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Album Review: Katie Knipp - The Well

3/14/2021

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Photo credit: Phil Kampel
By now, most of us have a serious case of the Lockdown Blues. But there is hope! Almost like a homeopathic dose of the blues to cure the blues, Bay Area blues darling Katie Knipp’s latest release, The Well, is just the antidote for the overall hell we are experiencing right now. 

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Last year at this time, Knipp was climbing the Billboard Blues charts, in which she shared honored space with other masters like Buddy Guy and Kenny Wayne Shepard. She was also flying high on a nod from the Grammy Association by almost acquiring a nomination for her 2019 release Take It With You, as well as planning this latest release of The Well. But then Covid hit and The Well took a detour of process. 

With no real safe way to rehearse, Knipp rocked it regardless, using today’s technology to distance-share the songs with her band before recording The Well together. “I just gave my band the raw songs (live phone recordings of my playing and singing), told them the vibe I was going for, and I made sure they had the lyrics to get into the story,” states Knipp. “Because they are such great players and people, they showed up for recording and absolutely got it. They nailed the first take, which was ‘The Gospel of Good Intentions’. The fact that we had never played it together, and that what you are hearing on the album was our first live run through...well, I feel like the luckiest gal ever to work with people like that”

“I also went into this knowing I wanted my bass player Zack Proteau to co-produce with me. In the past, I would always go into a project producing myself, but this time I knew better. Dustin Ryan, our engineer, ended up in the co-producer role by the end of it as well. There is no stronger structure than a triangle! Zack was also the producer behind Jackie Greene's Gone Wanderin’ album, so he has been producing quite a while now. The special guests on here, like Mick Martin (harmonica), the Au Bros (horns), and Joan Osborne's Keith Cotton (Hammond) were also people that I didn't need to direct. I knew that if they were being themselves, we would get the right sound.”
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Photo Credit: Phil Kampel
Knipp’s band has some sort of magnetic connection to her, and they hold Knipp’s songs like an attentive lover. “I feel safest when I am with them,” she states. Lead guitarist Chris Martinez bounces off of Knipp’s playing with tandem magic, weaving pure blues chords in out and out her songs. Bassist Zachary Proteau and drummer Neil Campisano create such an intense pulse that one can literally feel it in your bones, and percussionist & woodwind maven Otis Mourning adds such depth and feeling with his horns (sax, clarinet) that meld so beautifully with the music.

Knipp takes her music seriously, writing songs for The Well that spanned the gamut of blues-inspired subjects such as abuse, sex, drugs, and love -- regular love, bad love and psychotic love. She sings with great exuberance, allowing her deep, powerful, rich, and full voice to be the muse of the lyrics, punctuating each verse with juicy howls, fierce moans, and a "fuck you" attitude, all controlled with sheer brilliance. 

​"As I say in the song ‘Chamomile and Cocaine,’ ‘been singing the blues since the age of 13,’ it all started with singing. I always felt the freest when I sang this style in particular,” she says. “After falling in love with New Orleans piano styles and delta blues on the dobro, the instruments began to catch up with what I was already doing vocally, allowing me to write contemporary blues songs more easily. Some songs lean towards jazz, some towards Americana, but it's all blues at the core.”

Knipp has worked very hard to get to where she is, and she is grateful for her musical career. “I cherish every moment and just feel completely grateful. I definitely feel pressure to always do better than my previous albums, but it’s a good kind of pressure because all it really comes down to is the desire for constant growth. Music is so wonderful that way because you can never stop growing your craft on different instruments, styles, and writing.”

Knipp wants to continue to create music that resonates with her soul with lyrics that express her personal truth, and The Well reflects exactly that.  She is a woman on the go, climbing the ladder of musical success on her own terms and with her own vision intact.  


The Well is out! Orders can be made at 
katieknipp.bandcamp.com/album/the-well

OR


http://soulspazm.ffm.to/thewell?utm_medium=social&utm_source=linktree&utm_campaign=spotify%20pre-save%20the%20well
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Photo credit: Phil Kampel
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Album Review: Kyle Stringer's House Plants

1/11/2021

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Here we are, closing in on a whole year since our lives and our global existence have morphed into different beasts, and I have a feeling things might not go back to what we knew of as "normal." But within that, life does go on; the Earth keeps spinning on its wobbly axis, and music is continuing to be made and heard. 
 
