Moraine: NEARfest 2010 photo gallery

Much like my Magma gallery from last week, here's a few selected shots from Moraine's performance at NEARfest 2010 back in June:










More photos from this performance can be found at the following link:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v478/prjt2501/NEARfest2010/07_Moraine/

10 Questions with...Moraine

If there’s one thing I am thankful to NEARfest for, it is this: every year a band is signed that I have never heard of before, and seeing them live causes me to walk away shaking my head, shocked that I’d never come across them before, and wondering how that could be possible. The list of bands almost seems like a who’s who, when I think about it…

2002: Gerard
2003: Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
2004: Metamorfosi
2005: Kenso
2006: KBB
2007: NeBeLNeST
2008: Koenji Hyakkei
2009: Cabezas de Cera

2010 brought me Moraine.

Moraine hails from Cascadia…that’s the Pacific Northwest, for those not in the know. A quintet signed to MoonJune Records, their debut release Manifest DeNsity is an impressive collection of instrumentals that embrace the dualities of light and shade, tunefulness and dissonance. Not at all an avant garde band (but labelled as such by some), theirs is a difficult but ultimately satisfying brand of music that bears repeated listening incredibly well.

I reached out to Kevin Millard following NEARfest to offer up copies of the photos I had taken of their performance. As BPB was awakening from its slumbers at the same time, I asked if he’d be interested in answering a few questions to offer added insight into Moraine. He came back with a better offer…what if the entire band took a look at the questions, and each person got a chance to answer ones that they had particular insight into. Who was I to refuse such an offer? I quickly accepted, and the end result you’ll find below.

Once you’re done reading, why not pop over to MoonJune Records website (which I’ve conveniently provided a link to below) and pick up a copy of Manifest DeNsity. Your ears will thank you later!



1. Can you tell us a little bit about how you got started in music?

[DENNIS REA] Moraine grew out of informal improvised duets between me and cellist Ruth Davidson, who has since left the group to pursue a career in mathematics. Eventually the two of us began working on compositions and felt the need to expand our palette by bringing in additional players. I had worked with violinist Alicia Allen (now Alicia DeJoie) in singer-songwriter Eric Apoe’s group and knew she would blend in perfectly with the guitar and cello. At the same time we brought in drummer Jay Jaskot, with whom I'd previously worked in Seattle bands Axolotl and Iron Kim Style. After trying out a couple of bassists, we settled on our longtime associate Kevin Millard, who proved ideal for the role. This lineup remained stable until Ruth departed for graduate school. By this time we’d acquired a reputation as a ‘string-quartet-plus-drums,’ so we considered replacing her with another cellist, but weren’t aware of one in Seattle who could really fill her shoes. Instead, we recruited Alicia’s partner (now husband), the gifted woodwind player James DeJoie, who's worked out splendidly. Jay Jaskot eventually relocated to NYC and was very ably replaced by Stephen Thomas Cavit (also an Emmy Award–winning film composer). The tunes themselves are adaptable to different instrumentation; it’s the musical personalities that really count.


2. Moraine is a fairly new group, really, with one release under its belt. How did the group initially come together?

[KEVIN MILLARD] The band started as a duo, a collaboration between Dennis and Ruth (Davidson, on cello), who introduced herself to Dennis on a smoke break at a well-used Seattle rehearsal space. This was about 2005-2006. Kevin and Ruth had met and played together in Minneapolis in 1996 and both ended up moving to Seattle, where Kevin introduced her to some of his favorite local bands, including LAND featuring Dennis. Ruth and Dennis started playing shows together and soon added drums, bass and violin (Alicia). The line-up went through a couple bass players before Kevin joined, and original drummer Jay Jaskot moved to Brooklyn (shortly after Manifest Density was recorded), opening the way for Stephen to join. When Ruth moved away for mathematics graduate studies in the summer of 2009, we decided not to try to replace her very unique voice with another cellist. Jim (Alicia's boyfriend at the time, now husband) was already a Moraine fan - in fact, we were rehearsing at their house - and his amazing baritone sax playing and use of effects seemed like a very natural fit.


