Run Downhill Interview
Q:The Rattler and Other Songs is your latest album, what can we expect from this collection of songs?
A: This is the best album I’ve made with Run Downhill…I took some bigger risks with the arrangements and recording techniques, and included a cover song for the first time on any of my records (Will Oldham’s “Drinking Woman”). I made a new recording of one of my favorite instrumental songs, entitled “Late for work; running home”, which was originally released on a live video album we made many years ago called “Kilbourn”. It’s an interesting collection of songs that came from different eras of my writing, and I feel it’s the strongest collection to date.
Q: What are some of the themes and concepts on this album?
A: I leaned on the baritone guitar a lot heavier on this album than any other, and it made me develop a more concise and articulated style on that instrument. I always had a vision of how I wanted that instrument to function in RDh, and this album, more than any other, brings that voice into focus the way it should be. A big part of this evolution is that I’ve taken to tracking the baritone myself, whereas in the past I’ve worked with other bari players who tracked that instrument. The previous album “nineteen/twenty”, saw me doing more of the baritone work myself, but this record is completely me.
Several tunes feature the bari as the main melodic voice, especially “The Rattler”, a heavy instrumental dirge; as I was tracking and refining the arrangement, it kept screaming at me to add a big string section, so I brought some players in to cover those parts and then had some fun with spontaneous improvised sounds and noises in the outro. There’s a story behind this song that I don’t want to spoil, and I hope to make a Song Comic video for this song that tells The Rattler’s story.
Other themes include the desert, drought, alongside loss and reconciliation. The titles of the songs tell their own story: the heat, the dry land, next to the plants and animals that call this landscape home. Imagine sitting in the midst of this desert as the sun goes down and light begins to fade away. This is the place you should listen to these songs…my past recordings were more about driving a car and listening, and there’s still an element of that mood in these songs, but there’s a depth to these songs, the sounds between the notes, that are very interesting to hear in a quiet space, preferably through speakers (not headphones or earbuds).
Q: Throughout the creative process a song can unfold in a number of ways, were there moments where you discovered what a song was supposed to be in the mixing phase or did you more or less record everything how we hear it?
A: I make a lot of decisions in the tracking phase, so by the time I get to mixing, everything is in place already and I’m putting the picture together. Sometimes, in the mix, I’ll discover something that needs to be retracked, but that’s rare. However, I often go back and retrack certain instruments after I’ve had bandmates and/or guest artists come in, just to make a cleaner recording that sweetens the arrangement.
Q:The Rattler and Other Songs is your latest album, what can we expect from this collection of songs?
A: This is the best album I’ve made with Run Downhill…I took some bigger risks with the arrangements and recording techniques, and included a cover song for the first time on any of my records (Will Oldham’s “Drinking Woman”). I made a new recording of one of my favorite instrumental songs, entitled “Late for work; running home”, which was originally released on a live video album we made many years ago called “Kilbourn”. It’s an interesting collection of songs that came from different eras of my writing, and I feel it’s the strongest collection to date.
Q: What are some of the themes and concepts on this album?
A: I leaned on the baritone guitar a lot heavier on this album than any other, and it made me develop a more concise and articulated style on that instrument. I always had a vision of how I wanted that instrument to function in RDh, and this album, more than any other, brings that voice into focus the way it should be. A big part of this evolution is that I’ve taken to tracking the baritone myself, whereas in the past I’ve worked with other bari players who tracked that instrument. The previous album “nineteen/twenty”, saw me doing more of the baritone work myself, but this record is completely me.
Several tunes feature the bari as the main melodic voice, especially “The Rattler”, a heavy instrumental dirge; as I was tracking and refining the arrangement, it kept screaming at me to add a big string section, so I brought some players in to cover those parts and then had some fun with spontaneous improvised sounds and noises in the outro. There’s a story behind this song that I don’t want to spoil, and I hope to make a Song Comic video for this song that tells The Rattler’s story.
Other themes include the desert, drought, alongside loss and reconciliation. The titles of the songs tell their own story: the heat, the dry land, next to the plants and animals that call this landscape home. Imagine sitting in the midst of this desert as the sun goes down and light begins to fade away. This is the place you should listen to these songs…my past recordings were more about driving a car and listening, and there’s still an element of that mood in these songs, but there’s a depth to these songs, the sounds between the notes, that are very interesting to hear in a quiet space, preferably through speakers (not headphones or earbuds).
Q: Throughout the creative process a song can unfold in a number of ways, were there moments where you discovered what a song was supposed to be in the mixing phase or did you more or less record everything how we hear it?
