An EXCLUSIVE Interview with ACTIVE CHILD!

Coming Of Age:

Growing Up With

ACTIVE CHILD

An EXCLUSIVE Interview with Pat Grossi

By Stephen SPAZ Schnee

     Somewhere between ethereal and earthly, there is a peaceful place where our minds drift away to find inspiration and our souls go to relax. And, there, in the corner of this dream-like destination, there is a jukebox that provides the soundtrack for our visits there. The music it plays is haunting and heavenly, melodic and moody, and enriching and inspiring. It is music that sounds like it was created by an angel with a slight hangover and a license to chill. It is the music of Active Child.

     Luckily for us, Active Child exists in the real world as well. Led by singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and sole constant member Pat Grossi, Active Child inhabits a musical universe that is hard to describe, yet easy to understand once you experience and absorb the music. Imagine Architecture-era OMD performing a religious hymn as Enya, Jimmy Somerville and Michael McDonald softly harmonize in the background and Robin Guthrie (Cocteau Twins) ties it all together with a warm and sympathetic production. It’s another-worldly sound that many acts have attempted to create, but very few have succeeded at. Instead of falling prey to the darkness of Goth, Pat Grossi and Active Child manage to add optimism to their haunting sound. They know the difference between hopelessness and hopefulness and they offer plenty of the latter.

     The band created a buzz in 2010 with the release of their Curtis Lane EP. Grossi’s angelic, choir-boy falsetto became the emotional focal point for each track while also seamlessly blending in with the electronics, the harps, the percussion and all the other instrumentation that helped to shape the Active Child sound. With the press, the bloggers and radio behind him, Grossi and Active Child became the epitome of cool.

     Now, a year later, Active Child stretch even further out with their highly anticipated debut full length release, You Are All I See. The album is an amazing set of songs that doesn’t stray too far away from the blueprint of the EP, yet builds and expands upon it in ways that are more felt than heard. The atmosphere of the album is still very spiritual and emotional but it’s far more grandiose in parts, sounding almost cinematic without a hint of pretentiousness. It is a piece of audio art that has so many melodic layers that you discover something new with each spin. It is, without doubt, one of the finest albums of 2011.

     Stephen SPAZ Schnee caught up with Pat Grossi to discuss the album and all things Active Child…

SPAZ: Your album You Are All I See is about to drop. How are you feeling about the album and your career up to this point?

PAT GROSSI: I am incredibly proud of the album. I have been anxious to release something that felt complete since the EP came out. And as far as my career up until this point, I mean, I don't think I could have asked for anything more. I never ever thought my music would take me this far and who knows where this album will lead? It's funny to me think of it as a career, but that’s really what it has become in the last year.

SPAZ: While you fall within the Electronic music genre, your approach to your music is extremely unique and emotional. What were the influences that shaped your musical vision, musical or otherwise?

PAT: I think my time spent singing in choirs from a very early age left an indelible mark on the way I write and hear music. I can remember hearing and then singing Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Requiem' for the first time and then bringing the sheet music into school to show to friends. Granted, I was in fourth grade, so not everyone got it, and I don't think I understood it either. But I did know that it made me feel amazing when I heard it or sang it. Films have also been inspirational for me. Sometimes, to write, I just throw an old movie on, put the TV on mute and start playing. It’s a good way to create a mood from the imagery and always helps stop writers block. And of course, I can’t ignore the ever present influence of the special woman in my life that seeps into nearly every crevice of my work.

SPAZ: Listening to the album, words like ‘haunting’, ‘spiritual’, ‘atmospheric’, ‘powerful’ and ‘romantic’ immediately spring to mind. How would you describe your music to someone who is not familiar with Active Child?

PAT: I think all of those words describe my music pretty well, and as a musician you get this question constantly from people. Understandably, I ask the question myself, but I always have trouble really pinpointing what it is without sounding completely ridiculous and pretentious. But, for me, its music that heals. I create these songs with the full intention of making myself feel so full of emotion that it is almost unbearable. I want to make myself cry when writing it. So I think it is a type OF music that people can find solace in, a place of refuge, and reflection. Welcome to the church of Active Child (laughs).

SPAZ: There are so many layers to your sound that it feels as if you create music that should be experienced more than just heard. Do you think that this is a fair assessment of Active Child?

PAT: I completely agree. But I think that is a lot to ask of a listener. People these days, including myself, recycle new music so quickly and with such criticism that I think it’s hard to really ask someone to sit down and soak in your song. But hopefully, the music will speak for itself, and without you really being aware of it, suddenly you are lost deep inside of it, experiencing.

