My good pal Sam Davis runs an excellent Phish blog that you may have heard of called 'Dog Gone Blog'. He also works for Relix/Jambands.com and recently conducted an interview with two of our favourite musicians, Brad and Andrew Barr of The Slip/Surprise Me Mr. Davis/The Barr Brothers. Click here to give it a read!
To state that the new Surprise Me Mr. Davis record, That Man Eats Morning For Breakfast has been a long time coming would be a great understatement. The group, made up of The Slip and Nathan Moore released their last EP in 2005. Fans of the band know that these “new” songs have been thoroughly road-tested and actually recorded since 2008, and have been eagerly awaiting their recorded release. Well, that day has come, albeit two years later. What started off as a collaboration between two sets of musicians has clearly grown into something much bigger. While it used to sound like The Slip backing the songs of Nathan Moore, Surprise Me Mr. Davis has matured into a full-fledged rock and roll tour-de-force. That Man Eats Morning For Breakfast kick starts with “Roses In Bottles” an interesting choice for an opening track due to its noticeable complexity and lack of traditional song structure. If we listen intently however, the perfect harmonies of singers Brad Barr and Nathan Moore shine in unison. Barr’s masterful guitar lines trace the lyrical harmony beautifully, while drummer Andrew Barr adds subtle color to the song by hammering his skins with Moroccan shakers, rather than traditional drum sticks. “Roses In Bottles” is a true embodiment of the band. They make music with layers. Music that is understood best upon multiple listens, so that before you know it, you can’t get the songs out of your head.
In true Surprise Me Mr. Davis fashion, the band shifts gear completely on the funked-out protest rocker “Sissyfuss”. Nathan and Brad proudly exclaim, “I ain’t pickin’ up no peaches no, no peaches no. Not for no dollar a day” while Marc Friedman tosses out heavily fuzzed-out bass fills, never opting for a traditional low-end bass line. Brad gives us a perfect mix of his old school jazz guitar days mixed with his more current progressive guitar stylings during a ripping and completely unique solo. The pace is slowed just a hair on the ballad “One Sick Knave”, which is arguably the gem of the album. The tune illustrates the collaborative songwriting maturity that Nathan and Brad have been working towards for over six years now. Lyrics like “Well you follow the queen, but you never once saw her face. So you started running even though you weren’t being chase” are proof of the two songsmith’s growth as writers. The track slowly builds before the band reaches musical climax and Brad tosses out another shredding and heavily distorted guitar solo.
“Emily Green” finds Surprise Me Mr. Davis donning musical costumes from the pop heavy, harmony-laced ‘60s era, while Moore croons of love and loss on the haunting ballad “Joelle”. The album ends perfectly as Surprise Me Mr. Davis sing of life on the road on “Home Away From Home”. It may only be a seven song EP, but That Man Eats Morning For Breakfast is an accurate indication of a band tapping into their potential as of 2008. Now its 2010, and hopefully someday soon Surprise Me Mr. Davis will finally bless us with their true sophomore album.
It only took a moment after stepping into the Church of the Redeemer to know that I was about to witness a magical evening of music. Sitting front pew center, it was the first in my life I hadn’t gravitated towards the back row in any house of worship. Supporting The Low Anthem tonight were their good friends and regular tour companions, The Barr Brothers. Consisting of Brad and Andrew Barr (founding members of The Slip/Surprise Me Mr. Davis) on guitar and drums respectively, as well as Sarah Page on harp, the group seemed quietly eager to wow the packed church with their unique progressive folk music.
From the moments the lights went down and Sarah Page started gracefully plucking her massive wooden harp, the crowd was completely silent. As the band eased into “Beggar in the Morning” Brad filled the old church with the echoes of a pre-recorded answering machine message reverberating through his guitar pickups. As he slowly pulled extra thin strings laced methodically through his guitar strings up and away from his instrument, another non-traditional texture was added to the mounting wall of sound coming from the stage. Andrew delicately brushed the cymbals of his drum kit, painting a careful backdrop for all of the group’s ambient noise to float upon. All of this was within the first few minutes of the opening number. Next came “Ooh, Belle”, a regular for The Slip, now re-worked for The Barr Brothers. The new tune, “Old Mythologies” featured Andrew Barr opting for leg slaps as his percussive device, while Brad fingerpicked his way through the most straightforward folk tune of the night.
The Barr Brothers showed off their blues chops during “Lord I just Can’t Keep From Cryin’” as Brad showcased some expert slide work while Sarah provided some additional percussion. Ironically, Brad begged us to sympathize with the devil in a church no less during “Give The Devil Back His Heart”, a sprawling gothic-blues number that saw brother Andrew playing his drums with two percussive instruments that resembled mini crutches. The group closed its set with an unreleased tune that I’ll call “Was That So Long Ago?” and it featured harmonizing falsetto lines that appeared to come with great ease. The Barr Brothers left the stage to a thunderous, standing ovation from a church that appeared to have every pew filled. The Low Anthem was up next, supporting their fantastic album “Oh My God Charlie Darwin”, previewing their yet-to-be-titled new album and playing some traditional American folk songs. What struck me most about The Low Anthem was not the group’s comfort with virtually every antique and modern instrument imaginable (and trust me that was wildly impressive) but rather the strength and range of lead singer Ben Knox Miller. Whether it was his soaring falsetto on the standout “Charlie Darwin” or his whiskey-soaked vocals during “Don’t Let Nobody Turn You Around”, the sheer power of his voice was completely absorbing.The highlight of the set came after the second chorus of “This God Damn House”, as Miller instructed us to phone our neighbor on speakerphone and let the cell phones sing to each other. When the moment came, the room obliged and the whistling of our cellular devices began to circle the room before reaching the ceiling of the church. The lights went down, the band dropped their instruments and for a few mystical moments, all that could be heard was the gentle singing that sounded like it was coming from anywhere other than a Blackberry or an iPhone.
