I have a line about Steven Wilson – the best musician that you will never have heard of. Meet another one. Andy Liotta. I had the good pleasure to be exposed to Andy’s recent album … ‘Monday Songs‘ – and loved it so much – I asked if we could do a short interview to help him promote his work. He agreed. Format as always – a set of questions that spring to my mind – and the artists responses in turn.
Enjoy – except – just one more thing – in case you hadn’t realised – i LOVE this album – and his influencer list – well l- what is not to love about XTC AND ‘The Dukes’ … oh – and The Beatles !
BTW – You Should Just Buy It – - Go Here.
1] ‘Monday Songs’ – Where does the title come from?
AL] I have a website, mondaysongs.com, where I post new music on most Mondays. I write the songs during the week and perform/record/mix them over the weekend. To this I add a pithy blog post – sometimes fiction, sometimes a description of the songwriting process. All the songs on the album were originally posted on the site, so you can hear the ‘demo versions’ there.
Monday Songs itself is just a good description of my music, as Monday is often thought of as a day of woe, and I tend to focus on downbeat subject matter. Even the happy songs tend to have an element of reality to them that makes the song a bit more of a challenging listen. The title also works because the songs tend to be about ordinary events, as opposed to exaggeration. It’s also a nice internal rhyme. And the domain wasn’t taken, so…
2] Scott (Schorr) mentioned to me that you are self sufficient one man music machine – have to say – how you combine all the instruments is a singular delight – which is your prime instrument? Which is your favorite instrument?
AL] I played piano for many years, so that would be my prime instrument. Ninety percent of the songwriting is done on a piano, often using the Beatles method of finding interesting chord shapes and then moving fingers around. It’s a good way to escape the theory. I like to create beauty out of something odd and dissonant. That usually leads to odd and dissonant lyrics.
My favorite instrument is probably the bass, which I also use in the Beatles manner, as the last instrument tracked, providing a bottom as well as a melodic counterpoint to the rest of the tune. I aspire to the bass playing on “A Day in The Life” or “Something,” or Colin Moulding’s playing in XTC. Most of the bass on Monday Songs was layered on as the final piece in the puzzle, which is funny, because the lines – like on “Nadine,” “Gravity,” or “(Pump Up The) Valium” – became the key part of the rhythm section. When you slot it in last, you get to play off the vocals and other nuggets hidden in the track. It’s usually the most fun part of the recording.
3] Care to share the specifics of the tools of your trade – both on the musical front and the technical front – some of my readers do get kicks from the technology used to produce sounds on albums.
AL] I use Pro Tools and Reason as my main music software. I am very fond of Waves plugins and use their Renaissance Channel and RVerb on pretty much everything. Still, the most important piece of technology is the Nord Stage II. It’s the single greatest piece of gear I have ever owned. Except for the ukulele, bass, and reason drums, pretty much everything else is the Nord. It has impeccable piano sounds, each with a lot of unique character. It has incredible modeled organs, particularly their Hammond. And they have the entire Mellotron and Chamberlain library, which means I get the flutes from Strawberry Fields, the strings from Court of the Crimson King, the Genesis choir. I didn’t use any guitar or a drum kit on the album, though I beat some single drums here and there, and did not shy away from the ear candy – shakers, tambourine, etc.
4] Bit of a personal question – family influences. As I grew up – I was exposed to the musical art-form – think West Side Story, Cabaret, The Music Man, ALL the Gene Kelly films, and of course all the Oscar and Hammerstein work … you get the drift. My question centers on your family influences I have listened through Monday Songs many many times – and I keep here musical nods and references back to those halcyon days. Were botho/either of your parents musical athletes, performers, (amateur of professional) – or in any way an aficionado of the musical form.
AL] I think there are a number of influences here. My father did indeed sing in the late 50s, early 60s in NYC: he has great stories about Lenny Bruce, Barbra Streisand, Mike Nichols and Elaine May. He was on the Ed Sullivan show twice. But by the time I came along, he was making commercials in NYC, and he wasn’t as much of an influence on that sound as you might think.
