyright infringement starting from the largest, right down to you and I.

But that’s not written into the bill, so how could all that possibly happen?  That’s where I get to the title of the article.  You remember the book If You GIve A Mouse A Cookie, don’t you?  If you give a mouse a cookie he’ll want a glass of milk.  In this case, if you give a mouse [government] a cookie [SOPA, PIPA], they’ll want a glass of milk [free speech].  It happens all the time with all sorts of laws.  Before long SOPA would turn the internet into our television networks, tightly regulated and controlled, with limited user interaction.

Many of the artists we’ve promoted and respect here at secretly-important, rely heavily on websites that feature user generated content.  Just yesterday I told you about Karl Blau’s new album on bandcamp, certainly they would face tighter regulations, and etsy is a predicted favorite to fall if the law passes.  Maybe we’re all wrong and this bill would do exactly as they say it would, maybe the government would act responsible with this new power, maybe corporations would use logic and restraint, but I don’t want to take that chance.  In this case we’re better off letting the mouse starve, and not having to fork over a cookie and a glass of milk that we just can’t afford.

So why are we not in a blackout today?  Three reasons:

  1. No one cares about us, or at least not enough people, yet.
  2. I don’t know how to shut down the page or replace it with a message letting you know why we’re offline.
  3. This article is probably just as effective as shutting down the site for a day.

What can you do?  Here are a couple of links, the first is to see where your representative stands on the issue.  If you don’t like their stance write an email to let them know.  The second is a blanket online petition you can sign.

Think I’m still blowing this whole thing out of proportion?  Consider one last argument.  According to Craigslist, Monster Cable (the guys who make high end cables for stereo’s and tv’s) list Craigslist as a “rogue site” which would be taken down under PIPA rules.  Why?  Because the sale of used cables on Craigslist cuts into Monster’s sales of new cables.

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karl blau ~ questions for moon

January 17, 2012 in album reviews, reviews

Imagine for a moment that you live in Mr. Roger’s neighborhood.  A quiet little suburb of Americana, where your mail is delivered by Mr. McFeely and a bright red trolly runs through your hose to a town of make believe.  You put on your moss green cardigan, lace up your blue Keds and ride that trolly through a tunnel into the neighborhood of pretend.

Instead of arriving on the other side of a freaky acid laced dream where a handful of people and a tiny lion living in a broken clock are ruled by a puppet king and queen, you wake up into a world where your favorite musician is accepting lyric submissions for new songs.  They’ll take your poetry, prose, random napkin scribblings, and turn them into fully realized songs.  This neighborhood of make believe is just too incredible, there’s no way this could ever happen on the other side of the trolly tunnel.

But you’re not in the neighborhood of make believe, you’re in the real world, or at least the world of the information super-highway.  And here there is an artist who took your words (well, donors words) and turned them into fully realized songs.

Okay, I know I’m really stretching with the whole Mr. Rogers neighborhood thing, at least I can say that I will certainly be the only one to use Mr. Rogers in conjunction with Karl Blau’s new album Questions For Moon, constructed entirely from Kickstarter donors lyric submissions.

Back in November when I drove up to Anacortes Washington to interview Karl, he was working out of the small shed/converted recording studio in his back yard, laying down a new recording called Sleepwalker.  It came to him in a flash that morning and he was pouring it out of his head before it vanished.  He played the song back for me and I watched the synapses fire off like a battlefield in his brain.  He was building the song right before my eyes, pinpointing where to add an effect or a backing vocal.  The song was really great, but it wasn’t just any song.

Near the end of this last Summer Karl launched a kickstarter campaign to help fund the next twelve months of his KLAPS label.  New albums, projects, and perhaps even a movie.  Anyone familiar with Kickstarter will know that most successful campaigns offer swag or fan participation at different donation levels.  At the $96 level Karl was offering donors the chance to submit a page full of words which we would then turn into a song.  Not just a neat idea, an awesome idea, as fans were able to actually contribute to the art of an amazing musician.

A few months later those songs are finished and are available for purchase at the low low price of five dollars at: klaps.bandcamp.com.

