Featured Artist: XANDER SKY

Co-founder of the original Trampoline Records label, Xander Sky began the Tramp tradition of spotlighting very talented artists not yet embraced by the mainstream music scene. Who knew that eight years later he would be approached by Marc Dauer, Rami Jaffee, and Pete Yorn, who were seeking to build their own Trampoline label with that same vision in mind?

Wanting to learn more about Xander Sky and the roots of Trampoline Records, we reached out to him and have made the contents of our interview available right here for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!

Q&A with Xander Sky

I recently read in Harp Magazine that when Pete Yorn, Rami Jaffee, and Marc Dauer came up with the name Trampoline Records, they discovered that you already had a label by that name. How did you initially choose the name Trampoline Records, and how did you decide to let the guys use it for their new label?
The original, Detroit-based Trampoline Records, was started by my best friend, Adam Druckman and myself. The name was coined by Adam, who has a particular talent for coming up with cool phrases of all sorts. When we started the label in 1994, our first release was a compilation entitled Lost In Detroit: The New Urban Songwriters. This release featured tracks by our friends Chris Moore, Scott Fab and Priscilla Ederle, as well as Adam and myself. The five of us used to collaborate, travel around, play tons of gigs together and have some really great times.

Following the release of the compilation, Trampoline released my first album, wakeupdreaming in 1995, as well as Priscilla’s and Adam’s debuts in 1995 and 1996, respectively. We also released a couple of other titles by Detroit-based bands in 1996 and then followed up with another one of my releases in 1997, entitled Sinking.

Throughout this period, I was quite active in the music biz, while Adam was gradually (and temporarily) moving away from it. Eventually, it got to the point where he was hardly involved with the label at all, and we both decided it would be best if I just continued "working it" on my own. In retrospect, I think his waning interest had a lot to do with the fact that he was growing more involved in a new, different kind of partnership -- with his (then) future wife, Audrey -- who, incidentally, is a very talented musician and songwriter. Though we are all great friends now, in those days, I was probably a bit jealous of her new "influence" on him -- (think John, Yoko, end of Beatles, that sort of thing...) Anyway, after the release of Sinking and the departure of Adam, Trampoline did not release new material -- Quite honestly, it just wasn’t the same vibe.

When Marc first called me, early 2002 I think it was, I initially thought there was no way I would give up the name. Mostly, it was just that I had grown accustomed to using the name, I was still receiving Trampoline mail, had Trampoline letterhead, etc. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that in reality, Trampoline Records represented a time and a place that had already gone by. Our gang had gradually grown up and apart, everyone was going in different directions, and "Trampoline" held mostly a sentimental value for me.

With all this in mind, I thought, "here are some LA guys who are passionate about music and want to do something positive," and I eventually came to the conclusion that if I said "no," I would be serving no one’s interests and building up nothing but bad karma -- greedily hanging on to a name that I was not actively using, all the while preventing someone else from doing something positive with it. So the more I spoke to Marc on the phone (there were numerous, long phone conversations), the more I got to know him and what he and the other guys wanted to do, the more convinced I became that to give my blessings to their venture was the right thing to do. Obviously, I did not fail to notice that the connection would possibly lead to opportunities, though at the time I was not sure specifically in what way. Basically, I liked Marc, got good vibes from him, and liked the idea of working with guys who were successful, passionate and whose music I really respected. I mean, if the guys that contacted me happened to be into hip-hop or some other kind of music that I could not relate to personally (fusion-prog rock?!), I definitely would not have given up the name. It just so happened that Marc, Rami and Pete Yorn were actually working in the same musical "neighborhood" as we were, they just happened to be in LA and on major labels!

Tell me more about your own releases on the original Trampoline Records label?
wakeupdreaming was a mix of acoustic and electric arrangements. The song themes were quite personal, quite "innocent" I would say. Some love songs, some darker numbers and a lot of experimenting with musical arrangements. I was producing the record myself, so there was no one there to stop me from having a very heavy guitar driven song followed by a folky, fiddle driven tune, then right back to the arena guitar rock sound, then back again. As far as arrangements, the record is all over the place but the songs all have a certain intimate theme quality that keeps the thing coherent. I listened to it a few months ago and although much of the production made me cringe, I still feel that the album works well, especially for that period.

