‘The first batch of honey’ An interview with singer-songwriter Denison Witmer

facebook.com/denisonwitmer / Ethan Luck

Hot off his newest release “The Ones Who Wait,” Denison Witmer brings introspective, acoustic indie-folk to St. Louis’ the Firebird on Saturday, March 31 in support of William Fitzsimmons.

Humble arrangements and subdued melodies abound. Witmer’s quiet, oft-fingerpicked, confessionals delicately shuffle, sway and linger in your heart. The man is no different. With an eye for thoughtful self-study and journaling, Witmer conjures American life with a certain shaded contrast as he draws the listener into his soulful world. I recently interviewed Witmer by phone about his upbringing, songwriting philosophy, new recording studio and love for whiskey.

Will Kyle: Where did you grow up?

Denison Witmer: I grew up about 90 miles west of Philadelphia, in an area called Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It’s famous for being Amish country, but I grew up Mennonite.

Do you still practice?

Yes and no. I always tell people being Mennonite is kind of like being an ethnicity. You’re Mennonite forever. I think Mennonites and Jews share a lot of the same feelings when it comes to cultural ties. My friends who are Jewish here in Philly say, “Yeah, I’m Jewish, but non-practicing.”

Do you find that your Mennonite heritage creeps into your music?

Of course, it’s responsible for shaping my worldview. I really love the Mennonite church for the missions they seek out. They don’t try to Americanize people. Instead, they give power to the powerless. That’s their whole mission, to enable and empower people. That really resonates with me on a political level and on a spiritual level.

Music seems to have that empowerment aspect too, it helps people make sense of their world.

Right. Music has helped me through many phases of my life. It is kind of magical, because you’re creating something out of nothing. You create a melody you hear in your head and it can cast a spell on people. Since I have taken so much from music in my life, I feel it is my responsibility to give back in some way. Fortunately, I’m in a place where I get to do that and that’s something I don’t take for granted.

When you sit down to write a song, do you have a preconceived idea in mind or do you just start tinkering and follow the muse?

I’d say 80 percent of the time, I play the acoustic guitar and something will start to take shape, so I’ll work a melody on top of that. From there, I like to ad-lib lyrics. I always believed in seeing what comes out of me.

Usually, my favorite songs are ones that come about in an extemporaneous way. It’s kind of like things rise to the surface. That’s when I can focus in and try to work the rest of the song out. Music is also a journaling process for me, writing down my own personal epiphanies in some way, expressing my own worldview.

Past that, I don’t pretend to have it figured out or pretend to be the type of person who thinks my epiphanies are more special than everyone else’s. I pride myself on being a book between books on a shelf. We all have a story to tell, but in a sense, it’s nice to be just part of the library, I mean, it’s nice to simply be one among many stories.

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Posted by | March 30, 2012 | Interviews, Music | Comment 

‘Still chasing that buzz’ An interview with Chuck Prophet

facebook.com/chuckprophetofficial

Chuck Prophet‘s 10th full-length solo record, “Temple Beautiful,” is a spare, rocking homage to his adopted home of San Francisco, both the town and its denizens. Prophet is currently on the road with his band, the Mission Express, and he’ll be performing at Off Broadway this Thursday night, March 22, for a KDHX-welcomed show.

I caught up with him recently via email to see if we could get a little bit of insight into the new work, as well as discover just why he’s not a household name — yet.

Matt Sorrell: What led you to devote an entire album, “Temple Beautiful,” to San Francisco? And why was it important to make it at this stage of your career?

Chuck Prophet: San Francisco. That first hit, it really does a whammy to you. And if you’re like me, you can find yourself chasing the San Francisco dragon for the rest of your life. Tapping into that feeling or whatever, made writing the songs fun.

Sonically, where does “Temple Beautiful” fit in your canon? Is it a stripped-down throwback to earlier sounds, or the next step in your sonic evolution?

Yeah, it’s stripped down I guess. The songs just seemed to stand up for themselves without having to add too much. The record isn’t quite as layered as other records I’ve made. Just a couple guitars and drums pounding away. The songs didn’t seem to have any more needs than that. Even the cover is simply black and white. I don’t know if I’ve evolved per se. Devolved maybe.

