Studio
engineer expert Tom Eaton released his first ever solo album
in 2016. The album, abendromen, is a magical
journey into the art of keyboard-based New Age ambient instrumental
music. Working as an engineer / producer for a number of folk-music
artists early on in his career, Tom joined forces as a studio engineer
for Imaginary Road studio and has worked with New Age / ambient music
producer Will Ackerman on over fifty albums over the past five years.
Commenting on the long and winding road towards completing abendromen,
Tom tells mwe3.com, "I have always been writing and have
had pieces of my own music in various states of completion but for
some reason they never coalesce into a complete album, probably because
I am extremely busy making music for others! I've been making records
for clients at my own place for 23 years now, and working with Will
Ackerman on the records we make at his Imaginary Road Studio in Vermont
for the past five. However, last December I was processing some emotional
stuff I was going through and this whole record emerged very quickly,
in about four weeks start to finish. I worked late at night... sometimes
overnight, after I'd done my regular music work for the day. The concept
for the recordseven evening dreamsis the music, really.
These were the things I was feeling as I worked those late nights,
the 'dreams' I was having
the things I needed to say but couldn't
find the words for." Tom
Eaton is very much part of the new music movement of progressive instrumental
and hes been involved in the production of new music by 21st
century recording artists such as Fiona Joy and Jeff Oster. If you
enjoyed Fiona and Jeffs latest works than abendromen will
strike a similar vibe for you as well. Even though hes known
as a fine studio engineer and technician, not many know Tom as a musician
and recording artist, yet one listen to abendromen will remedy
all that. Another amazing thing is that on abendromen Tom plays
everything himself, including all keyboards, synths as well as the
ambient guitar sounds which all enhance his subtle and meditative
music. Start to finish, abendromen is a captivating, all around
album of sonically appealing keyboard-driven ambient music by keyboardist
and studio wizard Tom Eaton. www.ThomasEaton.com
mwe3.com presents an interview
with
Tom Eaton
mwe3:
You have a wide background in all aspects of music so what made you
want to step out from behind the glass booth and all the production
work you do and have done for a solo album of your own? Is abendromen
the first full length album released under your own name and when
did you fully realize the concept for the album?
Tom Eaton: I have always been writing and have had pieces of
my own music in various states of completion but for some reason they
never coalesce into a complete album, probably because I am extremely
busy making music for others! I've been making records for clients
at my own place for 23 years now, and working with Will Ackerman on
the records we make at his Imaginary Road Studio in Vermont for the
past five.
However, last December I was processing some emotional stuff I was
going through and this whole record emerged very quickly, in about
four weeks start to finish. I worked late at night
sometimes
overnight, after I'd done my regular music work for the day. The concept
for the recordseven evening dreamsis the music, really.
These were the things I was feeling as I worked those late nights,
the 'dreams' I was having
the things I needed to say but couldn't
find the words for.
Technically, abendromen is the first solo CD of my music. I
released a small thing 25 years ago, and a duo cd with the cellist
Kristen Miller about 5 years ago. The title 'abendromen' was a gift
from my friend Marco Badot, who is a visual artist. He combined the
German and Dutch words for 'evening' and 'dreams' into one new word,
and wrapped the seven pieces I had written in the package of days
of the week. It was completely brilliant and perfect for the music
itself and the reasons behind the music.
mwe3: There are also three bonus tracks on the CD. How do they
fit into the album overall especially as they are very ambient. Do
you see them as separate and distinct from the overall abendromen
CD?
Tom Eaton:
The three bonus tracks are actually guitar loops that I wrote as bed
tracks for two of the songs on the record, and one song I didn't use.
Sometimes I like to create a sonic landscape in the key of the song
that I then play over
it allows me to play less in the foreground.
The very last loop piece, Saturday Night, has a little
bit of backwards piano in it, which was my son's idea. He heard me
rewinding a bit of a song and really liked the reverberant piano sounding
backwards, so I folded a little of that in at the very end of the
record. I found myself getting into a trance as I wrote the guitar
loops, and I thought I'd put them on the CD by themselves way at the
end as a way to let the energy of the CD dissipate slowly.
mwe3: Would you say piano is your main instrument? What pianos
do you play on abendromen and how about other keyboards you
recorded the album with? Was the idea to enhance the acoustic piano
sounds with all kinds of synths? What are your favorite synths and
what guitars are you playing on the CD?
Tom Eaton: I've been playing keyboards of one form or another
since 1986. I was more synthesizer-oriented in those days, and there
is a compilation of some of my early synth stuff available on line,
called Days Of Green And Light. Piano was something I played
more and more as I got older. I would say the primary melodic voice
of abendromen is piano, and then I color it with synths, guitars,
bass, and percussion. There are moments where the guitars carry the
songs, but mostly the piano does it.
