An Interview with CHAPMAN

The first question has to be, why release three albums?

There's probably many answers to that question! I was conscious when I was recording 'Amplification' that it was a big leap for fans of my first album - going from a very introspective basically acoustic record to an album of much bigger, positive songs. I can only make the music that I can make but at the same time I didn't want to alienate anyone so that's how the 'The Bare Bones' came about. It set me thinking about reaching out to even more new listeners, so I decided to let 1:44 remix the tracks as well.
Maybe it's not enough these days to just release a record?

Who is Mr Ballad?

The ‘Mr Ballad’ thing comes out of the last album one of my fans coined the phrase on my myspace.  When I recorded the last album, my Dad had just died and several other life changing events occurred so it was inevitable that the music was reflective, I was looking back on my life and examining my present in the wake of those events. I was also expressing my feelings about the value of my marriage to me so there were quite a few ballads on there – but to be honest I love ballads! This album is more about how I’m feeling now, since ‘Bombshell’ I’ve become a father and moved out of London, the songs are more upbeat and positive because I am.
I’m not going to start actually calling myself Mr. Ballad though…(laughs) ‘Taxi for Mr Ballad’ , ‘…ah good evening Mr. Ballad table for two…’

In Hum Along, are you considering your own death? You seems to be suggesting that you're thinking about it?

When you lose someone in your life especially a parent, you sometimes have this ‘I’m Next’ attitude and you question your own mortality, but I believe that we are all eternal energy that carries on regardless of our physical body. In ‘Hum Along’ I’m accepting that I won’t always be in this physical form, but I’m questioning what is going to happen afterwards – we all have doubts after all.

'Things are Changing' sounds like a sequel to ‘The River’ from the first album. Am I right?

Yes, The River was about the incredible capacity I once had to self-sabotage anything good in my life! In the last few years I’ve come to believe that we actively create our own reality, so if something bad is happening in my life I’ve created it. It has really changed the way I live my life and ‘Things are Changing’ is a reflection of that and the sea imagery shows that I’ve jumped into the river which has carried me down to the sea which has allowed me to be more expansive as the captain of my ship.

The Edge of the Island has a strong ‘green’ message is this a subject close to your heart?

Once you have children I think it does become more important but really I believe we have lost our connection with the earth and nature. Nature is this thing that we observe from the outside, we aren’t embracing it, working with it. Now I live by the sea I feel that even more strongly. We are all so wrapped up in the stuff that from a universal view, when you pull back and look, doesn’t really matter. We don’t treat the natural world or Mother Earth as we should. I think that’s what I’m trying to say…

There are many soul inflections on this record and It Could Get Darker has a Stax /Atlantic feel, has that music been a particular influence in your life?

The benefit of being the youngest of 6 children who are a lot older than you is that you get exposed to a lot of different music from a very early age. I’m really grateful for that grounding. One of my brothers was really into James Brown and it just started from there. I discovered Motown, STAX and really got into Rare Groove, Funk and Northern Soul. I was in lot of bands when I was younger where I was trying to re-create some of these sounds and in my last band, before I went solo, MacArthur, we really went all out for the soul thing, the album we recorded for Artist Network never got released because of the labels financial problems, so maybe this is an itch I just have to keep scratching. I can’t help but produce songs with a soul feel. I’ve actually got SOUL tattooed on the top of my left arm, so it’s always with me!

The Salesman is like a serenade to major record labels; do you have strong views on the way the major labels operate?

It’s no secret that the traditional model that has sustained the majors for so long is crumbling. If you’re a bit tech savvy and you are committed and creative you can carve out a career without the ‘help’ of a major label.
I think it was Ray Lamontagne that said and I’m para-phrasing him here
When you sign that contract you are virtually signing away the rights to all your music and everybody thinks they have the right to tell you what you should be doing and how you should be doing it and if you don’t generate the right amount of revenue then you’re out.
I was inspired to add the Latin feel to the song after hearing an interview with Terry Reid, when he delivered his classic album ‘River’ to Atlantic in 1973 it was two-years in the making and when the title track had Brazilian influences on it the label were like “huh?? - what do we do with this?”. Ironically, I was offered a gig playing keyboards for him on a few UK dates in 2007, but I couldn’t do it.