I remember seeing the Flamin’ Groovies. I saw them when I was like 15 at the Temple Beautiful. What I didn’t know at the time was that they were just taking all this timeless rock and roll, all the forgotten ugly irredeemable stuff, and adding Beatles harmonies and turning it sideways and making it their own. They embraced all this music that had been cast aside at the time.  Pretty cool.

You co-produced “Temple Beautiful” with Brad Jones, who you worked with on “Soap and Water.” Why did you decide to bring him onboard again, and what did he bring to the finished record?

We compliment each other. While I run hot and cold, Brad is a very no-nonsense, Midwestern guy — not really one for emotional outbursts. He also has a deep well of knowledge, really deep. He gets it, knows the secret language of rock and roll and speaks it fluently. So, I feel safe with Brad on the other side of the glass.
 
Why was it important for you to record your previous album “Let Freedom Ring,” which deals so much with the state of America, in Mexico City?

Mexico is 1,000 feet above Denver. I thought it would be a great vantage point to look backwards through the looking glass at my own country. We got there just as the black plague broke out in the form of the swine flu, and we came home to Michael Jackson’s death. It was an adventure. I’ve had a few addictions in my past, but music and my addiction to the adventure of it all is probably the healthiest of them all.

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Posted by | March 21, 2012 | Interviews | Comment 

‘Our lives, our home, our musical community’ An interview with Jeff Raines of Galactic

facebook.com/Galacticfunk / David Lee

Before kicking off the West coast leg of Galactic‘s latest tour guitarist Jeff Raines shed some light on what it’s like to have been “touched by Treme.”

Joe Duepner: Hey how’s it going?

Jeff Raines: Good, we’re home for about a week here. A little break between the East and the West. As you know St. Louis is the Gateway to the West so we’ll be starting there on Wednesday. Go out through the mountain states and then the rest of the coast.

How was Mardi Gras this year?

Mardi Gras was the kick-off of our tour. We released our new record “Carnivale Electricos” the day of Mardi Gras actually.

“Carnivale Electricos” is Brazillian themed. Have you guys ever been down to Carnival in Brazil?

No. As much as we would love to have done first-hand research for the record we did not make it down there. There’s the distance and time and you have to wait for the carnival to come by so logistically lining those all up can be difficult. So we drew upon our deep knowledge of New Orleans Mardi Gras and we got the Brazilian carnival side vicariously through the guest artists and friends here in New Orleans. Friends like Casa Samba and Al “Carnival Time” Johnson.

The one time we had a gig in Brazil it didn’t work out. After playing our show in Argentina we all gathered in the lobby of our hotel and piled into a shuttle van. Somewhere along the ride from the hotel to the airport Stan realized his backpack was missing. Of course in his backpack was his passport and his work visa. So there went Brazil. So that’s why to this day we’ve never performed in Brazil. That was a bad day.

How do you feel about the way the HBO show “Treme” depicts the current New Orleans music scene?

It’s good, it’s the best thing anyone’s ever made about New Orleans in television or film. Hands down. Anything that’s been made prior has been cheesy and silly. “Treme” has broken that losing streak. David Simon knows what he’s doing and he’s made a great show about New Orleans. It’s as close as you can get on television.

Do you have any character you especially relate to on the show?

Well you know the trombone player. We always laugh about him. We’re usually watching it on the bus with Corey “Bo Money” Henry, who’s a trombone player from the sixth ward, from the Treme, played in all kinds of bands. We’re always laughing at him like “That’s you bro, they’re telling your story on HBO.” We have an expression down here “touched by Treme.” You know, it’s our lives, our home, our musical community. For us it’s kind of a strange blending of the real world and the television world.

If you had to recommend where to eat in New Orleans, what would you choose?

Oh man there’s so much food. It’s so hard to pick. One of the things that I love that is not a quintessential staple is some of the Vietnamese food. There’s nothing like a Vietnamese poorboy. It’s a Vietnamese New Orleans thing. And the french bread it comes on, you can only get the best french bread in New Orleans and France. It makes the sandwich so much better.

