A rebuttal, a new CD and a hodgepodge of communication
The very way this article came together is quite befitting of a band like the Negatones. A few choice remarks from a club owner, an I.M. here, an email there mixed with a surprise visitor at my door. All unpredictable yet related events that converged to become this article. Much like the different elements that come together to hatch the unique musical adventures of The Negatones. So let’s get started…
First, the Luna Lounge Connection:
Let me just quickly get this out of the way. After all it would turn out to be the catalyst for this very article.
In February 2005, I was asked by MurphGuide.com to interview Rob Sacher, owner of the now defunct Luna Lounge. At the time the venue was on its final legs legally and the shutting of its doors was inevitable. It was a fact that upset many local bands and fans alike. I wanted to start off with something to lighten the mood before getting into the more serious tone of the interview.
[sb] One of my best memories of the Luna has to be going to see the Negatones from Brooklyn. I always liked them. The house was always packed as they pumped out an energetic set.
[rs] Funny you should mention that band. They are one of the few bands that I have a real negative memory of. They really screwed us.
[sb] Really? What happened?
[rs] They went and posted hundreds of posters all over the city. We had asked them not to put them on telephone poles or anything like that but they did it anyway. We got like 50 tickets from the city costing us thousands of dollars. When I went to them they got a lawyer who gave us a bullshit answer like it was somehow our fault. I can’t even remember the reason it was so absurd.
- From A Conversation with Luna Lounge Owner Rob Sacher [MurphGuide.com]
I’d soon be reminded that there are always two sides to every story…
Someone’s Trying to Track Me Down
Not too long after this little volley with Rob Sacher was published, I got a call from Sean Murphy of MurphGuide.com. It turned out that Jay Braun of the Negatones wanted to get in touch with me. I wasn’t sure what to expect. What if he was mad about the things that were said by Sacher? Ya know that whole ‘shoot the messenger’ stuff started to freak me out a bit.
My Fears Were All for Naught
[sb] I understand that you were a little upset with some of the remarks made in an interview I did with Luna Lounge owner Rob Sacher. Why don’t you tell your side of the story?
[jb] I wouldn’t say we were upset, but we did want to set the record straight. Rob may not remember what happened, but I do. We were indeed quite guilty of posting on lampposts, as many NYC bands do, and Luna got an impressive stack of tickets for it. As soon as they showed us the tickets we called the courthouse to try and figure out what to do, how to pay it all. We found out that since it was our first offense we could get something called a ‘stipulation,’ where the city basically slaps the offender on the wrist instead of whopping them with fines. So we got a lawyer involved to help us get this stipulation from the city. But in the process we found out Luna, without our knowing it, went to the courts and pled guilty ON OUR BEHALF, thus waiving our rights to do anything.
We thought that wasn’t cool of Luna and we told them so. Still, we wanted to resolve this, and I did my best to communicate that to them. But only after we made several trips to the courthouse and more calls to Luna did I learn that, additionally, the woman who managed the club had also torn up the legal paperwork in anger. Obviously, this was and is an emotional issue for them and I think that is really unfortunate, but to say that we ‘screwed them over’ seems like an employment of Muppet logic. I have to say this band has spent its entire existence trying not to screw over anybody. If Rob asked us to do a benefit for Luna or anything else tomorrow, we would.
[sb] Well hopefully you guys can bury the hatchet and work again in the future. That is if he can even find a decent space now. I believe he’s been looking at a space in Williamsburg. Sadly though there are developers now trying to convince the city to change the zoning there to allow for hi-rise residential buildings which would put any of those clubs in the same boat as the ones in the East Village.
[jb] When I first moved to NY there were a few good clubs and a few good bands. Sometime in the mid/late nineties the whole scene seemed to just get glutted, really oversaturated, and the nature of the NYC music scene completely changed. I don’t know if we’re seeing the fallout from that or what. I live in Greenpoint, right above Williamsburg, and I’d hate to see those high-rises built for many reasons. The rapid escalation of local real estate, and the shutting-out of local mom-and-pop businesses (bars, clubs or otherwise) cannot be good for the city in the long run.
[sb] About the CD; this is a full length deal right? So what made you guys break from your long-running five song EP tradition? Will there be a release party?
[jb] Yeah it’s a full-length. We got a lot of reviews of ‘Snacktronica’ [the band’s third EP] asking where the full-length was already and my friends who know the band said that the brevity of our EPs was pissing them off. I’ve always been of the ‘leave people wanting more’ and ‘don’t overstay your welcome’ ideology, but I also think maybe I have A.D.D. more than the average listener. It was time, it was satisfying to do. That and the label we’re on wouldn’t put out another EP because EPs are very hard to push. I’m surprised how well ‘Snacktronica’ did with press and radio considering, but I think it was clear that we couldn’t do it again. I think the days of the 5-song EP are over for us, for now at least. I like the idea of albums. We’ll have a release party but I haven’t worked out the details yet.
