Hiya Automatic Candy, thanks for joining us in the virtual RGM lounge today. Grab a brew and take a seat.
What made you decide to make this record?
I can’t wait for the day that interviews don’t start with “during the pandemic” so apologies. During the pandemic, Kirk and I (Rob) passed back and forth files and made a record under our names called Iceberg Theory. Once it was safe to start playing shows we released that record and started playing more with Ari. As those shows went on I started writing more for the trio and once there were enough songs to go into the studio, we did just that.
Introduce us to you all and your musical history.
Rob Heath and Kirk Schoenherr went to college together in Columbus, Ohio but soon both moved to New York. We kept in touch over the years, played in lots of bands and from time to time would each get the chance to play with Ari Folman-Cohen. Ari was someone we both wanted to be in a band with and so we’re very lucky to have his talents in Automatic Candy. At this point, I think it’s safe to call all three of us veteran musicians of the New York City Jazz, Indie Rock, World and Experimental music scenes. We each lead multiple projects of our own and have played with a wide array of musical giants including Tegan and Sara, Chet Faker, Spencer Zahn, Elle King, Marcy Playground, Steve Earle, Aaron Lee Tasman, Jill Sobule, Pangari & The Socialites, Stephane Wrembel, The Harlem Gospel Choir and Jimmy Buffet.
What’s the live music scene like in New York right now? Anyplace we should be checking out when we visit?
It’s fertile. There are too many bands to mention and so many great places to play constantly popping up. It’s kind of the nature of New York to constantly evolve like that. Newer venues like Public Records, Elsewhere, Brooklyn Made and The Sultan Room are keeping the scene fresh; Nublu, Barbes and Bar Lunatico continue to host great avant-garde, world and jazz music and there’s no place on earth like The Village Vanguard. We made our home early on at Troost in Greenpoint and have nothing but love for that little room. This only scratches the surface but you get the point.
I’ve seen a lot of people struggling for support recently online. What’s your view on the industry?
It’s no secret. Things are hard out there. Being a musician has always been a difficult path but end-stage capitalism has squeezed the life out of, among many things, any creative endeavor, including music. Spotify’s dominance is no different than Amazon’s. Pay the CEOs huge bonuses and let the workers fight over scraps (or in the case of Spotify, the “exposure”). The idea that art needs to compete to “succeed” is already strange. But to have to compete with every single song, movie, tv show and piece of theater ever written, the news, Aunt Susan’s memes and the decision about how to best involve ourselves in “the revolution” (whatever that revolution is today) is enough to make anyone not want to make anything ever again. So we’re not really expecting support or an industry. We’re making this stuff because it’s fun and we think others will like it, if not now, then someday when this nightmare is over.
Tell us two truths and a lie about you.
Automatic Candy borrowed their name from a boxing term used in an illegal underground boxing club somewhere in central Ohio. One member of the band has a tribal tattoo from Bora Bora. “A Tall Vent” is a single from a yet-to-be-released-record called, Amuse Bouche.
Do you sign up to any conspiracy theories? If not, why not?
Conspiracy theories are utterly boring compared to real life lately so not really.
What was your best experience on stage?
Rob says he tapped out at 16 years old when he played to a stadium of 20,000 ppl in marching band.
What was your worst experience on stage?
Again, Rob: I have this recurring dream where I’m side-stage and about to go on with some huge hero of mine. We walk out together; they strap on their instrument, cozy up to a mic and I realize that the drums are sitting on the ground in pieces. I never sat them up! So I have to rush to set up the basics of whatever the first song is going to need, but it’s that dream-state need-to-rush-but-I’m-stuck-in-molasses feeling and I get the kick drum pedal on just in time for the down beat but there’s no stick for the backbeat on the snare … and then I wake up. I hope that never actually happens.
What are the next steps you plan to take as a band to reach the next level?
We’re going on tour with Tom Petty! I mean, I wish we had… The very next level is getting this record out into the world. We’ll continue playing shows and then after that we’re going to finish and release our next record that is already half recorded.
I hear you have new music. What can you tell us about it?
I thought you’d never ask! “A Tall Vent” is our newest single out on Nice Try Kid Records. After the initial basics performance, Ari layered an additional bass track collaboratively with our hot-shot engineer, Lorenzo Wolff, who also happens to be a bassist, at the helm of an effect processor that added this ridiculous and immersive, atmospheric swirling deep thing. If we ever remix it in Atmos it’s going to be crazy!
What was the recording process like?
Lorenzo is the best. His studio is a play land. There are toys everywhere. We had the songs sounding pretty good to begin with but I knew that if we recorded at Lorenzo’s spot (Restoration Sound) we’d find a new circus to run away with and I wasn’t wrong! I should also mention that we had Jeff Berner (Psychic TV, Shilpa Ray, Kurt Vile) at Studio G take a similar approach in mixing the record. I told him to be bold and he did not hold back. I love how Jeff mixes.
What was the biggest learning curve in writing the new tunes?
I’ve been trying to write simpler. Trying to let the other musicians dictate more parts and lend more of themselves. I knew that coming off of the project where Kirk and I passed the recordings back and forth, it was going to be really easy to overcook this one before we ever even got into the studio together. So the big challenge was to have enough meat of a song on paper when they came in that they could be inspired but not so much as to tie their hands.
Would you change anything now that it’s finished?
Not really. It’s a record of a time and place in our lives and I don’t like having too many useless regrets.
Thank you!
FOLLOW THEM HERE
🇺🇸 FOR MORE NEW MUSIC NEWS FROM THE USA CHECK OUT RGM USA 🇺🇸