3. Manifest DeNsity came out on Moonjune Records. How did you hook up with that label?

[DENNIS REA] Interestingly, we never actually solicited MoonJune, but the relationship developed very organically. I had been aware of MoonJune and its founder, Leonardo Pavkovic, for years due to my longstanding enthusiasm for Soft Machine, many of whose members have releases on the label. When MoonJune released the archival live Soft Machine CD Drop in 2009, I placed an order for a copy on the MoonJune website. Shortly thereafter I received an email message from Leonardo explaining that the disc was on back order. I wrote back to thank him for the personal attention and commend him on his excellent label. He grew curious about me and clicked the link to my website in my email signature. I soon heard back from him that he'd perused my site and was particularly interested in my tales of playing music in China - I lived in China and Taiwan from 1989-93 and have done a number of concert tours there, as detailed in my book Live at the Forbidden City: Musical Encounters in China and Taiwan. Leonardo had traveled extensively in China himself, so I offered to send him a copy of my book, which he read and enjoyed. Up to that point there still hadn't been any discussion of my music, but the book piqued his interest and he asked me to send some samples.

At the time, we had just finished recording what would become manifest deNsity, so I sent it to him along with a few of my other projects; again, I was not soliciting a record deal but simply sharing the music. Right after he heard the Moraine session he offered to put it out on MoonJune, and the band of course was delighted to accept. It was the best possible outcome for us - MoonJune has been extremely supportive of Moraine, and as a respected presence on the international progressive jazz/rock scene, gave us an instant entree to the wider world of progressive music enthusiasts. Thanks to our association with such a highly regarded label, our CD has garnered close to 100 reviews in more than 20 countries to date, and the band came to the attention of NEARfest, the greatest opportunity we could ever have hoped for.

4. The band is often labeled as avant-garde. Do you feel this is an accurate label, or one you 'reject'?

[DENNIS REA] I'd like to know who often labels us as avant-garde ;) We've never identified ourselves as avant-garde and were rather surprised to find ourselves classified that way in the NEARfest publicity. I don't believe it's an accurate label at all, and I should know, as I've been a passionate follower of avant-garde, experimental music for decades. Compared to truly avant-garde musicians - say, Iannis Xenakis or Derek Bailey - Moraine isn't avant-garde at all. While we do have our hairier moments, we're rather too tuneful for that tag to fit. We embrace beauty and melody as well as our darker, more dissonant and noisier side, and that's part of what I believe sets us apart from many bands of a more explicitly experimental bent.

It came to our attention that some NEARfest attendees were actually put off by the 'avant-garde' billing in advance of our show, and it may well have kept some audience members away from our set, though we were very pleased that many of those who did take in our set were pleasantly surprised to find that we weren't so scary and forbidding after all.


5. What do you think Moraine brings to the table that sets the band apart from other groups out there?

[KEVIN MILLARD] I'm honestly not sure about this! We have never set out to sound like anyone else, or for that matter to differentiate ourselves from anyone else. This is a determinedly 'unstudied' band: We play whatever and however we like, and until we got onto MoonJune, we never even really talked about what genre we were. So this question might be better answered by the music press, fans and critics. I will say it's been very interesting to watch the reviews of our first CD (and our NEARfest appearance) roll in!


6. Moraine recently opened day two of NEARfest. How was that experience for the band?

[ALICIA DeJOIE] NEARfest was a fabulous experience for Moraine – the venue was outstanding, the crew was professional, highly capable, awesome people, and the equipment was absolutely top notch. We were fortunate enough to have the crew set us up on stage the night before so that when we arrived there in the morning, it was a quick monitor mix and then we were ready to go. The sound on stage during the show was stellar – everyone could hear everyone else in the band, the sound was clear, and the instruments were easily distinguishable. So often we’ve played clubs where we all basically heard a mush of sound on stage! In this respect, NEARfest was a very refreshing musical experience for us. Signing autographs after the show was a wonderful way to connect with our audience in a more personal way as well – we met some very enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and appreciative people in the world of prog rock! The town of Bethlehem was also charming – we had fun getting to know some of the small town nuances from the locals, and making a trek to the local brewery to sample the famous NEARfest beer when the festival was over. Overall, NEARfest was an exciting opportunity for us, one we hope will launch us into other festivals in the US and abroad.


