Friends know I’m a big power pop fan. What is power pop? The Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Byrds, Big Star, Beachwood Sparks. Pop/rock bands with dynamic rhythm sections, soaring harmonies, and most importantly, great bridges and hooks. As a wee lad on the Mayflower, I learned I could get free records if I wrote about them. I’m still doing it. I write for Remember the Lightning rightchere on Substack. I used to write for Bruce Brodeen’s Not Lame website.
Modern home recording enables single artists to play every instrument and triple track themselves singing harmonies. Live, nothing can compare to the dynamics of a band. But some of these artists come close and have left an enduring legacy.
I wrote this some years ago and since then, the sole proprietors have multiplied like fruit flies, paritcularly during the hysterical and unwarranted lockdowns. I’ll bring you up to speed in a future column.
There have always been guys who did it all themselves, sometimes in a studio, sometimes in their garage. The computer age, and greatly improved and compact recording equipment, have made it much easier for the lone genius to record his own album playing every instrument and singing all the parts.
Stevie Wonder and Tommy Marolda are among the one-man-band pioneers. Wonder ignited a thermonuclear bomb with his 1972 coming-of-age release Music Of My Mind, playing every instrument including drums, save for a handful guest artists, including Jeff Beck. Tommy Marolda's The Toms is an even more impressive achievement when you consider that he was working out of a home studio.
Here is a partial list of one man power pop bands: Rob Stuart – Broken Promise Keepers, Well Wishers, Josh Fix, Roger Klug, Jason Falkner, Ed James, Greg Pope, The Toms, Andrew Morten, Lamar Holley, Gary Ritchie, Roger Joseph Manning III, Dave Dill, Joe Adragna, Andy Bopp and Stephen Manning, to name a few.
I corresponded with three of these artists and asked them about their techniques. Now all three have disappeared off the face of the earth. What happened to Rob Stuart, Josh Fix, and Ed James? Tommy Marolda is in Las Vegas.
ONE MAN BANDS
ROB STUART
As a member of the Tribe it’s my task to track down one-man bands, guys who record their entire albums all by themselves at their home studios, and learn the tricks of their trade. The first artist I asked was Rob Stuart, whose Broken Promise Keeper I chose as one of the best records of ’09:
#4 Broken Promise Keeper: Ice Cold Pop
Straight-ahead pop rock as addictive as crack. Rob Stuart sounds effortless in everything he does, difficult to do when you’re providing your own rhythm section. He sounds unique in a way I haven’t heard since the first Marshall Crenshaw album. He defines his territory—the half acoustic straight ahead rocker (Tom Petty, Crenshaw, Billy Joel) and hits you with a triple combination that leaves you dazed and wanting more.
“Directions,” Worship From Afar,” and “Kristine” constitute three of the most killer first songs I’ve heard in years. BPK is instantly likeable and instantly identifiable. Some bands play their entire careers without forging an identifiable sound. All those American Idol winners.
“I Blame James,” call-checks James Kirk, James Bond, and James West as it speaks to the power of TV. Stuart’s take on “spy guitar” is pretty funny. The songs run one into another without breaks which I always like especially when they keep turning up the heat as they do here. Dig Stuart’s crazy bass line on “Look Out Hollywood.”
I have since received Rob’s latest Broken Promise Keeper: Poptimized which features more of the same seemingly effortless dynamics. Stuart dresses his themes in appropriate raiment. “Bittersweet” pays tribute to its romantic subject with a dissonant chord that resolves into a major. “Two Minute Warning” conveys even greater urgency than the standard BPK adrenaline jolt and that’s saying something. The sound stops at 1:17 for a moment of silence, then POW! Right in the kisser.
As before Rob strings all his songs together in one overwhelming sugar rush that will leave you exhausted but happy. In light of his achievements, Rob’s answers to my questions about home recording are all the more incredible.
Hey Mike –hope your summer’s off to a good start. I appreciate the opportunity to be a part of this story and have responded to your questions below. Feel free to cut down or change, as long as you don’t make me look dumber than I already am. J
Was “Ice Cold Pop” your first release?
Last year’s album “Ice Cold Pop” was actually my third self-recorded release under the moniker Broken Promise Keeper, but the first where I felt the results were strong enough to share with anybody beyond my mom. While I’d been recording bits and pieces of songs for nearly 20 years, it wasn’t until I heard about the RPM Challenge in 2007 that I decided to write, record, and produce a “real” album. Doing all that in 28 days certainly makes you learn fast, sort of like boot camp for one-man bands and the home recording crowd.
Can you read music? What training have you had?
I am pretty much musically illiterate, although I did take piano lessons as a kid. While I can’t read music and don’t know the names of more than a handful of chords, I think this lack of formal training is balanced by having a good ear for melody. This is probably a reason I have followed the one-man band route instead of forming a “real” band – I am easily intimidated by folks that know music theory and obscure chords.
How did you record the drum section?
