Cato, Carter, and Cleveland visit their alma mater.

By Zac Taylor
Managing Editor

Last Friday in the Steve Heck Room, three NYC-based Berklee alumni spoke to a room full of current students who were interested in making the move to the big apple. Les Cleveland (’05) is a drummer and bass player, who has performed with artists such as Roberta Flack and Prince. Louis Cato (’04) is also a drummer and bass player (although he seems to play everything), who has performed with Stevie Wonder, Marcus Miller, and is close with Cleveland as both a friend and colleague. Matt Carter (’03) is the general manager of acclaimed MSR Studios, and has overseen projects that have won Grammys, and many other records that have done platinum and gold.

All three alumni talked about how their careers first started in the professional world, and how it led them to the big apple. “It’s hard to build a scene in Boston,” Carter said in regards to his decision to move to New York after finishing his MP&E Degree. “I was playing three to five nights a week at Wally’s, only making $50 a gig,” Cato said in concurrence. “Make sure you save a lot of money before you go,” Cleveland added.

The three alumni talked in detail about the importance of networking. “Don’t call someone and just say ‘Hey—you got a gig for me?’ Go to the movies, go shoot some pool, or play cards,” said Cleveland, who lives in a house full of musicians in Brooklyn. “Pay attention now to the people you go to school with,” said Carter.

“Even more than who knows you, it’s who likes you.”

Berklee students soak in the advice. Photos by Karen Bell.

Many students and even some parents asked questions with regards to how Berklee helped them, how they paid rent, and other aspects of their lives. “There’s no way you know what you’re getting into,” said Carter. It was a highly informative session, which closed with Cato articulating the crucial entrepreneurial mindset: “Be ready to be tired, be ready to hustle, and always be ready to put yourself out there.”

Press Release Courtesy of Brian Grzelak

If you are thinking of moving to Los Angeles, don’t miss this information session. Peter Gordon, Director of the Berklee Center in LA, will offer his insights gained from 30+ years of experience in the music industry centered in LA. He is a wealth of knowledge on making a living as a musician in LA. If LA is your choice destination, this is one session you can’t do without.

Making the Move to Los Angeles
Friday, April 30, 2010
1:00 PM-2:00 PM
Berklee College of Music
1140 Boylston St., Steve Heck Room
Boston, MA

Berklee LA Internship Program Coordinator Justine Taormino ‘06 will be speaking with students and alumni about making the move to LA and LA based internships. Justine is also our alumni chapter leader for Los Angeles, so she is a great person to get to know whether you will be involved in the internship program or not. She made the move within the last handful of years and can offer great insight into what you really need to do to set yourself up properly.

Don’t miss it!

By Zac Taylor
Managing Editor

At last month’s South by Southwest Music Conference and Festival, over 1,700 bands from all around the world came to Austin, Texas to partake in this renowned networking event. Throughout the week, there were a handful of Berklee showcases, both unofficial and official ones. On Tuesday, March 16, Tono Music Group sponsored a showcase at the Flamingo Cantina which featured predominantly Berklee musicians. Kris Roche opened the show, offering reggae-infused acoustic pop with feel-good hooks and monster grooves from Derek McWilliams on bass and Bruno Esrubilsky on drums. Next up was Zac Taylor & The Drugs, followed by Egypt-native Yasmin Tayeby, who played a lovely solo acoustic set. Heavy Rotation Records’  Nini+Ben, Ann Driscoll and Jordan Tarrant, came next, all of whom played scathing sets.

The hostesses of the evening, Evelyn Brown and Ashley Root (a.k.a. Merry Go Round), headlined the evening backed by their new amazing band. Since graduating Berklee this past December, Brown and Root have made Austin their home base, and just released their debut self-titled LP through Tono. The band performed cuts from the record, including pop-country gems “Be With Me,” “Ferris Wheel,” and “Better On My Feet.” Country Rock powerhouse Sam Riggs Band closed out the evening.

Jordan Tarrant performs at Lucky Lounge

The next Berklee function was an unofficial showcase at the Lucky Lounge the following Thursday afternoon. Alumna Amber Rubarth started the show with her unique brand of jazzy pop noir. Jordan Tarrant took the stage next, thumping out bluesy rock with Russell Lacy twanging on Telecaster, Derek McWilliams pumping on P-bass, Tommy Bohlen pounding on pedal steel, and Curran McDowell rocking the drums. Alumna Sara Houser, Grant Himmler, and Ali McGinley, a.k.a. A House A Home, all of whom moved to Austin last year, played a lovely set of pop rock tunes, followed by a powerful solo set by Melissa Ferrick.

