The Michael Carpenter Interview

In 1998, Michael Carpenter had already spent much of the past ten years working in the music business in his native Australia. But Michael had to travel to the 1998 International Pop Overthrow to become ‘discovered’. Now after the release of two critically acclaimed CDs (1999’s ‘Baby’ and last years’ ‘Hopefulness’) and meaningful contributions to several tribute CDs, Michael Carpenter is one of the hottest artists in the Power Pop genre. He also has produced over 50 acts in his Stagefright Studios and is ready to tour Europe with two of those acts, The Pyramidiacs and The Finkers. Before he leaves, he is putting the finishing touches on a CD of covers called SOOP (Songs of Other People) #1.

With all of this going on, Michael took some time out to talk about his music and career with fufkin.com

fufkin.com - Shelby Lynne received the ‘newcomer’ of the year award at the 2001 Grammy Awards. During her acceptance speech award she said, ‘after six albums, it’s really nice to receive this award.’ Did you feel that way after all of the critical accolades you received following the release of ‘Baby’? You were often referred to as a newcomer yet you had been involved in the music business for many years before that record.

MC - To be honest, I never really thought about it too much. I appreciated the fact that some people knew some of my production work pre ‘Baby’, but for the most part, I was a newcomer. I didn’t really do a lot of press for ‘Baby’ so people only knew me from the sounds of the record. To most it was the debut album. It’s only been in the wake of ‘Baby’s success that people have started to find out about my LONG musical background. But there is a lot of irony in the fact that I’ve achieved so much more in the 18 months since ‘Baby’ was released than I did in the 15 years of playing music preceding that.

fufkin.com Because you play so many instruments well, what do you consider your best?

MC - I don’t have a preference. I usually want to play the one that I’m not playing at the moment. For example, I play drums in a lot of bands right now, and bass in a few, but I don’t play guitar in any, so of course I desperately want to play guitar!! To answer your question though, I’m probably the most accomplished as a drummer, having done literally thousands of shows behind the kit. But I feel that with the other instruments I’m at a similar level of accomplishment, and I really don’t think I’m any better at one than the other. I do know that I’m a pretty crappy keyboard player, although my one hand Hammond playing is OK!!

fufkin.com - When you bring other musicians in to play with you, is it a speed issue or do you have someone play because you’re not comfortable with that particular instrument? An example would be the steel-guitar that is featured on several cuts.

MC - On the first 2 albums it was more an issue of getting people in to do things that I can’t do, like the pedal steel and piano stuff. One thing I am aware of is my limits, and for example, if I had a song where I needed a keyboard featured in the song, I will call someone. I have a good network of people that I call on as a producer regularly who know the way I work, so these are the people I call.

It’s certainly not a speed issue, because it’s actually a lot slower having to wait for the availability of other people, and work them in between the other sessions I’m doing as producer. When I do all the stuff myself it’s VERY quick. I just do it whenever I can.

fufkin.com - How difficult is it for you to sit in Stagefright Studios and start the process of recording? How does working on your own material differ from when you’re sitting in the producer’s chair for one of the many other groups you produce?

MC - I find recording to be the absolute most wonderful thing in the world, so I find it very simple…especially because this is what I do all day, everyday. I still find it pretty amazing to get to a blank spot of tape at the start of a session and know that at the end of the session there’s going to be the beginnings of something that people will want to listen to. That’s certainly been one of the most exciting aspects of the way my career is going.. I know that most of what I do in here now, either as a solo artist or producer, will definitely be released. Knowing that people are listening is a certain way of lifting your standards!!

I don’t really approach the recording of my stuff any differently than I do the artists I produce. If I’m working with a solo artist and I’m building up the tracks myself, in fact it’s very similar. I go from one project to the next quite quickly, and I have ways that I like to do things that work for me now, so recording is just recording. That’s not to intimate that every project is the same, but there are some basic approaches that I’ve gotten used to that seem to work everytime.

fufkin.com - You are about to go on a European tour with The Pyramidiacs and The Finkers. Any thoughts of a Michael Carpenter Band tour? What would your band sound like live? Excluding the cost, would you be coming to the US?

MC - Well… the Michael Carpenter band was supposed to step out late last year and be ready for a US tour this July. But because of the activity surrounding Eva Trout, Pyramidiacs and The Finkers and the amount of work going on in the studio over the last 12 months, that has been pushed back for a little while. But there’s a new plan..

