Interview: Charlie Hall from the Lindsey Buckingham Appreciation Society

It isn’t every day that a band devotes its time to preparing a meticulous cover of an entire album. But then, not all bands are the Lindsey Buckingham Appreciation Society. Throughout May this collective of six musicians–with serious devotion to Buckingham–made their way along parts of the East coast performing Fleetwood Mac’s titular album, Tusk, which was one of Buckingham’s most experimental compositions at the time the album was released in 1979. I caught them at a performance at Union Hall, attended by serious Fleetwood Mac fans (yours truly included). I wanted to know how they got together, why they love Lindsey and whether they have more projects planned for the future. Charlie Hall, co-founder, guitarist, singer and occasional keyboardist for the band answered my questions. Thanks again, Charlie!

The Lindsey Buckingham Appreciation Society at Union Hall

I think it is refreshing that you have all formed this group as a tribute to an artist that you all admire. Do you plan to cover any other Fleetwood Mac albums or any of Lindsey Buckingham’s solo projects? Please tell me that you all have something else up your sleeves….

Well, this whole thing just started as just a one-off attempt at a realization of something we’ve been talking about for ages…but then, the six of us got together, and realized that we really love being together and we seem to take very seriously both playing music and having major laughs. So, now that it has become apparent that there is a bit of an audience for this thing, we are taking stock to see if we can make the numbers work out to bring this to some more audiences – specifically the west coast. As for other future endeavors, who knows? Maybe this’ll turn into an annual affair, where we tackle another Mac record. My vote would be for Mirage, which I feel is a very underappreciated one.

Sounds like some of you met while playing with the same band. How did the rest of you meet?

Well, I suppose we could make a Venn diagram of the whole deal, but in a nutshell, Pat and I met when our bands would play together in Philadelphia in the early ‘00s. We’re both drummers, really, so we never really get a chance to play together. He had worked with Tony Goddess, who recorded some Bigger Lovers stuff. When we approached Tony about the idea he, in typical Lindsey fashion, said ‘Yes, as long as my wife Sam can be involved’. Well, thank god because Sam is our total ace in the hole – singing, playing guitar, keyboards, etc. Anyway, I’ve played in many, many projects with Dave Hartley, including The War on Drugs, The Silver Ages, Gianmarco Cilli, etc…he’s like a brother to me. And lastly, Birdie Busch is a wonderful Philly singer and songwriter and bandleader who I have seen a bunch of times and just kind of approached about the idea because she seemed to have the right spirit. And, lo and behold, the whole puzzle just fit together beautifully.

Did you all collectively realize at one point that you were all bonkers for Buckingham?

HAHA. Bonkers for Buckingham. That’s awesome. If I were more creative, I’d come up with one of those for everyone. I’m Crazy for Christine, for sure. Anyway, it’s funny, as far as Tusk itself goes, the Lindsey tracks were always sort of the roadblocks for me, personally. I’ve always seen Tusk as this treasure trove of gorgeous Christine and Stevie tracks…Over and Over, Brown Eyes, Honey Hi, Think About Me (Christine) and Storms, Sara, Angel (Stevie), which are broken up with these little Lindsey freak outs. But as we really peeled back the layers on this thing, I really came around on the Lindsey tracks too. Birdie (for whom Tusk was fairly unchartered territory at the outset), on the other hand, gravitated right to the Lindsey tunes. I mean, the record itself was really driven by Lindsey and his manic vision. So, while I like to think we’re equally opportunistic when it comes to who we’re bonkers for, I think we do all share size large, er, appreciation, for the genius of Lindsey.

Sometimes covers are way different from the originals, but you all are pretty true to the original album. Is that because it was a tribute show or are you just trying to stay true to the original works?

Funny you should say that. I mean, we definitely wanted to honor this record as a whole, and be true to it in a sense. But I think we also hoped to offset any expectations of roles, etc by having different people sing songs that spoke to them personally, rather than sticking to defined character roles, which involved moving key signatures around, etc. But maybe in the whole scheme of things, those changes were more subtle. What we absolutely did not want to do was to do some ironic or intentionally subversive take on this. I think sincerity, love, and appreciation were at the core of the decisions we made. So, to answer your question more directly, we absolutely do not intend for this to be a tribute show, but rather an honest take on this music that plays to our individual strengths and passions as musicians. And music fans.

So, you really like Lindsey Buckingham. How do you feel about the other members of the band? What can you say about Fleetwood Mac?