The real influence for that style was more likely Warner Bros cartoons and the Little Rascals. Those shows, and the Twilight Zone, pretty much defined my childhood. The Little Rascals music is beautiful, energetic and complex, and the Warner soundtracks are chock full of clever twists, twentieth-century harmony, and hilarious references to the pop music of the day. I discovered the torch singers later in life. I love Sinatra – particularly Only The Lonely – as well as the King Cole Trio, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday. Also more novelty stuff from the 30s, like the Mills Brothers or the Boswell Sisters. So a few of the songs have more sophisticated chord structures and plaintive vocals, most notably ‘The Weather,’ ‘Still Life,’ and ‘Lost and Found.’ You can blame Bugs Bunny.
Primarily, the late 60s and early 70s is the era I identify with the most, and there was a good deal of “old-fashioned” music-hall style coming from Donovan, the Kinks, Nilsson, The Beatles, as well…
5] Will tell you straight up – I am not typically a fan of the singer / song writer format – I can appreciate it – but Sting doesn’t do it for me outside of The Police, James Blunt, Bruno Mars, Jack Johnson – no interest and many more we could discuss. I have to say I am a sucker for Peter Himmelman – and now Andy Liotta – tell me – what other Singer-Songwriters do you look to?
AL] I’m going to try to use the Beatles in every answer… J I think the “White Album” is one of the greatest of all time. Especially when you consider they recorded Sgt Peppers only eighteen months before. That album is a school for singer-songwriters. Every tune unique and individualistic. They essentially invented the Indie sound. I also love Harry Nilsson, Randy Newman, Loudon Wainwright III, Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell, Emitt Rhodes. I don’t listen to as much modern music, but there are a few notable exceptions. Unfortunately, many of my favorites are no longer with us: Elliott Smith, Vic Chesnutt, Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse.
6] Nadine was an inspired choice to open the album. Had me in less than a minute – and that made be then go through the rest …. how did you choose the final order – is there a logic ? And why was Nadine first?
AL] Actually ‘Being With You’ opens the album. (Just shows how much attention I paid !! In my defence – I had just had it on a giant loop //JP !!!)The long drum intro in Nadine made it better for second. ‘Being With You’ has a bit more bounce and felt more welcoming as an introduction. Then the floor opens up with Nadine and down you go…
6A] Is Nadine someone we should know?
AL] I told the story on my blog – Nadine was the second song I recorded (I just posted #82 this morning). The name comes from a girl in Junior High School that the cool kids called the “Header Machine.” I’ve never been comfortable with cruelty, so it made me wonder what her life was like outside of this torment. She stuck with me over the years, and I wondered how she turned out. Never saw her after eighth grade. I have a thing for lost souls, especially when they are hiding in plain sight. I guess I wrote my own ending.
7] So many artists release an awesome first album – sometimes it takes two – but then rapidly degenerate to nothing or simple of reworks of their previous disks …. I have this feeling that this wont happen with you – there is such variety on the album that I know that we will be entertained by your work for years to come. Are they written already? In your head? Recorded? Or will the creative urge simply take care of itself when needed?
AL] Like I mentioned, I have eighty-two songs on my site. I have plans to make another album using sixteen of those, so that leaves me with fifty four more to exploit. And I also have two albums before this under the name The Billie Burke Estate. That was my make believe psychedelic band, but it was just me playing pretty much everything, and it wasn’t that psychedelic. I just loved the name, though. There are a number of songs on those albums that would qualify as Monday Songs, but they’re a bit more up and down, fast and slow. I like the through line in Monday Songs better, but the earlier albums have a lot of strong material on them. Those albums came out of a different set of demos, of which about sixty exist. And I keep a file on my computer with ideas – some good and some not so good. I have well over three hundred there. I rarely use those nuggets for Monday Songs, though. So I’m confident I can keep cranking out solid music.