Working with other’s lyrics is not new to Karl, his album Dance Positive, featured lyrics by former Beat Happening guitarist and fellow North Sounder Bret Lunsford.  This time around the lyrics come from fifteen different donors two of which are Eli Moore, and Ashley Eriksson of LAKE.  I enjoyed listening to the variety of lyrics used and admired Karl’s ability to find the right tone for each song, even when the lyrics seemed to be stream of conscious nonsense.

Perhaps I’m selling the lyrical element of this album too much.  Coming to a fresh new Karl Blau album is like eating a box of Jelly Bellys with your eyes closed, you never know what you’re going to get, but you’re going to be pleasantly surprised.  Karl delves deep into his experience as a musician for this album, utilizing the traditional rock elements, plus saxophone, flute, piano and a few others.

In the end what you get is a beautiful encapsulation of what Karl Blau is all about: beautiful and diverse music, collaboration, and plagiarism (for an explanation check out the podcast with Karl).  You can own this whole album for just five dollars at bandcamp or you can pay more if you’d like to see Karl continue to make really great music.

If you would like to hear a alternate acoustic version of the song Sleepwalker that Karl played live for us on the podcast go here.

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last minute christmas suggestions from secretly-important

December 21, 2011 in lists

If you’re anything like me, then you probably just looked at the calendar and realized that Christmas is this Sunday.  And if you just realized that Christmas is in less then a week, you probably  haven’t finished your holiday shopping, or maybe even started.  I’m not sure where time went this December, I could have sworn that Thanksgiving was just last week.  I’m realizing that I’ve still got some shopping to do, and as always, those that I leave till last are the hardest to figure out.

If you’re finding yourself in the same position as me, then rest assured, I’m here to help.  I bring to you our first ever, secretly-important last minute christmas gift suggestions.  I’ve divided this list into three categories: Music (cd, vinyl, digital), books, and DVD’s (blu-ray, dvd, digital).  You should note that since Christmas is less than a week away, you might not be able to order these items and have them under the tree by present time.  My suggestion: check them out via the provided links and then go to your local independent record, book, or movie store and buy them.

 

books

I’ve tried to keep most of my suggestions to 2011 releases in all three categories.  Books, just don’t seem to work the same as movies or music.  Rest assured that all these books are no more than a few years old.

Bossypants – Tina Fey

If there is anyone on your list who is a lover of comedy, then you absolutely can’t go wrong with this book.  My personal belief is that good comedians don’t always write good books but Tina Fey really did an incredible job here.

Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con that is Breaking America – Matt Taibbi

This book has made a fair number of appearances here on the website, particularly in the  OWS articles.  If you have anyone on your list who is politically minded, or just a fan of hilarious and scathing expose’s on the thieves of Wallstreet, then this is your book and Matt Taibbi is your guy.  In my humble opinion, Taibbi is the best political writer around.

The Hunger Games Trilogy – Suzanne Collins

Does you list include someone who finished reading Harry Potter and hasn’t found anything to fill that void? Dude that was like four years ago.  Did they read all the Twilight books and wish that there was a little more… substance?  Then they’ll want the best of both worlds with the Hunger Games Trilogy.

Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives – David Eagleman 

Have you been on the hunt for a gift that beautifully combines imagination and science?  David Eagleman’s Sum, contains forty beautiful stories that tell the tales of different version of the afterlife.  Many of the stories stem of David’s research as an actual neuroscientist.  One of my favorite reads of the last three years.

Just Kids – Patti Smith

Music lovers, poetry lovers, book lovers in general.  I’ve talked about this book so much that I probably sound like a broken record, but in all honesty, who wouldn’t love this book?

 

DVD’s

If you look at this list and are saying to yourself, “hey this isn’t very diverse.”  All I can say is that I’m sorry, I like what I like.

Bridesmaids

Easily the funniest movie I saw all year, and guess what?  It wasn’t a surprise that a film written and starring women was funny.  This is a definite safe bet for just about anyone.

The Social Network

You don’t need to use Facebook, like Facebook, or even care about Facebook to get drawn into this movie.  A sure thing if shopping for film lovers, or just a lover of witty dialogue.

