An interview with Suzanne Benorden

An interview with Chris Bramble

1. Describe the early years of your musical roots and how your talentwas nurtured.

I grew up in a profoundly musical family and so I was surrounded by music and musical people all of the time. My parents played in jazz clubs together, my mom and aunt have been playing in a band together forever, my grandparents sang together on the radio, my brother is a professional blues harmonica player and singer.

2. Were there any events, people or catalysts that were musically influential?

My family is my biggest influence for sure. Then when I first heard the great fertile swamp of indie radio, that was huge. the Pixies, fugazi, tree people, three merry widows, all these (then) obscure sounds coming out of everywhere. I saw a few performances that inspired me tremendously around the same time, by Ida Macbeth, Joanna Connor, Buddy Guy, the Indigo Girls, Patti Smith, and the raw love that went into their shows blew me away. My mom gave me an acoustic guitar for christmas one year, and it was all over (she's so sneaky!).

3. How would you describe your sound?

I call it "alt-americana." Sometimes I call it "hick-hop." A consistent comment I receive about my music is that the influences are difficult to pin down. I like that! It's categorizable as "edgy singer-songwriter," I'd say.

4. How many CDs have you released as a solo artist?

My latest one is the first full-length CD, but I’ve released one other one as a solo, and 3 or 4 before that, with my old bands.

5. What is the name of your latest CD and describe the creative process that went into it?

It is entitled "BOOMchick". The creative process that always goes into it, for me, is kinda haphazard. Songs can be created in any order, and Idon't necessarily do it the same way each time. But to fully flesh out the aural vision of each one, you pretty much have to record them. Then you compile them and label them and distribute them. It's like they don't fully exist until the process is complete. So there are steps, but they aren't usually in a straight line. They're more like Lombard street in San Francisco.

6. Where did you record your latest CD and who was involved in the recording and production of it?

Some of it i did myself at home using garageband. There is one song (Never let u down) recorded in Eugene, at Sprout City studios, engineered by Thaddeus Moore. Tom Thompson co-produced that with me. There are two songs recorded in Eugene at the home studio of Brian James, who also plays drums on those tracks. Tom also co-produced those with Brian and myself. There is also one song recorded back in my old band Mighty Isis, in San Francisco, by Dennis Dizmore and Phil Bryte. Dennis plays drums and lead guitar on that song, and produced it as well.

7. How involved are you in the recording process of the projects you have worked on?

Increasingly, since the first couple projects when I had absolutely no clue what went into it. From the start I listened and watched and gave input when appropriate, and participated in the process. "BOOMchick" is my first fearless stab at doing it all myself, except for the tracks mentioned
above.

8. Who are the current members of your band?

Myself, and bassist/vocalist/collaborator/first cousin Tom Thompson. We are looking for a drummer and in the meantime we are using a computer-based backing track.

9. How do you feel about playing to a live audience?

It rocks!! I still get nervous beforehand, but by showtime it all fades and the shows themselves are like butta.

10. Who does your booking? Are you under management?

We are independent, but looking for management.

11. What are your plans for the summer of 2007?

Continuing to write, record, rehearse, look for gigs, learn a new recording software program, network through the internet and other bands.

12. Have you ever insured your music equipment? If so, with what company and would you recommend them to other musicians?

They are covered under my homeowners insurance, which is with allstate. So far I have not had to put their services to the test. I would like to insure my equipment additionally as well. it seems like a good idea.

13. What are some of your favorite venues to play?

Other than our homegrown family events, so far, my favorite venue to play has been the Paradise Lounge, in San Francisco. Unfortunately, it is no longer in existence. Next to that, the Willamette Valley folk festival, in Eugene, Luckeys, in Eugene, the Hotel Utah, in San Francisco, the Elbo room, in San Francisco....

14. What music organizations are you affiliated with?

Portland songwriters association, BMI.

15. Is there a venue that you play regularly at?

Luckeys!

For more info on Suzanne Benorden visit:

www.sonicbids.com/suzannebenorden

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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1.  Describe the early years of your musical roots and how your talent was nurtured.

There was a lot of music in my home growing up. My Mom would sing us lullabies to sleep, and she was active in her church choir, playing piano just well enough to accompany herself while she practiced her vocal parts. My Dad didn't make music, but he loved it, and had an eclectic record collection and, being an electrical engineer, a high end (for its time) stereo system. I started singing in the church youth choir at age 7, and picked up the trombone briefly at age 10. As a child I would spend hours listening to folk records from my Dad's collection, like Leadbelly, Kingston Trio, and Simon & Garfunckle. Meanwhile, my Mom was instilling
environmental awareness into me while taking me to Clearwater Festivals, which Pete Seeger organized as a way of educating people about the pollution destroying the Hudson River.

