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4/29/2005
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Artist Interview: Jeep (a.k.a. Mr. Anonymous)
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In 1989 while visiting a friend, we hit a record store. He handed me The Samples "blue" album and said "Buy this. It's great. You won't regret it." I was a bit skeptical because 1) my friend's taste in music is all over the map, and 2) CDs aren't cheap. But I bought it anyway hoping my pal who knew my taste in music would turn me on to something great. And he did.
I have been a fan of The Samples since then up until their live album "Transmissions from the Sea of Tranquility". It was around this project's 1997 release that things began to change and the band lineup shuffled around a few times. Most noteworthy was the absence of drummer Jeep MacNichol who was my favorite band member and whose musicianship I enjoyed the most. While some bands are centered around a lead singer, with The Samples all were involved and each was key to the overall formula. So when Jeep left for good to pursue his solo career, I knew The Samples were forever changed. (Lest I sound like I'm saying The Samples stink, let me be clear: they don't. They've just changed. Listen to any of their first six albums, and compare it with their last two to three. Then you be the judge.)
Anyway, with Jeep working on solo material, I enthusiastically sat idly by, patiently, waiting for his first effort as a one-man show. And when his self-titled debut was released, I was not disappointed. Wildly addictive and original, Jeep's new album was fabulous. I told everyone I knew to get it, and the track "Goodbye to the Master" soon made the Pryor family's annual beach album alongside "Nature" and "When It's Raining".
His follow-up album, "Cool & Easy," was equally as good and I couldn't wait for his next project. Well, it's now out (as of mid-February), and I recently had a chance to catch up with Jeep and get his thoughts on his newest album "Mr. Anonymous," his past albums, and his time with The Samples.
AP: Jeep, thanks for taking some time out to answer a few questions about your latest project "Mr. Anonymous", your past two albums, and a little bit about your life before your solo career. Being a fan of yours for over a decade, it's nice to get to ask the man behind the music how it all came to be.
Jeep: No worries man. It's a pleasure to share some thoughts about my long illustrious career. <grin> Seriously though, I appreciate the interest.
AP: Let's start with a little history. I first heard of you back in the late 80's when you took the helm as drummer/percussionist with The Samples. Was this your first "formal" gig or have you been in other bands that we may not have heard of?
Jeep: When I first came out to Colorado, I played in a band called Animal Kingdom. We were kind of a mix between King Crimson, Rush, The Police, and tribal industrial sounds. We really only played in the underground scene in Boulder, no real bars. Then I joined The Samples and our first gig was in a bar called Tulagi on Easter Sunday in 1987.
AP: Did Animal Kingdom put out a CD?
Jeep: We made a tape for our friends but that was about it.
AP: The Samples were most certainly a band that never got the credit it deserved. Huge in the college markets and with a new album released almost every year for 10 years, I always thought you guys would get "discovered" and before long, be headlining some big gigs. What thoughts were you having during this time and was "getting discovered" a major focus? Along with that, how did your attitude affect the music and lyrics that the band and you were writing at the time?
Jeep: I wouldn't say our focus was getting discovered at all. At that time, we were just focused on our music and writing new tunes and playing shows. On our first album, we were signed to Arista Records and we actually chose to leave them and sign with an independent label (What Are Records?) so we could preserve our creative freedom. Looking back, we probably would have had more exposure had we stayed with Arista, but our tunes would have been greatly affected. At the time, they wanted to take the reggae element out of our music, and they didn't like songs like "Did You Ever Look So Nice" which ended up being one of our most memorable. So for the music's sake, I think we did the right thing at the time.
AP: You guys toured like crazy. I saw you at least a dozen times during the 90's and that was out here in the Southeast where you all didn't venture as much compared to the West and Northeast. What was that like and were there times when you were thinking "How long can I do this? What's the point of all this?" etc.
Jeep: Not at all. We were always a touring band and always loved being on the road. It was never like we were doing shows to serve some goal, we just enjoyed playing and did it as much as possible. There were definite times when we all would get a little burned out, but for the most part we had a blast!
AP: During the mid-to-late 90s, songs you wrote/played ("Misery", "Water Rush") and songs written by bandmate Andy Sheldon, started showing up on your CDs. Was this the beginning of what would be a forthcoming solo effort? Or was it more of a "Hey, I have an idea for a tune, what do you all think?" and it just kind of happened?
