Just
out of curiosity, how many of you out there have been to the Woodshed
recently since it undertook new ownership? Raise of hands, anyone?
Because let me tell you something... its a real comfort now knowing
who and when is playing at the venue. And check this out this new
improvement... PEOPLE!
--- This past Friday I made my way out to
the venue for a night of music. The monitors before hand were
covering the Olympics, which we got to see the brutal Slovakians
barely loose to team Canada. Two bands took stage that night, first
up the newly formed Hekyll N' Jive, followed up rock band Big Black
Sky. I chatted with both groups and took pictures of the night for
your still-framed enjoyment.
Hekyll N'
Jive
(Goose Godoy, Niel Olsen, Marshall Jones & Richard Serino)
http://hekyllnjive.com
***For
this interview, Hekyll N' Jive chose to answer as a group***
Gavin:
Hey guys, first off, tell us a little about yourselves.
HNJ:
We are new to the Utah, new to the music scene, new to each other,
ready to find out what SLC is all about.
Gavin:
What got you interested in music, and who were some of your favorite
acts and musical influences growing up?
HNJ:
We all became attached to the rhythms and melodies and the
attraction of inspiration from other aspiring musicians at young
ages: Influences include Los Lobos, festival percussion ensembles of
Central Mexico, middle 90's house and funky, early 80's eccentric
radio, along with the greats like Hendrix, SRV, Marvin Gaye, Parliament Funkadelic, Coltrane, A.I.C., Punk and Metal.
Gavin:
How did you all get together to form the group?
HNJ:
The magic of the internet dating sites, looking for musical soul
mates.
Gavin:
What's it been like for all of you going from meeting over the
internet to forming a band overnight?
HNJ:
Marshall was cleaning his room and then Wham Bamm. . . .FUCKIN' &
SHIT. . . Boom! Music Magnetic.
Gavin:
Considering the location, does it feel strange forming a group here
with none of you originally being from here?
HNJ:
Well each of us have a certain degree of connection with the Valley,
but it hasn't been till the band came together that we've really been
able delve into the culture and counter culture that has been here
waiting.
Gavin:
I was told you were working on a demo album at the moment. How is
that project coming along?
HNJ:
Well you can check it out for yourself on our website.
Gavin:
Are there any major plans in the works for the band after your
finished with it, or just experimenting as a group for now?
HNJ:
We have all made it pretty clear to each other that we are all 100%
committed, want to do this professionally, and want to make this as
big as we can make it with as many people as we can make it with.
Gavin:
A bit state-wide, what are your thoughts on the local music scene,
both good and bad?
HNJ:
As far as the scene this is really the first time any of us have
really gotten involved. We've noticed like any city there are clicks
and a maincity genres, but we also found that with a little searching
there is a real tight knit community and the willingness to groove on
the differences we have, musical and personally.
Gavin:
Is there anything you believe could be done to make it bigger or
better?
HNJ:
There are a lot of good bands and a lot of really great venues, it
would be great to see this place get together and really become a
viable community. Music is not just a one band phenomenon, it takes
many bands, many people, to really make a movement; which SLC has the
potential.
Gavin:
Aside yourselves, who are your favorite acts in the scene right
now?
HNJ:
Vinyl Williams, Afro Omega, Spooky DeVille, Swanky 5, Dulce Sky.
Gavin:
What's your opinion on the current airplay on community radio these
days and how its affecting local artists?
HNJ:
There is no other radio that does more for the community than KRCL.
Gavin:
What's your take on file sharing these days and how it affects you
as a musician?
HNJ:
The War on Piracy is like the War on Drugs. It's BS, and never going
away. We're all guilty of instant gratification, and the internet is
a great way to discover new connections, new sounds, but if you
really love and appreciate what you hear then you should understand
how much blood n love goes into making that music and you should
respect.
Gavin:
What can we expect from you guys over the rest of the year?
HNJ:
More... and... More!
Gavin:
Is there anything you'd like to plug or promote?
HNJ:
Our friends, our fans up and coming, the website, view
and vote we're looking for feedback on our tunes and how to spread
the grooves!
Big
Black Sky
(Matt Costello, John Bucher, Jesse Morris, Chris Cambron)
http://bigblacksky.com/
Gavin:
Hey guys, first off, tell us a little about yourselves.
Jesse:
From all over, started out in Washington state and ended up spending
a lot of years in the southeast.
Chris:
Born and raised on the Jersey Shore. Came to Utah in 2004 by way of
Boston, Denver, Minnesota, Indiana and Southern Colorado. Got lost
in the desert/mountains for a couple years and emerged to go to grad
school at the U - it's not the desert but it'll do.