Traditional numbers such as “Sally, Where’d You Get Your Liquor From?” and “Evangeline” recalled the spirit of The Band, as the group’s newest member Mat Davidson shared a striking resemblance to Rick Danko, especially with that violin in his hand. The set closed with a three song encore that included "To Ohio", a re-working of “The Horizon is a Beltway” and a new number, likely to be featured on the group’s new album.
I’ve never understood or been pulled in by the power of organized religion. Music has always been my connection to something intangible. As I looked around the beautiful old church, I couldn’t help but feel like the people surrounding me felt the same way. The Barr Brothers and The Low Anthem were able to channel something very deep on that mild, spring night in Toronto, and if music like this could be considered a religion, I'd be more than happy to take part in it once a week.
Surprise Me Mr. Davis is not your average rock and roll band. Their journey has been long, longer than you might think. Nathan Moore was the singer and guitarist for ThaMuseMeant when he met brothers Brad and Andrew Barr and Marc Freidman of The Slip. That was over ten years ago now. Their natural connection and amazement with one another’s music would ultimately act as the catalysts for an amalgamation of sounds. Just last year, Davis picked up another musician, longtime friend and collaborator, Marco Benevento, propelling the band into “super-group” territory. I had the amazing opportunity to chat with Nathan, the humble wordsmith, over the weekend. We discussed Surprise Me Mr. Davis’ new, long-awaited record, the frustrations, as well as the uniqueness of having your fellow band members scattered across the globe, and the band’s game plan for 2010.
Let’s talk about the new album titled "That Man Eats Morning For Breakfast" which is being released on April 13. It seems like it’s been a long time coming, five years to be exact. The last Surprise Me Mr. Davis release was an EP in 2005. Tell me about the recording process and the new record.
NM: The new record is really still just our demo. It’s a little embarrassing in that respect although… that was really our intention from the beginning when we set out to make it. I can’t even remember when that was now, time moves so much faster than it used to. I was on my way with Marc Freidman to go to Montreal, we were going up there to record in Brad and Andrew Barr’s new studio and I got turned away at the border so we found ourselves back in Burlington, Vermont drinking in a bar. We ended up talking to Brett Hughes, a local musician there and he was like “just come into my barn studio and do it”. So Brad and Andrew came down this way and we ended up recording there all week at Brett’s house. We got all these tracks done and then we went back into another studio and tried to work them up even bigger but that’s when we started to feel that we were exceeding our initial ideas and trying to make them too big and ended up reverting back to the original demos. They had the raw spirit and energy we were trying to capture. So now it is finally seeing the light of day. I don’t want to downplay it or diminish it; there are a lot of practical aspects as to why it exists.
With so many songs in the Davis cannon, why release an EP? Is an LP on the way?
NM: When we signed with Kevin Calabro, in order to manage us he needed some representation of us, and we had the demo and he liked it quite a bit and he was like “I would love to just work with this for now” as opposed to hurrying and trying to get us back into the studio to make something else. We just polished the EP up and came up with a nice cover for it. A lot of it is real practical for Kevin to have something to work with while he is out there pitching us. I still don’t feel like Davis has made “its album”. We’ve had a couple of moments in the studio but we’ve yet to find the opportunity to create a fully realized work of art that is worthy of the potential of the band.
Marco Benevento has been collaborating with the band and its members for years. How did you and Marco first meet?
NM: I think the first time I met Marco was, my band ThaMuseMeant was playing at the Enchanted Broccoli Forest, I don’t even remember now where that was. Some college out west that had some building or something that was called the Enchanted Broccoli Forest and The Slip was on the road and ThaMuseMeant was playing that night, and The Slip had the night off and they showed up and they had Marco in tow. I believe that was the first time I met him. That was probably ’98 or ’99. The second time I met him was the High Sierra following that and I knew I was going to like him. He always sort of reminded me a little of myself, something in his eyes. Then he was running around High Sierra making these cards float around, a magic trick his dad had taught him and I knew right then we were going to get along just fine.
At arguably the busiest point in his career, why has Marco now officially decided to join the band? Has there been a shift in the band’s dynamic now that he has been added?
NM: That is still yet to be seen too. We haven’t really done a lot of shows with Marco but the shift is huge, when it opens up. We’ve really only had a few nights that I think have pointed to the stars. One night somewhere in New York State and we were playing this gig with hardly anybody there and that freed us up to experiment a bit more. That night lives on in my mind as just how amazing this band is and the potential that lies there. With Marco, for one it gives Brad somebody to communicate with on that more melodic level. It’s almost too overwhelming to talk about, the potential sounds we have now. There’s so many chapters to the book and we haven’t even read the first sentence yet. I get a little boggled when I try to describe how the dynamic shifts with Marco. Just from bawdy piano pieces to psychedelic organ pieces, I mean its mind-boggling.
How has The Slip influenced the sound of Surprise Me Mr. Davis?
NM: Going back to the early days, and the first experiences we had was really my limited experiences with playing with a rock and roll band like that and it was more like The Slip getting behind Nathan Moore songs and giving them a big push. Back then it felt like flying, I never felt a feeling like that in my life. To take these songs that I had written and then to all the sudden be playing them with them it was really the difference between walking and flying. All the sudden they lifted the stuff up so high. It just made my universe so much bigger. I think that that spirit and excitement and that smile they put on my face right away is to this day what I think about when I think of Davis.
You and Brad are the core songwriters for the band. Can you talk a bit about your relationship and approach to songwriting?