The other day I was sad. I was grieving for the old normal and needed to shut off my brain for a little while. I put on my headphones, spread myself onto my bedroom floor, and pushed play on Kyle Stringer's solo project House Plants (which is both the name of the "band" as well as the title for the album.). I cried for the first time in a while. You may think that a weird statement to start an album review, but in my mind, if music evokes strong emotion, it's an excellent album. The crying led to a smile, which led to a laugh, then onto a small boogie-dance session, which ended with thinking many thoughts and feelings about my life. All that and more are encompassed in the various moods of House Plants.
 
Stringer has grown up playing music, starting on Euphonium (a tiny tuba) in elementary school as well as learning guitar. "My love has pretty much always been the bass, though," Stringer says. "I love how it glues music together. It's really the unsung hero of music! Listening to it and playing it is so rewarding." He also works as a music therapist at a Veteran's Home in Napa County, where he uses music to heal. 
 
Up until the life-sucking shutdowns, Stringer was in Oakland-based rock band Milk For The Angry. But because surviving in life is about making the best of bad situations, Stringer felt that now that he wasn't able to gig, he had the chance to record many of his own songs that he had been stockpiling over the last five years. Like most musicians recording in this particular historical period of time, Stringer created this album by recording in his bedroom on his computer while doing most of the vocals and instrumentation himself (including his Squier Strat and Silvertone Archtop plus lots of pedal effect, as well as his trusty Rickenbacker 4003 bass and more). He had friends on board who filled in various musical parts from their own bedrooms across the country with file sharing. Welcome to the Pandemic Age of recording music. 
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Photo: Carolyn McCoy
"Working on a record alone and piecing it together was very rewarding, but collaborating with others and making music is rewarding in a different way. Everyone involved in this record was a friend of mine. At first, I wanted to complete the whole record independently, but I quickly realized I wanted to involve others as I didn't have all the skills to make it sound and look how I wanted," says Stringer. "It was incredibly rewarding to work with my friends and to have their mark on this record. Each person inspired me and further informed the songs. At the end of 'Suspicions,' there's a keyboard part that my partner played. I remember her playing that, and I knew immediately that it was exactly what the song needed." 
 
House Plants is defiantly an emotional album, but not in a blatant way. There is a soothing feeling about the sound; there is familiarity and a groundedness to what you hear. It's like an old friend. It's like a sonic hug or cozy lap to crawl into; it feels safe and warm while simultaneously allowing you to feel what you need to feel. The vocals are mixed beautifully with the music so as not to be "in your face," and there are enough electronic tweaks and gurgles that make the music come alive with a modern edge. The combination creates a soundscape with layered depths and deeper meanings. The lyrics are simple, but the stories convey universal experiences. Stringer's singing style could be considered quirky, but he claims that and uses his voice beautifully. I love the lack of perfection because it sounds real instead of overproduced. 
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"I guess all of my experiences come together to create the songs. However, all of the songs are not about me. Each song was written at a point in life where I needed some time to reflect on something. For instance, 'Mom and Dad' was written about knowing so many friends getting divorces and writing the song from their child's perspective. 'Alarms and Headaches' is a personal experience about a relationship; how something can change so suddenly, and how, after that change, everything is drastically different in your mind!"
 
The album opens with "The Park," an intimate snapshot into moments and memories of a relationship, with its dreamy and layered vocals combined with acoustic guitars. "Camper" was an immediate favorite of mine. The beauty of this song opened my heart to feel with the lyrical poetry, "And in the mirror you can't see what is beyond you…Open a window just to feel the world passing down below…I breathe it in my lungs… It's all that I can do.”  It starts softly but then leads to slamming guitar chaos that made my soul free. "Tonight" is a pop ride about missing a lover. "Weed Eater" is a profound track with a slow-build of sound; guitars and keyboards and vocals all enmeshed in feeling and mood while the vocals call out, "Is this world becoming a thought that seems so stale?
I think I've lost the stability in admitting I'm afraid". "Future Vision" takes on a bit of electronica with dark overtones, while the final track "Conflicted" leaves the listener thinking about the continual cycles of life and death by stating, "Sometimes life doesn't last a lifetime…And sometimes it lasts longer".
 
