Everything But The Everything Interview
Q: Can you talk about your history as a musician?
A: I always wanted to play guitar but didn't own one, nor did I know anything about making music. In middle school my friend Toby, who's dad was a musician/producer, had all kinds of instruments at his house. He would try to teach me how to play bass and get so frustrated. I remember when he was teaching me to play Slayer's Seasons in the Abyss and would ask, "Do you hear that bassline?" I would reply "I only hear the guitar..." and he would explode "Dude!! Right there! Listen!!" I eventually learned how to mimic patterns but since punk rock is very rhythmic that was all I needed to know at the time. When I moved to the Bay Area, I started to play with The Cons and remember the first time I saw a tuning pedal. I asked, "What's that?" It was unusual because up to that point everyone I had played with tuned their guitars by ear. When The Cons morphed into Sporting Life, I was fired, rehired and moved to keys a couple of times. Looking back, it was a cut throat atmosphere where other members wanted your spot or might not think you were cutting it. The experience made me be a better musician and Gomez (the band leader) would nudge me along with constructive criticism and encouragement. When I joined The Frail, the experience was completely different and showed me what the term "the right fit" truly means. With The Frail everything felt so natural. We just vibed and Daniel Lannon (Vacances) really made me feel like family. I discovered what I consider to be my strength as a bass player. The songs would come to me fully produced with layers of keys, synth bass, sub bass, pads…. I had to find ways to fit in the song that led to my playing the bass like a guitar or lead instrument. People always bring up Joy Division when hearing my bass work but the funny thing is I couldn't name a Joy Division song if my life depended on it.
Q: How did you decide who to work with on Rock n Roll Is A Feeling?
A: Every collaboration was unique in how they came to fruition. Tobias Hawkins is just down for anything, anytime. Sophia Prise has a lot of projects she's involved in so getting her to sign on for another track felt great. Since they both sang on The Dream EP, I really wanted them to return to the fold. Luke Sweeney was the hail Mary of the bunch because I didn't know him in the way I personally knew everyone else involved. He's such an accomplished, locally loved artist, I truly didn't think he would agree to record let alone respond. I paired him with that particular track for his wide musical range and mellow style. His track was a lot more mellow until the drummer Landon Cisneros got a hold of it. The Vacances collaboration kind of materialized out of thin air. We hadn't spoken since we parted ways with the Frail. After hanging out one day when he visited SF, we began to speak more often. I never really thought we would work on music together again but as we began to keep in touch, I decided to ask for his help. I'm happy I did.
Q: What is your creative process like?
A: It all starts with the bass. To save time building patterns with drum machines, I downloaded a preset drum app to choose different patterns and speeds 'till I have a bass line that's fun to play. I record 30 second ideas on my phone's camera and listen to them later to see if I still think they sound good. If an idea makes the cut, I will turn the bass line into a fully written song and take it to Rex and his studio to build a proper drum track. At this point I have the bass line and basic structure down and will start to add layers. I'm a complete fraud on guitar and keys so it takes me a while to come up with ideas but with persistence and time, the ideas begin to roll. I'm fortunate that my homie Andrew Gomez has been kind enough to add some of his synth/Moog expertise. He's busy with his band NRVS LVRS so I can't really count on him for a steady stream of content but anything he submits is gold, and I'm grateful for it. At this phase the songs are mostly shaped and I start to think of what singer best suits what song, then send off the tracks to each individual singer. When their takes come back, sometimes they nail it at the first go, sometimes I have suggestions on their approach. I try to write my own melodies to every song and offer my ideas as an alternative whenever appropriate. I'm happy that everyone has been open to suggestions and allow me to play executive producer. One thing is for sure, the drummer won't lay down drums until he has the vocals. He says he doesn't want his drums to step on vocals and since I respect what he does, I must oblige.
Q: Can you talk about your history as a musician?
A: I always wanted to play guitar but didn't own one, nor did I know anything about making music. In middle school my friend Toby, who's dad was a musician/producer, had all kinds of instruments at his house. He would try to teach me how to play bass and get so frustrated. I remember when he was teaching me to play Slayer's Seasons in the Abyss and would ask, "Do you hear that bassline?" I would reply "I only hear the guitar..." and he would explode "Dude!! Right there! Listen!!" I eventually learned how to mimic patterns but since punk rock is very rhythmic that was all I needed to know at the time. When I moved to the Bay Area, I started to play with The Cons and remember the first time I saw a tuning pedal. I asked, "What's that?" It was unusual because up to that point everyone I had played with tuned their guitars by ear. When The Cons morphed into Sporting Life, I was fired, rehired and moved to keys a couple of times. Looking back, it was a cut throat atmosphere where other members wanted your spot or might not think you were cutting it. The experience made me be a better musician and Gomez (the band leader) would nudge me along with constructive criticism and encouragement. When I joined The Frail, the experience was completely different and showed me what the term "the right fit" truly means. With The Frail everything felt so natural. We just vibed and Daniel Lannon (Vacances) really made me feel like family. I discovered what I consider to be my strength as a bass player. The songs would come to me fully produced with layers of keys, synth bass, sub bass, pads…. I had to find ways to fit in the song that led to my playing the bass like a guitar or lead instrument. People always bring up Joy Division when hearing my bass work but the funny thing is I couldn't name a Joy Division song if my life depended on it.
Q: How did you decide who to work with on Rock n Roll Is A Feeling?
