Brothers Past

…just because a computer made it, that doesn’t mean the human being behind it doesn’t have a heart.

story by Cliff Berru

The 21st Century has succeeded in presenting a reintroduction to electronic-influenced music. Now more than ever, the DJ and producer are both in the forefront of the mainstream music industry. From the nightclub circuit all around the world to the samples backing up Kanye West in “Jesus Walks,” the DJ/engineer/producer is dominating an industry once composed of organic intentions.

The problem is the market has become so saturated with artificial purpose that a musical genius like Prince is beat out by a teen derelict like Ashlee Simpson on the Billboard charts. Simpson does nothing more than recite a few lines, while her production team climbs mountains to make her album sound produced to a fine hair. The result is a number one slot on the Billboard charts.

Technology will never cease to exist. Fortunately for society, it will become more refined and readily accessible. Unfortunately for music, at least in the mainstream, it will become more and more synthetic until many artists will become completely subtracted from the musical equation. There are artists however, such as RJD2 and Prefuse 73, that purify their electronic compositions with magnificent talent and devotion, bringing more of an eclectic revolutionary sound to the table.

The tremendous popularity of electronic music has also applied itself to the rock scene, more so now than ever. Philadelphia-based electronic art rock quartet Brothers Past is a fearless example of a successful blending of electronics submerged within a musical rock dynamic.

“It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it,” said Brothers Past guitarist Tom Hamilton during an in-depth interview with Chicago Innerview. “It’s getting more acceptable now to play with electronics in rock music. It’s not overly acceptable and it’s not like we are doing it to be unacceptable,” continues Hamilton, “it’s something new and different and we want to bring it to the broader audience.” When asked about the relevancy of electronics within rock music, Hamilton genuinely notes, “we want to express what electronic music can do. Show that it is meaningful and beautiful and just because a computer made it, that doesn’t mean the human being behind it doesn’t have a heart.”

Brothers Past and their fans alike rely heavily on the live music circuit for generating that ideal Brothers Past sound. The fans are spoiled with the pleasure of capturing alternating set lists within any show they attend. The focus is completely central on the music and what is happening at each individual moment.

Despite such a heavy focus on electronics, Brothers Past balances their interest in composing actual songs within an improvisational approach. “The purpose of music is to communicate,” mentions Hamilton when being asked about the importance of structure within his music. “A song is how you communicate. It’s what you take home into that space that no one else gets into. It’s the thing that makes you realize you are not alone. You hold onto it for dear life and let it get you through the next day.”

A delicious new EP entitled, StatEPolice, is slated for release on September 7 – acting as an “introduction” to the current path Brothers Past is on. “We have grown a lot since A Wonderful Day,” mentions Hamilton while discussing their second release – an infectious concept album highlighting emotions of anxiety through sleep deprivation. “This EP is bridging the gap between Wonderful Day and our next record. We cover a lot of ground with it. Nice chunky guitars which transcend rock songs, with a tinge of the electronic thing going on. As the EP progresses, it gets more electronic and digitalized and less analog.”

This whole approach toward music reflects the original concept of Brothers Past. “Brothers Past is embracing everything that came before you,” noted Hamilton while revealing the meaning of his band’s name. “Brothers Past is constantly paying respect and tipping your hat to those influences from your past, living and dead.”

Brothers Past’s unique approach toward rock music is welcoming in the sense that it sounds fantastic but daunting, in a way that challenges tradition. “Many of our inspirations did something new and the best way to honor your influences is not to rip them off,” said Hamilton. “I think it’s necessary for us to approach music with the same attitude and passion of trying to do something new, and to bring the listeners to somewhere they haven’t been before.”

Brothers Past :: Abbey Pub :: September 11.

Erin McKeown

If I don’t get up in front of people and give all these thoughts out and get their feedback, I go to a really dark place in my life.

story by Jamie Murnane

Erin McKeown is a bit like the Energizer Bunny. When she’s not on tour, she’s writing music. When she’s not writing music, she’s teaching 15-year-olds about four-tracking. Down time is sparse for McKeown – and she likes it that way.

