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Two-on-two Interview: Myk and Rhaab Tag-Team the Indulgers

Edited by Rhaab

On February 28, 2004, Myk-El and I got together with Damien McCarron and Pat Murphy of the Indulgers to talk about their new album, "Chase the Ghost" (which will be released on March 11) and their music in general. The tape recording lost a few remarks, and we left out some of the extended comments so you'd actually have time to go buy the album after reading both Myk's review of it and the interview itself. We still ended up with more than you can learn without actually cornering a few band members yourself, though, so pull up a chair with us.

Rhaab: Is it safe to say that the new album title "Chase the Ghost" is a tribute to Pac-Man?

Damien: No. I'm not very good at Pac-Man. Asteroids, perhaps.

Pat: I'm an old Robotron player.

Myk-El: How many tracks on the album are new, as in which have performed live prior to oh, say, last night?

D: There's 12 songs altogether on the record. We started doing one of them back in January, "Molly and Me". And the other 11 songs we haven't played live except for the five we tackled last night. So, in essence, like if you're familiar with the Indulgers' music, there's 11 songs that you definitely have not heard - or 12, if you haven't been to a gig this year.

R: Do you have a favorite track?

D: "Sail Away" for me.

P: It depends on my mood.

D: Yeah, I've changed a couple of times. "Sail Away", definitely.

R: "Come Sail Away", by Styx?

D: No, just "Sail Away." It's the third song. But the last track, too, that Sara Moranville sings on, it's a song that Mike and I wrote a little bit before we wrote this record. That's very much a favorite song.

M: Finish this statement: "This album sounds best when . . ."

D: . . . listened to.

R: As opposed to using the Braille method of enjoying CDs.

D: Which I'm certainly not against, in any way, but listening to the record, perhaps, would be its best lot.

R: Why does the band exist?

D: To allow us to indulge in the music.

P: . . . really since day one.

D: To give us happiness and joy, because that's what it does for us. It's something that makes us feel damn good about being in existence.

P: We certainly don't do it for the money.

D: I also like to face my fears, and as an introvert, I figured the best way to face that fear is to sing in a band.

M: The title track of your first album, "In Like Flynn", seems at least semi-autobiographical. How much truth is in it?

D: Lots. Too much.

R: What's your definition of Celtic Rock?

P: What we do, starting with "Flynn". Until this album, "In Like Flynn" was my favorite. It was the album Damien and I always dreamed of making.

D: [Before "In Like Flynn"] . . . the only record that, to me, was Celtic Rock, the only record ever made that I would consider to be something to make similar to, or try to outdo, was "Fisherman's Blues" by the Waterboys. That was the only record that actually existed that was what I considered to be Celtic Rock. It amalgamates all the new, all of the old. So we went and made "In Like Flynn", and we hoped to make "In Like Flynn" to be a good record, a record that would stand up against the only record that mattered - the Waterboys' "Fisherman's Blues". And when we were done, we were quite happy that we'd done it.

What's our definition of Celtic Rock? In the Celtic Rock world, there's an awful lot of bands, which you know a lot of the names of [the Young Dubliners, Great Big Sea, the Prodigals, Black 47, just to name a few - Rhaab], they're all very different sonically; very different, from one end to the other, whether it's Enya, to Colcannon, to the Pogues. Put the three of those on the bill, you'd have a lot people scratching their heads. They're all in the same genre, what people call the Celtic genre. The simple answer to that question, "What is Celtic Rock?"; Celtic Rock is the music that the Indulgers do.

M: Who are some of your favorite performers who have been lumped into this Celtic Rock?

D: The Waterboys.

P: I like the Pogues. I like the musicianship in the Pogues.

D: This is true. We like the look of them, and we can probably understand their mentality better than we do, say, Christina Aguilera's. The Pogues are great. Dire Straits, they're another band that have had an influence on us, because some of their more obscure music probably means more to the heritage than the rock. Mark Knopfler in particular, even without Dire Straits, certainly Knopfler's stuff in the last ten years or so.