NM: There is a certain chemistry that you find with certain people in life. It’s hard to explain but it’s just real comfortable and I’m sure everybody has had the experience of starting to talk with somebody and their sense of humor and things like that are just right there at the tip of their tongue. I had somebody describe once that eloquence is not when one person is graceful communicating with another but where two things join together. Actually the root of the word eloquence is an old word for joint, where two things meet. Brad and I always just sort of found a certain eloquence, it was always really easy with each other. There was this sort of effortlessness to it. In terms of our writing, we were both so fascinated by each other and we both immediately saw something in the other that we wanted in ourselves. I think that’s one of the reasons that made the relationship so symbiotic was that we were both young and hungry and wanted to get better and saw something in each other that we wanted to incorporate in our own thing. For me with Brad it was his incredible sense of melody and being able to follow a line where it wants to go even if it’s somewhere you didn’t think you could go. For him with me it was probably a certain simplicity.
Does Brad bring you a piece of music and together you put lyrics to it? What’s your approach in that sense?
NM: We’ve sort of done it all. I’ve brought him words that he has put music to and he’s brought me music that I’ve put words to. And we’ve sat around with guitars and written together. We’ve finished each other’s lines and added little parts. Sometimes I’ve brought a finished song to him and he’s added to it or re-worked the music. We don’t have a set method, but we’ve employed almost all the approaches you could imagine.
With the members of the band scattered across North America, has it been difficult to get together, record, practice?
NM: We’ve found it close to impossible. On one hand that’s sort of the ultimate bane of Davis and the curse and the frustration is that we’re in all these other places so there’s so many phases that we go through personally and stuff like that that we don’t get to share with each other and aren’t effected by each other. On the other hand it’s sort of the blessing of Davis. It has always felt like a vacation for us when we get together. So in that sense it always maintains this special thing, and the camaraderie is so strong that whenever we do get together it still to this day feels like a rare opportunity and enables us to enjoy ourselves even more. A lot of the tensions and troubles and struggles that regular bands have we don’t have the luxury of such things.
When the band does tour, it seems to be in short chunks, often with lots of time in between. Scheduling wise, has it just not worked out for you guys to do the whole long-winded tour?
NM: Yah, I think that is definitely part of it. We aren’t as young as we used to be. That factors in there a little bit. We’re all busy in other ways. The long-winded tour, I still hope some day to be able to do that with these guys, it’s just not in the books yet.
Is there any chance of Davis making it into Canada in the future, where The Slip has a strong following and thus Davis would likely too?
NM: I wish. That’s more of a legal situation I still have to try to jump through all the hoops to see if something can pan out. I got arrested for mushrooms going into High Sierra in 2004 or something like that. According to Canada that’s enough to keep me out. I know that I could go to the consulate in D.C. and try to get some kind of proof of rehabilitation or something like that but every time I’ve researched it, it just seems a little overwhelming. It makes me wish I had enough money to hire a lawyer to take care of it for me. If it weren’t for that we would probably be in a very different situation right now. They built a studio out there in Montreal and we really could be spending a lot more quality time in Canada than we have been. It’s really frustrating.
When the band has toured recently, you’ve tended to hit the road with more indie-rockers such as The Low Anthem and Land of Talk. Is the band trying to push itself away from being associated with jam scene, which some people might argue were the roots of the band’s beginnings?
NM: There has always been that curiosity of how other scenes would accept us or how well we would do in other places. I think at this point there is no concerted effort to redefine ourselves or to step out of the comfort zone too much. The jam world is definitely not something we are afraid of. It’s always been really good to us and they seem to “get it” on a fundamental level. It’s also really fun to insert ourselves into other scenes and see how they respond to it. I think at this point because we aren’t touring full time we’re really just trying to focus on the places we can have the most fun and play to the most people, wherever that is.
You mentioned High Sierra Music Festival early on in the conversation. What’s so special about High Sierra, as the band doesn’t seem to play any other music festivals during the summer?
NM: Well that’s where I met those guys. That’s where it all happened. I met The Slip at High Sierra and I forget when it was but we both caught each others' sets and met there. And then High Sierra was really the first Davis performance. Without even talking to us about it they sort of noticed we were starting to hang out a bit and scheduled a late night show with me and The Slip and that was some kind of vision on their part. That was really the first time officially I played on stage with those guys. They’ve always been incredibly supportive and are entangled in the roots of our origin. They just get that family nod at this point.
One of the new songs “Sissyfuss” has been recorded for the popular video game “Rock Band”. Can you talk a bit about the company “The Authority” who authored the song, and your thoughts on the video game medium as a perhaps a new flourishing channel of dissemination for music?
NM: I know that Marc is involved in The Authority and that might be a better question for him. I don’t know a lot about that stuff. I just thought it was pretty cool watching the video on YouTube. I thought it looked just like us (laughs)!
You’ve announced on a few occasions during shows that 2010 is the year of the Davis. What’s different about the band’s game plan this time around?
NM: I think it is sort of hearkening back to the question you asked before about the jamband scene and things like that. I think for a while we were really curious as to whether or not other approaches would be more appropriate and successful and sort of dabbled with experimenting with that. I think we’ve now just gone back to “let’s take the known variables and embrace them and try to use that to lift us”. In that sense, if there was a moment of wondering whether or not the jamband scene was for us we are no longer really thinking that way and now we’re just trying to capitalize on all the work we have done in the past and really focus on our strengths, and where we are known and trying to lift the known variables rather than exploring.
