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INTERVIEW: Adam Green & Binki Shapiro

By Philip Goodfellow - nov 21, 2012 Last week saw the end of Adam Green and Binki Shapiro's micro-tour in support of their new self-titled album. Red Room caught up with them before their sixth and final show at London's Bush Hall... So how did the two of you first appear on each other's radar? AG: We met in LA a while ago, maybe like five years ago BS: We floated into each other’s circles. AG: Yeah. We knew each other for a while before we actually hung out or talked, and we did a tour together with Binki's band Little Joy. They were playing Brazil where they're very popular and I was the support act on the tour. We hung out and had a good time, and created kind of funny little anecdotes and songs on the tour. We clicked creatively and we kind of got that feeling. BS: Our brains worked in a similar way when it came to writing. AG: Another year or two passed and I just found myself on my couch one day thinking 'I should write an album with Binki'. I texted her, she was getting on a plane, and before she took off she'd already said yes. So I knew...that she really wanted to do it really, really bad. BS: We started writing pretty quickly after that. I don't remember where I was going but when I came back to New York we met up and discussed writing together. We would go back and forth to each other’s houses and have writing sessions, and laugh and drink wine and work on music and stuff. It was fun. It was really fun. Did you start from scratch with the album, or did you already have sketches of songs? AG: Originally, I had come with some ideas... BS: Originally, Adam wanted to write this record, but I wanted to discuss that idea further. When we first started though, he definitely came with bones of some songs. AG: We developed them together and learnt to write together, and to be really open with each other. Eventually, it just became a collaborative writing album. Interviewer: The album has a fresh, consistent sound to it throughout. Is that something that also developed during that time? AG: The sounds were things that we did in the studio. BS: We didn't really think too much about the sounds before. AG: Yeah, the writing was just with a guitar and us singing; we didn't really have any idea how we'd do it. But we worked in the studio with Noah Georgeson who'd produced the Little Joy record and my last solo album, so we both had had recent recording experiences with him, and he became very much a part of how the record sounds. That dude has a sound. He's really talented. It also comes across that you had a lot of fun... BS: I think that's what the whole thing is based on, us making light of situations that are real and not always so funny. AG: We were going through different things. I had a number of dysfunctional romantic relationships that I was referencing as inspiration for lyrics, and also trying to write from the female perspective, from Binki's perspective. Binki also chose certain lines that she thought would suit me. We'd write from each other’s perspective, it was cool. BS: Seeing things a little more plainly from the outside than perhaps when you're looking within yourself. You look at someone else and you're like 'Oh, he's just a dude in a black hat and some leather pants (Adam's outfit for the evening) who thinks that he's a funky country singer'. The album feels a little more personal compared to your other albums Adam, do you think that's fair to say? BS: Adam tucked his sack back for this one. AG: I wouldn't say that compared to my last record, or the Little Joy record... BS: It's maybe a little more 'delicate'. AG: I think all of my stuff is really idiosyncratic and really personal, maybe just less accessible because I don't find it so important to explain everything on my solo records, but they're obviously really personal to me. The collaboration is ultimately something that balanced us both out to try and achieve something that we both thought was valid, and that definitely must add to its accessibility. You've played a number of shows over the last week or so. How have they been going? BS: They've been good. We had a little bit of a rough show in Berlin but, you know, we're ironing out some kinks. These shows are the first time we've played together and we were rehearsing during Hurricane Sandy, which definitely put a wrench in our plans. We had to work double extra triple hard to just have our shit together. I think we've done OK so far, but there've been some rough nights. AG: It's a pretty short album, so our set isn't very long. We've added two other songs into it. It's a brief set. I didn't really picture how to play them live. Everything has been sort of like...it may sound ridiculous but we wrote the album not sure if we could really record it, then we recorded it not sure if someone was going to put it out, then we put it out thinking that maybe we wouldn't play it, now we're playing it and we're like 'Huh. Well that worked'. One minor restart (due to sound issues) aside, the duo went on to play a kink-free and extremely warmly received set in the suitably intimate setting of Bush Hall. Despite the fact that the material was brand new to everyone, Green and Shapiro have combined their talent and charm perfectly to create something extremely fresh whilst remaining comfortably recognisable and accessible for their existing fans, with comparisons swaying from Leonard Cohen to Pavement. Tracks such as 'Here I Am' and 'Just To Make Me Feel Good' instantly seep into your system, whilst 'Pity Love' has all the trademarks of a classic Adam Green track. A mere half a dozen shows in to their collaboration, Green and Shapiro have clearly hit their stride, with great material backing up the sparkle that the chemistry between the two brings to the stage. Hopefully, along with the release of their album, 2013 will also bring with it many more live performances from the pair. 'Adam Green and Binki Shapiro' is released on 29th January 2013 on Rounder/Concord Records. By Philip Goodfellow.

#adam green #binki shapiro #adam green and binki shapiro #interview #virgin.com

Today's Fridaygram: Why is the investment community so myopically focused on tech?

I don’t understand why the whole of the investment community, as I’ve been told, is only really interested in technology investments. We’ve all heard the punchline that for every Facebook there’s a thousand companies that fail. Luddite as I am, I am willing to concede that technology adds a lot of value to our lives, but I don’t understand why it should become the only sector that receives investment funding.

When I was at Virgin I was responsible for virgin.com , Virgin & Richard Branson’s Facebook & Twitter, all the central digital properties. I feel like I’ve been there and done that. The positives are that you can get amazing results – scale, speed, response, engagement, etc. But there are lots of negatives too. There are lots of charlatans who promise to deliver functionality that doesn’t work in the real world. Huge swathes of data can go missing. It is hard to decipher the true value of the results. Everything comes down to code, so ultimately you end up with an entire brand or business being beholden to a pasty dude at a computer in the corner.

So there is a reason why my new business – cue X Factor 10 second delay here – ISN’T TECHNOLOGY! I’ve been to the web and back. I’m in the same camp as Christopher Bailey who has invested in the huge brand flagship Burberry store on Regent Street. Technology can be a great add-on to our lives but to me, physical spaces are a million times more exciting. I just need to convince the investors!

#technology #entrepreneur #investment #funding #virgin.com #richard branson #burberry #christopher bailey

Passions of the album kind.

Another review for Virgin.com, and this time it's Flashguns. Released on October the 17th 'Passions of a Different Kind' shines a light on the rural indie bunch. You should think the Smiths, you should think rainy autumn days and you should think good music.

http://www.virgin.com/music/reviews/flashguns--passions-of-a-different-kind

#flashguns #virgin.com #album review #indie