About CavityFang: An Interview with Michael Coleman

Bay Area keyboardist and composer Michael Coleman has been on the Table & Chairs radar for quite some time. Some of you may remember an epic show at The Mine in February of 2011 where Michael’s group Beep! shared the bill with Heatwarmer and Chemical Clock. And perhaps some of you may have listened closely to Michael’s beautiful synth contributions to the debut Lawson album.

Beyond his impressive list of performance/recording credits, Michael is a restless creative spirit; a true artist never satisfied with yesterday’s solutions. Since the label’s inception T&C has been quietly observing his activities, waiting until now to pounce!

T&C is extremely proud to release the debut album from Michael’s latest project CavityFang, officially out on Tuesday July 2, 2013. The album will be available as a digital download, as well as a beautifully packaged compact disc. Check out the interview below for some really great insights into how “Urban Problems” came to be.

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Jacob Zimmerman: You’re involved in so many different projects (Beep, Arts & Sciences, Young Nudist, Lawson, Kapowski, Chris Cohen…) and you seem to be coming up with new ones all the time! What compels you to keep starting new bands?

Michael Coleman: I sometimes think of music as a series of experiments. I’m always searching for new sounds and trying to realize some idea that’s been floating around in my head. Each group represents an exploration of a new idea or feeling. Instead of having one or two groups and taking them in a bunch of different directions, I like the idea of having a different band for each experiment. And in the process of exploring some musical territory, new things are revealed both about that specific group and myself. 

JZ: Why is the record called Urban Problems?

MC: I wanted the artist SNEAL to create the artwork for the album.  Each of his pieces include text in addition to the image and I always love the way they work together.  It made sense that whatever text ended up on the artwork for the album should also be the name of the album.  He gave me about 7 or 8 possible covers and Urban Problems really stuck out to me. I think it works as a title because it fits the energy of the music. Also living in Oakland for almost a decade has put me in close proximity to a lot of crazy urban situations. And lastly, as Oakland and other American cities become gentrified, the idea of “urban problems” begins to mean different things to different groups in the city. Is it rich, white tech people complaining about the lack of parking or Mexican immigrants worrying about being stopped by police? That’s interesting to me.

JZ: CavityFang is unquestionably an all-star ensemble, can you describe the superpowers of each musician?

MC: This is the most fun question to answer! 

Ava Mendoza not only has a technical mastery over the guitar, but she has an extremely wide pallet of sounds and colors at her disposal. I would put parts in front of her and within minutes, she would find the right sound for each section. Her sound on Dreamzzz is wonderful and her solo at the end of Koala and Joey is super shredding.

Cory Wright can play any woodwind very well. I’d heard him play baritone with The Wiener Kids and I knew that he would be perfect for this band. For CavityFang, he plays the role of the bass much of the time as well as stepping out as the main soloist on several tracks. He’s one of the most melodic soloists I know and he blends flawlessly with the other instruments. And check his flute playing on This Will Be Your Bed!

Sam Ospovat is one of the hardest working and determined musicians in the Bay Area. I’ve played in bands with him for about 6 years now and I’ve watched him develop his musical voice and become a totally unique drummer. He can lay down nasty grooves or create beautiful textures equally well and always works to make a drum part that is both compositionally interesting and understated. Listen for his polyrhythms at the end of Armadillo. Too good.

Jordan Glenn is another master drummer. He’s a true group player in the sense that everything he plays and every sound he uses supports the rest of the band and the song. He’s also extremely inventive and is constantly surprising both himself and the rest of the band. The sounds that he makes at the beginning of Armadillo get me every time. 

Hamir Atwal is known in the Bay Area jazz scene as having both the best feel and the sweetest touch on the drums. When he locks up with Sam on the groove during Dreamzzz, it’s pretty magical. And as the lead drummer on Rara, he just keeps pushing the energy higher and higher.

JZ: What are some of the most prominent influences on the CavityFang music?

MC: I was listening to a lot Captain Beefheart at the time and the Deerhoof record Runners Four. I also became obsessed with a few videos from Haiti of Ra Ra music. I transcribed my favorite and we did an arrangement of it. I think I also drew a lot of inspiration from my friends. There are hints of Sam’s Piki project as well as the music of Lawson and bits of Aaron Novik’s music.

JZ: The great Eli Crews (tUnE-yArDs, Deerhoof) engineered and mixed the record. You’ve recorded and played music with him quite a bit, what do you like about working with Eli?

MC: As an engineer, Eli is extremely inventive and creative. No situation is too weird or difficult for him. For example, we decided to record the whole group in the same room. This poses obvious problems in terms of isolation and bleed but instead of worrying about that, he put a mic in the middle of the room and one out in the hallway and decided to embrace a more live sound. He also enjoys recording to tape and for this record, the music never saw a computer until the mastering process. He treats recording and mixing in a very musical and improvisational way. 

JZ: What else is on the horizon for CavityFang, and for you in general?

MC: I’d love to do some small tours with this group. It will be a logistical nightmare but well worth the headaches. I’d also love to write another batch of pieces exploring some other elements of the drums and percussion. I’m also considering augmenting this group with a bass player and another horn player and playing music that I’ve written for other groups. Apart from CavityFang, I’m hoping to release my solo record this year and possibly do some performances of that music. I’m scared to do it but I’m slowly building up the courage!