Something to Love-With Brendan Kelly

Playing punk shows in Chicago for the last ten years, there’s always been this thing with this band, The Lawrence Arms, specifically, their lead singer, Brendan Kelly. He’s outspoken, enjoys the occasional cocktail or 7, and sings like he’s just smoked a carton. Interesting stat, (though 100% made up) 4 out of 5 lead singers in today’s Chicago music scene are trying to be Brendan Kelly, in one way or another. Let’s get to know Brendan Kelly’s musical background.

“I play bass and guitar and sing in bands such as the Lawrence Arms, the Falcon and the Wandering Birds. I took about 2 or so years of folk guitar lessons and a year of bass when I was in middle school/high school. Bass lessons were the last thing I did and ended when I was a sophomore in HS.”

Dr. Jim Stopher is an avid sight reader and conductor, Miguel Chen is a punk rocker who happily admits dumping theory for the power chord. Devin Peralta seems to be a blend of the two, so where does Brendan Kelly fit?

“I have almost nothing in the way of analytical theory based training. I know how to identify a key and I'm sort of familiar with notes. That's about it. I haven't really taught myself much since my lessons either. I’m generally not much of a musician besides the fact that people like the crap I do and I surround myself with talented players.”

How has the power chord shaped you as a musician?

“Well, it's the sound of rock and roll. I play a lot of power chords because they sound great. I also play barre chords and open chords and I even dabble in playing riffs here and there, but truly, the power chord is the democratizer that is easy, sounds great, and enables hacks like me to play music in popular bands.” 

When did you first realize you wanted to pursue music? 

“Eh, I guess I've always been interested in it. I used to write songs when I was four and five. It's been something I've always been consistently interested in. I started my first band and did my first multi-track recordings when I was 12, way before I could so much as hold a guitar properly.” 

What are the advantages and disadvantages of your musical persona?

“Hmmmm…I guess the disadvantages are apparent. I've got limited talent and therefore extremely limited range. That being said, creating within those constraints requires unexpected methodology and solutions in order to pull off anything interesting, so in that regard, I'd say that's my advantage as well. How about that?” 

Reaching people

In your musical career, what has been the single most significant, defining event and why?

“I honestly don't know, but selling out the Metro is always a thrill and the Lawrence Arms ten year anniversary show saw a bunch of people coming to the metro from as far away as Australia, Europe and Japan. That was a pretty unbelievable experience.” 

It seems you've been incredibly active over the last few years, playing in different bands, and playing shows/writing etc. What keeps you inspired to keep writing? 

“I write as a more obsessive activity than as a hobby. I'd liken it to the way that people compulsively exercise or diet. I get almost panicky when I don't create something and I just go for it and go for it. When I'm writing songs, I write probably four songs a day, and often more. When I'm not writing songs, (and lotsa times when I am) I work on blogs, stories, books, scripts, movies, pitches for network shows, etc. It's really not a matter of inspiration at all, though I HAVE been inspired, it's nowhere near my main motivator. This isn't entirely accurate, but it seems to me that fear is more of a motivator in my process than inspiration. Inspiration, in my case, seems motivated by work, not the other way around.” 

What has been your greatest struggle with music? 

“I think the above…that I'm bound to compulsively create and that if I don't it starts to affect every facet of my personality, to the point where I can't sleep or focus (not that my focus is spectacular to begin with). Music just happens to be where I've had a small level of success. If I was a successful self-help book author, I'd have struggles with self-help books. It's ridiculous.” 

Have you learned anything from playing punk for decades?

“I don't know that I've learned shit. I have learned about specific people, I've learned a little about the industry and I've learned some jargon, but I don't know that I've learned anything about real truths that I wouldn't have learned just traveling and meeting people, if that makes any sense. Punk rock is just an aesthetic trapping, and any statement to the contrary is necessarily dismissive of other interests. Yes, people love punk rock, but people also love S and M or Zoology or surfing and consider it to be a real, important discipline practiced by devout and dedicated people. Punk rock is no different. Don't mistake me, I love it, but that's all it is. It's something to love.”

What does the perfect song have to have?

“Any art succeeds when it makes the listener understand that someone else (usually someone a little bit more articulate or funny or direct) feels similarly about things to the way they, the listener also feels.

It can be a new idea, that makes the listener go "wow, I didn't even know I felt like that but I do" or it can be something as simple as making a relatable statement about love. A good song also tends to cast a little corner of existence in a beautiful light, (I say this with the clarification point that there's beauty tied up in passion and frustration and hatred and sadness as much as in love or peace or whatever). If you can do this, you've got a good song on your hands.

