Photo courtesy of the artist
How has the lockdown affected your creativity?
Because of the lockdown, racist violence and environmental catastrophe, it has been hard to concentrate at times. Songwriting feels like more of a duty and less “fun” these days. Thanks to the example of Shane Olivo, my main man in the studio for 24 years, I still can focus on, and enjoy, arranging and recording.
Do you have a routine or schedule for staying in practice or working on new material?
I’ve never had a routine or discipline. Thankfully I still have more desire than ever. The lockdown forced me to think: “OK, all my gigs have been cancelled. Now how am I gonna keep making records?”
Richard Kerhin (Bodyguards drummer/vocalist) and I had recorded a bunch of drum tracks at his house. Before the pandemic, Shane had given me some great advice on finding affordable recording gear.
Shane is such a great engineer and producer and musician that he's been busier than ever, and I wanted to be able to at least record on my own schedule.
I had to go digital so that any recordings I sent to other musicians could be easily synchronized with whatever they sang and played, and so we could send recordings back and forth quickly. So I had this digital gear, and I wasn’t doing much with it. The lockdown made me realize that digital collaboration was gonna be the only safe way of working with all the musicians I wanted.
“Mercy” is a really special piece to me. The chord progression is sort of a signature EB thing, with diminished chords going up, then resolving backward on a minor chord.
I’ve been a vocal opponent of torture and other forms of cruelty, supporting the Center for Victims of Torture in St. Paul and starting a screenplay about people ministering to torture victims. Our Chief Executive, of course, is a major proponent of all kinds of brutality, especially torture. I figured that, of all the songs for which Rich had recorded drums, “Mercy” was the most urgent.
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I wanted a bangin’, funky reggae version. Rich’s part, which he’d developed over years of gigs, had to be the one. So, on top of Rich's drums, which Shane had digitized from analog tape, I recorded bass, guitar and vocals tracks at home.
Don Turner has been one of my aces on saxophones and keys for years. He can play anything, including complex shit, but he still has a great gutbucket feel that suits funky reggae. He banged out his great organ part and sent it back within a few days. When I sent the track to Steph (Lippert, singer/ pianist/bass trombonist/DJ) and Matt (Norberg, former guitarist/vocalist with the Elevators, the Blue Tips, Highball Holiday and Kings Go Forth), I think Don’s wild organ part and Rich’s ultra-funky drumming stoked their creativity. I just told ‘em, like Marr once told Morrissey, “Sing, sing, sing.” Quoting Louis Prima, of course.
Steph’s straight-ahead, almost reserved vocal gives the recording its emotional gravity, and Matt takes it up to the heavens with his double-tracked falsetto bits.
The only con so far is that some of my favorite collaborators don't have home recording gear yet. I’ve really been pushing Danny Dan and Shahanna to get some basic shiznit so we can get busy again.
Look at me, Mr. Digital after all these years—thanks, Shane!
Are you making plans for when you can resume playing in front of people again?
I’m waiting for Robin Pluer to invite me to open for one of her front porch gigs. Her crib is the best new live music venue in town.
To read more stories of Milwaukee musicians dealing with lockdowns, sheltering in place and more, click here.
To read more stories by Blaine Schultz, click here.
