Interview with
The Deli
Magazine
http://www.thedelimagazine.com/newengland/artists/HNL/index.html
Interview with Mark Kaye of Hear Now Live
Mark Kaye
is the founder of Hear Now Live, a Boston based company that
provides additional revenue sources for local bands.
HearNowLive promotes shows at several local Boston area
clubs. According to their website, "[Hear Now Live is] a one
stop shop for a local band or an up and coming national
band. On top of offering Bands the opportunity to play a HNL
concert that will be promoted correctly and be band
friendly, our shows attract true music fans, and the vibe
created by HNL is unmatched."
The
Deli: Tell me about Hear Now Live. How long has it been
going on?
Mark Kaye: I have been in and out of the music industry for
20 years but I started HNL 3 years ago. It started as a way
to get local music out to people faster by recording the
shows and burning them on the spot. It turned into a full
service Promotions and booking agency shortly after that. We
try to create a community of music fans and have them always
want to come back for more. We ask the musicians to believe
in the each show and to help us create a positive
environment so that there friends and fans will be happy and
want to see them again or come to another Hear Now Live
event.
The
Deli: Why did you want to start something like this?
MK: I started something like this solely based off of my
love for music and bringing people together.
The
Deli: How did you get involved in the indie music scene and
why did you want to help unsigned artists?
MK: Well I have been on both sides of the spectrum. I've
worked at labels, recording studios, clubs etc... so I know
how hard it is for these newer unsigned artist to get off
the ground. I want to help them do that.
The
Deli: How do you organize your shows? Pick the venues? Pick
the bands?
MK: There is no real formula in picking the bands. I kind of
see it in my head and try to make it work . The venues are
just an avenue to create the event. Some venues are slightly
nicer than other but the bands need to know that any venue
is a good venue because there aren't many left.
The
Deli: What has been your favorite (or some of your favorite)
shows so far that you've held?
MK: All of our Halloween related shows have been amazing.
Our Paradise show in August was incredible...I love them
all!
The
Deli: What are some local acts you really dig?
MK: Abbie Barrett, Myra Flynn, Michael Bernier, Fire in the
Field, McAlister Drive, Alice Austin, Flash Gordman, Buffalo
Soul, Turkuaz, Dopapod, 6th Degree, ila Mawana, Staff
Johnson, The Doctors Fox, The Othership, Aliens, Grow,
Gentlemen Hall, oldjack, The Phix, Slow Century, Ellis
Ashbrook, and the list goes on and on and on...I'm not picky
so I like most local music.
The
Deli: What does an artist have to do if they want to be
showcased in one of your shows?
MK: They have to show me that they will help me make the
event a success.
The
Deli: Are you a musician?
MK: Nada...gave that up long ago.
The
Deli: What does the future of Hear Now Live look like?
MK: We are taking on new promoters under our wing and we
want to be the weekend warriors and put on the best and most
successful weekend shows possible. We want to be able to
develop up and coming new artists and show them that if they
take the risk and jump in than the outcome will be well
worth it for them, us and most importantly the fans.
“Everybody get on the floor what the heck
U’d come here 4? Girl it ain’t no use, U
might as well get loose.”
When I hear this classic line from
Prince’s night club anthem "DMSR" it now
reminds me of the show stopping performances
by Boston bred band, Miss Fairchild. When
the horns hit and the command from lead
singer Travis Richard takes control you
can’t do anything but get your feet on the
dance floor. Originally from Nantucket
Island, this band is getting noticed based
off of their live performances and their
latest EP “Show Band” and they won’t stop
for anyone because all they want to do is
have a good time and show you how that's
done. Here is the latest word from one of
Boston’s greatest live acts to hit the local
stage in a very long time.
HearNowLive: A little over a year ago I
started hearing about this band that just
makes you want to let loose, have fun and
dance and then I saw you guys and thought
damn why haven’t I seen them before? Have
you always been here or did you all just
make an extra effort to get noticed to a
broader audience?