88.1 KDHX welcomes Galactic to the Pageant on March 14.

Posted by | March 13, 2012 | Interviews | Comment 

88.1 KDHX DJ Spotlight: JJ Loy of Ska’s the Limit

88.1 KDHX DJ JJ Loy, host of Ska's the Limit

Sara Finke

Every Saturday night JJ Loy keeps the two-decade run of Ska’s the Limit bouncing from one foot to the other.

While he took a break from teaching Javascript, we bantered about the current state of local and imported ska as well as the steady hold that ska has over him.

Joe Duepner: How long have you been at KDHX?

JJ Loy: About three and a half years now.

You started out doing the show?

Yeah, I’d done a ska-themed podcast that Paul Stark (previous host for 16 years) knew about. Paul stepped down to do the Musical Merry-Go-Round show and he told KDHX that he was going to end Ska’s the Limit. A few people said they didn’t want the show to go away as it was a weekend staple. I was on the list of possible hosts, and when they asked me if I wanted it, and I took it. So I didn’t have to go through a lot of the rigmarole that other hosts have.

I mean they did stick me on in the middle of the night for about a year to prove I could do it, but other than that…

Where did the logo come from? I really like it.

I had that designed. Before Ska’s the Limit had the standard checkerboard thing. It was done by Steve Kitchen from Combination13. He does skate decks and album covers for bands. He did it up real nice.

The way you said Ska’s the Limit, are you not a fan of the name?

Well I feel like it’s kind of a joke name.

But a lot of ska bands are pun names.

That’s a trend that’s kind of ending though. I think that did the scene a kind of disservice. You’d have trouble selling yourself today if your name was the Veal Skallipinis or something. There’s a lot of stigma attached to the word ska as well even though the music the current scene is playing isn’t the kind of ska that people hate.

Which would be what?

You know, ska punk has probably got the worst reputation. I’m thinking the Reel Big Fishes and No Doubts. The ones with the really big names are the ones that make people think, “Yeah I know what ska is now and I hate it.” It’s not that I hate the name, but it’s more that I think I could find a more fitting one. Honestly I play only about half ska. Mostly it’s Jamaican and retro music. Most of the bands that you would call a ska band are playing more reggae than ska. So I think it’s not a fair descriptor.

So this fourth wave of ska, it’s more back to roots?

There was an argument about that for a while. It doesn’t seem to be a wave anymore. There aren’t peaks or breaks, just a steady movement. I think the Internet has kind of normalized the popularity of genres. It’s not such a flash in the pan or revival to revile or to backlash. I’d say for 10 years now it’s been steady growth. At least on the early reggae scene. Not so much regarding the ska punk stuff.

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Posted by | March 12, 2012 | Interviews, KDHX, Music | 1 Comment 

‘Keeping each other on our toes’ An interview with drummer Darren King of MuteMath

facebook.com/mutemath

With an album released last October and a new video for the single “Allies” recently posted, MuteMath has set its sights on St. Louis for a show at the Pageant.

In the middle of a tour for “Odd Soul,” the four-piece band blends ’70s flair with searing drums, pop vocals, manic crescendos and sharp-as-nails guitar work.

MuteMath is always ready to surprise with wild stage antics and swagger; its show this Tuesday at the Pageant should be no exception. I recently interviewed drummer Darren King by phone about growing up in a small town in Missouri, his work with other artists’ remixes and MuteMath’s approach to performing on stage.

Will Kyle: So you are originally from Missouri?

Darren King: Marshfield, Missouri, born and raised.

You were there till you were how old?

Eighteen.

Marshfield sounds like one of those towns that has a Walmart, a high school and a courthouse and that’s it, right?

Yup, and a Sonic.

How did growing up in a small town affect you musically? Did you start playing when you were there?

I played in the high school marching band and I went to church in Springfield [Missouri]. They allowed me to play drums there and be pretty exuberant and didn’t try to stifle me. I recently realized they always let me play the drums really loudly and really poorly. They were always supportive, because I think they could tell I was passionate about it.