Surprise Me Mr. Davis Tour Dates: April 13 | Club Passim | Boston, MA April 14 | Firehouse 13 | Providence, RI April 15 | Red Square | Albany, NY April 16 | Union Hall | Brooklyn, NY April 17 | Mercury Lounge | New York, NY* April 24 | Tipitina's French Quarter | New Orleans, LA** April 30 | Hi Ho Lounge | New Orleans, LA June 24 | Tractor Tavern | Seattle, WA*** June 25 | Doug Fir Lounge | Portland, OR*** June 26 | Axe & Fiddle | Cottage Grove, OR*** July 1 | High Sierra Music Festival | Quincy, CA July 4 | High Sierra Music Festival | Quincy, CA
*w/ Yellowbirds **w/ The Slip & Marco Benevento Trio ***w/ Marco Benevento Trio
Brothers Brad and Andrew Barr, 2/3 of The Slip and 2/5 of Surprise Me Mr. Davis, have finally decided to release some of their Montreal-inspired music. The brothers have appropriately enough labeled their new band, The Barr Brothers (formerly Super Little and Berithen Berio) and plan to release an album later this year. According to the Barr Brothers' website, “The seeds for The Barr Brothers were first sown five years ago when Brad and Andrew relocated to Montreal. Brad’s apartment shared an adjoining wall with harpist Sarah Page. The two would hear each other practicing through the cracks. Sarah’s gentle melodies began weaving their way into the music that Brad was writing. A friendship was struck and songs were born. This latest endeavor for Brad and Andrew finds them exploring sounds quieter and more ethereal than anything in their previous work. Final touches are currently being added to a debut recording that will be released later this year.” What's more, the Bros. Barr will be touring, opening a few select shows for Rhode Island friends The Low Anthem, who funny enough have opened a few shows and collaborated with Surprise Me Mr. Davis. Brad and Andrew have also been working with their other band member Marc Friedman on recording a new The Slip album. Finally, Surprise Me Mr. Davis who are putting the finishing touches on their latest EP will also be embarking on a small tour starting in April. Basically, the Barr brothers are wicked busy and should be dropping a nice amount of sure-to-be-amazing material for us this coming year.
The Barr Brothers Tour Dates: 03.24 | Coronet @ Largo | Los Angeles, CA* 03.25 | Bootleg | Los Angeles, CA* 03.26 | Great American Music Hall | San Francisco, CA* 03.28 | Doug Fir Lounge | Portland, OR* 03.30 | St. James Hall | Vancouver, Canada* 03.31 | Crocodile Cafe | Seattle, WA* 04.10 | Church Of The Redeemer | Toronto, Canada* 04.12 | Eglise du Gesu | Montreal, Canada* 04.27 | The Saturn Bar | New Orleans, LA** *w/ Low Anthem & Timber Timbre **w/ Rotary Downs
Surprise Me Mr. Davis Tour Dates: 04.13 | Club Passim | Boston, MA 04.14 | Red Square | Albany, NY 04.15 | Firehouse 13 | Providence, RI 04.16 | Union Hall | Brooklyn, NY 04.17 | Mercury Lounge | New York, NY 04.24 | Tipitina's French Quarter | New Orleans, LA 04.30 | Hi Ho Lounge | New Orleans, LA 07.01 | High Sierra Music Festival | Quincy, CA 07.04 | High Sierra Music Festival | Quincy, CA
The Slip Tour Dates: 04.24 | Tipitina's French Quarter | New Orleans, LA (with Surprise Me Mr. Davis) 07.01-07.04 | High Sierra Music Festival | Quincy, CA
A few videos for your viewing pleasure: The Barr Brothers live in Montreal
If this isn't the tell-tale sign of a changing music industry than I don't know what is. Surprise Me Mr. Davis, the supergroup made up of The Slip, Nathan Moore and Marco Benevento has made its way on to the Rock Band Network before launching a new record. The song "Sissyfuss" which can be heard streaming on the Davis website and MySpace page will be available for gameplay on XBox360 and PS3. Player's can learn to shred like Brad Barr and sing like Nathan Moore before they've even seen them live. The Rock Band Network will certainly act as a new, unique way for band's to get their music out to the video gaming public. I tip my cap to Surprise Me Mr. Davis and their progressive ways.
Once again, High Sierra Music Fest has put together a stellar lineup with jamband, bluegrass, rock and indie rock favorites. The festival boasts the most intimate festival experience and amenities. They even had the wit to knock off the new over-hyped iPad. Watch the video below to see what I mean. Hilarious.
The Avett Brothers Ozomatli Femi Kuti and Positive Force Railroad Earth Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain, and Edgar Meyer Dr. Dog Karl Denson's Tiny Universe Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue Cornmeal Blitzen Trapper The New Mastersounds March Fourth Marching Band Nels Cline Singers The Infamous Stringdusters Surprise Me Mr. Davis The Slip BLVD Beats Antique Telepath Carolyn Wonderland Darol Anger's Republic Of Strings featuring Sharon Gilchrist Great American Taxi Nathan Moore Johnny Vidacovich, Robert Walter Duo Big Light Trampled By Turtles Zach Deputy and many more to come!
This weekend, on an unseasonably mild Saturday afternoon in Montreal, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Warren Spicer from the Montreal based indie-rock band Plants And Animals. The group received much praise from both the indie and the jamband worlds after releasing their debut album, Parc Avenue in 2008. Pleasing both of these musical crowds is no easy task, as each seems to be snobbier than the next. The indie crowd only loves top-notch unique music and the jamband scene generally digs psychedelic music that can be extended in a live setting. Plants And Animals found a happy medium, creating diverse music that's both catchy, complex and conducive to improvisation when played live. Two years later, after much touring and some time off of the road to record new songs, Plants And Animals is releasing their follow up album titled La La Land. Mr. Spicer was kind enough to take some time out of his busy schedule to sit down with me in a breakfast dive in the Mile End area of Montreal to have a few coffees and talk about the up-coming record and a whole lot more.
Parc Avenue was a very big album, rich in instrumentation and varied in song style and structure. What can listeners expect to hear on your new album, La La Land which is being released on April 20?
WS: I guess we haven’t done anything insanely, drastically different than what we did on Parc Avenue its just kind of a continuation of what we were into. I guess we kind of got back into more loud rock music because we had been touring so much, and when we made Parc Avenue we didn’t really tour a lot so we were kind of just rehearsing and playing in our apartments more. That record kind of came out with more acoustic guitars and quieter stuff. Then we started touring and we ended up playing a lot louder and with more electric guitars and rocking out so even the songs on Parc Avenue changed quite a bit when we played them live. We came back and started working on new stuff and it just started to sound more like what we sounded like live. Its maybe a little darker, this new record, but its classic P&A (laughs).
