1. technology and computing
2. consumer electronics
3. audio equipment
4. headphones

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A
s this past year was coming to a close, it was almost impossible to avoid the
“Best Album Of 2010” list that seemed to become an intricate part of every
reputable music authority available. Be it magazine, blog, podcast or YouTube
clip, there was an excess of opinion floating around regarding these lists.
I indulged in a few of the lists, keeping an open mind that there’s a lot more
than one opinion or criteria equated with each album from each list. At times,
it’s a popularity contest. Other times, it’s the media’s attempt at a future endeavor with a particular artist. A reviewer may have a personal issue with an
artist. Sometimes you’re faced with a review from a critic who doesn’t know
the first thing about a particular genre and just seems to phone it in for the
sake of opinion. That being said, I found myself just looking at the images of
the album artwork and reflecting on the music of 2010.
Somewhere along the way, as these lists were becoming readily available, I
was asked what my favorite album of 2010 was. I stopped, thought about it for
a moment and answered with all honesty that I didn’t have one. That’s not to
say that nothing struck me as noteworthy, I just didn’t feel that I fully absorbed
any one album to form enough of an opinion for one album over another. Of
course, like any fan of music, I purchased almost every album that made these
lists; new music Tuesday is a consistent holiday here at Shure. The challenge was
finding the right time and place to get through an entire album’s worth of songs;
listening a few times to really absorb the music and the artist in question.
It kind of goes with the job, to keep tabs on the charts or anything regarded
as the latest trend or style in music… that’s where a popularity contest will
prevail over actual musical talent. About a year-and-a-half ago, I became a dad
to beautiful baby girl. As with all kids, she started to develop a palette for
certain things… toys, TV shows, characters, etc. One of these was a particular
television show entitled Yo Gabba Gabba! I was first introduced to this show
by my friend Biz Markie, who makes cameos on the show, teaching kids how
to beat box. Awesome! A few of my nephews were already way ahead of me
and were already obsessed with this brightly colored, fast-moving, music-filled
adventure. One week-long family vacation later, and my kid is hooked! We
have DVDs. We’ve seen the live show. We have toys and dolls. This show is in
a constant rotation on any available TV in our house.
What’s my point? Well, rather than absorbing the new music out there, the
“Best Albums Of 2010” if you will, I find myself singing Yo Gabba Gabba! tunes
all day; classics like “Snacky Snack,” “Don’t Bite Your Friends” and “Find A
Friend.” There are days when I find myself listening to the news or talk radio
for my commute home (which can take up to two hours), for fear of listening to
actual good music and having it suddenly morph into a Gabba tune.
Nonetheless, as the holidays drew closer and I got my fill of Christmas
music, I began to absorb some of the great albums of 2010, seemingly able to
block out the children’s music on my mind. So far, I can say it was a pretty
good year for music, but I have my own list as I continue my journey. I have
a lot of catching up to do, but I can’t wait to see what 2011 brings to the plate.
Rock Out!
On Tour with Shure®
Editor
Terri Hartman
Managing Editor
Cory Lorentz
Associate Editor
Louis R. Carlozo and Davida Rochman
Artist Relations
Nelson Arreguín, Cory Lorentz, Richard Sandrok, Ryan Smith
Art Director/Designer
Kate Moss
Writers
Nelson Arreguín, Cory Lorentz,
Richard Sandrok, Ryan Smith
Contributing Photographers
Paula Balbi, Stephen Jensen, Douglas Kirkland, Paul Natkin,
Randi Radcliff, Christina Woerns
Printing
Triangle Printers Inc.
On Tour with Shure is published three times yearly by
Shure Incorporated, 5800 W. Touhy Ave., Niles, IL 60714-4608.
Each separate contribution to Volume 11, Issue 1 and the issue
as a collective work, is copyright ©2010 by Shure Incorporated.
All rights reserved.
All trademarks are property of their respective owners.
All product specifications and appearances are subject to
change without notice. Use of an artist’s name in this publication
does not constitute an official endorsement of Shure products.
Free Subscription!
To receive your free copy of On Tour with Shure, please:
• Go to www.shure.com
• Fill out the enclosed postage-paid subscription card.
• Send a note to On Tour with Shure,
5800 W. Touhy Ave., Niles, IL 60714-4608.
We are not responsible for unsolicited material, which must be accompanied
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for publication and subject to Shure Incorporated’s unrestricted right to edit
and comment. Shure Incorporated assumes no responsibility for errors
in articles or advertisements. Opinions expressed by authors are not
necessarily those of Shure Incorporated.
Cory Lorentz
Managing Editor, On Tour with Shure
[email protected]
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table ofcontents
4 Mic Check
New Contests. New Endorsers. New Products. Here we share
the highlights of the Shure news you might have missed.
Next time, try to keep up and follow us on Facebook, Twitter,
MySpace, WordPress, YouTube… you’ve got your options,
see you there!
6 Herbie Hancock: The Sky Is The Limit
Making a new record has to have a purpose when you’re
Herbie Hancock. There has to be a message in the music,
not just a bunch of songs on a CD. With his latest,
The Imagine Project, there is purpose, a message and a
few friends to help him along the way.
24 Dailey & Vincent: The Inevitable Duo
These guys go together and everyone knew it was
inevitable that this would be the next big thing. Playing
around the bluegrass circuit for years as members of other
highly regarded bands, Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent
always talked about doing something like this. After a
bit of prayer and time, it really is the next big thing!
9 Anti-Flag: Opting For A Different Strategy
The actual business part of being in a band is just as
important as the talent side of things, especially if you
want to stick around for more than one album. Get ready
to learn a few things from the guys in Anti-Flag, punk
rock marketing and politics at its finest.
26 Alex Cuba: Self-Titled
Anyone who considers the SM58® as the microscope
to their soul is okay in our books. Alex Cuba is a
real back to basics type of performer, no reverb on
his vocals and the same show for ten to
ten-thousand people. With a Latin GRAMMY
win under his belt, Alex Cuba continues to
break new musical ground and we can’t
wait to see what’s next!
12 Sara Bareilles & The Multiple Reflective
Patterns of Her Heart
After her debut smash record Little Voice, Sara
Bareilles developed a serious case of writer’s block.
Judging by the material on her latest album,
Kaleidoscope Heart, and the praise from critics, she’s
over that minor setback and on tour sharing the
fruits of her labor with her fans
28 Ely Guerra: Ely’s Exquisite Journey
To Find Her Invisible Man
Mexican singer-songwriter Ely Guerra
went independent for her latest
release Hombre Invisible. Naturally,
change is a challenging thing, but
through that change Guerra
found inspiration, perseverance
and patience. When all else failed,
witchcraft came in handy too.
14 David Garrett: All Over The Map
Melding the old and the new happens a lot in music
these days, but does it involve classical and rock
music? Does it involve a violin? When classically
trained violinist David Garrett heard rock music for
the first time, he didn’t trade in his violin for a guitar,
he rocked those four strings like no one ever could.
4
16 Matt & Kim: So Much More Than A Clever Name
The duo from Brooklyn has done it again! With their latest
release, Sidewalks, Matt & Kim continue to please their fans
and critics alike. The music is catchy and the live show will
wear you out! We needed a nap after their Chicago stint.
20 Nickelback’s Secret 11 Herbs And Spices
In their ten years as a musical force to reckon with, Nickelback
has rocked an arena or two or three hundred. What’s the
secret? Not giving up and taking the time to make it up as
you go along.
22
22 Pavement: Ten Years Later And Better Than Ever
Just when it was getting interesting, Pavement stopped
the music in 1999 and ceased to exist as the little indie
rock band that started it all. The fans, seemingly letting
hope die last, finally got what they had been waiting for,
the Pavement ten year reunion tour of 2010. The fans were
in heaven and the critics regarded the band as the best
version of itself to date.
30 Mike Posner: Yes, He Is
Cooler Than You
Really, how many up-andcoming artists have a plan B like a
college degree to fall back on?
Mike Posner graduated from Duke
University, even after signing a record
deal in his junior year. While his
friends were out working on
mixed drinks, he was busy
working on mix tapes. How
cool is that?
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New endorsers Gogol Bordello
Î Mic Check Has Gone Social
In this day and age of instant gratification
and social media, it only seemed fitting to
give the people what they want, when
they want it... NOW! In that spirit, we’re
proud to bring you the digital, portable,
up-to-date version of Mic Check, available
at shuremiccheck.wordpress.com.
Keep up with every Shure endorser show,
breaking news, exclusive interviews and
videos. If it’s happening in the music
industry and Shure was there, you’ll find
it at our Mic Check blog!
Î Aces In Tight Spaces:
The Innovative Beta 181
Instrument Mic
New Endorsers
Î
Î Kid Cudi
Iron & Wine
Lizz Wright
Blasko
Filter
Gomez
Dr. Dog
Ralph’s World
Zzaje
Jaron & The Long Road To Love
Erykah Badu
Gogol Bordello
Good Old War
Mike Posner
The Morning Benders
Sleigh Bells
Ben Folds
Luke Bryan
Domenica
Kirk Whalum
Marvin Sapp
Mieka Pauley
Randy Houser
Orianthi
Brian McKnight
Arturo Sandoval
Slash
Corey Smith
Ana Tijoux
Cultura Profetica
Bomba Estereo
Banda de Turistas
My Hero
Coalo Zamorano
Mexican Institute Of Sound
New endorser Ralph Covert of Ralph’s World
4
Introducing the Beta 181, an ultra-compact, side-address condenser microphone
designed for discreet placement and
control in live and studio environments.
It is the first wired performance microphone from Shure that features interchangeable polar pattern capsules—
cardioid, supercardioid, omnidirectional,
and bidirectional—to offer superior
versatility in constantly changing
performance environments.
With superior construction, low handling
noise and high gain before feedback, the
Beta 181 redefines sensitivity and control
like all other Shure Beta microphones. The
small diaphragm design provides superior
audio with consistent polar responses
in a form factor small enough to get close
to the source in the tightest conditions.
For more information on the Beta 181,
visit shure.com.