Raffi’s song (The Answer is Love) is obviously about your daughter. The version on 'Amplification' goes on a 9 minute journey.

When my wife was pregnant with our daughter, Raffi, she encouraged me to sing to her bump, as studies showed that the unborn child really responds to music. I just started humming this little tune (hums main melody of Raffi’s Song) every day. As time went on I expanded it into a 4 minute song, the lyric ‘Whatever the question, the answer is love’ came to me sitting on the tube one day.
A few close family members had heard the beginnings of it and really liked it, they were having a party so I spent an afternoon remixing it and adding a dance element to it, that was a 7-minute version that was heard that night. People really liked it but said they wanted it longer so I added the choir parts and a further 2mins 30secs and that is the version on 'Amplification'.  The heartbeat at the beginning and end of the song belongs to my daughter, I recorded it when she was in the womb.

Is the answer really love?

Definitely. We should add love to everything we do – the difference would be incredible. We’ve even designed a T-Shirt with ‘The answer is LOVE’ on it that you can

It’s a well known fact that you play very few live gigs?

I have a 2 year old daughter and along with my wife they are the best things that have ever happened to me. I want to see my daughter grow up, you can never get back the time you miss. It's very important to me. I want to be a 'hands-on' Dad, they grow-up so quickly. I don't think that should stop me from making music. Do you?

No, but most artists have to play live to survive these days?

I'm just trying to buck the trend. I want to explore other avenues and new opportunities. Without spending long periods away from my family.

What’s with the megaphone in all the photos for Amplification?

Do you want me to stand in front of a Marshall stack? That would be a bit literal wouldn’t it...more than a megaphone anyway!

The Remixes are by OneFourtyFour? Who is OneFourtyFour?

He's my producer alter-ego everyone should have one! It’s someone I met on a train. He does most of his work entirely with a laptop travelling on trains. He’s releasing an, as yet untitled album on the label (Creating Reality) in 2011, assuming he doesn’t get held up by signal failure or the leaf fall season…

Sarathan Records

I have worked with Sarathan for a couple of years now, and have found this one simple truth about them. They are honest.

Don’t wrinkle your nose there gentle reader, to find honesty in a label, within ALL their bands, to find truth in every bit of music that comes out from them, is a rare thing indeed.

I believe in every act that I hear from them, but more than that I want to play every act that they have, write about them, and dance to them, go on adventures with them. The label is gently eclectic but each band FITS, there is a rhythm a vibe that joins them. Like perhaps Saddle Creek, Domino or the great 4AD, this is a label that when an innocent musiclover goes into a shop or online and sees that fluttering bird or the name Sarathan, they know the music will be cool, quality and most of all HONEST.

To hook up with this feature I will be writing about some of the acts and presenting a super special episode of the NBT Podcast on the 8^th April 2010

Check the artists out further on down this page BUT first let’s hear from the Label and the People who work there. A day in the life:

~Jonathan Kochmer, Label Owner:

Contrary to popular opinion, owning a record label is not glamorous. Nor is it simply a matter of putting out music we love and watching the big bucks roll in.  Oh no, not at all! It is incredibly hard work (actually, the most challenging job I have ever had, and I've had some doozies). I don't think that anyone outside the record business really appreciates how much time, struggle, love, and money goes into putting out a record and getting it to the people who might love it and actually pay for it.

 

As the owner of a small business in a profound global recession, and in an industry that is facing many many challenges and changes, my typical day is currently devoted to number crunching of costs and incomes and coming up with cost-effective and innovative ways to get the word out about our music. I am responsible for ongoing relationship management of the many outside partners who provide services to the label and our beloved artists. I also do a lot of work with our IT systems and am constantly designing experiments with online marketing where we can evaluate very precisely how much income comes in with a given amount of spending.

