4/19/2004
Download MP3: Cheer Up Baby
Not many musicians can convey the feelings, hopes and dreams of their generation. Most musicians and bands get stuck in the rut of cliché or mundane lyrics and overused guitar rifts, in today’s musical world emotions and individuality gets crushed and abused by the machines called marketing and corporate interests – but every once in a while a musician appears that captures the hearts of all that listen, those people go down in history as musical idols and spokesmen. Just in the last fifty years we have been blessed by such amazing and talented artists as Johnny Cash, John Lennon, Brian Wilson, David Bowie, and, more recently, Kurt Cobain; those that shaped and molded their generation and the countless musicians. They were the guys that got kids interested in picking up a guitar, or pen and dreaming of being a rock star. Shane Tutmarc is not one of those legendary players, but he is on his way to becoming one.
Shane, along with a revolving list of fellow musicians and friends, is the band Dolour and I recently had the honor of interviewing him about his musical journey and new release “New Old Friends”
Allalom Productions: Your music has grown in such leaps between "Waiting For A World War" and "New Old Friends", what do you see as the main difference from then and now?
Shane Tutmarc: I feel like with every record I set the goal a little bit higher. With the first album I was re-approaching my songwriting. I was trying to learn the "craft" of it. With "Suburbiac", production was my next goal. I did a lot of sessions in between "Suburbiac" and "New Old Friends" where I stretched out my arranging palette. And I feel by "New Old Friends" I was feeling comfortable with my own writing, arranging and production style. And I can't wait to get this next record
(Hell or Highwater) out. It’s a trip, for sure.
AP: So what was your motivation behind releasing “New Old Friends” independently this time around?
ST: I had left my last label, and didn't want to wait around for another one. This record was mainly written right after “Suburbiac”, so some of the songs date back 2 years. I'm already almost done with our next album. Sometimes I feel like the whole industry is too slow for me to work at my pace.
AP: I must agree, I think it is horrible having to wait two or even four years for an album to get released. Do you plan on releasing another album within the next year?
ST: Yes, in fact April 16 was the first day of mixing for our next album. I'm working with Jason Holstrom again, who was really the guy that made “New Old Friends” happen. The cool thing with Jay is that instead of the creative process ending once mixing begins, it actually gets a jump-start. There should be another word to describe what Jay does when he mixes a record. I'm excited to be at this stage with our next release. I'm hoping to have it out by the end of the year.
AP: “New Old Friends” sounds much more mellow then “Suburbiac”, to me it has more of a 1970s pop vibe, was that intentional?
ST: Well, I think its just the opposite. There are really only 2 "rockers" on "Suburbiac" (Menage a Trois and Iceland)… Whereas on "New Old Friends" we have "I Smell a Lawsuit", "Butter Knife Suicide", and "CPR".. All of which rock way harder, and have a much more "live" feel to them than anything on "Suburbiac". Even the mellow songs ("What If?", "Running Forever", "New Old Friends") all have a strong beat to them. So I guess the "mellow 70s vibe" you are hearing was unintentional.
AP: What was it like working with producer Aaron Sprinkle on "Suburbiac", do you think he complimented or hurt the outcome?
ST: When I came to Aaron, I didn't have much confidence in myself. But Aaron gave me all the encouragement I needed. He allowed me to follow my vision, when he saw I felt strongly about a certain sound or instrument, or arrangement. It was a true collaboration.
AP: But you produced this album ("New Old Friends") yourself, did it make a difference in how your songs came out then if you, or a label, had hired someone else to?
ST: Yes, I think it made all the difference. Had I been working with a producer, depending on how "big" the producer was, I'm sure a lot of the song arrangements would be different. And the overall sound would be less "home-grown". When I'm working on a song, the whole arrangement and production is being considered at the same time. I'd rather see the song thru, than have someone else taking it a different direction. Advice is always good, but I'd rather ask my friends.
AP: The song ‘I Smell A Lawsuit’ fits much better with the songs off “Suburbiac” then the other songs on “New Old Friends”, it almost sounds like it was intended to be on your last album.
ST: Musically, there are a lot of elements to that song that I had never tried before. Lyrically, it’s about a way more specific situation than most of “Suburbiac”. Like all the songs on “New Old Friends”, it’s just a song that helped me get thru a bad situation.
AP: Your new album has the lo-fi quality that has become a signature to such bands as Starflyer59 and Beat Happening, what are your main influences at this point in time?
