The Greening
The coming out party is just about here for the San Francisco based psychedelic
movement The Greening – they’ve spent nearly two years in the studio to record 34
songs for you – and now it’s time to bring it to the stage! And honestly, nothing
could make Karl, Will and Nick happier. They’ve only been able to play live here
and there since the process began, but now with two albums ready to drop, The Greening
is ready to make good on their mission statement: "To push pop music to new frontiers
through their blend of accessible experimentation: combining memorable hooks, strong
melodies and cascading vocal harmonies for instantly memorable songs."
The guys don’t want you thinking their sound is like anything you’re hearing on
the radio now though – their "surprise bridges, unexpected arrangements/time signatures,
and well thought out productions all unite to enhance the compositions in an integrated
fashion." You can feel the influence of 70’s art rock and 60’s pop on their EP,
"(She’s So) Electric" (complete with three tunes that you’ll also find on the upcoming
full-length record). Karl says "Expect a fat kick drum, driving bass lines, lots
of harmonies, and instantly memorable melodies. Expect kitchen-sink recorded arrangements
full of dynamics and unexpected shifts in mood, yet with the focus always on the
melody at hand--said arrangements only enhance the feeling the song is getting across"…
not to mention some real human voices on the track!
As I said, the coming out party is just about here for The Greening, so get ready
for a ton of touring. You can catch Karl hanging out at Trader Joe’s if you want
to see him beforehand (I love that place), but look up the schedule, keep an ear
out for the next few records and dive into the XXQ’s for a whole lot more.
XXQs: The Greening
PEV: How did the band first come together and was it an instant connection?
Karl: Will and I met at Mary Park Hall at SF State in September of 1998. I started
a band in early 1999 and knew he played guitar; we had already talked extensively
about early Pink Floyd and I invited him to join the band I was forming. Within
a couple months, we realized that we wanted to keep writing together, but ditch
the then-embryonic band and look for other people. A couple years and many, many
songs later, we met up with Nick. As he'll tell you, the connection was immediate,
but he was glad he hadn't listened to our demos otherwise he never would've given
it a shot (they were pretty lo-fi and floaty, whereas we evolved to be quite energetic).
Nick: by the time I met up with Karl and Will in early 2001, they had already been
writing together for a couple of years. Truthfully, its something of a miracle that
the concoction between the three of us worked because while we ‘clicked’ musically
pretty quickly, I later heard some of the demos they had done with a four track
in an SF State dorm room and thought to myself ‘what in the world is this?’
PEV: What is the story behind the name "The Greening"?
Will: The name originated from a happy mis-hearing on my part. I was talking with
my girlfriend at that time, and maybe I was only half listening, but she said something
which I heard as "The Greening," -- and it struck me as a cool word. A kind of little
ringer went off in my brain, so I sat on it until we were jamming later on, and
the owner of the rehearsal space asked us what we were called. At this point I was
pretty sure it was the right name, but we hadn't had any band-name discussions in
awhile, so I just ventured it to the owner, Karl and Nick, and it sat well. So,
combine inattentiveness, a faulty "what-did-you-say, honey?" mechanism, and a little
imagination and you have The Greening.
PEV: What can fans expect from a live The Greening show?
Karl: Fans can expect to be on their feet dancing within seconds of the opening
song! Our shows are energetic, which is putting it . . . lightly. We absolutely
love playing and the exchange of energy between the band and audience can be quite
intense.
PEV: Tell us about your first live performance together as a band. How have you
changed since that first show to where you are now?
Nick: our first ‘show’ was about four months into our existence together as The
Greening at a now defunct Club in San Rafael, CA called New George’s. It was actually
a private party being thrown by the manager at my gym, and he Needed some acts to
entertain the attendees so we volunteered to do it. Gosh I wish we had some video
of that night just so we could look back and laugh, but trust me when I say ‘it
was rough’!
I think we’re all pretty confident that The Greening ‘energy’ was there, but the
songs and performance were nowhere near as honed or polished As what they are today.
Karl: Yea, that show was hilarious. My hands were shaking for the first four songs,
and I've been playing on various stages since I was 7 years old! We still were playing
mostly downbeat stuff, more melancholic and pastoral (like much of the material
on our first album After Shoal Parlor) and only had a couple of energetic numbers
(which of course are the best ones to focus on live). We put the most high energy
number fourth or fifth in the set, and it got a very head-scratching reaction, to
say the least!