SPAZ: You released your debut, the Curtis Lane EP, in 2010. Were you surprised by the overwhelming reaction?

PAT: Completely surprised. We live in a strange dynamic these days, musically. On one hand, the music industry is in the gutter and on the other, more music is being created than ever before. Everyone has the ability to compose and make what they think is interesting. So for my little set of songs to rise above the fray was just really amazing and unexpected. It really inspired something in me, and I think it gave me the confidence to write this album.

SPAZ: Because of this positive response, was it a bit daunting to go back and create a piece of work that you knew had to be even better in order to satisfy your growing fanbase? Or do you create your music for you in hopes that others like it?

PAT: I was itching for months and months to get back into my little work space and start creating music again. After the EP came out, I toured all summer and fall and I could not wait for that to be over so I could start writing again. The more I played the EP the more I thought, I am so ready to move on from this. And when it came time to write, I tried my best to really focus on what I thought was interesting, not what someone else thought would be cool or whatever was trendy at the time.

SPAZ: A male artist singing in falsetto on a pop release is not that common. Did you choose that approach because it felt like a natural fit with the music?

PAT: I chose that approach because that’s where my voice goes melodically. That is my range and is where I feel most powerful.

SPAZ: There are so many wonderful melodies that float in and out of each track, some of which are immediate while others sink in over repeated listenings. Do you usually start with a certain melody or two but then discover even more melodic opportunities as you build each track?

PAT: Yeah, melodies are a tricky thing. I usually lay out an instrumental of some sort and then just start singing over it, a freestyling of sorts. But melodies are fleeting, you can sing something really great and then forget it two seconds later. So I tend to record these early freestyles and start to pick out the parts that feel the strongest. After that the verse and choruses come together pretty quickly, and I can sample those early recordings for pretty vocal chops or weird sounds.

SPAZ: Some may compare your sound to bands on the 4AD label, yet your music isn’t hopeless and dark. Would you take offence if someone were to label you as a Goth band?

PAT: I wouldn't take offense at all, 4AD is an amazing label, but I think the music is way to shimmering and pretty to fall into Goth territory.

SPAZ: In a musical climate that seems filled with aggression, anger and dissatisfaction, do you want listeners to find beauty and hope in your music? Or is there something more you want your fans to walk away with?

PAT: For me, making music and listening to music has always been an incredible source of reflection, a sort of meditation. So, when making the music, I am reflecting on my life, my worries, my regrets, my curiosities. I am getting lost in the cycle of sounds, almost in a sort of confessional. It has a way of cleansing my mind and I hope it can do the same for the listener.

SPAZ: If you were to take a handful of Active Child songs and throw them on a mixtape with other bands that you feel travel a similar musical path, which bands, past and present, would you choose?

PAT: A few artists that come to mind are Final Fantasy, Enya, Sade, Annie Lennox, the list goes on.....

SPAZ: What’s next for Active Child?

PAT: Just about time to hit the road and start touring the world! Excited and nervous and anxious, feeling a lot of things right now.

SPAZ: What is currently spinning on your CD and/or DVD players?

PAT: I've had the new Balam Acab album, Wander/Wonder, on repeat for a while. It comes out a week after mine and is amazing.

Thanks to Pat Grossi

Special thanks to Adrian Amodeo, Eddie Black, Dan Gill and Jocelynn Pryor

ACTIVE CHILD

YOU ARE ALL I SEE

8.23.11

An EXCLUSIVE interview with JEFF BRIDGES!

The Quest:

JEFF BRIDGES Returns To His Musical Roots

An EXCLUSIVE Interview

By Stephen SPAZ Schnee

     After an affectionate intro by producer and music icon Quincy Jones, rapturous applause greets a humble yet confident Jeff Bridges as he takes to the stage of the legendary Troubadour club in West Hollywood. Flanked by his band, The Abiders, Bridges is here to promote his eponymous Blue Note Records debut, his first album in more than a decade. The club is filled with friends (Ryan Reynolds, T-Bone Burnett, Pierce Brosnan), family (including his wife Susan and his brother Beau) and invited music industry guests, many of whom are unfamiliar with Jeff’s musical history which stretches all the way back to the late ‘60s.

     From the moment the band kicks into set opener “Hold On You,” the world outside the club ceases to exist: Bridges has the audience in the palm of his hand and he does not disappoint during this hour-plus set. Having not graced the Troubadour stage in 40 years, Bridges is remarkably calm and collected, clearly enjoying the overwhelming response to his music. While it’s easy to categorize his style as Country, to be honest, he’s more Tom Waits than Tom T. Hall. The raw honesty and emotional depth that runs through the songs are more akin to Folk and Americana than anything you’d find on a Now That’s What I Call Country compilation.