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Î SM58® Give It Voice Tour
Beta 98A/C
Beta 91A
Beta 98AD/C
Back in November, Shure officially kicked
off the SM58® Give It Voice Tour calling
on all undiscovered bands to show the
world their talent. From alternative to
country, bands had until December 10th,
2010 to register for the competition and
submit their best track. Their fate was
then in the hands of the fans who had
until December 17th, 2010 to vote for
their favorite tunes and have the ultimate
say in which bands perform in the semifinals and eventually move on to rock
the legendary Shure SM58® Vocal Microphone at the RedGorilla Music Fest in
Austin, Texas.
And Now, Here’s Something
We Hope You’ll Really Like
You’ve been waiting and anticipating
and the moment is upon us… new and
improved additions to the Beta drum
microphone line. The newest models
include the Beta 91A boundary microphone, Beta 98A miniature instrument
microphone, and Beta 98AMP
miniature drum microphone. All of the
new microphones offer unprecedented
sound quality, while still delivering the
same performance standards that
users expect from Shure Beta mics.
The Beta 91A is a half-cardioid
condenser boundary microphone for
kick-drum and low frequency
applications. A new cartridge design
provides a smoother, more natural
response. The Beta 91A’s low-profile
design, with integrated preamplifier
and XLR connector requires no
external hardware to maximize setup
efficiency while minimizing stage
clutter. It also features a low-mid
frequency EQ switch that offers
additional tonal flexibility. The Beta
98A is a miniature cardioid condenser
microphone for instrument sound
reinforcement and recording
applications. High SPL handling
makes the Beta 98A ideal for a variety
of acoustic or amplified instruments,
including drums, piano, reed, wind,
and strings. The newly-designed
cartridge features an extremely
uniform cardioid polar pattern and
provides a natural musical frequency
response. It is available in two
variations with either a gooseneck
drum mount (Beta 98AD/C) or with a
stand mount (Beta 98A/C).
The Beta 98AMP is a new variation
of the Beta 98A that combines
the new cartridge with a flexible
gooseneck and integrated
XLR preamplifier. It ships with
the new A75M Universal Microphone Mount for simple,
accurate placement in any
configuration of toms, snares, or
percussion. These new features
provide increased control and
reduce complexity of setup.
Fans not only got to listen to new music
and win Shure gear along the way, they
also decided who has a chance at
stardom. Three Regional Finalists chosen
by fans will perform at renowned venues,
including Emo’s in Austin, The Paradise
Rock Club in Boston, Metro in Chicago,
The Roxy in Los Angeles, Wildhorse
Saloon in Nashville, and The Mod Club in
Toronto. One band from each
performance will be crowned a Regional
Winner and continue on to the next
stage of the competition for an
opportunity to rock out on the SM58 at
Austin’s RedGorilla Music Fest and win
$10,000 worth of Shure gear.
To learn more about Shure’s Give It Voice
Tour contest, or to see the regional
winners, visit giveitvoice.shure.com.
Beta 98AMP
On Tour with Shure
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ON TOUR WITH SHURE: When did the concept
of The Imagine Project first come to you and
why is this an important record for the world
to hear now?
HERBIE HANCOCK: When I started thinking
about… ‘Well, it’s time for me to make a
new record.’ I thought first… ‘Okay… why?’
What that really led to is: What purpose
would it serve? That’s the way I think now.
I think about purpose, not just putting a
bunch of tunes on a CD. I wanted to
address some issue of today, have some
message in there, to deliver something. So
I started thinking about the economic
crisis and that led me to thinking the
banks are too big to fail. The reason they
are too big is because they are international banks. I saw that when the United
States economy fell, the economies of several nations fell right after that. So we’re
not in this alone anymore. I started thinking that this is a clear indication of globalization. I honestly believe that this is the
birth. It’s a birthing process that we [went]
through in the 20th Century to give birth
to a globalized community and that will be
the 21st Century. So I wanted to address
globalization because I see that a lot of
people are afraid of it and are complaining
about it already. I wanted to get people to
realize that you can either be victims and
have someone else write the story of your
life, or you can grab the reins and participate in the process of creating it. So I
wanted to show a way culturally that we
can, as artists, participate in globalization.
To demonstrate what can be really great
about combining forces with other
cultures and the new kinds of ideas that
can be produced as a result of it. So I decided to do that. At the same time, my
attorney called me up and said, ‘Hey, I have
an idea for a record for you. I know you
are a Buddhist and I know how you feel
about peace, for example. What about the
idea of doing a record about peace and use
John Lennon’s “Imagine” as a springboard?’
That just fit in perfectly with my idea
about globalization. So I thought of peace
through global collaboration and using The
Imagine Project as a springboard.
OTWS: There are a few fellow Shure Endorsers on this project—Derek Trucks, Susan
Tedeschi, and Juanes. Did you have a lot of
these artists in mind when this project was
formulating?
HH: There was kind of a combination of
putting songs together and deciding which
artists we wanted to ask to participate in
The Imagine Project. It wasn’t that the songs
HERBIE HANCOCK
were selected first and then the artists later.
Larry Klein did a lot of research in finding
artists, because of a lot of these artists,
especially the foreign artists, I didn’t know
and he didn’t know either. So he did research and he also knows much more
about songs and singers than I do. What
we decided early on was that we wanted
songs that would support the concept of
peace, hope, possibilities…“Imagine” if
you will. In a way, they turned out to be
inspirational songs, encouraging people to
participate and be active, like the song
“Don’t Give Up”— Peter Gabriel’s song. Of
course we made this “wish list” and then it
was a process of finding the artist to ask
them if they would be willing to participate. I was pleasantly surprised because I
don’t think anyone has said no. The artists
that couldn’t do it either had their own
record going or they were on tour or it was
logistically impossible for one reason or
another. But people came on board. Not
only did they come on board, they loved the
idea of this record—that it’s about peace
through global collaboration and they
wanted to be a part of that message.
OTWS: You mention in the trailer for this
record on your website that the recording
studio is a great neutralizer that puts everybody on a level playing field. What aspects
of the record creation process are most
compelling to you and how do you now
translate that to the live show?
Theirs
On A Budget
Lead Vocals
UR2/KSM9*
PGXD2/SM86*
Backing Vocals
KSM9
SM86
Kick
Beta 52®A & Beta 91
PG52
Snare
SM57
PG57
Toms
Beta 98D/S
PG56
Overheads
KSM32
PG27
Monitors
PSM® 900
PSM 200
* wireless system
On Tour with Shure
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HH: That’s a great question. When we started to record the different songs and the
different portions of the songs, we couldn’t
do everything live, [but] we did a lot of it
live. We couldn’t do everything in a single
studio. I went to various countries to record this record. We were in seven different countries as a matter of fact. I thought
it was important that if I was going to be
honoring cultures outside of my own and
trying to incorporate another culture and
my own in some way, it’s important to do
my best to try to get a flavor of where that
culture came from. Taste the food, see the
people and the clothing that they wear and
smell the air. The first recording was done
in India, in Mumbai. I had to go to India
anyway and I had a day off. Chaka Khan
was on this other project that brought us
to India, which incidentally was a partnership between the Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz and the State Department. We
went with Martin Luther King III and a
bunch of congressman to celebrate the
50th Anniversary of Martin Luther Jr.’s
first travels to India to study the nonviolent teaching of Ghandi. There was a
day off and I asked Chaka if she wanted to
be involved and we also had done some
investigation on an Indian singer. So the
song is in both English and in Hindi with
Anoushka Shankar, we met while we were
there; actually I had met her once before.
We asked her if she’d be interested in
participating and she was delighted to do
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it. She loved the idea. We put it together in
one of the “Bali-wood” recording studios,
a really pristine, state of the art studio.
They had top quality equipment in this
compound. But recording studios don’t
have windows usually [laughs] so it has
this timeless feeling. You are there to create.
The whole prime directive is to make
whatever happens, work. There’s no sense
of competition, because that doesn’t work. I
love the fact that it’s non-judgmental and
everybody just digs in to make the best product they can make. It’s a very democratic
atmosphere, which is really great.
OTWS: You’ve been using Shure personal in-ear monitor systems for
quite a while now. What do you
like the most about the new
PSM® 900 system?
HH: The new system is a giant
leap in this type of product.
There’s a lot more parameters available for manipulation. There’s a lot more
control over the sound and
more frequencies to choose
from. The new pack that I
wear just sounds better.
Everything is more clear,
hi-fidelity sound and that’s
what I care about. The quality of the piano I play, which
is a Fazioli, is amazing. It’s
not always easy to get that
quality into the ear monitors,
but the Shure system can do it.
I know my Fazioli will sound like
a Fazioli.
OTWS: You’ve been a Shure Endorser
for many years. What is it about Shure’s
people and its products that keep you close
to the company?
HH: It’s been great working with Shure.
The people are warm, friendly, and very
helpful. It’s great to work with a company
that produces products that you like, that
you enjoy, that work and are top quality.
They are willing to go the extra mile to
help you out, which is what I need. I always try to evolve, stay within a certain
framework and think outside the box. Shure
does the same thing, they think outside
the box. They are not afraid to try things.
That’s the way I feel about my music and
what I always want to be able to achieve is
that the sky is the limit. Shure is like that.
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If you’re in a band worth anything you’ve probably realized that business acumen is as
important as talent. Anti-Flag have both in abundance. But rather than lean on what is tried
and true, they explore new ground to make sure they practice what they preach. They are not
content to just write and play music; they have a mission to be ethical and informative and
they adhere to it. After ten years they continue to explore how to improve everything
they touch, from making music to making merch.
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ON TOUR WITH SHURE: You guys were playing
last night [in Pittsburgh] and you got off
stage and just got in the van and went.
PAT THETIC: It’s like 1994 all over again. We
used to drive all the way to New York…
CHRIS #2: Now it’s very different…
PT: Is it different?
C2: …because…
PT: The van…
PT & C2 [in unison]: The van is not going to
break down.
PT: Hopefully.
C2: We just got the van because this year we
opted for a different strategy. The last twoand-a-half, maybe even three years we were
kind of touring at, like, three-month sections;
going out for three months, being home for
three weeks, maybe [up to] two months and
then doing another three-month section. So
this time we were like, ‘OK, we’ve done that.
We’ve done America and Europe extensively and Australia extensively, so this year let’s
just do jaunts where we go out for, like, six
days, come home for a week-and-a-half…
you know, balance it out.’ In that, we came up
with this idea, ‘Well, let’s buy a van again!’