8) Any plans for touring ?
AL] No. I’m not making any real attempts at the moment to play out. Part of what Monday Songs meant, was writing, recording and shipping songs. That is what I love to do. I’ve had some great shows over the years, but I don’t love performing, at least not alone in coffee shops and living rooms. It’s a huge amount of work and stress for little return. I do quite a bit of singing in my house with my wife, Kristin. Two-part harmony hitting guilty pleasures of the 70s: 10cc, Bee Gees, Billy Joel, etc. If you ever stop by, we’re not bashful.
9) Who are the musicians / artists that you truly admire – that you listen to your self ?
AL] I mentioned a number above. I’ll add some others, top of which would be XTC. ‘Skylarking’ and ‘Apple Venus’ are just perfect albums. Also their fake psychedelic stuff from the Dukes of Stratosphear. Unexpected chords and melodies, clever lyrics, heart, courage. I love that band. Let’s see, what else… Beach Boys ‘Pet Sounds,’ Radiohead ‘OK Computer,’ Bjork ‘Selmasongs.’ A little known NY band called Johnny Society: that their album ‘Clairvoyance’ is not known to the world is a tragedy. Unfortunately, talent is not the cornerstone of a successful music career. I also like hard rock, which inspires my music as well: Soundgarden, Black Sabbath, Helmet. I’m leaving a ton of folks out here. Let see, Neil Young, Nick Drake, Gillian Welch, I could go on. There are at least a hundred bands I’m leaving out…
9A) Best artist of all time ?
AL] After the Beatles? Lennon or McCartney. Though I could go a different angle and say Chopin or Debussy, who I love. John Coltrane or Billy Strayhorn. Mingus. Monk. Willie Nelson, Tribe Called Quest, Fatlip. What genres am I leaving out? J I will say, with regard to the Beatles, I’ve always been a John Lennon guy. Butin the last few years, I’ve switched over. From Revolver on, it was Paul’s band, and he made everyone better. “Taxman” and “Come Together” weren’t his tunes, but they were his basslines. The opening to “Strawberry Fields” or “Lucy in the Sky”… Paul. The guy is a monster musician. He definitely errs on the side of the treacle, and doesn’t have the balls of Lennon, but as a craftsman, I don’t think the guy has an equal.
10) Do any of them influence your work ?
AL] I’m influenced by everything. I could point to phrases in many of my songs and tell you the reference. I do a lot of that at the Monday Songs site. Pointing to influences. I used to be worried it would sound like I cribbed the tunes off someone else. But there is something about how I sing and play just blends them all into my own special soup. My music sounds mostly like my music. I suppose there are some limitations I set that reinforce this reality. None of the influence is ever conscious, but I notice it once it’s recorded. It’s like the rules I’ve developed for songwriting all come from listening to thousands and thousands of hours of great music, from all genres. I mainly play what I hear. At times the music reminds me of a band. Steely Dan, for instance. There are chords that make me say Steely Dan, but the context you find them in is not at all Steely Dan. So my secret is safe. Or at least it was safe, until now…
11) As a newly emerging artist, you are entering a very strange world where the old model is broken and the new model is not yet understood – and in fact embraces so many different possibilities that you could totally sink – does the thought inspire you as ‘YES’ – I am in command of my own success – no need of the music factory – or wow – this is daunting – how the hell am I going to do this ?