 

I am thrilled to have on board a small but hugely effective team of people who are not only passionate about our artists, but with whom I would trust my life. After years of investing in Sarathan financially and emotionally and countless nights waking up at 4am in a panic about whether we would survive, I am very very proud to say that together, this year we have finally developed the core of a new record label business model that should be sustainable and thriving in the coming years. But there is no room for complacency, and we will be constantly tinkering with the bird as it learns to fly!

~Jessica Drenkel, Internet Marketing & Intern Manager:

I've worked with Sarathan Records for over three years and my "official" title has shifted about three times (including Production Manager and Intern Manager).  The nature of a small company includes all of us in decisions and processes, which makes defining our roles murky; especially since the cycle of our business is often based around album releases and tours.

A day-in-the-life at Sarathan Records has the usual office necessities; coworker banter, lunchtime quandaries (that sandwich shop again?!?) and timecards.  But the day-to-day stepping stones we place thru internet marketing, revising contracts and mailing promo posters to venues are tiny accomplishments that allow us to take pride in the exciting events that happen.

Personally, my most vivid memories come from of a variety of duties.  I recall being on the floor surrounded by hundreds of padded envelopes, one sheets, and promo CDs with coworkers and/or interns and having a blast chatting about music, shows and food.  I loved the feeling of faxing in those *final* signed Order Approvals to begin the manufacturing of our next release.  Of course, I also remember the phone-conferences, lengthy email-threads and sudden flurry of activities sparked by a single missed deadline, shipment mix-up or amazing new opportunity.

I truly never know what I am going to encounter, experience or help make-happen every day at Sarathan, and that's part of what makes it so exciting and rewarding.

~Kate Leaver, office manager & licensing inquiries:

I like to start out each day with a plan of action, but have learned over the years that flexibility is key to survival in the record industry.  My day to day duties are hugely varied and consist of everything from buying ink for the printer, to calculating artist royalties, to pitching our artists to music supervisors.  It's hard to say what I would consider a typical day.  List making has become the key to managing this wide variety of tasks.  I write everything down and then look forward to the satisfying moment that I get to cross it off my list.

~Kara McGraw, Internet Marketing

I spent one and a half years of my life in Seattle, WA. Day one, I fell in love with the architecture, the parks, the way the invasive blackberry bushes grew along the sidewalks, the totem poles, the mysterious underground tunnels, the occasional random redwood tree, their amusing nicknames for transportation systems (aka, the SLUT), the comfortable and warm summers, and yes, I appreciated the rainy winters as well. I even came to love the overstatement that is the Space Needle; its rising torch-like form had become a beacon for my second home.

On my way to Sarathan Records’ headquarters every morning, I would fix my eyes on the horizon, where I knew loomed the awe-demanding Rainier, cloaked in a veil of grey. In stark contrast to the wafting mystery of fog, Sarathan was a joy. Its interior was bright and cheerful, its employees intimidatingly intelligent and in tune with pop culture. But they were friendly people, and they inspired me to new heights.

My time in Seattle ended all too soon. I had to move. Fortunately, I am able to continue working for Sarathan from home. Working from home is … well, quiet. My social life and work life are entirely computerized, so much so that sometimes I look in the mirror and I’m surprised at what I see, as if I thought I’d somehow become completely digital. It’s a little unnerving, as I’d always considered myself an outdoorsy person.

Of course, there are the pluses: a flexible schedule and increased productivity, not to mention an unbeatable commute.

Plus, there’s an additional benefit to this new life, one that I’d never previously considered. You see, back in Seattle, I’d generally let other people dictate the music that was being played in the office. Via these means I was exposed to a range of styles and genres that I might never have explored on my own. Unfortunately, most of these sounds washed over me without leaving a distinct impression. Not that it was bad music, it just didn’t strike a chord.

