Picking the brain of David Mead.

Just to set up how this conversation started, MONO headquarters got an inside connection from a special friend of ours connecting us to Mr. David Mead. I wanted to see what he was up to, so I threw a couple of questions his way. Here is what we came up with.

MONO's mini-interview with David Mead


photo by Heidi Ross

MONO: Your most recent release, Almost and Always, is available through Noise Trade (part of it at least). How did that come about?

DM: I had known Derek Webb, one of NT's founders, for a few years but had kind of lost touch with him. Then I ran into him this past Summer just after I had finished recording A&A. He told me about NT and I was so excited about it that I rode my bike home, burned a copy of the album and brought it straight back to him. The timing was fortuitous because I had been pondering the possibility of giving the album away; NT has essentially made that possible while also providing the opportunity for me to gather email info that is sorted geographically so that I can stay in touch with the people who have downloaded the album.


MONO: The album seems to be a lot more intimate than your previous release, Tangerine. In many ways it's even more stripped down than Indiana, what spawned the release of this album?

DM: Conceptually, I was very inspired by an album called 'Nilsson Sings Newman,' an often overlooked record of Harry Nilsson singing the songs of Randy Newman. The arrangements on it basically consist of Nilsson's vocals and Newman's piano playing. Bill DeMain turned me onto the album around the time my marriage started to fall apart and it ended up kind of being the soundtrack for that situation. When it came time to record A&A, I decided I wanted to do something very similar; my life was in total upheaval and I had just quit drinking so I felt very raw and exposed. I thought that the best move would be to embrace that instead of covering it up or embellishing it with a lot of ornate production. I felt like the emotion of the songs and the situation would fill in the gaps. Plus it's a lot cheaper to utilize your own angst than to hire more musicians.



MONO: It really seems like you're having a great time when I listen to the tunes...with 6 records under your belt, has the process of writing and recording gotten to a point where it's just getting together with your boys/girls and pressing record? or is it the same as day one...jitters (if that was the case at all).

DM: It's a lot different than day one, that's for sure. It would be nice to think that albums get made in vacuums, but the reality (at least for me) has been that they are very affected by external circumstance, as I mentioned above. So the difference between doing an independent album of misguided torch songs at age 34 as opposed to a major label debut at age 24 is pretty noticeable. The most important thing that I have learned is to be patient and to stay relaxed while knowing that, at best, a great album is just a snapshot of a period of time, never the end-all-be-all. You never get everything quite right, it could always be improved upon, but the job is to capture the moment in which it occurred. Knowing this takes a lot of pressure off the process and makes the entire experience a lot more enjoyable for me than it used to be.


MONO: I don't have liner notes for the newest release, who did you bring in to help with this album? Where was the album recorded?

DM: The album was recorded and mixed by Brad Jones at Alex The Great studios in Nashville. Most of it was recorded live with myself singing and playing ukelele or guitar, Bill DeMain (who co-wrote nine of the songs on the album) playing guitar and Tyson Rodgers playing piano or glockenspiel. We brought Chris Carmichael in to do strings and Jim Hoke played woodwinds on a few songs. Brad overdubbed upright bass where needed. I also played my dog Stan's chest for percussion. He didn't seem to mind.


MONO: Can you list off some gear that you used for the recording? Guitars? Amps? I am a gear slut...this is for my personal satisfaction.

DM: I hate to disappoint, but the whole damn thing was done on acoustic instruments with the exception of one Nord lead overdub that Tyson did on 'Mojave Phone Booth.' I played a Favila Baritone ukulele and borrowed Bill's antique Martin D-28 for a few things. He played that and a Yamaha 12-string, mostly. Tyson played the studio piano, which I believe is a Borgendorfer grand. I don't know any info about Chris and Jim's gear but it's all very pretty and very old. Stan is a six-year old Beagle/Bassett mix with a cavernous chest cavity and a predilection for laying still or long periods of time.


MONO: Lastly, I wanted to feature on the MONOlog Blog...5 albums our artists are listening to currently that they find they are always spinning. Call it an introduction to your current itunes playlist.