OTWS: I was going to ask if [a different
strategy] correlates to you building out your
home studio.
C2: Yeah, absolutely.
PT: We’re in a place now where we can control our own stuff and do it in our own ways.
That’s always the type of band that we’ve
been—to be in control of our own destiny.
So we built our own studio and our practice room, put a lot of carpet on cinder block
walls. Now we’re able to track and practice
and do things at home, which
is much better. [It’s] cheaper
that way as well.
C2: Yeah, and it sounds great,
which is one of the things that
you learn about recording
music: Every place you are going to record in has its own
sound. You just have to find it.
Doing the last record there we
experimented with set-ups.
Now, to bring it all home, we
have some new microphones
so we’re kind of excited about
using some of those ribbons
that we have now that we
didn’t have before and trying
to make an even better record
in the same kind of space.
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PT: We learned from a lot of great producers when we said, ‘How do you mic this?,’
and ‘How do you get that secret sound?’
They’d say, ‘Put a microphone in front of it.’
[Laughter.] …And now we can do that!
C2: We worked with Dave Schiffman on the
record. He worked on Rage [Against the Ma-
don’t make sense, but we believe in certain
things so we do it anyway. And when I say,
‘don’t make sense,’ they don’t make sense if
you’re trying to run a rock band business.
We do a lot of things because we believe in
what we’re doing and there’s a reason to do
it in a backwards way. That is the most
chine] records with [Rick] Rubin, he worked on Mars Volta stuff, System of a Down.
He’s just pulling up specific guitar tones.
[We’re] like, ‘What did you do?!? Tell me
what you used!’ He’s like, ‘I’m pretty sure we
put a [SM]57 in front of Tom’s [Morello]
cabinet.’ We’re just like… ‘Damn you!’
PT: There’s no magic. The magic is that you
put the mic there and it just happens.
OTWS: Switching gears a little bit. You’re
very aware when you’re doing merchandise of where that comes from. Is that
something that’s fun
and exciting to kind of
pioneer as opposed to
following a formula?
PT: There are many
things that we do that
interesting thing for me: to figure out ways
to make things work in ways that make
sense to us.
C2: I think one of the things that’s really
cool about Anti-Flag, that we’ve done from
the beginning, is we’ve tried to surround
ourselves with good people. We’ve tried to
make sure that everything we’re a part of
creating, anything new we bring in to the
world, doesn’t have blood on its hands. We
try as hard as we can to make sure everything we manufacture is manufactured hu-
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manely. We try to make sure everything we
create isn’t wasteful. The reused shirts are
an example of that where there’s an organization in Pittsburgh, Pat’s good friends
with the people that run it—they’re called
Useless—and our way of working with
them was that we have all these shirts that
maybe haven’t been thrown out or need to
be thrown out. What do we do with them?
Instead of throwing them away let’s think
of a cool way to get them back in to peoples’ hands.
PT: And last night just at the show we had
mountain-top removal people talking about
the issues of mountain-top removal because
in Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania
we have a lot of coal and things like that.
And so we’re trying to get those people involved and talk about those issues. We’re
dealing with fracking in Pennsylvania
right now which [pertains to] natural gas,
which is really a detrimental thing to the
environment. Those types of things… to
bring those people to a show and give
them access to people who might not have
access to or have that information is very
important as well.
C2: We’re trying to be about more than
music and t-shirts and CDs and trying to
be about community and actually building
something great.
PT: Getting new ideas out there that people
don’t have access to normally.
OTWS: You guys have our new ribbon mics,
the KSM313. What’s your opinion?
PT: They’re complete crap! [Both bust out
laughing.] I will say that the boxes that they
come in are lovely.
C2: [Fawning] Oh, oh yeah.
PT: There is some craftsmanship in those
boxes!
C2: We’ll start with the presentation. It’s
impeccable. But beyond that, we’ve done
very little tracking with them yet just because we’re still kind of setting it all up.
But we did do some vocals through them
and it… it’s amazing. I mean, we had presets for other microphones and I was
running through the compressor presets
and compressor EQs and I actually had to
take them off and was leaving just the
microphone for Justin’s vocal. We were just
tracking a vocal for a leftover song from
the last session and a local comp needed
the song so we were tracking the vocal on
that. In the ten minutes we ended up using
them I was like, ‘Well, these are significantly
better than what we were using before.’
PT: And again that’s the thing that’s amazing
because we’ve worked with crappy mics before and for so many years. And then you’re
like, ‘I hear the snare drum or I hear this
and it sounds good to my ear, but when it
goes through the microphone it sounds like
crap.’ But these mics, you hear in the room
what has been going in to them.
C2: Yeah, they’re true. That’s the exciting
thing. I’m anxious to move them around
because…
PT: We have big ideas for them. You put them
ANTI-FLAG
outside the door, what are you gonna get?
C2: That’s my thing. I love that kind of
[stuff]. I’m excited about duct-taping them
to a wall and the ceiling and seeing what
we get, you know?
PT: If we drill a hole through the box and
just leave them in the box, what are we going to get?
C2: [Laughs.] Yeah, so we’ll do some creative things and we’ll keep you posted along
the way.
OTWS: Happy accidents—always love to
hear about ‘em!
C2: Exactly, exactly.
Theirs
On A Budget
Lead Vocals
SM58®
PG58
Backing Vocals
Beta 57A
PG57
Kick
Beta 91 & Beta 52®A
PG52
Snare
SM57
PG57
Overheads
SM81
PG81
Guitar
ULXP14*
PGXD14*
* wireless system
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missed her the last time she was in town
at the historic Ryman Auditorium. I would
not this time. I even cut my vacation short
to come back to Nashville to get the interview that follows. Like Taylor Swift, Orianthi
and many other young female artists, Sara
is an inspiration to her generation of fans
and those who wish they could play and
sing like her. Her words are deep, her music
will move you, and she puts on a highly
energetic show. She decided to try something interesting on this night—performing
a song without any amplification whatsoever—truly acoustic. The result: a well-deserved standing ovation. She is a bright
rising star in the music community and
Shure is happy to come along on the way.
She is currently on tour to support her new
release entitled Kaleidoscope Heart.
ON TOUR WITH SHURE: In your bio, you mention Neal Avron as your studio counterpart.
Can you explain how important a good artist/
producer relationship is?
SARA BAREILLES: Having a great artist/producer relationship is the most important
piece of the puzzle. Neal is someone who
always makes me feel fearless and excited
and inspired, in terms of the choices I was
making for this record. At the end of the
day, the most important thing for him was
to make sure that the song was good above
everything else and that the production
didn’t get in the way of that. I think that was
a great counterpoint for me because I felt
really safe. I felt like the songs were never in
danger and we could just play, literally, in
the studio and try things on to see if they
worked. That was wonderful for me and I
had the time of my life in the studio.
OTWS: What is a “Kaleidoscope Heart” and
how does that title fit for this record?
SB: I chose the title for the record from a
lyric from a song called “Uncharted.” “Uncharted” is the song that helped me break
though my terrible writer’s block in getting
started for this record. I had hoped to be
done months and months before I was. I
felt like I had nothing to say or I had just
really lost touch with my own creative process. “Uncharted” sort of came down from
the heavens and I feel like that song saved
me in a lot of ways. So, I wanted to take the
title from one of the lyrics.
OTWS: Your blogs are inspirational and refreshing. You send a great message to your
fans about doing and being around things
and people that make them happy. Who or
what inspires you to do this?
I am inspired by all sorts of things. One
of the most important things for me is to
give credit to the people I have out on the
road because this is the easiest place to lose
yourself or get distracted. My band mates
and crew are some of my favorite people on
the face of the planet. They are so good at
keeping me grounded, honest and centered. We’ve been together for years and years
at this point so it feels like a family. They
inspire me to keep seeking out what’s
positive and to focus on that as my message.
OTWS: What are some of your favorite places
to play and cities to visit around the globe?
SB:
SB: I feel like it changes all the time. There
could be one day in a new city where I’m
like, ‘Oh my God, this is my new favorite
place.’ We’ve had so many amazing experiences. We just spent a couple of days in
New Orleans and I just love that city. I love
“music” cities; I love Nashville for that;
Austin, Texas for that. I love cities that have
a vibrancy to them. Seattle, Portland, those
are all cities I adore. One place we have never
been that I would really love to go is Japan.
We haven’t been there yet so I’m hoping we
get to go this time around.
OTWS: As a “relatively” new artist, how important is it for you to have support from
SARA BAREILLES
instrument manufactures on the road?
SB: Having support from an instrument manufacturer is so incredibly important. I still
consider myself a fledgling artist in a lot of
ways and we are still getting our feet beneath us as a touring entity. Having that
support, not only with just physical instruments in your hand, but also technical
support and people as a resource to guide
you in the right direction to help you
determine, in this case, what microphones
are the best fit for your sound, the best fit
for the type of venue you are in and for the
instruments you play... it’s changed our
whole world. I mean my crew [chuckling],
when we got the cases of microphones we
were like, ‘CHRISTMAS!’
OTWS: You’ve been using Shure for more
than three years now, primarily using the
Beta 57A but sometimes using the KSM9,
depending on the venue. Can you describe
what you like about each mic?
SB: What I really love from both of those
mics is the clarity. It feels like an honest
representation of my voice. It doesn’t
change it at all, it just helps it shine through
to a bigger venue. I love that when I hear my
voice come back to me, either through my ear
monitors or a wedge on stage, it feels like
me. I’ve gone through a lot of microphones
and these are the ones that do it the best.
OTWS: You have also been using the new
PSM® 900 in-ear personal monitor system.
Are you enjoying the increased clarity and
sound quality?
SB: The in-ear monitor systems have been
unbelievable! We were renting something else
for rehearsals but when we finally got our
new packs in, it’s night and day, literally night
and day. The clarity and the presence... and
sometimes you just need a little volume. It
packs a punch for sure. I love them.
