Pomplamoose article

[ITGITC]

 

Someone posted a link to their music the other day. I liked it a lot and spent some time viewing their videos on YouTube.

 

Here is another article about Pomplamoose you may find interesting.

 

They are a grass-roots effort if ever there was one. This gives hope to lots of musicians with a studio in their bedroom.

 

I would like to see if the editors of Keyboard Magazine would consider asking Jack to sit down for an interview. I'd like to hear more about his process for arranging and recording.

 

What do you think about their musical efforts so far?

 

Tom

 

[Ken Beaumont]

I like them, after viewing their YouTube videos and looking at their individual efforts too. I like the spirit of fun in their music videos. I also like the arrangements that use a variety of 'instruments' , from real instruments to kids toys. They are one of the few bands that me and my daughters agree on.

 

Plus, Jack seems to have just about every electro-harmonix stomp box I ever owned and then some. In the 70's electro-harmonix were the only ones selling affordable effects!

[johnchop]

Real talent.

[Dana.]

What is this band really offering besides "cute and fuzzy"? I might be more interested if they didn't have such lousy taste in covers. File under: piddly pop.

[Ken Beaumont]

They aren't all covers:

 

[video:youtube]

 

There is nothing wrong with "cute and fuzzy", being serious all the time makes you crotchety and old.

[Adan]

I'm in the midst of (yet another) James Booker listening binge, so I don't have time for it. But if I had kids, I'd certainly foist this upon them. Way better than the crap they'd get through the mainstream.

[johnchop]

What is this band really offering besides "cute and fuzzy"? I might be more interested if they didn't have such lousy taste in covers. File under: piddly pop.

 

The counter-example being what?

[Phred]

I *LOVE* that they cover a type of music that I consider crap. In my humble opinion they take crappy pop tunes and make them truly enjoyable. I love the 'Single Ladies' cover, and I even dig the 5/4 version of 'Favourite Things'

 

P.S. I read an article about them in a music magazine just recently, and until I saw Tom's post, I SWEAR that it was in Keyboard mag. Am I wrong? If it wasn't, I am not sure what mag it was in.

[Phred]

P.P.S - I love the original tunes too, but I think that their covers are where it's at man...

[Marzzz]

I love their originality, especially with interfacing the videos with their playing (and the humor involved). If I have any criticism it would be their choice of covers, and that Nataly's voice, while very pleasant, kinda reminds me of Suzanne Vega's- very soft and pure, but not really much range dynamically (for the opposite, think Bjork).

 

Still, from grass roots they are making a career for themselves based on real talent.

[Dana.]

The counter-example being what?

Do I really need to offer one?

 

If their songs provide pleasant background music for you while you do the dishes, or if they make you happy, great... but this doesn't qualify as exciting new music. Does anyone want or need a trifling cover of "Don't Want To Miss A Thing"? They haven't taken a shit song and made it better.

 

There's an abundance of "real talent" out there, but this is hardly a shining example of it.

[Cygnus64]

It's clever stuff. I wouldnt buy a whole CD of it, but they have figured out a nice lil niche for themselves. Good for them. The chick doesn't have enough variety in her voice to keep me interested for long.

[Phred]

Whether or not you like the music, the way they are doing it is really cool. They have defined a new way of making music, and giving us an inside look at the process. It's like "Reality Show Music".

 

...I wouldnt buy a whole CD of it...

 

Part of the appeal to me too... You CAN'T buy a CD. Just MP3s off the internet. And they are making a living that way. Anyway, I wish I had thought of it...

[Cliffk]

I've liked 'em from the first time someone mentioned them here. They won't be superstars but I'd guess that's not what they'd want either. They're musical, quirky, talented, and savvy enough to go far in the niche market. Cheers to them.

[Adan]

It's clever stuff. I wouldnt buy a whole CD of it, but they have figured out a nice lil niche for themselves. Good for them. The chick doesn't have enough variety in her voice to keep me interested for long.

 

I agree about her voice. For these adult ears, it doesn't bear sustained listening. But I like how they're going about their business and think they're a good role model for very young musicians.

[kanker.]

It's clever stuff. I wouldnt buy a whole CD of it, but they have figured out a nice lil niche for themselves. Good for them. The chick doesn't have enough variety in her voice to keep me interested for long.

 

I agree about her voice. For these adult ears, it doesn't bear sustained listening. But I like how they're going about their business and think they're a good role model for very young musicians.

Plus, you throw a pair of librarian glasses on her....

[Dana.]

Plus, you throw a pair of librarian glasses on her....

The line for horny fanboys forms to the left.

[Adan]

Plus, you throw a pair of librarian glasses on her....

The line for horny fanboys forms to the left.

 

With that hair, she looks too much like Justin Bieber. I'm happy to say, that doesn't work for me.

 

edit: oops, justin, not justine

[Joe Muscara]

Plus, you throw a pair of librarian glasses on her....