Can you talk a bit about the Montreal music scene and how it has influenced La La Land? I’ve heard The Slip’s Brad Barr and the Arcade Fire horn section are featured on the album. Are there any other guest contributors?
WS: We had a few different people in doing things, some stuff worked, some stuff didn’t work. In terms of the music scene I think Brad, he lives in the same apartment building as me and he is just a pretty incredible musician. He’s been busy ever since he showed up in Montreal and as soon as he got here I met him and we started hanging out. I feel like the Montreal music scene, I think when you are a newer band starting out, like before we had released Parc Avenue, maybe I was more connected to the scene because I was out at bars more checking out other bands. Then as things progressed you start enjoying your own time when you come home. You don’t go out to bars, I don’t even know who the hot bands are in this town anymore. But I have my group of friends and Brad is part of them. You know, musical friends and we all end up helping each other out at recordings and jamming whenever we get the chance to. The scene for me has a lot more to do with my own scene rather than “the scene” because I don’t really know what that is anymore. In terms of shaping the new record, we kind of just had the studio booked for two weeks here and there and kind of did whatever we felt like. If someone happened to be around, like I always wanted to do something with Brad and he came in and ended up playing some piano. We just kind of hung out and figured out what worked and low and behold. Colin who plays sax for the Arcade Fire he is Sarah’s boyfriend and she’s the violinist for the Arcade Fire and she played on our first record and we went to school together. It’s more just a web of friends who all play music together.
Your debut album Parc Avenue was named after the street it was recorded on. What’s the significance behind the dreamy title of La La Land?
WS: There’s no huge significance, Parc Avenue just fell into place right away we didn’t have to think about it very much. We had worked on this record and maybe also looking back in hindsight things seemed to have fit together more logically in that album when it was all finished. Finishing this record was kind of a mad dash; everything went haywire as we approached the deadline of when we were supposed to deliver it. We didn’t have a title, we didn’t know what the artwork was going to look like, and we didn’t know anything. When you get stuck in a position like that you start trying to brainstorm and everything sounds bad. Every idea you come up with sounds terrible. The list of absolutely hilarious bad names is wildly long (laughs). We should probably put that up on our website, there’s some gold in there. There’s a reference in a song, the second song “Swinging Bells” which is loosely about L.A. We were worried that people would think it has too much to do with L.A. but most people don’t really connect La La Land with L.A. but some people do, its more of an actor thing. It just kind of made sense. There’s kind of this dreaminess about the record, it’s not that specific it doesn’t lock us into anything, it’s open-ended
That being said, Parc Avenue felt like a really cohesive, flowing album. Is La La Land a little more scattered?
WS: No, it’s still built the same way. That’s how we make records. We make records that flow from start to finish. I think it’s less epic; it’s a shorter, tighter album. Parc Avenue is almost an hour long. If you can have that kind of attention span, that’s awesome and it was our first album too so you put a lot of your life into that first record because you have never had the chance to do anything like that before. It kind of made sense that Parc Avenue was that long and I’m glad we made that record that long. We toured and we tightened up and then we wanted to crystallize things a little bit more and I wanted to write some shorter, tighter, poppy songs. That’s always a challenge too, it’s not easy to write a shorter song when you’re not used to that. It’s a different challenge.
The band’s sound really seems to embody the Canadian music scene. Parc Avenue had tender ballads, tripped out jams, and epic progressive rock tunes. What are some of the band’s influences? Are there any Canadian bands in particular that have had a strong impact on the group and its sound?
WS: Yah, actually last year I saw Neil Young twice. Once at the Bell Center here in Montreal and then once in Barcelona at a festival we played called the Prima Vera Festival. There’s something about seeing him live, it was like everything I thought about Neil Young, how original the guy is…just to hear his electric guitar. There is something about electric guitars that I just wanted to get back into. Also, I kind of went on a rampage this winter trying to find old Hendrix bootlegs and this weird Hendrix stuff and now there’s some fuzz on the record that’s kind of a direct result of just listening to more of the sound that’s playing. It’s not just fuzzed-out blues solos it’s more just outer-space, fuzz thing that Hendrix can do. Those are two pretty classic references but they kind of popped up again in my mind this year. It all depends on the song, you kind of write a song and you have a very specific idea of that you want to do something that’s already been done but in your own way. The new song we released, “Tom Cruz” it’s got a very kind of Neil Young-y as I could get on guitar solos. I wasn’t really trying but after the fact I thought that it kind of sounds like that, that insanely ballsy guitar sound.
Plants And Animals are a band that strongly bridges the continually thinning divide between indie rock and jamband. You’ve been featured on indie-dedicated sites such as Pitchfork.com as well as jam friendly sites such as jambase.com and jambands.com. Why do you think that is?
WS: I guess because we can do it both if we want to. You kind of choose what you want to do and how you want to market yourself and typically in the indie world it hasn’t been hip to be a jamband. But you know, who cares it doesn’t really make a difference. I think we might have started out a bit more jammy, that’s where our roots come from, just getting together and playing and things are slowly tightening and narrowing and now it’s our least jammy stuff. There is still some extended tunes on this record, which will potentially be extended more during live sets. You also want to play to your audience; if we did a festival like Bonnaroo it would be fun to extend things. You have to know whose watching you. The group comes from a pretty educated musical background as well and we’ve worked really hard on learning how to play. Even if we don’t really showcase that on a three-minute pop-song, the chops are still there even if it’s hidden in the rhythm. The time we’ve spent learning how to play is in their in the groove.
