Oliver The Coco Music Download
Tawny Rautenberg
Story & photos by Jim Testa
It had been a hard week for Oliver Ignatius, the producer, musician, and godfather of the Mama Coco's Funky Kitchen collective. His faithful dog that he'd had since childhood had passed away, and that coupled with turmoil within his band Ghost Pal weighed heavily on his spirits. Oliver had to play host and showrunner for the 18th Mama Coco's showcase, this one at the gorgeously decorated Brooklyn DIY space Free Candy on Friday, February 22, and you could tell he wasn't having a good time. Until, that is, his band Ghost Pal reached the triumphant gospel-tinged crescendo of the band's movingly spiritual cover of "Will The Circle Be Unbroken." Then the power of rock 'n' roll did what it has always done, at its best; it set Oliver's soul free. For that one special moment, we weren't in a dance club anymore; we were in church. And we knew Raja was in heaven, and that it was going to be okay.
For the uninitiated, Mama Coco's Funky Kitchen is technically a recording studio in Brooklyn. For those on the inside, it has become much more than that; an extended family, a community, that overused and often misapplied term "a music scene." When you go to a Mama Coco's show, all the bands share a bond; not that they've all recorded at Mama Coco's (which they have,) but bonds of friendship, camaraderie, and support. Moved by the magic and the music, fans and musicians dance uncontrollably, they grab the mic and shout along with the choruses. It's not just a show; it's a celebration.
I didn't know much about Grand Rapids other than their one track on the latest Mama Coco's free compilation, but I was definitely impressed. Broadly you'd call them a melodic garage band, but the songwriting and arrangements have surprising depth. Dan Lardner and sultry redhead Alex Niemitz trade off on vocals, while lead guitarist Peter Baumann adds rubbery licks subtly influenced by rockabilly and vintage rock 'n' roll. They reminded me quite a bit of a mellower version of X, only with a distinctive New York style.
Grand Rapids shares some similarities with the Jean Jackets - male and female interchanging lead vocals, primarily - but whereas Grand Rapids' music draws from rock 'n' roll, the Jean Jackets add a loungey, jazzy dimension to their music. The vocals from Jackson Phinney and Christine Spilka are often beguiling, suggesting layers of sexual and interpersonal intrigue that their preppy collegiate appearance might not. (You can read my review of their Mama Coco's produced album here.)
Ghost Pal
Oliver Ignatius first made waves in NYC's rock underground as part of the precociously talented high-school band Hysterics. He still writes and performs music in Ghost Pal and as a solo artist, but his main focus these days has been as co-owner (with his business partner Justin Coles) and house producer of Mama Coco's Funky Kitchen. The basement studio in the Windsor Terrace neighborhood of Brooklyn has been turning out surprisingly sophisticated recordings by talented young groups like The Great American Novel, Oh! My Blackbird, Sons of An Illustrious Father, Anna Bradley, Dr. Skinnybones, and the Harmonica Lewinskies.
I've listened to most of the recordings that have come out of Mama Coco's, and . I've been blown away by nearly all of them. Clearly, something important is happening there.
Layne Montgomery, frontman of The Great American Novel, met Ignatius when both were still in high school. "Oliver's old band, Hysterics, was the coolest band in the world to me in high school. Their guitarist Charlie went to my school, so my two best friends and I went to see them at Bowery Poetry Club," he said.. "It was the coolest thing in the world. We were extremely nerdy back then (even more so than I am now) and seeing this band, this scene, and these kids who seemed light years away from us in style and coolness was dare I say, life-changing. It was like walking into a Velvet Underground song (only I didn't listen to them back then - I was young and naive! - so let's just say a Strokes song, because that's probably what I thought the coolest thing in the world was at the time.)"
The Great American Novel began as a solo project that Montgomery recorded with Ignatius at the first incarnation of Mama Coco's, which was in the Ignatius family basement. It has since blossomed into a full lineup (whose drummer, Zac Coe, recorded his own solo album as The-All-About at the studio.) GAN is currently working on its second full length album at the new Mama Coco's.