Matt:
Born and raised in the UC. Took piano lessons, like most Mormons in
Utah County until 9th grade. Bought my first drum kit a year before
leaving for an LDS mission and have been playing off and on since
then. Mostly on the past four years.
John:
Born and raised in upstate NY. Moved to the coast of North Carolina
before moving to Utah four years ago.
Gavin:
What got you interested in music, and who were some of your favorite
acts and musical influences growing up?
Chris:
Led Zepplin and the Beach Boys - that about sums it up.
Jesse:
Most of my musical influence comes from my family, most all
musicians and have all gigged, recorded and done the whole deal. I
have a brother and two cousins that have been very successful. My
dad has influenced me the most – he is an excellent slide guitar
player, ala Lowell George or Duane Allman. One of my first gigs was
playing upright bass in a bluegrass band of his. My grandfather
played on the Grand Ole Opry – he gave me my first real instrument,
followed by another from my dad and then another from my uncle. So by
the time I turned 18 I had all of these instruments and well, college
didn’t really seem like much of an option back then. But for
records you know, as a teenager I was huge into Tom Petty, John
Prine, Muddy Waters, Morphine, the Beatles later got into Dylan,
Townes Van Zant, Guy Clark and Tom Waits. I saw a lot of Phish shows
in the 1990s, which sets the bar in my mind for what a live music
experience ought to be like.
Matt:
My father would play his old 45's of BB King, Ray Charles, Frank
Sinatra, Eddy Arnold, Three Dog Night, Dodie Grey. Also, I had
a good buddy in junior high who was into the Beatles, Bob Dylan, The
Doors, Jethro Tull, The Rolling Stones, Depeche Mode... you know, the
good shit. Also, because of the Irish origins of my surname I really
got into U2. Also, I had a drum teacher who introduced me to jazz:
Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Tony Williams, Duke Ellington, Charles
Mingus. And before I forget to mention him, Jimi Hendrix may very
well be my favorite. I don't get tired of listening to him.
John:
I started out playing trumpet and tuba in my elementary school band.
I picked up the guitar in college and started playing bass a few
years back. I was a huge Dylan fan since an early age. The Grateful
Dead and Allman Brothers were also big musical influences of mine
growing up.
Gavin:
How did you all get together to form Big Black Sky?
Matt:
I was introduced to Jesse through my older sister who has been
friends with his new wife (the introduction being four years ago) for
about fifteen years. The other fellas I met through Jesse.
Chris:
I responded to a Craigslist ad talking about "country rawk."
Turned out my roommate was Jesse's dogsitter. Bizarre.
Jesse:
I played in several bands after moving to Utah and finally (and
fortunately) met up with Matt and we started jamming. I was switching
between bass and guitar depending on who was coming over to jam.
Eventually we met up with Chris, but then he moved to Moab for
awhile. Then John came along and started playing bass and I switched
over to guitar full-time and Chris came back and now here we
are.
John: I
moved to Utah without knowing anyone, so the first thing I did was
seek out guys to play music with. I played in a bluegrass band for a
few years. When that fell through, I started looking again and found
Jesse.
Gavin:
All of you came from different acts with different sounds. How was it
early on fitting all those styles together and perfecting your
sound?
Matt:
First, I had to learn to not be completely forth coming with my
feelings about Phish and the Grateful Dead. Secondly, Jesse had to
make clear how much he hates heavy metal and John couldn't hide his
disdain for classic honky tonk.
Chris:
We gave it the ol' college try and used a lot of lube.
Jesse:
Those are a difficult comments to follow up. I don’t hate all
heavy metal - just the stuff that tries too hard to sound like heavy
metal. Metal is one of those things you have to feel and there are a
number of people that get involved in the metal scene first because
of the image. Anyway, after our album came out and we started playing
gigs I was able to let go of a lot of those songs on the album. I
feel like we have just now started to dial in our sound. But it took
the trial and error approach of putting that album out, warts and
all, to get to something that is really exciting and fresh – which
is where I feel like we are right now.
John:
Fitting our styles together wasn't hard at all. We all brought our
skills and backgrounds to the table and found something that is a
combination of everything we like. Our "sound" is also far
from being perfected. We are always looking for ways to make our
shows more fun for the audience and for us. Lately we have been
trying to include a wide range of styles into our set. It keeps
things from getting boring.
Gavin:
Seeing how the band is made up of people from three different
locations, why did you choose Utah as the hometown?
