Missouri
native Mike Metheny is world renowned for his flugelhorn playing
but with the 2015 CD release of Twelve For The Road hes
created an ambient fusion masterpiece of instrumental music. On Twelve
For The Road, Mike handles all the keyboard work and the flugelhorn
is only added to one track. Speaking about the album title, Mike says,
Ive recorded / produced 12 albums since 1982, hence the
title of the current CD Twelve For the Road. 12 is enough.
The process has become too expensive and stressful, and the ratio
of downloads to sales of my CDs is literally 5 to one. In his
CD liner notes, Mike singles out his parents and younger brother Pat
Metheny for their inspirations. Speaking to mwe3.com about the experimental
nature of Twelve For The Road, Mike explains, To say
this CD was experimental would be an understatement. In late 2013
I began dabbling with a program called Garage Band that
came with my computer but that Id never opened. Next thing I
knew I had a bunch of different tracks that were all generated by
a MIDI keyboard but were too crude to ever put on a CD. Thats
when a friend told me about Logic Pro X, and fortunately
I was able to convert all of the Garage Band files to
Logic and improve things. I was also able to add that
one flugel track using an old AKG microphone Ive had since 1978.
Talk about a homemade CD... Much of the music here is quite
relaxed in the spirit of Ennio Morricone or even Erik Satieand
yet there are a couple quite experimental numbers on the CD as well.
On Twelve For The Road, jazz legend Mike Metheny has crafted
an album that brings his inventive musical craft alive and well into
the 21st century. www.mikemetheny.com
mwe3.com
presents an interview with
MIKE METHENY
mwe3:
What kind of album did you set out to make with Twelve For The Road?
A lot of people are saying its a very different style from your
earlier albums. People know you for your flugelhorn and trumpet so
why did you choose to use the flugelhorn on only one cut on the new
CD?
Mike Metheny: To say this CD was experimental would be an understatement.
In late 2013 I began dabbling with a program called Garage Band
that came with my computer but that Id never opened. Next thing
I knew I had a bunch of different tracks that were all generated by
a MIDI keyboard but were too crude to ever put on a CD. Thats
when a friend told me about Logic Pro X, and fortunately
I was able to convert all of the Garage Band files to
Logic and improve things. I was also able to add that
one flugel track using an old AKG microphone Ive had since 1978.
Talk about a homemade CD
mwe3: Was there a lot of overdubbing on Twelve For The Road?
I would think so as you played it all yourself. Who else helped you
on the production side of the album or any technical challenges you
encountered?
Mike Metheny: I played all of the tracks, so yes, there are
many overdubs that had to come together in the final mix. It was the
mastering that needed the help of an expert, and that was done by
an outstanding engineer named Bill Crain at BRC Studios here in Kansas
City. Ive known Bill for years, mostly as a very good tenor
sax player, but he also has an excellent mastering suite at BRC. It
was Bill who added just the right finishing touches on each track.
He really knows what hes doing.
mwe3:
Were you always interested in keyboards and electronic music? Is the
Twelve For The Road album something you wanted to make for
a long time?
Mike Metheny: Since Ive spent most of my career just
trying to get the right notes to come out of a trumpet and/or flugelhorn,
the keyboard world was never something I seriously pursued. Although
there is a ballad called Union Hill" on the CD Close
Enough for Love that was performed on solo acoustic piano. As
long as something is nice and slow I can usually get by.
mwe3: How many albums have you recorded and released? Would
you consider a box set or compilation to sort of set the record straight?
Mike Metheny: Ive recorded / produced 12 albums since
1982, hence the title of the current CD Twelve For the Road.
12 is enough. The process has become too expensive and stressful,
Ive said what I have to say in that medium, and the ratio of
downloads to sales of my CDs is literally 5 to one. In other words,
it hardly makes sense anymore to keep producing and releasing indie
CDs, at least for me.
mwe3: Were you recording before your brother Pat?
Mike
Metheny: Im five years older than Pat, but as a classical
player at first, I didnt begin to focus on the jazz side until
I was in my mid 20s. By then Pat was already way ahead of me as a
jazz artist in all possible ways, but it was also his inspiration
that got me more interested in jazz, and I will always be grateful
to him for that. I didnt make my first solo jazz record until
I was in my early 30s, and I think Pat had already won a Grammy by
then.
mwe3: Youre listed on the CD packaging as playing all
the keyboards. What were some of the keyboards you recorded Twelve
For The Road with?
Mike Metheny: I think Ive already blown my cover with
your readers when it comes to my synth gear. Twelve For The Road
was done with a very basic M-Audio MIDI keyboard and a MacBook Pro
laptop. That's about as far as my technical limitations will allow
me to go.
mwe3: The first track on the new album is called Prelude.