From her home in Massachusetts, half-listening to a radio broadcast of a baseball game, McKeown ponders the idea of doing anything else. Though she has a love for theater, the idea of not playing music seems almost impossible. “If I don’t play music, if I don’t write things or be creative, and most importantly, if I don’t get up in front of people and give all these thoughts out and get their feedback, I go to a really dark place in my life,” she says.

“I just need to get all these things out for myself to stay clean or healthy or something. I just feel like I start to get weird if I don’t go out and perform and show my art to people and keep making my art,” she says. “I also get really excited by seeing other people do their job well – whether that’s a journalist or a baseball player – but I get really excited when I see other people who are really good at their job and I want to be really good at my job.”

The 26-year-old singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist’s third album, Grand, which was released last year, while far more pop-oriented than her previous releases (such as 2000′s folksier Distillation), is nearly impossible to classify. Ranging from the sugary sweet pop of “Slung Lo” to the heart wrenching “Vera” (from the viewpoint of Igor Stravinsky), to the pure rockin’ and rollin’ of the Judy Garland-influenced “Cinematic”, Grand has something for everyone. McKeown has been all over the map geographically as much as stylistically since the release. Back from a recent return trip to Ireland, she’s now at work on her next album, which will be recorded this fall.

In the meantime, McKeown’s been doing something she’s never done before: writing with other musicians. “You just work much, much, much faster,” she says. “It could take me two or three months, or even a year to finish a song and I found that writing with other people, you could write a song a day if you really had to, because you have really quick feedback and they have as many ideas as you do and you just sort of move forward.”

Though she’s unsure of how many of these collaborative songs will actually make it on the record, McKeown says, “I’ve written some songs that I don’t think I would have written on my own that I think are really cool songs, that are still me, but are different.” One of the big differences is the content of the songs.

“You can’t expect to write songs that are scraped from your insides, like super personal, with somebody else,” she says. “You can write extremely emotional music, but I don’t think it’s fully your emotions because of the nature of having to share it with someone so immediately. And I think that’s actually a nice break on an album, to not have every song be ripped out from your heart.”

While Grand was emotionally and musically distinctive from her other work, McKeown says the new album will be “back to basics, with a twist” and “more emotionally like Distillation with some sonic improvements.” It will come out sometime in 2005 – hopefully before the summer, McKeown says. “I feel like that’s about as specific as I should get without turning into a liar.”

Whenever the record drops, it’s sure to blur the edges just as much as always. Even McKeown has trouble classifying her sound. She thinks of music differently while many people are quick to pull out their automated labeler. “I think of [music] more in terms of emotional content and how it makes me feel as a listener,” she says.

“I’ve floated this idea before, but I think it’d be really great to have a record store that was organized that way. So, you’d have a section that was for albums that are for rainy days or albums that are for road trips or albums that remind you to keep on keepin’ on. In that kind of music store, I would want to be high energy, careless music that just goes by and people really enjoy, but I also really want to engage the mind. I want people to have a good time listening to my music, so I like to make music that’s more up-tempo and positive and warm sounding. Not that I necessarily have to sing about ice cream – there are many heavy things that I like to sing about – but for the most part, I like the entertainment aspect of it.”

In this ideal record store, McKeown’s albums would be ubiquitously placed on the shelves, leaving no room for confusion. It’s not pop, folk, rock, blues or jazz, it’s just good. And the energy she displays at her trademark live performances is even better.

Erin McKeown :: Schubas :: September 11.

Gift of Gab

I have to be hypocritical. I want to get paid.

story by Ronnie Reese

The Gift of Gab is an emcee’s emcee. Skills for days and no filler. Being an emcee’s emcee is similar to being a man’s man, but without the unyielding expectations. Macho matters, but talent wins in the end, especially among independent rappers. Elsewhere, says Gab, born as Timothy Parker, “I don’t think people hold lyrics the same way that they did back in the day. Most people.”