Also, never underestimate a good melody as one of the most effective ways to convey all of this even in instrumental or mindless songs. Universal truths are at the core of this, and that shit is simple: love, hate, loss, redemption, confusion, etc. Basically, watch a dog. Their emotional range sums up universality pretty well.”

Intelligence as a weapon

The other punk rockers I have spoken with often site punk band Bad Religion as the source of early epiphany. Brendan Kelly, much like punk rocker Russ Rankin, concurs.

“The first time I heard No Control by Bad Religion, I was drawn to the urgency and intelligence like I'd never been drawn to anything before. I grew up a nerd and that album really kind of recapitulated the notion of intelligence as a weapon rather than something that made me some kind of pantywaist.”

To each his own…

If you could get everyone you care about to listen to one song, name it.

“I don't have an answer to this. Music is important for so many different reasons to different people. I can't imagine that I could write one prescription that could please or even impact everyone I know. Townes Van Zandt doing that Pancho and Lefty live in London is profoundly awesome, but my brother would hate it, for example.”

Is Imitation Flattery?

(Earlier I mentioned the seemingly endless laundry list of Lawrence Arms knock-off bands across Chicago and really across the country.) I just so happened to ask Brendan what he hates. Here is his reply.

“If I'm being honest, the stuff I usually end up hating the most is the stuff that's very similar to what I do but poorly done. Any time that I can look at something and see where the artist is coming from but not feel it, I'm gonna be super turned off. I don't like Mystical, (for example) but he has such a different thing going on that I'm not even sure what his desired ends are, therefore, I don't hate his output at all. It's just not relatable. That's like me hating a specific type of infusion suite chair or a certain brand of fertilizer. However, when I hear some rock band full of white guys ruminating about the futility of life and the desire to try to find a place in the world anyway, and it's done poorly or obviously, that's what I hate the most. I hate stuff that's very similar to what I do. I think this is more universally true than most people would like to admit.”

The Drone-Insert Melody Here

A drone is a blank canvas for melody. 

A note or notes are the foundation, literally droning the same pitch, creating a mesmerizing affect. The constancy of the drone is used for meditation and deep relaxation.
Now, where the fun comes in is in the melody that sounds over the drone. A drone won’t commonly be a major or minor chord, it is often one sounding pitch, sometimes played in perfect octaves, and sometimes drones are played as a perfect fifth. I first realized the coolness and openness of musical drones when learning about Indian music, most notably, the Sitar and the Tambura. 

The video below features a Tambura player sounding 3 pitches, C# in a high octave, C# again in a low octave, and G#, a perfect 5^th above C#. (Pitch wise, no different from the all American POWER CHORD!)

The droning strings allow the performer to improvise melody over the drone with his voice. He touches on notes within the typical major scale, but this type of music often dabbles with many accidentals, most notably, a diminished fifth, which is simply a flatted or dropped version of a perfect fifth, also known as the Tri Tone or the Devil’s Note. But that’s a different write up, one which will talk Black Sabbath in detail.

Embedding is disabled for this video, but you can watch it on Youtube here.  

Droning about droning

I was watching Prometheus a few weeks ago, and I found myself enamored with a part of the score that used a drone. So enamored in fact, that I feel the need to tell you about it. 

The track is called “Life,” and the composer is Marc Streitenfield. I think given the title of the piece, the melody over the drone is very appropriate. It seems to encapsulate the mystery and beauty of life. I just got deep on you. Here it is.

(Note, by :41 seconds into the piece, the drone is established as the tension from the first :40 seconds subsides, and the melody appears at :45 seconds. Note, the drone never goes away, even when the melody above it changes.)

Droning in time?

After digging into more works from Streitenfeld, I found a track on the American Gangster Soundtrack called “Frank Lucas” that has this feature, except this example is less of a sustained typical drone, and more a repeating note with a rhythmic function.  

Like a drone, it’s still the same sounding pitch for the entire song, but unlike a drone, it is playing to a steady pulse, making the melody over it more pronounced and structured. You’ll notice that the drone used in “Life” is much more free and flowing, without a steady pulse or beat; I would go as far as to call it rubato. Google it!

Droning at Home

In this video, you will hear a low C acting as a drone on my guitar. I will demonstrate the freedom of melody that comes with the foundational pitch of the drone. You'll find, some notes are more dissonant than others, and I'll also play the main melody from "Life."