I noticed you guys were featured on La Blogotheque’s Take Away Shows. It seems that all the biggest indie-blog-buzz bands have been featured on this site. Was performing bare bones versions of your songs in a unique location a refreshing change from the typical club or bar setting?
WS: We recorded half the record in Paris at that location in those shots. It’s a big mansion half an hour outside of Paris, it’s this old chateau with a wicked recording studio in it. We went there and recorded for five days and we lived there in the mansion. We ate there and all the windows are open and you’re playing and there’s old bookshelves full of vinyl’s and the basement is filled with the recording gear. It’s a pretty magical place to work. We were there working and the Blogotheque guys came out for an afternoon and we were already making music all day long and they walked in and we were like “sure we can play some more music because that’s all we’re doing”. Sometimes those things can be a bit weird, when it’s more contrived. There’s the Black Cab one where you get in a cab and I could see some of those being fun but a pain in the ass. The one in Paris was great though because we were already doing it. There are instruments everywhere and more than anything we were comfortable and that’s great because if you’re not there’s a good chance those things can suck.
While the band has played smaller and mid-sized festivals including the London Ontario Live Arts Festival (LOLA Fest) and the Pitchfork Music Festival, can we expect to see you playing at some of the festival giants such as Bonnaroo or Rothbury in the coming year?
WS: I certainly hope so. I don’t know what we have scheduled right now but we would love to step it up as much as possible. I think Bonnaroo might be out unfortunately. We’ve been quiet for a very long time, our blip on the radar has kind of disappeared. We were working on the new record and not touring that much so our buzz is kind of gone and forgotten. It’s kind of hard to start booking the North American stuff pre-release because people are like “oh yah I heard about you guys back then”. It’s all timing and unfortunately people are booking bands now for the summer and our album doesn’t come out until April. It might be a different story once the record comes out and we get a bunch of media attention. We’ll have to see what happens then. We will definitely play some festivals though. Some of the best festivals are the smaller ones. What you think is the best festival, the biggest ones, don’t always turn out to be the best. The most fun I’ve ever had was when we played a tiny festival in Yellowknife called Folk On The Rocks. The stages were made out of plywood and the PA was tiny and it was just awesome. The big, mega-festivals with the huge headliners and the thousands of people, that’s one thing but I think I’d much rather play a small festival run by volunteers where everyone gets to hang out and be normal. At the big, mega-ones things kind of get out of control and it’s their own thing. I wouldn’t pit the two against each other; the small mom and pop operations are certainly more relaxed and normal. The whole idea of a festival is for people to come together and it feels more normal at small ones. The corporate festivals claim to want that but you get there and everyone is compartmentalized and every band has a trailer and you never talk to anyone. You play your set and your done and you don’t talk to anyone. Higher profile is good for business but it is not necessarily the most enjoyable time.
Head over to www.plantsandanimals.ca to listen to "Tom Cruz", the band's first release off of the up-coming record La La Land, and for everything else Plants And Animals.
Here's the song "Feedback In The Field" from the aforementioned La Blogotheque filming session
As I reported yesterday, Plants And Animals are releasing their new record La La Land on the worldwide stoner's holiday, April 20. In some additional information about the album, The Slip's Brad Barr, a close friend of the group has contributed guitar work to the album and the Arcade Fire horn section is featured on La La Land as well.
In 2008, a famous New York City concert venue called The Lion's Den was transformed into Sullivan Hall. The new club is marking its 2nd anniversary with a special concert featuring one-time Sullivan Hall resident Marco Benevento. Benevento will be performing with his trio which will include special guest drummer and musical hero, Billy Martin. What's more, Benevento's new Surprise Me Mr. Davis band mates, The Slip will also be performing in another one of their one-off shows. Tickets will be available to the public on December 1 via ticketweb.com and the show will take place January 2, 2010.
Back In 15 Minutes favourites, Surprise Me Mr. Davis, have finally given the public a glimpse into what they've been up to as of late. While the group has released two albums in their six year career and toured extensively, the band has had pretty limited exposure. Previously comprised of folk troubadour Nathan Moore and jazz/indie rockers The Slip, the group has recently added a new member to the delight of many die hard fans. The recent addition of pianist extraordinaire Marco Benevento (of the Benevento Russo Duo) illustrates the group's push towards some much deserved exposure. The new demo tracks showcase a more song-oriented version of Surprise Me Mr. Davis as opposed to their more experimental songs released on their first album. Check out the band's brand new website www.surprisememrdavis.com to listen to some demos and to learn more about this amazingly under-appreciated band.
Our good friend and fellow Slip enthusiast Cleantone just produced a new promo clip made for The Slip's song Even Rats coming to the Rock Band Network and his company The Authority who authored the song for the game. It will be coming this fall to an XBOX near you (and PS3 shortly after that).
Surprise Me Mr. Davis, the avant-folk group made up of The Slip + Nathan Moore and newest member Marco Benevento will be touring with Canadian indie rock group Land of Talk. The latter is led by Broken Social Scene singer Lizzie Powell. Andrew Barr of Davis has drummed for Land of Talk in the past and will be providing drums for both bands during this short tour. The Slip will also play a one off hometown show at Lupo's in Providence Rhode Island this Thanksgiving (November 28).
