Month: July 2007 Page 1 of 2

Retro-futurism, done poorly, can come off like a dreadful pose –all studied cool and expensive haircuts. It’s complicated to look backwards and forwards at the same time—it’s a theoretical black hole. It’s a rare group that can pull it off with the right blend of stylistic concision and emotional engagement —too much push-me-pull-you in one direction or the other and the music starts to feel all affectation, no heart.

London’s The Projects have their tonal jouissance pitched just right —their buoyant, danceable songs bump and swing with cool verve and irrestistible melody. And, while they possess a certain casually Nouvelle Vague-ish vibe (think Godard rather than a certain fêted cover band), they are not merely paint-by-numbers artistes. Like their tour mates Broadcast, the music harkens back to more innocent times. But breezy optimism isn’t the only weapon in their arsenal —for every spoonful of pop sugar, there’s an equal, opposing force just below the surface —something slightly dark pulsing in the depths.

After their 2004 debut LP Let’s Get Static, their recorded output went rather quiet for awhile. There were tours (most notably with Broadcast, who remixed a track on the Projects’ brand-new EP), and some lineup changes (more on that later), culminating in the delectable new EP, Voice Is Glue [Track & Field] (from which “Voice Is Glue” is drawn). And there’s a new LP just on the horizon.

I chatted with guitarist and vocalist Graeme recently. Here’s what he had to say…

How would you summarize the band’s sound to people who were unfamiliar? (IE, the Projects’ aesthetic in a nutshell…)

My pal Robinson says that we’re “quite fast and not as utilitarian as you used to be.” He added that we have ‘lovely melodies’ and that ‘the electronic noises can be quite interesting.’

The band has changed drastically since its inception. How has the group evolved, personnel-wise and aesthetically? What can we expect from the upcoming album? What do the new songs remind you of? (Could be moods, colors, sounds…) How would you characterize them tonally (overall)?

We’ve had a stable line up for a while, it just appears unstable on account of Track and Field being so astoundingly slow in releasing Voice Is Glue. It’s been me, Alex on bass, David on keyboards, Phil on drums and Ed playing keyboards and guitars for a while now. Dino, who used to play in Miss Mend (and, more recently ‘The Beatings’ is helping out with some guitar on a couple of songs – he’s a great guitarist.

The new LP will be like a Fairground ride which, um, breaks down half way.

What bands would you cite as primary influences on the band’s sound?

The Projects make music all together and so every one’s influences shape the sound. Me, I was pretty obsessed with the music of Spacemen 3 when I was growing up, and now I really love repetition. Alex listens to loads of new stuff that I generally avoid, (bands that I don’t know the name of, bands that (I think) get featured in the NME, but seeing as I never look at it, I can’t say for sure). Phil, who used to be known as Hoffner Burns was, according to the internet, was “raised on a sheep ranch in Arizona but ran away at fifteen after he fell into a sheep dip and and was ridiculed by his fellow school mates.” I expect this experience influences and informs his every drum beat. David could be influenced by his being the grandson of a cruise ship jazz band leader, and son of the Northwest’s best jazz drummer. He comes from a very musical family —he’s a natural. Ed is spoilt for choice with influences. The man can play any tune, you name it and he’ll recite it. He’s such a great musician (mind you, all four are great musicians). So mix all of this together and you get The Project’s sound – a modern bass line with a repetitive, versatile non-jazz beat.

Recently I’ve been listening lots to Dock Boggs, Clarence Ashley, Furry Lewis, this sort of thing, and it’s so far removed from what we’re doing that I can’t see how it could influence me at all. Which is probably not a bad thing… I got myself a banjo, I can only play ‘New Prisoner Song’ and ‘Hard Luck Blues’ on it, but I’m sure my neighbours really appreciate me singing these songs over and over for them.

Do you still have the first beat-up cassette/45/8-track you ever owned? What was it? (Mine was Nena, “99 Luftballons.”)