Drums are not just another discipline but another universe entirely, as I am unable to play much beyond a rudimentary beat and even then fall apart after a couple of measures. On top of that, recording a good drum sound is an art in itself. But luckily today’s technology can rescue the rhythmically challenged – between the ability to enter in midi drum parts one beat at a time, fix poor performances by quantizing each hit, replace bad drum sounds with professionally-recorded samples, or simply purchase drum loops and fills played by pros like Mick Fleetwood, nowadays you don’t have to be a great drummer to get a great drum performance or sound.
How do you write songs?
When writing a song, I use the computer as another instrument in that I record short guitar or piano parts and then move them about while humming possible melodies. Once I get a song’s structure nailed down, I then use the more traditional studio approach and start building the song up track by track, playing along to what I just recorded – first I get the drums and bass working together, then the rhythmic instruments, then the lead vocal, then the “ear candy” like backing harmonies, tambourines, etc. The hard part about home recording is ensuring there’s some life or energy being captured – when it’s just you in the studio, it can be easy to get things almost too perfect. In my opinion, the best rock and power pop is a little sloppy, but if done right that can translate into excitement.
What equipment do you use?
For me, it’s more about the songs than the brand names on the toys. Back when I started with a four-track cassette machine, I couldn’t afford top-of-the-line vintage instruments and gear so I focused on knowing how to get the most out of what I had. Even today I record using a $35 program from Cakewalk, a $100 used Squire Bronco bass, a keyboard I got at a yard sale, a discontinued amp modeler, free plug-in effects found on the web… I keep telling myself that when I reach the limits of that particular instrument or piece of gear, I’ll upgrade. That being said, I’d LOVE for somebody to give me a classic Rickenbacker guitar or top-of-the-line reference monitors, but since that’s not going to happen I’ll continue to make the best of what I have.
ED JAMES
Here ya go Mike:
1. What led you to do it all yourself?
Part of was just to see if I COULD do it by myself. Also, if I record the songs alone, nobody has to hear them until they're finished. I've never enjoyed playing partially completed tunes for other people. Finally, recording everything myself forces me to become a better player on different instruments.
2. Where do you record?
In my house. So far, I've been too cheap to pay for "real" studio time. Plus, I enjoy learning about and improving my recording skills.
3. What equipment do you use?
Currently, I'm recording into a laptop using a Tascam Fireone interface. My main recording program has been Mackie Tracktion, but I think I'm about to switch over to Reaper...a very cool digital audio workstation. I record drums using Roland V-Drums. And I play a Fender Strat.
4. Do you have any formal musical training?
As a matter of fact, I do. I studied trombone for many years, and I have a degree in music education.
5. What's the toughest part of recording all by yourself?
Coming up with arrangement ideas all by myself, when I know that another, more technically proficient guitarist could probably whip out the perfect part much easier than I ever will.
6. Are you pleased with the results?
Sometimes. Most of the time I feel like there is a lot if room for improvement. Someone else could do a better job on a track. Or, another engineer could do a stronger mix. But, I keep plugging away at it.
7. Anything new in the pipeline?
I have just started working on a rock album under the name "Secret Treaties". it's definitely going to be more of a band effort. I've been writing tunes with others, and I'm pretty excited about the possibilities. Stay tuned!
Let me know if you need anything else.
Thanks!
Ed
JOSH FIX
Why go solo?
I am not sure, actually. It's just the way I've always done things (mostly.) Unless is it's a very, very special situation, for me being in a band always means compromise to the point of lowest-common-denominator type stuff. I'm talking about a TRUE band, where everyone's equal, not a band where there's one dominant person controlling everything. If I recorded with a band, that's all it would be anyway (the latter), and since I can pretty much play every instrument, it allows me to forego the extra step of having to explain parts to everyone. That being said, I just got off a tour as a backing player with a pretty prominent group (Train), and it was a breath of fresh air to just be part of the furniture, as it were.
Where did you record Free and what recording equipment did you use?
"Free At Last" was recorded at Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco, and also a great deal of it was done in my closet at my apartment in San Francisco as well.
I borrowed a lot of nice instruments from friends, and also used whatever was laying around the studio. The biggest part of the sound was probably the antique upright piano (which has since been removed from the studio by its owner.) A lot of guitar parts were done on my Epiphany Flamekat, which sounds great, but doesn't stay in tune very well. For bass I mostly used a vintage Fender Jazz bass, and also a Rickenbacker. Keyboards were pretty much the real deals: Hammond B3 through a big fat leslie, Fender Rhodes. One of the songs has an overdubbed acoustic double bass. For vocals, I used a Telefunken ELA M251, which was rented from an adjacent studio. A lot of Bob Weir's outboard gear was still in the control room at the time, so the quality of signal processing is about as high as you can probably imagine. All kinds of amazing vintage compressors, EQs, outboard reverbs, etc…. I think everything recorded at Hyde Street basically went through Neve preamps, and then into Pro Tools at 24/96. Whatever I recorded at home was straight into a Digi 002.
How do you write a song? Do you start on the keyboard or a guitar?
Sometimes neither. Some of what I think are my most "sophisticated" musical ideas have occurred to me (in relative completeness) when I'm just walking down the street or in the shower or something. I guess being away from an instrument frees me from relying on my usual familiar musical crutches or patterns.
Did you find any difficulty maintaining your enthusiasm during the recording process?
