A Sunday Conversation with Alejandra O'Leary

When I was a kid, growing up in a house with Cat Stevens, Neil Diamond, and Simon and Garfunkel, the first time I ever heard Kiss's "Detroit Rock City," it was a moment of musical epiphany. It was just so vicious, aggressive and mean. It changed the way I listened to music. I've had a few minor epiphany's since then, when you come across a band that just brings something new and revolutionary to your ears.

What have been your musical epiphany moments?

I remember the first time I heard the Beatles "From Me To You" on a falling apart hissy cassette in my Dad's car. When they hit that first high falsetto harmony -- "If there's anything I can do...." I felt like I was going 100 miles an hour down a steep fast scary thrilling roller coaster drop. I had never heard men -- or anybody -- sing like that -- and make such a haunting and unreal sound. There is so much echo and wobbliness on those early Beatles records, which contributes to the strangeness of it all. But the songs are so good, so satisfying and so playful and daring.

Tom Petty once said something about how the early Beatles sounded like aliens singing from another planet. I agree with that statement completely. Their sound is so totally unique, experimental, totally hypnotic. Bob Dylan was on board from the beginning, too, even though in the early 1960s the Beatles were being dismissed as teenybop stuff.

I also remember the first time I really listened closely to certain ABBA songs -- "Lay All Your Love on Me," "Knowing Me Knowing You", "One of Us," "Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)" and some others -- and being totally entranced by the high-voltage singing and amazing songwriting and production on those tracks.


Talk to us about the song-writing process for you. What comes first, the idea? A riff? The lyrics? How does it all fall into place?

A musical idea gets into of me first, but only the most basic seed, like the melody for the chorus of my new song "When Will They Learn?". I woke up singing that tune and stumbled over to the piano before I'd even had any coffee and just started banging it out. I must have looked like a crazy person with my hair all tangled, dried spit on my chin, in my little shorts.  After that first moment, music and lyrics have to come together.  They just have to sound good together, you know?

 Where do you look for continuing inspiration? New ideas, new motivation?

There is almost too much inspiration out there! I think that continuing to discover new artists, or "new old artists"  and learning how many different approaches there are to making music helps a lot. I was recently inspired by watching a movie about the history of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and how, for them, from the time they were all teenagers, music was the only thing they wanted to pursue. It wasn't even like a choice for them, especially for Petty himself.

I feel lucky to be always re-discovering awesome stuff in old bands. The Rolling Stones, for example -- their catalog goes so deep, they do so many different things, and most of the time they still rev me up and make me want to smash things or tackle someone in lust. How can a band do that? I'm still trying to figure it out.


Genre's are so misleading and such a way to pigeonhole bands. Without resorting to labels, how would you describe your music?

Songwriter pop, I suppose. Rock n' roll. Music to dance with someone you have a crush on to.


 
What is you musical intention? What are you trying to express or get your audience to feel?

I think beauty and joy are the two things I'm always going for. Deep joy can come out of a sad song, too.

In songwriting, how do you bring the song together? What do you look for in terms of complexity? Simplicity? Time changes?



I don't have a standard. I think the song needs to stick, to be memorable, and that's really the number one criteria. Simple is a great place to start.



The business of music is a brutal place. Changes in technology have made it easier than ever for bands to get their music out, but harder than ever to make a living? What are your plans to move the band forward? How do you stay motivated in this brutal business?

Staying focused on content - on music -- really helps you to keep moving ahead and not get lost in the jungle. Having good concert experiences and connecting with new audiences and super smart music fans  is always encouraging.



 Come on, share with us a couple of your great, Spinal Tap, rock and roll moments?

 I get all kinds of marriage proposals at shows and stuff, but I always turn them down. I guess if I were really in Spinal Tap I would have accepted at least one by now, and made my fan-husband the new drummer.



What makes a great song?

A new angle on an old idea. Conviction. The way instruments contrast with and blend with each other.



Tell us about the first song you ever wrote?

I was 13 or 14. I think it was heavily influence by Oasis and featured lots of Liam Gallagher-like rhymes and delivery "Shiiiiiiiine all the tiiiiime" and lines like that. Oasis was a hard first influence to get away from! Shortly after that one, I wrote "I Don't Want to Go to Your Party," which became a hit for my all-girl college band, The Tourettes.

What piece of your music are particularly proud of?

I like "You Gotta Love Me Sometimes" from my album Nothing Out Loud. I like the lyrics and the production a lot.



Who today, writes great songs? Why?

I have always love Morrissey's songwriting. I thought his last album, "Years of Refusal" was so enthralling and rocked so hard. His lyrics and sometimes even his melodies are so funny and hit you so deep at the same time. And of course, he is an incredible performer of his own songs. 

