Underground Hottlanta: The Goldest
While I cetainly have my preferences towards more progressive and experimental music, I still love some good, easily accessible pop music when it’s done right. An Atlanta supergroup called The Goldest, featuring musicians who have been with such illustrious groups as Dropsonic, Jupiter Watts, Long Knives, The Sudden Rays, 3D5spd and Envie to name just a few, recently released their debut EP. It contains 5 upbeat, sugary sweet jams that I have been absolutely loving. Another thing is the album sees a plethora of guest appearances from other ATL superstars, most notably Michelle DuBois (Luigi) and Tracy Clark (The Preakness). In Athens, you often see records featuring dozens of guest appearances from other local musicians, but you don’t see that so much in the Atlanta scene.
Anyways, give it a listen:
For your reading pleasure, I did an interview with The Goldest’s Justin Gray, Matthew Chenoweth, and Kevin Wallace via email:
Ohmpark: How did this project come about?
Justin Gray: Matt and I met at The Happenstance, an annual show at the Earl that throws musicians together that have never played before to write and perform 4 songs in the same day. I was already in a band (the Sudden Rays) with Kevin that was making a record at Southern Tracks, and that’s where we met. I had played previously in American Dream w/ Susannah. Lastly, Matt brought his former band mate Wilson on to round things out.
Matthew Chenoweth: Justin and I got paired up a couple of years ago at the Happenstance and it really clicked between us. He’s the perfect bass player in my opinion – solid lines, heavy grooves, musical approach. We ended up in Day Mars Ray together and that was a great way to find out we dug the same kind of music and wanted the same kinds of things from a band. The next step was jamming together on some song fragments we both had, and we left the rehearsal space completely juiced. Next was to land the perfect drummer – we both wanted Kevin (Justin already played with him in The Sudden Rays and I knew him from Jupiter Watts). Kevin sat in and was convinced after one jam session – we wrote a song in that session that eventually got recorded (not released yet). Next time we got together we wrote “We All Want More.” We seemed to click beautifully on the creative tip and almost every time someone started playing it turned into a song. We’d all done the rock trio thing and wanted a bigger sound so we kept writing and brainstorming on how to build what we thought would be the perfect band. Lots of vocals, etc. Next thing I knew Justin had booked us into Southern Tracks to cut ‘Fine’ (another spontaneous writing effort) and when Susannah came in to sing we knew we had another member – even if she was too busy, we’d wait. Didn’t take long. Sus was a full member by the time we recorded ‘Already Gone’ (she’d been on every track anyway). When we booked our first show we knew we needed a little more support in the band which came from Tom (the engineer who’d been recording us) and my friend Wilson (he and I had been in The Lord is My Shotgun together). Both great additions – Tom adding big full guitars and Wilson covering additional guitar parts in the recordings, along with vocals and keyboards. Voila! The Goldest.
JG: So that is the nuts and bolts but what really got us going was our 1st trip to southern tracks to record “fine”. We started recording in the 10am and left at 3am with a finished song—
something about moving so quickly yet being so fully immersed in just one song really got our attention. We knew that we had found a sound that was very, very special and unlike anything any of us had done before. Our sum was truly greater than our parts. That excitement, some good fights, and fumes got us through the next year and now here we are… loving what we’ve done, and optimistic about our future!
Ohmpark: Could you tell me a little bit about how the songwriting process works with the band?
Kevin Wallace: It is thoroughly collaborative. Virtually every part, idea and melody occurs spontaneously in the practice space. Unlike most of the other bands we’ve been in, it is very rare that someone brings in an idea. We begin to play and we hone in on what is working or what we think has the potential to work. We’ve all been in bands a long time and assumed various roles—with The Goldest the idea is to throw countless ideas and melodies against the wall and see which ones stick…and not be sad when the idea that sticks is not yours. The paradox is that with the exception of Susannah who is steady-minded, we are a head-butting bunch who likes to voice our opinions and think we know what is right in every instance—it just works out that the song has a voice too—an honest, unbiased voice. In the end, we all want the same thing, and that’s for the song to be as good as possible. If you listen to the song, it tells you what it wants.
MC: Yeah, anyone can start playing, and the rest jump in and squirm around until parts are born. I think the music starts to take shape first, but inevitably Kev, Sus or I will hear a vocal line and drop it right on top of the jam. I’d say 99% of the music is spontaneously conceived. We recorded all these sessions in the room and could listen back so we didn’t forget, but it really only takes between 1-3 rehearsals to nail down a song from beginning to end. In the studio we take a few liberties and sometimes come up with another hook. For instance Kev’s vocals at the end of Already Gone were written at the studio (actually, a lot of the vocals are written at the studio and the place holder vocal either gets expanded or replaced). The opening guitar (glockenspiel) line in that song was written at the studio also. Seemed like something needed to be there.