Tour Dates: November 18 Cambridge, MA—Middle East Downstairs November 19 Burlington, VT—Club Metronome November 20 Northampton, MA—Iron Horse November 21 New York, NY—Mercury Lounge The Slip - November 28 Providence, RI - Lupo's
Check out Andrew Barr playing drums on the Land of Talk's "Some Are Lakes"
Here's Surprise Me Mr. Davis playing "Silly Like A Goose" with Andrew Barr playing some wandering drums
The Slip are making up for lost time. Two years off the road as The Slip has done the boys well. As hard as it is for fans to have a band take time off, it keeps the artists sane and it keeps the material fresh. While The Slip were still drawing pretty heavily from 2006s "Eisenhower", they also managed to mix in enough old gems, as well as new tunes to keep the setlist interesting and subsequently, the audience engaged. Opening the show with a spacey jam that teased a bit of the old, Cumulus and The Landing, it segued into a new tune which featured bassist Marc Freidman on an old hollow-body electric guitar. The tune (tentatively titled D'Gary) is a dark rocker with a nice finger-picked lead by Brad Barr. Next up came a new-school favourite, "Even Rats" which was pretty standard aside from Brad teasing "Sorry" in the solo section. The raging funk of "Get Me With Fuji" displayed The Slip's jammy side and got the crowd dancing. Like always, it was a showcase for the breakbeat drumming of Andrew Barr who was simply putting on a clinic all night. Another new tune came next, the bluesy-rocker called "Motherwolf". Brad was reaching for the grizzly falsetto and surprisingly enough, reached it most of the time. This is a tune that is sure to sound great on record and occasionally live. A reworked version of "Dear Melina" came next and this time we had Freidman playing the lead lines on electric guitar with some nice slide work throughout the song. The boys saluted Michael Jackson during the ending of "Paper Birds" with some nice "Man in the Mirror" teases that had the crowd singing aloud. A big surprise came when long-time collaborator Marco Benevento showed up during the solo section of "If One Of Us Should Fall" to add some pretty, get this, accordion work to the ballad. The Slip left the stage briefly, but the crowd was cheering way to loud for the show to be over. They came back out and hit us with the re-worked version of "The Weight of Solomon" with Brad belting the lyrics out, knowing it was a sing-a-long favourite. "Children of December" came next, with Brad singing it in the high register, rather than the monotone manner that was showcased in 2006 and 2007. Proving he was a rockstar, Brad signalled for a crowd surf and the fans happily obliged. The final tune of the night was a new one people are calling "England". It features a nice acoustic loop and some singing from Andrew as well as Brad. It's a pretty song and one that is sure to sound good in the studio. At one point during the show, Brad alluded to the fact that this is not a comeback tour. The Slip never broke up. After last night's show I truthfully believe him. The Bowery was packed and the crowd was loving it. The Slip will continue to rage on in the future, but we may just have to accept them in small, powerful doses.
Setlist: Intro (with Cumulus and/or The Landing teases) > D'Gary Even Rats (with Sorry teases) Get Me With Fuji Motherwolf Dear Melina Airplane/Primitive Paper Birds (with Man In The Mirror teases) Suffocation Keep That Love Ain't Enough Wolof The Soft Machine If One Of Us Should Fall (with Marco Benevento on acordian) Encore: Weight Of Solomon Children Of December England
The Slip haven't toured in about 2 years now. Tonight they posted this message on their website: "Almost two years since our last tour, The Slip is coming together in June and July to perform a handful of shows on the east and west coasts. We have been on hiatus, making music in our respective cities, enjoying the detours. There may be additional shows here and there as we begin to craft our next album. Thank you all for your tremendous and endless support". -BAM
Dates: 24 Jun 2009 20:00 Iron Horse Northampton, Massachusetts 25 Jun 2009 20:00 The Paradise Rock Club Boston, Massachusetts 26 Jun 2009 20:00 The Bowery Ballroom NYC, New York 27 Jun 2009 20:30 World Cafe Live Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 4 Jul 2009 21:30 High Sierra Music Festival Quincy, California 5 Jul 2009 19:15 HIgh Sierra Music Festival Quincy, California
For those of you who don't know The Slip, they put out a huge album in 2006 called "Eisenhower". The song "Even Rats" was in the wildly successful video game Guitar Hero. The Slip also played Conan and were featured on the popular t.v. show Grey's Anatomy.
Here's a sweet video of The Slip playing their epic tune "Airplane/Primitive".
After the My Morning Jacket show I strolled over to Times Square to catch Surprise Me Mr. Davis & The Benevento Russo Duo's late night show. The marquee read "The Slip & The Duo" so I was unsure who would actually be playing. I thought maybe that Nathan Moore (lead vocals, guitar) had gotten sick and perhaps it would be The Slip performing. I also thought that perhaps B.B.King's just had the wrong info to begin with. Either way I was absolutely pumped to see both bands for the first time. The show began at 2am with The Duo taking the stage first. They opened with "Echo Park" and instead of playing a full set, they immeditately left the stage while SMMD rushed on and delivered a high octane version of "Everything Must Go". It turns out that Nathan would be playing, and he was in fine form as always. To my surprise, Davis rushed off the stage and The Duo ran back on to play another track. This may have been the plan for the rest of the night, but sooner than later different incarnations of both bands were taking form. First Brad and Marc stayed on and played with the Duo. Then Marco would stay and play keys on a Davis track. Next thing I knew every member of both band's were playing on stage. The 6 headed monster which now resembled the Grateful Dead with two guitarists, keyboards, two drummers, bass, and keys remained on stage for the rest of the rest of the night. "Sissyfuss" was the first tune to feature everyone at once and it was nice to hear a version featuring the fancy keywork of Marco Benevento. Unlike other SMMD shows, this one featured lots of jamming, more akin to the work of The Slip & The Duo. Brad really stood out as the superstar of the night. His guitar playing was inventive and his singing was on for the entirety of the night. "I Hate Love" was a standout of the night. The crowd got to sing a long and Brad even teased some of "Eube" in the intro guitar licks. Both bands left the stage at 4:30am but nobody wanted to believe the show was over. After what felt like forever (really 10minutes later) the 6 musicians piled back on stage for a lengthly encore. A big jam session was held that featured a new Marco/Marc composition that segued into an old often played The Slip cover but first time for Davis & The Duo, "Stand By Me". The show ended at 5:15am with Nathan and Brad singing "What A Wonderful World". It was cut short by Nathan who proudly claimed he was way to drunk to keep going. The concert was epic to say the least and totally outshown My Morning Jacket. Both of these groups have paid their dues over the years, and hopefully 2009 will be a stand out year for Surprise Me Mr. Davis. Although it would be bittersweet to see them playing venues such as Madison Square Garden, no band deserves it more.
