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Tell me about your involvement with The Hennegan Brothers film, The First Saturday in May, (see trailer at bottom of this page). How did you get involved with that project?
We grew up together. Before The First Saturday in May, Brad (Hennegan) had hired us to do some commercial work when he was a creative director for USA Network and CSTV. I first spotted The First Saturday in May with John (Hennegan) and was immediately drawn into the story of these people and horses trying to win the Kentucky Derby. It is amazing to me how small the eye of the needle is. Forty thousand horses are born each year for the Derby but only twenty make it. The film documents six separate journeys to the big day, one being the story of Barbaro and his trainer, Michael Matz. We all know what happened there, but frankly, the other stories were just as compelling.
One of our goals musically was to give each team, (horse, trainer, jockey, owner), a voice. For example, there was a trainer named Frank, who was a New York guy and he had very NYC blue collar characteristics, so we gave him some Rap and Hip Hop. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there was Bob from Arkansas who was the oldest trainer in the Derby. His voice was that of southern American Folk Stephen Foster-type music.
Another important challenge musically was to emphasize the anxiety and tension these people experience in the moments leading up to and during the race. The Hennegans' did a good job of pointing us into a direction with their guide music. They put up sequenced keyboard music to these scenes that was very transient and repetitive --think of the beginning of "Emminence Front". I love Thomas Newman, a legendary film composer whose music I often listen to. So I tried combining sequenced keyboard music with the Thomas Newman–like marimbas, vibes, kalimbas and hand percussion. Then Billy did some nifty guitar work where we muted the decay of the notes, a trick from Brian Eno and David Byrne, and I think we came up with something that worked. This also helped give the music a semi-modern twist, which juxtaposed the classic American acoustic guitar-driven style that was prominent throughout.
The film opens with Gordon’s rendition of “My Old Kentucky Home”. It’s funny, when he cut it, he wanted to use just one microphone -- meaning that we couldn’t separate the vocals from the guitar. He played a guitar that was intentionally out of tune and he wouldn’t play to a click track. I jokingly said that this was his way of saying, “you’re not putting any instruments over this because I’m in my own tuning, and only this guitar can accompany my voice, anything you add to this will be out of tune and out of time”. In the end, Gordon's intimate take is really captivating, and he did a great job with it. I guess one could compare it to a modern day Carter Family Recording with less hiss. Right in his wheel house!
That's kind of funny that Gordon set his guitar out of tune. Sounds like he can be a bit stubborn, but obviously he knew what he was doing. And I have no idea what you mean by "wheel house". Doesn't that have something to do with a boat? So this song was recorded on a boat?
I wouldn't call it stubborn. There have been many times when others have suggested ideas that Gordon came around on. But yes, he had a clear vision on this version, and usually when that's the case, it's best to let him carry it out. He did know what he was doing.
It's funny you say that because Billy brought a book of cliches and meanings to the recording studio, and we talked about "wheel house". The term came from a captain of a boat and the "wheel house" is where the captain steered his ship.....Where he was most effective.....I guess that's why I said it.
Besides GanoRyan, you guys are involved in many different projects. You and Billy with Mad Larry and scoring films through your company Ryan Bros. Music, and Gordon producing and doing performance work, etc. Tell me about these side projects and how do you have time to do it all?
Mad Larry is fun for Billy and I. Billy sings lead vocals which I think he enjoys. We started Mad Larry after The Bogmen broke up. Lately, we have been playing every other week at Bar 9 in Hell’s Kitchen, and we have fun performing some of our favorite songs and also our own songs. They have an upright piano which works great for me!
Scoring films and television is time consuming but for the most part, we enjoy it and it has pushed us into writing and producing styles of music that we otherwise would not approach on our own. Scoring The Heartbreak Kid was a real treat for Billy and I!
Recently I did string arrangements and horns for The New Pornographer’s record Challengers. I dabble in playing the trumpet and French horn, and usually I write the parts on the keyboard, but I often get to the point where I would much rather play the horn than to play a factory made preset, which usually sounds plastic and fake. So when I wrote the parts for Challengers, I decided to play the French horn. Frankly, I don’t even know how to play it, so I memorized the fingerings and just got through the parts well enough in the studio. It just so happens that one of the songs I played French horn on was their single, so they asked me to join them when they played the Letterman show. Needless to say I was a little nervous, and my pitch was a little shaky!
Recently, I joined The New Pornographers at Webster Hall in NYC, and they asked Gordon to make a guest appearance. Gordon showed up late into the set and the band backed Gordon on the Femmes tune, “I Held Her in My Arms”, and it was fantastic. The place went nuts and I got to play some of Steve McKay's parts on trumpet. Gordon did the solo on guitar. That was great!
That's pretty impressive that you played French horn without knowing how to play it? I bet Letterman dug it.
I cringe when I hear how out of tune it was, but the band said it sounded fine. I think they were just being polite. Letterman gave me a wink and that's it. The horn section in Paul Shaffer's band gave me a wave. These days, us horn guys gotta stick together! I waved my horn right back at him.
Speaking of The Heartbreak Kid, I read somewhere that the Farrelly brothers, who directed that film, and which you and Billy scored, said that they wanted to license, “Under The Sun” for their film Stuck on You, but the song was too powerful for the film. What are your thoughts about that?