Theirs
On A Budget
Lead Vocals
UR2/Beta 58®A (Beta 57A Grill)*
PGXD2/Beta 58A*
Backing Vocals
Beta 57A
PG57
Kick
Beta 91A & Beta 52®A
PG52
Snare Top/Bottom
SM57/KSM137
PG57/PG81
Toms
KSM32
PG27
Hi-Hat
KSM137
PG81
Overheads
KSM44
PG27
Guitar Cabinet 1
KSM313 & SM57
PG27 & PG57
Guitar Cabinet 2
KSM313 & SM57
PG27 & PG57
Bass Cabinet
Beta 52A
PG52
Leslie Cabinet Top/Bottom
Beta 98D/S/SM7B
PG56/PG27
Monitors
PSM® 900
PSM 200
*wireless system
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It’s rare and memorable when you experience a new
style of music for the first time. For most of us, that
might be a sub-genre of some sort—punk from rock
’n’ roll, heavy metal from metal, jazz from ragtime.
Even rarer is when you can experience for the first time
the genre as a whole. David Garrett spent many of
his formative years training as a classical musician,
surrounded by many of the masters of the ages. It
wasn’t until his teens that he learned of rock music. Rather than dropping the violin and picking up a guitar, he
opted to bring the new and the old together. Now he
tours the world, highly regarded as a virtuoso soloist
on a symphonic stage, but equally as comfortable in
front of a club audience with a rock band behind him.
ON TOUR WITH SHURE: You had mentioned you were home schooled
until you were fourteen, then you went to a public school. At that
time, you discovered rock ’n’ roll and other forms of music aside
from classical. What was the first eye-opener?
DAVID GARRETT: Well, the first rock album, and I’ll talk about that in
the show tonight, the first non-classical CD I ever bought was A
Night at the Opera [by] Queen. It’s just a phenomenal record. For
some reason, Queen always had this wonderful way of arranging
things very symphonically. That was a wonderful entrance for me,
coming from classical music. I was obviously fascinated by the
larger-than-life arrangements, but it was kind of classical in a certain
way from the sound, but it was also in a way very rock ’n’ roll. The
combination really got me fascinated and that was the first thing
that I heard and, of course, I wanted to know more. I was very, very
curious. As you said, with [me being] 14, 15 [hearing it] for the first
time, not having any more home school, with people around me
who are not necessarily listening all day to classical music… I just
started investigating all sorts of music directions.
OTWS: As you got into this new genre of music, where did you start?
DG: Hmmm… Basically the whole thing from Radiohead to Nirvana.
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Everything which was at that time, you
know… mid-’90s… very, very popular. Of
course you get into these kind of things, but
I was fascinated more with ’70s rock. Pink
Floyd, Jimi Hendrix of course, Led Zeppelin, those were kind of my heroes.
OTWS: Did you find there was a limit to
where you stopped exploring? Or was it all
very new and very exciting?
DG: The thing is the violin is not necessarily
an instrument which is integrated into a lot
of rock ’n’ roll, so I had to find my own approach and way to kind of make something
work. That’s… a cool thing. You’re endeavoring into new directions that nobody tried
before. That’s the fun part—figuring out how
something that works on another instrument might also work on the violin. That’s
kind of the challenge.
OTWS: Do you find joy in making those arrangements? Do you enjoy the challenge of figuring that part out more than performing it?
DG: They’re very, very different. Both of
them are definitely a huge part of who I am,
but one cannot live without the other; they
both complement each other. The arranging, trying out new things is very important
for who I am as a performer because when
people come to my shows they always expect something new and something interesting and fascinating. So they both kind of
complement each other.
OTWS: Being versatile enough to play with
an orchestra or with a small band, where do
you think the challenges lie in picking what
you want to do on a tour such as this?
DG: These are all gut-instinct kind of things.
You try to find a good balance of what feels
right and what looks good on paper; that’s
the final touch when it comes to setting up
a program for a tour. In the end it really is a
little bit of instinct; what works. You can’t
only play fast stuff. You have to do a good
balance between slower songs, faster songs,
something that’s more light-hearted, something that’s a little bit… more heavy; a good
balance.
OTWS: Are these musicians you have with
you long-standing acquaintances?
DG: Yes, absolutely. The pianist I’ve known
almost seven years now. I’ve been working
on many records with him. The rest of the
people I’ve known for… almost two years.
I’ve been traveling with them from Germany
to Switzerland… pretty much everywhere.
They’re the people I’ve been playing with
the past couple of years.
OTWS: I’ve known musicians that, while on
tour, will grab their instrument and head out
to local music establishments. Have you ever
been tempted to do something like that?
DG: If I had the time, I would! Right now
everything is so tightly scheduled that if I
have a few minutes off or a few hours off I
usually just start working on other things,
especially now that we’re about to record in
about two-and-a-half weeks. Everything is
really focused on preparing the arrangements and doing the final touches so
everything will go smoothly in the studio.
There’s a time limit. I always wonder about,
you know those bands you see on, I don’t
know…MTV…saying, ‘We spent six months
in the studio…’ God, they have a lot of time.
I’ve got about six days to get a record together, and if I don’t bring it in those six
days, I’ve got to wait another half-year in
order to have another six days.
OTWS: When your management contacted
us they were very specific about the mic
you were using, which was the WL93 at the
time. How did you stumble across that
combination?
DG: Pure accident. You’ve got to have some
sort of amplification. The first mic that I
bought was simply going to a store in
London out of desperation because I was
supposed to play that night and it didn’t
work acoustically in that hall. I needed to
get it amplified so I just went in to the store
and said, ‘I’d like to have this and this,’ and
they didn’t have what I wanted so they just
gave me something that was there and it
worked very, very nicely that evening. So
that’s how I stumbled upon it.
OTWS: Now you have switched to the
WL50, the mic you’re wearing right now
[for the interview]…
DG: Huge difference. I was actually surprised because normally I wouldn’t pay so
much attention to those kind of things. I’m
more about everything you have to do with
your sound is left hand, right hand and a
good instrument and that’s it. But of course,
the older you get, the more you perform
DAVID GARRETT
Violin
with amplification, the more you also hear
the details in sound, especially when you
have a really good instrument, which I do,
luckily. I was very surprised what a big difference sound quality-wise [it made]. For
me, as a classically-trained musician on the
violin, everything I’m looking for in a good
violin sound is all those colors, all those
nuances of darkness and bright. For some
reason the new mic sounds much more natural; much, much more natural. I hear it
when I play by myself in the room and
that’s the sound I also want to project to the
audience; big difference.
OTWS: You feel that it gives you an accurate
representation?
DG: Absolutely, much more than the [WL93].
I like the [WL93] as well. I have nothing
against it, but it’s kind of another notch toward authentic, what I actually hear [now].
It’s very, very close to my perception of the
violin’s sound, which is great.
OTWS: And how has wireless freed you up in
your performances?
DG: It’s nice to not be wired so you have a
certain radius of movement. It makes it
quite easy for an instrument like a violin.
Of course if I were a pianist, wireless
wouldn’t really help me much. [Laughs.]
With the violin, it gives you the possibility
to really move around and I like to move…
especially with music.
his
On A Budget
UR1/WL50*
PGXD1/93*
* wireless system
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coverstory
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ON TOUR WITH SHURE: How did you come up
with the band name, Matt & Kim?
MATT JOHNSON: Well…
KIM SCHIFINO: We didn’t.
MJ: Pretty much. The only thing harder than
coming up with a band name is coming up
with a name for your kid. We kind of became
a band by accident to an extent. Friends convinced us to play our first show and we’re
like, ‘We can’t think of a name.’ As hard as
we tried, we could not think of a name,
and then we were listed as our first names.
KS: We had some good choices. Scream Team.
MJ: That was Kim’s…
KS: …my fake band when I was about 7,
and I played a keyboard that wasn’t plugged
in. My brother played some plant pots that
were turned over.
MJ: …covered such things as Twisted
Sister and some other classics. Becoming
Matt & Kim made a lot of sense because
we’re really a lot about us as Kim and Matt,
as the two people Matt and Kim. To have
one less thing that’s a wall in front of you
like a band name, it ended up making the
most sense.
OTWS: When you first started playing music
together, who were some of the influences
that brought this style to the table?
KS: I don’t think we really had any influences.
MJ: Well, I think partying was an influence!
KS: Partying was definitely an influence.
MJ: More than any bands, like, ‘Oh man, we
really sound like this band,’ it was…
KS: We just wanted to learn how to play our
instruments.
MJ: Well, we wanted to learn how to play
our instruments, but I think it was also the
type of scene we were involved with in
Brooklyn, which was sort of the DIY; shows
happening in warehouses, in art galleries,
in basements and things like that. There
was a certain vibe about going to shows
that weren’t in venues. It was B.Y.O.B. and
people were just going to have fun and
hang out. I think a lot of that influenced us
into making a sound that was just about
going and having fun more than anything.
Now, even as things grow and get bigger, we
still wanna just keep that vibe on stage with
us. Whether that means putting a lot of
light in the crowd… Sometimes bands just
make the stage super bright and the crowd
super dark, where it’s, ‘We’re the center of
attention and we don’t want to see you.’ Kim
and I need to see the crowd, we need to
know they’re all there. The more the crowd
gets bananas, the more we get bananas. We
just want to make sure everyone knows
that this whole thing’s happening because
everyone is there, not just the band.
Was it difficult to transition the recorded material from Grand to a live setting?
MJ: After we finished recording Grand, we
were thinking, ‘Okay, time to figure out
how to play this live.’ We were just like,
‘Damn. How are we gonna pull this one off?’
So, it took a while to figure out. I changed
my keyboard set up a little bit in way where
we could do more detailed things live. We
still didn’t do any playback or anything like
that, it was all played live. But, we figured it
out, and I don’t think it hurts to strip things
down a little bit for the stage. If I wanted to
hear a band that sounded like their album,
I would just go home and sit down on a
comfy couch and listen to it in my living
room rather than come stand and pay for
over-priced beers.
KS: Matt also loves to sit. [Laughs.]
MJ: I love sitting down. It’s in the Johnson
blood. Me and my brother decided this.
[Laughter.]
OTWS: With the recording process, were you
always hands-on or have you gone back
and forth with using a producer?
MJ: Well Grand was extremely hands-on,
we did it ourselves. We recorded ourselves
in the bedroom at my parents’ house that I
grew up in. I still had all my old skateboarding posters on the walls. We kept saying to
ourselves, ‘I think we can figure this out as
we go along.’ I think the bar is raised for a
lot of recording technology. For a minimal
expense, you can get the stuff to make a
great-sounding album. Like I said, we recorded that album in a bedroom and “Daylight,” one of the singles, sold 500,000+
copies, it went Gold; a song recorded in a
bedroom by someone who had not recorded before. I mean I had plenty of years of
OTWS:
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4-track under my belt from all my punk
rock days and knew some about Pro Tools.