7. Each of Moraine's members have had very active lives musically outside of the band. Has that made work with Moraine any more difficult?

[KEVIN MILLARD] In the sense that we all have diverse experiences to bring to the band, I'm sure that's only helped us. I can't imagine a more diverse bunch of people in terms of the kinds of gigs we've played, the kinds of music we've made and enjoy. In the sense that we all have busy lives outside the band, of course that brings with it certain challenges in scheduling gigs and rehearsals. We only rehearse once a week, but keeping even that regular can be a trick sometimes. It would be a serious challenge just to tally up all the other bands/recording projects/ensembles, etc. that we're all involved with! Jazz, classical, film scoring, pop, avant-garde, choral work, folk, even stoner rock ... but I get the sense that Moraine is a real priority for everyone. We all love playing this material, plus we all get along famously, so we love the chance just to hang out together, too.


8. Most (if not all) of Moraine's members have played on Dennis Rea's albums. What do you think sets Moraine music apart from Rea's solo efforts?

[DENNIS REA] Actually, I have only one 'solo' album available - the just-released Views From Chicheng Precipice, a radical reimagining of East Asian traditional music - apart from the long-lost album I recorded for the state-owned China Record Company 20 years ago. But all of the members of Moraine's previous lineup, which included cellist Ruth Davidson and drummer Jay Jaskot (who have both since moved on), did make wonderful contributions to certain tracks on Views. And Jay also appears on the entirely improvsied outing Iron Kim Style (also on MoonJune), but that's a collective effort rather than a DR project. At any rate, what sets Moraine apart from either of those records is 1) they're in completely different musical idioms - in the case of Views, an experimental take on world music, and in the case of Iron Kim Style, spontaneous fee jazz; and 2) the members of Moraine contribute their own compositions and ideas to the band's music. While much of Moraine's repertoire is tightly composed, there is always room for the other musicians to inject their own musical personailities into the pieces.


9. What can listeners expect in the future from Moraine?

[KEVIN MILLARD] More music! We're entering a period of writing new music, and the new contributions are coming from all sides, including a composer outside the band - something we're all very excited about. We have always been very democratic about the band, and everyone is encouraged to contribute new tunes. I would like to think that trend is continuing and getting stronger. I don't know what more diverse contributions is going to do to our "sound," but I think so far our music shows a cohesion despite the diverse writers and influences. Apart from that, the opportunities brought to us by being part of MoonJune Records and (thanks to MoonJune) being welcomed into the NEARfest family may very well bear other interesting fruit. We will never get tired of performing Seattle club gigs, but we're looking forward to more opportunities to bring our live music to new audiences nationally, and hopefully internationally as well. Also, we're excited to make a new album, which may include live material from the NEARfest performance - stand by for news!


10. Do you have any final words for the readers out there?

[DENNIS REA] The most important thing we have say is a heartfelt 'thank you!' to all of the people who've come to embrace our music, either through hearing our CD, seeing our set at NEARfest, or catching a show in the Seattle area. We're now hard at work on our second CD, featuring the same lineup that appeared at NEARfest, with woodwind player extraordinaire James DeJoie and drum maestro Stephen Thomas Cavit; when finished, the CD will also be released on MoonJune, possibly as part of a package including a DVD of our NEARfest performance. And we're hoping to parlay all of the new friendships we made at NEARfest into more opportunities to play farther afield, in other areas of the U.S., in Europe, or... We're just extremely gratified and humbled to have gained the attention of sympathetic listeners worldwide. Thanks for giving us an opportunity to speak!


Find out more here:
http://www.dennisrea.com/
http://www.moonjune.com/
http://www.myspace.com/moraineseattle
http://www.moraineband.com/



(Album cover: manifest deNsity by Moraine. Concert photo: Moraine live at NEARfest 2010 by Bill Knispel.)

NEARfest 2010...the last 5 bands

This meant it was time for...