Now, in the ongoing war against silence and boredom, I’ve discovered a motherload of sounds that have really enriched my life. Below is just a sampling…

SOME NEW MUSICAL DISCOVERIES:

• Capitals
• Trent Dabbs
• Ramona Falls
• Sia
• Gavin Castleton
• Flight of the Conchords
• Nurses
• The Weakerthans
• Bitter:Sweet

I’ve also discovered new works from artists I’d already known and loved, such as “Exogenisis” (Muse), “Hotel Song” (Regina Spektor), “Toto Dies” (Nellie McKay), and the acoustic version of “No Surprises” (Radiohead).

(By the way, if you want to see a complete list of my discoveries or share new music with me, Twitter/Blip.fm is the place to go!)

And so, I’ve decided…

In a world where there’s music, it’s okay to be alone, it’s okay to be far from the beautiful places you fell in love with, it’s okay to spend most of your life on the computer. Where passion is lacking, music steps in to remind you of your humanity, to endow life with a sense of meaning and direction. And I think this is true for all human beings, be they in the music business or not.

To conclude, if I can help a handful of people find music that does this for them, that helps them get through the day, then I can tell myself that my life and my job are worthwhile.

Hell, it beats selling women’s accessories, anyway.

The Bands/Artists featured on the NBT Podcast special and on the NBT Blog keep reading the various reviews of these five artists and look out for  links to free downloads and plenty  cool merchandise links.

March: Boister

Anne Watts :

The spark for a Boister song might start with an eight-year-old child musing: “Says here, some moths drink the tears of elephants.” Maybe over breakfast in a greasy spoon, someone said something about cornbread in a skillet. Maybe somebody’s gone off to a nursing home; all of his papers, maps, drawings, letters, are getting thrown into a dumpster, parked by an old barn in an open field. The river’s tide is going out.

 

Sometimes a memory of Kurt Weill on the turntable seeps in, or a nanosecond of a Lucinda Williams turn of phrase. Maybe somebody you love gets sick, or somebody’s mother dies. Purple finches come to the window, or bohemian waxwings, with their little black masks, picking at black berries on a tree.  

 

History collides with the present, constellations shift, and you remember: there are forty-eight ways to harmonize one note. The band plays on Sunday. Random horn parts converge. The accordion cries out to the drum; the guitar and bass are lost in some flamenco fantasy.

 

We remember the future when we play, and steal from everyone we have loved. Our sound involves the skillet, the moth, the tide. We toast our good fortune and surrender.

Boister

 

Craig Considine~trombone

Curt Heavey~guitar, banjo, mandolin

Lyle Kissack~drums, percussion, voice

Denis Malloy~bass clarinet

Chas Marsh~bass

Anne Watts~voice, accordion, piano

 

Recent Performance Venues

Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; Baird Theatre, Smithsonian; Walters Art Museum; Baltimore Museum of Art; Culbreth Theatre, University of Virginia; Mattin Center, Johns Hopkins University; Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, University of Maryland; Villa Julie College; Hampshire College, Massachusetts; Covenant College, Tennessee; The Creative Alliance at the Patterson Theatre, Baltimore; NXNE Festival, Toronto; and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

 

                                                           Recordings

Some Moths Drink the Tears of Elephants (2008)

Sister City (2006)

Les Foules en Amour (2004)

Pieces of Milk (2002)

Song of the Smoke (1999)

Boister (1997)

 

Silent Film Scores

 Buster Keaton’s Our Hospitality ~ commissioned by The Creative Alliance and Evergreen House (2005)

Buster Keaton’s Seven Chances ~ commissioned by The Virginia Film Festival (2003)

Greta Garbo’s Love ~ commissioned by the Maryland Film Festival (2003)

Buster Keaton’s Steamboat Bill, Jr.~ commissioned by the Walters Art Museum (1999)