PEV: What can fans expect from your upcoming EP, "(She’s So) Electric"?
Karl: Expect to hear three songs from our forthcoming, as-yet-untitled 2nd album,
due in January or February of next year, and one song that will *only* be on the
EP. Expect a fat kick drum, driving bass lines, lots of harmonies, and instantly
memorable melodies. Expect kitchen-sink recorded arrangements full of dynamics and
unexpected shifts in mood, yet with the focus always on the melody at hand--said
arrangements only enhance the feeling the song is getting across.
PEV: How is " (She’s So) Electric" different from other albums out today?
Karl: Well, one obvious stand-out element in today's marketplace is the utter lack
of any Autotune whatsoever on any of the vocals. Although Will and I are not whatsoever
opposed to Autotune, since anything can be used in a clever way if that's what the
song calls for, we always loved hearing vocals sound like . . . well, vocals! We
want that human sound, and will only use the BEST takes for lead and harmony vocals
so you get a thick wall of leads and harmonies that is instantly recognizable as
Human Voices, instead of that computerized, synthetically "perfect" sound that even
Axl and James used on recent Guns N' Roses and Metallica albums. Other than that,
I think another thing that sets (SS)E apart from other current releases is the sheer
variety on display, even with an only-four-song length! The next full album will
be able to explore said variety with more depth, of course, but each song is uniquely
different from the previous one without the record feeling at all disjointed. It's
a cohesive variety show, if you will. It's also playful, without being even slightly
goofy. I'd love to hear more records be playful these days!
PEV: Tell us about the creative time behind the making of the album? What was it
like creating this?
Karl: It was cathartic--a watershed. After innumerable delays, it was wonderful
to gradually get back into our Recording Swing, and we relished each moment as it
developed. Will and I spent much of 1998-2001 recording at least a couple of times
a week; as the overdub sessions progressed, it felt like we were returning to our
roots and realizing "oh YEAH! *THIS* is what we do."
Will: This EP and soon-to-be Album have come out of a long germination of ideas
and planning. Originally, we recorded our first record, After Shoal Parlor, at Tiny
Telephone in San Francisco over a two week period, filling up four reels of two-inch
24-track. While it was a unique experience to be "really doing it, man!", there
is the realistic, "Oh shit! We're out of time!" moment where you realize you forgot
something, or that you neglected to use a killer piece of gear based on your own
lack of knowledge. Coming out of that, we realized what we could have purchased
gear-wise with the money spent and how much more time and experimentation we could
allocate if the clock wasn't ticking.
For this EP/Album, we've had a lot more freedom to do what we want and to experiment
both musically (new instruments, etc) and technically (mic combinations/positions,
etc). Certainly we've had focus and goals, and still always feel like we're two
months behind, but the process of recording these songs has helped burn away a lot
of studio ignorance and fantasy, and got us focused on the reality of music creation.
Recording-wise, we always go to an Ampex 440B via a nice mic chain, before dumping
into Nuendo. It's kind of a hybrid approach, trying to utilize the sonic and technical
advantages of both the analog and digital world. Song writing, arranging, and playing
are certainly some of the most important steps in the chain, but we also want to
make the sonic quality of the sounds themselves equally interesting. Overall, these
songs have been a chance to experiment and play around -- really learning the ropes
of the recording space. Nothing has been off the table; if we have an idea or want
to try something, we generally go for it.
PEV: What is your take on today’s mainstream music scene? What’s something you are
tired of seeing today in some bands?
Karl: There's too much focus in most bands' singing approach today on pronouncing
the words in the most bizarre, distorted fashion imaginable. A one syllable word
becomes five, if you will. I hope you enjoy our enunciation!
PEV: What’s one thing we’d be surprised to hear about the members of the band?
Nick: the most ‘surprising’ thing is that none of us really drink very much at all
even though we’re gigging musicians – oh and none of us go to AA either!
Karl: Nick's answer, yea--none of us really drink. We'll all have one every now
and again, but it's not our Vice of Choice, if you will . . .
PEV: Was there a certain point in your life when you knew that music was going to
be a career for you and you were determined to make it happen?
Will: Not until 18, after I jammed with Karl.
Karl: This answer will of course be different for each member, but for me, I literally
knew music was the ONLY thing I would focus on in my life before I could even speak.