Well, I could say a lot about Fleetwood Mac. It’s one of those bands that almost always been there in my orbit. Having been born in 1974, I have very early memories associated with listening to Rumours and staring at the jacket. My brother Allen is nine years older than me, and I spent most of my childhood sneaking his records, trying to take it all in. I remember Rumours just sounding so HUGE and shiny…like “Go Your Own Way”, etc. And then it got all quiet and lovely with “Songbird”. The old peaks and valleys thing. And so then I found Tusk in his collection, and I remember thinking how HEAVY it was, and everything was, like, a sleeve inside a sleeve and they were upside down in the picture and it was so weird sounding. Valleys and peaks. And “Sara”. I would listen to “Sara” endlessly as a kid. (Full disclosure: I still do.) It’s just this mysteriously beautiful wash of cymbals, brushes, tack piano, etc. And I’ve always thought that if aliens came down to earth, and we needed to explain anything about anything, we could just play them “Sara”, and be like, ‘check this out’.

So as far as the rest of the band goes…I feel like it’s an endless cycle of “it’s all about Mick’s drumming”… “No, wait, it’s all about John’s pocket on the bass”…”Wait, of course it’s all about Christine’s soulful Rhodes and singing”…”Or maybe it’s all about Stevie’s two chord, seven minute stream of conscious freak outs about chasing ghosts through the fog”. The reality is, it’s all those things together. McVie and Fleetwood (the one constant through every incarnation of the ‘Mac) really are the Lennon/McCartney of rhythm sections. And having three distinctly different voices and songwriting styles on top of that just makes for such a deep combination. I think a lot of people have an opinion one way or the other about Fleetwood Mac, often informed by the hits or childhood memories or whatever. The hits are great. But there is much more. It’s been really fun doing this ‘Tusk’ thing and having friends really discovering this record for the first time. I can’t tell you how many people have said to me ‘Man, I had no idea _______ (insert revelation here)…this album is so great.’

Recycled Post: Possibly the Best Music Video Ever

Bill Paxton, currently luxuriating in the popularity of Big Love, apparently used to have a band in the 80s known as Martini Ranch. As cheesy as the name sounds, the video for Reach, a collabo between formerly married James Cameron and recent Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow, ventures further into the fromage.

Some points of note:
-dudes making coffins
-a giantess making a cattle brand
-random martinis
-a band of sexy gunslinging women, wearing nail tips
-Kathryn Bigelow spitting on a scorpion

Check it out for yourself:

[Post inspired by NYMag’s item about the video]

Interview Time: Julian Lynch

Its not every day that a girl gets to hear from one of her favorite musicians. But that day happened recently when I snagged an interview with Julian Lynch. In case you are not familiar with this supremely talented musician (I’m clearly biased), he is associated with the Underwater Peoples label and has worked with other New Jersey bands like Ducktails. He’s also pursuing a masters degree in Ethnomusicology. If you like ambience, psychedelia and unique instruments played in challenging ways, then Lynch’s music is for you.

The Bus Is Leaving: I read that you grew up in Ridgewood, NJ. What was your music education like growing up?

Julian Lynch: I did grow up in Ridgewood. There are many opportunities and privileges available to kids who grow up in a place like that. The public school system is very highly rated, and there is an emphasis on music education. Although neither of my parents are musicians, nor do they take much of an interest in music, they encouraged my brother and me to take music lessons from a very early age. I am very conscious of the fact that private music lessons are a luxury, and I’m very lucky and grateful for the chance to study music in an intensive way early in my life. I started piano lessons in second grade, and clarinet lessons in fourth. I played in school bands and orchestras. Once I got into high school, I switched clarinet teachers and stopped taking the instrument as seriously, which is a shame. On the bright side, I started learning the guitar, and for a few years of my life I was not able to put it down. I really fell in love with playing the guitar, but kind of burned myself out by college. In the past few years, I’ve slowly been rediscovering the clarinet. I could list many clarinetists that I know who possess much greater technical skill than I do in a formal sense, but I’ve been trying my best to re-learn.

TBIL: There is something very studied and intelligent about your music. What drew you to the field of ethnomusicology?

JL: Thanks! My undergraduate major was in a related discipline, cultural anthropology. I actually started out as a music major, but pretty quickly changed my mind. Towards the end of college, I was writing papers occasionally that sort of peripherally involved discussions of music, but I couldn’t really figure out how to write about music in a way that I was comfortable with (I’m still not sure I have!). After graduating, I worked for Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, and was exposed in a very limited way to some ethnomusicological literature. More importantly, I was exposed to a lot of music recordings that I really liked. I knew I wanted to go to grad school, so I applied to programs in both anthropology and ethnomusicology. I figured I’d be happy either way. I haven’t actually told too many people about this yet, aside from close friends and my family, but I just got accepted to a joint PhD program. I’ll be straddling the School of Music and the Anthropology Department here in Wisconsin starting next fall, which I’m really excited about.