THREE FRIENDS, essentially Gary Green and Malcolm Mortimore from Gentle Giant, with a bunch of other musicians. This was going to be a nostalgia trip, and nothing more, but it was a wonderful one. Gary’s a stunning guitar player, Mortimore was pounding the skins with abandon, and the rest of the current crew were excellent, playing very intricate and complicated Gentle Giant material like they were born to do so. I don’t recall the name of the guy who sang (they brought in a new singer 2 weeks before the show), but he was excellent. I was thrilled to hear Boys in the Band and The Advent of Panurge and Prologue/School Days and Proclamation and…so many other songs. Gary was dead chuffed to be on stage playing to 1000 people, and his comment about this being more than three friends now, and how that probably means having to do a new album (‘Oh shit, what did I just say?’) was met with much applause and laughter in the audience. They were wonderful to talk to after the show as well…relieved, I think, that it went off so well, and genuinely touched by the response they got.

Saturday night ended much like Friday…drive home, offload pictures (this time so tired I left the camera on overnight, plugged into my PC), sleep. Sunday morning came earlier than Saturday did, and again, I posted a few teaser photos, tried to eat breakfast, and we headed off, a bit later than the day before, but all in all not too bad. I did my last purchasing for the weekend, and ambled into the theatre for MORAINE. Coming from Cascadia (the Pacific Northwest), their music is occasionally melodic, occasionally angular, occasionally noisy, but played with a lot of skill and subtlety. I think they have loads of room to grow, and they have great potential to be a force in the years to come if their first album is any indication. I do not think this performance will be spoken of in the same kind of reverent tone as other Sunday openers from the past (Sleepytime Gorilla Museum 2003, Hidria Spacefolk 2004, Guapo 2006), but this only means that there’s time for them to grow and evolve and progress.

Lunchtime came again, and again it was a burger from the outside tent. I was too lazy to go anywhere, and it was too hot. In any case, the burger was again good, and I risked some cheese on it. It was nice to get some air, and relax, and talk to people, and not feel rushed at all. I had no idea how much fresh air I’d be getting.

Band 2 on day 3 was THE PINEAPPLE THIEF from the UK. I have 2 of their albums…the 2 CD compilation 3000 Days and the newest studio album Someone Here is Missing. I was somewhat less than impressed with the albums after repeated listens, but still was hoping that perhaps the band would be more energetic on stage. I went in with no expectations of hopes, and discovered something…it is in fact possible to have zero expectations and still not have them met. It was shoegazer music of the worst kind, with whiny vocals and a plodding morose mid tempo beat that only succeeded in beating into my head just how gray their music is. I don’t mind maudlin, morose music…I love the darker Cure stuff, and Depeche Mode, and Radiohead, and so on, but this was just blah in extremis. Comparing them to Radiohead is an insult…to Radiohead. In the end, and trying to say something positive…I enjoyed every minute of their performance…that I spent outside, getting fresh air. I didn’t like them, and am not ashamed to admit it.

For me, tension was starting to mount a little bit. THE ENID was the band I had most wanted to see (in case you’d not already guessed), and honestly I was beginning to think that maybe I was building myself up too much. I was trying to will the time to pass more quickly so they could hit the stage. When we finally got in there and were seated, I had about 90 seconds of pure, unadulterated, undistilled terror sweep over me…’there’s no way they’re gonna live up to my hopes oh dear sweet merciful Yahweh what have I done to myself?’ I had been talking them up to all of my friends, and how would I face them after they failed to live up to my glowing and running commentary?

Well…

The first 6 or 7 minutes were sublime. I was totally unfamiliar save for a listen that morning in sleep induced coma of the new album, so my first real listen was when they played. And it was interesting and different…a melding of Something Wicked This Way Comes and Six Pieces. Lots of layered, processed, vocodered vocals, and tympani and guitars and layers of keys, and I was getting into it, and…


Then disaster struck.

