Lowdown Hokum Orchestra
Lowdown Hokum Orchestra are a unique band with something special going on this. So naturally wanted to find out more.
1. What was the inspiration for the up coming album?
The album is the soundtrack to our Fringe Festival piece called “That’s Showbiz”. The songs can best be described as on the bluesier and jazzier side of Americana and it’s our attempt to get roots music in front of a larger audience. The show combines really hot playing and singing with theatre and burlesque and every element reinforces the others. It’s a lot of fun.
2. How did the songwriting process go for the album?
This album is mostly re-arrangements of other folk’s tunes – Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, Muddy Waters, which was a great process to go through because of the strength of the material. I am a songwriter, but I think just recording a song because it’s your own is not necessarily the name of the game. We are losing the great art of vocal interpretation. Mostly the only place you can see that now is on talent shows.
3. What was the recording process like for the album?
We took the band down to a big studio and recorded all of the tracks live – 2 or 3 takes at most – so we could get as close as possible to what we do live. I took the files back to my home studio and tinkered with them a bit and added a few overdubs and mixed and mastered it there.
4. Did you prepare for the recording process or what is it a case of see what happens in the studio?
We had done the songs live a few times and basically knew what we were going to do. The studio always throws up it’s own set of issues though. What plays well to a live crowd doesn’t always translate to a good performance in the studio. Like most working bands we thrive on feedback from the audience and that colours the performance a lot.
5. How was the recording process different to earlier material?
This is the first time I’ve ever had all of the band in the studio playing at the same time. I think it’s the way to go. I’m never going to do an album like Dark Side of The Moon where hours were spent just getting the snare drum sound. The business has changed too. There is so much downloading and pirating, file sharing and swapping that you need product that comes out frequently – to keep the whole thing fresh – and it needs to reflect what the audience just saw and heard because that’s where most CD’s will be sold, at gigs.
6. What did you learn from recording the album that you will take away for future releases?
Keep the vibe live.
7. Are you happy how things have gone so far for the band?
The reviews are great, the CD got to number 11 on the Blues and Roots Chart 2nd week in and the show get’s really good reviews. So far, so good.
8. What buzz do you get out of playing live?
Performing is what most musicians do to keep sane. You wouldn’t do it or the money. Having an audience love what you do is the best drug going around. At the end of the day music is a dialect of mathematics, which is the language of the universe. I think that’s why every culture on the planet has a musical component. It’s communication on an elemental level. All the listener and the musician have to do is tune in to one another and something wonderful happens.
9. Do you have rituals before playing a show?
I like to get to gig early, set-up, sound-check and then rest for a bit. I don’t eat a meal or drink alcohol before a show.
10. What do you love about playing live?
I love meeting people after the gig. If are a performer and you don’t like people, you are in the wrong business.
