Posts Tagged ‘lp’
Interview With Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono is not a name that needs much introduction. She is arguably the most successful modern artist. As long as The Beatles remain popular it’s destined that Ono’s name will also remain a household name, but it’s really a shame to only know her for her fame. I fell in love with her work in college when a professor showed me some of Ono’s installations and performance pieces from the Sixties. They were in typical Yoko Ono fashion: daring, original, and always positive. Through the decades she has kept herself ahead of the curve and worked with every notable artist in every art form known to man. Amazingly all of that is still only a fraction of what she has accomplished when you add the fact that she’s been a champion of human rights and other causes as well. With her recent album she teamed up with her son Sean to bring what might be the most eclectic album of the year. With so many different sounds and styles, the 73-year-old Ono created an album that is more aggressive and unique than what most 20 somethings turn out these days. As you can clearly tell, Yoko Ono has been one of my heroes in my young art career and it was great to be able to talk with her as part of our Artist Interview Series.
The title of your LP Between My Head and The Sky, What about that phrase that stuck out to you when naming this LP?
I thought it was a cool title.
Is it true that you improvised all the lyrics on this album?
Almost. There were three songs which were something I’ve scribbled one summer, and I changed them into songs in the studio this time. But other than that, all songs just came to me at the studio.
As I’m listening to your latest work again, I’m struck with your presence on each track. You’ve always remained such an independent spirit throughout your whole career and as a young artist I wish I had more of that. Has that always been there or was it a progressive process?
I was very independent from a very, very early age. I think it had something to do with the environment I was brought up in as well.
How was the dynamic of making music with your son Sean?
It was a total surprise. It went very well.
With your latest LP there are so many different styles, what was the overall concept?
Like life. I wanted the LP to reflect reality.
You are releasing remixes of Gimmie Something which is a track that I always loved. What made you want to bring back this song now?
Because it is expressing the emotion we all have now. GIVE ME SOMETHING THAT’S NOT COLD!
These remixes take the original punk inspired sound into a modern dance scene, I guess both really want to make you dance. What do you like to dance to these days?
I dance to the wind, the sky, the sun. We are children of nature.
I know you are someone who is always looking into the future, but I was wondering if there is something you’d like us to remember about Double Fantasy, because it still is an underrated record I feel.
I think it was what we were then. I don’t look back.
Do you like to hear your voice in auto-tune?
The very fact that it is something new, that lets you hear your voice in a changed form excites me. Yes. I would like to hear my voice in it.
Being a conceptual artist and you’ve made a lot of strong “whole” albums. How do you feel about this shift to smaller releases? It feels like music is almost going back to the beginnings of rock when it was just singles.
If it changed once, it will change again. Change is the nature of life. So enjoy what it is now.
I was recently watching some of your films from the 60’s 70’s, and you were such a pioneer of experimental film back then. The way video is used socially these days there seems to be new venues for to reinterpret the artform. Do you think you’ll get back into experimental film/video?
No. I already did that one. So I’d like to move on. I am moving on.
You recently celebrated the release of The Beatles Rock Band game. Would you ever like to see a video game of your solo work be released?
I don’t have the need to see it happen, but if people want to do it, I won’t be stopping them.
I’d kick myself if I didn’t ask this last question. For a lot of us in a creative field, the pressures and outside distraction are enough to make a lot of stray over the years. You’ve gone through it all and keep on growing and getting better. I was just wondering why you think that is? How were you able to focus on the work and not let the business get you like so many others did?
I really don’t know the answer to this. But I guess the fact that I’m moving on all the time, being super-active may be helping!
(To learn more about Yoko Ono click here)
Listen:
Interview with Passion Pit
So how would you handle popularity? Success? Fame? I’m not just talking about people liking you or what you do, I’m talking about your name becoming synonymous with the phrase “Best of the Year.” When you’re just happy that your friends in your college town like your work and then months later everyone with a laptop is Twittering how they’re listening to your song, where do you go next? If your Passion Pit you go further. Their EP “Chunk of Change” was 2008’s gem and their debut LP “Manners” is one of 2009’s crowning achievements. A pop disco mix flying high with dark lyrics popping in and out throughout one of the most satisfying debut albums I’ve ever listened to. They couldn’t just let their album be enough though. Their video for their single “The Reeling” is nominated for a VMA this year, which is one of those things you don’t expect when you’re singing into your laptop in your bedroom. Now they’re all over the world touring and becoming one of the better live acts around now. Letter to Jane caught up with drummer Nate Donmoyer on their European tour to talk about their tour, the album, and the band’s goals for the future.