At :39 seconds, I purposely walk you through the basic intervals found within a C major scale. (For more on intervals and their qualities please stay tuned, I'm working on that one!)

C to D, (a major second)

C to E (a major third)

C to F (a perfect fourth)

C to G (a perfect fifth)

C to A (a major sixth)

C to B (a major seventh)

And by 1:12 I finally get to C to C (a perfect octave)

Minor Adjustment...

At about 1:46, You'll hear a drastic change in mood, that's because I stopped using the C major scale and started playing notes in the C natural minor and harmonic minor scales. Remember, major is happy, minor is rather dark and sad. We'll talk more about mood in other posts, but I wanted to at least show you a little variety in this video. The last thing I play is the theme from "Life" but in a lower octave than I'd previously played. Happy droning!

The Maestro and the Punk Part 2-THE PUNK-Miguel Chen

DISCLAIMER

Please note, I'm not trying to favor one type of musician or the other, I'm just examining the beauty in variety. I honestly consider myself a blend of music theory nut and ridiculous punk-rocker, and my purpose is to learn from musicians who resemble both sides and everything in between.

In my last post, we met Harvard Graduate and professional Orchestra Conductor, composer, and college professor, Dr. Jim Stopher. His musical identity is one of academic expertise, centered around his ability to read music, interpret scores, and properly conduct his musicians so that he can achieve the full potential of his music. For Jim, he finds beauty in the technical nuts and bolts of music as well as how it touches him emotionally. 

MEET THE PUNK

Miguel Chen is bassist of Wyoming punk quartet Teenage Bottlerocket. Their latest effort "Freak Out!" is out now on Fat Wreck Chords.  Let's dig in.

"I have been playing music basically all of my life. I started with guitar lessons in 2nd grade, then played saxophone in middle school and high school. I started playing in punk bands when I was 13 years old."

Our Maestro, Dr. Jim Stopher described his musical identity as "analytical."

Let's dig into Miguel's identity.  

"I think I wound up being a "play what sounds good" type. As mentioned I did have lessons, starting with classical guitar in 2nd grade. Then Saxophone from 5th-11th grade. I even took more classical guitar lessons around age 14. None of this ever really stuck or is applied to what I do however. The most useful thing I ever learned, was a power chord. Once I started playing punk rock, all music theory pretty much went out the window."

If you just smiled, keep reading. If you just turned your nose up because Miguel praised the power chord and dropped theory, maybe read something else.

Wondering why power chords get a bad rap? I'll explain that in detail and link it soon. In a nutshell, power chords are a quick fix, they only require the guitarist to use 2 fingers, (see chart) and the grip can move all over the neck with virtually instant results. 

I for one absolutely adore the power chord. In my teaching, I've seen power chords build confidence in young players. Not to mention, they just sound awesome.  

-The Punk Dream Come True-

"I knew I needed music when I first discovered punk rock. My friends and I all started getting into bands like NOFX and Agnostic Front, lots of Fat Wreck Chords and Epitaph stuff. 

I knew that was where I belonged. 

I didn't ever really think I could do it for a living, but I knew I wanted to be in a band and play for people. Now more than half my life later, I'm still here, still playing punk rock and actually making a little bit of money. It rules. All of us had wanted to be on Fat Wreck Chords and tour with NOFX since we were teenagers. 

When it finally all happened I was so happy I actually cried. 

Really all of us had a dream, worked toward it and finally got to make it a reality. Somewhere between hard work, persistence and luck we ended up getting to live really cool lives. We are very thankful."

So, Miguel has a theory and instrumental background, but his attraction to punk rock and the instant gratification that came with learning the power chord took over his early exposure to the basics of notation and theory fundamentals. So what happens when Teenage Bottlerocket gets together and writes songs?  

"I really don't think too hard about it. It's a pretty honest, short process. It's either, does that suck? Or would I listen to that and get stoked? I would have to say it's more feeling than being excited about what chords or tempos or whatever else. 

TBR pretty much goes off of what sounds good to us and beyond that we don't think too much about it."

(Miguel is on the right)

My 2 Cents

As someone who has studied advanced music theory and actually enjoyed it, I find this comment refreshing. As much as I love analysis, borrowed chords, etc, I sometimes let that cloud my judgement when composing, and I get blocked up or the feeling suffers. We have to remember that it just feels good to play, and enjoy it for what it is.