I have the copy of the 7″ ‘Da da da’ by Trio. I think it was the first song that ever interested me. “99 Luftballons” was definitely a favourite too! There is a theme running through our first music…

Formative musical experiences? What shaped your musical identity and inspired you to create music of your own?

I always, always wanted to make music. Unfortunately this involved me playing ‘Million Tears’ by the Pastels on my guitar in my bedroom after school. It wasn’t until I went on tour around Germany playing bass for Daniel and his Television Personalities that I realised touring is just fantastic but, at that point, I needed no encouragement, the only thing that was holding me back was the fact that all the songs I wrote were rubbish! A few years later Lisa (the old Projects singer) and I formed a band called Miss Mend. By that time I was quite happy with the songs that I came up with. The Projects were called Miss Mend once, but the line up had changed so much that Morgane (who played keyboards up until 2004) suggested that we come up with a new name.

Favorite guilty pleasure (musical or otherwise)?

Ah, that’s easy. That would be spending everything that I’ve saved on really exciting bits of 70s outboard musical gear… The trouble is that it doesn’t make me feel guilty anymore, whereas once it did. Now I am without remorse.

Something that inspired you today. Could be an overheard conversation, a passage from a book, anything…

You recommended the film ‘Valerie’s Week of Wonder’ last week in Warped Reality. Well, I watched it this afternoon and it was great! It was like ‘Daisies’ but more striking. It was “The Singing Ringing Tree” with higher stakes. I can’t say for sure if it inspired me —I think I’ll have to wait until it sinks in – but I hope that it did… It inspired another band at least…!

What musical artist will you just never ‘get’? For me, it’s Elvis Costello, for you it’s…

Turning on ‘Radio 1’ will always confuse me a bit. This is definitely for the best though. It would be awful to turn it on and find that it all made sense.

What do you do when you’re not making music? And, if you didn’t have music as an outlet, what do you think you’d do instead?

In another life I’d move to Moscow and develop my secret surveillance devices for the NKVD or whatever they’re calling themselves nowadays!

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The Projects’ website | Their Myspace Page | Track & Field (their record label)

The Projects, “Happy Endings” (from the album “Let’s Get Static” [2004])

The Projects, “Voice Is Glue”

IMAGE: “GINA2” BY MICHELLE CAPLAN

I’ve found the perfect summer song: Blood Red Shoes’ “It’s Getting Boring By The Sea.” It’s got it all: an irresistible chorus, pop hooks galore, sugar-spun harmonies and buzzsaw guitars, handclaps —EVEN COWBELL. (I said it had it all, didn’t I?) Blood Red Shoes are the Brighton duo of Steven Ansell and Laura-Mary Carter. Named after a possibly apocryphal tale about Ginger Rogers and her blood-stained dancing shoes, the group craft assured punchy pop songs with an insouciantly edgy charm. While I’m not usually one to succumb to hype (these two are already building some well-deserved buzz in their native UK for their incendiary live shows —you can read all about their tour shenanigans here andhere), it’s summertime and I crave delightfully giddy pop songs as much as the rest of us. I’m also kicking back at the seaside at the moment, so it’s even more apt…

Their debut album is due out soon. Check their MySpace page for updates…

Visit the group’s website. | Or their MySpace page.

Blood Red Shoes, “It’s Getting Boring By The Sea”

Blood Red Shoes, “Stitch Me Back”

ILLUSTRATION FROM PLAN B MAG BY VINCENT VANOLI

Providence-based record label Secret Eye has long been one of my favorites —so it was with great pleasure that I was able to write a piece about the label’s history and accomplishments for local arts-and-entertainment weekly The Providence Phoenix.