A: Every collaboration was unique in how they came to fruition. Tobias Hawkins is just down for anything, anytime. Sophia Prise has a lot of projects she's involved in so getting her to sign on for another track felt great. Since they both sang on The Dream EP, I really wanted them to return to the fold. Luke Sweeney was the hail Mary of the bunch because I didn't know him in the way I personally knew everyone else involved. He's such an accomplished, locally loved artist, I truly didn't think he would agree to record let alone respond. I paired him with that particular track for his wide musical range and mellow style. His track was a lot more mellow until the drummer Landon Cisneros got a hold of it. The Vacances collaboration kind of materialized out of thin air. We hadn't spoken since we parted ways with the Frail. After hanging out one day when he visited SF, we began to speak more often. I never really thought we would work on music together again but as we began to keep in touch, I decided to ask for his help. I'm happy I did.
Q: What is your creative process like?
A: It all starts with the bass. To save time building patterns with drum machines, I downloaded a preset drum app to choose different patterns and speeds 'till I have a bass line that's fun to play. I record 30 second ideas on my phone's camera and listen to them later to see if I still think they sound good. If an idea makes the cut, I will turn the bass line into a fully written song and take it to Rex and his studio to build a proper drum track. At this point I have the bass line and basic structure down and will start to add layers. I'm a complete fraud on guitar and keys so it takes me a while to come up with ideas but with persistence and time, the ideas begin to roll. I'm fortunate that my homie Andrew Gomez has been kind enough to add some of his synth/Moog expertise. He's busy with his band NRVS LVRS so I can't really count on him for a steady stream of content but anything he submits is gold, and I'm grateful for it. At this phase the songs are mostly shaped and I start to think of what singer best suits what song, then send off the tracks to each individual singer. When their takes come back, sometimes they nail it at the first go, sometimes I have suggestions on their approach. I try to write my own melodies to every song and offer my ideas as an alternative whenever appropriate. I'm happy that everyone has been open to suggestions and allow me to play executive producer. One thing is for sure, the drummer won't lay down drums until he has the vocals. He says he doesn't want his drums to step on vocals and since I respect what he does, I must oblige.
Q: What are some of themes that are touched upon throughout the album?
A: The constant themes are dark reflections. Soliloquy rants of missteps, missed opportunities or moments of self doubt. I remember when Trent Reznor released some recent material, I thought to myself, "Why is it always so dark, isn't he rich now? Can't he change it up?" But now I understand what writing music takes and how the experiences from one's life bubble up in the writing process. What has come honestly and easiest to tap into for me at least, comes from painful memories and experiences. The one change up was on the track “The Story,” sang by Sophia Prise. I wanted to switch it up from this constant black cloud and wrote a song about a night out in the big city, dancing, overindulging with friends that in the end, sounded lame. That feeling of failed execution was compounded when I noticed Sophia's social media posts about current events: the nation wide protest over the murder of George Floyd, policy disagreement with the Trump administration, the amplified divide our country faces. There was so much going wrong with the world in the midst of the Covid lockdown with no end in sight, and there I was with some silly song about dance, dance, dancing into the night…. I had just finished watching the News Hour on PBS and headed straight into my little studio and rewrote “The Story” to reflect the strife and current conditions we were facing. I wrote the lyrics in about ten minutes. It just poured out.
Q: Have you played any of the material live or perhaps virtually?
A: I haven't played any of the material live or virtually but I am starting to give it more serious thought. Being a promoter for such a long time, I've always had this idea of doing a free renegade show at a local park with free beer. I mean, what's a keg cost, $60? With the venues closed indefinitely I think my idea has some real purpose now and I could take that opportunity to insert myself into the lineup and play a short set.
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: : I just want to write honest music and not be tied down to a certain genre. Wherever the music takes us, as long as it's real, I'm down for the ride. In the end, the hope is that someone, somewhere hears it and feels the accumulated sentiments behind every note, the lyrics, the delivery of the instruments played. Everything But The Everything is not your typical band with set members. It's a rotating cast of musicians who share the same feelings about writing and performing, which should hopefully give the music genuine authenticity.
A: The constant themes are dark reflections. Soliloquy rants of missteps, missed opportunities or moments of self doubt. I remember when Trent Reznor released some recent material, I thought to myself, "Why is it always so dark, isn't he rich now? Can't he change it up?" But now I understand what writing music takes and how the experiences from one's life bubble up in the writing process. What has come honestly and easiest to tap into for me at least, comes from painful memories and experiences. The one change up was on the track “The Story,” sang by Sophia Prise. I wanted to switch it up from this constant black cloud and wrote a song about a night out in the big city, dancing, overindulging with friends that in the end, sounded lame. That feeling of failed execution was compounded when I noticed Sophia's social media posts about current events: the nation wide protest over the murder of George Floyd, policy disagreement with the Trump administration, the amplified divide our country faces. There was so much going wrong with the world in the midst of the Covid lockdown with no end in sight, and there I was with some silly song about dance, dance, dancing into the night…. I had just finished watching the News Hour on PBS and headed straight into my little studio and rewrote “The Story” to reflect the strife and current conditions we were facing. I wrote the lyrics in about ten minutes. It just poured out.
Q: Have you played any of the material live or perhaps virtually?
A: I haven't played any of the material live or virtually but I am starting to give it more serious thought. Being a promoter for such a long time, I've always had this idea of doing a free renegade show at a local park with free beer. I mean, what's a keg cost, $60? With the venues closed indefinitely I think my idea has some real purpose now and I could take that opportunity to insert myself into the lineup and play a short set.
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: : I just want to write honest music and not be tied down to a certain genre. Wherever the music takes us, as long as it's real, I'm down for the ride. In the end, the hope is that someone, somewhere hears it and feels the accumulated sentiments behind every note, the lyrics, the delivery of the instruments played. Everything But The Everything is not your typical band with set members. It's a rotating cast of musicians who share the same feelings about writing and performing, which should hopefully give the music genuine authenticity.