The PC that handled the band’s effects and sound processing/shaping crashed. The band stopped. There was no way they could continue. And I died a little inside. Whilst the crew tried to get them band off and running again, the audience began calling out for a drum solo. Dave Storey obliged, adding in Summer Holiday as last seen on the Hammersmith live DVD. I think the fact that they didn’t all leave the stage, but tried to entertain and keep the audience happy in the midst of crisis, was a huge factor in their favour. When things finally got up and running again, instead of picking up where they left off, the band started from page one and began their set all over again. Journey’s End was intense stuff, and at the end of that part of their set they got a loud and rapturous ovation from a very appreciative crowd. The second part of their performance was a selection of mostly older material, going all the way back to In the Region of the Summer Stars. They started things off with Judgment and Under the Summer Stars, and my jaw dropped when the tympani drum opening on Judgment led us into the second set. I see that as an encore piece for some reason, so it was ballsy (to me) to kick things back off with it. Robert John Godfrey also offered up a lovely piano rendition of The Lovers, also off In the Region, and Sheets of Blue was another excellent piece. At some point I did start floating around the theatre…I was gobsmacked.

I know after the performance people asked me if my expectations had been met, and honestly, as lofty as they were, not only were they met, but exceeded. So much so, in fact, what when RJG and the band got up to the tables, I had a hard time expressing how much the music meant to me. I got to hug RJG as well, which is insufficient means for expressing my love of his music, but it has to do.

Dinner break, last day, and most of us went our separate ways. I ended up at Campus Pizza, as I usually do, and had a couple slices. I was already beginning to feel the crash coming as the end of the weekend approached. Finally making it back to the venue, I ran into Jon Yarger, who asked if I was ready to have my ass musically kicked. I said that honestly I was probably gonna end up hanging out with Brett Kull in the recording booth, and was told he’d not be there, as the headliner had specifically demanded no filming or recording. This, coupled with the strict no cameras policy for his performance, started leaving a bad taste in my mouth…a bad taste that would be build up as an 830 pm start slipped to 9 slipped to 930…when we were finally let into the theatre. As we waited, another film showed, similar to the one screening each morning, about how NF is all about the people, and this is where I got nervous. I had images of ill-advised chestbumps on screen, and when I saw the first one, I feared mine would be in there. I was relieved that instead people were only subjected to me saying this was my ninth NEARfest,and my rambling semi-lucid ramble about why NEARfest is so special. Then I watched as Ray and Jim and Kevin and Tom, in my eyes clearly uncomfortable, began stalling for time. I don’t care who you are, there’s no excuse for rock star attitude and prima donna acts. I was growing increasingly disgusted with the situation, and when the lights finally went down, and I watched 5 lighting trusses descend to the stage, I think I was done.

I still gave EDDIE JOBSON AND THE ULTIMATE ZERO PROJECT (alternatively Eddie Jobson and the Eddie Jobson Ultimate Eddie Jobson Zero Eddie Jobson Project, starring Eddie Jobson) a chance. 7 minutes of noise which I assume was actually impressive (to someone) violin playing led into individual introductions for Billy Sheehan and Mike Mangini and T.J. Helmerich and Marco Minnemann. The band shifted into King Crimson’s Indiscipline, and while I’ll admit the song choices were good (a bunch of UK, including Ceasar’s Palace Blues, Nevermore, In the Dead of Night, Danger Money, and more; Crimson’s Indiscipline and Starless; ELP’s Bitches Crystal), the playing left me cold, save for Billy Sheehan’s always enjoyable bass playing, and Minnemann’s excellent drumming. Jobson was more impressive on keys than violin, but on Starless all the life and space was sucked out of it, leaving it dense, overpacked, and less than the original. When you have a guy like Helmerich who can play 8-finger tap guitar, you do not have him playing the staccato violin part while you play Robert Fripp’s lines. It was a vanity and ego stroke of epic proportions, and it feels awful and horrible saying this about a band signed as a headliner, but I felt nothing from it. At all. So much nothing, in fact, that not only did I step out early, I didn’t go to get any signatures. Instead I spent the last hour of the performance talking to some friends and hanging out. After the festival finally let out, and most everyone queued for signatures, I waited, chatted with a few more people (Adam and Don and Andre, Cyndee and Jeff, Jen from PE, Adam, and far too many others to remember them all), and started feeling the comedown actually coming down.