Come to think of it, I think with "You Gotta Love Me Sometimes" I was going for a very Morrissey song title. Morrissey and the Smiths always had all those great, full-sentence titles: "The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get," "We Hate it When Our Friends Become Successful," "Shoplifters of the World Unite" etc.


Vinyl, CD, or digital? What's your format of choice?

Vinyl is the best! I grew up with a record player in my room and all of my Dad's old Beatles and Dylan and Richie Havens records. I think when I was about 12 I tried to play some Beatles record backwards to see if I could hear anything about Paul Is Dead. I love the way records sound, even the pops and scratches excite me. You feel like the musicians are in the room or something. And of course you can lose yourself in the album art. Since moving to Michigan with finite room in the car, I'm now limited to CDs and computers. Not as good.


We, at the Ripple Effect, are constantly looking for new music. When we come to your town, what's the best record store to lose ourselves in?

Wazoo Records in Ann Arbor is the place to go.


Any final comments or thoughts you'd like to share with our readers, the waveriders?

Thanks for listening, and keep rocking all the time. And here's a party tip from Andrew W.K. that I always keep trying to come back to: Be Nicer than Normal.

Another Tsumani of D.I.Y. Ripple Bursts – Featuring Jason Ager & The C.O.P.O., Obsidian, Brady Harris, Alejandra O’Leary, and Behind the Sun

Without a doubt, one of my favorite columns to write is the D.I.Y. Ethic missives.  We at the Ripple, just can’t tip our hats high enough to salute all the D.I.Y. musicians who strive against spellbinding odds to pursue their music.  Much respect.  So today, we’re gonna run through five stellar D.I.Y. projects that are truly head and shoulders above the pack.  Pay them some attention.




Jason Ager & The C.O.P.O – Lunchdate

First up on our rundown is this downright funky, delightfully bluesy, deliberately rocking platter from street funkmeister Jason Ager and his C.O.P.O.  Now, I don’t know what C.O.P.O. stands for, but it’s filled out by Austin O’Connor jazzing out on the bottom end and Sheri Gallagher keeping the whole shebang moving on time.  A while back, Pope and I professed our love of gritty, funky street blues bands such as Fun Lovin’ Criminals and G. Love and the Special Sauce.  Now add Jason Ager to that list.  Blessed with a voice that just oozes soul the way BP oozes oil, Jason takes his time moving through this juicy set of hip and cool steamers.  “Jocelyn” puts it all right on display.  Jason’s voice is rough and gruff, languid, unhurried as he digs deep into his vocal chords.  Best of all, despite the song moving at a nice clip, Jason takes his time with this burner, letting it ebb and flow, grow and recede.  Great guitar, deep funky bass, Sheri hitting everything within arms reach.  It’s all good.  Fans of G. Love must take note of this one.  “Sing-Along Jawn,” brings in some tasty, underground club jazz bass to kick us off, dropping into a stuttering funky treat.  “Blue Kathleen,” is about as funky as white folk can get.  “Rock Star,” is a loose-strung bout of down-home, barbecued funk, while “Strawberry Wine,” has just got to be the feel-good hit of the summer.  Give me a picnic, a soft blanket, a warm breeze blowing through the leaves of a dangling weeping willow, and my wife and we got us a day of summer perfection. 

A dynamite debut, and perfect for these hot summer days.  Black tank top not included.

buy here: Lunchdate



Obsidian – Dreamcatcher

Alternating between beautifully melodic and punishingly heavy as fuck, Obsidian just may well be the most complete, ready for the big-time pop-metal outfit I’ve ever heard.  I mean, make a checklist of what it takes to have a destroyer of a band, one that could go toe-to-toe with the heavyweights at Ozzfest--or Crue’s fest or whatever fest—and you’ll spend all day just checking those qualities off the machine that is Obsidian.  Stellar guitar work, massive bass-heavy production, crushing riffs, dead-on melodies, and a singer who can belt it out with the best of em – gruff enough to please me, but not so much to turn off the casual fan.  No two ways about it, Obsidian got it all and their debut album, Dreamcatcher is the proof.  “Whispers,” just breathes metal power with a dead-hook of a chorus.  “Sounds of Silence,” is a terror, starting off with a muted guitar a la Creed (back when they were still cool).  The muscle kicks in about 30 seconds in with another damn-winner of a melody, chugging guitars and a chorus that will drill its way into your head.  There’s late 80’s metal here, 90’s nu crunch, and more.  “How About the Truth,” is a metal power ballad that’s actually worth hearing while “c.k.t.c.” just terrorizes.  Personally, I prefer the balls out metal cuts more than the mid-tempo, slower songs but both types demonstrate the craft these guys bring to the table.

