Saturday, July 11, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
CAPRAdelic 02.2: From the Hilltop
Interview and Photography by Miguel Cedillo
Once we found a high spot with a view away from the power lines we rested a while to get our minds right. When we set out I had intended to perform an interview of some kind but had let go of the formality two summits ago. Usually if we weren't pre-occupied we'd talk about music or movies and sometimes girls, or we would swap stories from fated nights and wayward trips. I had a pen and pad though, so I had to ask them something.
Q: When do y'all usually go on a hike like this?
Shelby: "Usually after we've been writing or laying down a demo for a while. This hike was pretty long but we could still go a lot further."
Jeff: "We like to get out here especially because its quiet, you know? It's cool to hang out without having to work on stuff the whole time, so if we're not working we're always doing something like this."
Q: Why is that down time so important?
Jeff: "To me, its like, since we first started playing together we've spent a lot of time as a group. It's to the point that if we aren't being active or getting food we're just doing music."
Paul: "Haha yeah, we'll do this before we play or after, but usually after. We try to maintain a balance with music and everything else, but we want to play. My favorite part of music has always been the process, we all love it."
Q: How would you describe yourselves as individuals within the group?
Shelby: "Do you mean ourselves, or eachother?"
I laughed. "Well, eachother?"
Paul smiled and looked both ways to his band mates. Jeff grinned and lowered his chin two inches with an "Oh, man," then turned right toward his brother. Shelby didn't flinch.
Shelby: "That's pretty tough to characterize internally." The other two agreed.
Paul: (Huge smile) "Well, Jeff is the klutz. He's usually the last one to drive. Shelby and Michael are the responsible ones."
Q: What's the order of preferred drivers? From the best down to Jeff.
Paul: "Michael's a good driver, but usually Shelby takes over after a long night. He's the rational one."
Shelby: "Ha, yeah. It usually goes me, Michael, Paul, Kelly, then Jeff, and Kelly practically never drives so that tells you how often we let Jeff."
Jeff: "It's much better that way. Trust me."
Q: What about during the writing process? What are your roles?
Jeff: "You know, its sort of tough to look at it like that because we're really committed to playing as a team, and we understand that writing is a PROCESS. We focus on that a lot and we're really good about working together until we feel like its perfect. I feel like each one of us is always looking for new ways to be perfect, because for us the best process equals the best results."
Paul: "For sure, we always try to get the idea to a song as quickly as possible."
Jeff: "Yeah, man, most writer's blocks come from just over thinking it."
Shelby: "I think that's always been our thing. The songs just come from moments and we all contribute when we feel it. It's tough when Kelly's away, obviously, because he's really good with making the melody and with lyrics, but we all write lyrics together, even on the phone, and of course that can affect the way things come out. But when we're here playing in the studio instrumentally we just listen to each other and build from those spontaneous ideas that, you know, could have started in the car or something."
The guys found this funny, especially Shelby who engineers the rough cuts from home. He once walked me through the process and let me hear a voicemail from an airport that later evolved in to "Mirage".
Paul: "There's definitely a fine line between thinking about it too much and just pursuing the vision when its right there. We keep the process moving, we're really at our individual bests when we're playing as a team. Michael, man, Michael's got a lot of energy in the studio, too, it gets us going. We definitely all know how we work and we let everyone do their thing. We let everyone speak or else it can't happen."
Shelby: "That's the biggest thing. We all respect each other. We don't pull pranks or mess with each other too badly. It's like what we were talking about before, being a family. We're together all the time; on the road, in a two room apartment, whatever. Because of that making music just happens naturally. We do it because we're already there and we want to."
Up next: CAPRA hits the studio.
Once we found a high spot with a view away from the power lines we rested a while to get our minds right. When we set out I had intended to perform an interview of some kind but had let go of the formality two summits ago. Usually if we weren't pre-occupied we'd talk about music or movies and sometimes girls, or we would swap stories from fated nights and wayward trips. I had a pen and pad though, so I had to ask them something.
Q: When do y'all usually go on a hike like this?
Shelby: "Usually after we've been writing or laying down a demo for a while. This hike was pretty long but we could still go a lot further."
Jeff: "We like to get out here especially because its quiet, you know? It's cool to hang out without having to work on stuff the whole time, so if we're not working we're always doing something like this."
Q: Why is that down time so important?
Jeff: "To me, its like, since we first started playing together we've spent a lot of time as a group. It's to the point that if we aren't being active or getting food we're just doing music."