I'm usually pretty excited during the whole process. Writer's block is another thing, though. When I get stuck, it's very frustrating and I find it hard to break out of ruts. But anyway, "Free At Last" was very exciting for me, being my first real album and all that. Plus, someone else was paying and we were on the clock the whole time, and it went by pretty quickly- I think 10 days of recording, max. So, there was no issue with enthusiasm at all. Now that I do a lot of recording at home, sometimes the motivation flits in and out a bit. It's a little too easy to just pop downstairs and waste half an afternoon doing nothing when I get a bit frustrated with something.
How do you get everything to line up? Do you play a tape of the basic track say, on piano, and accompany yourself on drums?
Yes. Almost exactly as you described it. It it's a rock or pop song it's pretty easy, as you're not dealing with too many changes or sections. I'll usually map out the song structure in Pro Tools and set a tempo with a click track and just start laying down basic scratch tracks. I usually start with piano, because you can cover a lot of harmonic and rhythmic ground on a piano. It may not be the actual part that ends up on the recording, but it serves as a good framework for everything else. I also do that for the orchestral stuff, whether or not a piano will actually even be on the final recording.
When can we expect a new LP?
Hopefully pretty soon. I'm at this point now where I've almost got too much material sitting around- I'm not sure what my "sound" is anymore, frankly. I may need to take some time and just parse it all out and figure out who I am before releasing it all unto the world. Also, I've committed myself to a bunch of other projects, mostly producing and composing. So, I am sort of tethered to finishing all that up before I can really concentrate on pushing out a new record. Maybe I'll just start putting out singles. I honestly don't know.
Tommy Marolda.
Hey Mike,
I'll answer your questions and hope that it makes sense to you in the order you asked them.
What recording equipment did you use?
The forty or so songs that I wrote and recorded on a weekend of canceled clients in my studio were recorded on a 16 track Tascam tape recorder. It had a remote control that I could stop and start from drum booth which was 20 feet away. I am not a really good drummer but could keep time and throw a fill in every once in awhile.
Was this a home studio?
It was a home studio in the basement that I converted to be semi-professional for clients like The Smithereens, Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora, Valentine, members of EWF, members of Springsteen's band and many others. It was very homey and had a small gym and my vinyl record collection in an adjacent room.
Assuming this was pre-computer you must have done a lot of overdubbing.
I would record a rhythm guitar first and then the drums along with the additional guitars and vocals. No keys or synths were used, so I did many overdubs.
Did the songs on the TOMS all come before the songs on SIMPLICITY?
All the songs from that weekend session ended up forming the two albums although Simplicity was released much later and The Toms with bonus tracks never released from the session were finally put out as well.
Where and when did you record SIMPLICITY?
SIMPLICITY was recorded during the same sessions but mixed on digital equipment when I recently released it. I think that because it was never released on vinyl, just CD and downloads, the sound doesn't have the warmth of the original Toms project.
Do you notice a difference in sound quality between the vinyl versions and CDs?
I notice a huge difference between vinyl and CD just as any other record from the vinyl era suffers the same sound deficiencies when released on CD or even worse on mp3 codex itunes where the sound is extremely squashed. Today's listener really doesn't know the difference unless they buy an LP.
What guitars did you use?
The guitars I used on the session were mainly an Ibenez copy of a Gibson Les Paul black solid body with custom pick-ups. Humbucker in the front and a Fender Telecaster pick-up in the back which made for an interesting combination. I also used a Danolectro guitar and a six string Danolectro Bass. The drums were an old Ludwig set similar to the one Ringo Starr used for the early Beatle recordings.
Have you thought about revisiting this type of material? Man, I can't tell you how many great bands there are these days including a lot of guys doing it all themselves.
I will revisit this style of material and writing as I have stock piled many songs in that power-pop genre. I still record with the same instruments and have the same sounding voice after a few years between the last Toms record. I aggressively put out 2 albums a year under various names besides writing songs for TV and Film. Rocky, America's Next Top Model, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Smallville, The Playboy Club and many more.
Are you performing these days?
Too busy to perform although I would like to someday. Right now my focus is in the studio with other artists and my weekly requests for material and songs written for TV and film. I also have a web site donated to helping the aspiring songwriter, producer or anyone desiring a career in the music business. It is: www.mysonggram.com
Are you recording?
I record everyday. My latest project for myself is y other band HORIZONTAL LADIES CLUB which has released 5 albums and a new one is being mixed now for fall release.
I record between 5 and ten songs a week for either clients or myself, so I am still full steam ahead. I use a Yamaha 2400 digital workstation that resembles the closest sound to tape for me. I know I should be using pro-tools or a similar software recording system, but my old school stubborn ways forbids me right now. I get laughed at sometimes until they hear the finished product and wonder how I got that sound :}
Thanks Mike,
If you give me an address to send some of my catalog, I will gladly mail them off.
Good luck with what you're doing and I really appreciate you recognizing what I did and continue to do. Everyone should be so lucky to do what they love and be rewarded.
And while you’re at it, and apropos of nothing, check out my hardboiled modern noir series, Biker on Amazon:
Glad to hear it, Raven!
There are so many. Can't do 'em all!