STEPHEN BUONO OF CHURCH CHORDS
After immersing himself in New York’s scene at Tonic and The Village Vanguard, presenting in Philadelphia’s avant garde Ars Nova Workshop and performing with post-punk outfit, Split/Red, Stephen Buono continues his experimentation and collaboration in his new recording project. Operating as ringmaster, Buono brings together accomplished musicians from his time spent in Philadelphia, New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles to deliver elvis, he was Schlager.
Your journey to this point has been a long and winding one. Having soaked up several scenes in a number of cities, can you first describe the varying scenes across New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago, their influence upon you, and secondly, detail how each made an impact on the record?
As you know all three cities have iconic musical histories, which I have read about and listened to extensively, so that gives me a mystique to what is happening in the moment. I settled in PHL in the early 2000s, which was an exceptional time there. You could frequently see musicians from Ornette’s Prime Time and The Arkestra, as well as Stinking Lizaveta, Shot X Shot, and many others. There was also Make A Rising’s warehouse, which put on shows by everyone from Normal Love to Mary Halvorson. There was also Ars Nova Workshop, which presented countless shows that had a profound impact. All these options were great because before that I was heading to New York to see music, because I was unaware of Philadelphia’s music scene. Re: New York, I continued to catch shows at Tonic, the Vanguard, etc. My discovery of the “Lower East Side” community was a mindblow. Previously, I was only listening to Jazz that was made pre-1970, unaware there was a “younger”/ current scene of musicians honoring the tradition, and trying to deconstruct it. Experiencing that energy live was profound. I feel so fortunate to have been there. Re: Chicago. I had already known some of those musicians, from their touring through Philadelphia, and we always had an affinity for them both as players and people. I am lucky I was instantly welcomed into that tight knit community, and saw may great shows at Elastic and Mike Reed’s Constellation. Several Chicago musicians moved to Los Angeles when I was relocating, who have been very generous and become my family of sorts.I think all three of those scenes had a very strong sense of community, a gravity to their music, wide/diverse tastes in music regardless of their personal “genre.” I hope those characteristics are on the Church Chords record.
Often competing scenes and cities bring out the best in each other and creativity with a sense of rivalry will push the boundaries. Yet the flipside can be due to the limitations of a scene or sound and in your experience during your time in each place, what limiting factors did you encounter that drove you personally to explore underappreciated styles and delve into new creative approaches?
I don’t think the three scenes I speak of are especially competitive. Perhaps I am being naive, but there was a great deal of respect between those cities, and the same admiration amongst the players in each city. I don’t think any of those cities “had limitations” at all. The opposite is the case. I don’t think anything I personally do is a new creative approach. There are big exceptions, but not much music is new. I don’t mean that cynically, nor do I think that’s a bad thing. Regardless, it still feels fresh every time I hear Gerald Cleaver, Mick Barr, Haley Fohr, etc.
There was a point during this project when you decided to step back as an artist and opted to work as the producer. How did your mindset change when going from a narrow focus as a band as it were to that as a conductor? Moving to a place of orchestration and managing the entire project, in a completely different capacity.
Well, the record started while I was in Chicago, and I was extremely unhappy with how the record turned out. It sounded corny to me. It sounded like a high school marching band playing “The Death Star Suite,” ha! Since the performances by the musicians were so strong, I knew I would use their tracks elsewhere. It was exciting to hear the isolated instruments and imagine the various options for them to be used. It went from my thinking of this session as a burden to untangle into what it became. While finishing this album, I have also been tinkering on the original session, and have been happy with how it sounds. A miracle!
The artists you worked with across this project are staggering. The width of the musical spectrum they inhabit is huge but also the broad desire for each of them to work with you on this record is a mark of respect. Were you equally as inspired, pressured, and a little nervous, when working with the heavy-weight talents that your gravitas brought into orbit?