R: Who are some of your favorite performers in general?

P: I go from the Wolfe Tones to Rush to Charlie Parker.

M: What would VH-1 find if they looked behind your music?

P: Somebody who's so . . . what's the word I'm looking for?

D: Genius!

P: Genius! The way Mike [Nile] sits down every single morning, goes in the studio, and writes songs.

D: Yeah, genius. They'd find that the basis of all this is Mike Nile's genius.

P: If we could afford to record records faster, we'd put out three a year - between Damien and Mike.

D: We'd like to be like the Beatles and have six albums on the charts at the same time.

R: Pat, you use a pretty minimal drum kit. What's the reason for that, and how do you get so much out of it?

P: We wanted to start doing some smaller acoustic shows, and little tiny places on a Sunday afternoon at 4 o'clock when I was just going to tap on something. I tried just a couple of pieces of the [full] kit, that didn't work. "Okay, how can I do this? Ah, a cocktail drum. I'll look into it." The one company that made it at the time was Yamaha; "I'll go buy a Yamaha drum kit." And just the way it began to blend with the music. . . .

D: Plus it's very mobile, and allows us to travel by air.

P: And I don't have to change my set, I don't have to worry about back lines anywhere, if there's a back line drum set if we're doing a festival--if it's up there on a drum riser, I bring mine in, set it right in front of the big drum kit - microphones, let's go!

D: The thing that takes the most time with his kit is the fact that he has to tell the sound engineer what it is. No one has ever seen it before.

P: And now I've really come to like playing it. I didn't like it at first, because I always used a big drum kit. But now I really enjoy seeing what I can squeeze out of it. Every little angle of the drum stick, every little spot on the drum head, it really makes you work, but it's very challenging., and I like that. And I'm not nearly as wrecked after a gig!

It starts conversations with people in the the audience who are interested in drums. Drummers come up to me all the time, they go, "I haven't seen one of those played in years," or "What is that?"

D: Yeah, and the other factor, too, is the politics of the genre we belong to. In Irish circles, there's a lot of people who are very traditionally-minded, [who only listen to] very traditional music such as the Chieftains or Colcannon, and will never, ever cross over and say, "Hey, I can go see a rock band, or a band playing Irish music because they have a drum kit." That's just too much for the purists - as they call themselves - who refuse to see the other side. Whereas, with the cocktail kit, we're kind of paying homage to the fact that they feel that way, and not going the whole hog with the big, monster 27-piece drum kit. We're allowing them the chance to maybe transition over.

M: Damien, I understand you have a connection to The Commitments, both the book and the movie based on it. Care to give the details?

D: I grew up in the neighborhood where they filmed it at, and the author of the book used to be our local schoolteacher. I still think it's me that it's based on. I still think I'm Mr. Rabbitte. I see it more in myself now than before; that's really scary.

M: I noticed, Pat, that you sing along with most all the songs in the live shows. When are you getting a microphone?

P: I'm not. I can't sing. What I can do is sound like somebody in the crowd singing along, through a microphone that's five feet away. That's why I do it.

R: What's your favorite planet, aside from Earth?

P: Saturn. The rings - I just like the atmosphere.

D: I don't know. I wasn't aware there was anywhere else. I'll probably have to just go with Mars, because there's a company that makes candy.

M: What's been in your car stereo lately?

D: "Chase the Ghost"; this is the testing period.

P: The latest John Mellencamp CD, which was recorded with a cocktail drum.

M: What was the last new album you bought?

D: Mellencamp's latest record. No, I bought "Sergeant Pepper's" last week - again.

P: I don't buy new albums because we just keep making our own, and I only have so much room in my 60-disc player.

R: Important question here: is there really a Gaelic language, or are you all just having us on?