The official Berklee Showcase took place Friday afternoon at Friends on 6^th Street. The room was packed for this 5^th annual event, which was hosted by alumna Sarah Sharp, and featured current students, alumni and also some students who have taken online courses at BerkleeMusic.com. Many Berklee faculty were in attendance, including President Brown and Music Business & Management Professors Jay Fialkov and Jeff Dorenfeld.

The lineup:
Shayna Zaid & The Catch
Love Like Fire
Ann Driscoll
Jordan Tarrant
Stefan Wm
Nini+Ben
The Young Republic
Audible Mainframe

Justin Hancock, Bruno Esrubilsky & Ann Driscoll.

Ann Driscoll, who is on the current Heavy Rotation Records roster, strutted her stuff onstage with her new orange Gretsch guitar, and her band sounded in top form on fan favorites like “I Wanna Be Your Zombie” and “Trophy F***.” “The Official Berklee Party was at Friends was the most fun,” Driscoll said. “At each showcase, we played only 5 songs, which is fun and exciting—to play your greatest hits. No filler, all killer, as they say.”

HRR Labelmate Jordan Tarrant had the most Texified sound of the lot, considering he’s an Austin native. A highlight of the show was an exceptional performance by Nini+Ben, who played tracks from their record The Reasons We Try, as well as some new songs that showed hints of a more dynamic, experimental direction a la Wilco.

On Saturday, President Brown hosted a BBQ, at which Nini+Ben performed, followed by another Tono Music Group Showcase at Waterloo Icehouse later in the evening. Many of the same acts from the Flamingo Cantina showcase performed stripped down acoustic sets, including Kris Roche, Zac Taylor, Jordan Tarrant featuring Russell Lacy, and Dave Scher. Sam Riggs Band and Nini+Ben played full band sets, and the showcase ended with a breathtaking set from Merry Go Round.

“The SXSW experience was one I’ll never forget,” said drummer Bruno Esrubilsky. “Spending a whole week with amazing friends and musicians in one of the coolest cities I’ve ever been before was just amazing.”

Michael Greenberg: Blue
By Zac Taylor
Managing Editor

If Sublime reunited for an unplugged show produced by Coldplay with some splatters of sequencing, you might get an idea of Michael Greenberg’s debut LP Blue. The record kicks off with the title track that grabs you with a crisp arrangement and slick harmonica playing. The young songwriter shows a mature voice with this upbeat tune about growth, and follows it with a smooth, R&B-tinged groove “Song to Remember.”

Greenberg sings with a subtle Chris Martin inflection on “Best of Us Die,” and it may sound like a Coldplay tune if it weren’t for the reggae groove, which steers it into Jack Johnson territory. The tune would be impeccably crafted for the pop medium, were it not for a very live-show-feeling arrangement including a breakdown (“Bring it back now”) and a lengthy acoustic guitar solo, but hey—you got to get the licks in somewhere.

The next couple tracks are perhaps the most ambitious of the collection. In “Death of a Son,” Greenberg narrates a solemn tale of a fallen hero over an 8-piece string section composed and conducted by George Woods; “We Need Help” is just over two minutes of ominous pleading over MIDI sequencing. These two sonic tapestries nicely offset the more straightforward songs.

“Portrait of Katy” is a bona fide hip-hop track. Songs like this rarely work, and usually fall into the despicable genre of lame white-boy rap. But this song’s honesty and cleverness is consistently engaging, centering around the hook, “it’s hard living with the fact that you’re running around my mind and not my body.” The delivery, rhyme, and instrumentation would impress G-Love or even Hova himself.

“I am not your friend, and I won’t settle for foe,” is the first line of “See You Through,” a slow groove that could function as a Justin Timberlake B-side in both its sensuality and plainness.

Greenberg brings the reggae back on the Jason Mraz-y “Say Something Useful” and closes out the record with “Keep On,” a well-rounded, optimistic anthem that would not be out of place on Steve Miller’s Greatest Hits.

