Gee Davey is a four piece formed from the remains of a handful of bands local to New York. Gee Davey is Jack Bielata as vox, Michael Bontempi behind the kit, Wayne Macgregor on bass and DJ Pearlman on guitar, DJ did an email interview with me in June/06.
If you've been in bands before this one, how has the experience been different this time around?
DJ: This band really seems to be the most 'business-like' project I've ever done. We put the band together initially just to write and record. At the time, everyone was pretty tired of the live scene around here, and we were all in to putting together a good quality project; perhaps trying to play the whole business a little smarter instead of just going out and playing at every opportunity. It really is a lot more fun and productive when everyone is in the same headspace.
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What is it about this line up that makes it work?
DJ: Probably the collective experience of everyone in the band. As ridiculous as it sounds, it's nice to have a band where everyone can actually play their instrument. It makes it easier to just do things, and that really aids in the creative processes.
Tell me about the recording process for Sparticle. Where / with who was it done?
DJ: Recording this CD was a very different experience from all the others I've done. We had planned to record the CD early in 2005. We had plenty of material done, and it seemed like a good time to really put our stuff down. We had already done a pair of 3-song CDs and we felt like a full-length album was the right call. We had some interest in the project at the time... nothing concrete, but I had the sense that if we gave some people something they liked, we might be on to something. We started to run into all kinds of scheduling conflicts with day jobs and families, and our time frame was quickly getting shot to hell. We finally decided to get the band together over a weekend and track the music for three of the songs, and then get Jack (vox) in the following weekend to lay the vocals. Surprisingly enough, that actually all worked out, and after a month or so of mixing and mastering we put out 100 units of the Sparticle EP, which we gave away to anybody in the business we could find that would take it. Unfortunately, we weren't immediately signed, so we figured that we'd better finish the album. :oP
After fumbling around for months with more problems in scheduling, and the eventual relocation of Jack to upstate NY, Wayne (bass) and I decided just to head into the studio ourselves and finish it. And that's exactly what we did. We spent 4 months tracking all the instruments in our studio, and preparing for vocals. When it came time for them, Jack and I decided that since nothing particularly pressing was riding on this album any more, and it would be a fairly large hardship on him and his family to take time from work and fly down for the sessions, that I would just sing the remaining tracks on the album. So in early January of 2006 we finished tracking. We mixed for a month or so, including remixing the 3 songs from the original EP, and then sent it out to be mastered and packaged and... poof... out came Sparticle.
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Promo plans for the new disc?
DJ: Honestly, we aren't really sure. It seems like the best way to advertise these days is online, but it’s really hard to tell what the right move is when you have a small budget to work with and truly an infinite number of outlets to choose from. Currently were toying with doing an ad campaign with myspace, but I haven't a clue what that'll actually do for us. I mean it's nice to have 'friends' on myspace right? But I'd like people to buy the CD, or spark some sort of interest in the project at least.
We are also desperately trying to land music on a movie, TV, or gaming soundtrack. We're very definitely newbies in this particular arena, so we're reaching out everywhere we can, trying to promote it to the right places for that too. Well, that's the plan anyway...
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Are you looking for label support? What are you looking for in a label?
DJ: Well, yes label support would be absolutely wonderful, but the reality of it is that the major labels aren't touching anyone like us, and the best indie labels are so involved with their bands that they aren't taking a lot of new bands either, so what's left is a bunch of mini-labels that don't really offer you much, or brand new labels, some of which are really great, but you just have no way of knowing that, until you hook up with them, which, if you get the wrong one, can be disastrous.
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DJ on what makes the lineup of Gee Davey work
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'As ridiculous as it sounds, it's nice to have a band where everyone can actually play their instrument. It makes it easier to just do things, and that really aids in the creative processes.'
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What I'd like in a label is really just like that proverbial “other” member of the band. I fully expect everyone in the band to bring their instrument to the table, and I would need the label to do the same. It really comes down to the management and/or label to really steer the band. I mean, I don't know what to do here most of the time. And more importantly, I don't have the resources to promote, or cajole people in the industry to really give us a listen. I'm pretty sure if a band can hook up with the right label (that's right for them), and there is a good product in play, it’s a slam-dunk. …at least that's what I'm hoping for.
How important is it to you to be hands on about all the non musical aspects of the band? (fliers, CD artwork, web design)
DJ: It’s not. I do it sometimes, because it has to get done. I
mean our logo is a stick-figure dog, right? I will say this though, for
the Sparticle cover, I really wanted something nice, so I had it professionally
done, and all I submitted to them were some thoughts I had for the concept
of it... along with the meaning of a "Sparticle", and viola. we pretty
much got back the cover that we went with. So, I suppose if I had insisted
on controlling that little aspect of it, we would have wound up with another
crappy CD cover, instead of what I think is a truly fantastic one.
Do you feel that you have any specific challenges or advantages being from/based in Melville?
DJ: Here’s the thing with Long Island... (Melville is towards the middle)... no matter how good the scene out here ever gets, you are constantly in the shadow of New York City, which is 45 minutes away (about). And it's difficult for an island-based band to pull off the city because if you don't live there, then most of your friends don't live there, and so most of your friends won't go see you there. The last band I was in we played at CBGB's (in NYC) a handful of times to maybe 20 people or so that were there to either see the band before us or the band after us. But then we'd play some real shithole on the Island and 100+ people would show up. And they'd tell us, why would we go into the city to see you, when we could see you here.
What are you working on right now?
DJ: Acoustic Sparticle. I'm currently tracking 5 of the songs from Sparticle in acoustic form. I, personally, think they are really good, strong songs, and even though I love the way they sound on Sparticle, I’ve been finding lately that every 'great song' or 'great songwriter' someone is telling me about, is always this very scaled-down performance, where you really catch the gist of the 'song', because that is all that’s there. I’ve played around with some of the songs for some people, and I keep getting really good feedback, almost to the point that I wonder if they even realize they are the same songs from the Sparticle CD. Anyway, I figured I'd give it a shot while I have some downtime, and hopefully people will really like it.
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The Playlist
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DJ's Playlist
1. Tool - The Pot
2. Pearl Jam - Life Wasted
3. Gee Davey - Skye [acoustic] *I said I was working on it :o)
4. Rob Zombie - American Witch
5. Dixie Chicks - Not Ready to Make Nice *a little embarrassing, but some excellent lyrics
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