Stringer is connected to music and needs it in his life to feel sane. Even with the possibility of our local music scene not rebounding after all this chaos, he will still allow the creative muse of music to come into being through his soul. "I don't think I could stop if I tried," Stringer admits. "I think everyone feels that way in some way, even if their way of being creative is cooking or organizing. You have to keep doing what fills you up, and for me, that's music. Especially in these confines, I feel the need to create music at home. It's nice to have space to do that, especially with insanity happening around us. Hopefully, someday, gigs and concerts will come back, and we won't have to do it in a in a plastic space bubble."
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Additional Players/Contributors:
Josiah Zimmerman: Drums
Alex Doolittle: Additional Drums
Lara Avery: Vocals, Tiny Keyboard, Scream
Erin Moore: Additional Vocals
Matt Mittman: Additional Guitar
Ben Sauder: Vocals

Chase Horseman: Guitar, Synths, Mixing, Co-Producing
Joel Nanos: Mastering
Nicholas Stahl: Layout & Design 
Josiah Zimmerman: Leafy Collage 
Chloe Breau: Cover Artwork 

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Find out more about Kyle Stringer and House Plants, listen to the album!
houseplantsmusic.bandcamp.com/album/house-plants

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Mirabelle's Release - A True Ghost Story

10/27/2020

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When I was in my early 20’s, I was hanging out with a folk band from San Francisco, The Straw Coyotes. Their music was filled with multiple harmonies, lyrics with “thee” and “thou” and they were acoustic in a troubadour kind of way. I was deep in unrequited love with one band member, a lanky songwriter boy with a wandering, gypsy heart. I loved to hang out with the band, party with them, and experience the wonderment of having beautiful songs come to life in my living room (or my bedroom, as the case may be).
 
During the summer of 1992, the band members packed up their vans and cars for an epic road trip. The plan was to jam, write, and make music while communing on the shores and woods of Puget Sound’s gorgeously wild Vashon Island near Seattle. I decided to road trip up to Washington for a few days on my own to visit with the band.
 
I was a lot wilder in those days than I am now, and I was always up for adventures. My favorite road trip ritual was to consume massive amounts of Sudafed and guzzle Snapple Ice Tea.  I would  then leave at night, cracked out of legal uppers and drive till the morning light appeared over the two-lane blacktop. It was so exhilarating to be one of the few drivers on the road at 4:00 in the morning. I could freely drive 90 miles an hour with my mixed tapes blaring, the Sudafed making my scalp tingle, and all the crazy thoughts I had about life flying through my mind.
 
On this particular trip, I made it to Seattle in about 11 hours, stopping only for gas, pee breaks, and more Sudafed. When I disembarked from the ferryboat and headed to where the band was staying, I had been up for over 36 hours. That’s what being 22 years old and a wild child is all about.

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Album Review: Physical Suicide Deterrent System Project - Luddite

9/30/2020

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Co-written by Carolyn McCoy & William Wayland
The music of Physical Suicide Deterrent System Project (or PSDSP for short) is complicated. We could easily plop them into the genre of “grunge," but it’s more than that. The trio, guitarist/singer Eli Carlton-Pearson, drummer Michael Pinkham and bassist Brian Wilkerson pull from jazz and psychedelic genres while adding some hardcore ass-kicking punk for kicks. The songs the band creates often eschew the typical “verse/chorus/bridge” construction to create a river of sound that takes you on a sonic journey with intelligent and poetic lyrics that uphold deep imagery to tell a story of both darkness and hope.
 
The band’s songwriting process is definitely a collaborative effort. “I write all the songs, though several come about from jams, or at least evolved within them,” states Carlton-Pearson. “Michael and Brian contribute a lot in the way of arrangement, rhythmic conception, and what's perhaps the most significant thing, how much fire they cook up playing. That then permeates the whole ‘thing’; it changes the way I sing the lyrics I wrote; it gives the song more real-life meaning. {The song} has to be a living thing, and that happens because of the band.
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Photos: Carolyn McCoy
​PSDSP has just released their latest album, Luddite, on vinyl, an old trend that seems to be resurfacing as a common practice among musicians lately. The album culls from new and old songs that have never been recorded before. Inline with the definition of “Luddite” (one who eschews or is mistrustful of technology when creating), the band decided to record in analog, raising funds via a Kickstarter campaign so that they could make the sound they were looking for.