The line for horny farmboys forms to the left.

Fixed it for ya.

[ProfD]

Between their grassroots approach and fierce protection of creative freedom, these kids are definitely dealing with the industry as a whole from the right perspective. DIY is the future of the music business and many others.

[NoahZark]

I would like to see if the editors of Keyboard Magazine would consider asking Jack to sit down for an interview.

There's an article on them in last month's Keyboard Magazine (the one with Thomas Dolby on the cover).

 

I read an article about them in a music magazine just recently, and until I saw Tom's post, I SWEAR that it was in Keyboard mag. Am I wrong?

You are correct, sir.

 

Noah

[Cygnus64]

Between their grassroots approach

Nothing says grassroots like a Hyundai commercial.

 

DIY is the future of the music business and many others.

 

Here's my assumedly jaded take:

 

It's DIY and it sounds DIY. I'm not putting them down, I admire what they are doing and wish them the best of success. I just hope that this is not the future of the music biz. There's a reason that skilled engineers, arrangers and session musicians exist, or at least there was. Clever and quirky is no match for excellence and depth.

[Synthoid]

Clever and quirky is no match for excellence and depth.

 

+1

[Sam Mullins]

I like quirky pop so they are just fine with me. The vocals are understated (and certainly nothing that blows you away) but I'll take that over the histrionics that dominate the airwaves. And I think their originals (e.g. "if you think you need some lovin") are better than the covers. But I also have to admit that I haven't bought any of their stuff and it may be because I prefer to watch the youtube videos (she is very cute, after all.)

[Seannn]

I've always liked them - more their covers. The cover of Lady Gaga's "Telephone" is great - it really puts a wonderful spin on things.

 

Cygnus, I respect skilled engineers, arrangers, and session musicians. I think they play an important role in the music industry, and I don't think they're going anywhere. I myself would like to study engineering eventually.

 

Of course, it's nice when some DIY folks like Pomplamoose gain millions of followers on YouTube, and Arcade Fire win the Grammy for Best Album, without the help of - oh, I don't know - 40 engineers and such working on Gaga's album? I'd say that clever and quirky go hand in hand with excellence and depth in this case. I don't know where you're coming from, but it's just my opinion, and a perspective thing. I totally understand where you're coming from.

 

Engineers, arrangers, etc. have a place in producing some of the brilliant music - most of it from some decades ago - that our ears have had the pleasure of listening to. I just think acts like Pomplamoose need to be seen as refreshing. I still think small groups of engineers/arrangers working with a band is great, and ideally it should go beyond a business perspective, but of course, I think the guys below are the ones ruining the industry. So when I look a list like the one below, yeah, DIY is damn refreshing.

 

* Ryan Aldred Stylist

* Arden "Keyz" Altino Piano, Keyboards, Producer

* K. Anderson Composer

* Zack Atkinson Art Direction, Design

* N. Atweh Composer

* Nasri Atweh Composer, Vocals (bckgr), Producer

* J. Austin Composer

* Johnta Austin Composer

* Warren Babson Engineer

* C. Battey Composer

* Steven Battey Composer

* Bruno Beatz Guitar

* Matt Beckley Editing

* A.J. Benson A&R

* Justin Bieber Composer, Vocals

* Benny Blanco Composer

* Benny Blanco Drums, Keyboards, Programming, Producer, Engineer

* B.M.C. Instrumentation

* Luke Boyd Vocals (bckgr)

* Jackie Boyz Vocals (bckgr)

* Scott "Scooter" Braun Executive Producer

* C. Bridges Composer

* Leesa D. Brunson A&R

* Dave Clauss Engineer, Mixing Assistant

* Bryan-Michael Cox Producer

* Tom Coyne Mastering

* Ben Defusco Guitar

* Dirty Swift Producer, Engineer

* The-Dream Composer, Producer

* J. Duplessis Composer

* Jerry Duplessis Composer, Producer

* Paul J. Falcone Keyboards

* Serban Ghenea Mixing

* Shani Gonzales A&R

* Andy Grassi Engineer

* Kuk Harrell Vocal Engineer, Vocal Producer

* Travis Harrington Assistant

* Christopher Hicks Producer

* Daria Hines Stylist

* Sam Holland Engineer

* Melvin Hough II Composer, Instrumentation

* Melvin Hough Composer

* Jimmy James Assistant

* Jaycen Joshua Mixing

* Doug Joswick Package Production

 

 

 