When we went in to record Sidewalks, we
worked with a producer we like named Ben
Allen in Atlanta, Georgia at his studio. He
had done stuff we liked, like Gnarls Barkley’s
“Crazy.” That one song was one of the big
selling points to us. Sonically it just sounded timeless and really new and really old at
the same time… I guess that’s what timeless sort of is. [Laughter.] The music was just
so cross-genre, so we decided that we wanted to work with him. I’m little more hands
on technically and Kim’s like, ‘I just like to
beat the hell out of things with sticks.’
OTWS: We began this relationship as you
were heading down to the studio in Atlanta
to record the new album. You were using
Shure mics long before that point, Beta 58®A
on vocals and a few mics on Kim’s drums.
How did you begin your relationship with
Shure as a product when you were first
starting out?
MJ: With the drum stuff, we found that the
[Beta] 52® was the best on her kick. We tried
other mics, but we wanted a rounder, more
natural-feeling tone. We don’t like the really
“attack-y” rock kick drum sound, we wanted that big, bang, boom thing. Even now,
we’re using it on stage, and we’re not even
using it through a hole, we just loosen up
the front head, a thin one-ply head, as much
as we can and put that mic on the head. It
just gives a good, “Bang. Bang.” Also, we
had learned, another Shure thing, the SM7B
on my vocals is what does the trick. People
at the studio wanna pull out their $3000
vocal mic and try it on me and then come
back to the [SM]7. It’s just what works the
best. We had used that on our first album, it
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was the first time we had tried
that. It was just undeniable to use
on Sidewalks.
OTWS: You’re trying in-ear personal monitors for the first time.
I’ve heard that you drank the
Kool-Aid and are fully on board
having no monitors on stage for
these shows.
MJ: [Sigh of relief.] This sigh is like,
‘Why did we not try this before?’
Here’s the way we play… We sit
about this close on stage [Matt & Kim
are inches apart at this point] and Kim
bangs the hell out of the drums and I
have to sing. So, I have her cymbals and
snare in my ear. Picture the biggest,
heaviest hitting drummer you’ve ever
seen and multiply that times two, and
that’s how Kim plays. Basically what
we did for years was use earplugs, I’d
get two wedges, Texas-headphone style
on both sides of me, and turn them all
the way up. No place would ever have
them loud enough, it was like, ‘Take
them and turn them until they feed
back and that’s where I like it.’ Other
than that being really dangerous for
your hearing, I still couldn’t hear
good enough. Then we started practicing with the in-ears and I was like,
wow; being able to hear myself sing
and being able to listen to it at a comfortable volume.
OTWS: So it didn’t take much getting used to?
MJ: No. We were nervous at the start about
the changeover.
KS: It’s also getting used to being able to
hear yourself.
MJ: I see myself as a performer, as a songwriter, but classically trained musician…
not where I am. I’ll get some notes that slip.
Before when it was unclear, when it was all
kind of noisy…
KS: You’re like, ‘Oh, this sounds good…’
[playing air piano.]
MATT & KIM
MJ: ‘…oh man, I’m killing this!’ Now it’s
like, ‘Ooo, heard that one.’
KS: It tightens our game up.
MJ: It forces you to tighten up that, and the
singing thing is really different. We decided
to use a couple of crowd mics, which I guess
is pretty standard, because we didn’t want
to drown out any of the audience. Hearing
their energy and feeling that makes a difference, so we just crank that up. It’s funny,
I’ll be backstage with those things in, and I
can hear the conversations going on.
Theirs
On A Budget
Lead Vocals
Beta 58®A
PG58
Backing Vocals
Beta 58A
PG58
Kick
Beta 52®A
PG52
Snare
Bets 98D/S
PG56
Toms
Bets 98D/S
PG56
Hi-Hat
SM81
PG81
Monitors
PSM® 900
PSM 200
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229_Shure:1
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Page 20
How do you do it? I
mean, more than 10 years rocking out, six
studio albums, more than 30 million records
sold worldwide, 1.6 million tickets for 120plus sold-out global shows, Billboard’s Group
of the Decade and on and on and on and on.
What is Nickelback’s secret?
MIKE KROEGER: It’s got a big tax bill. And we
have to figure out how we’re going to pay
our taxes…
CHAD KROEGER: It’s funny, we keep doing
interviews and lately everyone’s like, ‘What’s
the secret? What’s the secret?’
RYAN PEAKE: It’s our 11 herbs and spices.
[Laughter.]
MK: We’re not telling.
ON TOUR WITH SHURE:
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CH: You know I used to think that there was
something you could put your finger on and
be like, ‘This is how we did it. This is how
anyone else could do it,’ and then I’ve stopped thinking that. I think it’s that the stars
align and now I just think that we are four
lucky SOBs…
MK: Yeah, there’s no doubt.
DANIEL ADAIR: I think it’s many, many things
that add up together. It’s not just one particular thing.
MK: Just not quitting has been
big for us. We’re winning by
attrition. If people don’t like
it, they’re just giving up.
OTWS: So your latest album
Dark Horse, which you’re currently on tour
in support of, has an interesting name. It
definitely was not a dark horse. Where
does the title come from?
CK: We just kind of tossed around a bunch
of different names but we kept coming back
to ‘Dark Horse.’ We were in Germany at the
time on tour and there was something about
it. There’s a lot of very adult themes and we
didn’t know if this one was going to be a
little too over the top. There was a lot of
stuff that I especially was sitting back
going, ‘We’re pushing the envelope a
little bit here.’
OTWS: Chad, how do you protect
your voice from going out on you
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Page 21
after singing at the top of your lungs almost
every night city to city?
CK: I’m trying to stay away from alcohol
these days, before the show. I mean sometimes the more I beat it up the more it will
do what I want it to do. Once you get it
broken in after two weeks. If you’re good to
it, you can stay on tour for like a year. It’s
that first little re-entry, it’s [tough]. But once
you get past that you’re okay.
OTWS: Did you guys do anything different
with this album versus your previous recordings?
CK: Well, yeah we brought in Mutt Lange.
He’s produced Back in Black and Hysteria, all
these amazing albums. So that was great to
watch Mutt sort of guide us through the
procedure and see how he did things. It was
a great learning experience. We’d be sitting
in writing sessions, and Mutt’s really good
when you get to a bridge. I’m horrible at writing bridges. I think with a lot of people…
once you get your main musical theme, you
know where you’re going and got your verses and your choruses and even thematically
and lyrically speaking where you’re going
and then once you get to the bridge it’s kind
of like, ‘Now what do we do?’ Mutt’s great
with, ‘Well, let’s move into something like…’
[plays air guitar], and I never would have
gone there and that’s really cool. It was great
just bouncing ideas off of him or as soon as
you run out of an idea he was like, ‘Let me
noodle around and try something.’ That was
very beneficial. He’d do that and I’d noodle
on something for a while and he’d go, ‘That
piece right there. Just play that again.’ Things
just came together, and it made it easier to
bounce ideas off of somebody like Mutt Lange.
OTWS: You guys are Shure Endorsers and
have been a part of our family for a long time
now. What is it about our mics that you guys
like so much?
CK: For me, I have a voice that sounds like a
chainsaw and I have a problem with volume.
I really need to push to get my voice to do
what I want it to do and there aren’t a lot of
microphones out there that can handle it, especially live. In a wireless configuration, with
a Beta 58 capsule and the wireless system
that I got, it just takes all of it and I know that
if something craps up, it’s not the microphone
it’s the speaker, because I’m just screaming.
OTWS: I also noticed that you use in-ear
personal monitors, particularly our new
PSM® 900.
CK: The PSM 900. It’s a hell of a system. I
don’t leave home without it.
How difficult was it to change from
floor wedges to being in-ear? How has that
changed or affected your performance on
stage?
CK: It’s night and day. In fact today, with the
amount of pyro that we use, we’ve always
had a wedge underneath the stage where the
television system for our pyro guys is.
They’re just watching what’s on the screen,
just watching Daniel and listening to what’s
coming out of this wedge with all of the reverberation in the arena and I’m like, ‘Why
don’t you guys grab one of these new systems that we started using from Shure? Stick
at least one ear in and see if you can fire.’ He
put it in and said, ‘Oh my gosh, I
can hear everything you guys are
doing at the exact time.’ That’s
going to help make sure our pyro
gets fired exactly when it needs
to be fired. Wedges were a nightmare and feedback is always a
problem when you’re that close. It can be
very damaging to your ears. You get a nasty
high frequency reverb kick-back into your
ear and all of a sudden you can’t hear
anything for three days in your left ear and
it’s just brutal.
MK: Wedges just hurt too. You get those levels so high in order to hear everything that
you just walk off and your ears just ring for
six weeks straight. They just never stop
ringing. It can’t be good. Whereas with the
in-ear system, you can dial back the volume
as much as you can, as long as it stays clear
you can dial it back. It’s great.
RP: I’ve noticed a difference in the vocal clarity, too. Everything else kind of sounds pretty
consistent but this, as soon as you start
using it, I’ve actually had zero problems, zero
complaints with the clarity in the voice.
That’s what I’m more concerned about every
night because these things [wiggles fingers]
know what they’re doing. This thing, [points
OTWS:
NICKLEBACK
to throat], I’ve got to be able to hear the actual
key and hear it clear and it’s been working
quite well actually for me.
CK: Your mix is there and there is nothing that
it can’t handle. So at that point in time it’s
just up to your monitor engineer to make
sure that he’s got everything in there that you
want and then it’s just how much do you
want? How much volume do you want? I
love the control of that, just reach back and,
‘How much do I need?’
DA: As a singing drummer, I remember you
got the hi-hat here and you got the mic and
you got the wedge here and you’re fighting the
hi-hat trying to hear your pitch and I would
be screaming so my voice would
be raw every night. The moment I
got in-ears, I would be breathing
into the mic and it was in my
head and the fight was over. I can’t
believe people use wedges still.
OTWS: So after such a long successful career, all the fame and accolades
and sold-out shows everywhere, what keeps
you guys going?