Travis Richard: Well, that's a pretty
tricky question, actually! The band, which
began as a studio project some years
back, had members spread across the
Northeast: Nantucket, Providence, Cambridge
and Portland. For years we used Boston as a
meeting place because it was the central
point for all of these towns, but we never
quite made it "home" until
recently. Bostonians in-the-know have known
about Miss Fairchild for a long time, but
our mission here has recently become
concentrated, since officially calling the
city "home" for the last couple years.
HNL: You talked about the idea of this "Good
Time" Music residency and now we've made it
happen together but this was really your
idea. I was wondering what made you think of
it and are you trying to make any kind of
statement through this?
TR: People that know me and the band
know that we've got a real show on our
hands! It's upbeat, danceable Pop music and
it's designed specifically to make you feel
good. And the best part of these amazing,
explosive shows for me is the moment after
our set when someone comes up to me, saying
"I've had the worst week of my life!.. Until
today. You guys turned it around for me."
That's very humbling to hear. So, the
statement is simple: life's too short not to
have a Good Time.
HNL: You have constantly mentioned that
Church is the place for the monthly
residency. Can you comment as to why Church
is such an influence on your performances or
why it’s so important for Miss Fairchild to
play that venue?
TR: First off, lemme just say that
before all other things - be it singer,
percussionist, musician, even - I consider
myself an entertainer; a "Song & Dance Man",
if you will! So with that in mind, I set out
to find the most comfortable,
inviting, stage and venue in Boston to
entertain the masses from, and that is
undoubtedly Church. The staff is cool and
professional, the sound is great and the
food is spectacular! Need I say much more?
HNL: The New E.P. is dope and the first two
tracks are dance anthems and pop gems. They
are influential of another time but also
keep original by bringing in new sounds and
instruments such as the flute in “Dance All
Night.” Where did the band get the idea and
influences for this track and for “Soda
Pop”.
TR: Well, the whole Miss Fairchild
angle in the studio is, "DO IT BIG!" We've
always been ambitious with our productions
and we definitely wanted to have several
anthemic songs on the new
collection. The two that you mentioned are
the biggest. With "Soda Pop", we
were definitely chanelling a sort of late
70's Pop-Rock, with those synths and that
rippin' guitar solo provided by Schuyler!
Also that beat evokes a different dance
style altogether - the type of dancing that
kids are bound to start doing again any
second. (Envision head bands and finger
snappin' and you're on your way!) "Dance All
Night" started slightly more of a modern
angle, when our producer (and MF co-founder)
Sammy Bananas came to Schuyler and I with a
demo. Immediately, we saw the potential to
have a mega dance song from it. We're big
fans of early 80's Dance-Pop, so the song
immediately took shape in that direction.
(Stay tuned for our Carribean tribute
version of "Dance All Night" en Espanol, due
out soon on the expanded version of Show
Band!)
HNL (to Schuyler): There are a lot of guitar
parts on this record and in modern music the
trends are more toward electronic music
rather than guitar. Can you tell me a
little about the approach you took to make
sure that the guitar was a dominant
instrument on the record? Did you need to
use specific guitars for each track if so
what were they? And also were there any
special effects you used on any of the
tracks to brighten up the songs and could
you share those effects with us?
SW: Well, I think it's mainly a
matter of "you play what you know". Since
Wrall and I work out a lot of the
songwriting together, I usually have a
guitar in hand, so the guitar is integral
from the beginning.
On past Miss Fairchild records, I've been responsible for almost
all of the bass, guitar and keyboard work,
but thankfully we were able to use our
amazing bass player Trick Johnson for Show
Band, which really allowed me to commit to
working out the guitar parts. But you can
thank Wrall, Sammy and our final mixer/masterer
Jamie Howarth for making the guitar so loud!
