Interview with Leigh Gregory part II

Though it's safe to say Leigh Gregory is not a new or less-known artist,as this blog usually profiles, it's also safe to say there can never be enough great press about him and his lifetime musical endeavors, as they are one of the great joys in my life, and so many other music fans' lives out there. Over the years, Leigh has made music of all different styles. Today, he concentrates on a lot of acoustic, or semi-acoustic music, by himself or with his project Memory's Mystic Band, in his home city of San Fransisco, California. If you have had the pleasure to read part I of my interview with him, last year, then you are familiar with his current work, and good for you! Let me now have the pleasure of bringing you the second part of my interview with the amazing Leigh Gregory.

Your EP you released as Memory's Mystic Band is a stunning piece of modern folk rock. Are you still working with MMB? Doing live performances? Anything else to be recorded soon?
Oh, yeah, Memory’s Mystic Band is my main project now. That project started several years ago after I had major surgery done on my spine. Mellow Drunk had kinda imploded at the time and I didn’t want to do another electric project (wasn’t very steady on my feet either!!!) so I started playing acoustic – just sitting in a chair -- at the Plough and the Stars Pub here in SF. Soon friends started joining in so suddenly there was a fluctuating band. The recordings that have surfaced are actually a couple of years old as we’ve settled into a four-piece now that is much more electric-oriented with me on guitar and vocals, Stephen Cavoretto on keys and vocals, Ville Vilpponen on bass and his brother Jaakko drums.

I was listening to Mellow Drunk the other day (every few days, a different MD album gets popped into my stereo) and wondering, would you ever do any more recordings/shows with MD as the artist name? Do you keep in touch with everyone involved with that past project?
Cool that you’re still into Mellow Drunk!!! Yeah, I’m in contact with everyone from the band. Ricky (Mellow Drunk guitar) has really gotten out there since the band broke up and I’m always amazed by how much he gets done and how many major projects he’s a part of. I can’t even list everything he’s done since the Mellow Drunk days but he joined the Triffids for their re-union shows/tours, did a record with Steve Kilbey, and plays with Liverpool’s Wild Swans (and I know I’m just scratching the surface), in addition to holding down one of the guitar spots with The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Daniel played bass on my “1973” recording, and both Patrick (drums on “One Thousand Lights”) and Sean (drums on “Never Sleep at Night”) played drums. Of course, Stephen (Mellow Drunk keys) and I are in MMB together. Sean and Daniel have also played in Memory’s Mystic Band.
As far as shows with Mellow Drunk go we’ve done a couple of short acoustic sets with me and Steven and Ricky (when he’s in town) at the Plough and the Stars but no plans for any future electric shows. (Sorry!!!!)

What direction do you want to take your music in, in 2010? I wonder about the upcoming decade and what kind of music my favorite artists will bring to me. What kind of ideas are you toying with?
Well, we’re just finishing up a new batch of songs with Memory’s Mystic Band that I’m quite happy with and I’m just striving to make music that will stand the test of time and stay relevant no matter how many years go by. With MMB I’m always trying to draw on influences from folk, blues and beyond, then trying them out to see what works in our format of guitar, keys, bass and drums.

What is your favorite song to play electric? And your favorite acoustic song to play? Have you gotten anymore guitars for your collection? New gear?
I enjoy playing other people’s stuff if I’m sitting around with my acoustic (unless it’s a new song I’ve just written that I’m still trying to work it out) and I think it’s kind of a lost art to hear a song that really affects you, then have a go at it, work it out and play it by yourself (it’s also a great way to learn how other songwriters work).
So… if I’ve got the acoustic out I might play a couple of songs by Jackson C. Frank or Townes Van Zandt. I was meaning to play Ralph McTell’s “Streets of London” or “Zimmerman Blues” for a recent Christmas show but never got to play either of them (didn’t want to muck them up ya know??). I love to play “ Clifton in the Rain,” which is an old, old Al Stewart tune and I’ll sometimes play an old Jimmy Campbell song called “Lovely Eliza Cope is Dead.” I’ll play traditional stuff such as “Angie” or “Lord Franklin.” I’ll play Grant McLennan‘s “Black Mule” a lot and do that one live. Of course, MMB’s first single on the label Edition 59 features a nice cover version of Nikki Sudden’s “Ambulance Station” (we do that one live as well), and we’re just mixing a cover of the Edgar Broughton Band’s great song “Hotel Room.”
As far as electric goes I’ve been playing to lots of Television and Hank Marvin/Shadows tunes over the past year. Over Christmas I was playing along with John Perry’s solos (the Only Ones). He’s a great, way under-rated player!!!! I think after 30 years I might have about 80% of his solo down on “Planet”!!!!!!
Sorry no new gear to report. Actually had to sell a couple of things last year to get by but that’s OK. Unfortunately my long-time guitar tech passed away last year so no mods to any guitars either.