Jeep: Actually, we all were writers from the very beginning. The first tune I contributed was "After the Rain" which was on our very first album, then "Suburbia" on "No Room", etc. I think the fact that we were all pretty well rounded as musicians and writers made the music a little more interesting, at least with me. I always tried to create drum parts that would fit the song based on the melodies whereas I think a lot of drummers are solely focused on the groove. One of my favorite tunes was called "Everytime" which drumming-wise was as simple as you can get but the vibe of the tune was always nice. Some of the tunes that have shown up on my solo albums were tracks I had recorded on guitar long before the first Samples album; even "Water Rush" was a progression I had from my Animal Kingdom days.
AP: When did it become more and more a realistic option for you to leave The Samples to do your own thing? And, when you made the choice, how did it go over with the rest of the guys?
Jeep: After we recorded "Autopilot", I felt like there was nothing else I could contribute to the band creative-wise. At the beginning of our career, we all had such different musical influences and they all came together to make something totally unique and cool. By the time we finished "Autopilot", all of our influences began to clash a bit and kind of cancel each other out (if that makes sense). Even on "Autopilot", none of us were in the studio together when we tracked, so signs were already becoming apparent. <grin>
"Autopilot" is still one of my proudest albums with the band, and I think in spite of the process, we broke a lot of ground on that one musically. When we started touring to support the album, I had more and more of a desire to play heavier music and I felt like the band was heading into more of a soft rock/Jackson Browne vibe. Finally, I decided it was best for me (and the band) to take off in a new direction. I had had a great time and exhausted all of my creativity for 10 years, and it was time for something fresh. When I made the announcement to the band, obviously it was a bit of a shock. But for the most part, everybody dealt with the news pretty well.
AP: From your Samples days, what are your favorite 10 to 15 songs from your fairly large catalog of songs?
Jeep: "Summertime", "When It's Raining", "Did You Ever Look So Nice", "Weight of the World", "14th and Euclid", "Birth of Words", "After the Rain", "Nitrous Fall" (Al's bubble makes this one), "Prophet of Doom", "The Last Drag", "As Tears Fall", and "The Hunt."
AP: What are the most difficult songs to play, instrumentally speaking? On some of the live tracks from "Underwater People," you really hear some technically difficult work going on.
Jeep: "Dinosaur Bones", "My Town", playing the live versions of "Won't Be Back Again" and "Underwater People" (because of the speed factor), "Seasons in the City," that's about all I can think of for now.
AP: So let's jump ahead to your first solo effort, "Jeep," in the sense that it was the first album you put out where it was your central focus and not a side project. What was that like for you making your first album on your own, writing and playing everything, producing, etc.?
Jeep: It was a blast for sure. The whole process was really enjoyable and so stimulating musically. My focus was on the songs and melodies, more than the drum parts and I enjoyed every bit of it.
AP: What bands have been big influences on you? While growing up, who'd you like? Did you have a section in your room devoted to Neil Peart (like I did)?
Jeep: I grew up in Toledo, Ohio and my influences started out 100% with funk and R&B (living so close to Detroit). I used to listen to the Gap Band, Zap, Isley Brothers, Earth Wind and Fire, Stevie Wonder, etc. The first album I ever bought was "Talking Book" by Stevie Wonder, then in 8th grade I started listening to reggae (Bob Marley, Third World, Peter Tosh), and The Police nonstop. Stewart Copeland and Carleton Barrett (drummer for Bob Marley) were the reasons why I started playing my drum set; before highschool, I only played acoustic guitar and bongos. <haha>
AP: What are you into now? What would I find on Jeep's turntable or iPod? Say, your top 10-15 albums?
Jeep: I still listen to a lot of old reggae and dub (e.g. Scientist). I listen to a ton of jazz these days, Miles Davis "Sorcerer" is one of my favorites. I read the autobiography of Miles recently and bookmarked every album he recorded that HE thought really captured something, which I can relate to after The Samples experience. There was a certain amount of my career with The Samples where I played drums on songs I hated, which is natural to a certain extent because youre dealing with four different musical personalities and dealing with the ultimate band skill: compromise. <ha ha>
My new favorite artist is Issa Bagayogo from Mali. He has two CDs that I listen to constantly. I like Bounty Killer, Pitzagatto 5, a tune by a band called "Pinback"...that's about all I can think of right now.
AP: How long did it take you to complete the "Jeep" album including the song writing?