Paul: "Haha yeah, we'll do this before we play or after, but usually after. We try to maintain a balance with music and everything else, but we want to play. My favorite part of music has always been the process, we all love it."
Q: How would you describe yourselves as individuals within the group?
Shelby: "Do you mean ourselves, or eachother?"
I laughed. "Well, eachother?"
Paul smiled and looked both ways to his band mates. Jeff grinned and lowered his chin two inches with an "Oh, man," then turned right toward his brother. Shelby didn't flinch.
Shelby: "That's pretty tough to characterize internally." The other two agreed.
Paul: (Huge smile) "Well, Jeff is the klutz. He's usually the last one to drive. Shelby and Michael are the responsible ones."
Q: What's the order of preferred drivers? From the best down to Jeff.
Paul: "Michael's a good driver, but usually Shelby takes over after a long night. He's the rational one."
Shelby: "Ha, yeah. It usually goes me, Michael, Paul, Kelly, then Jeff, and Kelly practically never drives so that tells you how often we let Jeff."
Jeff: "It's much better that way. Trust me."
Q: What about during the writing process? What are your roles?
Jeff: "You know, its sort of tough to look at it like that because we're really committed to playing as a team, and we understand that writing is a PROCESS. We focus on that a lot and we're really good about working together until we feel like its perfect. I feel like each one of us is always looking for new ways to be perfect, because for us the best process equals the best results."
Paul: "For sure, we always try to get the idea to a song as quickly as possible."
Jeff: "Yeah, man, most writer's blocks come from just over thinking it."
Shelby: "I think that's always been our thing. The songs just come from moments and we all contribute when we feel it. It's tough when Kelly's away, obviously, because he's really good with making the melody and with lyrics, but we all write lyrics together, even on the phone, and of course that can affect the way things come out. But when we're here playing in the studio instrumentally we just listen to each other and build from those spontaneous ideas that, you know, could have started in the car or something."
The guys found this funny, especially Shelby who engineers the rough cuts from home. He once walked me through the process and let me hear a voicemail from an airport that later evolved in to "Mirage".
Paul: "There's definitely a fine line between thinking about it too much and just pursuing the vision when its right there. We keep the process moving, we're really at our individual bests when we're playing as a team. Michael, man, Michael's got a lot of energy in the studio, too, it gets us going. We definitely all know how we work and we let everyone do their thing. We let everyone speak or else it can't happen."
Shelby: "That's the biggest thing. We all respect each other. We don't pull pranks or mess with each other too badly. It's like what we were talking about before, being a family. We're together all the time; on the road, in a two room apartment, whatever. Because of that making music just happens naturally. We do it because we're already there and we want to."
Up next: CAPRA hits the studio.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
CAPRAdelic 01.1: To Arrive at the Beginning
Round about midnight one week ago I pulled in to Los Angeles by way of Arizona and the state border inspection station and caught the 101 and Clueless. As it sometimes goes with California time my earliness wasn’t a good thing because my host was out at dinner. Countless illegal phone juggles, three freeway turnarounds and a surprise traffic jam later I shimmied off at Cahuenga and threw a hard port-side u-turn to meet with Kelly Blatz, CAPRA's vocalist, on the shoulder lane where he patiently bumped the Kills in a bent fedora, Batman t and a signature congenial manner. We greeted for the first time since "April Showers" premiered in Omaha and dove in to the 101 Diner for a pot of coffee and my first food in a twelve-hour stretch. After filling in the gaps of life information since February we turned to music with fervor. Since listening to “Gypsy Jones” a few times during the drive I was eager to ask,
Q: “How has the newer music grown from your favorite parts of Gypsy?”
Kelly: “In all directions, man. When we first came together each of us had different things we loved, and Gypsy let us bring it all together. But now, well, we’re running with it and doing more. You’ve gotta hear what I mean.”
Of course I wanted to hear tracks, not only because I’d be working with them, but even more so because who doesn’t love some fresh music? We killed the bottom of the coffee pot that had compelled us to begin, right then and there, the artistic exchange between songwriter and filmmaker that we'd spent a year discussing. Immediately we drove home to burn a demo CD of the latest EXTRA-ROUGH cuts to embark on the multimedia story of CAPRA’s next album and beyond. I’ll be our writer/photographer/editor tour guide.
Catch the first installment of Kelly’s exclusive video interview below, CAPRAdelic 01.2.
Use your voice.
MC
CAPRAdelic 01.2: Image Echoes
Q: “How has the newer music grown from your favorite parts of Gypsy?”