In my own work I can't live without textures and think of them as
integral to the feeling of the songs, not a layer or add-on. The mystery
of synths, the unidentifiable sounds, those are the ones I'm drawn
to. The piano is relatable, we understand what it is, but then the
colors are so powerful because they open up these questions
they bring an ambiguity to things.
As far as synths on the record, I played a Yamaha EX5, which is not
really well known, but is gorgeous, a Roland JD800, Kawai K5000 and
K5, Korg Wavestation, and the soft synth Omnisphere. The guitar is
a Diamond with active EMG humbuckers, more of a "metal"
guitar but very flexible. The guitar sounds are all from the Fractal
AXE-FX processor, which is a dream machine for guitar sounds. I've
done a bunch of work with the Fractal guys and they are so good at
what they do.
mwe3: Speaking of synths, you were very influenced by Tangerine
Dream, Patrick OHearn and Vangelis. What are some of your favorite
albums by those artists and how did each one impact your own style.
I was amazed by track 3 on abendromen called Tuesday
The Compass as the influences just seem to coalesce into
a very unique sound of your own. Is that track getting a lot of airplay
across the boards?
Tom
Eaton: I think The Compass shows more of all my voices
than the rest of the record. People do seem to like that one. It's
one of the busiest tracks on the album with four or more guitars,
piano, synths, percussion, and a pretty active bass part. Kind of
a chill track but very much in my own style.
Tangerine Dream was a huge influence. The interlocking sequencer patterns
just drove me mad and as they moved from the early to mid-80's the
melodies on top really started to become more formed and that really
worked for me. For me, Underwater Sunlight is the one TD album
I could not do without, but really from 1979-1986 I pretty much love
every note.
Vangelis has the drama, the dynamics
the huge gorgeous sweeps.
The unapologetic flair
Antarctica, Voices, Oceanic and
Blade Runner are all favorites. He can hit you over the head
and then play so simply and beautifully. His range is massive, too
choral, orchestral, pop songs, ambient stuff, long form, you name
it.
Patrick O'Hearn can do all of that, and also the very quiet ambient/dark
textural thing. And the bass playing is so great. Pretty much all
of Patrick's albums are stunning, and they vary wildly. Glaciation
is incredible, Trust and Metaphor are both great. Indigo
is probably my favorite.
You don't mention Tim Story, but Tim is by far the most influential
on me. Such incredibly beautiful and deep music created almost in
slow motion. I can't help but be drawn into the worlds he creates.
From Untitled through Shadowplay his solo albums were
each stunning. His collaborations with Rodelius are also amazing.
The album Beguiled is a constant companion, I listen to some
of that every day.
mwe3: Are those early influences put into order on your retrospective
album Days Of Green And Light, which is a collection of early
tracks in the electronica mode? What can you tell us about that album
and is it on CD or just digital download?
Tom Eaton: Days is only download at the moment. I don't
know about putting in order, but you can definitely hear my synth
influences there! I really was deep into programming in those days,
creating sounds that were in my head through the various tools
and also kind of developing my arrangement chopslearning how
much of what you can where without causing problems!
mwe3: Im amazed at your studio UNS, Universal Noise Storage
and the numerous pictures on the Facebook page are great looking.
How amazing is that when you were finishing building work on UNS you
met Will Ackerman. Can you recall what is was like meeting Will and
how do you balance your work at UNS with you work at Wills Imaginary
Road studios? How would you compare the two studios soundwise? Is
there such a thing as state of the art in studios anymore as it's
changed so much over the last 30 years!
Tom
Eaton: Meeting Will was the completion of a circle for me. I started
getting into music through the instrumental, Tangerine Dream and such,
but also George Winston, Michael Hedges and then at the outset I was
producing folk and acoustic music records for a living. I opened my
first studio in 1993 and catered to the Cambridge folk scenemaking
records that were "produced singer-songwriter" albums, very
much in the shape of what Will did with John Gorka and Patty Larkin.
My fondness for instrumental music, and my comfort with acoustic instrumentsand
my pretty huge Windham Hill collectionmade working with Will
a pretty natural landing place. I never could have imagined it would
have worked out this way, but it really is perfect. He and I work
so well together and just love making records together. Most of my
work at UNS these days is finishing the albums we start at Imaginary
Road. I do the mixing and mastering here because it's a room I'm intimately
familiar with sound-wise.
As far as studios go I would say that state of the art both has and
hasn't changed. I don't see speakers getting a whole lot better in
the past decade, and my primary DAC (digital to analog converter),
which is really the interpreter of the music, is not new but sounds
better than anything else I've tried. I did do things like use esoteric
wire where it matters, and I built my own monitor controller because
I needed more flexibility than I could find in an off-the-shelf controller.