     Performing seven of the new album’s cuts, Bridges manages to throw in a few favorites from the soundtrack to Crazy Heart, the 2009 film that won him an Academy Award for Best Actor. Apart from winning him the coveted Oscar, Crazy Heart is also significant because it introduced the musical side of Bridges to a wider audience.

     Truth be told, music is not a vanity project for Bridges like it has been for so many other actors (Cory Feldman, come on down!). In fact, music is Jeff’s first love and that fact is plainly obvious from the moment he steps up to the microphone. As Quincy had explained during his introduction, while Jeff and his brother were working with the producer in 1969, Hollywood came calling. Jeff went off to film The Last Picture Show, fully intending to resume his music career once he’d finished his acting commitments. That role earned him his first Academy Award nomination and he never looked back.

     Over the next 40 years, Bridges made his mark as one of Hollywood’s finest and most respected actors. He’s played many memorable roles over the years, but the one role that struck a chord with movie fans was his portrayal of The Dude in the Coen Brothers’ classic 1998 film The Big Lebowski. No matter how high his career flies or how many awards he wins, The Dude is the one role that has connected with so many people around the world. So much so that in the middle of tonight’s set, a fan offers Bridges a White Russian (The Dude’s drink of choice), which he politely refuses with a grin.

     At the end of the set, Bridges performs “The Weary Kind,” the theme to Crazy Heart which was performed by Ryan Bingham on the film’s soundtrack. Bridges’ version is even more emotional than the original and it leaves the audience spellbound. The final song of the evening is a cover of ‘The Man In Me”, the Johnny Cash tune that appears in The Big Lebowski.

     By the time he leaves the stage, everyone has all but forgotten Jeff Bridges, the Oscar-winning actor: they have just met and lovingly embraced Jeff Bridges, singer, songwriter and musician. And it seems that The Dude himself is pretty damn pleased about that.

     A week before the Troubadour show, I was able to sit down and have a chat with Jeff about the album and his musical career up to this point. We were joined by fellow scribe Dave Rayburn, who snuck in a question as well.

SPAZ: Your self-titled album is just about to drop. How are you feeling about the project and your musical career up to this point?

JEFF BRIDGES: I’m over the moon. It’s so wonderful working with my old friends… (producer) T-Bone Burnett and my oldest friend, John Goodwin. That was great. The band that T-Bone put together was just phenomenal. Playing with these guys is just like making a movie: the casting of it is 99% of what makes it either fly or not. And T-Bone cast this so well.

SPAZ: The album is steeped in classic Country, but there are so many elements and layers to each of the songs that they transcend that genre. Did you purposely set out to incorporate so many influences on this project?

JEFF: I didn’t set out to put as many influences as possible, but I am influenced by a lot of different kind of music. One of the things that T-Bone kind of specializes in this sort of… I don’t know what you’d call it… an ‘Alternative Music Universe” or something. It’s sort of genre-less in a way. You feel like there are elements that it relates to, but it’s not in one particular genre: it kind of reinvents it, you know.

SPAZ: The album’s opener, “What A Little Love Can Do”, is like Cosmic Country, pulling in bits and pieces of Country’s past, present and future…

JEFF: That’s true, yeah. It’s also got a little Buddy Holly influence in there, too.

SPAZ: While the tracks are written by a variety of writers, including yourself, was it difficult to keep it as cohesive as it is?

JEFF: Not really. We ended up cutting 17 tunes in 12 days…you know, the rhythm tracks. There’s a wonderful thing that happens when you’re making a movie… I guess any kind of art… For awhile, you’ve got to bring stuff to it to nurture it. Then, after awhile, if things are going well, it starts to tell you what it wants and it starts to direct itself. That’s kind of what happened on this album. There are a lot of good songs that we did, but this was the best combination of songs for this album. We’ve got seven other tunes that I think are just as good that are not on there. It’s just a matter of gathering the material. We started out with about 70 songs and we got it down to just these.

SPAZ: Do you already foresee a Jeff Bridges 2 in the near future?

JEFF: I hope so, yeah! The music is there, we’ve got these great players and T-Bone, if he’s up for it again, it would be wonderful if it all falls into place. I guess it’s kind of like what they say about getting pregnant. When a woman has a child, she’s all “let’s do it again!” (laughs). You gotta really watch it if you don’t wanna get pregnant, not to go fooling around… and I fool around with music all the time! So, who knows?