Have you discovered any new bands lately that thrill you? Are you awaiting anyone's upcoming releases this new year?
I listen to a pretty good cross-section of musical genres. Have lots of recordings by contemporary bands (I’m lucky friends turn me on to so much stuff), but I also love to go back and listen to old folk, blues and jazz records. The one thing with being a songwriter and a guitar player is that a lot of time I’m either writing a new song or working something out on the guitar and cuts into the listening time. That said I’ve over the holidays and into the New Year I’ve been listening to an eclectic blend of recordings by the likes of Tame Impala, Charlie Parker, Wizz Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Calexico, Grant Green, Howlin’ Wolf, The Arctic Monkeys and The Walkmen.

Do you have any resolutions for 2010?
Love to get out and tour in 2010. Also want to release a really solid Memory’s Mystic Band CD out. We’ve been going though songs like crazy, recording lots and then kicking songs out trying to get a really solid set of songs together. I think at this point I’d like to lay down about five so six more songs (which would bring the recorded total up to about 20 songs) and then start picking the best tunes for an album.

Why is music so important to us? Getting a little philosophical, but we can get that way at this time of year!
You know, that is a really good question and a hard one to answer. In my case music really appealed to me when I was very young and it’s continued to be very important to me, whether I want it to be or not, throughout the rest of my life. Certain songs tend to mark certain periods of one’s life. When I hear certain songs they bring back certain memories and feelings: the places you’ve lived, the people you knew.
I think once you move from being a listener to being a songwriter it’s a difficult proposition because once you get into the flow of song writing it’s pretty much impossible to stop. I keep a $30.00 cassette player with a tape in it at all times as I know if I don’t capture an idea when it happens (and inevitably song ideas happen at the oddest times) it will probably slip away forever.
Have you read the John Lennon quote about songwriting? I think it’d be a good note to end on so here it ‘tis:

Songwriting… is like being possessed. You try to go to
sleep, but the song won't let you. So you have
to get up and make it into something… It's always in the
middle of the night, or you're half-awake or
tired, when your critical faculties are switched
off… Every time you try to put your finger on it, it
slips away.

Mr. Leigh Gregory, thank you so much, for giving me the pleasure of another interview. I am really happy to be able to present this to my like-minded music fans who appreciate music the way you and I do. We wish you the best, always.

Interview with Leigh Gregory

I am quite pleased to be able to post this very special entry, an interview with the one and only Leigh Gregory. You might know him as the main creative force behind Mellow Drunk, but he is also quite an accomplished solo artist, focusing on performing and recording acoustic folk rock songs. Beyond that, he still finds the time to collaborate with other musicians, both onstage and on record. For those fans in the San Fransisco area, Leigh is out and about a lot, so bookmark this page, check on it often, and go see him!
Mellow Drunk makes music that I hold near and dear to my heart. I am never not in the mood for Mellow Drunk songs, and each song is its own lovely little individual gem, no song sounding like another, each song layered with lots of guitars, catchy melodies, and Leigh's distinctly breathy vocals. It's Leigh's style of singing that makes his songs so easily identifiable: at the same time cool and understated, and yet energetic enough to add the final strengthening tie to wrap each song up, the perfect little musical gift, from Leigh to us.
As a gifted songwriter and sought-after collaborator, Leigh Gregory is obviously quite busy, always, so it was a thrill for me when he graciously agreed to answer some questions. He's been interviewed many times before, so I tried to probe him with a few different questions, after I asked about his current projects and work, of course! Here they are:

You are currently finishing a solo project (which I am quite excited to hear), an album called 1973. How will this be different from other projects you have created over the years, such as Mellow Drunk albums or your two previous solo albums?