ST: Well, I was just trying to make the best record I could with the knowledge and equipment I had. If I had a budget for the record, it wouldn't sound "lo-fi". The whole record costs less than $1,000 to do, it was pretty much all done in my room. As far as the "influences" question - there have been a couple "staple bands" that have been with me over the last few years. I would say the easy ones are The Flaming Lips, Wilco, Brian Wilson and Weezer. Other influences that worked themselves in would be Cody ChesnuTT, Mancini, Martin Denny, Bernstein, Tom Waits, Bacharach, Outkast, Neil Young, Vince Guaraldi, and Destiny's Child.
AP: Cody ChesnuTT and Destiny's Child don’t normally fit into the same category for influences, and Destiny's Child is not normally a group people use as an influence, do you get any flack for mentioning them?
ST: I feel like they make perfect sense. Cody ChesnuTT is one of the best writer, arranger, producers I've heard in a long time. Maybe since Prince. His approach to production on "The Headphone Masterpiece" was such an inspiration to me, as I was working on "New Old Friends". And Destiny's Child's "Survivor" is one of the few records that have made me cry. Beyonce is a talent to be reckoned with. I don't think they let her shine as much on her solo record. The production and vocal arrangements on "Survivor" blow me away, but it is her incredibly resilient and positive spirit that makes me cry.
AP: More and more artists are turning to pop music to express themselves, while punk, hardcore and nu-metal have been considered the staple ‘alternative’ music, how do you think you relate to this growing trend?
ST: Well, I'd hardly call pop music a trend. The beautiful thing about songwriting, of the pop variety, is that it plugs you in with all the songwriters of the past. Trying to find that perfect rhyme, or that catch phrase, or that melodic hook. I liked punk growing up, but at one point it stopped feeling like an honest expression.
AP: I believe a lot of people can relate to that, even bands like Bad Religion, The Clash and Nirvana expressed problems with punk and how most of them considered themselves to be pop song writers.
ST: Yeah. They were.
AP: Your lyrics are constantly engaging, and they are easy to relate to (in general), but there have been a few songs that stand out for being almost random, one such song is "Chasing The Wrong Girl Home" from “Suburbiac” the opening lyrics surprised me and several other people, what exactly were you trying to go for with that song?
ST: The feeling of being so exhausted by pursing your dreams that you don't know what you want anymore. It’s also a song about making the same mistake over and over. These are big themes in my life.
AP: You spent a lot of time in seclusion (from what I have heard) before this last album surfaced, were you trying to focus your ideas or was it more about your label problems?
ST: Well, there were a lot of personal things and business things that kept me from going out too much. But in general, I just like spending time by myself. I've always been sort of "part of the group, but on the outside". That goes way back. I had a couple really supportive friends help me thru some tough times, though.
AP: You have had each of your albums released on different labels (or in the case of New Old Friends self released), what has been a common problem you have had with finding the right label?
ST: Well, I work really hard to make each of our records a new experience, and I've yet to find a indie label that works as hard as I do.
AP: Are any labels currently interested in you?
ST: Boring, Boring, Boring.
AP: Have you ever thought about an actual tour, or (for that matter) an actual band behind you?
ST: Touring has never been an easy situation for me. I've done a bit of it, solo and with a band, but I'm more about recording. I do love to travel though, especially in big cities.
AP: Most people around the US seem to think the Seattle music scene as being basically dead, but there have been several bands (such as yourself and your former label mates The Divorce) that have been making a lot of people reevaluate, do you believe that Seattle is going back to being the music capitol that it was at the height of the ‘grunge’ movement?
ST: I think it’s been a great music community for the last 2 or 3 years. We got The Pale, The Catch, United State of Electronica, Wonderful - lots of great stuff. I think Seattle is such a great place to make music, I believe it has secured itself as a musical capitol along with New York, LA, Chicago, and Nashville.
AP: For all of the music nerds, what did you use to record “New Old Friends”?
ST: My laptop, with Protools, using an M-Box.
AP: For those that seem to struggle in small town obscurity for years, How did you become involved in the industry being (basically) a one-man band?
ST: I wrote and recorded songs that interested labels, lawyers, managers, and 14 to 55 year olds.
AP: Let me end by saying that you are an amazing musician, probably one of the best to come out in recent years, and that I look forward to watching (and listening) to the rest of your career. Thank you for your time. 