Then I discovered rock, getting into Aerosmith and Boston, whose first album was the first record I ever owned. At age 12 I picked up the guitar. Dad was very supportive, and told me he would pay for any music lessons I wanted to take. So I took guitar lessons from the local music store, and theory classes in high school. All the while I was entranced with whatever music reached into my soul and grabbed me. This awareness started with the folk stuff, like the vocal work of Simon & Garfunckle, and continued with the soaring leads I found in Boston. I was reaching for being *moved* by
music, looking back.

After getting into early 70's hard rock, like Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and early Black Sabbath, unconsciously gravitating towards bands that played off the cuff, I got turned on to the Grateful Dead, and it was like light bulbs went off in my soul. Their music encompassed the essential elements of everything I'd been listening to up to that point, the folk, the hard hitting, the melodic; while intentionally reaching for those high moments in a performance that only happens when you're being *real* as a human being. Touching on matters of the spirit and deeply intellectual, their songs and philosophy just grabbed me. The idea that a band could be in a completely improvisational place and pull off such incredible music inspired me like no others.

After Jerry started his decline in the mid-to-late 80's, I started looking around and discovered some very fine musicians who I dearly love to this day: Bruce Cockburn, David Lindley, Richard Thompson, Dougie MacLean, Kate Wolf, John Coltrane among others.

2.  Were there any events, people or catalysts that were musically influential?

My parents' support for my musical journey was huge, for one thing. The specific artists that moved me and inspired me I've mentioned, specifically traditional folk music, melodic rock like Boston, harder rock like Deep Purple, the higher moments the Grateful Dead reached, and the beautiful songwriting of people like Bruce Cockburn and Kate Wolf.

It should be noted that Life in general influences me musically. Its one thing for a great guitar solo to catch my attention, but I'm just as enthralled by things like children's laughter and distant thunder, by a stormy sea and sunset over a city. I believe you can only be the best musician possible by fully living life, and then expressing that through your chosen instrument.

3.  What is the name of your latest CD and describe the creative process that went into it?

Its called "Laugh at the Wind", and its a collection of songs that I've written, for the most part, over the last 25 years. There's one recent song, "Widow's Tears" that we felt was especially pertinent with the war going on, but otherwise I wanted to record my songs somewhat chronologically. There's at least three CD's worth of original material in our live set, and it might have been easy to focus on the 'best' songs, but I try to not see any song as less than best. If its not good enough to get behind, then drop it from the repertoire in the first place, you know?

Because I had been playing these songs solo for so long, and the band was fairly new, there was a lot of discussion about how each instrument's parts were going to fit. Some of the drumbeats, for instance, I put out to the drummer at that time, Brad Cox, in general terms and he came up with ideas that fit what I was looking for. So we came up with the idea, and he went over it a couple of times, and then nailed it on the recording. "And the Sky Cried" and "Stranger in the City" were done this way, and were departures from how we'd done it live.

We played the basic tracks of rhythm guitar, drums and bass live in the studio, holding space for lead jams to be added later, then went back and added vocals, percussion, lead guitar, and violin. To me it *feels* live because of doing it this way - there's actual interplay between the musicians. For "Other Side of This World" Terry Ann and I played violin and lead guitar live through the entire seven minute song in one long take, which also showcases the ebb and flow that we have together as improvisers.

I wasn't afraid to experiment, either. On "And the Sky Cried" I was frustrated trying to get a decent guitar solo, so I tried an E-Bow, and it worked! We recorded three tracks of spooky E-Bow guitar and mixed them together, with old fashioned hand-panning, and I think the result is pretty cool. I gave Brad, the drummer, space to come into the studio at the end of tracking and add percussion flourishes and timely hits, and he added a lot with just a little spice.

4.  What are some of your favorite venues to play?

I just love to play, anywhere, anytime! That said, I prefer the atmosphere of a theater best, like the Luther Burbank Center here in Sonoma County.
Outdoor festivals are great, too, if the sound is right. I've enjoyed the Folklife Festival in Seattle and the Harmony Festival in Santa Rosa, as examples. Currently, most of our gigs are in breweries, taverns, coffee houses, etc, which is fine. As long as there are people there and having fun, I get inspired and find happiness.

For more info on Chris Bramble visit:

www.chrisbramble.com