I think of Secret Eye as a worthy successor to radical 60s label ESP-Disk —IE, their overriding aesthetic seems to be to release what they love, period. And thankfully, what they happen to love is music that treads its own idiosyncratic, often wayward path. The label is home to an eclectic mix of acts both homegrown and international. Their curatorial scope runs pell-mell from sepia-toned, pastoral Americana to frantic Krautrock drones and mind-expanding, psych-jazz improv. Picking up one of their releases means acquainting yourself with unusual instruments like the shruti box, the mbira, the bul bul tarang — alongside more commonplace elements like cello, tape loops, vintage synths, and guitar. The label’s ever-shifting roster runs the stylistic gamut from extroverted, organic mysticism (Spires That In the Sunset Rise) and chaotic Faustian improv (Finnish sound collectors Avarus) to the ecstatic, dreamlike echoes of Appalachia folk (Larkin Grimm, Kathleen Baird), and BF/BS’ own delicate cello-laden soundscapes.

The piece is online here.

What follows is my conversation via e-mail with label co-founder (and Black Forest/Black Sea member) Miriam Goldberg…

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Are there any record labels that you would claim as inspirations for Secret Eye (either aesthetically and/or musically)?

In terms of Secret Eye, the biggest inspirational albums for me starting out were Odyshape by the Raincoats and First Utterance by Comus. I heard those two albums right when I started working with Jeffrey on Secret Eye, and they definitely informed the kinds of roster choices we made. Also, BF/BS had been touring a lot with Christina Carter and Fursaxa at the time, and hearing them live every night definitely made a huge impression on me. More recently, big inspirations have been more rock- and Japan-oriented, like Les Rallizes Denude and LSD-March…

My generally inspiring albums include… The Dreaming and Hounds of Love (and, oh heck, all the other albums too) by Kate Bush. Transcendence and Journey in Satchidananda by Alice Coltrane. That’s just the tip of the iceberg (not even the tip, but just a part, equal to many other parts of said iceberg).

But (and maybe this is cheesy) the albums that inspire me most are the ones we put out. That’s why we put them out, because they’re inspiring. I think that this is the whole point of running a record label, to put out the music you like the most, that gets you the most excited.

As for record labels —philosophically, I think that Secret Eye is pretty in line with ESP-Disk, and their philosophy of “The artist alone decides what you will hear…” Also, I admire Wholly Other, which is the CD-R imprint home of the Charalambides and related projects, for their steadfast workmanship, putting out so much good music at such a fast pace, always bringing something new and gorgeous and personalized. They’re kind of like a bakery —everything is so fresh. Last Visible Dog, our evil twin label here in Providence, is our good friend Chris Moon. We really grew together, sharing artists, advice and resources like good CD pressing and distribution deals.

Other than the aforementioned, not particularly. Generally, a label is just a means to an end and that end is music. There are a bunch of labels that I think are lame because they forget this important fact.

It’s the music that inspires me, not the dorks like me who put it out. I never got that thing where people will buy every album on a given label, simply because it is on that label. It’s kind of like having a stylist or a personal shopper. I guess I don’t have much in the way of brand loyalty.

How would you define the Secret Eye aesthetic? How do you feel it has it changed (if at all) since its inception?

I think our aesthetic is about directness and freedom. It’s not overly caught up in process, production or artifice (which are all cool, too, but somehow more interesting to me as a listener than as a label-person). To me, the music we release sounds like it’s always been there, hanging in the air and channeled through incredibly talented and intuitive artists. All Jeffrey and I do is press it to CD.

To put it in anthropological terms: I think that some labels are like farms… they cultivate sounds and direct and develop their artists, which results in a catalog of corn, veal, and tomatoes —juicy, well-formed and consistent. Jeffrey and I are more suited to being hunter-gatherers than farmers and that is borne out in the nature of our releases. We find and distribute the stuff we like as we find it, so our catalog is filled with berries, venison, and fiddle-heads —more gamy, pungent, sometimes stringy or gritty and inconsistent.

How did you become involved with running the label? Was it just a natural extension of being in Black Forest/Black Sea, or had you always wanted to learn all the multi-disciplinary behind-the-scenes stuff that goes into running a label?

I really just sort of fell into it via BF/BS. I’ve always loved sharing music I like with my friends, and this is just an extended version of that. I saw Jeffrey working on this label and I was like “that looks like fun.”

What kind of learning experience has running the label been for you? How are the day-to-day responsibilities split up between you?