I also had a lot of time alone. I was an outsider, a weird kid, and quiet. So I had a lot of time alone to practice. I had an Australian Shepherd as a pet. When I got home from school I had a dog to greet and my first Pearl drum set I could just hit. I got a lot of stuff out of my system that way.

Besides playing with the church, when did you get in your first band?

My first band was called “Fish Gate.” I was also in a band called “Sunday Grunge,” all Christian-type bands. One of them had a lead singer, a girl; I had a big crush on her. I quit the band because I thought we shouldn’t be in a band and date. We didn’t end up dating, but we’re good friends now. I loved those opportunities to play in little coffee houses growing up.

My best friend John was a drummer too and inspired me greatly. We would always challenge each other musically, trading licks and fills. We always kept each other on our toes.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

As a kid, I originally wanted to be a Disney animator, and then I wanted to be Michael Jordan. I got these five basketballs, but they were of no use to me, as I was horrible, no matter how hard I tried. One day, I aired the basketballs up to different pitches and started drumming along on them with my feet. I realized I ought to be a drummer

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Posted by | February 27, 2012 | Interviews | 1 Comment 

Collaboration, GPS and Bonnie Prince Billy: An interview with the California Guitar Trio

Kat Touschner

The California Guitar Trio are starting a three-month-long tour here in St. Louis at the Old Rock House on Friday, February 24 as part of the club’s Listening Room Series.

They were kind enough to stop by the Magnolia studio to chat with me about touring, Robert Fripp and their newest release “Masterworks.”

After meeting at a Robert Fripp master class in Europe in 1989, Paul Richards, Bert Lams, and Hideyo Moriya decided to continue the craft they had learned from touring with Fripp’s League of Crafty Guitarists. Richards from Salt Lake City, Lams from Brussels and Moriya from Tokyo decided to congregate in Los Angeles and form their own group. Thus the California Guitar Trio was born.

Now some 20 years and 15 albums later, the group is still together and stronger than ever. Incorporating classical, rock and pop sensibilities into a trio format that never ceases to amaze audiences, the group has just released “Masterworks,” a classical album that covers the highlights of their career featuring live and studio recordings. Known for their quirky rock covers — such as “Freebird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd, “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen, and “Echoes” by Pink Floyd — this album focuses on the classics and features Tony Levin and Fareed Haque guesting on pieces by Bach and Vivaldi respectively. One of the more exciting performance groups touring, it’s always entertaining to see how they meld all these genres together during a show.

California Guitar Trio interview

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Posted by | February 24, 2012 | Interviews, Music | Comment 

88.1 KDHX DJ Spotlight: Mark Silverstein of Louisiana Stomp

Sara Finke

An 88.1 KDHX volunteer for more than 17 years and KDHX radio personality for 14 of those years, Mark Silverstein hosts Louisiana Stomp on Sundays 5-7 a.m. Central. He specializes in playing music that will get you moving, including Creole, Cajun, zydeco, Texas swing and everything in between.

Mark — who when not spinning records on the radio, works for the U.S. Postal Service — has been a proponent of Cajun, Creole and zydeco music in St. Louis for about as long as anyone can remember. He spreads this musical gospel wherever he goes. Some people appreciate music from the areas surrounding and including Lafayette, La. Mark truly loves it, and every week on KDHX he delivers a diverse sampling of the best the region has to offer.

Jared Corgan: When I think of music from Louisiana the first thing that comes to my mind is the Preservation Hall Jazz Band — sousaphones, a snare drum and funeral marches. Where does Louisiana Stomp fall in the mix?

Mark Silverstein: New Orleans is blues, jazz, and like you mentioned, brass bands. But when you go out west it’s Cajun. Cajun is more than just music; it’s a culture, a lifestyle. They’re out there in houseboats with a whole other way of life including their Cajun language, Cajun food and Cajun music. New Orleans captures the big city lifestyle while incorporating the Cajun food, Cajun music and Zydeco.

