Ask a music scene micro celebrity

[electrical]

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What do you think about the commercialization or "selling out" done by bands in the indie scene, such as licensing songs for movies, TV shows, and corporate commercials?

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This is a pretty big topic.

A band that willingly associates itself with some commercial enterprise is attaching itself forever to that business and everything that business does. If a band abdicates that decision to a third party, then the band is admitting that its music doesn't mean enough as art to be protected from such associations.

There is also a distinction to be made between music made for its own sake (say for records) and music made for hire for commercial use, which seems like a completely different kind of music to me. Companies choose to use the first kind of music (let's call it "real" music) because the band, the music and the audience have cultural significance that the advertiser wants to co-opt and attach to a product or movie or whatever.

There are very few circumstances where using the first kind of music (let's call it real music) as a cultural lubricant for commercial intercourse doesn't creep me out a little bit, and I tend to think less of people who sell out their art, their reputations and their audience this way.

[electrical]

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Pro tools or logic? explain plz.

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I don't use computers to make records. I use tape machines, like nature intended. I use computers for correspondence, arguments, poker and porn.

[electrical]

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Why do you think you have become famous (in a relative sense) for doing something that ususally doesn't make a person a household name. How much of this was your skill in engineering vs. luck. vs recording really good bands.

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Almost any competent engineer could have done what I have. I have been incredibly lucky to be working in a music scene that spawned a huge number of distinctive, talented bands, and I made myself available to them. There is no doubt in my mind that I get some credit I didn't earn, for working on records that were going to be incredible no matter who was in the chair at the time.

There are a few things about my approach in the studio that I think have made a positive contribution to the records I work on. I come from a band background myself, so I'm sympathetic to bands, and I understand how they work, both internally and in relation to the outside world. I know that asking a band to do things differently in the studio than they would onstage or in the practice room is bound to make them uncomfortable, and is not going to make them play well, so I try to let them play as normally as possible.

I also respect the decisions the band makes about their own music: What it should sound like, how fast it should be, etc. Whenever I hear that a producer made a band add a chorus or shorten a solo or tack-on a string section, my blood boils a little.

I also pride myself on being a bargain. A lot of people in my position try to maximize their income on every project, and eventually they price themselves out of the scene where all the good music is, and end up doing a few sessions a year for music that totally sucks. By keeping my rates reasonable, I get to work with all the good bands, not just those who have money and hype behind them at the moment.

The other thing I have is experience. I've made an assload of records, and any problem that's ever going to come up in a session, I've probably already figured out how to solve it or defend against it. I can work more efficiently than a lot of engineers because I'm not guessing and I'm virtually never stumped.

As percentage, I'd say my own contribution and tendencies are about ten percent of the value of my job. Eighty percent is the band and their abilities and ten percent is luck and market forces. That's a wild guess.

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Who have you worked with that you felt had the best understanding of recording?

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Excellent question.

I think any band has a pretty good handle on things by their third album or so, and they can start to anticipate the technical considerations. Bands with recording engineers in them are a little quicker in that regard. Neurosis and the New Year are probably the most studio-savvy bands I've worked with, in that they often have pretty specific studio techniques in mind for individual songs.

[Diamond Lie]

What are the remaining members of Silkworm doing nowadays since Michael's departure. What in your opinion is their best song?

[donfairplay]

Just wanted to say thanks for this thread. You seem very humble about your accomplishments. Even better, you seem like a decent cash game player. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I really liked your recommendations of The Jesus Lizard and Dead Meadow, never heard of them before this thread. I've been listening to them on Yahoo Music's subscription service for the past day or two.

Do bands get a fee or residual for having their songs released on the major online subscription services? (ex: Yahoo, Rhapsody, Napster) I'd like to think I'm supporting the bands, but I can't see how thousands of bands can live off of my measly $6 a month subscription. As a band member yourself, do you have an opinion on the subscription services versus, say, pay-per-song itunes?

My question seems kind of strange now that I type it out... I just wanted to say thanks for the Dead Meadow reccommendation!

[bdk3clash]

As a Chicagoan and a gambler, please lay odds on the following happening:

-Chicago is named host of the 2016 Olympics
-Chicago gets a casino within the next 10 years
-The Cubs win the World Series within the next 10 years

Did you read Michael Azerrad's Our Band Could Be Your Life? If so, what did you think of it, and of the Big Black chapter in particular?

(Side question: Were the Butthole Surfers hands-down the craziest band of that era, as the book seems to imply? If they weren't, who was?)

Which Chicago rock critic is a bigger douchebag; Bill Wyman, Jim DeRogatis, Greg Kot, or someone else?

What do you think of Pitchfork Magazine?

Read any good books/seen any good movies lately?

[electrical]

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What are the remaining members of Silkworm doing nowadays since Michael's departure. What in your opinion is their best song?

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Michael getting killed was pretty horrible for everyone here in Chicago. He was such a sweet guy, and involved in so many cool projects that just about everybody was directly affected.

Tim Midgett [edit: a decent poker player who plays in the Tuesday game sometimes] and Andy Cohen are in a new band, Bottomless Pit, who have a very good record coming out momentarily.

Best Silkworm song? Man, they have a million, and none are clinkers. "That's Entertainment," "Contempt," "I Hope You Don't Survive," "Young," "Don't Make Plans on Friday," "LR75," "Into the Woods," "Couldn't You Wait"... So many great great songs.

[bdk3clash]

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What do you think of Pitchfork Magazine?

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Apologies for the incorrect URL for Pitchfork I provided in my previous post. (Above link is correct.)

[electrical]

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Do bands get a fee or residual for having their songs released on the major online subscription services? (ex: Yahoo, Rhapsody, Napster)

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There is some tiny royalty paid, but it's hardly going to be anybody's bread-and-butter.

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I'd like to think I'm supporting the bands, but I can't see how thousands of bands can live off of my measly $6 a month subscription. As a band member yourself, do you have an opinion on the subscription services versus, say, pay-per-song itunes?

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You are supporting the band by being a fan. Over the course of your life, you'll have many opportunities to buy records, Tee shirts, concert tickets and the like. Don't worry about your downloading/listening habits. The bands are happy that anyone is listening at all, and they will make a little money off you over time. They're glad they're in the game and that someone is listening.

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My question seems kind of strange now that I type it out... I just wanted to say thanks for the Dead Meadow reccommendation!

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If you like Dead Meadow, try Om, Sunn0))), High Rise, and older bands like Blue Cheer and Budgie. If you like the Jesus Lizard, you're stuck with only them, because nobody else comes close.

[rleidle]

You seem to have a bit of disdain for improvised music. Have you ever recorded a Jazz album? If so what was your experience like?