Well, the people that have heard 1973 have mentioned it has more of an Always Be Drunk vibe to it, I suppose ‘cos I played lots of the instruments on it. However, just about everyone from Mellow Drunk and the solo recordings contributed to 1973 so it’s kind of nice to have just about everyone I’ve worked with on one CD. 1973 is a full-on story CD about a boy growing up in the year 1973 so the songs are arranged for a whole band. Both Patrick Harte and Sean DeGaetano (who both played with Mellow Drunk) are playing drums on the songs, then Daniel Dietrick from Mellow Drunk is playing bass so you’ve got two of Mellow Drunk’s rhythm sections (one from Never Sleep at Night and one from One Thousand Lights) on all the tunes.

I've spoken to some musicians who tell me most of their songs just seem to write themselves. How do you go about crafting your songs?

That ‘tis true. Lots of times songs do just write themselves and that’s magical. However, that’s not always the case. Sometimes I’ll just think up titles for songs and maybe a rough lyric, then let the music reflect whatever the title suggests. 1973 was sketched out in a bar while I was having a drink before heading off to a non-alcohol vegan restaurant in San Francisco. I wrote down about twenty-five titles and then started writing songs around those titles. To advance the story along I figured the recording should ultimately have twelve songs to reflect the twelve months of the year and that the main character who is growing up in the year 1973 would go though a change into maturity by the end of the CD.
As far as the folk stuff goes the challenge for me is presenting a song in a very minimal setting (vox and guitar) that can reflect either an emotion state (melancholy to euphoria), a time of day, or maybe a season or month of the year. I remember I was lying on the couch last September, warm late afternoon sun coming in though the blinds, light reflecting off our green carpet, sounds of the outside world coming in and I just felt like I wanted to try and capture that somehow in a song. Well, I actually wrote a poem instead but that’s what I’m after in the folk recordings, if that’s possible.

Do you have a most favorite Mellow Drunk song? A most favorite Leigh Gregory song?

Well… tough one there. From a fan stand point Angela and Where the Time Goes are probably the most well-known and requested Mellow Drunk songs. Steven Cavoretto and I were doing a late night set at the Plough & the Star Pub here in SF last Wednesday and sure enough someone requested Angela right off. I haven’t played Where the Time Goes live over the past year because as a stripped back song it gets a little bit long. I guess they are also my two favorites from Always Be Drunk, though I’ve always liked Long Drawn Sunday Night (the cover of the Orchids song) and I still play that just about every time during the acoustic set. I reckon my fav song from Never Sleep at Night is Shone on Everyone. Maybe my fav song from One Thousand Lights is Everything & Nothing.
My favorite Leigh Gregory song is Rainy Season Never Ends.

What types of guitars do you play? Which one is your favorite to play?

I’m somewhere just below a guitar geek so this question could take a long time to answer!!! Briefly, live for the acoustic stuff I usually play a cutaway acoustic made by a guy named Yuris Zeltins. I bought it from my guitar teacher in 1976 and have had it ever since. It’s pretty worn in at this point so I don’t have to worry about it getting beat up. I also have a beautiful pre-war Santa Cruz OM acoustic that I record with. That guitar has become too valuable to take out live very often though, but it plays really nicely. I used my 60 Re-issue Les Paul (how else are you going to go for the Mick Ronson thing??) for most of 1973, but I always pretty much play my Telecaster for the more recent band stuff. I think a Telecaster is my fav guitar. Love them because they are so simple and if one is a singer it’s so easy to control the volume with your little finger to turn up for solos and down when one is singing. Oh, yeah, I didn’t mention that I’ve been working with a new band!!! Post-Memory’s Mystic Band… can’t say I haven’t been busy!!!