Kelly: “In all directions, man. When we first came together each of us had different things we loved, and Gypsy let us bring it all together. But now, well, we’re running with it and doing more. You’ve gotta hear what I mean.”
Of course I wanted to hear tracks, not only because I’d be working with them, but even more so because who doesn’t love some fresh music? We killed the bottom of the coffee pot that had compelled us to begin, right then and there, the artistic exchange between songwriter and filmmaker that we'd spent a year discussing. Immediately we drove home to burn a demo CD of the latest EXTRA-ROUGH cuts to embark on the multimedia story of CAPRA’s next album and beyond. I’ll be our writer/photographer/editor tour guide.
Catch the first installment of Kelly’s exclusive video interview below, CAPRAdelic 01.2.
Use your voice.
MC
CAPRAdelic 01.2: Image Echoes
Saturday, June 20, 2009
CAPRAdelic 0.1
Hello CAPRA universe. My name’s Miguel Cedillo, and for an unpredictable period of life to come I get to say, “I’m with the band.” As you all know, CAPRA is working on their first album with Hollywood Records and will be creating all over the place for a solid chunk of 2009, and couldn’t be more excited. During the light beam ride (thanks guys) of a process my job is to show all the good people the world of CAPRA straight from the neon horse’s mouth, and we’ve got quite a bit in store.
CAPRA and I have joined forces to bring you CAPRAdelics, a newly invented story telling system for an otherwise chaotic experience. We’ll be feeding you regular rations of digital medicine for the rock ‘n’ roll soul with video, audio samples, photos, and the written word. Every piece tells part of the story to resonate the journey and vision of CAPRA in the most holistic way, for YOU. Through feedback, the people have the power to drive CAPRAdelics. Come June gloom or September snow, your thoughts and questions will directly influence interviews and footage.
Take a CAPRAdelic at capramusic.blogspot.com, Facebook, and Myspace, and stay tuned for CAPRAdelic 01.1 and 01.2 in the next 24 hours! And finally, express yourself; become an active citizen of the CAPRAdelic dimension. The guys are waiting for you.
Live free,
MC
CAPRA and I have joined forces to bring you CAPRAdelics, a newly invented story telling system for an otherwise chaotic experience. We’ll be feeding you regular rations of digital medicine for the rock ‘n’ roll soul with video, audio samples, photos, and the written word. Every piece tells part of the story to resonate the journey and vision of CAPRA in the most holistic way, for YOU. Through feedback, the people have the power to drive CAPRAdelics. Come June gloom or September snow, your thoughts and questions will directly influence interviews and footage.
Take a CAPRAdelic at capramusic.blogspot.com, Facebook, and Myspace, and stay tuned for CAPRAdelic 01.1 and 01.2 in the next 24 hours! And finally, express yourself; become an active citizen of the CAPRAdelic dimension. The guys are waiting for you.
Live free,
MC
Monday, June 15, 2009
Capra Signs With Hollywood Records!
It's true, we've sold our souls! We signed with Hollywood records and we couldn't be more excited for what's to come. Just a small step in the life of Capra, but a very exciting accomplishment. Funny the considerable effect some ink and paper can have on your life. Thanks to everyone that has supported us through out this process, we're forever grateful and we celebrated beyond recollection for all of you. We'll be spending some time in the primordial swamps of a UFO gathering a collection of tunes for you all to thoroughly enjoy! Revisit the Seance.
Live Free,
CAPRA
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Capradelic
CAPRA is playing music at the green door Dec. 16th. The event starts around nine o' clock, it's free admission and there will be an OPEN BAR! So dress accordingly for a night of music fashioned for love-making and any excessive indulgences that are going to occur. The event is being presented by the charitable foundation Musicians Give Back--which we feel extremely honored to be a part of-- as well as Motor City Legends clothing. We are releasing a new T-shirt in honor of the show and the Musicians Give Back charity which will be for sale the night of the show and henceforth.
Recently, we have been working ever-so-diligently trying to wrap up the material for the album. We have recorded 2 new songs as well as 3 re-recorded versions of Gypsy, Loveolution, and Government Child with reputable producer Mr. Alain Johannes(Queens of the Stone Age, Eleven, etc.)--who will hopefully be finishing the remainder of the album with us. We've also found a manager in the recent months and feel very confident that he will best support our music and our interests.
We should be entering the studio yet again within the next month or so and hopefully the record will be released early next year. We're also beginning to prep our live show! So we'll be playing regularly subsequent to the Dec. 16th gig. Toodles.
CAPRA
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