There are some things that change because a new and better thing comes
along, but much of what is new is only new. One thing that has gotten
better is the software
the capacity to create very full and
organic sounding tracks in the digital world has come a long way.
mwe3: How do you balance all your different activitiesfrom
sound and lighting man to music producer and engineer to recording
artist?
Tom Eaton: Well, I haven't really done live sound or lighting
in many years
so there's nothing to balance there! The rest
is just getting done what Imaginary Road needs done and seeing what's
left for my own life and work!
mwe3: Do you have any favorite recording studios in the US
and around the world and who are / were some of your favorite recording
engineers and producers?
Tom
Eaton: No favorite studios, other than the two I get to spend
my life in! I love the work of producer/engineer Kevin Killen. T-Bone
Burnett usually makes great records. Will makes great records.
mwe3: What do you feel a producers role should be in
helping to shape an artists album? What albums do you think
of when you think of your favorite producers or engineers? For instance,
I think of George Martin when I play any Beatles album.
Tom Eaton: I tend to think of the producer's role as simple
to define but hard to execute: create an environment where you can
bring out the best art each artist can create at that moment in time.
How you approach that can vary as much as each artist varies! Will
is very good at seeing a way through to the best way to present each
artist, and of course I did it in my own way for 17 years with singer-songwriters
before I met Will.
As far as producers touches on record I love, well, probably T Bone
Burnett on the first Counting Crows record, and the first Wallflowers
record, and Leo Kottke's My Father's Face. I tend to like Steve
Lillywhite's productions.
mwe3: Is there a difference in the way you approach work with
different artists?
Tom Eaton: Sure, every artist is different and what they have
to say can emerge in completely different ways!
mwe3: Where do you see the music world going these days? Do
you miss the old days or are these the good new days? Is there a way
to keep up with it all and what role do you think the internet will
have on music moving forward? Is there a way to make artists more
financially successful by getting a bigger cut of the online music
world?
Tom Eaton: Well, I am new to this side of the business as an
artist. I have never had to think about it from this side and those
are great questions that I don't have good answers for. In the studio
very little has changed, we try to get great sounding takes of great
performances and deliver those with the best fidelity possible, incorporating
artistic intent as well) to the end listener. The tools are in many
ways better to do that now than ever before. You can play the exact
same file from your stereo that I can from mine. That part is incredible.
But obviously there are technological stumbling blocks. Piracy, unnecessary
loudness, file size compression compromises, etc. And bad speakers!
The internet is great in so many ways but also really allowed the
music industry to come crashing down.
mwe3: Do you find that consumers have a hard time keeping up
with all the technological advancements in recorded music? Just 30
years ago some people couldnt even afford a CD player and now
people are playing mp3 files on flash sticks in their smart cars!
And what about the resurgence of vinyl?
Tom
Eaton: I still like CDs
actually this morning we just put
on Patrick O'Hearn's Rivers Gonna Rise on vinyl here
so who knows. I do wish people could take the time to let an album
wash over them, and could do so in a semi-reasonable listening environment.
But I really don't have control over the listener! I work hard to
make really good sounding records, both with Will and on my own, and
some of that trickles through the earbuds, but the experience of listening
to, or even better allowing yourself to become immersed in, a well-made
record on a great playback system is hard to replace. In the 70's
most houses had actual speakers in them capable of actual bass response
now people listen on laptops or iPads
not much can be done except
to encourage music fans to seek out the best reproduction system they
can find!
mwe3: So tell us about plans for abendromen, as far
as getting the word out and where you plan to go from here in all
your different careers as far as future plans working with artists,
other studio work, writing music and recording and the possibilities
of live concerts down the line.
Tom Eaton: I said to a friend the other day that abendromen
had already served its function for me by the time it was completebefore
it went to the plant. I have had no expectations about how it would
be received. I am just along for the ride at this point. I'm glad
that people are liking it, and that it will be heard, but it was not
written with any outside goals or ambitions. It's unlikely that I'll
do it live, there are simply too many parts to each song and I don't
know how I could pull it off and have it be both organic and as precise
as I'd need it to be.
From here there are two records of my own in progress, one called
Redemption has a couple of samples on my Soundcloud page, the
other will be the second volume of abendromen. Both of those
are half done which is the state my albums frequently sit in for some
time!
Beyond that, we continue to have amazing artists come to Vermont to
make records with us, and I get to work on some that are not Imaginary
Road albums as well. I just mastered Jeff Pearce's new albumhes
a friend and brilliant ambient guitar player. It was Jeff as well
as a nudge from Tim Story himself, who encouraged me to let abendromen
loose into the world. I am glad to have finally gotten some work out
thereto reveal a side of myself many people don't know about.
It's been great to get feedback from so many folks, and very surprising
to end up getting played on shows like Echoes. It challenges my own
ideas of what my music is!