SPAZ: Coming from a music lover’s background, when putting the tracklist together, did you envision this project as a record with two distinct sides?

JEFF: When we were making the music, we didn’t think of it in those terms, no. When they knew that they were going to make a vinyl of it, then we had to have ‘two sides’.

SPAZ: You’ve been friends with T-Bone Burnett for over 30 years. Does he instinctively know what sound you were trying to achieve and was he usually successful in translating what was in your head and putting it down on tape?

JEFF: When we went through all these songs to try to figure out what songs we were gonna do, he was really looking for something unique, something that was uniquely me, and I really appreciated that. That’s what he was bringing out with the musicians that he brought together. I specifically asked for those guys, too, because I’m a giant fan of every one of them.

DAVID RAYBURN: With names like T-Bone Burnett, Ryan Bingham, John Goodwin, Gary Nicholson, and late Stephen Bruton appearing as some of the common denominators on consecutive music projects, can you tell us something about the history of some of these friendships?

JEFF: A: Yeah, well, you know, John Goodwin and I, we go back to the 4th grade together. He’s one of my oldest friends and we’ve been writing music for, maybe not that long, but certainly maybe 30 or 40 years. We’d paint and do all sorts of creative things together. He’s a Nashville writer. Very prolific. So, we’ve been writing together and supporting each other’s music for a long time. With T-Bone and Stephen Bruton, we met on Heaven’s Gate 30 years ago. Kris Kristofferson, who starred in that movie, brought a bunch of his musician friends on board to play small roles. We had T-Bone and Stephen, Norton Buffalo, Ronnie Hawkins, a whole slew of just great players, wonderful musicians. And so, Crazy Heart kind of came out of that relationship with Stephen and T-Bone and I had back in those days. And this album was just kind of a natural growth out of Crazy Heart.

SPAZ: While some actors have dabbled in music, it’s been a major part of your life. While many have known of your musical talents, do you think Crazy Heart has made it easier for the public to realize that music isn’t just some part-time vanity project for you?

JEFF: A: Yeah, I think so. I hope so. I mean, that’s one of the reasons that it seemed like the right time to make some music and put out an album because it was in that same atmosphere that Crazy Heart came out of, and was seen by a lot of people. A lot of people seemed to enjoy that. So, yeah… I’m hoping that will help people enjoy it.

SPAZ: Now, what would you say is the difference between selecting the songs for Crazy Heart and this record? Weren’t there a couple songs that were leftover from Crazy Heart?

JEFF: Yeah, well you know John Goodwin supplied a song for Crazy Heart… that “Hold On You” song, the opening one is one of his tunes. And a couple of the Bruton tunes were being thought of for Crazy Heart as well. That song “Nothing Yet” was thought of, but you can only have so many songs in the movie, you know. All the songs that we liked that we had in the movie we really liked. Not that the other songs… we didn’t like… it’s just that there’s only so many places, you know?

SPAZ: You’ve already shown your worth in acting, art and music. Any desire to take that next step to Broadway?

JEFF: (Pauses) I wouldn’t totally poo-poo the idea, but it’s not something I’m actively pursuing in any way!

SPAZ: What’s next for Jeff Bridges?

JEFF: I’m going to be playing a lot of music up ‘till September. We’re going to be playing Sturgis, that big motorcycle rally. We’re going to be doing Austin City Limits. I’ll be doing a bunch of shows here in California. Then, in September, I’ll be putting my acting hat back on and I’ll be doing a movie with Ryan Reynolds called R.I.P.D. I’m pretty much booked solid doing music until then. I’m also the national spokesperson for a campaign called No Kid Hungry (http://www.nokidhungry.org/) and I’m working on that as well.

SPAZ: What do you currently have spinning on your CD player?

JEFF: I’m listening to my buddies. I like Benji Hughes a lot. I don’t know if you are familiar with any of his tunes, but he’s got a wonderful album called A Love Extreme. I’m loving a lot of Marc Ribot music. He’s got a great album called Don’t Blame Me. I love that. He’s got a wonderful Cuban album that I love. And also love Johnny Goodwin’s stuff. I’ve got so many people that I’m close to that are wonderful musicians and that’s what I’m listening to, mainly.

SPAZ: What would The Dude think of this album?

THE DUDE: Oh, he would like it, man! He’d listen to it… he’d put it on his player right between the whales and Creedence, man!

Thanks to Jeff Bridges

Special thanks to Jacki Feldstein, Saul Shapiro, Dave Rayburn and Kimberly McCoy.

JEFF BRIDGES


JEFF BRIDGES


8.16.11