A: I make a lot of decisions in the tracking phase, so by the time I get to mixing, everything is in place already and I’m putting the picture together. Sometimes, in the mix, I’ll discover something that needs to be retracked, but that’s rare. However, I often go back and retrack certain instruments after I’ve had bandmates and/or guest artists come in, just to make a cleaner recording that sweetens the arrangement.
Q: What was the recording process like for the album?
A: I typically start with a scratch rhythm track of some sort, either percussion or acoustic guitar, along with a scratch vocal (if applicable), which is then used to guide the rest of the instrumentation. From here I start building a rhythm section, starting with my acoustic guitar parts, then adding drums (if applicable). My bandmate Adam Levy then comes over and we do bass tracking together; Adam has been working with me for many years and understands how the bass works in my music, and we have a great time producing a quality part that suits the song. I continue adding layers until the song is complete. I typically replace the scratch vocal tracks, though not always, and sometimes the original scratch tracks are removed altogether.
There are two songs on this record that feature live tracking of the bass, drums, and rhythm guitar, which is very different from most other songs I’ve produced. These tunes, “Spaces that have been filled” and “Let it roll”, feature a guest soloist who had free reign to create within the form of the song, and I wanted the feel and approach of a live ensemble backing up the soloist. These rhythm section tracking sessions were done at Scotty Manzo’s Rocky Road Ranch Productions studio (Scotty is the longtime mix/mastering engineer for RDh, before I took over mixing the recordings). Scotty’s is my favorite drum room in Los Angeles, and I’ve done a lot of tracking sessions there for other projects over many years, but this is the first time I’ve tracked the RDh rhythm section there.
A lot of the guest artists recorded their parts remotely, which was interesting in many ways; in some cases, the sonic thumbprint of those remote tracking sessions had a major impact on the way the tune could be mixed.
The tracking for this album took much longer than it should have; part of that was my schedule being so dense for much of early 2024 that I could not always attend to the needs of the record, but summer of 2024 proved to be a very fruitful time and most of the record came together in that period.
Q: I was reading that the album was originally more instrumental, can you talk about the trajectory the album took?
A: This particular project began as an instrumental album, and I wanted each piece to feature a different guest soloist. I had 10 songs sketched out and I started writing and tracking in 2023 (I often write directly in the studio, it brings a unique quality to the writing). I ended up pruning the record back from 10 to 6 songs, and was hoping to mix during winter of 2023; the time came and the tracking was not done and I was waiting for guest artist availability.
Since I had set aside time to mix the record that was still not done, I started making a different record, specifically a more indie-rock, vocal-driven Americana EP. A bunch of tracking was done that December 2023, then as time went by I continued to trim the song list back until there were 5 instrumental and 5 vocals songs that I wanted to include. Rather than make two different EPs, I felt they fit nicely on the same record, especially if it was pressed to vinyl…the A and B sides of the album were so naturally grouped, it’s one of the hidden mysteries/happy accidents that occurred on this record. I’m considering doing a Kickstarter to print a limited run of vinyl copies.
The instrumental song “The Rattler” was not part of the original instrumental EP, but it was such a new song and I was so emotionally involved with that tune, I had to get it together and I’m so glad that tune took a central role for this record.
Q: What other things should we know about the music? Any live shows we should know about
A: My focus right now is making new recordings: I have a backlog of songs from over the years that I want to record and release, so that’s where I’m focusing. I’m doing an interesting performance of composition and multi-media works this fall at Chapman University, where I serve on the faculty of their Conservatory of Music. Here we will be performing with the comic projections that have become such a hallmark in RDh’s music and recordings. I’m putting together a large ensemble (8-9 piece) for this, including the main RDh band, but adding additional percussionists (marimbas, vibraphone, etc), and presenting the live arrangements very close to the recorded versions.
There will be more comic videos for this record, but later on…right now I’m getting the recordings together, pushing those out to the world, and then work on assembling this large ensemble and see if there’s venues that can contain us. I secretly hope to do another live band; RDh has been mostly a studio band for the past two albums, and I yearn to get a new band up and running…this probably means I’m taking on the bari book in addition to singing,, whereas in the past I’ve been the drummer/vocalist, or sat behind the acoustic guitar while I sang as a typical singer-songwriter would.
Aside from my work with RDh, I’m a freelance percussionist in Los Angeles; I play with a few different ensembles, and sit in with other bands who want/need a drummer. There’s a slew of other albums I’ve worked on that all seem to be due for release at the exact same time, so I expect a bunch of new material I’ve been a part of to be released very soon, and that’s very exciting.