"Recording with Oliver is magical," Montgomery said. "It's strange because I feel like we have pretty similar influences but he attacks songs from an entirely different standpoint than I do. He sees what's special in the song before you do sometimes.The environment in the studio is so comfortable as well; it's almost like you're just hanging out with a friend and happen to be making some music. His love and enthusiasm for music makes the experience special. . It's obviously his life and job and what he needs to make a living doing, but you can tell it's exactly where he wants to be."
Dan McLane of the Harmonica Lewinskies shared similar thoughts. ""Mama Coco's redefined the way we record," he said. "We feel like part of a family rather than a consumer or a product."
Oliver at work
When you visit Mama Coco's, it's a bit of a shock at first to realize that the guts of the studio consists of Ignatius' laptop, a few pre-amps, and several speakers. There are sound baffles and microphones, guitar amps and keyboards, as well as a full drum kit. Still, compared to the mountains of gear you find at most studios, it's a fairly bare bones operation, but clearly up to getting the job done.
I stopped by Mama Coco's Funky Kitchen during a session with the Harmonica Lewinskies, then conducted this interview with Oliver Ignatius by email. Here's what he had to say...
The answer to this one really depends on the project. One of the things about Mama Coco's is that I'm completely there to offer whatever input is wanted from me, be it arrangement, helping out with singing or playing, with some clients I've even worked on songwriting with them. But I would never impose myself on a process if that part of it wasn't desired. When I started out doing Mama Coco's over a year ago, I was recording people in my parents' basement with pretty substandard equipment, so when people wanted to work with me it was usually for my ear or for whatever aesthetic input I was bringing. Now that we're in a nice studio with much fancier equipment, I can play the faceless engineer. Again, it totally depends on what's desired. But usually I play a pretty active role in the production of the music.
The one boundary I feel a record producer shouldn't cross which I have unfortunately seen many times, is that moment where it becomes a squabble for control over the music. I mean a producer can bring his heart and soul into the whole thing, but he's always going to be a hired gun to help the artist realize what they want to hear. In the best case scenario I can present the artist with another outlook, that may healthily challenge their initial perception of what they wanted the project to be, and the friction from that process can inspire us to mutual heights. But the artist's wants and needs always take precedence, I mean they have to. Or you're no better than some industry asshole, looking after the bottom line.
Laying down a vocal track
Q: Recording studios are supposed to be dying right along side labels and the rest of the music industry yet you seem to have more work than you can handle. How has word of Mama Coco's spread? Do you seen any unifying themes that link the bands you work with other than geographic location and, to a certain extent, youth?
It's been a really gradual spread by word of mouth - I started doing this over a year ago, first in my bedroom and then in my parent's basement. The whole affair was completely ramshackle, but it was a total trial-by-fire and we made great records with Anna Bradley, can't see Shapes, the Great American Novel, Oh! My Blackbird, Sons of an Illustrious Father and more, learned a lot about the evolution of our craft and in general people were, I think, satisfied so word of mouth began to spread. Now that we've opened up a legitimate studio with well-treated acoustics and really nice gear and all that, I guess it's hopefully just a continued spreading out. As far as unifying themes, we really want to keep things as diverse as they can be and engage with all forms of music and all kinds of people. But I would say the trend that has united everyone that has come in, is a certain excitement and exaltation at the possibilities of digging through recording some music. A willingness to get messy and slop around and really experiment to get some interesting sounds. That's the most beautiful thing a musician can possibly bring into a recording process.
The Harmonica Lewinskies and Oliver listening to a take
My advice is possibly cheesy, but I always stand by it. And that's, don't worry about pandering to any target audience, don't worry about where you fit in the current scene, don't worry about whether your sound and music is applicable to its context or whether so-and-so is going to judge it harshly. The most powerful, striking and inspirational thing a musician can do is listen to their own creative gut and be themselves fully. All of the trend-setters and legends are people who brought some interesting twist or streak of individuality to what they were doing. It's almost like what choice you make, as far as how you present yourself, how the music is constructed, is in itself arbitrary. What's important is that it's honest, and that you commit to it 100%. That's what really attracts attention to bands and musicians, in my experience, and if more people just went by their guts, the field of music would be revolutionized every three months. That's the kind of scene I'd like to see. Of course, bands have to be patient and willing to take the shitty knocks and embarrassing gigs that we all do take, at one time or another. There's no shame in that, everyone just has to hold tight and stand strong together.
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