​The band traveled to New Paltz, NY, to work with Tom Deis at Pineapple Room Studio. “I've known Tom for 16 years now. We've been in bands together and worked together a fair bit, but moreover, we're just really good friends,” says Carlton-Pearson. “Tom worked so fucking hard on this record it's ridiculous. He signed up for one of the gnarliest hazings an engineer could go for, going into a 100% analog recording process from a largely digital workflow and buying several pieces of equipment specifically for Luddite. All the technical limitations we experienced just wound up being the magic on the tape at the end, which is why we chose to do the whole thing as we did.”
 
“I wanted to work with Tom basically because I trusted him. I trusted him musically, and I trusted him personally. He gets it. He gets that music is a spiritual entity you access through the physical world. I guess this whole recording was way more intense and vulnerable than I'd like to admit. I trusted his understanding of how to use technology to capture the spirit of things.”
 
When asked why the band decided on analog, “Because it sounds better,” replies Carlton-Pearson, “It just does.“ 

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Album Review: Jeremy D'Antonio - Spinnin' Wheels

9/23/2020

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It’s one of those warm, early autumn evenings here in Northern California; the crickets chirp away, the stars sparkle in the sky, and summer begins to drifts off into the past. In the wake of the vast West Coast fires, we now have a respite from smoke and fear, and I breathe in the fresh night air. As I sit and experience all this, Marin County singer/songwriter Jeremy D’Antonio’s new album Spinnin’ Wheels wafts softly from my room, seemingly in conjunction with the multi-faceted songs of local crickets. It’s a fitting venue, the night, to listen to this fantastic EP.

D’Antonio is most known as part of Marin County’s Americana band, San Geronimo. His first solo record is a refreshing breath of fresh air in a time of fires, lockdown, pandemic hell, economic collapse, and political upheaval, yet has nothing to do with any of that. It’s a journey unto itself that helps one forget the woes of the world for a while. For D’Antonio, Spinnin’ Wheels is a detour from San Geronimo’s sound in many ways, taking a healthy dose of Country and mixing it in with D’Antonio’s hard-hitting songwriting. 

“I never intended to write a country song or have a ‘country vibe’. I actually mostly listen to old soul music,” states D’Antonio. “Only recently have I dug into some of the ’60s and 70’s country classics, mostly because people assume I know all that music and request me to play it live. I think any music that is honest is good; you can immediately hear the difference. I grew up in New Mexico and Colorado, and I guess there is something about that landscape or the blue-collar lifestyle that comes out in what I do.”  

“Lyrics stem from feelings more than physical experiences. A feeling can make you experience a thousand different emotions without ever physically doing anything. I think this allows me to write about scenarios that have happened in my head but not in the physical realm,” D’Antonio states on his songwriting. “I know a lot of people write a story and put down the words first, but I usually start with a feeling. I get so deep that it is hard to be around others, and I am able to dive down pretty far and extract what is most honest about whatever “funk” I am in. From this usually comes a melody and the words follow.”​

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Album Review: Zephaniah OHora - Listening To The Music

9/9/2020

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Cover photo: Jammi York
When a musician channels music and brings it into the corporeal world, sometimes there is no rhyme or reason for what kind of music they create. When Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Zephaniah OHora
started his musical career, it was Country music that somehow manifested itself through his being. I am sure Zephaniah will credit his spiritual upbringing as well as the circuitous circumstance and available opportunities to play music in NYC for maneuvering his career towards traditional Country. But whatever fates drove his train, he is now on the fast track towards becoming a star in the Country world. 

 
“I’ve been influenced by so much music because I listen to quite a variety,” states OHora. “But as far as Country music artists, I’ve spent many hours studying Jimmie Rodgers, Ernest Tubb, Lefty Frizzell, Marty Robbins, and more recently Bobby Bare, Don Williams, and Merle Haggard.”
 