Blue is a satisfying first installment from this talented musician, who clearly has the writing, playing, and singing chops to get the material out of his heart and into a tune.

Here’s a handful of noteworthy artists and bands that have appeared on previous Heavy Rotation compilations.

Annie & The Beekeepers The Beekeepers and front woman Annie Lynch wowed the audience at the Dorm Sessions 5 release show in 2008, and has since made the move to New York building a strong fan base in the hip folk venues of the east coast. With two releases under their belt and having signed with Kate Landau Management, they have received much press and are to tour with “The Low Anthem” this spring.

Nathan Reich Nathan Reich’s elegant and poignant music has captivated audiences in Boston and New York. 2009 saw the release of his first full-length album, Arms Around a Ghost, and performances at New York’s CMJ festival. Currently, Nathan has been journeying through India and has been keeping up with friends and fans via Facebook.

Passion Pit (the Peasantry) Three members of the Peasantry (Vol. 5) went on to form electro-pop band Passion Pit which has become once of the biggest up and coming bands out of Boston going from the Great Scott to the House of Blues in the same year. Their songs have been used in television shows Big Love and Gossip Girl. The 2009 Boston Music Awards gave them with Best Act of the Year and Best Song of the Year awards.

Big D & The Kids Table A staple in the diet of Ska-Punk fans across the nation, Big D and the Kids Table rocked HRR’s Dorm Sessions 4 release. Playing on average 200 shows a year, they have made their home in venues such as the Paradise Rock Club and the Vans Warped Tour. They have also released six full-length albums and five EPs and have appeared on dozens of compilations.

The Click Five Appearing on Dorm Sessions Vol. 1, alternative rock band the Click Five has sold more than 350,000 copies of their debut album Greetings from the Imrie House which also took fifteenth place on the Billboard charts. They have been an opening act for artists such as Ashlee Simpson, The Backstreet Boys, and Alanis Morrissette. In 2008, they received the ‘knockout award’ at the MTV Asia Awards.

Nini+Ben Going strong with the release of their debut LP The Reasons We Try and a sold out album release show, Nini+Ben have been steadily building a loyal following. This elegant band formed just before last year’s Dorm Sessions show and from then on has been a strong staple in the Boston and New York music scene. Their album was produced by Rich Mendelson (The Cars, Boston, Paul Simon) at renowned Avatar Studio in Manhattan. They continue to tour the northeast and will be appearing at SXSW this spring.

WhiteShoeBrownShoe After shaking up the Heavy Rotation Records showcase last year, WhiteShoeBrownShoe went on a tear, playing show after dynamite show from NYC to Connecticut, to New Hampshire and back down.  Around November 2009 they decided to immortalize a few of their new hot licks on cold vinyl, so they shimmied up to Headroom Studios and had local legend Jason Laine guide the crafting of their new album, set to be released this spring.

Shea Rose After the Heavy Rotation show last year (literally days later),  Rose flew to Naples, Italy to record an album with Cindy Blackman and her production team. This soul-rocker woman is gearing up to release her self-produced EP Rock’n'Rose this spring and is featured in the February issue of Performer Magazine. She’s also the president of The Movement @ Berklee, a student-led volunteer initiative managed by the Office of Community & Governmental Affairs, which enables her to give back to her native Boston community.

Every band and artist on the new roster of Heavy Rotation Records sat down with BerkleeGroove.com to talk about their lives, music and dreams of success. Click on their name and picture to read their full interviews.

Danny, Elizabeth, and Pete. Photo by Peter Van Hattem.

By Zac Taylor
Managing Editor

 In the wake of Heavy Rotation’s 10^th Anniversary, it’s nice to know that indie-pop songsters Elizabeth and the Catapult, whose debut LP Taller Children is now a featured item at Barnes & Noble across the country, first appeared on Dorm Sessions Vol. 3. Elizabeth Ziman (keys and vocals), Pete Lalish (guitars) and Danny Molad (drums), have really been making a name for themselves with fans and critics alike. Not only has the record been getting rave reviews, so have their music videos for the record’s title track and the second single, “Race You.” The Catapult sat down with The Groove before their most recent Red Room appearance to talk shop on their record, creative mindsets, and making the big metropolis of New York feel like a Mr. Roger’s neighborhood.

Zac Taylor: Welcome back to Boston. You guys came from Brooklyn today?