AL] The honest answer is that I don’t really care what other people want. There is a LOT of bad music out there, folks seeking popularity, wanting to become soundtracks for other people’s lives. I don’t think about that at all. I have a job. I make good money. That allows me to make the music that I want to hear. And when I listen to the music after the fact, I like what I hear. It’s quite rewarding. I write music that I wish existed. But I’m a weirdo who loves music from an era now long gone. I don’t possess the slightest bit of salesmanship. I’m too honest. It gets me in trouble all the time. But in making music, it’s a perfect place to be. It’s hard to build an audience nowadays, there are too many bands, too much noise… it’s hard to get heard. Seems to me that whole thing is another lottery. Talent helps, but there are other more important things. Things I don’t care about. I would love for a ton of people to hear my music, I think I would have many fans out there, but I just don’t have the DNA to do a good job seeking them out. And I don’t have the time.
11A] Do you have a social media presence that we can lock down on ?
AL] At present, no. I hate that stuff. I’m also terrible at it. In fact, I think I mainly hate it because I’m terrible at it. I had pages for monday songs, but it didn’t make any sense after I released an album called monday songs. Ah, the genius of foresight. I’ve been planning to revamp my website and get band pages going, but I haven’t had the time. Would be nice to be less obscure. For mow, the best way to get me is through the mondaysongs.com site, there’s commenting, blogging, and over five and a half hours of music…
12) How did you and scott originally meet and decide to work together
AL] I was playing in a hard rock band called Walrus (we thought of ourselves as Helmet beats the Beatles), and we were shopping around some songs off an upcoming album. Someone who heard it had the ingenious thought that Scott Schorr might like it. And indeed he did. This was 1996, I think. Though we didn’t work together on the immediate release, I worked with Scott on a number of projects over the years, but not my solo material. Until now. He remains a die-hard Walrus fan to this day.
13) which is your favourite song on Monday Songs – and why ?
I think “(Pump Up The) Valium” is probably my favorite. Part of the reason is that it was the last song written before the album, which made it the freshest to work on, and the last song added to the setlist. It’s also moody, atmospheric, and over seven minutes. I love long songs. “Supper’s Ready” by Genesis is a favorite. “Valium” also has one of my best choruses. That thing haunted me for weeks. The monster had turned on its creator…
That said, the song “Helium/Up, Up, and Away” would be most important. It tells the story of a manic episode I had back in the 90s. Wound up in the psyche ward for a week. Both the darkest and brightest period of my life. I love the song, and the video that goes with it is great (if I do say so myself). There is an inspired homage to Bugs Bunny in there. And more important still, this is the blueprint for my next album, which will be called Up, Up, and Away, and I’ll use the Hindenberg photo (see Zeppelin 1) if I can pull it off. That album will be the sixty minute version of the story, all plucked from existing Monday Songs. I’m also planning to write a memoir about the experience as well as produce a full length video that accompanies the songs. I like a challenge.
14} When is your next Album due for release ?
AL] I was planning that it would come out around my fiftieth birthday, fall 2015. That should give me plenty of time. I’ll be releasing songs on the mondaysongs.com site in the interim.
15] One of my favourite artists releases multiple versions of his catalogue – which I actually enjoy, getting different angles on the same song – from that writer. Then again – when Trevor Horn did EXACTLY that in the 80s with Frankie Goes To Hollywood – I thought it was a total rip off – I guess it depends on how engaged and aware you are of the music you are listening to – what is your position – and should we expect (say) a hard rock meets electronica remix of Monday Songs any time soon ?
AL] I don’t think so, but the original versions exist on the site. Actually, I am taking a few Monday songs, “10 O’Clock News” is one of them, and I’m going to try to translate them into Walrus tracks. I turned a Walrus song into a Monday Song with “Wake,” so it only seems fair.
16] tell me one thing that the world out there doesn’t know about you
AL] Pretty sure no one out there knows anything about me. I subtitled the Monday Songs site, “The best songwriting you’ve never heard.” Seemed about right.
But if you want an odd fact, how about this: my music career began with a criminal act. I robbed a neighbor’s house when I was eight years old, back in 1974, and in an episode worthy of the annals of good parenting, my mother deduced that I had too much time on my hands, which translated into piano lessons. Out of the darkness the music began. I’ve been keeping it dark ever since …