Hesher

Of everything I’m suggesting in all three categories, this is the most obscure title.  Why did I throw it in then?  Everyone has that weird friend or family member who likes the most off beat things, and this fits that bill to a tea.  My wife thought this was the worst movie she saw all year… I really liked it.  The more I thought about it the more I liked it.  You won’t bust a gut laughing, but then you also won’t cry your heart out, you’ll just…. it’s weird.

Louie season 1

Easily in the top five of the best television shows.  Certainly one the best comedies.  This is Seinfeld meets Curb Your Enthusiasm.  Just be aware that the comedy of Louie CK is not for the faint of heart.

Breaking Bad season 3

The best show on television, possibly ever.  This show is as close to perfect as TV can get.  You are guaranteed to make someone’s holiday with season three. A twisted drama about a high school science teacher turned meth cook.  Caution, do not give this as a gift to anyone with a heart condition, the suspense might kill them.

Parks and Recreation season 3

Give them a free pass on season 1, they really hadn’t figured themselves out yet.  In seasons 2 and 3 they really hit their stride, and produce episodes on par with the best of the office.  Anyone who loved the Office will love this if they give it a chance.

The League Seasons 1 and 2

Do you have a comedy lover, or sports lover on your list?  Would you like to kill two birds with one stone?  Then the League is the perfect choice.  It centers around a group of friends in their own fantasy football league.  Do I need to say anything besides how hilarious it is?

 

music

This was really hard to boil down to just a hand full.  There was so much great music that I would have loved to create a list of just music.  But I didn’t so here is the best of the best.  My apologies to those who didn’t make the cut… what was I supposed to do?

Alright You Restless – Agesandages

This is some stellar folk-pop that gets you really tapping your feet and singing along.  There are almost enough members in this band to field a baseball team, and that makes  their harmonizing a thing of beauty.

The Head and The Heart

Pure Americana/folk/indie-whatever.  My second favorite album of the year, this is for anyone but especially for those who enjoy the flavor of Calexico, Alexi Murdoch, or Iron and Wine.

Max - Karl Blau

While this is not a full length, this is the perfect stocking stuffer.  Karl Blau takes his quest for original music into yet another phase with the EP Max.  Blau really brings his genre-less style to new heights with this indie rock/hip-hop/jazzy/funk fusion.

Giving and Receiving – LAKE

This was my favorite thing of 2011, if you could only have bought me one thing, this would be it.  LAKE’s maturity as a band culminates in this incredible album.  The Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac inspirations are obvious but not distracting.

Thao & Mirah

What do you get when you take two great artists and put them together?  A supergroup!  Thao and Mirah together are a perfect combination, they compliment each other in all the best ways.    Any music lover should find this a very worthwhile listen.

Myths – Pickwick

If you saw my song of the week, or if you’re my wife, then there has been no escaping Pickwick.  This is some truly great stuff, next to the Head and the Heart this is some of the most accessible listening on the list.  With roots in R&B, soul, and Steely Dan, the recipient of this gift will only wish that there were more than just eight songs.

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interview with karl blau

December 20, 2011 in interviews, karl blau

17karl blau

If you spend any meaningful amount of time looking into indie music from the Pacific Northwest, one name that will pop out at you over and over is Karl Blau.  He’s performed with and produced records by LAKE, Earth, D+, The Curious Mystery, Laura Veirs, Angelo Spencer et les Haut Sommets, The Microphones, Chain and the Gang, Arrington de Dionyso…how much time do you have?  My point is that Karl has been involved with much of the great Northwest Indie music of the late ’90’s and 2000’s.  He’s probably best known as Karl Blau, the solo artist and founder of KLAPS (Kelp Lunacy Advanced Plagiarism Society) a periodic “fanatic” album club.

Northwest music is and always has been a tight knit community of artists. I equate them with my years in college; you are able to experiment and take risks all with the deep love and respect of your community.  When you fail they’re there to catch you, when you succeed they raise you up on their shoulders.  In college the experience was free from industry pressures, here it’s all done while working with or often pushing against the industry.  This is a community of artists who love and respect each other, as well as the physical community around them, and Karl Blau is certainly one of its leaders.