Ohmpark: What are your favourite things about the Atlanta scene, what do think sets it apart or what are its strengths?
KW: My favorite 5 things about the Atlanta scene, in no particular order are:
1 The Earl 2 The Happenstance (aka rock lotto—www.thehappenstance.com) 3 Brandon Cox/ Deerhunter/ Atlas Sound (in 16 years of playing in the Atl scene, I have never been in such awe of a local musician. His taste is simply impeccable and writing completely special—he’s making music as good as any in the world right now—yes, the world!) 4 The camaraderie amongst fellow musicians/ music lovers in the scene—it really is a supportive musical city 5 That I have met so many great friends, not to mention my wife, from being a part of it.
I do not know very much about scenes in other musical cities; so, it’s hard to say if and why ATL is different.
MC: I really dig the scene around here. It’s great to hit the EARL, for instance, and see friends in other bands and get to hang out. It was particularly cool for us because we could call up these friends and have them come lay down a track at the studio for us. Folks like Michelle Dubois, James Hall, Jonathan Lloyd, Tracy Clark. We’ve known them all for a while and since there’s a camaraderie there we could ask them to come add something to our songs.
Ohmpark: What does The Goldest have planned now after the release of this EP?
MC: We actually recorded 13 songs, and put out the first 5 to get things started. We plan another release at the beginning of the year. It’d be great to pick up shows, try to see how the songs would fare for TV or Movies. We’re really more interested right now in making sure it’s out there – the other stuff is pie-in-the-sky. It can’t happen without fans – they won’t happen until we’re playing and getting music into their hands. Things have been coming together really well without a lot of over-working, and that seems like the best approach for right now.
Ohmpark: What are your thoughts on the state of music and the music industry?
KW: The state of music—that’s a tough one to answer. If we are talking about popular music, the state of music sucks balls and has for a good 15 years sans Radiohead—to the extent they are popular music. I suppose Coldplay is semi bright spot even if they sound like a mostly dumbed down version of Radiohead. As far as indie rock is concerned, I am not nearly as cynical. While it’s somewhat rare that I am blown away, there is a wealth of really great music out there. At times, it’s overwhelming just trying to find time to listen to it all. What makes listening to it all even harder is that I have re-fallen in love with classic rock and I find myself listening to Neil Young, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Zeppelin, The Kinks, The Clash. The Who and Pink Floyd a lot more these days.
Regarding the music industry, I hope this is the beginning of the end of it. Radiohead’s release of In Rainbows was brilliant. It showed that labels, at least for bands that have a following, are no longer, or minimally, necessary (hopefully, this will eventually spread to all musicians). Most importantly, it returned power to the artist—where it should always be. This sounds cliché and perhaps even pretentious, but I’m fine with that. The alternative is having Ashley Simpson, Brooke Hogan, The Jonas Brothers, Blink 182, Nickelback, Daughtry and a whole lot of other bullshit being pushed by a bunch of non-artist, businessman who have learned how to package non-talent and sell it at the expense of talent—that all of that might be changing is the best possible news for music.
MC: It’s pretty wild right now. All the traditional models – get a label deal, tour your ass off – don’t necessarily lead to success any more. Seems like the new model emerging is a grass-roots thing, from the bottom up, not the top down. Create a base for yourself and it will expand organically. A lot of what used to be supplied by labels can done on your own (thank you computers) and add the internet and you’ve got distribution. I don’t know, but I have a feeling this is a more lasting way to reach people who like music, and in particular, our music. I’m sure there’s a point where bigger machines are necessary, but so much can be done before that – and it give us a whole lot more control over our music and careers.
JG: Most bands I admire seem to operate outside the industry or at least the conventional confines of the industry. Many online sources for music are driven by independence with a simplistic view of promoting good music. This type of environment is very encouraging to a band like ours. I’m not sure I would have been exposed to bands like Arcade Fire or Broken Social Scene without the internet. To think that the viral version of the “do it yourself” ethic can gratify a band in a way that was once reserved for major label status, and ultimately leave this type of music in the hands of true music supporters and creators is really exciting. An obvious attribute to this model is when larger media like Rolling Stone or Spin have glossy features on a band like Of Montreal, or car companies license a song from Band of Horses. This exposure seems to bolster the viability of independent music, and aside from true validation who wouldn’t mind making a little dough doing what you love. In short I’m encouraged by the state of music and the music industry.
The Happenstance they are referring to is a pretty cool idea that I have yet to get to experience where they take people from various Atlanta bands and mix them up with others. The new combos then work together and write songs in the the span of a day to perform later that night in a show. Apparently at least one talented band owes it their existence. The next The Happenstance date actually just got announced to go down at The Earl December 13th, so you musicians and fans alike should check that out.
The Goldest’s EP can be downloaded for free from their myspace, so you probably want to do that:
- Posted by Davy Minor on October 16, 2008 at 5:22 am