When you began making music for Mellow Drunk, did you have any goals in mind about what you wanted to achieve? Have you achieved those goals?

You know, I didn’t really have any specific goals. I’d recorded god knows how many songs on my four-track between, say 1996 and 1998, and it dawned on me that I could do a full-on CD, so I got an ADAT from my friend Rick Wilson (who was a recording engineer at Black Eyed Pig Studios) and started working up the four-track songs to eight tracks then to CD. I think it was around that time that I did a Steve Kilbey cover (Pretty Ugly, Pretty Sad) for what was suppose to be a Church covers CD and from there I really decided to do Always Be Drunk. At that point I just did a bunch of tracking at home on the ADAT, then I’d go into the studio to do the drums. My friend Jeff Crandall had moved to Minneapolis and we’d get together several times during the course of the year back then so we did the drums, cello and his backing vocals at a studio there, then I’d run the tapes to Rick Wilson and we’d combine my home tracks with the tracks we’d recorded in Minneapolis to put together the record. I’m still making music so I suppose I’ve achieved something but I’m still very much unfulfilled and would like to do much more as far as recording and touring goes.

What are some of the bands YOU listen to and enjoy today? Are there any new artists you really love, and is there anyone you feel a kinship with, music-wise?

Well, I kinda go back and forth across the musical spectrum as I feel like I’m a folk as well as alt-rock guy. Currently I’ve been trying to write a lot for the new as yet unnamed project so I haven’t been listening to as much music as I was about a month ago. That said, on the acoustic side of things I’ve been on a Wizz Jones, Mississippi John Hurt, Towns Van Zandt kick over the past few months. On the rock side I’ve been listening lots to Untitled #23, esp. since the Church are touring and we’re going to catch them a couple of times, then, probably because I’ve seen them live of late, been listening to the new Neko Case CD and the new Doves CD. Also recently saw the Walkmen and they completely blew me away. Their new CD You & Me pretty much to me achieves the nearly impossible: as a contemporary band they actually have their own unique sound. I was also diggin’ the new Peter Doherty CD but I fear I’ve mis-placed it!!!!
I really don’t know with whom I share a kinship with music-wise at this point in my life. Seriously I’ve no idea. One artist who probably isn’t that well known in the United States who really impresses me is Ned Collette, a young man from Melbourne, OZ. I’ve esp. had his CD Jokes & Trials in pretty heavy rotation for over a year now.

I know you are working on yet another project, other than Mellow Drunk or your solo music. Can you give a sneak-peak of what we can look forward to when you are ready to release that?

I did a series of concerts last year with a project called Memory’s Mystic Band, which was essentially a revolving group of friends taking some of the acoustic songs to a more electric setting. Of late I’ve been working with a four piece electric band (guitar, bass, drums and keys) and if that can get off the ground I hope to be playing out again by late August. In that band I’m much more concerned with being an electric guitarist again and trying out some more unpredictable stuff. Don’t know… maybe somewhere between Television and the early Triffids??? Leonard Cohen meets Love??

Do you have any plans for any kind of tour to support some of this new music you're creating? I'm hoping you'll come back to New York, hint hint!

O… I’d love to come back to NYC anytime to perform. I had Sean and Steve, along with Ville Vilpponen, with me last spring playing in New York and Ville (who’s playing bass in the new project along with his brother Jaakko on drums) and I were just taking the other day about what a blast it was to play NYC. I hope to be back soon – promise!!!!

And lastly, what female singer do you think you might sound great singing with?

You know thinking that one over I’d love to do a duet with Natasha Khan. Whatcha think??? Don’t know the new CD very well but saw Bat for Lashes a couple of times on their first US tour and she’s great!!!!


Leigh, I would definitely agree on that last answer! I love Natasha's voice and her creativity with her music, and I am a big fan of her second album, the new one, Two Suns. You are spot on with that thought: the two of you would make mind-blowing music.

A million thanks to Leigh Gregory for doing this interview. Time for me to go play some Mellow Drunk CDs. Never 'not in the mood' for that.