You can check out my Instagram page (@run_downhill), our YouTube channel (rundownhillmusic), and Spotify for additional show announcements with RDh or my other projects.
Thanks so much, everyone!
A: I typically start with a scratch rhythm track of some sort, either percussion or acoustic guitar, along with a scratch vocal (if applicable), which is then used to guide the rest of the instrumentation. From here I start building a rhythm section, starting with my acoustic guitar parts, then adding drums (if applicable). My bandmate Adam Levy then comes over and we do bass tracking together; Adam has been working with me for many years and understands how the bass works in my music, and we have a great time producing a quality part that suits the song. I continue adding layers until the song is complete. I typically replace the scratch vocal tracks, though not always, and sometimes the original scratch tracks are removed altogether.
There are two songs on this record that feature live tracking of the bass, drums, and rhythm guitar, which is very different from most other songs I’ve produced. These tunes, “Spaces that have been filled” and “Let it roll”, feature a guest soloist who had free reign to create within the form of the song, and I wanted the feel and approach of a live ensemble backing up the soloist. These rhythm section tracking sessions were done at Scotty Manzo’s Rocky Road Ranch Productions studio (Scotty is the longtime mix/mastering engineer for RDh, before I took over mixing the recordings). Scotty’s is my favorite drum room in Los Angeles, and I’ve done a lot of tracking sessions there for other projects over many years, but this is the first time I’ve tracked the RDh rhythm section there.
A lot of the guest artists recorded their parts remotely, which was interesting in many ways; in some cases, the sonic thumbprint of those remote tracking sessions had a major impact on the way the tune could be mixed.
The tracking for this album took much longer than it should have; part of that was my schedule being so dense for much of early 2024 that I could not always attend to the needs of the record, but summer of 2024 proved to be a very fruitful time and most of the record came together in that period.
Q: I was reading that the album was originally more instrumental, can you talk about the trajectory the album took?
A: This particular project began as an instrumental album, and I wanted each piece to feature a different guest soloist. I had 10 songs sketched out and I started writing and tracking in 2023 (I often write directly in the studio, it brings a unique quality to the writing). I ended up pruning the record back from 10 to 6 songs, and was hoping to mix during winter of 2023; the time came and the tracking was not done and I was waiting for guest artist availability.
Since I had set aside time to mix the record that was still not done, I started making a different record, specifically a more indie-rock, vocal-driven Americana EP. A bunch of tracking was done that December 2023, then as time went by I continued to trim the song list back until there were 5 instrumental and 5 vocals songs that I wanted to include. Rather than make two different EPs, I felt they fit nicely on the same record, especially if it was pressed to vinyl…the A and B sides of the album were so naturally grouped, it’s one of the hidden mysteries/happy accidents that occurred on this record. I’m considering doing a Kickstarter to print a limited run of vinyl copies.
The instrumental song “The Rattler” was not part of the original instrumental EP, but it was such a new song and I was so emotionally involved with that tune, I had to get it together and I’m so glad that tune took a central role for this record.
Q: What other things should we know about the music? Any live shows we should know about
A: My focus right now is making new recordings: I have a backlog of songs from over the years that I want to record and release, so that’s where I’m focusing. I’m doing an interesting performance of composition and multi-media works this fall at Chapman University, where I serve on the faculty of their Conservatory of Music. Here we will be performing with the comic projections that have become such a hallmark in RDh’s music and recordings. I’m putting together a large ensemble (8-9 piece) for this, including the main RDh band, but adding additional percussionists (marimbas, vibraphone, etc), and presenting the live arrangements very close to the recorded versions.
There will be more comic videos for this record, but later on…right now I’m getting the recordings together, pushing those out to the world, and then work on assembling this large ensemble and see if there’s venues that can contain us. I secretly hope to do another live band; RDh has been mostly a studio band for the past two albums, and I yearn to get a new band up and running…this probably means I’m taking on the bari book in addition to singing,, whereas in the past I’ve been the drummer/vocalist, or sat behind the acoustic guitar while I sang as a typical singer-songwriter would.
Aside from my work with RDh, I’m a freelance percussionist in Los Angeles; I play with a few different ensembles, and sit in with other bands who want/need a drummer. There’s a slew of other albums I’ve worked on that all seem to be due for release at the exact same time, so I expect a bunch of new material I’ve been a part of to be released very soon, and that’s very exciting.
You can check out my Instagram page (@run_downhill), our YouTube channel (rundownhillmusic), and Spotify for additional show announcements with RDh or my other projects.
Thanks so much, everyone!