Hello, So I’d like to start with talking about the tour. You’re in the UK right now, how’s the European tour going?
Good, we just played in Reading which was really great and now we’re heading to Copenhagen. We have a couple more shows in the UK then back to the States.
How much longer are you in Europe because I know you’re going to be here in Portland in a couple weeks?
Yeah we’re here till September 11th and then we head to Colorado to play Monolith then we’re going to take some time off then get back to touring again.
So before Passion Pit had any of you done a tour before?
Yeah, just in the States, nothing too big, just a lot of DIY shows and stuff like that, nothing like what we do now, much smaller.
It’s seems that the band’s success came as a surprise. So what were your goals or aspiration in life before the band, how did you see your life unfolding for the next couple of years if Passion Pit hadn’t happened?
Oh I’d probably still be in Boston making dance music and DJing, I don’t know what I’d be doing exactly but I know I’d still be making music. Yeah the amount of success that we’ve seen has been a bit of a surprise and we’re still getting used to that.
Speaking of success, your popularity has gone beyond people just liking you. Everywhere I went or what I read this year has had Passion Pit as the staple for what is cool in 2009. It’s been like skinny jeans, plaid shirts, and Passion Pit. When it gets to that level how does that not affect you?
Ha, thanks, well we are somewhat self aware but not too much. You can’t really think about that all the time. I mean you definitely feel it, but we’re just trying to improve our live show, trying to become a better band.
Passion Pit seems works so great as a live band, with recording “Manners” did you record as a live band?
Well it was kind of. We’d play like 8 bars then loop that and play some drums and so forth. So yes it was still samples but more organic with us playing them this time.
With the production of “Manners” what sort of discussions did the band have with the producer Chris Zane? What were some concerns and goals that each of you had going into this album?
Well I had met Chris Zane once and I had never met our engineer, Alex Aldi before. I had worked with other producers before but never in a setting like this, the whole experience went better than I ever could have expected. Zane became a mentor to us, not just musically but business wise too. We became a better band because of him. We’re more streamlined now and a better band now than we were before Manners.
I got to say the use of the children’s choir really surprised me with how organic it feels on this album. Usually you only hear a children’s choir in a really sappy piano number about making a difference or in some rap song where someone like Nas is talking about oppression and then kids start singing and it’s sort of ironic because you don’t expect a child to be singing about moral decay of modern society. What made you want to use a children’s choir and was there any fear of it sound too cliché ?
Thanks, yeah that was Mike’s idea, he really wanted to have a choir on some of the songs. We were having a lot of trouble finding one and then Chris found this children’s choir (PS 22) at the last minute on Youtube and they were covering all sorts of stuff like Tori Amos songs and we got them to come in and they really delivered.
“Manners” was your first big studio album, how did you like the studio?
The studios we recorded in were amazing; to go from a bedroom with a couple mics in it to Phillip Glass’ studio in Tribeca was amazing. The place was just massive, huge halls, grand pianos, giant mixing boards, it was completely different than what we had known before.
This has been a big year for you guys. You’ve been nominated for a VMA for breakthrough video of the year with your music video for “The Reeling.” What do you think are your chances of winning?
Ha, I have no idea; I’m still kind of amazed that we were even nominated. Humble produced the video and created all those cool effects and I just hope we win it for those guys because they really deserve it.
Real quick what’s in store for Passion Pit? Have you guys started talking about any new projects or follow-ups?
I think we just want to concentrate on becoming better as a live band. We have a lot of touring ahead and we just want to play off the album for a while before we take a long time to concentrate on recording new material, I think that might be 2 or 3 years away.
(Passion Pit is a pop band from Cambridge Massachusetts. You can find more from Passion Pit at their website and Myspace)
Listen:
