Published: August 15, 2009 3:46 PM EST
By: Isaac Davis Jr., MBA (Juniorscave.com)
New Music Spotlight August 2009 Edition
RainPace
RainPace "Easy Labor", the new RainPace CD
Junior's Cave Interview with the Los Angeles based band Rainpace.
Check out what the members of the band have to say about their music, their influences, and what music fans can expect from them in the next five years.
RainPace: Kerry Phillips, Valerie Tullous, Mike Salas, Mike Hunter and Robert Briscoe Evans.
Isaac: What has been the best part of 2009 for you musically so far?
TULLOUS: April 15th -- first time I've ever cheered on Tax Day: Bob joined us, and we came full circle. Light years ago, Bob and I met Kerry, and it was Kismet or Karma or some other K word -- maybe it was Yin, Yang and Jung. But for years, we kept winding up in different groups on different coasts… At the end of 2006, RainPace was in its infancy when we found 'The Mikes', which took us to the next level. Now, with Bob on board, it's ... well ... 'easy labor', for real.
Isaac: What do you feel has been the biggest accomplishment for 2009 so far?
PHILLIPS: Releasing our new CD: 'EASY LABOR'. It seemed to be a long time coming -- I was already writing the songs for it before we finished the first CD ('KNOWLEDGEABLE MUSIC AFFORDABLE PRICE') in August of 2007. Then, we had almost finished recording 'EASY LABOR' when we added Bob -- and started over again, on the vocals. It was nothing less than a miracle that we still completed it in June.
Isaac: Describe the music scene in your area.
SALAS: There's a wide spectrum of live entertainment in So Cal. From small clubs and restaurants to outdoor venues and festivals, there are many opportunities for bands and choices for music lovers of all genres; rock, pop, dance, jazz, salsa, country, and more! That's not even including all the private/corporate events out there. And for new performers there are open mic night venues where you can kick off your music career.
Isaac: What has been the best venue to perform at and why?
EVANS: The Orange County Fair in July. Our fans came out to see us, but we also found a new audience. It was exciting to watch people walking by who paused -- and then came back to sit down and hear more. If they didn't find a place to sit or stand in the back, they still managed to dance around the sides a bit and clap their hands. The folks in charge could not have been more professional in handling the logistics of getting our gear on and off the stage and back to our vehicles.
Isaac: If you had an opportunity to work with one artist or group, who would it be and why?
HUNTER: I'm already working with him: Kerry Phillips. He's a brilliant writer with a style that's challenging -- and comedic: he's able to see the dark side and make light of it. Dude's deep...
Isaac: Elaborate a little about whom were your biggest influences in the music industry and why?
PHILLIPS: Lightin' Hopkins, Billy Gibbons, Bonnie Raitt, John Fogerty (to name a few) are fine guitarists who play tasty, lip smackin' good licks that have influenced me greatly. Those licks are not only complimentary to their tunes, but also entirely NECESSARY to the song. They don't grandstand. However, I make an allowance for the greatest guitarist of the greatest rock group the world has ever known or will know: Pete Townsend. I would listen raptly to anything he did, even if it were just tuning his guitar!
TULLOUS: Vocal arrangements are my driving passion, and for that, my influences range from the Kingston Trio to Lambert Hendricks and Ross to Bob Wills -- with Handel thrown in for good measure. Handel was probably schooled in music theory, but the others all worked (pardon the term) organically, and created new-sounding harmonies which -- yes, served their own sound but ALSO -- best-served the lyrical intent of the songs.
EVANS: Randy Newman -- because of his lyrics and the fact that we both play the piano; Leonard Cohen -- for his lyrics; and all the independent labels and self-produced acts that paved the way for us.
SALAS: Gregg Bissonette because of his ability to play many different styles of music -- I just saw him perform at a clinic at West LA Music; Kenny Aronoff, because he is the consummate working drummer; Horacio Hernandez for his approach to playing Latin rhythms on the drum-set... But many other musicians and producers have had an impact on my musical career.
HUNTER: Jaco Pastorius, innovator of the fretless bass, who also plays with your mind; the super-cool Miles Davis whose charisma explodes through his horn like fireworks; the absurdity of Thelonious Monk, like L-logic; Zappa, always Zappa...
Isaac: Let's talk about what you feel you will bring to the music industry?