He goes on to discuss why he believes Rakim is the god MC, and how if introduced today, Ra’s lyrics would confound contemporary rap fans. This seems true enough, considering that during Eric B. and Rakim’s early-career peak, their music was so ahead of its time that its formative stages outshine the average rapper’s career. For all of his influence on future lyricists, however, Rakim never released a hit single. The Gift of Gab probably never will either, but that doesn’t mean you won’t see him on page 202 of the September 2004 issue of Vibe magazine.

That also doesn’t mean you won’t hear “Way of the Light” from his solo debut, 4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up (Quannum Projects), in a Coca-Cola commercial. “I have to be hypocritical. I want to get paid,” Gab asserts. “I’m a grown man and this is what I do for a living. At the same time, I’m not willing to be something that I’m not or make music I don’t feel.” A sharpened view of industry politics is one of the album’s themes. Gab doesn’t dispute the fact that cash money is marvelous. He just keeps paying bills and releasing quality product.

4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up is a conceptual title for what is basically a straight up hop-hop record, and perhaps Gab’s most “traditional” output to date. There are flourishes of his work with producer and DJ Chief Xcel in Blackalicious, but well-fed contributions from Vitamin D and Jake One put 4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up closer to old-fashioned Oakland street talk than any of Gab’s previous efforts. “I had a lot I wanted to get out on this record,” he explains, perhaps feeling the need to flex after years of sharing space with Xcel’s lush and daring production. “It’s always good when you can break out of what you’re doing and express your own vision, then come back to the group and make that even stronger.”

Once Blackalicious is fortified, they in turn strengthen northern California hip-hop collective Quannum Projects, where Gab has been paragraph president since 1992′s “Rhyme Like A Nut!” and “Count and Estimate” with DJ Shadow. Quannum is one of the more established independent hip-hop labels – along with Stones Throw, Rhymesayers and Definitive Jux – that are outclassing many larger companies while consistently putting out whatever they damn well please, whenever they damn well please. “It’s important to me that we keep Quannum,” Gab says, “so no matter what happens, we’ll always have an umbrella and we’ll always be able to put music out ourselves.” Hooking up with the Quannum crew has been a blessing for the rapper who once called himself Gabby T, and also Tiny T, despite years of eating well enough to be anything but tiny.

“I think the thing that artists, especially new ones, have to understand,” Gab continues, “is that if all they’re doing is relying on record labels, they’ll get treated like prostitutes. Especially if they’re going to the labels needy. For me, it’s all about being independent.”

On his first extended project apart from Blackalicious, Gab easily carries the full-length 4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up from start to finish with just one guest verse, a contribution from Lifesava and Quannum label mate VURSATYL, who adds lyrical spank to “Real MCs.” While Blackalicious’ most recent LP, 2002′s Blazing Arrow (Quannum Projects), featured a gaggle of guest appearances, there is no label persuasion on Gab’s debut. Here, the most essential elements to the fulfillment of Gab’s vision are producers Vitamin D and Jake One. Together, the Seattle-based beat conductors hold down the entire recording process and create a nice, fat bosom of soulscapes for the agile emcee. “To Know You” is a hideously fresh dime drop showcasing Vitamin D’s father, Herman (Pops) Brown, on guitar. “Flashback,” a Jake One-produced lesson in growing up black, vibes like an Illmatic outtake, while Jake’s brilliant “Moonshine,” buoyed by Hohner clavinet, is 32 bars of Gab at his best, worst and ugliest.

“Up” is a one-verse, one-man revolution from within. “On my record, I tell on myself,” he explains. “I’m not trying to win cool points. I’m trying to tell my story,” revealing that the solo venture is just another chapter since Blackalicious’ 1995 debut, the Melodica EP (SoleSides). Lyrically, some may refer to him as a “conscious” rapper, but he’s tired of that. Gab speaks on what people probably should be conscious of, but doesn’t hate if they’re not. In fact, he understands. When he says, “get your money, young player,” on 4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up’s animated “Rat Race,” he does so because he’s doing the same thing. Everyone has a right to make a living. The difference is in the motivation. “You really have to love what you do and have a passion for the art of hip-hop,” says the burly emcee. “If you’re just looking at it as a hustle, you set yourself up for a lot of lessons – good ones and bad ones.”