I will definitely learn a lot on the upcoming European trek, and meet lots of people. The plan is to work on the next album after I get back from Europe and have it out at year’s end. Then early next year I hope to do Europe with my band, and then get to the US for a full tour mid-year. That will mean I’ll have 4 albums of material to draw from, which will be great.

As for the makeup of the band, it’ll more than likely be 2 guitars, bass, drums and maybe keys. And I’ll be playing guitar… for a change.

fufkin.com - As chronicled in ‘Hopefulness’, you had a burst of song-writing energy around the time of your marriage. Had you ever experienced such a fertile period previously?

MC - Without sounding pretentious, I don’t really have much trouble writing, and the longer I leave it, it seems the more I have to write about. The problem I have is that I never have the time to write. With ‘Hopefulness’ I had a few months worth of work cancel in the studio, so I had the time to do an album, so I had to write it. With the way things were at that point, in preparation for the wedding, I had a lot of stuff to write about. I had a similar burst of creativity at Xmas time last year when I had a break. I took a guitar and a cassette player on holidays and would find time to write something most days.

fufkin.com - You went through some tough times during the making of ‘Hopefulness’ – chronicled in the song ‘Faith’. Did you ever put your head on the console and say, ‘that’s it. I can’t do this anymore’?

MC - I say unequivocally that I was ready to give up and the only reason I didn’t is because my friends, both at home and overseas, told me not to. I’d announced to a few people that I was selling up the studio and looking for a job… I was gone. I’d had enough and couldn’t fight the fight anymore. But my friends pushed me to hang in there. They knew that this is what I’m MEANT to be doing, and being my friends, they pushed me to fight harder. But my friends were certainly the last line of resistance, that’s for sure. If they had agreed with me I probably would be working a ‘proper’ job now. It was pretty close. It was good to come through that, and I expect it won’t be the last time I’ll feel that way. It certainly makes you appreciate the privilege of being able to do this… that’s for sure.

fufkin.com - Were you pleased with the outcome of ‘Hopefulness’? Anything you would change if you had the opportunity?

MC - I was and am extremely happy with ‘Hopefulness’. It’s a record that captures that time in my life…the way I felt about my career, what I thought I needed to do to push my career along, what I was listening to, how I was in my personal life. If an album was like a photograph I can always listen to that and remember that time. My only observation in hindsight is that the album is a little ‘dual personalitied’. I still thought I had a shot if I made a ‘major label’ sounding record, but at the time I was just beginning my love of rootsier, alt country-ish stuff, which is very ‘no compromising’...stuff like Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams. So I tried to make a record that would maybe appeal to the big boys down here, while still trying to be more courageous with my approach. In the end though, I…well I don’t regret, but I wish I would have been a little less concerned with trying to be commercial, and just been braver. Having said that, I still think the album is a huge leap from ‘Baby’ and I learned a lot from it. It helped me to know which way I want to go next, and that’s so important.

fufkin.com - Your limited pressing CD of cover tunes, SOOP (songs of other people) #1, is ready to be released. You had visitors to your web site vote for the songs they wanted to hear you do. How did the project come about? Does ‘#1’ mean there will be more of these little gems coming? Were there any songs you had hoped would get more vote than they did?

MC - When I recently overhauled the website (www.mcarp.com), I decided that I wanted to put some mp3s up. Some from the new album, but something new every month or so that people haven’t heard. Over the years I’ve recorded a lot of cover tunes. Either as experiments, for tribute albums, just for something to record, or because I really like the song. Once I started putting some of these on the site I got a few e-mails from people asking for more. A lot of people downloaded the mp3s of the covers, and I knew I had a lot lying around, so I thought I’d put them together in a limited edition album. And because I like recording covers, and always seem to be adding to my list of songs to record, I want it to be an ongoing thing. Maybe every 3 albums or so I’ll do the next volume of SOOP.

As for songs I hoped would get voted in, I was kinda glad that FM by Steely Dan didn’t, because my vocal isn’t too great on it. I will re-do it at some point. I was a little disappointed that ‘I Don’t Wanna Know’ by Fleetwood Mac didn’t make it, but that’s the way it goes I guess. The people have spoken!!

fufkin.com - Are you working on your next Michael Carpenter-written album? If so, when can we expect it?