Elizabeth Ziman: Yes. Yesterday we had a really eventful day. We did this really funny late night show for Fox, and then we did NPR, and Iggy Pop was on the same program. Then we had a show for housing work and raised $1,500 for homeless people with HIV. So that was literally a 24-hour period.

ZT: Wow, that’s quite a day in the life. How was Iggy Pop?

EZ: He was so sophisticated and sweet. He was the absolute opposite of how you would expect Iggy Pop to be like. He was like, ‘How are you? I’m so happy that you brought a string section—that’s so lovely!’

Danny Molad: I was like, ‘Hi, I’m Danny,’ and he was like, ‘Hi, I’m Iggy.’ And that was my exchange with him. He’s 62 years old, did you know that?

ZT: He looks good for 62. He must hit the gym. And the hair stylist probably. Did he have highlights?

Pete Lalish: He had beautiful highlights. A beautiful mane.

ZT: So you guys are back at Berklee—your home turf. How long has it been since you were here?

PL: We were here in 2004.

ZT: Is it fun coming back? Do you feel like hometown heroes at the alma mater?

PL: I’ve actually only been back to come here now and it’s a whole new school. It looks great.

DM: We definitely kept in touch with a lot of our classmates, play music with them, and we live in the same apartment complex.

EZ: We live with Via Audio, the Prigs, St. Vincent—everyone is in the same building. It’s like a Berklee dorm in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn.

ZT: How is rent there?

DM: Amazing.

EZ: It’s going to go up once we get it out on the Groove.

DM: The Groove is going to expose us and our secrets!

ZT: If you could go back in time and tell the Elizabeth, Pete and Dan from 2004 who were eating lunch at Crazy Dough’s and cramming for Ear Training tests some advice about the music industry, moving to New York, and some things to watch out for, what would you tell those youngsters?

EZ: In all seriousness, it would be to really trust your instinct as much as possible, because it’s going to be tested a lot. And the more of any kind of success you have, the more people are going to try to tell you what to do—the more you’re going to have to trust yourself. And even though it sounds like a self-help book, I think that’s the biggest thing.

PL: I’ll give advice that someone gave me in regards to New York. When I was a Berklee student, I told a teacher, ‘I think I’m going to leave school early and move to New York.’ He said, ‘Great. So what do you want, my blessing?’ But then he said, ‘So you’re going to move to New York? Well, there’s going to be a bunch of great musicians around. And there’s going to be a bunch of really bad musicians around. There you go.’

ZT: Ha!

PL: When you’re in school, you feel like you’re part of this group of amazing people. At the same time, you don’t have to be technically amazing or be in school forever to go and play music anywhere.

EZ: So Pete, you’re basically telling people to drop out of Berklee?

PL: Well, it really works for some people to stay, and it really works for some people to go. Either way, whether it’s two or four years, it’s a great time. But the best advice I had was that everyone outside of the school is doing it, good or bad, it’s still the same thing.

EZ: Yeah, just set your own rules.

DM: So much has happened in the industry in eight years, it’s insane. Coming to Berklee my freshman year, I would be going through a library of CDs, and then mp3s were sort of happening, but slowly. Then record stores started closing, and all of a sudden playing these summer festivals was like the thing to do.  Festivals have become this insane thing, where 40 amazing bands will be in this one city, and then they’ll be in this other city. And all these things adding up, and…I’m not sure where I’m going with this.

EZ: I think what you’re saying is that we started off with music being made for joy, and then it turned into a business, and then the business went out of business, and now we’re making music for joy again. Is that it?

DM: I guess it’s really you have to make your own path. Don’t listen to what anybody tells you. If you think you know what you’re doing, trust yourself, like Elizabeth said.

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Photo courtesy of artist.

By Ben Camp
Contributing Writer

It is not by happenstance that the first thing you notice while entering Alex Lacamoire’s office is his keyboard— a dedicated focus on music is one of his top priorities. It is that very focus which has led to Alex’s tremendous successes on Broadway: arrangements for the Tony Award-winning “Wicked,” orchestrations for “High Fidelity,” a Tony Award for his orchestrations on “In The Heights” and a Grammy Award for producing its cast album.

Oh yeah, and he’s a Berklee grad.

