| |
This is the place to find
out all things ME. I never thought anyone would want to, but turns out like
three or four of you do. Which was enough for me to compile this
page with some history, favs, answers to frequently asked questions about
me, music, and other
stuff. Find out more than you probably ever
wanted to know in this
nifty little Cosmo-like spread! |
|
If you have a question, just email
it and I'll post the
answer HERE. |
SC
Favourite Records Of The Moment:
These are some of the
records I've been enjoying lately. If there's a link, follow it for some
audio samples. If there's no
link, you gotta run out and buy the album to hear the sweet monkey love! |
The Frames -
The Cost (Irish Advanced)
David Kitt -
Not Fade Away
The Decemberists -
The Crane Wife
Emma-Lee -
The Waiting Room EP
Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova -
The Swell Season
The Submarines -
Declare A New State
Phoenix -
It's Never Been Like That
Ray LaMontagne -
Till The Sun Turns Black
Emily Haines -
Knives Don't Have Your Back
Amy Millan -
Honey From The Tombs
Peaches -
Impeach My Bush
Adam Warner -
No Place To Lay
Death From Above -
Romance, Bloody Romance
Bruce Springsteen -
Nebraska
Sufjan Stevens -
Illinois
Iron & Wine/Calexico -
In The Reins
|
Questions For Scott:
Here are some
answers to questions that you have asked me over the last little
while. Gripping inquisition, or lame self-indulgence? You be the
judge! |
What are your musical
influences:
I always cringe at this
question because in the context of a bio or whatever, what they're really asking
is "who do you sound like?". So when I list my influences, I
usually put the pop-ish stuff I've been told my music resembles. Just so
people have an idea of what to expect. But in fact, I'm more
influenced by a wealth of things that don't exactly sound like my music at
all. You can pick out certain things I think, but nothing too overt.
There are a ton of artists who have recorded music that's floored me at
various points throughout my life and totally changed the way I approach
and think about writing music - listing them here would take three days to
read!
So because this is my website and not a press kit, I'll pretentiously
extrapolate on what my motivation for songwriting and performing is.
At the highest level possible, I'm interested in exploring mood, melody,
and dynamics which all get filtered through my views and ideas about
people (myself included), love, and life. A memorable melody (or
hook if you will) is a must-have, then the vibe of a tune will usually
play hyperactively into whatever mood I'm in. As far as performance
goes, I'm very interested in vibes....intimacy, fun, melancholy, light
heartedness, sarcasm, and an overwhelming need just to connect with people
who love music as much as I do.
|
How
did you come to do all the recording and production by yourself? Do you
prefer it that way?
I'm really lucky, because I work in a production studio professionally, so
I'm able to use the facilities after hours for free. I've been
making tapes and stuff on 4-tracks for years, so in a way it's a pretty
natural step for me to do it all myself. But in the scheme of
things, I am relatively new to engineering and producing at a high
quality level and still learning like crazy. As far as it being a
preference? I think there's good and bad in all of it. For starters,
I'm completely obsessive about everything and figure I'm the only person in the
world who truly knows what I want. So doing things myself is a good way to
get there and avoid negativity and conflict with those who don't get it.
But because you're so close to everything, it's also very difficult to edit
yourself; to discern bad ideas from good ones. I've been plagued with
self-doubt so many times during the recording process. "Is this
any good? Does this sound as horrible as I think it does?"
But you work through it and realize that you're just a freak who cares way too
much about stuff the majority of folks will never even notice!! |
Why
are you OK with people burning your CD? You're losing money!:
Well it's a
little more complicated than just "Hey, burn my CD everyone!".
I would definitely prefer it that
someone bought the CD. Absolutely. Other than the obvious fact of the music, I
also put a lot
of thought and effort into how the CD looks: the photos and artwork, the liner
notes...all of those things are important to me to communicate as
well. But at the end of the day, it's just a big smelly hippy
philosophy: I believe growth can only happen through
word of mouth and people 'passing the vibes' onto a likeminded friend.