I’m not making any predictions here, I’m just telling the truth.  You will be hearing tons more from these guys in the future.  They will rule.  Nothing will stop them.

buy here: Dreamcatcher [Explicit]


Brady Harris – Cover Charge


There’s two lines of thought on a cover album.  One says you play it straight; that the greatest feat is to really play like the band being covered.  The other goes the exact opposite way.  Re-interpret the song in as radical a style as you can.  Run it through your own musical blender, pour out the contents across your stylings, and see how it tastes.  Personally, I prefer, the later.  There’s nothing as much fun as hearing a song you know and love, totally re-imagined in bold and startling ways.    That’s what Brady Harris does.

A low-key, rootsy singer/songwriter from Texas, on Cover Charge Brady takes some of the most unexpected songs you can imagine a cowboy songsmith to be singing and turns them into startlingly new pieces of music.  Versions no person could resist.

So what am I talking about?  How about a warm and languid version of Madonna’s “Like a Virgin,” sung perfectly straight without any Weird Al irrelevance.  It’s a fantastic, absolutely addictive version.  As is his slide-guitar, lazy version of Duran Duran’s “Rio.”  Under Brady’s vision, The Clash’s “Spanish Bombs,” takes on a full, over-the-hills country charm,   But nothing can ever be as just flat out perfect as his low-toned, deep acoustic and slide guitar version of Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades.”  I played this one for Pope and he was stunned by the brilliance in this interpretation of the track.  The true strength of Lemmy's song writing becomes oh, so apparent.  Truly, a cover masterpiece.

buy here: Cover Charge

 Alejandra O’Leary – Nothing Out Loud

We get tons of submissions from singer/songwriters coming into the Ripple and to be honest, it gets hard to tell them all apart.  Somehow they all seem to fall into this vague morass of love lost, acoustic ballading that becomes a little mind-numbing.  Not Alejandra O’Leary.

The very first time I heard Alejandra sing, I fell in love with her voice.  Coquettish, mildly childish, kinda like Jewel, but a Jewel that doesn’t get annoying and grate on my nerves.  In fact, the more I listen to Alejandra, the warmer and more inviting her voice becomes.  And that’s important, because Alejandra’s voice is clearly the main instrument here.  That’s not to say the album is spartan.  Au contraire!  Each song is filled out with a robust arrangement, bringing in different and sometimes unsuspecting textures to play against the guitars.  And let me tell you, Alejandra can write a song.   The fact that “Ever After,” isn’t already dominating the radio is a crime against musical common sense.  Place whatever name you want here -- Sheryl Crow, Jewel, Natalie Imbruglia – and Alejandra will stand tall.  “Love I Been In,” is a gorgeous, multi-melodic piece of pure pop perfection.  Don’t know how Jack Johnson can sell a single album while people don’t know this song.  “Tremor,” may be my favorite song on the album, employing keyboards along with the bass to bring in a delicious, ambient, downtempo vibe while still maintaining all her pop smarts.  Radio? You bet.  I’m gonna make it my own personal mission to get this song heard.  Ripple Radio to start.  The world to follow.  I’ve fallen in love and I’ve fallen hard.

Buy here: www.myspace.com/alejandraoleary



Behind the Sun -  S/T

Israel’s vast Negev desert may not be a place you think of as the rock capital of the world, but Behind the Sun are doing their damndest to change all that.  Playing a sort of post-grunge, quasi-progressive brand of desert metal, Behind the Sun have all the pieces to put the Negev desert onto the rock and roll map.

Beginning with a simply goreous, decidedly desert-feeling, acoustic passage, “Second December,” brings everything Behind the Sun have right to the table.  Post-Alice in Chains melodies and crashing guitars.  A powerful post-Tool groove and charge and some serious riffing.  Complex yet simple, this song is just beautifully crafted and played.  Listen to the guitar flourishes throughout the chorus.  There’s something very different there, something that I can only define as Israeli Desert Metal.  Warm and textured.  “Wishful Thinking,” plays more towards the bands jazz/prog tendencies in a King Crimson sort of way without ever losing itself up it’s own ass.  “Nothing But a Stain,” is a post-Pearl Jam ballad of uncommon power.  “Running Water,” is pure on jazz-inflected, jam band nirvana of the sort that the Renegade Saints would drool over.   The acoustic guitar work throughout the whole album is mind-bending. 

So much to love here.

buy here: Behind the Sun

--Racer