OHora has just released his second album, “Listening To The Music”. It upholds classic, old-school Country in the true tradition, but with the flavors of modern New York tossed in for kicks. “Listening To The Music” is a great album not only because of OHora’s songwriting skills, but the album hosts such big-time players as harmonica player Mickey Raphael (Willie Nelson) and guitarist Norm Hamlet (Merle Haggard). 

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Album Review: Kenny Roby - The Reservoir

8/7/2020

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Album cover photo: Gary Waldman
What do you do when your life falls apart, loved ones die, and you find yourself in a place of loss? Do you succumb to the demons at hand; let them pull your sanity apart? No, you don’t. You use that energy to create. You put forth all that you feel into your art, making something immensely positive when all else is going to shit. Within that, you’ll not only survive, but you’ll come out with something incredible, most likely.
 
North Carolina-based songwriter Kenny Roby has had a crazy couple of years similar to the scenarios described above. He lost his longtime friend and fellow collaborator Neal Casal (Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Circles Around The Sun), dealt with the demise of his relationship, and realized his life was changing in ways that were difficult beyond measure. Yet he didn’t let all this craziness get the better of him. He channeled that loss and made a record; a really incredible and beautiful record, no less, in the form of The Reservoir, his first solo release (outside of albums with his main band 6 String Drag) since 2013.  The songs on this album reflect his recent experiences, drawing the listener into the story in profound ways.
 
“I think it’s less difficult to put (challenging experiences) into words than it is to get out of the way and not censor yourself too much,” Roby states. “To be as honest as you can about what you are experiencing. It’s also riding that fine line of sharing the human experience but not getting bogged down too much in the details. This record is more a sharing of what my experience was of being ‘one of us humans’ than it was a memoir, as far as I can tell.”
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photo: Gary Waldman
The Reservoir brought together major players in Roby’s world. The album was set to be produced by Casal before his untimely and tragic death. Still, Casal was instrumental in helping Roby create a Dream Team for the album, connecting Roby to CRB drummer Tony Leone, guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Jesse Aycock (Hard Working Americans), bassist Jeff Hill (CRB), and guitarist John Lee Shannon. To top off the epicness, Widespread Panic bassist Dave Schools jumped aboard as successor to produce the album. Roby’s super-group was complete.
 
“It was very easy playing with those guys,” states Roby. “They make it easy to let go and do my thing. That also might have a little to do with me letting go and letting them do their thing, too. There have been times in my artistic career, and in my personal life, I might have held onto things too tightly. I’ve been pretty fortunate to have played with some incredible musicians in my life.”
 
“The older I get, the faster I make records. I’d rather document the vibe and feel than sweat too many details, to squeeze the life out of the experience. This record was recorded pretty quickly. 16 completed songs in 7-8 days, basically. With a few songs that we scrapped.”
 
All the songs on The Reservoir flow beautifully throughout the album. “Don’t Ya Know What’s On My Mind” opens the album with a soft, cushion of sound, just Roby's soulful voice, his acoustic guitar and stream-of-conscious river of ideas passing through our ears. We jump into an old-timey vibe with “Vampire Song”, a upbeat ditty that speaks of facing fear, “Watcha gonna do when a man’s got nothin’ to lose?”. “All Trains Lead To Cocaine” touts the wickedness of addiction with a country-gospel sound. “History Lessons” brings the energy up a notch as a bouncy, whistle-along tune that adds lightness to the album. “Watchin’ Over Me” is a beauty of a song that speaks to me of the redemption of past discretions.
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Photo: Gary Waldman
“Room 125” was one of the first songs Roby wrote for this album. It’s the song that caught Casal’s attention and brought him on board to help with production, as during that time both Casal and Roby were fighting their own personal demons. The song nails the feelings of darkness well, stating,  “What do you do when loneliness surrounds you and holds you in its grip…And no one’s there to listen to you hold your tongue, when somethin’ don’t seem right.” “Silver Moon” is dedicated to Casal, with a country feel showcased by stellar slide-guitar, “The silver moon is fading in the darkness on the night we chose to say goodbye”.
 
The final track on the album, “I’m Gonna Love Again”, leaves us with a bit of hope. Maybe, just maybe, out of the darkness, we can find joy. “I send my paper heart into the wind, I’m gonna love again.”
 