DA: Gosh, It’s just a way of life now you know.
I can’t imagine not doing it.
MK: It’s like one big fishing trip. Just drive
around and hang out and play rock shows. I
like the camaraderie of bringing the army to
town and setting up our stuff and doing what
we do. I think it’s really fun.
CK: What else would we do?
MK: I don’t even know…
RP: I’m just going to hang it on that. I love
that, ‘what else would we do?’ That’s why
we do it; ’cause what else would we do? We
don’t fit in anywhere else.
CK: We’ve been doing this so long that’s why
we have to put so much effort in this because I don’t think we can do anything else.
Can you imagine getting a straight job…?
RP: They wouldn’t have us. We’d screw it up
somehow.
Theirs
On A Budget
Lead Vocals
UR2/Beta 58®A*
PGXD2/PG58*
Backing Vocals
UR2/Beta 58®A* & Beta 56A
PGXD2/PG58* & PG56
Kick
Beta 91 & Beta 52®A
PG52
Snare Top/Bottom
SM57
PG57
Toms
Beta 98D/S
PG56
Hi-Hat
KSM137
PG81
Overheads
KSM137
PG81
Guitar Cabinet
SM57
PG57
Monitors
PSM® 900
PSM 200
*wireless system
On Tour with Shure
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What’s different this
time on the road with Pavement? Now that
you guys are back together again, how is it
different from what it was ten years ago?
STEPHEN MALKMUS: Well, we used to use just
straight SM57s and SM58®s. [Laughs.] Now
we use a bunch more microphones on stage,
that’s about the only difference!
BOB NASTANOVICH: Now there’s less pressure
ON TOUR WITH SHURE:
22
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on us, we’re not promoting a new product,
which is refreshing. We’re just playing old
Pavement songs you know, so it’s just a more
relaxed environment. And the microphones
are better—not that they were bad back then!
OTWS: Do you guys see the fan base changing; do you see a younger crowd at all? Do
you see the influence you guys had on the
music industry?
BN: We see the old guard and the new guard,
yeah. I guess there’s a whole bunch of people under 30, that never got a chance to see
Pavement and we’ve seen quite a few of them
all over the world this year. So, it’s been good,
they’re pretty enthusiastic. But a lot of the
old fans…
SM: Yeah, there’s plenty of people there that
look about our age that are still crazy after
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all these years, and they’re coming back out
to re-celebrate this thing that meant a lot to
them and us back in the ’90s.
BN: …a lot of young families.
SM: It feels pretty fresh even that being said.
I mean, me personally, I’ve still been playing the same schedule practically that I did
with Pavement, with less interviews and not
as many videos and other things to try and
get famous. So, I feel like it’s sort of a continuum, but for the fans it might be a break
because maybe they weren’t paying attention to me for the last ten years or what Bob
was doing, and now they’re back.
OTWS: How did the whole thing come about
again, who started this whole reunion and
the whole idea around it?
SM: I know Scott [Kannberg, a.k.a. Spiral
Stairs] has been dying to do it for the last five
years, and I know that it was in the back of
our minds that it could be. Scott is the other
guitar player and he is more in touch with
this booking agent from Chicago named
David Viecelli, and he has made these things
happen before. He did Jesus Lizard…
BN: …last year.
SM: I think he did Slant?
BN: Yeah, definitely. He is a reunion specialist,
but he worked with Pavement since ’92, or
maybe even ’91.
SM: So, he had a big vision of what it was going to be like and he knew what it could be
like. Where, someone like me, I wouldn’t
really know and it would have ended up just
being not conceptualized at all.
BN: Right.
SM: None of us would have done a good job,
he’s in the industry, so you know, he helped
us out and I’m really grateful to him for
doing that.
OTWS: Did he do a lot of convincing to get
you guys to this point?
SM: Last year, I guess I said I didn’t want to
do it; and the year before that, but not that
much when this year came up. At ten years,
it seemed sort of inevitable that if it was going to happen, we should do it now. Because
our lives are all in different places and when
you have something like that hanging over
you as something to do, potentially, it could
hold you back. So, I’m hoping that everybody has a great time and the moment is fun,
but also once it’s done people are like, ‘Okay,
now I’m moving on to my next chapter.’
BN: All of the other guys have their own musical projects as well. Steve’s got The Jicks, and
I think they’re in the process of making
their next record. The drummer [Steve West]
has a band called Marble Valley and he’s
working on his record, seemingly like six to
eight hours every day. [Laughs.]
SM: But mainly we’re just like family guys.
BN: Yeah, we have five kids now. Steve has
two kids and our bass player has a newborn
and our drummer has two kids. And Scott
is moving to Australia, he just got married
a year-and-a-half ago.
OTWS: You guys don’t feel any pressure at all
from your fans, now that you’ve been on the
road, to put out anything new or keep going with this thing?
SM: No, they definitely don’t want any new
albums but they would like more shows.
Everyone knows those things turn out kind
of mediocre, it’s not like anything else that
we do is going to be all that good anyway.
[Laughs.]
OTWS: So how did the whole Shure micro-
PAVEMENT
phone thing come about? Was that anybody
influencing the band or was that all Jeremy
Lemos [monitors] and Remko Schouten
[FOH]?
SM: Jeremy and Remko were on that. I’ve
always been a fan of the [SM]57, it’s just the
workhorse; every studio, every club across the
nation. Every electronics gear place will have
this thing; it’s like an American icon really.
BN: Oh yeah, I would assume that you guys
almost have a monopoly on microphones in
this country. I hardly ever see anything else.
OTWS: I know you’ve used an SM58 in the
early days, how do you feel about the KSM9,
how does that work for you? Do you notice
a difference?
SM: No, I kind of just do what I do and I’m
not sure if Jeremy is EQ-ing because I’m just
hearing it through the wedges. I like things
a little brighter, and it definitely has that; I
like it a tiny bit crisp. I don’t use reverb;
I just keep it real simple. But it sounds nice,
whatever Jeremy is doing or the microphone
is doing. I’ve got no problems and it seems to
catch things far away and close and as long as
I’m singing at it, it catches everything.
OTWS: Bob, let’s get into your vocals, the
wireless SM58…
BN: Yeah, it gives me a lot of freedom to roam.
On a few songs, I’ll come out of my area and
for a big chunk of the year I’ve been tangling
my cords with the bass player Mark [Ibold]
and the guitar player Spiral in front of me,
so Jeremy just figured he’d give this wireless thing a go, and it’s been fun. Usually if
you are on a cord you can go pretty far but
now I can just go to ridiculous parts of the
stage. I can just walk off the stage with it,
just do whatever. It’s fun for me, in a lot of
ways it’s silly, but I like that. That’s part of
my act, you know, silliness. Any device that
allows me to be more ridiculous I’m going to
use, and that gives me the freedom to be ridiculous basically! So it’s been good and it
seems to work great. In your hand it feels like
a really solid tool, it’s a pretty powerful thing.
Theirs
On A Budget
Lead Vocals
KSM9
SM86
Backing Vocals
UR2/SM58®*, Beta 57A, SM58
PGXD2/PG58*, PG57, PG58
Kick
Beta 91 & Beta 52®A
PG52
Snare Top/Bottom
Beta 87C/SM57
PG57
Toms
Beta 98D/S
PG56
Overheads
KSM32
PG27
Guitar Cabinet
SM57
PG57
Percussion
Beta 98D/S
PG56
*wireless system
On Tour with Shure
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Peanut Butter & Jelly. Ham & Eggs. Biscuits & Gravy. Dailey & Vincent. When two great things get together, it’s magic. Such is
the case with bluegrass artists Dailey & Vincent, who have won numerous awards in the three short years they have been
together. Apart, they each performed in very successful groups. Jamie Dailey spent several years as part of Doyle Lawson &
Quicksilver, and Darrin Vincent with Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder. When these two “schooled” musicians performed
together, something clicked. It was just a matter of time before the inevitable. They started recording and released a record
together. At the very next International Bluegrass Music Awards, they stole the show, winning several awards and becoming the
first act in the history of the awards to be named Entertainer of the Year and Emerging Artist in the same year. Now into their
fourth release, they remain an unstoppable force in the bluegrass world, performing more than 125 shows a year. I have had a
great relationship with both of these gentlemen, and it’s always a blast to hang around them.
24
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ON TOUR WITH SHURE: So whose idea was it to
put you two guys together, and how much
of a bounty should we put on their head?
[Darrin Vincent laughs.]
JAMIE DAILEY: Well, we’ve known each other
for quite a long time, since 2001. We had recorded a few things together. I guess the biggest thing we did together was “Beautiful
Star of Bethlehem” on Christmas Grass Volume 2, and it wound up being #1 on the
Prime Cuts of Bluegrass for several weeks.
We got a lot of MySpace mentions and email
from fans telling us they would like to hear
more. I went to Darrin and said, ‘You know,
I’m pretty stupid, but I think I get this.
[Darrin laughs.] Maybe we should try to
record something.’ So we started praying and
planning and praying and planning and
strategizing about how we wanted to have
our own band someday. One day, I called
Darrin and said, ‘For me, it’s time; you’re
either with me or you’re not.’ He said, ‘Let
me pray about it, Jamie.’
DARRIN VINCENT: That’s the truth. I prayed
about it and talked it over with my wife
Julie, and once I knew she was completely
on board, I had a sense of peace about it. I
called Jamie and said I was ready to go.
OTWS: When was the first moment that bluegrass came into your lives?
DV: Wow…
JD: We were both born into it.
DV: Yeah, I was on stage at two years old,
singing and playing with my family group
The Sally Mountain Show out of Greentop,
Missouri. I haven’t known anything else
but music, especially bluegrass and oldtime gospel and country music. That’s all
I’ve ever known.
JD: Same thing for me. My dad was in a bluegrass gospel group. They played churches
and festivals. From the time I was born, I traveled in a van with them all over the place. I
don’t really know anything else. Literally,
when I was a baby in a blanket, suckin’ on a
bottle, I was at every concert and grew up in
it. Keith Bilbrey from WSM— his brother-inlaw and my Dad had a group together. We
traveled for miles and miles. When I was
about three or four years old I started singing three to four songs on stage with them.
When I turned six, I started to try and play
the tambourine... and I beat the heck out of
it. [Laughs.]