Lacamoire attended Berklee from ‘93 to ‘95, tested into the top levels of Ear Training, Harmony, and Arranging on arrival, and took a driven, fast-track approach to his studies. He majored in Professional Music with an emphasis in Arranging & Orchestration, with some Film Scoring thrown in. I sat down with Alex at the Richard Rogers theatre, where he is currently the Music Supervisor for “Heights,” to talk about his experiences from Berklee to Broadway.

Professionally, you’ve had some tremendous successes. Before we get into those, I’m curious to know how you made the transition from Berklee to…not Berklee?

I stayed in Boston for about a year and a half after I graduated. I was fortunate that I had great people to work with. I played on the Spirit of Boston for two years as a pianist and a singer – even though I’m not really a singer! I played there with other Berklee musicians such as Anthony Vitti, Bill D’Agostino and Ken Zambello, and we all had a great time. I played gigs there at night, and during the day I accompanied vocal lessons at Boston Conservatory, which increased my musical theater repertoire and allowed me to meet people in the theater world. I would also play theater auditions around town where I had to sight-read and sight-transpose all the time. All of those skills brewed this perfect concoction such that right before I moved to New York, I got hired to play auditions for Broadway’s “The Lion King” while they were looking for actors in Boston. The music director flew in from New York to hear the singers, and when he heard me play he said ‘When you move to New York, call me.’ It was definitely very one-thing-led-to-another.

And what made you want to move to New York? Was it ‘The Lion King?’

Well, I had already made the decision to move before I had gotten the offer from Lion King. I thought I was going to just show up in New York, call all my Berklee friends and say “Hey I’m in town, let me know if you got any jazz gigs for me.” That would have been a total disaster, because I’m not a jazz pianist—I studied jazz at Berklee, but it wasn’t really my calling. Back then, if I had a choice between listening to Miles or listening to Zeppelin, I would have chosen Zeppelin.

You seem to have found a great niche, and are doing some wonderful work here!

I’m very thankful. There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t realize how lucky I am to be doing what I love to do. I never had to take an office gig. I’ve never had a job that wasn’t music-related. I feel very, very fortunate.

What was your favorite part of Berklee?

I loved all the hands-on experience that you could get if you went after it. I loved being able to go into the studios at three in the morning if you wanted to. It was great to have the Learning Center, to be able to just grab a computer and learn how to use Finale or a sequencer. And I loved being able to have a jam, just calling up some cats at ten o’clock at night to play Rush tunes or something. I loved that I could take a class about Stravinsky, and then two hours later play in the Free-Jazz ensemble. I loved the diversity. Being able to study that wide a range of music is important, and I think it keeps you well-rounded, and it keeps your ears and your mind open.

Absolutely, and I think that diversity shows in your music. Looking even just at ‘In The Heights,’ the arrangements have such a wide range stylistically, and yet all work together in one show.

Yes. What’s great about Lin [Manuel Miranda, composer and lyricist for Heights] is that he knows about all those styles of music. He happens to be like people of our generation who appreciate all those genres. His iPod is hysterical—he has all the Jay-Z records, but you’ll also find Kings Of Leon, Phil Collins’ Greatest Hits and the soundtrack to Camelot. He really digs all that stuff. He genuinely loves music. The fact that he has all this inside of him and that it comes out so naturally is what makes him so unique and so good. As an arranger, I feel that if music comes from the heart, if it’s genuine and if it’s melody-based, you can do anything with it.

And you have quite a talent for arranging. What would you say was the most fun project you’ve worked on as an arranger?

“In The Heights” is definitely my baby. I put so much work into it, and I was really tireless about it. Bill Sherman and I just toiled and worked on those charts until everything was right and every decision made us happy. We had a lot of arguments and disagreements along the way, but in that process we both arrived at something that we both dug. I have put so much of my life and my love into Heights, and it’s gonna be rare to find an experience where I do something like that again.

You think?

Yeah, only because the show is so unique and so pioneering. Plus, it taps into my Cuban heritage. I don’t want to say it’s ahead of it’s time but –

It’s setting its time?

Yeah, I think so. The year it came out, the only other original musical was “Passing Strange.” Everything else was either based on a book or a movie, or it was a revival. So it was great to be involved with something so trendsetting—I don’t know if there will be a “trend” of salsa or hip-hop shows, but it definitely opened the door for hip-hop and salsa music to exist on Broadway.

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