In many ways, The Reservoir plays out like a therapy session, or a series of diary entries. We get a deep sense of Roby’s depth as a songwriter, as his wordplay is intelligent, poetic, and hits the heart in a profound and emotional way.
 
“I hope people give it a good listening to,” states Roby of The Reservoir. “At the very least, to be entertained for a moment in these crazy times. And maybe on another level, some folks might identify with it, and maybe it’ll help them feel a little less isolated and alone.“
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Photo: Gary Waldman
Check out more on Kenny Roby:
http://kennyroby.net/
His single "Old Love" is gorgeous: Check it out!
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Album Review: Colin Schlitt's Peppermint Moon - A Million Suns

7/19/2020

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I think it’s genuinely brilliant that one may go into their bedroom, turn on their computer and record an album. I think it’s incredible that with the technology we have at our fingertips in this day and age, musicians can be in complete control of what they produce with a flick of a mouse, some good lyrics, and melodies inside their heads. BAM! Magic happens, and songs are made and digitalized for all to hear.
 
Bay Area musician and songwriter Colin Schlitt has done just that. Schlitt’s side project, Peppermint Moon, is a complete DIY one-man-band that has produced an airy and grungy album, A Million Suns. Schlitt is best known as the bassist for the Marin County band El Radio Fantastique, but his talents range far and wide when it comes to music. Schlitt is an accomplished musician on not only bass but also piano and guitar starting at a young age.
 
“I started writing songs in my early 20’s. That’s also when I started playing bass in bands where a lot of the songwriting was collaborative. I focused mainly on the bands I was in, but my own songs were more of a hobby at that point”, states Schlitt. 

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After joining El Radio Fantastique, bandleader Giovanni Di Morente asked if he had any songs that might fit in with the band’s sonic madness. “I played some for him, and he loved them. After that, I started singing some of my songs in the band. With Giovanni’s encouragement, I really started to get the songwriting bug. I use a method that he taught me where I start by focusing just on melody ideas. I then sing the melody with lots of oohs, ahs, and other vowel sounds. After doing that for a while, I subconsciously start filling in words here and there that fit the phrasing of the melody. As these subconscious words start getting filled in, I then start thinking about what potential meanings are developing and fill in the blanks.”

As Peppermint Moon, Schlitt had the opportunity to create music that was wholly his. “My favorite music has always been psychedelic pop,” states Schlitt, “I always try to find that sweet spot of sounding weird but also not so weird that it’s hard to listen to. That balance is what really gets my juices flowing.” On his own albums, both A Million Suns and his 2019 debut release Symphony Of Sympathy he does all the instrumentation, the vocals, the recording and the mixing for his albums. “My production style is much more punk rock – not so much in the sound, but in the attitude. I have no real production or engineering training and have learned as I go. I basically just say ‘screw it’ and try not to let my lack of technical knowledge get in the way.“

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His choice to not use his own name for this project is a bit unusual. He explains, “I like the idea of a set of music having a poetic name as opposed to just being the name of a person. I am also pretty shy and introverted most of the time and felt more comfortable giving this project a name that wouldn’t draw as much attention to me personally and would focus more on the songs. I thought it would be cool if people were fooled and thought it was an actual band.”
 
“Doing everything by myself is a very different experience and offers a different type of satisfaction. All the choices I make are solely for what’s best to convey a song.”
 
“I have synesthesia where I visualize music when I hear it," he states of his musical visions. "I remember describing these colorful, rhythmic cartoons I was seeing while listening to music when I was really young and no one knowing what the hell I was talking about. The best representation I’ve seen of this is in the movie Ratatouille, where they visually animate some of the flavors Ratatoulle tastes. It is very similar to what I see when I listen to music.”
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A Million Suns was originally going to be a three-song EP. With lockdown orders in place, Schlitt had time to write more music, so the album grew to 5 songs total. The album is filled with ethereal moods and layered vocals wrapped up in a grungy, psychedelic vibe. “Venus Flytrap”, the opening track for the album, is all crunchy feedback with a psychedelic surf-vibe and sets the tone for the sonic roller coaster the listener will experience. “Like You Used To Feel” has a killer groove and a vortex of soundscapes. “What You Wanted” and “On A Dare” takes the listener to deep places inside their heads and ”This Way Monsters Be” ends the album with wispy visions. 
 