My dad remembers me hearing the needle pick up off the vinyl, waking me from a sound
sleep in my crib, and balling LOUDLY until he would flip the vinyl over to side
2. I owned all the Beatles albums by age 8, and had bought every one but Abbey Road
(my dad's) myself. I rarely bought toys--I just bought vinyl. I probably had bought
about 120 records by the time I got to middle school! It was always, always the
ONLY thing for me, and I'm lucky that my parents honored my request for piano lessons
and paid for them from age 4 to 15.
PEV: What one word best describes The Greening?
Will: Chitinous.
PEV: Traveling is now a large part of your life now. How is life on the road for
you? Best and worst parts? Any fun stories?
Will: Next trip out, we're taking roadies, er, friends. The worst part is driving.
Can't quite relax, and can't do anything else. For 6-8 hours. Playing is always
good. Karl and I became donut masters on our last tour, finding the one place open
after 1:00am in every city/town.
PEV: How have all your friends and family reacted to your musical careers? What’s
it like when you get to play at your hometown?
Karl: Our hometown shows are usually pretty nuts, and we know many of the regulars
who come to these shows. It's like a love affair between the stage and the floor,
with a lot of screaming, hollering, and also quite a bit of dancing.
PEV: What can we find each of you doing in your spare time, aside from performing?
Karl: I work at Trader Joe's four days a week, and absolutely love my job there.
It's fun to get PAID for being a ham and goofing around as if in a 1988 era MJ video
with awkward dialogue but lots of smiles. That place is the best. Other than that,
I spend a LOT of time glued to my stereo; I'd rather just stay inside and listen
to music quite a few days of the week. I'm either listening or writing or recording
or TJ's-ing, I guess. That and we have parties that destroy my kitchen and end up
serving 1977-era photos of MJ on the wall, poor sod!
Will: teaching English, mixing or producing, making toast
PEV: It’s been said that your "sound evolves from an appreciation of the psychedelic
movement, forgotten 70s art rock, classic 60s pop, and the ultimate desire to combine
elements of all of these with a psychotic injection of punk energy…" What was it
that made those eras and styles the area you wanted to focus on?
Will: Quality songwriting with an open minded, will-try-anything approach. Some
60s/70s music is dated and cliche, but a lot of it, or I should say, a lot of what
was the basis for what we now see as "art rock" or any type of genre that was named
after the fact, was rooted in individual expression and a willingness to explore
-- with "big time success" in many cases not even considered a realistic possibility
until after it happened. Personally, curiosity and exploration is where I engage.
Karl: I wouldn't say there was any one thing that made those eras/styles what we
wanted to focus on other than the fact that those three eras/styles are the bulk
of what we listen to. I've loved both the Beatles and Yes since I was two or three
years old, and always wanted to hear what it would sound like if there were the
unexpected dynamic shifts in mood and texture and tempo etc. that you find in so
called art or progressive rock thrown into a killer 2 to 3 1/2 minute pop song.
Why not combine the epic and the experimental with the Immediately Accessible, you
know? Psychedelia also figured highly in our musical upbringing, so it's only natural
that you'll hear a lot of textural layers in each of our recorded arrangements that
reflect that. The punk energy thing is more related to our stage show, as again,
it's REALLY high energy, almost the entire time!
PEV: Is there an up and coming band or artist you think we should all be looking
out for now?
Karl: Yes. Four of them: Apollo Sunshine, Steve Taylor, Rogue Wave, and Glenn Labs.
All in varying shades of up-and-coming-ness; ALL worth checking out!
PEV: If playing/writing music was not your career, what would each of you most likely
be doing?
Nick: I run a website with my girlfriend on the side, so probably that on a full-time
basis
Karl: I'd be dead! HaHa! No, but seriously, there is no other option. I mean it.
Will: Maybe trying to succeed as a recording engineer or teaching English in Japan.
PEV: If we were to walk into your practice studio/space right now, what would we
find?
Nick: wow, you might need a map to find your way around the room with the amount
of recording gear, speakers and drums around….Karl: Lots of wonderful, wonderful
toys…
PEV: So, what is next for The Greening?
Karl: We're in the midst of finishing up our 2nd full-length album, three of the
songs from which are on the new EP! It should be out in January or February, and
touring of some sort will follow. Probably by late spring or early summer, we'll
already be hard at work on beginning the recording of album 3, since it's already
completely written and ready to be recorded! Hell, I even have a vague idea of the
running order (I generally choose the sequence of our songs on both record and on
stage).
- PensEyeView.com