interviewsofrecordingartists.com
The past year at times seems like a blur to Michael Duff,guitarist and lead vocalist,for the Los Angeles based Modern Rock group Chalk Farm. In a little over 12 months,the group signed a major label deal with Columbia Records, recorded their debut album,"notwithstanding",released the single "Lie On Lie" and toured nationally with Better Than Ezra, Dishwalla and the Wild Colonials. The group gets it's unusual name from a North London suburb which they have yet to visit.
"I wouldn't mind getting as big as U2,"Duff said,"just so we can make a difference,and have the kind of sphere of influence where you can help." For now, Duff and his band matesTrace Ritter (guitar), Toby Scarbrough (drums) and bassist Orlando Sims, are quite happy to find their album receiving critical acclaim while building a solid fan base through virtually nonstop touring.
"We're really happy with the reception we've received on tour,"Duff said. "It' s been a really pleasant surprise. It's weird when the people in the audience know the words to the songs you're supposed to know and be singing with you're on-stage." There's a valid reason the audiences are singing along with Duff at Chalk Farm's shows. "Notwithstanding", is an eclectic offering of simultaneously energetic rock music with well written, insightful lyrics.
According to Duff, a major part of the reason "notwithstanding" stands out from the majority of the Modern Rock act's currently flooding the rock scene is the fact that all the band members participate in the songwriting process. Many of the Modern Rock acts rely on a principle member to write all the groups material or the rely heavily on the expertise of their recording producer. Duff is familiar with the ways record companies can impose their desires over the creative process from his previous experience in another, unnamed act he recorded with a few years ago.
"It started out we had the producer suggesting things for us to do in the recording studio,"he said. "Then whenever things weren't going too well,the recording producer actually started telling us what to play and how the songs should go.
That's why I'm really happy we all are involved in songwriting. It makes for a far better atmosphere in the studio and the relationship I have with the other members is a lot stronger. It's a shared vision,"he continued,"because we all share in the writing. The songs all mean different things to different people. People come up to me and tell me what they think we meant in a song,and it will be completely different from what we intended. But that's the idea, music like any art form, is a form of communication open to interpretation."
The melodic rock on "notwithstanding" in a way is a call to arms. Duff's lyrics urge the listeners to get involved. "We have an idea that the world should be in a better state than it is, and we would like to help in that," Duff said. "I personally have been helped by a song that came along just at the point in my life when I needed to hear it. Our goal may seem a little grandiose, but you gotta start somewhere."
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