Cajun music grew up, like porch music where people would get together and just jam and dance, whereas New Orleans music was more likely to be rehearsed and performed as entertainment. For example, there are quite a few recordings of the early New Orleans jazz musicians, while some of the best early Cajun musicians were never recorded. Cajun country is in and around Lafayette, which is an hour or so west of New Orleans. It’s where Cajun and zydeco music are found and can also be found typically to the west as far as the radio signal could have reached. That’s the music I focus on.

What is the difference between Howzit Bayou and your show?

Louisiana Stomp is primarily Cajun and zydeco music. Howzit Bayou is New Orleans and Cajun and zydeco music. I typically will not play jazz, Louis Armstrong, brass band music, Mardi Gras Indian music, etc…

How would you describe yourself outside of the role of a DJ?

I would describe myself on the music scene as a non-celebrity. I’ve been dancing since around 1985 and I’m a music aficionado from way back when.

What do you want your audience to take away or get from your shows?

I would like them to gain an appreciation of the diversity of Cajun, zydeco, and swamp pop. I want to help them to be able to recognize the differences and similarities between all the types of music that are played on my show.

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Posted by | February 15, 2012 | Interviews, Music | Comment 

‘Maybe Ike Turner came down inside of the record’ An interview with Black Joe Lewis

Nate Burrell

Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears play upbeat blues injected with influences that include soul, punk and rock ‘n’ roll. Hailing from Austin (though now living in Montreal), Joe Lewis’ dynamic vocals and heavy guitar licks provide the lead for a turbo-charged ensemble of horns and percussion.

The group’s 2011 release, “Scandalous” (produced by Spoon drummer Jim Eno), is a fast ride down a dusty road with some surprises along the way. The track “Mustang Ranch,” for example, tells a true story of the band’s encounter with a seedy pit stop en route from Salt Lake City to San Francisco. The groove will get you on your feet, and the lyrics will forever change the way you think of a “glazed ham.”

Ahead of the band’s upcoming, KDHX-welcomed concert at Off Broadway on February 15, I chatted with Lewis about the Austin music scene, Ike Turner’s ghost and an upcoming tour with Flogging Molly.

Francisco Fisher: You received a lot of attention from your [2009] performance at South By Southwest. What other opportunities did you encounter as a musician from Austin?

Black Joe Lewis: Just getting to rub shoulders with a lot of good musicians and awesome bands. I’ve got good friends in Austin. It’s my hometown.

Is it convenient to be from a place with such a vibrant music scene?

Oh yeah, it is. But it’s a town where you have to really try and do something to get noticed, because there’s so much other good stuff going on every night. So you have to try to be original.

You’ve rejected the label of “soul revival.” Many musicians share your influences, but what really sets you apart from artists like Sharon Jones?

They play soul better than us. You’ll just have to listen to the records back-to-back and see what you can hear for yourself. It’s just a matter of opinion.

You’ve got an upcoming show in St. Louis. Do you have any influences that came out of St. Louis?

To tell the truth, I don’t know. Who’s all from St. Louis? There’s a lot of cool stuff going on and I like the city in general. It’s got an old vibe and I like all the old buildings.

Chuck Berry’s from here. Ike and Tina Turner met in St. Louis.

Yeah, all those acts. Ike Turner died when we went in to the studio to record our first album. As we were in the studio, we learned that he passed away. We thought it was a sign or something.

A sign of what?

Maybe Ike Turner came down inside of the record or something like that.

How much of the newest album “Scandalous” are you going to incorporate into the show?

We do a different set list every night, so it just depends how we’re feeling that night. We might play some songs off the new record, an old one, some covers and new stuff we’ve been working on. Just to have something different to play, something new. We get tired of playing the same stuff every night, so we like to mix it up. Some bands like to use the same set list for an entire tour. I wouldn’t be able to do that. It would drive me nuts.

After St. Louis, you’re going to tour with Flogging Molly. How did your two groups get together? Is it going to be a cohesive pairing?

It’ll be interesting. We played with them in Chicago two or three years ago; we opened up for them. It should be pretty rowdy when people get down on it. Either way, it won’t be a boring tour.

KDHX welcomes Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears to Off Broadway on February 15.

Posted by | February 13, 2012 | Interviews, Music | Comment 

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