Jeep: It took six weeks of actual tracking time and about two weeks of mixing. As far as songwriting, there's really no way to tell because on any album I do, I'm pulling old and new ideas together all the time — even a song I think I have finished can change once I start to track in the studio. Sometimes, I'll stumble on some melody or groove while I'm warming up in the control room and then decide to scrap all my previous ideas and start from there, the process is always pretty fluid. The song "Harmony Bus" on "Mr. Anonymous" is a perfect example. I tracked the entire song with completely different lyrics and phrasing on like a Tuesday morning. Then I went to lunch and had a coffee. When I was driving back to the studio listening to my parts, I came up with a completely different melody and phrase and decided to scrap everything I had done in the morning. The lunch/coffee break gave me a mental break that proved to open up some fresh ideas. But the basic point of all that was to say that I never like to get locked into my own ideas.
AP: Was it met with the kind of success you hoped for? Better or worse? I wasn't sure what to expect since your previous side-project, "With A Fist," seemed a bit rough around the edges. But all that was put to bed the first time I listened to "Jeep." Some albums grow on you, some stink from the get-go, and then some you love the first time through. The latter was my experience with "Jeep."
Jeep: I was really happy creatively with the "Jeep" CD, even though it didn't see much success. I tried to tour the hell out of it, hitting all the big Samples markets, I received great reviews and press, and still I'd only play to like five dudes in every town…and four out of five were drummers. <hahaha>
AP: With your skill set, I can certainly see that. We want to see how you do what you do. <grin> What are your favorite songs on this album?
Jeep: "Mike Records" and "Easy Trash" are my top two. I love the groove on "Easy Trash". "Goodbye to the Master" is a close third.
AP: You got married sometime around then. What kind of role did that play in your writing? And kids came along at some point, yes? How did that impact you and how does being a dad influence the music?
Jeep: It made a huge impact on my writing. My happiness in my personal life always translates to my creative juices. My wife is my best bud for sure and now having two kids, my life and music is all that much more complete. Love and music are so intertwined. My focus is always on my family first and the music, as a close second. I think my tunes benefit from that experience for sure. I just had a baby daughter in August and I have a son who is five and they are awesome. I could write a book about how great my wife and kids are. <hahaha> Realizing what's important in life leaves so much room for positive creative energy!!!
Being a dad is huge for my creativity. I've never been one of those "down and out, isolated, gotta be comitted, angsty" musician guys. I know a lot of musicians including some former bandmates who believed that "all or nothing" crap. Music is about life and for me life is about balance, with one hand washing the other. The more you have to draw inspiration from outside of music, the better the tunes are — at least with me.
AP: After "Jeep," you came out with "Cool & Easy". I can't recall the release date, but it seemed like you didn't make us wait too long for your follow-up. What was the writing pace after "Jeep" and goals for the second album?
Jeep: The writing pace is always the same. I go through spurts where I have tons of ideas and then spurts where I'm just doing other stuff. I don't really think about it schedule-wise, when an idea pops into my head, it's usually when I'm mowing the lawn or changing a diaper, so to speak. When I left The Samples, I moved to Florida and started cleaning pools which gave me a lot of time to think up beats and melodies in my head. I never sit in my studio and try to grind out a tune. With "Cool & Easy", my son was born right before and I had a lot of fresh energy from hanging with him. "Mission Always" is about him and songs like "Sugar" and "Angel" are about my wife. As far as goals, I never have them when it comes to making music. When I'm in the studio, I'm solely focused on the tunes that are flowing and then when it's done, I try to figure out some way to throw it out there.
AP: Favorites from that album?
Jeep: "Mr. Green", "Misson Always", "Motel Room", "Crusher", "Step Up", "Bad Thought" (favorite by far). "Fresh Reality" was such a cool tune to do and with Michael Rose guest-appearing. It spawned the whole new "Mr. Anonymous" concept.
AP: Now obviously, doing everything yourself changes things when hitting the road to play live. How did you plan the live set, recruit bandmates, and adjust your hardware to accommodate the live "sampling" or "looping" of your voice/guitars?
Jeep: Really, I started in my practice space rehearsing the tunes by myself with a delay pedal for my guitar and one for my voice (I used the Line 6 delay pedals). Then I called my friends to see who wanted to hit the road on bass and drums. I was pretty attached to the idea of doing the live show as a three-piece. I probably could have used six people to do it right, but I wanted to keep the vibe raw and streamlined. After being in The Samples where everything was so put together, I wanted to experience more of the punk vibe on my solo shows. The live show was sort of a raw sketch for the tunes on the albums but we went in different/harder directions than the sound on the albums. I've always been a fan of bands whose live shows are different from the albums so that's how I justified it. <hahaha> I always hated seeing bands like Rush live because they imitated to a tee what was on their albums and I thought it was boring. The Police were different. The pedals I used on my voice and guitar were totally live as well so it made for different loops and samples each night (no pre-recorded loops) which made things more spontaneous from show to show.