Schlitt provides dreamy music with a kick. There is a buoyancy to the songs that are sidelined by an underlying edginess; it’s an interesting mix that creates wordless emotions and feelings. Schlitt will continue to keep himself busy with El Radio as well as Peppermint Moon, “I do love collaborating with other musicians,” he states, “and I would never want to exclusively make music by myself.” When one has music pulsing through their veins, it’s almost impossible to stop creating. With Schlitt’s talented repertoire of sonic tricks, it will always be fun to see what he comes up with next.
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Check out the music and more info on Peppermint Moon
Bandcamp:
http://peppermintmoon.bandcamp.com/

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Spotify:
​http://open.spotify.com/album/2vV0M13iYva7vJkKJB1htA?si=pSQ8CAGaQGWC8-n5KdwK4A
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Darren Nelson & The 421's - The Backyard Sessions - 6.20.20

6/24/2020

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Marin singer/songwriter Darren Nelson is a striking presence. He is plastered with tattoos, has a long and wild mane of hair, sports a scruffy, mountain man-style beard, and a heart-melting grin. In any given song, his expressive face may go from a wide-mouthed scream to a peaceful Buddha. His songs are lyrical stories telling of runaway convicts, drinking, love & heartbreak, and how a hard life can turn out to be a fun adventure. His onstage presence is both dynamic and genuine as he sets his focus on making epically awesome rock and roll with any one of his numerous bands that include Honeydust, San Geronimo, and now, the 421’s.
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The musicians in the 421’s are massively talented and seasoned players, and all of them have gigged around with Nelson for ages. Along for the musical ride is the epic guitarist Danny Uzilevsky (Honeydust, Koolerator), bassist Mike Anderson (San Geronimo, Maurice Tani), guitarist Tom Finch (Big Brother, Tom Finch Trio), and the smiley-est drummer of all, Rob Hooper (Koolerator/Carolyn Wonderland). It’s been about 5 months since Nelson got together with his mates in the 421’s due to Covid distancing. It was a joy for everyone to be together for the first time again during a live stream performance for The Backyard Sessions. “I missed them all so much, but when we finally got to The Backyard, it was such a reunion!” states Nelson. “We had to resist our hugs, but the smiles were uncontainable!”
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The Backyard Sessions is a new backyard live stream venue in Marin County that aims to host many local bands while providing high-quality video, sound, and production elements for live stream shows. In these strange times we live in, it’s the next best thing for musicians and bands to try to squeeze out a living on music-making, but it’s not the same as a live performance. “The live stream leaves a lot to be desired in terms of audience participation,” states Nelson. “I very rarely
write a setlist for a show because the songs I play depends on the interaction of show-goers. Now, I can’t see the reaction of those watching, so I make my setlists entirely by the way I feel. The closest thing I get to audience participation is a scrolling line of comments. While I’m playing, I can’t really look at them because I’m focused on the songs, but in between tunes, I can get a quick sense of who’s there who might want what song.”

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Soul Ska Live Stream - The Backyard Sessions - 6.10.20

6/13/2020

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At this point in time, most of us are experiencing a bit of the Lockdown Blues, and even though it seems as if we are coming out of it, we are entering back into a world that has changed drastically. It is sad to say that the music scene in the Bay Area may be in a state of a significant overhaul with massive shutdowns and closures of all music venues, bars, and clubs. Most of us have not gone to a live show since mid-March, and bands and musicians are struggling to find a place (and an income) in the new paradigm.
 
The future of our local music scenes is uncertain. Will we ever be able to gather in large groups again? Are small clubs and bars a thing of the past? Who knows? But the truth is, we still need live music in our brains, and we still need to rock and roll, so how do we do that when we can’t gather? Well, kids, welcome to the New Age of the music industry, Live Stream shows via the Internet.
 
I like to say, “When the going gets wacky, the wacky people get creative and innovative.” It seems that the new version of a “live music venue” is in our own backyards, literally. Backyard (or garage, front porch or front yard) live streams are the new clubs, the lawn or patio is the latest idea of a stage and countless viewers sitting at home with their computers are the modern audiences. The simplicity of cell phone technology has made it massively easy to bring people together to experience music, now that’s what I call making the best of a bad situation.

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