As for gear, I play an early 80's Japanese
rosewood Telecaster with Lindy Fralin split
blade humbucking pickups (it's the first
pair ever made actually!) through a 1966
Fender Bassman as my main rig. The Bassman
had some issues while we were in the studio
so I also used a Blues Jr. and a Roland
JC-120 for a few things. For second guitar
parts, I like to use a different guitar/amp
combo when possible to differentiate sounds,
so I used a different Tele or a Gibson
ES-335 when needed. Effects are mostly just
reverb and overdrive, nothing fancy. Bored
with the technical talk, yet? :)
HNL (to TR): Show Band is very
party based and danceable. Did the band
just decide to let their hair down and write
a record that everyone could appeal to? What
was the approach you took?
TR: Our last full length, Ooh La
La, Sha Sha, from '07, was really our
first big push in a dance direction, come to
think of it. We had seen what people
responded the best to and we wanted to give
them more of that! The Show Band (EP
VERS.) is just a continuation of that.
The music that we aimed to write would be
great both on stage and on record, and any
performer/recording artist knows how tricky
that can be. I think we did pretty well.
HNL: Can you please elaborate on the
production approach for the E.P. and who
helped you engineer and produce the record?
TR: Yes, our recorded music is always
masterminded by Sammy Bananas. The three of
us (Sam, Schuyler and myself) have known
eachother for more than half our lives and
we've essentially figured out how to make
records together. He's retired from
the live band, but is very much an equal
part of Miss Fairchild. He's living in
Brooklyn right now and has a successful DJ
career as well as a very hip group called
Telephoned. Both his solo stuff and the
group are part of the Fools Gold Records
family. Definitely something to google,
right there, people!
HNL: On our first round of the residency you
played with amazing soul, funk, rock and jam
bands from NY (Liza Colby Sound) &
California (Orgone) to some of Boston’s
finest such as the WonderMics, Joy Daniels &
Biscuits & Gravy..talk about what you see
happening within the local music scene and
beyond?
TR: The local Boston music scene has
always been amazing for as long as I've known it
first hand. With the exception of a few pockets
here and there, it's been Rock-dominated
forever, though. We knew coming in here that we
were either going to have to attempt to latch
onto a scene that was already currently
happening, or create a scene for our
entertainment out of thin air. The latter is
what GOOD+TIME MUSIC Monthly at Church is all
about! Getting together all of this like-minded
entertainment in Boston and beyond and giving it
a place to call home.
Catch
these spectacular soulsters at their good time
residency starting on March 23rd at
Church and
running throughout the year. Also catch them
opening for funk Princess Nikka Costa on May
23rd at
Johnny D's.
"Having been in the music industry for 20+ years, you just ‘know’
when you are working with solid team of true professionals.
Clearly, this is not Mark or Lionel’s first rodeo, they are
consummate professionals. In the Boston Metro market, Hear Now
Live is on the top of my list. The best part about this team is
that they remain true fans of growing the music industry and are
accessible to all bands from just starting out, to “A-List”
Nationals Acts."
- Tom Grin (Thrust Music, Fear Nuttin Band, BoomBlaze
Records)
"We had an awesome time Friday night! We look forward to
working with you in the future! Cheers!" - Zac Mac Band
"you guys truly rock. big up!!" - Dan Africano
"...what can I say, I'm speechless.. another hell of a job
promoting and SELLING OUT yet another TOP venue in Boston!"
-Shah and Persian Blue!
"sick job last night, guys (as always). thanks so much
again! great way to start off 2009! - Gold Star Morning
"What a show and what a night. 2009 is looking real good.
THANKS! " - McAlister Drive
"Amazing show last night...The place was on fire...great
times...good good vibes everywhere...Free up - Free up"
-Michael
Bernier
"...HNL is the best thing to happen to the Boston music
scene! Thanks for everything!..."
-Brian (Michael Bernier
& The Uprising)
"Thanks for everything! We really enjoyed working with you
and playing Precinct. We'll keep in touch and hopefully see
each other in the near future!" -Verb the Adjective Noun