MC - Basically once the tours of Europe are done, I’ll be diving straight into recording new material, with the guys who I’m looking to use in the Michael Carpenter band. There’s a fair amount of new stuff written already, and I think it’s time for me to let go of the reigns a little and bring in the creativity of some of the great players I work with. I started recording a few things late last year incorporating a drummer and a guitar player and it was pretty strange for me… but it sounded great. Those tracks still need to be completed, there just hasn’t been the time, and there hasn’t been the need to finish them yet. I’m also recording some stuff that my little brother Chris has written that are just great. He’s a really great writer, and everytime he comes over to the studio I find myself pinching his songs!!

I’m up to my third original album now, and I feel like my ‘sound’ is becoming a lot more defined. The next album for example will sound more like what the band will sound like live. I want things to be more stripped back and be a little more rootsy. I’ve been listening to a lot of alt.country in the last 2 years, and it’s really manifesting itself in the way that I perceive my music at the moment.

Anyway, I’m aiming to have it finished by the end of the year, for an early 2002 release.

fufkin.com - How did you come to the attention of Bruce Brodeen of Not Lame?

MC - I kinda hunted Bruce down. I knew that he was the guy, and he was recommended to me by a friend who runs a label down here. I sent Bruce some stuff and spoke to him at IPO in 98. He enjoyed it, but didn’t think it was ready. But he was keen to stay in the loop. After IPO I was pretty charged, so I wrote and recorded a whole bunch of stuff when I got home. I finally got around to sending the newer stuff off to Bruce at Xmas of 98. He obviously liked it because he offered to put the record out in Feb 99.

fufkin.com - What is your relationship with your label? Have you had any inquiries from so-called major labels?

MC - Not Lame, and Bruce Brodeen are wonderful people to be involved with. Despite being so far away, the lines of communication are open always and he always makes me feel very welcome in everything I do. He continually encourages me in all my ventures, and his belief in me, from the day he asked to put out ‘Baby’ has been unfailing. It makes it easy to be creative with him Not Lame as a support. We both are aware of the limitations of being a small label, but we also believe that we are part of something that is growing, and every release that Not Lame does pushes them a little further into the market place. They also only seem to release consistently great records, which is nice company to be in. As for majors, I’ve had no interest yet. In fact in Australia I’ve had no interest from anybody…like most other guitar pop bands here. It's pretty sad actually…but that’s the way it is.

fufkin.com - Do you have a classification for your music?

MC - Ahhh.. the most dreaded of all questions!! That’s a tough one, but if I was pushed I’d have to say ‘guitar pop with harmonies’. But I know that that’s going to change more with the next stuff I record.

fufkin.com - You seem to have absorbed so many influences, what did you listen to when you were growing up?

MC - Well, I was a huge Beatle fan from the day I was born, and all through my life I’ve been a top 40 boy. Up until only a few years ago, the Top 40 was a great thing to be a fan of. So my upbringing was strictly commercial pop. I rarely strayed too far from the mainstream until my mid 20’s. But the biggies for me as I grew up were The Beatles, and particularly Paul McCartney solo, The Band, Motown and R & B, Tom Petty, Springsteen and generally bluesy stuff. I always had a great love for 60’s pop, so that encapsulated all the biggies from that era as well. But the last 10 years have seen me really sink into the deeper catalogues of a lot of my favourites from the 60’s like the Beach Boys, The Who, The Monkees and The Byrds. More recently, as I said, alt country and particularly Steve Earle and the Jayhawks have been really huge influences on me.

fufkin.com - What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a musician/producer living in Australia?

MC - The advantages are that it’s a truly incredible country. We have everything you can hope for here, and every opportunity is here if you want to go after it. The disadvantages are that the population is very small for a country this size, which means there’s not as many people here to support the niche markets in the music industry. This makes it incredibly hard for bands or artists to get ahead as the costs of making records is similar to the US, but we can only hope to sell very small amounts. That’s one of the things I’ve learned over the years, and the main reason why I looked overseas to launch my career. I would love to have my records out here, but I know that because I’m a ‘specialist’ field, they wouldn’t sell too many. At least not until they start playing guitar pop on the radio again.

fufkin.com - You just returned from your second honeymoon. Still happy?

MC - I wake up every morning next to the woman of my dreams, and all I have to do is go and make music all day. Do you think I’m happy?