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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By Zac Taylor
Managing Editor

Jon, Ryan, Aaron, Jeff, & Carlo

Power-Pop-Punk Quintet Westland has been trailblazing all across the west coast and elsewhere, making a name for themselves on the national scene. How did they make the leap from jamming in high school and meeting at Berklee to getting some notable sponsorship deals and slots at major festivals? Hard-hitting drummer and Berklee alumnus Carlo Ribaux brings The Groove up to speed. Read the full story

By Ann Driscoll
Associate Editor

Ashley Root and Evelyn Brown are best friends, musical soul mates, and self-described “sisters.” It’s not hard to hear why these two young musicians and Berklee alums (both ’09 grads) have clicked so well. Both play acoustic guitar, have an angelic twang-inflected timbre to their voices, and are influenced by a wide range of musical genres yet naturally write country songs.

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By Zac Taylor
Editor-in-Chief

Liz Davis Maxfield has hit the proverbial jackpot. The versatile cellist graduates this semester, and will be heading to the University of Limerick in Ireland to receive her Master’s degree in Traditional Irish Music Performance. The cello, however, is not a traditional instrument in this genre; herein lies the ace up her sleeve. She submitted a proposal to pen the first-ever cello method book exclusively for traditional Irish music, and received the Fulbright Scholarship, a highly competitive program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State that is on par with the Rhodes Scholarship. Her tuition, housing, and research expenses are all covered.

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