A Conversation with Marco Benevento – HuffPost 11.24.12

Mike Ragogna: Marco. Your creative process. How does it work?

Marco Benevento: Well, every song is different and every album is different. My creative process is very… Sometimes, I can just sit at the piano, come up with a chord progression, sit with that for a while, and then wind up recording it just kind of as is. Sometimes, I’ll have nothing in mind and go to the studio with almost just a concept in mind–I should say rather than nothing, nothing meaning no notes in mind, no key or anything. My concept for “Limbs of a Pine” is that I always wanted a song that had kind of a driving rhythm or maybe a riff; in this particular case, there is a tom riff on the drums that Matt Chamberlain came up with. Another part of the concept for that song was to almost have kind of a talking melody over it–like and MIA melody over a heavy drum thing, almost like a rap, but not quite. Basically, something almost talkative over a driving rhythm, and to translate that into an instrumental context was really fun, and I wound up just kind of having a riff on the keyboard that ended up being like my melody. So, that was the way that we wrote that song–very conceptual. Sometimes when I write songs, I’ll just sit down in a café of people and get inspired to write songs based on that little ear candy–I like to call them ear candy because sometimes, just sitting down with your instrument is not enough, or you need a little change, or you just want more variety for your own sake. So, sometimes, just sitting down at a funny little keyboard or a funny little thing that makes sounds is very inspiring to write music. Sometimes, I’ll play a little upright bass and come up with a bass line that maybe inspires me to write a song, but everything is different. I like to do some loop writing–come up with three parts that create a nice loop–and then see what chords or bass line fit underneath that. For this particular record, after coming up with some of the song ideas, I actually came up with some vocals and used a friend of mine from Rubblebucket, Kalmia Travers, on two songs. So, it’s constantly evolving, constantly changing, and different. I would say the majority of the songs start with me sitting down, playing some chords at the piano.

MR: I’ve also seen you climb into a piano to play its soundboard.

MB: Yeah, it’s fun to tour around with my own little upright piano I have. It’s a little sixty-one note piano made in ’27, and it’s actually pretty tall–taller than a Spinet–so I can actually reach in and mute the strings with my hand to create a staccato, plucking kind of sound.

MR: Just recently, I was using you and The Bad Plus as a reference to someone that is pushing the limits of jazz. I do believe you’re jazz, but I believe your jazz plus…I guess much like The Bad Plus.

MB: The new record is categorized as “jazz,” and a lot of my records are, but even that word is expanding. The umbrella term is widening so it can now incorporate electronic stuff in jazz. Jazz can also mean music that is not necessarily swung anymore. Acid jazz has evolved into like funk and rock and all those things. I consider our music sort of bordering rock and jazz. I would say it leans a little more on the rock side because our music is more loud, more straight, and it almost sounds like rock songs without lyrics sometimes. At the same time, we can play a song and really stretch out the solo section, and because of my jazz background, I can get into some jazz harmonies and stuff on the piano. Yeah, it’s really both worlds.

MR: How did you find yourself in this scene?

MB: You know, I think it was the combination of electronic instruments, and also just being born and being around now, in this day and age. I grew up in the ’80s, ’90s and ’00s, so music is just constantly shifting. Rock ‘n’ roll was already invented, jazz was already invented, and there were a lot of things already around, so a lot of musicians wound up doing their own take on it along the way. I feel like a lot of the musicians out there now are definitely melting it all together to make their own unique thing. Some, of course, aren’t. Some are staying true to the more traditional jazz thing or the more traditional rock thing. There is no better or worse. I think just getting involved in synthesizers, drum machines, the four-track recorder, and growing up with a laptop over the last ten years, having a computer nearby, you wind up learning so much and listening to so much. I’m kind of forced to make whatever it is I make out of all the stuff that’s been thrown at me. I’d say electronic music and electronic instruments kind of shaped that for me. I went to Berklee College of Music and studied all sorts of things, from frame drumming, to upright bass lessons, to film scoring classes, to musical production and engineering classes, to performance classes. I was raised with variety, and moving to New York really helped because there are so many musicians working really hard and trying to stand out, and it’s hard to stand out in New York because there are so many people and so many things going on. It’s a really humbling experience, going to New York and living in Brooklyn for ten years. I was going through a period where I was doing two or three gigs a day, making fifty dollars a gig, and teaching lessons here and there, but it wasn’t until I started making records and touring that I felt like I made a little more of an impression on people.