We wrote the song for ourselves and not for the film, but it just so happens that it almost made it into their comedy Stuck On You. After that, I noticed that a lot of comedies actually do have ballads that are about heartbreak. It turns out that at the very last edit they substituted “Under The Sun” with a harmonica version of “Moon River”.
Still, I know that the Farrelly brothers liked the song and hopefully it will get licensed for a great scene one day. Actually, it was recently almost licensed for a funeral scene for a tv show, but I can’t remember which one.
You have a lot of exciting projects going on with your company Ryan Bros. Music. How did you get involved with scoring films? How long have you been doing this?
About nine or ten years ago we started doing commercial work. Scoring to a picture is a whole different art form than writing 3-5 minute rock songs. After doing commercials we got into film work and I love it. I think Johnny Greenwood’s recent score for “There Will Be Blood” is incredible. The first 20-30 minutes of the film has very little dialogue and the music really moves the story along in a chilling way. I hope to do that one day.
The Bogmen were very influential in the NY music scene. How does the work you’re doing now compare with The Bogmen, and what’s your opinion of the indie music scene today?
BILLY: The work Brendan and I are doing is the same thing basically. We just try to interpret all the music we like. Hopefully we have an original sound.
I'm trying to figure out the indie scene today. I like the fact that bands can do it all on their own. Can they make money? We’re trying to figure that out. I guess it’s all about playing live.
BRENDAN: I agree with Billy’s comments. I also think that The Bogmen’s music had a lot more layers and was packed really tight. Sometimes it worked great, and in retrospect I think sometimes it was too dense and complicated for the average listener. What we are doing with Gordon is more simple and sparse. I’m sure that is because Gordon’s style and approach to writing is more simple than mine, generally speaking. Hey John Lennon and Neil Young are geat examples of simplicity being genius.
I like the fact that today people can listen to satellite radio, which is commercial free, and has a vast selection of stations that are designated to specific genres of music. It wasn’t so long ago that we were limited to a few rock stations that are packed with commercials and have limited playlists. I also like that you can see the artist’s names on satellite radio. I think this is helping people to discover new artists, as is the internet.
The problem with the music industry is that music lovers are getting used to downloading or copying music for free, so in turn, the record business has suffered a great deal.
This is why the 360 deal has become the new business model for labels and artists. In a 360 deal, the label takes a percentage of additional income streams from the artist besides record sales, i.e. publishing, merchandise, licensing, etc. At first, that scared me, but I think I am coming to the understanding that it should be beneficial for the label to have a piece of those income streams so that they have an incentive in the artist’s growth as a complete package.
I remember when The Bogmen did a tour opening for Kiss. We played in front of 15,000 a night - the Kiss Army didn’t like us very much - but we were not allowed to sell our CD or merchandise at the venue because those sales wouldn’t register on Soundscan. That made no sense to me. Even if 10 percent of the audience liked us, we could have sold some units.
Yeah, when I read on The Bogmen's site about The Bogmen opening for Kiss, I was a little surprised. That had to be a little funny and uncomfortable?
Exactly. Musically we had nothing in common with them. Our singer, Bill Campion, had a ball jawing with the audience and impersonating Paul Stanley. The only cheer we got was when we would announce that, "this is our last song". The rest were just "booo's." As loud as you can imagine! Still, it's fun to talk about.
What kinds of music do you listen to? Any favorite bands or groups?
It depends on what day it is. And I know Billy and Gordon listen to all kinds of music. Lately, I have been listening to a lot of New Orleans pianists. Mostly Doctor John’s, “All By Himself”, and James Booker's, “Spiders on the Keys”, as well as film composers like Eliot Goldental who scored the film Frida, and Luis Bacalov who scored Il Postino.
But, what originally turned Billy and I into music was The Beatles, Stones, Neil Young, The Dead, Elvis Costello, The Doors, etc. Later on, bands like Talking Heads, World Party, Velvet Underground, and The Clash came to the forefront. And of recent bands, I love Wilco, Spoon and Radiohead, The New Pornographers, and Andrew Bird to name a few.
Besides music, what do you guys do for fun?
Gordon likes to read a lot and he probably sees music and art more than Billy and I. Billy and I grew up playing sports, but the older we get the less that seems to be working out for us. A couple years ago I broke a finger playing basketball and that held me up with some projects. And Billy has had more injuries than Super Dave Osbourne.
I bet Super Dave Osbourne is jealous of Billy. Maybe he should get his own stunt gig going.
As long as he has a stunt double. One thing the Ryan brother's are is accident prone! My parents are still paying medical bills!
What’s next for GanoRyan?
Right now we are booking some shows and trying to figure out how best to play these songs live. We have a lot to choose from, and although the songs are pretty straight ahead, we did do a good amount of overdubbing on the record. So, making that translate live is a focus for us right now.
Translating studio work to live performance is kind of the opposite of what happened with The Bogmen, so you have experience with that.
That's true, and this is done the exact opposite way. With GanoRyan, the studio came before live performance. I look forward to mixing it up live, and not being too attached to what we did in the studio. I think there is room to let things breathe live, and possibly stretch some stuff out.
Anything you would like to add?
Sure. Check out ganoryan.com, and if you hear a song that you are not crazy about, don’t cross us off your list. There’s a lot of diversity here. Also, we’re not crazy about our name, so if anyone has any ideas, post them on our MySpace.
And, oh yeah, if anyone wants to sign us, you can send us a message too.
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