It is very flattering, to say the least, that these musicians were involved in this collaborative effort, though I did not necessarily feel pressure. I rarely gave hyper-detailed instructions. I knew they would come up with something far hipper than anything I could suggest. Almost all of the musicians involved are like family to me, so I did not feel too trepidatious to ask for their involvement. That said, I was very sheepish to ask the couple of people who were new friends. While it did not affect the players, I made many mistakes caused by my ignorance of mixing and editing. I wasted a lot of time, money, and emotional energy. I am mortified to think that I was occasionally a brat with several engineers because I would get so frustrated with myself that I could not articulate what I needed them to execute.
Can you share with us a few tales or stories you heard from your time working with those who contributed to the album?
Unfortunately, I was not in the same room for almost any of the overdubbing, which was almost all done during the pandemic. A session I did attend was watching Ako sing to “Sweet Magnet.” As she did her take, I was hoping she would invoke Abbey Lincoln, and without my prompt, she did just that. A special moment. When I asked Kenny to do the kosmiche Musik beat, he asked me to clarify, so I played him a reference. After listening to it for 15 seconds, he did an amazing take. Kenny!!!!
The lyrics play a particular part in this record. Perhaps more so than a standard album simply because you allowed the writing duties to be shared among the contributors and this way allowed some very personal, idiosyncratic, and passionate pieces to come to life. How did you convey this desire and how were you sonically sympathetic to the lyrics they delivered you?
I think the lyrics are a crucial element. Kristin Slipp was visiting me, when she offered to write lyrics. She was the first person to be open to it. Next was Ricardo Dias Gomes, who I connected with when he was making an atypical visit to Los Angeles. Through mutual friends, I heard of his talents and being a rad person, so I reached out to get a hang with him. There was almost no talk of collaborating, but we connected soon after. He is a crucial element to this album. This album would not have happened if he was not involved. The other lyricist is the mega-talented Matt Mehlan. We became friends in Chicago when he was returning to his native Chicago. His lyrics were exceptionally poignant for the moment he wrote them.
Did your time in Split/Red shape your work on this and other projects that without your time spent in that outfit, certain elements would not have featured on this record?
My time with Split/Red has had a big impact on me. As much for the friendships as the music. Like this project, it was the others who brought the magic. I am lucky that they were down to practice so much and entertain my three-note riffs.
Thematically, is there an overarching concept you are attempting to explore across the eleven tracks on the album or is it more a case of a collection of standalone tracks that are nestled together and arranged in a particular order that treats all the works as individual, idiosyncratic pieces?
The initial concept was to keep all of the musicians from Chicago, or someone related to my time in Chicago. As soon as Kristin (New Yorker) became involved, that changed. I never thought of them being stand-alone tracks. They were all prompted by samples from the 2016 session in Chicago, save for “Apophatic Melismatic.” This project is so dang convoluted, and it occasionally bums me out that I cannot communicate the arc, which is more about my community, than the music itself.
It must be asked, why the album name?
As mentioned above, I am a voracious music book reader, and I am constantly watching documentaries and footage of performances. Shortly before my departure from Chicago, I became obsessed with Kosmiche Musik, and naturally for me, I started to study it. There is a documentary about those musicians and the context of their beginnings that had a big impact on me. Many of them were activists of varying kinds. Resisting the ashes of the Second World War. I think it’s earnest, and revolutionary to a certain degree, that they intentionally avoided copying North American music, specifically the Blues in favour of a new music. As usually is the case I venerate / love the music as much as I love its context. So in that documentary, Dieter Moebius talks about the Pop music of that time, “schlager,” and to analogize it mentions it having a similar intention as Elvis. It is not a slag on Elvis, though coincidentally I am sitting next to someone I caretake for who is a rabid fan. With a gigantic poster staring me down, HA!
Throughout your own musical journey, what have been some of the key moments, steepest learning curves, and most cherished memories?
As a fan, there are far too many to name. Discovering Grandmaster Flash at eight years old is the start. I have seen 5+ shows a week for 25 years. The first that come to mind, Ornette, Sonny, Elvin, Carla Bozulich, The Jesus Lizard, This Heat, and a million more! As mentioned above, my ignorance of engineering has been the steepest learning curve, as well as shitty pitch! As a player, the most cherished memories are opening for heroes Ribot and Watt.