PHILLIPS: I feel we bring freshness, honesty and innovation to an industry often based on fad and fashion. Certainly commercial music can be enjoyed and even admired on some levels. However, music that makes us laugh, or be moved, or that provokes a discussion or an inner dialogue ... that's a rarity and that's my challenge and my aspiration. Sure, the themes may be somewhat complex; the presentation can be as well; but ultimately the music/lyrics are -- I hope -- satisfyingly accessible and nothing less than compelling. That is what we bring. That is what we are about.
Isaac: How would you describe your music to others?
SALAS: I was at a birthday dinner with some friends last month and when I described Rain Pace's music as a blend of rock, country, jazz and pop to a person I had just met, he called it 'Americana'. If I had to use one word to describe our sound, 'Americana' has a nice ring. Just like ' Salsa' is used to describe Mambo, Merengue, Rumba, Cha-Cha and more; or Jazz is used to describe Big Band, Be-Bop, Fusion, etc. The way music is evolving, there's going to be more mixing or meshing of genres from all regions of the world. Bands will have to be more creative in describing their sound in words.
HUNTER: 'Classic Americana with a twist'. Every song has its own life: a scene from the mind of Kerry Phillips. The influences are vast: classical motifs with Shakespearean twists...
TULLOUS: ...jazz with echoes of bluegrass, folk with punk-ish sensibilities...
HUNTER: ...it's both danceable and thought-provoking...
TULLOUS: ...like a series of one-act plays.
PHILLIPS: It is American folk meets jazz meets funk meets roots music.
Isaac: What type of feedback have you received from fans about your music?
SALAS: People I spoke with who saw us perform at the OC Fair a few weeks ago were very impressed. Some had not heard us before, and they really liked the harmonies and the upbeat rhythms.
EVANS: Their pleasure in discovering the nuances and the comedy in the lyrics and the fact that our songs get stuck in their heads...
HUNTER: 'Wow, when can I see you live?'; 'Where can I buy the CD?' My favorite: 'Do you teach???'
Isaac: What can fans expect from you in the next five years?
PHILLIPS: This question has inspired me to a year-by-year forecast:
2010: Another CD is released, entitled: 'Another CD'. Also, RAINPACE ~ THE MUSICAL! (Starring Lady Gaga and George Strait) opens at the Broadhurst Theatre on Broadway. We sweep the Tony awards.
2011: After a triumphant world tour promoting our new baroque album, 'Minuets That Rock!' RainPace introduces its new line of rainwear and galoshes. So chic ... so sophisticated ... so water repellent.
2012: RainPace is a worldwide franchise, with 75 bands on tour that look JUST LIKE US and sound JUST LIKE US. We release a CD of poignant southern ballads: 'Oh William Faulkner We Hardly Knew Ye'.
2013: 'Christmas Schmismus! ', the new RainPace holiday album, is available exclusively at Target. The latest Nielson ratings show that THE RAINPACE COMEDY HOUR has replaced REBA as 'the funniest damn show on TV'.
2014: Beset by internal turmoil (Mike Hunter has declared he no longer wants to play music but now simply MUST DANCE!), plagued by poor business decisions and failing teeth, RainPace records a farewell album: 'On Your Knees Slaves and Swear Allegiance!' (The first comeback tour is scheduled for 2015.)
Isaac: Time for some shout outs to your family, friends, and fans...
PHILLIPS: A big ol' How-do to the Piney Woods of East Texas (Dad that means you). Also, a special Bonk on the noggin' to those intrepid souls on the Boliver Peninsula. I miss it so.
TULLOUS: To paraphrase Meredith Willson, my family would give me their shirts -- and their backs to go with 'em. They ROCK! Also, love to Randall Meade, from our previous group, Changing Lanes -- he taught me about the driving rhythms behind the best high-lonesome bluegrass sound.
EVANS: Thanks for playing our songs and following us around. Keep coming back! Buy our new CD!
HUNTER: I would like to thank Debbie Hunter for putting up with an artist like me, Steven, Lisa, and Kayden, just for being supportive.
SALAS: I'd like to say hello to the Salas family and to my friend, Ellen in Dallas.
Isaac: Final words...
EVANS: 'He died much too young.'
TULLOUS: I want music to provoke me - not to soothe or to coddle. I'm a punk at heart. Moonlight Sonata? Meh -- I skip straight to the presto agitato movement, for that hot drive to the orgasmic high. Oh, and if I never hear vocal histrionics again, I will die happy.
SALAS: I'd like to thank you, Isaac, and the others who contribute to the Junior's Cave community, for giving us a chance to be heard.