What was one of your most memorable musical “Ah-ha” moments?

"I remember in my first band one of the members showed me palm muting. Blew my damn mind. I had heard it in songs, but couldn't ever figure out how they got the guitar to sound like that. One day John walks in and tells us we have to check something out. He picked up a guitar and palm muted and completely blew us away."

Check out TBR's video for "Bigger than Kiss." At :19 seconds, you can observe palm muting at its finest. Oh, and they are palm muting POWER CHORDS by the way! 

My 2 Cents. Again...

This was the first song I ever successfully palm muted! 

Talk about a breakthrough for a young guitarist!

The Punk's Pick

"Every single person on earth should listen to the Decline by NOFX. If you don't like that, then we probably don't have a lot in common musically and we know never to talk about it again. If you do like that then we probably have a lot more in common than just music."

Here's a link to NOFX performing "The Decline," (all 18 minutes) live. It is the real deal. Buy the studio version here, it's a masterpiece. 

 

What is it with Punks and dubstep?

Describe your least favorite song, genre, or artist. Don’t hold back!

"Dubstep. What is that shit?"

 Anything else you’d like to add? 

"The Reaganomics are a great band. I wish you'd all quit your jobs and tour!"

Thanks a lot to Miguel for taking the time and for his in depth responses. He, like many punk rockers, plays what feels good, which has it's pros and cons, but ultimately I find this approach just as admirable and pertinent as the more analytical musical approach of orchestral conductor Jim Stopher. 

By comparing Dr. Jim Stopher and Miguel Chen's responses, I have found value and relevance in both of them, because while on the surface they are virtually opposites, they share a passion and adoration for music, and they absolutely love what they do, which is good enough for me. 

I hope you take these musician's stories and learn something from them in your life and in your musical journey.

The Maestro and the Punk Part 1- THE MAESTRO- Dr.Jim Stopher

Why am I trying to talk to musicians from all kinds of backgrounds and examine the differences in what makes them who they are? Because I consider myself a walking musical contradiction, a paradoxical blend of a passionate music theory enthusiast/composer/teacher and an unapologetic obnoxious punk rocker that plays only 1 speed and 1 volume. In order to understand my own perspective, I feel the need to observe every walk of life in the music world. The greater the variety, the better, and nothing says variety like pitting an Orchestral Conductor against a Punk Rocker.

MEET THE MAESTRO

Jim Stopher is a Harvard grad with a Master's Degree in Orchestral Conducting, and a DMA in the same field. Aside from conducting, he is a 20 year+ pianist, and also a music educator and composer. Jim first fell in love with music when he composed his first song at the age of 11.
For Jim, an advantage of doing what he does is that he has complete control over the repertoire in which his ensembles perform. By hand selecting his concert literature, he can build and mold programs based on whichever theme or idea he'd like! A true maestro!
When selecting music, for Jim, it's a combination of both his emotional involvement and the nuts and bolts of the music itself.

"Beautiful and unexpected harmonic progressions are crucial, but also melodic invention and unpredictability."

So how is Jim Stopher able to identify all these nuts and bolts? Does he just know?

No, he reads music.

To Jim, the ability to read music is "indispensable." For his profession, this could not be more true. Not only does he have to know how to read, but he must have a developed enough ear to catch and fix when musicians are not playing the correct pitch or rhythm. Reading is everything for Jim, and it enables him to literally see the harmonic intent of the composers he chooses, and therefore, build better programs and ultimately feel more fulfilled as a musician/performer/conductor.

Dr. Stopher's favorite, Brahms.
(and my 2 cents)

Brahms's Violin Concerto is Jim's favorite piece of music. In my listening to it, I enjoyed the pentatonic (5 note scale) melody at the beginning and I loved that they revisited that melody later in piece, also, the half cadence left me hanging at around :20 seconds, which I liked. Don't know what I'm saying? Google it for now!

It had my attention and took me places. From then on, there's drama, and many instances of all those things Jim looks for in music. Surprises, but thought out surprises, executed precisely and never abandoning melody and harmony.
Well I don't listen to Brahms regularly, it was very cool to listen to this while thinking about Jim's background and his adoration for this music, not to mention how his identity as a musician plays into his tastes. I always take my interviewees tastes into serious consideration and set my personal tastes aside, as should you.
My sincere thanks to Dr. Jim Stopher for his time and his input.

Stay tuned, and meet the PUNK!