When I first began listening to Karl’s music I could tell that he was working within and without genre.  From classic grunge, to Bossa Nova, reggae, folk, and hip-hop.  He manages to find what’s unique about a genre and throws it against the wall like a fist full of wet noodles; he does this over and over, until what’s stuck on that wall is a unique genre amalgam, that gets recorded onto tape.

Casual listeners might find his music frustrating at first.  It seems that he is purposely resisting traditional pop beats, when what he’s really doing is challenging your notion of what pop music is.  And he pulls it off with expert precision.  It made absolute sense to me when he explained that he wanted to create an original musical style.  

There is no single Karl Blau listening experience. To nail him down as simply one thing is to severely underserve his talent and beauty.  Not only from album to album, but from song to song, the emotional core and sonic feelings are different.  It all makes for a very full and complete catalog.

In preparing to meet with Karl I had the idea that I wanted to conduct the interview at his home in Anacortes, a sleepy little industrial village at the northern tip of Fidalgo Island.  The island reaches out like a child’s curious hand into the middle of the San Juan Islands and northern Puget Sound.  In many respects it’s your typical small American town with old residential neighborhoods and a historic downtown.  On the opposite side of Fidalgo Bay is a large oil refinery, the islands largest industry, which billows smoke from a network of towering spires.  Along the north shore you’ll find the second largest industry in a series of ship yards, where they manufacture Ferry’s and pleasure craft.  Yet growing all around this industry is genuine beauty and some of the most inspiring views in all Puget Sound.

Fidalgo Island is a mystical kind of place.  On the surface it doesn’t seem all that special, after spending just a short time there you begin to sense that something is different.  It might be it’s off beat culture, the people, the beauty, or that fact that a small city with a population of 16,000, produced musical products like Karl Blau, KLAPS, Phil Elverum, knw-yr-own records, and What the Heck Fest.

Arriving at Karl’s house I got out of my car, and was immediately greeted by some serious heavy fuzzed guitar licks, spilling from his recording studio.  A few minutes later he met me at the gate to his house and led me inside the shack in his back yard, that served as his studio.  For me this was like walking into Jackson Pollock’s studio.  The old wood walls were vibrating and humming to me of Karl’s endless musical experiments.  He played back the song we was recording as I pulled up, “Sleep Walker” a song poem sent to him by a contributor to his recent Kickstarter campaign.

As the song played I could see the reel to reel spinning in Karl’s brain as he literally built the song before my very eyes.

I had expected that the interview might be conducted in his studio.  Karl wanted to take advantage of the day.  It was one of those perfect Fall days in the Northwest that sneaks up on you with a pristine sapphire sky and the sun hanging heavy, burning just bight enough to keep you from freezing.  The trees were exploding in vermillion, gold, and orange.  Karl, his two week old daughter Poppy, and I took a walk though his neighborhood, down to main street in town (Commercial Avenue), around to the marina, and up into Cap Sante Park.  A good portion of our interview took place on the bluffs seen in the picture with Karl.

It could not have been a more perfect day or a more perfect way, to talk to an artist like Karl Blau.

 

brian snider

Has parenthood changed your work at all?

karl blau

Yeah, when Ciel was born I just wasn’t really taking my role as a musician seriously, to make it something I could sustain my family with.  I was really ambiguous with what I was doing with music. I was just making albums fecklessly which I still do, but after Ciel was born I was like, “alright I’ve got to get a job now, and that means I’m not going to have very much time for music, so what I do with my spare time has to be really focused.

That’s when I started the KELP series, with my daughter Ciel  I was just thinking I’ve got  to channel my energy somehow, be home with the family but making music as much as I can too.  Music for me is very therapeutic, if I’m not making music for too long I just start to go insane, I’m fidgety, I need to do something with myself all the time.

Do you like to have something that’s constantly ongoing?

Not necessarily, I’m not as into that.  I like to make shorter goals for myself, like albums that I can see the end of and then can move on.  That’s where KELP sort of began.

Can you describe what KELP was and then became KLAPS?