Jesse:
Actually I think it is four locations. Chris being from Jersey,
John is from New York, Matt is from Utah and I am originally from
Washington state but spent most of my life in the southeast. I
didn’t anticipate ever heading to Utah honestly.
Chris:
If you had told me that I would still be living in Utah five years ago,
I would have laughed heartily. Perhaps it's the delightful
socio-political climate that really warms my heart and has made me
stay.
Matt:
Who wouldn't want to spend their entire life living in Utah?
Beautiful natural wonders all around. The girls are hot and eager to
get in your pants until things get serious and then they want you to
go back to church. Sorry. Getting a little off track there. Obviously
I've had recent bad experience with the latter.
John:
Donny and Marie. Enough said.
Gavin:
Late last year you recorded the full-length album Inside Passage.
What was the recording process like for you, and what issues did you
come across while doing it?
Jesse:
It was positive for the most part. Matt and John just nailed it as
a rhythm section. We worked with a great engineer and the mastering
studio was top notch. We learned a lot and I believe the next
recording we are doing will benefit tremendously from our experiences
with Inside Passage.
Matt:
Recording is fun. My issues were mostly dealing with meter.
Chris:
I'm actually not on the record so it was smooth sailing for
me.
Jesse: He
should have been though. Chris played with us in the beginning stages
of the band then moved down to Moab. Fortunately he is back and we
are glad for it. He is definitely on the next record and having him
back adds so much depth to our sound.
John:
Recording was a good experience. It's one thing to play live and
forget how you played. Making an album forces you to focus on every
note.
Gavin:
What do you think of the public reaction to it since its
release?
Jesse:
Hmmm. Mostly I think anyone that listens to it gets the impression
that we are looking for a sound or style we can really sink our teeth
into. And we have done that since recording this album. In listening
back to it, there are quite a few different styles and approaches.
The next record will definitely be more consistent, at least
stylistically. I have had a lot of positive reactions to the record,
and no I am not related to all of them.
Matt:
I think it is going to be a big hit with kids between the age of 4
and 8.
Chris:
I do love me some Rod Stewart.
Jesse:
Ha! The SLUG review sticks out in terms of public reaction. I don’t
think they really listened to the album – maybe they read our bio
and based the record review on that. But open SLUG to any given issue
and read the local record reviews and it makes me wonder why anyone
sends their material there in the first place. My favorite was the
review where they described some band as "Nickleback with Vaginas."
We got compared to Rod Stewart by a guy who signed the review as
Woodcock Johnson. At least they picked up on our voracious
heterosexuality.
John:
My mom loves it.
Gavin:
Are there any plans in the works for a tour or just playing around
town for now?
Matt:
I'm not good with logistics, so probably local or perhaps regional
stuff.
Jesse:
We have been making the usual rounds though Ogden, Bountiful, Park
City, Provo and Salt Lake. We have opened some doors with heading to
Denver, Boise and St. George/Las Vegas, which we are planning for the
summer.
Gavin:
A bit state-wide, what are your thoughts on the local music scene,
both good and bad?
Chris:
There's a local music scene?
Jesse:
Yeah. Coming from the east coast, it is definitely more insular
here. There are a lot of talented people here but I think it needs
more of a community vibe, amongst both the players and the
patrons.
Matt:
The Red Bennies have always been a local favorite. To be honest, I
don't get out to see local stuff much. I have been exposed to the
Provo scene quite a bit lately and there is some good stuff coming
out of Happy Valley. It seems like there has always been good stuff
coming out of Utah County. It never gets exposure though. I am bored by
the Band Of Annuals, but they may find my country sensibilities corny and archaic. I love the old shit!
John:
I think the local music scene is hindered by the lack of good music
venues in Utah. Very few club owners are committed to staging quality
music on a regular basis. There are a lot of dive bars that host
music, and big venues like Energy Solutions Arena and the E Center,
but not much in between.
Gavin:
Is there anything you believe could be done to make it bigger or
better?
Jesse:
The easy target is the weirdness with the bar/club scene and alcohol
laws. But I have spent a lot of time in the southeast, and Utah is
not the only state with bizarre, inconvenient liquor laws, despite
what most people here think. I played a lot of bars in South
Carolina during the late-1990s and all liquor drinks were made with
those plastic airplane mini-bottles. And the liquor couldn’t be
served at the same bar as the beer was being sold at, so each club
had a liquor bar and a beer bar in the same building. But the clubs
were always packed and you always got paid well as a musician. So I
don’t think weird alcohol laws are the root of the problem
here.