TBIL: How many instruments do you play?

JL: I always feel weird answering this question, like I need to qualify it somehow. There are a bunch of instruments that I’ve used to record music, that I don’t feel comfortable saying I actually play, since people who might actually play those instruments would probably think I suck at them. The instruments I use most often when I make music are clarinet, guitar, drums, keyboards, and bass. But I physically have played many more. I’ve been learning Great Highland Bagpipe (which is actually an important part of my Master’s thesis), and also I play in the gamelan ensemble at my university. Compared to some of the more senior members of that ensemble though, I would say my abilities are pretty limited. But I’ve still used the instruments and the rehearsal space to record (I think I’m allowed to do that?). Those recordings are being used to score this movie that my friend Amy Ruhl is making about Mata Hari. I think I have one track up on my myspace, and a couple more on my blog.

TBIL: People have described your music as “blissed-out”, “psychedelic” and other words that describe nebulous sound. How would you describe your sound? What is your goal, sonically, when composing and recording?

JL: As for the first term, “blissed-out,” I’ve got to say it kind of annoys me. I mean, why not just say “blissful?” Anyways, that’s a language issue and not so much a sound issue, and it is as amusing to me as it is irritating. I think probably any description you or I could might up with could easily be scrutinized. It is really hard to describe musical sound or style in an effective way, for me especially, and a lot of times I just avoid doing so because I rarely find a need for it. I’m not sure I have any concrete goals when I record. Usually, that is. I guess I could say that I just record music that I like the sound of, but that probably isn’t so true always. The Mata Hari stuff is a good example. I made those recordings for a definite purpose; I made them for a film that already was partially completed. Amy asked certain things of me, like, she asked if I could musically reference Strauss’s opera Salome. So one of the tracks adapts some melodic material from “Dance of the Seven Veils.” Being that Mata Hari was quite the orientalist herself, and given the scene in Amy Ruhl’s film, it made sense to engage 19th century European orientalist works [Julian’s edit: Salome was actually written in the early 20th century!], and emulate their musical style in a way. But combined with the images, I think it could be interpreted as a sort of critical engagement, among other things. Strauss, and other composers who were writing operas at the time, were thinking of certain sounds as being “oriental” and gendered/feminized, the bottom line being that many of these composers had intensely racist and sexist attitudes. I figured that if I made some recordings that sounded like some of those works in some way, going so far as to actually borrow melodies from them and use gamelan instruments, then juxtaposed with Amy’s images it could open the possibility of interpretations that might be concordant with Amy’s overall vision. I’m not really doing a great job describing this, haha, but I think maybe it might make some sense if you see the movie or happen to talk to Amy ever. Also, I don’t want to misrepresent Amy’s movie in any way; these are my own ideas about what is going on there, and I’d be just as happy if someone listened to those recordings and thought something very different.

TBIL: The instrumentation in The Flood Excerpt is striking: I’m not sure but I thought I heard a talking drum and some droning instrument. I love it! Can you explain which instruments you used in that piece and why?

JL: Glad you like it! I used tabla, which I’m “choking” to get the sound that I think you are talking about. Also, I played this wind instrument that I made from tubing from a hardware store and a clarinet mouthpiece. That’s the low droning sound. I used it on another track too, called “Just Enough” which will be on the new album. There’s my old broken bagpipe practice chanter being played in part of the song, keyboard, and some percussion instruments. I think that’s it. I was taking tabla lessons at the time, and was just goofing off really, recording stuff. I added some other instruments and liked it, and the track ended up on my first LP.

TBIL: Another of my favorites is “In New Jersey”. It begins with this series of clicks that sound like tree frogs. When the melody begins it sounds lazy and hot, like a summer night in August, complete with the little creatures bustling away in the trees outside. Obviously, the beauty of music is that the listener can always draw her own conclusions. But what is the song about?

JL: The lyrics kind of got clipped for the recording, but originally they were about growing up and developing an understanding of moral justice and a picture of how the social world must work, only to have that picture disintegrate, and, in the wake of this, attempting to figure out a way to reconcile learning and experience and find a way of being in the world. That is more or less what most of the lyrics on that new album are about. I don’t really expect people to understand the words I am singing, and I generally don’t have a problem cutting off lines if it fits the melody (I didn’t write words and music together on the album at all). I’ve heard/read a lot of lyrics and poetry that I like way better than my own, and I don’t feel confident about my abilities as a lyricist. So I don’t blame you if you think all of that sounds stupid!