KELP, when it started was just KELP Monthly and people would subscribe to this record label of mine and I’d put an album out each month to subscribers.  It became all these different fanatic albums, tour diaries etc.  Then a few years passed and it became clear that it wasn’t gong to be monthly and I decided to expand the name to KELP LUNACY because it just seemed like a crazy concept, but I wanted to keep the moon/monthly symbol in the title.  Then I added the Advanced Plagiarism Society just because KELP Lunacy just seemed weird.  I could tell people my record label is KLAPS and that could be the end of the conversation.

The Advanced Plagiarism part is a really deep concept for me that I’ve been ruminating on for years.  I think everything is plagiarized, I don’t think people really have any original ideas.  They borrow ideas from other people, from nature, and nature borrows ideas from people.  It just goes around and around and that’s important.  Eventually I want to come to some original music like Jamaica did in the 60’s and 70’s [with] Regge.  I feel like Fidalgo Island’s the perfect place to start a new culture like that.

It’s just exciting to struggle against and figure out, well, what do we want as a culture?  What do we want as people?  What do we want to hold onto?  What do we want to let go?  This is just the perfect place to do that.  The Plagiarism just points a finger on the fact that we’re not original and then freeing up, giving ourselves some room to be original.

Bands from the Anacortes or North Puget Sound area really seem to be getting some recognition.  Could you talk about that progression a little.

There’s definitely some mentoring in this town where some experienced adults like Bret Lunsford (Beat Happening, D+) have taken people under their wing.  I think mentoring had a huge inspiration and effect on me, studying his lyrics and play in his [Bret Lunsford] band D+.

The scene that I was fostered into as a high schooler was the Mt. Vernon punk scene.  The valley [Skagit Valley] has had a long tradition of punk music and metal.  I think that’s true everywhere: metal and punk permeated every small town more or less and shook the foundations.  Why is it different up here?  I don’t know exactly.  I think it’s a really special place to grow up, and people want to come back.  That’s a little different then a lot of small towns.  Northwest music feels like it’s cultivating it’s own culture- is that too many cults?

I’ve read that you turned down the opportunity to become a fourth generation oyster farmer was that a hard decision?

It was not a hard choice.  It’s good hard work, I did it for a few years.  It was good for my soul and I could see myself doing it later again, just retiring from music and getting back into oyster farming.  But it’s a family business so it’s got it’s ins and outs… dealing with family.  In a way it’s such an amazing opportunity that doesn’t really exist anymore, that families are passing down jobs, that’s a thing of the past.

You’ve compared the process of building a song to the process of drawing a dragon.  Can you talk a little about that?

That’s interesting, I was just thinking of that yesterday.  It’s at the top of my mind that concept.  I was just thinking about doing these song poems, where I’m taking people’s lyrics, [people] send me these random lyrics that they wrote or chose from someone and i’m turning them into songs.  The dragon metaphor really works for me, with a song you’ve got your head and your tail (your staring and ending).  Anything that goes into the insides… there’s rhythm, maybe not, maybe you draw certain size scales.  There’s just no one way to draw a dragon, there’s millions of ways, and everyone’s got their own way.  Anyone can do it, you can put wings on it or not, there’s just certain elements that you can use or not and that’s the cool thing.  It’s special to you and your life experiences that go into your picture or song.

Can you describe your song writing process from an idea into a recording?

That’s an interesting question, there are so many ways.  I like to exercise every single method of writing and recording a song.  I like to go to the recording deck with a song finished, because it’s so easy, and that’s really fun because if I have the whole song on the guitar, as i’m laying it down there are so many calculations per second that you’re doing when your recording on the fly, which is just how I roll. It’s all pretty much off the cuff when I record or write songs, it’s just making up stuff, then I like to go into a recording, put a drum track down not even knowing what’s going to happen next.  Maybe put bass guitar next, or maybe vocals, and just sing out in any key that I feel compelled to.  That often leads to problems with tuning later, if you listen to my recordings you’ll hear a lot of mistuning.  I find the emotional content often more compelling.  Let it be okay that it’s not perfect and in tune.  A real clear aspect of my recording is that if I feel strongly about something I try to just run with that.  Like when I can feel myself getting pulled in a certain direction I try to just let go, stick my chest out and head in that direction.