How does Prelude set the tone for the Twelve For The
Road album? Seems like a rather ominous sounding track.
Mike
Metheny: In addition to being an experimental CD, almost every
track on Twelve was improvised in some form, sometimes in one
take. Then it became a matter of refining, tweaking, and trying different
patches. And yes, the word ominous could apply to Prelude
as well as a few other tracks on the CD. For reasons I wont
bore you with, there were some ominous things going on in my life
when this CD was coming together.
mwe3: Clouds follows and its also quite mercurial
sounding. Did you trying to capture the songs with a descriptive song
title?
Mike Metheny: Something Pat and I have in common is the struggle
to come up with titles. And in the case of the set list on Twelve,
most of the titles came along after the music was finished, at which
point they basically named themselves.
mwe3: Track 3, Ostinato has a real piano on it?
The track is very quiet sounding.
Mike Metheny: If that sounds like a real piano, then its
a testament to the Logic Pro program! Thats also
another track that easily named itself once it was done.
mwe3: Reflections is one of my favorite tracks
on the Twelve For The Road album. Its just a brilliant
moment.
Mike Metheny: There were a lot of lucky accidents on that track
as it came together. And if you ever heard the original Garage
Band version, you wouldnt know it was the same piece.
Reflections is one of my favorite tracks, too.
mwe3: Track 5 Carousel is kind of haunting sounding.
It sounds like a flashback to something from childhood. Is it a bit
Satie-like or even Morricone-like in its overlapping, onion-like
melodies? Another track mainly played on electric piano or is that
a Rhodes?
Mike
Metheny: Again, it's that same MIDI keyboard, but with more of
a Rhodes patch. I was delighted a while back when a reviewer noted
the Fellini influence. But sure, I can go for Satie and Morricone,
too. The goal with that melody was to never repeat the same melody-harmony
relationship. In other words, the left hand pattern is the same, but
the right hand melody is always at a different interval each time
through. It was a fun exercise that yielded some nice surprises.
mwe3: Track 6, Catharsis is a real wake-up call!
Compared to the other tracks, this one just makes you jump out of
your seat! Lol Did you think to have your brother Pat lay down those
mind bending riffs?
Mike Metheny: If you actually made it through that track start
to finish, you should be given some kind of award! Maybe even a Purple
Heart! Catharsis" was definitely done in one take, and
man, it sure felt good to get all that out of my system. A real musical
purge, as it were
mwe3: For Parkville is track seven and its
the shortest track on Twelve For The Road. Where is Parkville
and how does the song reflect the title?
Mike Metheny: Parkville, Missouri, is where Park Collegenow
Park Universityis located, just north of Kansas City. What makes
it special is that its where my parents met in the mid 1940s.
No Park College, no Mike and Pat.
mwe3: Transition is the longest track on Twelve
For The Road. Its quite low-key in its approach. Why do
you call it Transition? What keyboards are you playing
on that track?
Mike
Metheny: When that track was recorded, someone I knew quite well
was about to leave us. Perhaps thats as much as I should say
about that
mwe3: Home is another brilliant track thats
more involved sounding. In fact, its so cool it sounds like
a science fiction theme song! Is that the only track you use flugelhorn
on? Tell us about the other keyboard sounds on Home.
Mike Metheny: Home came out well, with one take
on the flugel solo, and only a few keyboard overdubs. I was especially
pleased when JAZZIZ magazine chose it to go on a recent sampler. Most
of all, that track is a reminder that synths are cool, but they will
never replace the sound of a real acoustic instrument.
mwe3: Amen is track ten and it closes the album.
Is that kind of a spiritual title to close the album? You mentioned
your parents in the liner notes so is the album kind of a look back
at fleeting glimpses of your childhood and how life sometimes seems
to go bye in a blink of an eye?
Mike Metheny: Remind me to hire you to write the liner notes
on my next album! You pretty much nailed it.
mwe3: Would you consider another album like Twelve For The
Road in the future? Tell us about your upcoming plans as a composer,
recording artist and tell us any plans you have as the chairman of
the Metheny Music Foundation.
Mike
Metheny: The answer to your first question is probably not.
That project pretty much scratched all of my electronic itches. And
regarding the Foundation Pat and I started in 07, Im especially
happy with the way that has been going. Lees Summit was a good
place to grow up, and we received excellent musical instruction as
beginners from a world class teacher named Keith House. Now all these
years later, through our scholarship program, we are able to give
back to up and coming, young Lees Summit music students
just like Pat and I were back in the day.