TBIL: Finally, in “Venom” (and some of your other pieces) the guitar sounds like it’s being played underwater. Purely from a performing/recording aspect, how do you do that? (I’m guessing pedal, but it is such a great effect!)

JL: Hey thanks again! I’m using a univox tape echo machine that I bought on ebay in 2008. Ever since I got that, I’ve used it on almost every project I’ve worked on, I love it that much. So, if you listen to Born2Run or Birthday, and then Garden is Adventure and everything after that (Orange You Glad/Ducktails split/Mare/Mata Hari), you’ll hear that tape echo in all of the later stuff.

Recycled Post: Shout Out to Flavorwire

If you read Rolling Stone (calling all Black Eyed Peas fans!) you’ve probably seen their recent issue entitled 40 Reasons to Get Excited About Music with the aforementioned terrifying band on the cover (they took the number one spot?!).

But fear not, the always entertaining Flavorwire has put together their own list of 40 reasons to be excited about music that will, most likely, resonate more with your musical tastes.

Among the very excellent mentions on the list are the DIY sensibilities striking a chord among many talented, new groups; streaming albums before you buy them; Record Store Day and the return of Gil Scot Heron. Thanks, Flavorwire!

Recent Music Videos: Some Faves

Music videos are a great way to waste time, right? Well, here’s a list to help if you have trouble deciding on a destination for your procrastination vacation.

Hot Chip: I Feel Better
This video is amazing, between Hot Chip’s awesomely danceable tune and the goofy boy band/nasty glowing alien/giant floating head. Just watch it.

Real Estate: Suburban Dogs
The opening is what first got me about this video. These young hipsters are totally and completely welcomed at this real estate agency’s holiday party. But there is something really surreal about watching footage of these middle-aged peeps, paired with Real Estate’s psychedelic, summery lo-fi tune. The grainy scenes of Jersey match the lo-fi quality in the guitars. I love this video!

Real Estate – Suburban Dogs from richslaw on Vimeo.

The Morning Benders: Promises
There is so much to like about this video: the thick layering of guitars, the cinematography, the precocious (actually, maybe that’s an understatement) little Bonnie and Clyde and that cat!

"Promises"

the morning benders | MySpace Music Videos

Efterklang: I Was Playing Drums
Talk about crafts gone wild! A man awakes to find giant bird people dragging him through a primeval forest. Did I mention that their heads are made of glitter and feathers? Yes!

This Saturday: Record Store Day

Oh, that’s right my darlings! Record Store Day comes but once a year: the day when we all (hopefully) go out and support our fave mom and pop local record stores. Have you got a list of new music you’ve been meaning to buy, but just haven’t gotten off your butt to do it?! Well this Saturday is your chance.

Check here for a list of participating stores in NY. Or, here are some of my faves, in case you’re feeling overwhelmed:
Sound Fix

Other Music

Ooh! Free Music: Tame Impala

Kevin Parker, Dominic Simper, Jay Watson and Nick Allbrook

Hot, hot, hot off my email, I’ve just received this download of Tame Impala’s single “Runaway, Houses, City, Cloud” off their album Innerspeaker–out May 21 in Australia and June 8 stateside/internationally by Modular. If you like spaced-out vocals, surfed-out, crunchy guitars, funky beats and jammy homages to YES, then this is the music for you.

Recycled Post: Flavorpill’s Rock ‘n’ Roll High School

In case you haven’t seen this post yet, you really need to take a look. I think my ideal schedule would be starting the day with a lit class taught by Patti Smith, followed by fashion design with Lady Gaga and Political Science with Pete Seeger and dead prez. Then, of course, I’d need a lunch break.

You’ve Been Waiting For It…

The US Air Guitar Championship Final is coming! Set your calendars to ROCK OUT on July 22, 2010 when the competition will be coming home to its birthplace in New York City at Irving Plaza. Some of the contenders include Ricky Stinkfingers and Lance the Shred, but I’m sure there’s much more where that came from. This event includes two rounds. In the first round contestants perform along with a song of their choice. Round two, however, is a surprise. Are you ready to be surprised with the rest of us? Well go check out the website where you can buy tickets, sign up or just find out more info.

The championship started in 2003 and the US is a member of the Worldwide Guitar Association, which counts 24 countries, including Brazil, Austria and Kenya, as its members.

Covers

Sheesh! So, in my excitement about Mates of States’ baby blog, I forgot to mention their new covers album, Crushes: The Covers Mixtape. It’s got covers of Tom Waits, Fleetwood Mac and The Mars Volta, among others. Check out the track listing here, where you can also download their cover of the Girls’ “Laura.”