MR: Now, you own The Royal Potato Family Records, which you started with Kevin Calabro. What is the label’s origin?

MB: Well, picture this–it’s my first tour with Matt Chamberlain, and for those that don’t know, Matt has done a lot of stuff with bigger acts, so he’d been on the touring bus and had some good experiences touring. I definitely tortured him by throwing him in a Volvo, then throwing a drum set on top of the Volvo and driving seven hours from Denver to the Telluride Jazz Festival to play our first gig. As we were driving, slowly losing our minds and realizing that it was crazy to use this old Volvo, I’m traveling with Matt, who has had all these great experiences and I’m thinking, “What I am I doing?” I think one time, he even said, “Oh, we’re doing this because we love you, Marco.” He’s just a really nice guy. Anyway, we were slowly losing our minds on this long drive, and Matt was telling us a story about how he was on tour with Bob Dylan, and he was opening up for him with Edie Brickell and The New Bohemians in the early ’90s. He said that every day, they would all have to be catered dinner at the big event places they would play. Bob would have a hoodie on with the hood up, and wouldn’t really talk to anybody. So one day, Bob sat next to Matt to eat dinner–didn’t say anything the whole time–then out of nowhere he just turns his head and says , “Do you want to hear a joke?” Matt was like, “Yeah.” Bob says, “Okay, there is this royal Potato family. There is the King Potato, the Queen Potato and the Princess Potato. The Princess Potato had to go find a husband because she needed to get married. She goes out and brings home the first person, and the King does not approve. She came back, had a lovely time with another person, but the King would not approve. Then, she came back with a third person, and this person was Dan Rather, and the King looked at her and said, “You can’t marry him. He’s just a commentator.”

MR: [laughs]

MB: It was a terrible joke, but we all just laughed out of delirium, sleep deprivation and this crazy drive through the mountain trails. So I thought The Royal Potato Family sounded cool, and I wanted to name my band that or my record that or something, and we decided we would call the whole record label that. I figured I could have all my little spudlings under one title.

MR: How do you come across your spudlings?

MB: Just a lot of festivals and a lot of common friends. I toured around with Critters Buggin for a while, so I knew Matt Chamberlain, Skeric and Mike Dillon through that band. We were on Ropeadope Records in ’02, so I met a lot of people through Ropeadope. You know, Kevin Calabro does a lot of listening and seeking out newer acts to have on the label. It’s a total variety of musicians from crazy, modern jazz, to singer-songwriter guitar stuff.

MR: With this new album, TigerFace, how did you get into this album differently than the other albums?

MB: TigerFace is a bit different just because of the amount of time that I spent on it. I spent a lot more time listening to each take. I spent a lot more time thinking about things and conceptualizing things, which I don’t normally do–I’m a pretty fast paced worker on records, and like to turn them around quick. This record was recorded at the end of ’10, so almost two years ago, all this stuff was originally tracked. The album could have come out sooner, but I decided to take my time with it. I also moved from Brooklyn up to the Hudson Valley during that time, so that took some focus away from editing and overdubbing on the record. Writing lyrics to some piano melodies and adding a vocalist to some songs is a brand new thing for me, and working with John McEntire, the drummer from Tortoise and The Sea and Cake, was a whole new thing for me; that was one thing I wanted to do. I had scheduled some time with him to record, but it didn’t work out, so I had to wait, basically, a whole year before I could nail him down again because of both of our schedules being so hectic. I wasn’t in a rush, and being that I had put out three records before this, I felt like no one was really in need of more Marco music. So, I just took my time with it, and wound up kind of surprising myself with the vocals and with the production of things. We also had a chance to release some singles before the record came out, so we released “This is How it Goes” as a single, and we released “Escape Horse” and “Fireworks.” The songs are pretty similar to my other songs, but it’s definitely an evolution of my own musical brain and what I’m getting into. When I listen to records that I put out I still enjoy them. I don’t think, “Wow, this was so simple.” I do enjoy listening to some other records, but I do see how this stuff is more evolved, or almost more accessible and marketable. Maybe this will reach some more ears and turn people on to my music that haven’t been turned on to it yet. This record may change some people’s opinions of what they think I sound like.