Hopefully that person will like what they hear and want to buy a copy to
get the whole package. Lots of people do this and I'm thankful for
it. But there are some people who are no longer willing to pay for
music because they can easily get it for free. You can't prevent
that. So basically what my stance is 'OK burn it if you're gonna
burn it, but do me a favour and make a copy to give to a friend while
you're at it!'. |
I'm a gear-head
who's interested in finding out what kind of toys you use when
recording:
OK, we're officially entering the tech zone here, so if you glaze over
at such things it's probably best you skip ahead. Now that you've
been warned, here goes:
I use Pro Tools
exclusively for all my recording needs
(currently running v-6.3.1). Pro
Tools is accompanied by a TDM Farm Card and Digidesign's 882/20
rackmount interface (I/O). All my instruments and mics bus through a Mackie
SR24-4
VLZ mixing board which is juiced by a Mackie
XDR
Mic PRE. I have recently become obsessed with Class A tube mic
pres and thanks to the rental department at Long & McQuade I've been able
to record with ridiculously priced (but oh-so-sweet) units like:
Universal Audio LA-610,
UA M-610,
Avalon vt737,
Focusrite ISA430. I monitor using the classic Yamaha NS-10M speakers which are
pushed with a Hafler
TransNova P3000
Studio Power Amp. I've also since added a pair of
KRK V8 active studio
monitors - another great performance vs cost ratio. I use an assortment of mics by
Neumann (TLM-103), Studio Projects (SP C-3),
AKG (C-3000-B),
and Shure (SM-81
SM-57
SM-58)
for various applications. I also use a number of F/X units and dynamic processors,
most of which are digital plug-ins for Pro Tools, but I must take a second and
acknowledge the awesome power of my Focusrite "Red" D2
& D3 Comp/Limiter/EQ
as well as my
Waves Diamond Bundle Pack (TDM).
Drool. For acoustic guitar, I
use a
Gibson Super Jumbo 150 SpecialEdition,
Taylor 310ce, and a Takamine
EF-325. As for electric guitars,
I use a
Gibson Les Paul Studio for the dirty sounds, and a
Fender
USA Telecaster
for clean. All my electric and guitars run through my trusty Line
6 POD 2.0 and
also borrow my friend Sean's Peavy 5150 (EVH Signature Model) 2x12 combo
guitar amp. All of my bass is played with my
Fender USA Jazz Bass
juiced by my
Ampeg BA-210 SP bass amplifier. I'm in posession of a Class A tube pre
at the time, I'll use that direct into Pro Tools for bass instead.
So yep, that's pretty much my standard
recording setup.
|
What
specifically made you want to get
into music?:
When I was
just a little kid, my Dad brought home a KISS record for me and my brother. Man,
was I hooked - I wanted to rock out! The tennis racket as guitar thing,
eventually ended up becoming a real guitar. I played and played and
played from about the time I was 15...learning all these Metallica songs,
jamming with my brother and friends from school. I didn't start writing songs until I
went off to College though. I hooked up with a bunch of friends which
turned into the first original band I had ever been in. I started
out as a guitar player, but we needed a new singer and somehow I ended up
filling in! I had never sang for real before in my life, except for in the
shower (and screaming at metal jams) and stuff. So we started writing all these rock songs
together and I lost
complete interest in everything except music. We went our separate
ways after a few years of playing, and that's when I turned to a 4-track
to start writing on my own, making crappy little tapes and giving them
to friends. |
When writing lyrics, do
you consciously try to tell stories or do the words come to you later?:
I'd say a little bit of both. Sometimes I've got something I want to say and
will attempt to spill it out on paper. Then I write the music and melody around
that. Most of the time though, it's the music and melody first. I'll just mumble
along until some kind of phrase or line pops into my head. Then I write it
around that. I wish I was more of a storyteller, though! Check out "Bass
Song" by Hayden. If only I could write like that. Brilliant!
|
|
|