D: The Gaelic language is actually older than Hebrew - and yes, there is one, of course. There's only 35,000 people on the planet who speak it, and that's about as small an amount as there's ever been. It's been eradicated by the British Empire over the course of 800 years.

R: How's it doing compared to the Klingon language?

D: It's probably got less fluent speakers, honestly.

P: It's certainly got less airplay.

M: If you could have any musicians sit in with your band for one night, who would it be?

D: Neale Heywood.

P: Neale Heywood. He's the sixth Indulger.

M: So how about somebody who isn't in your production?

D: Paddy Moloney of the Chieftains. James Galway on flute. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr would also be quite welcome.

P: I wouldn't mind doing a song with Mick Jagger, either. I think that'd be cool.

R: What one word would you use to describe your style?

D: Ours. [pause] Original, it's original.

P: We all come from very different worlds, and we met in Denver, Colorado, which is the melting pot of the melting pot.

M: What's the best reason to go see the Indulgers live?

P: You need a night out.

D: Why not?

P: 'Cause you get to sit next to the Lads.

D: There will be beer!

M: Where can the average Joe go to get your new album?

D: We want to make sure it's everywhere: Independent, Tower, Scout, Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Albums on the Hill, the Irish and Celtic stores of Colorado. . . .

P: . . . and any Indulgers gig.

D: Any Indulgers gig, Shamrocker.com website, my doorbell does work. . . .

P: . . . and we deliver!

BACK IN THE PEN

Interreview with Rachel Simring and review of the Rachel's Playpen album "Everything that Was"
by Myk-El

Rachel's Playpen released their first album with a fun little party at the Soiled Dove on Feb 6. I had the opportunity to talk with Rachel about this album, her music and other assorted subjects for this review. I'm glad I had the opportunity because hearing her talk about her music makes you appreciate what she's done even more. Rachel is extremely down to earth, nice, obviously intelligent and despite downplaying the fact to the point where she acts like she doesn't believe it to be true, she is attractive.

Rachel's Playpen's "Everything That Was" is an overdue album. Rachel and her band performed live for about 2 years before heading into the studio. Audiences asked for an album and all she had to sell were CDs from when she was with Rachel & Andy. Rachel and her bandmates were ready to go into the studio right when her reasonably well-documented vocal troubles began. But why waste booked studio time, right? So the music was recorded when she couldn't sing. That part of the album was done "a year ago" according to Rachel, the vocals were added as soon as she felt well enough to sing.

Rachel admits there were (and still are) good vocal days and bad vocal days during recording, but it seems the good days are apparently pretty good. Rachel has a deep voice and good range and she knows how to use both. I asked Rachel if she'd picked up any tricks about caring for her voice that not everyone knew. There apparently aren't many secrets, but many vocalists don't pay attention. Warm up first, drink plenty of water, and take a break. Let someone else sing, play an extended solo, or just get off the stage for a few minutes.

Now let's meet the band. Danny Garcia's lead guitar work is strong throughout. Rachel herself provides good rhythm guitar. Andre Guerra and Laura Coleman (now with Backbone Velvet) play bass and drums respectively on the bulk of the album.

So let's pop the CD into the player now. The first track is "Black Cloud." Rachel wrote this song about that "friend" she and many other folks have who "truly do nothing but bring you down." It's catchy, there are some good hooks to it and it sounds good on the stereo while driving. "Come Around" is second. This is one of her earliest solo writing efforts. Rachel indicates she's gotten the most positive response from this tune from fans. It's not bad but Rachel indicated she's gotten "tired of it" from playing it for so long and it shows just a little in the recording. "Not the One" Rachel says is about going through the motions of a relationship with someone you know you aren't meant for. The feeling comes through well in the song.