Here's SMMD & The Duo playing I Hate Love, Stand By Me and a jam (all of which I shot from front row center!):
Set List: Disc 1 Set I 1. Echo Park > 2. Everything Must Go > 3. Play Pause Stop > 4. When A Woman > 5. Becky 6. Sissyfuss 7. Best Reason To Buy The Sun 8. Sunny's Song 9. I Want To Get To Heaven Before I Die 10. beluga banter 11. Roses & Bottles
Disc 2 Set I (continued) 1. The Real World 2. jam > Something For Rockets 3. Circus Cats 4. Smells Like Teen Spirit > 5. I Hate Love 6. Summer of My Fall > 7. Poor Boy 8. Big Whopper > 9. Fat King Of Gods 10. 19th Nervous Breakdown 11. encore break
Disc 3 Encore 1: 1. Last One Ever Encore 2: 2. (cuts in) new Marc & Marco Tune > 3. Stand By Me > 4. super bad jam > 5. jam > 6. Money Money Money 7. What A Wonderful World
Brad Barr's long awaited solo release is nothing short of a masterpiece. Barr returns to his musical roots which his band The Slip seems to have recently left behind. The eclectic mix of music allows Barr to take the listener on a musical journey without ever leaving his Montreal apartment. The Fall Apartment features folk, delta blues, gypsy guitar, new age, and cover songs, all performed with absolute perfection. The album opens with an original composition titled "Sarah Through the Wall". It's an extremely catchy number featuring fast paced melodic guitar runs and a memorable refrain. Next up is another Barr original, the delta blues number "Bouba's Bounce". It features whirlwind finger picking and bouncy bassline that would act as the perfect segue to The Slip's classic "Mudslide". Barr's take on Nirvana's "Heart Shaped Box" is also worthy of mention. Here Barr slows the classic Nirvana tune down, and places the lyrical melody over a backdrop of computerized noises, on what ends up being a very modern and beautiful take on a grunge classic. Fans of The Slip will recognize the song "Shiver",which is featured on this album, but without its lyrics. It's strong melody allows it to survive without its lyrics and works within the context of this album . The Fall Apartment is a strong effort and is certainly a success musically. I do hope however that on his next release, Brad showcases his beautifully honest voice and incredible lyrics to prove to the world that he is the most underrated folk singer/songwriter around right now.
%2Blo%2Bres.jpg)
The Barr Brothers showed off their blues chops during “Lord I just Can’t Keep From Cryin’” as Brad showcased some expert slide work while Sarah provided some additional percussion. Ironically, Brad begged us to sympathize with the devil in a church no less during “Give The Devil Back His Heart”, a sprawling gothic-blues number that saw brother Andrew playing his drums with two percussive instruments that resembled mini crutches. The group closed its set with an unreleased tune that I’ll call “Was That So Long Ago?” and it featured harmonizing falsetto lines that appeared to come with great ease. The Barr Brothers left the stage to a thunderous, standing ovation from a church that appeared to have every pew filled. 
The highlight of the set came after the second chorus of “This God Damn House”, as Miller instructed us to phone our neighbor on speakerphone and let the cell phones sing to each other. When the moment came, the room obliged and the whistling of our cellular devices began to circle the room before reaching the ceiling of the church. The lights went down, the band dropped their instruments and for a few mystical moments, all that could be heard was the gentle singing that sounded like it was coming from anywhere other than a Blackberry or an iPhone. 
In 2008, a famous New York City concert venue called The Lion's Den was transformed into Sullivan Hall. The new club is marking its 2nd anniversary with a special concert featuring one-time Sullivan Hall resident Marco Benevento. Benevento will be performing with his trio which will include special guest drummer and musical hero, Billy Martin. What's more, Benevento's new Surprise Me Mr. Davis band mates, The Slip will also be performing in another one of their one-off shows. Tickets will be available to the public on December 1 via ticketweb.com and the show will take place January 2, 2010.
Back In 15 Minutes favourites, Surprise Me Mr. Davis, have finally given the public a glimpse into what they've been up to as of late. While the group has released two albums in their six year career and toured extensively, the band has had pretty limited exposure. Previously comprised of folk troubadour Nathan Moore and jazz/indie rockers The Slip, the group has recently added a new member to the delight of many die hard fans. The recent addition of pianist extraordinaire Marco Benevento (of the Benevento Russo Duo) illustrates the group's push towards some much deserved exposure. The new demo tracks showcase a more song-oriented version of Surprise Me Mr. Davis as opposed to their more experimental songs released on their first album. Check out the band's brand new website www.surprisememrdavis.com to listen to some demos and to learn more about this amazingly under-appreciated band.
A big surprise came when long-time collaborator Marco Benevento showed up during the solo section of "If One Of Us Should Fall" to add some pretty, get this, accordion work to the ballad. The Slip left the stage briefly, but the crowd was cheering way to loud for the show to be over. They came back out and hit us with the re-worked version of "The Weight of Solomon" with Brad belting the lyrics out, knowing it was a sing-a-long favourite. "Children of December" came next, with Brad singing it in the high register, rather than the monotone manner that was showcased in 2006 and 2007. Proving he was a rockstar, Brad signalled for a crowd surf and the fans happily obliged. 
The final tune of the night was a new one people are calling "England". It features a nice acoustic loop and some singing from Andrew as well as Brad. It's a pretty song and one that is sure to sound good in the studio. At one point during the show, Brad alluded to the fact that this is not a comeback tour. The Slip never broke up. After last night's show I truthfully believe him. The Bowery was packed and the crowd was loving it. The Slip will continue to rage on in the future, but we may just have to accept them in small, powerful doses.