Did he just say he hated seeing bands like Rush live? Surely not! Really? Uh-oh, I think I'm going to get sick. (Andrew passes out… comes to… regroups his thoughts, and goes forward with the interview.)
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AP: Can you give us fellow musician types a little insight into how you record your voice/guitar parts live? Do you have several Line 6 delay pedals that you use simultaneously to record the various bits and then individually (and on your cue) you hit play so the parts come in on time? A little production know-how would be interesting.
Jeep: I use one pedal on my voice and one on my guitar. It sounds more complicated than it is. Really, all I do is grab whatever I want (4-bar or 8-bar phrase) while I'm playing or singing and then stomp that button in time with the song as its being performed. Obviously, being a drummer is what helps me timing-wise but there is also a lot of looseness to add life in the performance.
AP: Cincinnati riots cancelled a show of yours a couple years back. Some friends and I were jazzed to come see you, but they cancelled the show the day before because of riots and curfews. I would have loved to see you and the band in action. How many shows did you play on your tour across the U.S.?
Jeep: Man I don't know, with tours for both albums, a crapload for sure.
AP: Which brings us to "Mr. Anonymous". On your website, MrAnonymous.net, you give us a little insight into the album and its players. You mentioned you wanted to make the "ultimate chill vibe" album. With that as the goal, what styles did you have in mind or were you thinking, "I have a few ideas and we'll just see what happens"?
Jeep: I had the tunes and vibe for "Mr. Anonymous" right from the beginning. All of the tunes were written. After two powerpop/spacepop CDs and four years of touring punk-rock style <grin>, I felt like doing something different. I had all of these acoustic grooves that hadn't found a place on my previous albums, so hence "Mr. Anonymous" — dancehall meets triphop acoustic!
AP: There's an obvious reggae feel to this album — not so much in the music really, but in the vocal style across the album. Were you going for a reggae feel or did it evolve into this due in part to your being in Jamaica for an extended stay?
Jeep: I've always been a reggae fan since I started playing drums. I would say the reggae feel comes purely from my choice of singers. A lot of the tunes I had written, I already pictured these guys' voices on them so it was a matter of just going to Jamaica and capturing the performances. I think a lot of the feel on the CD is due to the fact that these guys are singing out of their element, so to speak. I didn't go down there with a bunch of reggae tunes but rather, I was interested in taking what these guys do naturally and throwing them into a different context. A lot of the tracks were just snippets of ideas and these guys free-formed on the spot and then I built the song structures from there.
AP: The music is still pure "Jeep" in style. And you really are on top of the production! The vocal effects/changes are very noteworthy. Specifically the "tonight... tonight is a night for sweet romancin'" line in "Harmony Bus". You start out with a "megaphone" voice with a "normal" voice echo, and then somewhere in the middle of the song it switches. It's subtle, but the first time I heard it I thought it very inventive. Am I hearing things correctly?
Jeep: You are hearing exactly!!!! <hahaha>
AP: What other techniques did you use to get the sounds/feel you wanted.
Jeep: Well, the megaphone seems to have become my trademark, even though I ripped the idea off from an old Denver power punk band called The Fluid <grin>. I guess that's my biggest trick but I do take a lot of unique approaches to my mixes. One of my favorite (although not that unique) approaches in the studio is doubling up the guitars so I can get that fat sound. On songs like "Mike Records", I think I had eight guitar parts playing the same riff through different amps, mics, etc. Also, I like to have my mixes move as you hear the song, either with panning or dropping stuff out, just so the three-minute song doesn't churn along at the same pace the entire time…that sort of thing.
AP: I believe "Get Ready" is the only solo Jeep tune on the album. Did you have others that didn't make the cut for one reason or another or was this the only one?
Jeep: There are a bunch of other tracks I didn't use that will show up on "Mr. Anonymous 2." I used "Get Ready" on this one purely because of the fade out into "Player Hater." I also thought the groove added some extra variety on the album that hadn't already been covered.