* Note: Since the time of this interview, a date has been tentatively
set for their release party. September 23, 2005 at Pianos in NYC.
And Some I.M.s that lead to a CD Review
[sb] I got an email the other day from Tris McCall. He’s telling me I’m in for some good listenin’ with the new stuff.
[jb] Well, I’m really proud of it. It’s the best thing we’ve done and I think it closely emulates the live show’s energy.
[sb] So is it more than 5 songs this time?
[jb] It’s a full length, yeah. 12 songs; 10 new ones and 2 that we had to get the definitive versions of.
[sb] Excellent. Of course I have your last 3 all running into one another on my MP3 player … so it’s like I have a full length already.
[jb] Ha Ha – a really weird full length – yeah I can’t tell what people will think but I’m really psyched about it. Wait – 3? What’s the first?
[sb] I have the $5 Demo, Heavy and Snacktronica.
[jb] Oh the $5 Demo. Delete that!!!
[sb] Ha Ha! No way! It’s an mp3 now … it’s outta my hands … it’s the law of the jungle … can’t delete … can’t … Besides, I think that was the first thing I ever reviewed on you guys. I have to look back. WAAAAY back.
[jb] Yeah it’s first. OK just don’t give it to anyone.
[sb] It’ll be my secret.
[jb] Yours and like 5 other people.
[sb] So you made $25. Congrats!! No wait … $30.
[jb] Ha! Yeah we’re in business.
[sb] Who needs a record deal!!
[jb] Not us, I’m learning … well, we’ll see.
An Unexpected Visitor Bearing Gifts
I was going to call this bit “A Wiseman Bearing Gifts” but that would have implied that I was the messiah or something. And I just can’t deal with that kinda responsibility. Besides, I’m no good at carpentry and people annoy me just a tad too easily.
Anyway, my doorbell rings at 9:30 on a Monday night. Who in the world can this be? Why it’s none other than local songwriting hero Tris McCall. It’s always a pleasure to see Tris, I’ve been a fan of his for quite some time now. Greeting me with his ever charming smile, he hands me the new Negatones CD. It turned out that he was dropping it off as a favor for the band.
Coincidently I first met both Tris and the Negatones at right around the same time. It was during the IMF (Independent Music Festival) in Hoboken back in November of 2000. Tonight we chatted for a few moments about music and whatnot. Tris complimented the interior architecture of my brownstone. Well, not mine … my landlord’s, but it was nice to hear. Imagine if he had seen it when it was bubblegum pink. Seriously! I always liked it better pink. Anyway, he left a moment later and I went right up to pop in the CD and to email Jay.
The Review
The band describes themselves as, “old Rush and Curtis Mayfield watching sci-fi DVDs in Woody Allen’s apartment.” It’s a pretty accurate albeit surreal description. Then again a band that I once called, “wonderfully eclectic screaming power pop with a vibraphone twist,” is itself surreal at times.
The new CD simply called ‘The Negatones’ is a masterpiece collection of their eclectic influences. Although admittedly I sometimes miss the raw, low-budget sounds of their earlier releases, the quality of these recordings truly allows the listener to appreciate each subtle ingredient.
Their constant left-of-center approach to their sonic stew is refreshing to say the least. It’ll kick your eardrums into shape for sure. There’s so much going on here that any attempts to draw comparisons are futile. Yes you can hear their influences. From Prog to Punk to New Wave to Pop to Jazz. But it’s how they put it all together that makes them unique. And this CD has everything that makes the Negatones … well … the Negatones.
The tasty old synths, sweltering guitars and head-bashing backbone play nice together in support of rapid-fire, at times delightfully dissonant dual vocals. Scattered throughout are these priceless moments where I can just picture them saying, “Hey look, they left us alone in the studio and we’re pressing buttons like candy stuffed children on Christmas morning.” Adding to the mix we occasionally have a pinch of banjo, horns, flute and (of course) vibes. They’ve also tossed in a couple of slower, more melodic pieces that showcase a tamer, gentler side.
Back to the Interview Portion of the Program…
After listening to the CD and perusing the Negatones website, I realized that, despite how much I’ve admired them over the years, I didn’t really know much about their history. According to their website:
The Negatones were formed long ago out of siblings Jay (gtr) and Justin (bass) Braun’s teenage basement jams and home recordings. Later they were joined by former high school classmate Jun Takeshta (gtr) who moved unannounced from Tokyo to join the band after getting a Braun Brothers cassette tape in the mail. In 2002, these three met Jesse Wallace (drums) who joined the band after he saw them cover Van Halen’s ‘Hot for Teacher’ at a local club.