Sinking is a completely different album. The arrangements are all acoustic, recorded live, very raw, and the themes are very dark. That period (1997) was quite difficult for me, I was breaking up with my first serious girlfriend and was really at a dead end -- personally, artistically, financially and in every other way you can imagine. I think that Sinking is powerful, and I suppose entertaining in some way to some people, but I still have trouble listening to it -- It is just too close to the bone as they say. Plus I am out of tune sometimes, but don’t tell anyone...

I love your song I Want To Be A Man, which appears on Trampoline Records Greatest Hits, Vol. 1. What prompted you to write it, and was it written specifically for Vol. 1?
Thank you for liking the song! No, it was not written for Vol. 1 specifically. I honestly can’t remember exactly when I wrote it but it was definitely while I was coming out of the Sinking period, around 2000. I suppose it was while I was trying to "surface!" It was basically a statement to myself more than anything else, and I have been trying to live up to it ever since -- which is not always easy!

I noticed that Rami Jaffee is listed in the credits for that song. Did you work with him in the studio? If so, what was it like to work with him?

Well, the basic tracks, I recorded in my home studio in Hamtramck, MI. I did the vocal and acoustic first, then added the drums and the wah-wah synths. Then my friend Sal D’Agnillo, one of the best guitarists in Michigan in my opinion, came over. We had a little party and overdubbed the bass and lead guitars. I played bass. He played lead. Later, he gave me the guitar, and I also played some lead. The solo that you hear is actually him in the beginning (doing all the fancy stuff) and me at the end -- same sound because it was the same guitar, amp, etc. I remember he had just gotten a new (used) amp -- a vintage 1963 Vox that he had shipped over from Britain, one of the coolest amps I have ever played through... First thing I did when I plugged in was to turn up to eleven and play the riff to You Really Got Me -- It sounded just like Dave Davies!

What happened next is, I did a rough mix of the song and sent it off to Marc to see if they would include it on their compilation. Actually, Rami told me later that when Marc said I was sending them music to listen to, Rami’s initial response was to forget it; but Pete said something like "Lets just listen to it. It won’t kill us just to hear him..." -- for which I am really grateful! (Thanks, Pete!) I can certainly understand Rami’s reservations -- There is a lot of bad music out there, and a lot of it in my own shoe boxes too! Anyway, they got the mix, and Marc called me up, said they liked it, and mentioned that Rami was interested in doing some organ parts to fill out the arrangement. Well, believe it or not, I always heard an organ part for that song in my head, but at the time, I did not have a way to get one recorded (all I had was an old Korg poly synth). I don’t know if this was a coincidence or destiny, but it certainly felt like there was an energy to the way things were developing... A few days later, Rami called me; and we talked for a long time about arrangement ideas, as well as about music in general. We ended up deciding that the best way to proceed would be for me to fly out to LA for a long weekend, and get Rami’s parts recorded in his studio, which is what we did.

As for working with Rami, it was quite laid back. We planned to record in the morning (right!) but ended up hanging out, running some errands, going out for sushi and not really getting to work until late afternoon. We spent quite a bit of time just hanging around in his studio, with the rough mix of the track playing over and over. One thing I noticed, is that while we were hanging out, Rami, while appearing to be not paying attention, was actually listening to the track. He seemed to be working the parts out in his head -- long before he actually sat down at the organ. Then, when he did, it really came together fast! He did two takes; and we ended up using the first. The rest of the day we fiddled around with other synth sounds -- He had a great sounding melatron, which I was quite happy to add to the mix, it was a bit of an indulgence for both of us because we are both huge Beatles fans, and that sound is ‘Forever’ tied to Strawberry Fields in my head, at least.

