Interview: Rademacher

by Joe Fielder

We hadn't spoken to Rademacher lead Malcolm Sosa since back in the early days of youth when we used to fondly -- and, sure, perhaps a little naively -- think of Pluto as a planet. And, hell, their new material seemed to mark an interesting new moment in time for one of our favorite LA acts (if you consider Fresno as an extended LA suburb, that is), so an interview felt especially overdue.

Such was the thinking that brought us to this post.

Hey, Malcolm. What's new? How you been?

I have been pretty good. In the last year we have had a couple lineup changes, I played bass for awhile, then we got a new guitar player, then he moved to New York City, and then we got a new bass player and then I switched back to the guitar. I wrote some songs. I recorded some of them. I got a day job. That I love. And I started drawing pictures. 2009 was pretty fun, but I feel like it was just kind of a period to get me grounded for 2010.

I like that song "Magic Words" a lot. What's up with the new sound?

A big part of it has to do with me taking a bigger part in the recording process. Mostly doing all of it. So it is much more lo-fi than are usual stuff, as we usually go through guys like Espinoza at the Ship, or Josiah at the Cave. Both of them are guys with tremendous chops in the audio world.

Much of the little technique I have with recording has been based on trying to collect crappy old analog stuff that doesn't sound crappy, and finding mic set-ups that are simple and that I can leave up to mic multiple instruments. I've been trying to work fast and sloppy and get to a decent recording sound with minimal effort so I can just focus on the song.

It has been a partially successful experiment. I didn't send you any of the songs that sound like total ass. Of which there are plenty. Also I've been more into writing words and having them and the vocal delivery carry the song while the music is less melodic and more just accompanies the vocalist. I also try not use chord changes anymore.

So "Magic Words" is basically just one big E chord for the whole song.

That song makes me feel nostalgic for moments I haven't actually lived.

Yeah. Well, a big part of the new songs on the record are about nostalgia. We're calling the new record Baby Hawk, and the songs are all the stories about this late-great-also-ran LA-based-band called "Baby Hawk". The beginning of the record starts with how they got together and came up through the east side scene of the early two thousands, and eventually broke up, and the rest of the songs are all stuff they wrote as solo artists, that kind of relate to the idea of being in a band and the nostalgia and heartache and stuff that comes along with the gig.

There also a few songs on the record that are just fun. But most are nostalgic.

How productive are you, musically? You seem to constantly be writing new songs.

Lately I haven't been sitting down trying to write and record. I got lucky in that all the songs for this one just kind of landed in my lap. They still need some fleshing out, but they are all coming together easily. My apartment is full of scraps of paper with little lyrics or ideas. Writing a song is pretty easy, recording one or trying to compile all these ideas into an album can be more of a chore.

Luckily I think I am getting better at structure. Which is one of the focuses I have had on this record. I also know that Mikel from Airborne is working on his new record and we were listening to some his new songs at his house, and I noticed he had a few tricks in the way that he arranges and organizes concepts that is way more efficient than the way I do it.

He has a rolodex of songs and notes about lyrics, arrangements, even drawings. The background conceptualization type of stuff makes it much easier to create a kind of world with a record. I think. I'm gonna try.

How do you decide what's a solo song and what's for Rademacher?

Eh. At this point they are all Rademacher songs. Usually they are solo songs when I am just writing them. Brad, our old guitar player, use to host an open mic thing back in the day, and I got into the habit of going there to play once a week and there was a cool group of guys who did the same, and we'd all try and top each other with new material every week.

It forced us all to be prolific and develop our own techniques and styles and stuff. For awhile I used to play solo shows once a week around here just to try out new material.

On the road, you can play the same set every night and get it really tight and the audience will go away happy. But when you're playing the same town over and over again, it forces you to try and come up with something new for every show. I usually write a song or two every week. Most of them are not very good.

It seems like the band has gone through some changes lately. Who is in it now?

Right now it is me on guitar, Eli Reyes on drums and our old friend Radioactive Cauliflower, from Merced, on bass. Our first show with this lineup is next week at Cafe Dun Nord in San Francisco, so I've got my fingers crossed. We've got some new songs in the set list and some expectations to live up to. It gets me excited every time.

We should be in LA in April. I think we're playing with Les Blanks.

How many folks have played in Rademacher over the years?

Despite all the changes we've had, the quality of the musicians in the group has continued to get better. Just wait till the next lineup!

In answer to the question though, I think we've had over thirty members in the group. Here is a list of pretty much everyone who has played in the band for a long time, as well as links to their current bands:

Chris Fleming myspace.com/primerskyline

Shawn Covert myspace.com/primerskyline

Brad Basmajian

Niilo Smedds myspace.com/wheelsoffortune

Briana Smedds

Becky Asami www.myspace.com/yesterdayschonies

Greer McGettrick www.myspace.com/themallardbandsf

James Brittain-Gore myspace.com/wheelsoffortune

Matt Mancillas

Vince Corsaro www.myspace.com/alexandriaburning

Eli Reyes www.myspace.com/faywraysfresno

Grayson Soenke myspace.com/primerskyline

Eden Davis

Johnathan Hadden www.myspace.com/jonahwhalemusic

Thomas Medrano myspace.com/gypsycab

Matt Orme : myspace.com/pasture

Radioactive Cauliflower myspace.com/eloliowolof

And there are wayyyy more if you start counting folks who just played on the records and/or who subbed in for a couple of shows and stuff. Way to many to list.

Darren from Airborne played drums in our band. Like once. Three years ago. In Santa Barbara. while it was flooded. Remember when that happened? It was the same night Echo Curio had their grand opening party.

What's next for you?

We're practicing and getting the live set together. We'd like to tour in late June. Our idea is to tour, with the songs that we're gonna do for the record, and then go home and record them all live once we've gotten them down super tight and try and track as much of the record live, with an audience, to tape. Plus, everyone we know who we like working with on records, like Josiah and Aaron, are super busy and booked for the next couple of months. So we thought we'd try and do it DIY for cheap, and if that sucks, then we can cough up the dough adn schedule a date in the studio. We've got the songs. I am not really in any hurry to get the final record all slapped together.

What are you listening to these days that you like?

For new music, I like Harlem. I like them a lot. I write them silly emails. I've been listening to Kinks records a ton lately, specifically Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround. I could listen to that all day. Also this band called Medusa from Italy. But I heard they broke up and it made me sad.

Last question: Since you've been playing in LA, what's changed the most about the local music scene, for better and/or worse?

Honestly, not a whole lot. The bands are still good, some are getting big, others aren't. Some feel they should be bigger. In short, a lot of the great arts in LA go unnoticed. There are a ton of great acts that I think should be mega stars that aren't. but that's the way it goes!

I should also add that it is my favorite music scene in the world. I like it better than SF, than NYC. The kids are supportive, friendly, creative. And I like that it is the sort of place where half the audience any given night at Spaceland is made up of other LA musicians. Monday nights are like a family reunion there.

It has been that way on the eastside for as long as I can remember and that is my favorite thing.

DOWNLOAD:

- "Magic Words" MP3

Comments

[Pete]

Hey Sosa! I'm pleased to know that you are switching back to 6 strings. You were a formidable monster on the bass. And while simultaneously singing. You made it look too easy...

[Nick]

so since you're recording in June, does that mean George Glass can still nab you in May? just plantin seeds....