OTWS: What do you do to keep your voices
in top shape? Are there certain foods and/or
drinks you avoid?
We try not to eat too much red meat,
and dairy products in moderation.
DV: That’s a real hard one.
JD: One thing I learned early on is to eat
some potato chips or French fries if I was
feeling a little bit down with my voice. It
helps lubricate the vocal chords. Some
people would probably tell you not to do
that, but it seems to help me. Darrin introduced me to a guy named Roger Love
who teaches vocal steps and things you can
do to help increase your range…
JD:
DV: …and sing properly. Be able to have your
diaphragm and everything line up perfectly
where you can sing for hours and hours
and not get hoarse.
JD: [Sings a vocal exercise.] Of course, your
dog looks at you funny when you’re doing
that.
DV: And water, I drink a lot of water. Try to
avoid all dairy at all costs right before you
go on stage.
JD: You ready to go get ice cream?
DAILEY & VINCENT
[Laughs.] Yeah, let’s go!
What benefits and lessons have you
learned from the artists you have both
toured with in the past?
JD: Well, for me, with Doyle [Lawson] I
learned how to play as part of a unit and not
to listen to just myself. I learned how to become a road professional, and I learned a lot
about a cappella singing and harmony arrangements. It was very beneficial and I
am blessed to have learned that.
DV: For me, coming from Ricky Skaggs &
Kentucky Thunder, Ricky always puts the
music and the songs at the top of the heap.
He always makes the best records and the
best stage show. He wanted everything to
sound perfect. The band played tight. But
you’ve got to have the right recipe, the lows
and the highs out at front of house to have
it sound like the record. Sound is very high
on the agenda for both Jamie and me. We
want the sound and the vocals to pop out
and sound clean, clear and natural.
OTWS: Shure has been a part of your lives,
even before this new group formed. When
did you come up with the idea of incorporating the SM86 wireless mics into the show?
JD: I had been watching a lot of different
country videos—old country and new
country. I’ve been watching a lot of different
bands and entertainers. I started thinking, ‘If
they can do this, why can’t we do this in bluegrass?’ So I called Darrin and said, ‘Darrin,
if we can use wireless microphones, then we
can take them off the stands during a cappellas, step out front, sing and do some choreography around the a cappella singing and
be a little bit different.’ So I asked Darrin if
Shure made them, and he said, ‘Oh yeah,
they make everything.’ So I said, ‘Let’s call
Shure and see if we can’t get the ball rolling
on this.’
DV: We want to give the fans more entertainment, and Shure has helped us to do that.
DV:
OTWS:
Theirs
On A Budget
Lead Vocals
ULXP24/SM86*
PGXD2/SM86*
Backing Vocals
ULXP24/SM86*
PGXD2/SM86*
Banjo
KSM141
PG81
Mando
KSM141
PG81
Fiddle
SM81
PG81
Acoustic Guitar
KSM137
PG81
Monitors
PSM® 900
PSM 200
* wireless system
On Tour with Shure
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ON TOUR WITH SHURE: Alright Alex, thank you very much for joining
us today. It’s an honor to have you here at the S.N. Shure Theater for
your special showcase. Tell us a little bit about your tour and your
new album.
26
www.shure.com
ALEX CUBA: My new album, my self-titled album, is actually my third
studio album and it just came out two days ago in the U.S. We are
promoting it like nobody’s business, and pushing it in every way we
can, trying to find alternative ways to do it and relying a lot on the
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Internet to push it. But the physical content… We are traveling a lot to make sure
that every person that sees Alex Cuba goes
away with a feeling that they got lucky that
night, kind of, right? Music these days is
back to the basics where the live component
of the whole equation is the most important
one and I think that’s what I’m good at.
[Laughs.] I mean not that I am good or not;
it’s just that I really enjoy it and I am actually glad to say that because it’d be a nightmare if I didn’t enjoy it and be traveling city
to city. But the album itself is, I think, my
best to date. It’s pretty much a portrayal of
who I am. I self-titled it being my third
album, which is kind of different. Most
artists go out with the first album and that
is their self-titled one. In my case it felt that
it should be self-titled because I’ve been
changing a lot in music. I started to record
in the studio in Canada and went from
being a more traditional musician from Cuba
to who I am today. I incorporate electric
guitar and my songwriting is also expanding lots and lots, so it is my best album to
date. At least I think so…
OTWS: And it includes your first English song.
AC: Yes, absolutely. It includes “If You Give
Me Love,” which is the name of the song. It
came to me when I was in the studio. I was
recording the album and all of a sudden this
beautiful melody and chorus comes into my
mind and I stopped what I was doing and
said, ‘Wait a minute, I must deal with that
monsoon that is coming down.’ And I stopped everything as I said and started writing
the song. Joby Baker, my co-producer, helped me out with the words and then because
I felt so connected to it, it came down the
same way as all my Spanish songs do. That’s
the reason why it’s a good recording. I said
let’s open the door and do it. So now I can’t
go back and I have to keep walking the dog.
The next album we’re probably going to
have more English songs.
OTWS: When was your first experience with
a Shure microphone?
AC: Well it’s been, to be completely honest,
it’s been for a long time. Since I’ve started
singing. I’ve noticed the difference in
sounds and every time I had the same
sound that I liked, I noticed it would be one
of the funny microphones that has the
round ball in the front. I didn’t know if it
was Shure or what, it was an English word
for me in Cuba. And then in Canada, the
same thing. One day I asked, ‘Hey what
kind of microphone is this? Oh, that’s an
SM58? Wow. It’s my favorite one.’ I like that
you find that microphone everywhere but
what I really like about it is that it always
sounds real. It doesn’t try to change your
sound, your voice, especially for a singer
like me, who doesn’t even use reverb for my
voice. I rely 100% on the quality of my
voice; weird, beautiful, whatever it is, and I
like it natural, you know what I mean, to
sing it like me. I guess the microphone that
does that for you is the one you like the
most, right? I have a story for you actually
here in Chicago, the first time I came here I
went to play at the Rumba, the same place
that I’m playing tonight, and this sound guy
there said, ‘Okay, let’s do the soundcheck.’
He had a different microphone up and I
asked for the 58. ‘Are you sure?’ he asked,
and I said, ‘Yea, I’m sure.’ He gave me the 58
and when we were doing the soundcheck,
ALEX CUBA
the first thing he did was give me a ton of
reverb. ‘Wow!’ I said, ‘Wait, wait, wait, wait…
Take it off... I don’t want it, I don’t need any
of that.’ He thought I was crazy because
most bands that come through there, the
first thing they ask for is the reverb on the
microphone. I like the sound of the real
voice. To me the microphone is like a microscope in my opinion. It’s a microscope of
your soul and if you sing from there then
the microphone is going to sound perfect.
Beautiful! I’ve seen so many cases of different singers, where the sound guy is going
crazy trying to make this guy sound good
and pushing buttons all over, and then
another singer comes in and he doesn’t have
to do anything because he sounds good. It’s
the microscope of your soul. If you have it,
you have it. That’s the way I feel, so Shure
has been with me for a long time.
OTWS: You’re touring with a custom mic.
When did know you wanted a golden
SM58?
AC: You know what, that was a shot in the
air. I don’t know where I got it from. When
I met you, you said to me, ‘Here’s my card,
let me know if there is anything I can do for
you,’ and it was very kind, thank you very
much. As you probably remember, it took
me two seconds to come up with that. But I
don’t know where I got it from. All I knew
was that the idea came to me and I had
enough courage to ask, ‘Can you do this for
me?’ And you said, ‘Give me about a week’
or something and then it happened. And
I’m telling you, it’s turning heads around
the world because I haven’t seen any other
people with it. The first thing they think is
I did it myself, like I customized it, like I
went to some shop to make myself look cool
or something like that. I’m keeping it modest though because I think the best way to
honor a sponsorship or a relationship is to
make the best out of what you’ve been given and usually the best way you can do that
is to sing your heart out with it and then
people go, ‘Wow, beautiful.’ It’s been amazing.
It’s been with me now for what, it’s coming
up to a year, it’s not even a year yet. I have
two. The other one stays home just in case.
Theirs
On A Budget
Lead Vocals
SM58®
PG58
Backing Vocals
SM58
PG58
Guitar
UR14D*
PGXD14*
*wireless system
On Tour with Shure
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ON TOUR WITH SHURE: You’re currently on tour
promoting your latest studio album, Hombre
Invisible [Invisible Man], which is your first independent album. What does this project mean
to you?
ELY GUERRA: It means a lot, and not because
you’re here, but I think that Hombre Invisible has
caused a lot of things. Very important things,
like having Shure’s support. For example, we
have been sowing the seeds and have been great
growers knowing that to receive a good harvest
we had to be very hard workers. We have made
a great team that has come here to perform. We
are not improvised, we are not amateurs and
because of this we are on an exquisite journey
of much tolerance, patience and perseverance.
Hombre Invisible is a fabulous blessing that has
brought us an incredible harvest. It helps us feel
complete; it helps us feel satisfied and happy.
Happy because we’re touring and that is what
we musicians want. We haven’t stopped for the
last eight months and there is so much we still
have to do. There is a certain important quality
to this project that has brought us to receive
hugs and recognition everywhere we go. Things
that, I believe, we have deserved little by little.
Hombre Invisible signifies a transition that is
happening at my best age.
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OTWS: The album’s artwork includes pictures
of you morphed with four animals, an owl,
a horse, a goat and a jaguar. What is the significance of that?
EG: Above everything, the transformation. I
wanted to explain what exists in a Mexican
woman. I’m a Mexican woman who has
lived in Mexico her entire life and when I
travel to different countries I like to show
who we are and show our contemporary
culture. I do not use a shawl; I am a woman
of my world. I feel that the best way to represent what I write day to day is to connect
it with the metamorphosis that exists in these
four animals. They are powerful animals,
animals that control their own environment
and that are indispensible to nature. There
is a lot of very deep meaning to it but it
would be a very long conversation. What I
can say is that it is a reflection of what I lived
in the moment of making this album.
OTWS: I feel that this album is very complete,
like a movie. It takes you on a journey of
very beautiful details from beginning to end;
details such as the album art, the lyrics, the
music and your vocal expression for each
song. What is your creative process like
when coming up with your stories in order
to highlight all of these details?