DM: I am actually a crappy person to ask... I have been spending a lot more time with alternative activities than music listening, but here are some that still take priority over apartment improvement, hiking and bird watching:

1. The Silver Seas, 'High Society'


2. Harry Nilsson, 'Nilsson Sings Newman'


3. Madi Diaz, 'Ten Gun Salute'


4. Swan Dive, 'Until'


5. Cameron McGill and What Army, 'Warm Songs For Cold Shoulders'

The work of Michael Kenna

Players, we're closing up shop for Christmas. Around this time of year I must say I miss seeing Philly and suburban PA covered in a quiet blanket of snow. Winter here in Cali means cold rain (I know, I know, rough life). So for everyone missing snow - or stuck in it - I'd like to leave you with the work of Michael Kenna, one of my favorite photographers.

Another Sound is Dying

The only thing that would have made the night better was a Mike Patton siting. It was early December in San Francisco and as I was heading up into the city (something I don't really like to do) I kept thinking to myself...this is my job. Going up to SF to listen to one of my favorite bands. The 45 minute drive didn't seem so bad after all. I was totally prepared as well, camera, flash...ear plugs.

I grabbed a Fat Tire at the bar when I got there and was sitting there collecting some thoughts. I had to ditch the beer halfway through after hearing word that the band was waiting for us outside. I could tell they were near the end of this tour, but I didn't know they were vanning it across the US like some band that was trying to make it. This is DUB TRIO!!! Not some college indie band trying to hit every dive bar from here to New Jersey. You could tell they did it for the love of playing music. It wasn't out of obligation to some record label or part of a contract. They rented a van, taking turns at the wheel and traveled thousands of miles to play for scattered fans across the USA. True dedication to their craft.

The bar they played was tiny. And didn't do them any justice, especially being a band that bases it's on dub. But the performance as usual was spot on.







Standing room only venues that only hold 50+ people are where these guys might end up playing shows, but they need to be seen by the masses. I don't know how much more I can say about them...they make music musicians can appreciate on so many different levels. One thing I know they will do, and that is stay true to the music.

This week's top spins at MONO studios!

We're going to try something new here. Actually it isn't new to us at MONO since we've all at one point shared music with one another either through Facebook or MOG. I swear we are always trading and suggesting bands that I decided to make it official and public to all our MONO players and fans. Let's start out with what's been spinning this monday morning, and what was spinning on our New York trip last week.

1. The Windupdeads - Self-Titled



This is the bands debut album and it is certainly one that might not be topped by this Swedish quartet. I would imagine that fans of Snow Patrol would really dig them and you can tell their influences span away from Sweden into UK territory. They sound a bit like a more indie pop version of the Longpigs. I hear a lot of Richard Hawley vocalesque crooning from the vocals at similar ranges. It's definitely worth a listen.

The Windupdeads - The End.mp3

2. Dub Trio - Another Sound is Dying



Heavy Dub is the new sound. Plain and simple. These guys make it look way too easy and it's painful thinking how good they are. D and I are always amazed how unfortunate so many people don't know who they are and have never heard their sound.
So it should by everyones dying wish to see them live...go...now!

Dub Trio - Bay vs. Leonard.mp3

3. David Mead - Almost and Always, Part I

David Mead has been on our radar for years. We were fortunate to catch him in San Francisco before MONO ever got off the ground and we were always talking about how awesome it would be to start this company and have DM use the products. That day will come very soon. So our gift to you is the opportunity to obtain some of Mr. Mead's wonderful music. He is currently working with a great label called NoiseTrade which follows the same principles of Radiohead's In Rainbows.

Lyrics Born

Caught LB with his sick band featuring his wife Joyo Velarde who has pipes from another world. She blew me away with a lot of soul. It hit me kind of hard, or maybe it was the subs that I was standing right next to. It was actually quite funny in fact, they didn't turn the subs on until the 4th song...and when they did...yeah, it felt like a soundwave of feeling up. I was actually worried my iphone was going to crack or something under the tremendous bass.



LB lit it up. He was working the crowd for every last breath and inch of energy that we could provide. Big Thomas McCree was at the kit, who is a soon to be MONO player. We first met him last year at NAMM. We finally got to hear him man the drums and he tore it up.