Do you do music as your full time career? Do you have a specific genre, and what are you working on these days?
In addition to music, I am a graphic designer and sometimes a photographer. There are so many parallels between music and the visual arts. I really think that in both areas, I am always trying to resolve essentially the same problem, which is one of arrangement. In graphic design, like in music, it is a question of how do you position the "components on the canvas" to achieve that magic when the whole exceeds the sum of its parts. The ‘components’ may be instrument parts or text or images and the ‘canvas’ may be a poster, logo or the stereo sounds in my headphones -- but the challenge is always the same. It is about finding that right balance that will really move your senses -- whether it is your eyes or ears, or both.

Currently, I am working on finishing a bunch of songs that are "in progress." ( I am a painfully slow writer.) I have promised myself that I will not start any new ones until I finish up the many loose ideas that are already in my head. I am recording them as I go and at once trying to learn how to use all the great new tools (toys) on my PC. I recently upgraded/changed my recording software and as a result, I am still climbing a learning curve with it.

Also, I have been busy playing guitar in an experimental jazz/poetry band which is a completely off the wall kind of thing for me to do. I have never been involved in anything like this before; and it is quite an education. In this band, I have the privilege of working with a legendary Detroit saxophonist, Faruq Z. Bey, who is helping to expand my mind a lot. He is showing me how to play in time signatures never dreamed of in rock music (at least not the kind I play), as well as leading me toward a whole new way to approach my phrasing when I am playing guitar solos...

Did you have any other careers before pursuing music?
Well, I actually have been involved in music longer than anything else, if you count the bands I was in while in high school and college… After I graduated, I actually dreamed of becoming a rich banker for a short while. Then I decided that rock ‘n roll was much more practical and did that full time for about four years until discovering the visual side of things six years ago. One might say that this was when "my eyes were first opened," which, curiously, is the same time I was breaking up with that first serious girlfriend, recording Sinking and learning all about paying my own rent for a change...

What music do you like to listen to?
Since I was five, I have loved the Beatles. Since I first heard Blood On The Tracks when I was in college, I was "awakened" to Mr. Dylan. I think that pretty much everything he has done is essential. Because I grew up with an older brother and sister, I have always loved that late sixties, early seventies period of rock music (Stones, Floyd, etc...). I never really liked much of the 80's popular music with the exception of Prince and U2. But aside from pop music, I really love solo classical piano (Bach, Schubert, Beethoven). I am really moved by almost any Cuban music, and other Latin styles. I love Bob Marley’s music but I sort of feel like reggae died with him, at least for me. I am into older, acoustic blues from Mississippi, but not so much the more uptempo "partytime" blues music... Some other artists that I really like that you may not expect are the BeeGees, Neil Diamond and Tony Bennett. I am just lately discovering the songwriters of Cole Porter’s generation. Basically, anything where there is a great song and a soulful vocal delivery. I value "heart" much more than technical virtuosity. I have always liked Tom Petty, for instance -- great songs, sings with conviction... As for new music, I think that hip-hop and techno are the areas where the most new ground is broken these days, kind of the way rock music broke new ground in the late sixties and seventies. I like some of today’s rock music (Radiohead, Wilco) ; but it hits me in a different way than rock music did before -- probably because I am no longer seventeen! For me personally, "new" music is often old music that I have not heard yet...

I noticed from your bio on xandersky.com that you had toured for a while and stopped, and now seem to be getting back out on the road. What are you hoping to do in this stage of your music career?
I really love performing and to be honest, I really miss it, though I did get quite burned out by it a few years back. Whenever I have an opportunity to perform in a venue that is designed with music in mind (as opposed to beer sales) I am happy to play, but if I have to choose between a long night at a nightclub vs. a night of recording, I will stay in the studio (almost) every time... On the other hand, if I have to choose between recording in Hamtramck and hanging out with the bison and lamas in Wyoming, I will take the lamas any day. And thus, here I am!

It is now pitch black outside except for the light of the moon and the laptop I am using. I guess it is time to yield to the moon and call it a night.

To learn more about XANDER SKY, check out the links below:

http://www.xandersky.com xander sky's page on trampolinerecords.com music clip: i want to be a man To learn more about the new Trampoline Records and the other artists represented on Volumes 1 & 2, check out: http://trampolinerecords.com