EG: Well the creative process for me is very
important and very respected because I have
never been an artist that makes an album
with a cookie-cutter formula. We create
music out of necessity, that is the truth. For
me, this process took four years, well actually three years, I have been touring for
almost one. But, it was a beautiful, creative
process of three years in which my invited
invisible men provided a harmonic sequence
to which I began to compose to. I started
making the album artwork first and it was
interesting because those animals that we
spoke about came to the photo studio. There
was a three-day photo shoot where a group
of 20 people that included visual artists like
Hector Galvan, photographers like David
Franco and my good friend Ricardo
Trabulsi, hair and make-up artists, all who
were sensible to the idea of creating these
images of me morphing into a male animal.
That was the beginning of the album, not
the music. That was the vision, which was
very inspiring. The creative process of these
pictures took a year and three months.
After we were done taking them I left all the
post production of morphing these animals
with me in the hands of David Franco while
I began composing the music. It was very
interesting.
OTWS: I want to congratulate you for something that recognizes all of the hard work
you have put into the art and music associated with this album. This album has been
nominated for two Latin GRAMMY®s, for
“Best Alternative Music Album” and “Best
Recording Package.”
EG: Thank you very much! We are very happy.
OTWS: What does this recognition mean to
you?
EG: It’s Incredible. It comes at the best time,
and as you mentioned, it starts with the album artwork and ends with the music and
the GRAMMYs have recognized both areas
that we polished, worked and beautified. So
it was beautiful, even the process of how we
received the news. We were in Mexico, we
all celebrated the fact that it was for an
independent work. Under my own label,
Homey Company, with many people behind the scenes. There is Camilo Lara who
is the president of EMI, Juan de Dios Balbi
who was my manager for more than ten years.
There is my family, my parents, who invested money into this project. There is a big
margin of people, so I’d be lying if I didn’t
say that this is an incredible gift for all of us.
It is proof that we should work creatively as
ELY GUERRA
a team in a moment where the music industry has a lot of issues. It is a time where
teamwork accomplishes your key goals.
OTWS: What were your musical influences?
EG: [Laughs.] There aren’t any… I’m embarrassed to admit it. My mom listened to Brazilian music, but unfortunately you didn’t
really hear any music in our house. The
truth is that I believe that my biggest influences come from my need to create. I
make perfumes, cook, write songs and write
stories. I think it’s a gift for mixing ingredients, sort of like witchcraft. I’m really a
witch. I’m not a musician. I’m really a witch
because all of this requires ingredients that
I know how to mix for the common good.
Like for this project, which is for the community that supports this project.
OTWS: What can your fans expect after
Hombre Invisible? We waited a long time for
this album…
EG: [Laughs.] I’m already thinking about it.
I’ve been working on Hombre Invisible for
the last four years. This is a key moment for
me, a very inspiring time because I am touring and have been sharing this very closely
with my fans and having different types of
experiences thanks to this independent
opportunity. What I mean is that at the moment you decide to distance yourself from
record labels and cookie-cutter formulas and
managers you commit yourself to many
more things. You have to pick your team and
have them all jump on the same boat and
row in the same direction. It is very inspiring. But I don’t know what they should
expect. What I can say is that I am already
meditating on the next album but it’s something that will take a couple of years to
solidify in order to create the new sound
that is coming. This does not stop here.
* * * * *
Ely’s Hombre Invisible went on to win the
2010 Latin GRAMMY for Best Alternative
Music Album this past November.
Theirs
On A Budget
Lead Vocals
KSM9
SM86
Backing Vocals
SM58
PG58
Kick
Beta 91 & Beta 52®A PG52
Snare Top/Bottom
Beta 98D/S
PG56
Toms
Beta 98D/S
PG56
Hi-Hat
KSM137
PG81
Overheads
KSM27
PG27
Guitar Cabinet
KSM27 & SM57
PG27 & PG57
Bass Cabinet
Beta 52A
PG52
On Tour with Shure
29
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ON TOUR WITH SHURE: So you’ve recently graduated college, what’s
the job search like?
MIKE POSNER: I didn’t really have a job search! [Laughs.] I kind of
found my job after my junior year. I signed a record deal and found
myself living a double life for a while. I’m really grateful to be
making a living doing something that I love, and a lot of my friends
can’t say the same right now, so I’m very blessed.
OTWS: You signed your first record deal and recorded your debut
album 31 Minutes to Takeoff, all while finishing your degree. How
did you find the time to do everything and stay so focused?
MP: It was really difficult, but my mom told me you’re not dropping
out [laughs] and I had to finish. You know, most people in the world
don’t get the opportunity to get an education, let alone a secondary
30
www.shure.com
education at a place like Duke. So, I felt I owed it not only to myself,
but also to my family, who have sacrificed a lot for me to have the
opportunity to finish.
OTWS: Well you obviously worked hard. You graduated, like you said,
from Duke, with a degree in sociology, and your album debuted at
No. 8 on the Billboard album charts and at No. 3 on the digital album
charts. What has the quick transition from student to famous recording artist been like?
MP: I don’t know if I’m famous [laughs], but I’m just having fun
every day. Again, I’m blessed to be doing something that I love, that
I’m passionate about; something that I’d be doing even if I wasn’t
getting paid, so there’s a smile on my face, all day, everyday… I can’t
complain.
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Page 31
That’s awesome. How is the tour going thus far?
MP: The tour has been absolutely amazing
thus far. We have an amazing line up and I
have an amazing band behind me. The
crowds have been insane every night so I
couldn’t wish for anymore.
OTWS: 31 Minutes to Takeoff is a metaphor
for…?
MP: Well, something happens 31 minutes
into my album, I can’t tell you what it is because it would ruin it for you and everyone
that watches [reads] this, but aside from it
actually being a commentary on what actually happens in the story in my album, it’s
also a warning of the stage I’m at in my life,
and the stage I’m about to be at.
OTWS: So it’s hard to categorize your style,
it’s very diverse musically and very versatile. Who did you listen to growing up?
MP: I grew up listening to a really wide
range of stuff; I was blessed to be raised in
a neighborhood that was one of the most
diverse neighborhoods in the country. So for
as long as I can remember, I’ve had friends
of all ethnicities, races, as well as socioeconomic status. So, the result of that is I
grew up listening to everything from Nas,
Jay-Z, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, J Dilla to Rage
Against the Machine and Led Zeppelin, Pearl
Jam, Paul Simon, Nirvana, R.E.M. Obviously
being born in Detroit, Motown music kind of
runs in everybody’s veins that comes from
my area.
OTWS: What is your creative process like?
When coming up with a song, what inspires you?
MP: I’m inspired by real life and I’m very careful to not write about anything that I don’t
actually experience or don’t actually feel, so
I think that’s one of the reasons people
enjoy listening to me. When I say something
on a track, they know they can believe it
and they know I’m not just singing some
words that somebody else wrote for me.
OTWS: When was the first time you picked
up a microphone?
MP: The first time I picked up a microphone!? Well, I’ve only been singing two
years. I was a songwriter and producer before that, and it was largely my failure as a
songwriter and producer that caused me to
start singing two years ago. I realized that
no one was going to hear the songs I was
writing because the labels were all turning
them down if I didn’t sing them myself, so
it was about two years ago. I did a small
show at Duke.
OTWS:
OTWS: Speaking of microphones, I see that
you currently hit the stage with a Beta
58®A. Any particular reason why?
MP: The Beta 58 has a lot of high end; it’s a
brighter mic than some other live mics.
Also, it’s easy to spin! I spin my mics a lot
[Laughs.] But I have a lot of high end in my
voice, I like to EQ to cut out a lot of the low
stuff and it’s a bright mic.
OTWS: I also noticed that you use in-ear
personal monitors, the PSM® 900.
Yeah, of course.
How has that changed the way you
perform on stage?
MP: In-ear monitors changed everything! I
don’t even know how I performed before I
had them. So, if there are artists out there,
get them as soon as you can! It was like,
‘Wow, I can hear myself, for the first time
ever.’ I try to tell some of my friends who are
MP:
OTWS:
MIKE POSNER
“rock dudes” and want to “hear here” [points
to the floor], just try it, please.
OTWS: Awesome. We appreciate you teaching them because it helps your hearing too
in the long run.
MP: Yeah, it changes everything.
OTWS: What were some of the challenges
you had faced as an up-and-coming solo
artist just beginning your career, and what
would you say has been the key to your
success, thus far?
MP: Well, as an up-and-coming artist,
people like to categorize you and compare
you to other artists. I’d say the biggest
challenge is doing the opposite. The best
way to be successful is do something completely unique and sound like absolutely
nobody else out there. So, I’d say that’s been
the key to my success, to reject doing what
other people are doing.
OTWS: I know touring is crazy, but what do
you like to do in your free time?
MP: What free time? [Laughs.] I try to read
every day. I’m reading Abe Lincoln’s biography. I like to play Frisbee. People don’t know
I have an amazing Frisbee throw, forehand
or backhand. [Laughs.] Other than that, I
like to sleep! [Laughs.]
OTWS: Finally, what did you wish for on
your last birthday?
MP: I don’t really celebrate my birthdays.
Two years ago, I turned 21. I was in my dorm
room and my friends were banging on my
door, it was a Saturday night. They’re like,
‘Mike, be a college student for one night,
come party with us, you’re 21 now!’ And I
was like, ‘No, I gotta finish this mix tape.’
They were like, ‘What’s a mix tape? Why
are you doing this? You’re no fun anymore!’
And I was like, ‘You’ll see!’ And now, I’m in
this chair. I think my 22nd birthday I did a
show at UCLA. I don’t really celebrate;
every day is like a birthday to me I’m having so much fun! [Laughs.]
Theirs
On A Budget
Lead Vocals
UR2/Beta 58®A*
PGXD2/PG58*
Backing Vocals
UR2/Beta 87A*
PGXD2/SM86*
Kick
Beta 91 & Beta 52®A
PG52
Snare Top/Bottom
Beta 57A
PG57
Toms
Beta 56A
PG56
Hi-Hat
KSM141
PG81
Overheads
KSM44A
PG27
Guitar Cabinet
KSM313
PG27
Monitors
PSM® 900
PSM 200
* wireless system
On Tour with Shure
31
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PURE DIGITAL, NOTE AFTER NOTE.
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