This label has taught me the importance of being organized. I am not, but I am trying to be. For the day-to-day, Jeffrey does most of the wheeling and dealing: with manufacturers, booking agents, press, etc, etc. I do the book-keeping. We share packing and assembly duties, although I have a bad habit of getting people’s orders wrong. We pretty much share A&R duties (such as it is). One of us will come to the other and say “I just heard X and they’re awesome. What do you think?” Usually when one of us likes something, the other one does too, but not always.

What project and/or release have you been most proud of? Has there ever been a project that you weren’t even sure you could pull off, but it turned out better than you could have hoped for?

I think I’m the most proud of Urdog’s Garden of Bones. This was the first album that I was involved in for Secret Eye. I suggested to Jeffrey that he put out an album of theirs. He hadn’t put out anything from Providence and I thought the label should have a more local focus. It was also the first Secret Eye release that totally “rocked.” I think that that release really changed the course of the label.

Before that, JR was mostly putting out stuff by friends of his he had met on tour with the Iditarod. Good music, but it seemed kind of ad hoc and disconnected from our local community. Now, we release stuff from near and far, and we also try to bring the far and near people closer together, through tours here and abroad.

The biggest Secret Eye nail-biter was definitely Terrastock 6, which we sponsored and Jeffrey masterminded. For a while there, we thought we might lose our shirts and that the whole thing would fall apart. But we broke even, people came, bands played, friendships were forged, and we all had an excellent time. The lead-up was so tense and uncertain, but the festival itself was one of the best moments of my life.

What’s your dream release (any band, any song)?

I’ll know it when I hear it. We’ve already put out a few of my dream releases.

Tip(s) for anyone starting their own label?

Just remember that you are a conduit connecting excellent musicians to thirsty ears. Trust the artists, work with them, support them as best you can, and only put out stuff you love. Do small runs (like 500 copies or less). You can always repress, but it sucks to have all your closet space filled with CDs.

Future projects and/or collaborations? [Brand-new releases include an Avarus/Manbeard split tour CD-R on the Secret Eye sublabel Eye Secretions, which focuses on small run releases with silkscreened packaging and other special goodies.]

All of that hand-made packaging, small runs, CD-R’s, tapes, vinyl, etc. —this has been going on for a long time and we’re really just jumping on to the bandwagon late. Plenty of labels and individual artists have taken this approach for years.

I guess Jeffrey and I have wanted to scale back a bit and focus more on hand-made short runs. As we’ve grown and signed up with bigger distributors and started pressing bigger runs and getting more “pro”-style packaging we started feeling a little detached and a little less interested in what we were doing. So Eye Secretions is a way for us to stay psyched on what we like, get music out there without having to deal with all of the machinery that can delay release, stay flexible and responsive, and have fun. It also allows us to keep our dollars local by hiring our friends to screen print sleeves, rather than farming it out to some manufacturer in Canada. And besides —mp3’s don’t come with beautiful artwork made by your friends and neighbors.

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Secret Eye releases can be found by visiting Providence’s Armageddon Shop or the Secret Eye home page. On Saturday, July 14th, Avarus and Spires That In The Sunset Rise play Providence’s Foo! Fest, a free all-dayer with 20+ bands, food, arts + crafts, records and books! Did I mention it’s free?! For a downloadable schedule, visit AS220’s FooFest page.

My own fest recommendations can be found here.

Larkin Grimm | Spires That In The Sunset Rise | Auto Da Fé | Black Forest/Black Sea | ESP-Disk

Auto da Fé, “Boa Ba Cha”

Urdog, “Ani Nie Ma”

Spires That In The Sunset Rise, “Morning Song” [from their latest, This Is Fire]

Black Forest/Black Sea and Larkin Grimm, “On the Cliffs of Fort Wetherill” [from the out-of-print Terrastock 6 compilation]

Larkin Grimm with Lara Polangco, “The Most Excruciating Vibe” (Live) [You can find a re-recorded version of this song on Larkin’s latest release, The Last Tree]

IMAGE: ”DOLLHOUSE” BY S. SCOTT