Now, I tend to favor a bit of overkill when it comes to details. So I needed to go back in touch with Jay to fish for more info.
[sb] When/Where/How/Why did the Negatones form? The history of the band on your website is a bit vague. Or did you want to keep it that way?
[jb] Not meaning to be vague, there’s just a lot to any band’s history and it’s always tricky to know what to say in a bio without it getting to wordy. Justin and I had been playing together and separately in various bands around NYC, ranging from noise rock to surf/garage. We both went to college in the city so it was a natural progression to end up playing in several local bands.
It was all fun, but we had concepts and ideas for a band to be that weren’t being met in these other projects. Namely, everyone wanted to do a ‘type’ band that could easily be classified. It’s this type of music, or it’s this meets this. It seemed like a tepid approach to us, and when we’d try to push the envelope in these bands we’d usually get shut down.
So anyway, it was ’96 and I had committed to doing a US and European tour with Band of Susans over six weeks, but we knew that was it and it was time to get going on our project. The day after I got back we stared working on songs and ideas, a year or two later Jun came and we started playing in different combinations more or less as the Negatones.
[sb] Can you give me a little insight on your fascination with classic synths? When did you first incorporate them? Or did they precede the guitars?
[jb] No, we were doing guitars for years before the synths came along. Then came the vibraphone as we were looking to get away from distorted guitars on everything. One day Justin and I walked into Sam Ash and there was a Mini Moog, one of the holy grails of analog synthesis, for $250. Even back then it was a crazy price, so we snatched it up and started using it on recordings right away.
It completely fit with what we were trying to do, and eventually we started bringing it to live shows, which was totally insane. So, we got a radio-shack moog on eBay to cover the moog sounds when we played live. It sat on Jun’s side of the stage, and eventually I got a little Electro Harmonix mini-synth so I wouldn’t have to go over to his station to play keys.
Then Justin got the Taurus pedals, and Jesse got the Syndrums. It was a natural progression stemming from our recordings which were beginning to feature a lot more moog, etc, and our general fascination with 70s and 80s prog rock and new wave. But those days are over. Live, we use modern stuff now, all MIDI’d and shit.
The vintage synths got too cumbersome for live shows, and it was always a crap shoot if they would be in tune when we went to play them, let alone have the right sound or even work at all. Too unpredictable for shows, now we just use the classic synths for recordings.
[sb] When did you first realize the potential of the vibes in the band’s sound?
[jb] I guess it was 1999 or so, pretty early on. We didn’t want it to be perceived as a novelty item, we just liked the sound of vibraphone and other mallet instruments, and the textures were great for what we were doing. I think as we got more synth-y over the years it made a lot more sense. Again, no more vibes at the live shows now. MIDI.
[sb] Oh that evil modern technology is taking over! I see the CD was recorded and mixed in a variety of places. Was this due to budget or for the different qualities of each studio?
[jb] It was many things. We did a lot of the basics with Josh Wilbur, who co-produced about half the record, live onto tape through the Neve console at Water Music in Hoboken. We wanted a big room with nice preamps and good microphones before we moved back to the lab for overdubs, to get a solid foundation before we went crazy. We got back to our place, which at the time was Melody Lanes in New York, and started working on guitars.
Our studio’s wiring was driving Josh crazy and anyway he wanted to use the guitar amps and gear at a studio called Spin in Queens. We liked Spin a lot so we did a good portion of the guitars and a few vocals over there. Back to Melody Lanes for synths and vocals, more guitars, and drums on a couple of numbers. We did some overdubs in Justin and Jesse’s basement studio (Rock Mahal) and a vocal and some delay effects at Soundtrack in Manhattan, which was another studio where Josh liked to work.
Towards the end of the whole process we moved our gear from Melody Lanes to Empire VU where we cut some of the newer tracks on the record from start to finish, as well as completing the others. We mixed back at Water Music to again take advantage of the Neve console and the good gear there. Looking back, in all cases we worked where it was appropriate. Everything was case-by-case based on what we needed to do at the time. It was a good way to work and I think it worked out well.
[sb] Yeah I think it’s great that you got to experience the qualities of these different places. With all of that moving around though, how long did it take you guys to make the CD?
[jb] Recording took one and a half or two years. Justin and I were also busy recording other bands, so it was a bit scattered over this longer period of time. We’d record drums and bass and put the tape on the shelves and start something else. A lot of work went into it, it’s very dense. As such, it’s not an ‘easy’ record, but we think it’s a rewarding record and we’re proud of it.
And they should be proud of it. The Negatones’ first full-length, self titled CD is a solid piece of work. The tentative date of the CD release party is September 23, 2005 at Pianos in NYC. You can buy the CD right now directly from the band check out their website for more details.
See Also:
Negatones (website)
Negatones (myspace)
Rob Sacher Interview @ MurphGuide.com
Tris McCall