AP: After being entrenched in the album for so long, do you feel like it all ended up the way you wanted it to or, when you listen to it, are you still in "editing" mode thinking what you could have done differently? <grin>
Jeep: No…I absolutely love this CD and I have to say it's the first one I've done that all of my ideas/goals from writing to mixing were accomplished. I still think the album is a bit long, but I couldn't decide which tune to take off. <hahaha> I hate long albums!
I wanted to mention that aside from personal top picks, "Good Vibe" and "Swing," the track "Bring The Youth" is one of my favorites on the new CD. This DJ named "Brando" was sleeping on a bench in the studio while Sly was tracking his dancehall groove for the song "Always." I thought he was a studio hand or just hanging out. Anyway, all of a sudden, he sits up and starts singing quietly to himself while the music is playing in the monitors, and I happened to be sitting right next to him. It was amazing and the emotion in his performance was straight up for sure. So, I asked him if he wanted to step on the mic and that was that. I'm also most proud of the Jefferson Airplane-style guitar solo at the end of the track, sort of a cross-pollination of two worlds. I love the dreamy/trippy quality.
AP: I'm glad you didn't leave any songs off the album. I hate hearing that a band's latest CD had extra tracks that didn't make the cut. Then I'm forced to get a B-sides issue or research live bootlegs to hear these other songs. And that begs the question: did "Jeep" or "Cool & Easy" have any completed tracks that didn't make the cut?
Jeep: Yeah, they both had two extra tracks that were never really completed but they'll show up on a new album at some point. You don't have to worry about the B-side mixes. <grin>. Usually, when I decide to not include a track, it's because I feel the idea hasn't been fully developed, needs a little more time or completely different approach.
AP: What are your touring plans and will you be singing some of your guest vocalists spots?
Jeep: I have no plans to tour on this one purely because of the nature of the tunes. There's no way I could pull off or even want to attempt to imitate what any of these guys did on the album. For me, the CD speaks for itself like a book sharing an experience — my experience of hanging with the coolest and most talented cast of musicians I have ever had the pleasure to work with!
AP: Will you do any shows here and there of the other material or am I simply out of luck until the next Mr.A/Jeep release?
Jeep: I hate to say "never" but at this point, I don't have any touring plans (at least in the next six months).
AP: What, if any, ideas do you have for future albums? What's the next musical stop for Jeep?
Jeep: I'm already working on "Mr. Anonymous 2", the same concept with a lot of repeat performances (I have a killer track I did live with Sly & Robbie) as well as some new visitors to the Mr. Anonymous circle. <grin> The next one is going to be fat and trippy.
AP: One last question, and perhaps a bit harder to answer, but if you were going to tell someone out there to buy just one of your albums so they could get acquainted with you and your music, which would it be and why? (Sorry, two questions.)
Jeep: All of my solo stuff is so different that it would be hard to point people to one specific album that "best" represents me as a musician. I would have to say "Cool & Easy" and "Mr. Anonymous" are my two favorites for sure. They sound pretty different from each other, but I walked out of the studio on both projects feeling like I really accomplished all of my ideas on those ones. I have to say I still like "Big Bird and Monkey Named John" from my "With a Fist" CD and I still like "Mike Records", "Goodbye to the Master", "Unraveled", "Feeling High", and "Easy Trash" from "Jeep." But "Cool & Easy" and "Mr. Anonymous" are the tops for sure.
AP: Well Jeep, thanks for the insight into your career and most recent album. Having listened to it for the past few weeks many, many times, I honestly think you've created another great album. The music is addictive. And even though I tend to stay away from the "reggae" genre, it's so different than that musically/instrumentation-wise, that I don't mind the vocal parts. Those who are reggae fans will like the crossover approach of the reggae-style vocal with the rhythmic drumming/percussion, guitar work, and electronic sounds coming forth from the speakers. And this is most certainly an album to listen to loud — not an "in-your-face-my-sub-is-bigger-than-your-sub," but louder than a typical album. There are subtleties that will go unnoticed otherwise.
And Jeep, congrats on embracing the new media! Blogs are booming and you've picked a great medium to extend your grassroots efforts. I hope your latest effort is met with great success. Now, get "Mr. Anonymous 2" out, plan a tour, and come to Kentucky so we can see you play! <grin>
Jeep: Thanks again Andrew. It's obvious you've been pretty tuned into my career judging by these really good questions so hats off sir. <hahaha> It's nice to have the opportunity to share some life experience and get the word out about my music. Peace.
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