* Sean Kingston Vocals

* Chris Kraus Engineer

* Jeremy "J Boogs" Levin Production Coordination

* Giancarlo Lino Mixing Assistant

* Pamela Littky Photography

* Phillip Lynah Jr. Engineer

* Erik Madrid Mixing Assistant

* Glen Marchese Mixing

* Manny Marroquin Mixing

* Adam Messinger Producer

* Joshua Monroy Vocal Engineer

* Monte Neuble Keyboards

* Terius Nash Composer

* Luis Navarro Assistant Engineer

* W. Nugent Composer

* Waynne Nugent Composer

* Chris "Tek" O'Ryan Production Engineer

* Greg Ogan Producer, Engineer

* Christian Plata Mixing Assistant

* Kevin Porter Recording Assistant

* Vanessa Price Grooming

* J. Reeves Composer

* L.A. Reid Executive Producer

* K. Risto Composer

* Todd Russell Art Direction, Design

* Kelly Sheehan Engineer

* Taurian Shropshire Composer

* The Stereotypes Producer, Engineer

* Steve Siravo Engineer, Vocal Producer

* C. "Tricky" Stewart Producer

* C. Stewart Composer

* Brian "B-Luv" Thomas Engineer

* Sam Thomas Engineer

* Pat Thrall Engineer

* D. Torimiro Composer

* Dapo Torimiro Producer

* Sergio "Sergical" Tsai Engineer

* Usher Vocals (bckgr), Executive Producer

* Bruce Waynne Producer

* Janelle White A&R

* R. Wouter Composer

* Andrew Wuepper Engineer

* Kristen Yiengst Art Coordinator, Photo Coordination

* Jonathan Yip Composer

* Frederic Yonnet Harmonica

 

[ProfD]

Between their grassroots approach

Nothing says grassroots like a Hyundai commercial.

 

DIY is the future of the music business and many others.

 

Here's my assumedly jaded take:

 

It's DIY and it sounds DIY. I'm not putting them down, I admire what they are doing and wish them the best of success. I just hope that this is not the future of the music biz. There's a reason that skilled engineers, arrangers and session musicians exist, or at least there was. Clever and quirky is no match for excellence and depth.

They didn't start out doing Hyundai commercials. It came from their DIY effort and buzz on the internet.

 

Rather than wait for the music industry to 'green light' and/or validate the effort, most artists and musicians won't have a choice but to go the DIY route. Pomplamoose is proof that it works.

 

Otherwise, the most highly skilled musicians, arrangers, session musicians, producers, etc., don't have to worry about DIY. They will get industry work regardless...maybe.

[16251]

Maybe I'm turned on by her eyes or maybe it's her voice when she's overdubbed herself. They've almost created a new thing where video has to be part of audio. I don't think I would continue to return to their songs if it was only audio. It was the TV commercials that inspired me to find out who they were.

[Cygnus64]

Cygnus, I respect skilled engineers, arrangers, and session musicians. I think they play an important role in the music industry, and I don't think they're going anywhere. I myself would like to study engineering eventually.

 

Of course, it's nice when some DIY folks like Pomplamoose gain millions of followers on YouTube, and Arcade Fire win the Grammy for Best Album, without the help of - oh, I don't know - 40 engineers and such working on Gaga's album? I'd say that clever and quirky go hand in hand with excellence and depth in this case. I don't know where you're coming from, but it's just my opinion, and a perspective thing. I totally understand where you're coming from.

 

 

It's a big world and I'm glad they exist. I was addressing the good Prof's suggestion that DIY is the future of the biz. To me, that's like the "Blair Witch Project" or "America's Funniest Videos" being the future of Cinema.

 

I'm a huge fan of DIY: Tomita, Sir Paul, Mike Oldfield all did it very well. The key is that it didnt sound DIY for the most part. Again, it's a big music world and there's room for a whole lot out there. I'm just hoping that the future has room for skilled pros doing what they do, not just "reality music".

[Cygnus64]

[video:youtube]

[Seannn]

Cygnus, I respect skilled engineers, arrangers, and session musicians. I think they play an important role in the music industry, and I don't think they're going anywhere. I myself would like to study engineering eventually.

 

Of course, it's nice when some DIY folks like Pomplamoose gain millions of followers on YouTube, and Arcade Fire win the Grammy for Best Album, without the help of - oh, I don't know - 40 engineers and such working on Gaga's album? I'd say that clever and quirky go hand in hand with excellence and depth in this case. I don't know where you're coming from, but it's just my opinion, and a perspective thing. I totally understand where you're coming from.

 

 

It's a big world and I'm glad they exist. I was addressing the good Prof's suggestion that DIY is the future of the biz. To me, that's like the "Blair Witch Project" or "America's Funniest Videos" being the future of Cinema.

 

I'm a huge fan of DIY: Tomita, Sir Paul, Mike Oldfield all did it very well. The key is that it didnt sound DIY for the most part. Again, it's a big music world and there's room for a whole lot out there. I'm just hoping that the future has room for skilled pros doing what they do, not just "reality music".

 

Well put! I guess we have some responsibility as listeners as well to listen critically, and appreciate some of the work that goes into the songs we love by so many engineers, arrangers, choir conductors, etc.