MR: I can see the evolution between the records. Do you see that as well?

MB: Yes, of course. I made them, and have probably listened to them more than anyone else in the world. I definitely can hear and feel that things are changing and growing with the music I’m writing.

MR: Especially now that you have a label, this is a big question–what advice do you have for new artists?

MB: I guess I would say have a fine balance of practicing and working on things that you want to work on. Be able to practice and get better, and know your weaknesses and how you can get better slowly. Then, the other side of my advice is just to make some art for people to enjoy. Try not to over think things; just make something, package it, send it out, and then make another thing. Trust yourself to say it’s done and then make something new. I think it’s important to have a balance of working hard and knowing where your weaknesses are, and also making art, making something that anybody would want to put in their CD player or computer and listen to.

MR: The entertainment part is a pretty big aspect of this?

MB: Yeah, for sure. I feel like over the years, our band has gotten a bit better at figuring out how to put together an entertaining show. Make sure you don’t put too many slow songs in a row. (laughs) It IS the entertainment business, so there is that element of putting on a good show. Sometimes artists cringe when they hear that because they want to forget about the people and just do whatever they want to do, which is true, it’s very important to do whatever you want to do. But at the same time, if you alienate your audience it’s going to be hard to get them to come back to your next show. So I feel like it’s important to reach out to people and try to connect to folks. Then, once you start selling out bigger rooms, who knows. You can pull your isolation moment, try to do something weird and freak people out, but until then maybe just try to reach out to people and be nice.

MR: Are you bringing up some groups, maybe mentoring in a sense?

MB: You mean as far as the record label goes?

MR: Or even just pals of yours whose musical career you’re interested in?

MB: There are a couple of bands that come to mind. Mike Dillon even. Hearing him play with his own band, I was impressed and I was happy that Mike has his artistic outlet. He was the leader of the band. He’s writing all the songs, he’s creating the different versions of the songs live, and he’s putting on a good show. I can see his evolution as a musician, and I love it. I think he’s a great artist. I also like another band on our label called Superhuman Happiness; they’re incredible. Stuart Bogie plays with all sorts of players. He’s the leader of that band. Stuart is on that new David Byrne and St. Vincent record, and he plays with Iron and Wine. His name is out there, but he still has his own personal artistic outlet in Superhuman Happiness, and I like listening to his music and seeing the videos that they make. They’re opening up for a couple of shows of ours. I really like that sort of modern rock/pop/jazz kind of thing that he’s doing. Rubblebucket is just amazing–Kalmia Traver and Alex Toth seem to be the two main songwriters in the group–and I like seeing that evolution of young rockers creating new music that is very modern, very new, and I haven’t heard it on the radio. So those three bands I’d like to stay close to, and maybe we can pull together and put on a big show or something.

MR: Of all the songs that you have either recorded or performed live, what is the one song that does the most for you? What’s the song that you just can’t wait to get to?

MB: (laughs) I do have one, especially because it’s new, and because it’s new according to my own musical standards. “Limbs Of A Pine,” off the new record, is one that I just can’t wait to get to in the middle of a show, and I hold out all the way to the end because it’s kind of more of a grand finale song. Then going all the way back to our first album, Invisible Baby, there is a song on there called “The Real Morning Party,” which I cannot wait to get to in the live show because it’s kind of quirky, funny and weird. If the audience is starting to drift or something, I feel like we can get them with that song.

MR: What else do we need to know about Marco Benevento?

MB: Well, I guess the newest thing would be that we did make a video for “Limbs Of A Pine” and that just came out. We had a camera crew at my house, we had a blast doing it, and I’m super-psyched about how it came out, so I would love for people to know about that.

MR: Thank you for taking the time, Marco. All the best with what you’re trying to do.

MB: Alright, you too, Mike. Thanks a lot.

Transcribed by Ryan Gaffney