Chris:
My take on it is, that despite the size of this city, a lot of people
just don’t go out to clubs, either because of religious reasons or
because they perceive clubs being places where un-outdoorsy people
hang out. And there is generally apathy towards original, local music
in Salt Lake. Having lived and played in towns like Atlanta and
Athens, GA and Asheville, NC where bands like Widespread Panic,
R.E.M., STS9, John Mayer and the Avett Brothers hail from, there is a
sense of pride amongst the local folks about supporting the local
artists and seeing them succeed nationally. Supporting live and
local music is just another form of being a good community-oriented
citizen in other parts of this country.
Matt:
It seems like musicians have this attitude of gladiators. Everyone
is competing. I think it would help to have a more open, sharing type
attitude with other musicians/bands. Let's help promote each other. I
like to see disparate styles share the same bill.
John:
I agree with the competitiveness of the local music scene and the
public view towards clubs. Ironically, there's not much to compete
for, yet the pressure is higher for bands in SLC. In NY, bands helped
each other out more. Musicians here put up with a lot more crap than
other places also. People are more willing to pay to play or
volunteer their time because that's what has become the norm.
Gavin:
Aside yourselves, who are your favorite acts in the scene right
now?
Chris:
Mary Leaky and the Dick Chainey's, Red Rock Hot Club.
Jesse:
Like Chris, I am a big fan of Rich Daigle and the Red Rock Hot Club.
Incredible guitarist. I honestly enjoy a well-written song more than
anything else - John Davis of Flash Cabbage writes great
songs.
Matt:
Brad Wheeler plays a lot of Tolchok Trio on KRCL. I have never seen
them play live but I like what I've heard.
John:
Wisebird and Stonefed are the two Utah bands that stick out in my
mind.
Gavin:
What's your opinion on the current airplay on community radio these
days and how its affecting local artists?
Matt:
I like the eclectisism: The Dirty Blvrd., Rev. Wheeler's show,
Foregash and Cody, the reggae... I would like to hear a more country
oriented show. I don't think country is represented well on KRCL. I
like how most of the DJ's will play cuts from local recordings. I
could stand to here a little more.
Chris:
KRCL = Good!
Jesse:
Dig KRCL – I listen to Ebay and Brad quite a bit. A fair amount
of the music I buy is something I have been exposed to on KRCL.
Portia’s show on UtahFM is definitely worth checking out, especially
for local stuff. It would be nice to hear her local show via a more
accessible medium like a morning or afternoon local’s hour on KRCL.
Good radio in the car can’t be taken for granted.
John:
Honestly, since getting Sirius, I haven't listened to one minute of
local radio.
Gavin:
What's your take on file sharing these days and how it affects you
as a musician?
Chris:
Can I take the 5th on this one?
Jesse:
It can be a great thing if you release your stuff for free in a
strategic way – which is probably the only way to do it. It will
end up be free sooner or later anyway. So if you can use it to get
yourself some hype then you are probably on the right track to bigger
and better things. Personally speaking, to borrow from The Dude, I
still do it manually with a bit of a vinyl fetish.
Matt:
I've never had any delusions of making any money at this. I
understand it is how many make their living... I don't know what the
solution is. Merchandizing?
John:
I think file sharing is great for both bands and music fans alike.
The Grateful Dead pioneered modern-day file sharing by allowing their
shows to be taped and traded. Their philosophy was that once they
played a note, it no longer belonged to them. The best thing a band
like us can do is have our music be heard. We give away our album for
free, which I guess is like files haring. If people like what they
hear, they will tell their friends and come see us live. That's what
it's all about.
Gavin:
What can we expect from you guys over the rest of the year?
Matt:
Hopefully a band that progressively sounds better and
improves.
Jesse:
We should have an EP out by summer, and I am anticipating some more
recording later in the year. We are definitely on the look out for
gigs and would like to get some exposure this summer at outdoor
events if anyone has any suggestions, we are certainly open.
Gavin:
Is there anything you'd like to plug or promote?
Jesse:
We are playing Earth Jam in Pioneer Park the weekend of April 24-25.
There are a lot of other great bands playing that weekend. There is
a benefit show for the Earth Jam we are playing at which will be held
at the 5th in Bountiful March 20. We are closing the show. Also, we
are playing at ABGs in Provo March 27 for all you Happy Valley folks
out there.
Chris:
Democracy and Phronesis.
Matt:
Tell my girlfriend Megan that I love her.
John:
Tell Matt's girlfriend that I love her.