Pleasure is a really big part of recording, if I can see the next step and find pleasure in it  then I’ll go that way.  Then inspiration, those are the two main things I like to go with.  I record on analog/tape and I record standing up mostly.  I have a tall chair that I have sometimes, just to sit and play guitar, but I like to be moving the whole time.  I feel like drinking a lot of water getting my blood flowing.  That will keep me in the groove and I can trust myself.

I’ve always felt that Northwest music wasn’t about precision or perfection, but rather about the little mistakes and being real and honest.  Do you feel that’s true?

I see that a lot in Northwest music and art… being off the beaten path and just, “well no one’s going to listen to this anyway” or, “who cares, I’m doing this for different reasons, I’m not making this perfect song so the world can adore me.”  You’re making art because it’s raining and you’re depressed and you feel strongly, so you make art.  It’s more about the process.  That said, when you polish that stuff up it can be really unique feeling.  You’ve seen all these Northwest bands get cleaned up and they sure look pretty when they’re clean.  I don’t recommend that.

Where did you go to school?

I went to Western, Bellingham, but really shortly, I discovered the recording studio up there.  Death Cab for Cutie, I was going to school at the same time as those guys, we were playing shows together, Nick [Harmer] and Ben [Gibbard] and Jason McGerr.  That was cool to see those guys take off.  That’s still an inspiration, I realized I wasn’t lucky as those guys on every little corner but it’s cool.  Just another affirmation, you stick with it and it’ll work out.  And working out to me is just, paying bills, keeping my family fed.  Even from this tiny Northwest town you can make some waves for sure.

At what point did you become acquainted with the people at k-records?

The band D+ that Bret Lunsford started, I was in that band from almost the get go.  We did two albums there with Calvin [Johnson] for K[records] and that’s how I got introduced.  And of course Phil [Elverum] was embraced by the k world.  That was also  really amazing to watch.  I was blown away by the k-records scene, the house show scene in particular.  The first time I rolled into Olympia, at the ABC House there was a four course meal, Arrington’s [De Dionyso] Old Time Relijun was playing, Mirah was playing, this was ’97.  I was just, “Oh my god, this is utopia.” I’d never dreamed of this, I had no idea people organized in this was.  I it was so harmonious, people were there to have a good time, partying wasn’t the main thing.  They were there to have a good time and break bread together.

I was the in-house producer for almost two years.  When I recorded Zebra I got really familiar with the studio and then I was spending a lot of time there rubbing elbows with all these olympia K artists.  I got to do a fair amount of records.

You’ve played and toured with many different bands, what do you get out of working with others as opposed to doing your own work?

I love playing with groups, especially music that I find really challenging, like Earth.  That band is very challenging to play with.  It’s tricky because having a family and having a day job as I do right now, I don’t have much time extra for anything.  It’s hard to dedicate so much time to other peoples projects when I know my own work is suffering because of it.  Musically I think it’s really healthy for me to play with all these different kinds of people.

You recently met your goal on kick starter.

I’m so excited about this year.  I can’t think about the whole year, my mind just shuts down, but I can think about the project I’m woking on now and maybe a couple others at various times.  I’m trying to shoot a movie in there too.  I want to do a full length movie which I have no experience doing, except short music videos, but I just like to try stuff, so I’m going to try shooting a movie.  Super ambitious this year, but it’s just a year.  I can go crazy for a year, and then probably go crazy again next year.*

 

If there is something I admire most about Karl Blau, it is his absolute unfettered ambition.  He seemingly has little fear of failure, and because so, he’s willing to try anything.  Karl’s set some pretty lofty goals for himself in the coming year. But if there’s anything I learned from him it’s to just go for it. As long as you put your self into it, you’ll come away with some great art.

A month after our conversation I continued to think about his desire to create an original style of music.  The more I thought about it the more I realized that he’s closer then he believes.  There is an honest and original sound emanating from that wood shack in his back yard, and I can’t wait to hear what it produces next.

Stay tuned next week for the full interview podcasts with Karl Blau, including a live performance of a new song Sleep Walker.

You can find just about everything you need to know about Karl at: Kelp Lunacy, where you can subscribe to KLAPS, buy his albums, find out about up coming shows, and whatever else is going on in his world.  If you would like to buy albums from many of the artists listed in the article, many are available on itunes or at krecs.com.

 

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