There are no shortcuts to becoming a successful hip-hop artist. Even for those who stumble blindly into the spotlight, industry realities and the subsequent need for hard-ass work soon set in. This is why Gab and Chief Xcel are deep into the follow-up to Blazing Arrow, which is planned for release in March 2005. A solo tour in support of 4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up starts August 31 in Oregon. Xcel has also joined forces with Quannum’s Lateef the Truth Speaker in forming the Maroons, whose Ambush LP drops in September. With the success of DJ Shadow’s Live! In Tune and On Time DVD, things are good for Quannum right now.

If there’s one challenge for the Gift of Gab, it’s his current inability to get stupid ill like Kool Keith, one of rap’s stupidest and illest emcees. You also might not hear anything like Obie Trice’s gem, “She foamin’ at the lips/the one between them hips/pubic hairs lookin’ like some sour cream dip,” on a Blackalicious record. This is what truly makes Gab a descendant of the almighty Rakim Allah. When Rakim rapped about not being a joke, he meant it.

“I think Rakim revolutionized the way emcees rap more than any other rapper in history,” Gab explains. “He was the one that really started messing with complex patterns. Based on that, it’s like every emcee has a little bit of Rakim in them today.” Indeed, Gab does have a little bit Rakim in him, as well as a dash of local boy Twista and a pinch of X-Clan’s woefully underrated Brother J, who is sampled on 4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up’s “Real MCs.” The album’s closing quote, “You don’t do this to make a living as much as you do it…for pleasure,” is his non-profit career objective, a mission statement of sorts. Big dudes are usually loud, so Tiny T walks hard and carries a big microphone.

The Gift of Gab :: The Empty Bottle :: September 23.

Jack Johnson

It’s all about finding that thing in your life that lights a spark…

story by Joe Ptak
photo by Danny Clinch

While some may produce lofty assertions that the serene sounds created by Jack Johnson have struck a chord deep within the collective consciousness of our increasingly fast-paced society – teaching us a valuable lesson about the impermanence of life and the timeless art of the chill out – Johnson himself continues to insist that to him, “music’s just a hobby.” This coming from a platinum singer/songwriter who boasts two successful albums and a soundtrack in the making, all while live bootlegs of his shows are traded around college campuses at the rate of the latest Paris Hilton film.

His relaxed attitude towards music echoes softly from his voice and the sound of his guitar. The resonance is soothing; he sings close to the mic, adding a whispery feel to the music. His hip hop influences are apparent with his fast phrasing and capacity to cram a significant amount of lyrics in a diminutive amount of time.

“I always felt comfortable writing a lot of syllables really quickly because you don’t really have to hold notes out with shorter syllables…I’ve never considered myself a singer,” Johnson told Chicago Innerview. He reminds you of that guy at parties who pulls out a guitar as the night winds down and everyone huddles around in a trance as his strumming takes your buzz to a whole new level. Actually, he is that guy. “There’s just something about writing a song and being able to share it with a lot of people…that feeling of sharing and that energy between people feels really good,” he said.

This multi-talent is also a world class surfer. “Surfing is my biggest love; it’s what I do all the time. It has been part of my personality since I was a little kid. The best thing you could ever do is go off with a couple of friends and surf in a secret spot where no one else is around,” said Johnson. And if that wasn’t enough, he’s a brilliant cinematographer to boot. “Film is more of an excuse to go a remote destination and surf…a way for me to go travel the world and see places all over the Pacific Ocean I want to see,” he said. (Rumor has it that Jack will be conquering the world of crochet as soon as he has a free hand.)

So what led Johnson to becoming as flexible as one of those miniature Romanian gymnasts? Well, you can chalk him up as more proof that success and self-fulfillment go hand in hand. “I was a math major before I switched to film studies and I felt like a failure,” he said. “But when I switched, I learned what it was like to put time into something you really want to spend your time doing. Suddenly I was getting ‘A’s in all my classes and it didn’t even feel like I was working. It’s all about finding that thing in your life that lights a spark and you feel like you’re really good at naturally. And with music, it was never like I was trying to make a living doing it.”