Tracks four and five are attention grabbing. Fourth we have "See Saw." No, this has nothing to do with the Moody Blues, "just a happy, horny song" says Rachel. It rocks and is a lot of fun but I think it could sound dirtier musically with a little more bass play. Changing gears fairly radically, we get transported to a place where Tammy Wynette and Patsy Cline are popular. The song is "What Shade" and it is soaking in country tradition. This is a flat out wonderful piece of music highlighted by the cello of Michael Shay (who is also bassist on "See Saw"). The music was written by Andy Ard (who plays guitar on this and "See Saw") and it had existed for some time but it defied attempts at creating lyrics until Victoria Woodworth came along. The end result is a great song.

Drifting back to the present, "Never Promised" is the end result of a moment of clarity related to the end of a relationship where neither party gave more than was promised and Rachel was "left wondering what I was crying about in the first place." It's short, simple and lends itself to singing along. "California" just tends to just wash over me. It's heavy on imagery and has a good beat. "Afterthought" is an example of what good inspiration can do. It's a nicely focused song. Rachel said she wrote "in a half hour flat." There's just the right hint of anger with the down feeling you get from an invitation only offered to appease after moments of thoughtlessness.

Now we arrive at track nine. There seems to be something about Eleanors in the arts living dull lives. The Beatles did "Eleanor Rigby" and Rachel's Playpen has "Eleanor" which, in short, is about "how sad it would be if someone's death was the most exciting moment in his or her life." The titular figure got her name from an old movie "The Haunting". This song didn't impress much when I first heard it, but it's been growing on me. This is a case where knowing more greatly increases my appreciation. For you trivia buffs, it's Rachel's very first songwriting effort.

"Meet Me After Noon" tilts toward the country end of the spectrum with a side of blues and a hint of the 1920's. It's a lively, if slightly naughty, little tune "about sneaking off with a new love as the old one sorta falls out of the picture."

If there's a track that needs a "special edition" it would be "Over Me." It rocks pretty hard and incorporates a little "ska-ish" rhythm, but I'd love to hear it attacked a little harder, both vocally and instrumentally. It's a very good tune, but in my mind I heard it getting progressively more aggressive and I liked it.

"You Were Right" is a duet with Eric Shiveley (who plays drums on this track plus "See Saw" and "What Shade" also plays keyboards for this song and "Eleanor"). Eric and Rachel sound good playing off each other in this one and it feels good. While it's a break in the vocal sound, it tends to be overshadowed by the songs on either side of it. "Fall Invisible" follows "You Were Right" and is a very personal tune written during and about the time Rachel couldn't really speak. It features the most delicate musicianship on the entire album. It's beautiful and probably has the best overall arrangement of any song on the album. Staying personal, the album closes with "Last Thing" This is a song about the loss of a loved one and features the last guest musician in the form of Tom Demask who provided acoustic guitar and e-bow. Rachel doesn't intend to perform this live, and I can understand why. Again, it's delicate. The song holds a certain dignity that would somehow be tarnished inside your average drinking establishment that has a stage, no matter how well behaved the audience is. Rachel's voice may sound the weakest on this song, yet it feels right.

This is a very strong effort and only becomes more impressive when considering the circumstances under which it was recorded. I asked Rachel if there was any particular track she was extremely proud of and she indicated "no." It might have been nice if Rachel could have healed a bit more before recording, but she also was having a hard time sitting on the music. I said she must have been going bonkers and she didn't disagree. She added that it took a lot of takes when recording her vocals before she was happy, but also indicated that if she was doing it now, she would have been able to sing a little stronger. I also asked her to tell me when their album sounds best. Her answer was "When you've heard it a few times." The reason being that familiarity with the words and sound allows participation.