Johnson also emphasizes the importance of having someone who believes in you unconditionally and pushes you to succeed. And that person for Jack is his wife Kim. “I used to be so insecure with my voice and I wouldn’t project well. And when you get nervous you can sound really out of key…she was the one always telling me that my songs were really good.”

It’s no secret that Jack attracts ladies like Old Country Buffet attracts senior citizens. So what does his wife and source of inspiration think about this? “She’s really cool about the whole thing; that’s why I love her so much. I didn’t meet her after this started happening; we’ve been together for 11 years now and she has seen the whole thing happen too,” he said. “Now when there are girls around after the shows, she kind of just laughs at the whole thing with me…at the fact that there’s anyone around that even wants to talk to me.”

If we played word association and I said, “Jack Johnson,” most of his critics would respond with: “unexcitable,” “bland,” or “half-dead.” But it’s all perspective according to Johnson. He hails out of Hawaii where type-a personalities are thrown on a raft and cast out into the ocean. “People are really slow paced over here. Here I’m considered really ambitious,” he said. “A funny example is there’s this Grammys-type award show, for only Hawaiian musicians. And the funny thing is…I got the award for best rock album! Everywhere else I go in the world they tell me my music is too mellow. They think my music is super upbeat over here. It just depends on where you go.”

And speaking of critics, have you ever wondered if artists read reviews about themselves and if the write-ups have any effect on them? For Johnson, the answer is yes, and yes. “I got a really bad review in Rolling Stone. It’s better not to read reviews anyways but when it’s in Rolling Stone you’re going to hear about it,” he said. “It said that ‘I couldn’t possibly be this calm.’ But I’m not trying to come off as anything. So if it comes of really calm, then I am that calm.”

Despite the unflattering review, there’s a better chance a Clear Channel executive will invite Howard Stern over for poker night than Jack Johnson ever dwelling on a comment for too long. “It’s all pretty subjective. It’s a tricky thing when you see a bad review because it shouldn’t matter…but you end up feeling vulnerable,” he said. “Putting the music out there in the first place is tough, and then when you see a bad review you wonder if that’s how everyone feels about the record…and then you feel funny about putting the stuff out there.” (Unless you’re Shyne, where it’s just funny that you’re putting stuff out there.)

Over recent months, it seems everyone in the music industry right down to the artists’ employed umbrella holders, are being politically outspoken. Tour buses are rolling into swing states all over the country with intent on influencing voters. “I have mixed emotions, but I’m part of it. I wish we could express to the younger people that are coming to the shows that this is just how we feel about things,” Johnson said. “I hope this encourages them to learn more rather than just blindly agreeing to jump on board with what you are saying just because you’re saying it. I’m never going to say, ‘this is what you should vote for’.”

Despite the prosperity, the riches, and receiving more attention from the opposite sex than Smarty Jones on a stud farm, Johnson has refrained from letting it all go to his head. “We definitely haven’t bought any Porsches or anything like that; I still just drive a soccer mom minivan. We’ve maintained a pretty easy life to afford,” he said. “If I could just put out records and not worry about promoting them, I’d be pretty happy. Eventually, I want to be able to slow down and not tour as much while my kids are in school. That’s what everyone wishes, but I think I can achieve it.”

Jack Johnson gives us the impression that if we stopped listening to his music, he wouldn’t change a lick. He’d still be out surfing, filming, and writing songs about his wife or whatever inflames him at the moment, and sharing those tunes with friends. Nothing he does is premeditated. He releases CDs as he acquires enough material and never sets deadlines. He’s not particularly concerned with the business aspects of music. When I asked him his thoughts about the poor concert ticket sales infecting the industry his response was, “I didn’t know that was going on.” Take it from someone who got a chance to interview Jack Johnson, he is this calm. And for people like me who aren’t afraid to have an aneurysm every time we catch a red stoplight, maybe we should be taking notes.

Jack Johnson :: with G-Love & Special Sauce and Donovan Frankenreiter :: Aragon :: September 7.