I inquired why there is a Rachel's Playpen. In response, I was told "I have music inside of me and I have to get it out somehow." As for why the name Rachel's Playpen, it's to show she doesn't take herself too seriously and likes to have fun. As to who she's compared to, most often it's Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde, which Rachel finds flattering, though she thinks Johnette rocks harder...at least right now. Sheryl Crow also is thrown around. We also got to talk a little about music in general. Rachel is a big fan of music and is the first person I've run into in a very long time that actually has more CDs than I do (around 600 vs over 1000). Among other folks we talked about are Pool Cleaner favorites, The Railbenders. Rachel hinted at a possible collaboration between her and Jim Dalton of The Railbenders. I only mention this in hopes it makes sure this comes to pass. I had a little fun talking with her. Here's what transpired when the interview got a little silly.

Myk-El: What would VH-1 find if they looked behind your music?

Rachel: [Laughs] They'd find that I'm just a nut case and the whole band is all perverted. You know that we're all just big dorks, you know, who just like to do this and this is fun.

ME: It's a weekend night and your band happens to have the night off. Who do you most want to go see in concert?

R: Local or national?

ME: Whoever happens to be in town. Let's pretend everybody's here.

R: Sheryl Crow, of course. I love her. Oh my God, if Crowded House reunited and came back...I'd be all over that.

ME: What's your favorite planet aside from Earth?

R: Saturn.

ME: Saturn?

R: Yeah. Like the rings. What girl doesn't like rings? [laughs]

ME: What's been playing in your car stereo lately?

R: Elton John.

ME: Any particular album?

R: No. Actually, I just made my own greatest hits because I find that on every album there's, like, three or four songs I think are his best. Not what they deem to be greatest hits. But actually I just burned a CD of what I think are his greatest hits. And I love Billy Joel. He was in last week. Of course Crowded House is always in my car.

ME: So what was the last new album you bought?

R: What was the last thing I would have bought? Probably Dido.

ME: Is there any song in your set list your family would prefer you not play?

R: You would think I would say "She-Bop."

ME: No, that was not what I was thinking. (I was thinking "See Saw")

R: You know, we didn't end up playing "Bitch is Back", but I think if we did play "Bitch is Back" my mom would be like "You're not a bitch. Why would you sing that song?"

ME: More of a dog person or a cat person?

R: Dog.

ME: If you could have any musician from anywhere in the world sit in with you for one night, who would you invite?

R: Wow, that's a good one. How about Lindsey Buckingham? If you heard how many of Stevie Nicks' famous songs...how they actually started, like rough rough demos of her just banging it out on the piano versus what they turned into? Ohmygod the guy's a genius...within 15 minutes he could change the sound of my entire band by offering up some brilliant ideas. I think he's so underrated.

ME: What song do you listen to or sing when you feel a little down?

R: Hmm. One particular song? You know...I've been stuck on "Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word" [sings a little] by Elton John. Probably because it's in my car right now...but you know that changes. I don't ever just listen to one song.

ME: One word to describe your style?

R: [Pause] Sassy! (with a hair shake and a giggle)

ME: What's the best reason to check your band out live?

R: I hope you will say we're fun, but you know, compared to some other bands that actually really are upbeat and high energy and they get people dancing...we aren't necessarily going to get people dancing. But I think, um...I don't know. It's a really good question. I think because we don't take ourselves too seriously. Or, geez, I don't know...I think that it's honest. I don't go up there and pretend I'm something I'm not. You know what I mean?

ME: [nods] Our final Jeopardy question: when and where is the next live show?

R: Wednesday, March 31. It's at Avalon, a new club down south. They're doing this "diva" thing. It started out with Wendy Woo and then it went to Hazel Miller...and for them to remotely consider me any kind of Diva or put me on the bill for any kind of Diva night...I think I'm pretty flattered. So even though it's a Wednesday and it's going to be hard to drag folks out...I don't think we're going to start too late. Anitra [Carr] is opening for me again...we're going to be doing another double header.

I'd like to thank Rachel for taking the time to talk with me about her Album. "Everything that Was" is available from Rachel at upcoming shows and through her website. It may become available through some independent stores in the Denver area, but for now, it's through her directly and it will probably be cheaper through direct purchase anyway.

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