Bernie Worrell, Prince Paul, Don Newkirk – geniuses, all three. Then add David Byrne, Nona Hendryx, Yellowman, George Clinton – the list goes on and on – to the mix, and you have one star studded album on your hands. This kind of line up is a real score for any label, let alone a brand new indie. What was it like having this kind of record for your first release? Loads of pressure? Were the artist themselves a good source of advice for you?
One of the greatest things about this project for me was to work with so many ridiculously talented musicians. After Prince Paul, Bernie, and Don Newkirk created the music for the album, I worked pretty closely with Prince Paul in selecting the guest vocalists for each track. Paul's one request was to try to get singers with unique voices. He hears them as instruments in the song and wants them to be unique, but appropriate for the music. So I would send him mp3's of the singers, and make suggestions, and then he and Newkirk would say whether I should approach them or not. Every single guest on the album was a pleasure to work with, and were all so professional and cool. I imposed a lot of pressure on myself to make sure that they all had good experiences from the business end of things and the creative end of things. I also wanted to make sure that the album was marketed well, and that the artwork and everything else associated with the project was as creative as those artists are used to being associated with. I didn't want anyone to regret their involvement or be ashamed of the project in any way. I'm not sure if that's more pressure than releasing one band, or an obscure musician's music. I would try to treat any project as I would hope my own projects are treated. The artist's golden rule I guess you could call it.
One of the other benefits of working with these particular musicians - David Byrne, George Clinton, Nona Hendryx, Prince Paul and Bernie and everyone else- is that vast amount of knowledge and insight they gave me in so many areas. These guys (and girls) have been to the rodeo, and I just wanted to listen as much as possible. I learned so much about music, the music business, living the artist's life, being a good person, being healthy, being a professional, having fun, and the art of collaboration from every single one of these folks. I usually find that the older generation is very generous in passing on their knowledge to the younger kids if you ask questions and listen.
Working with these musicians was the highlight of the whole project for me. Generally, musicians are my favorite people to be around. I'll never forget trading notes and ideas with David Byrne on his song, or listening to Nona Hendryx double her vocals or sitting with Prince Paul in the studio for hundreds of hours having fun. It was also great to introduce Prince Paul to Reggie Watts. Reggie is a great musician, but is now becoming quite well known as a comedian. He would have been a perfect character on the old De La Soul records, and it was really great to see Prince Paul coach him through his comic portions of his song (If U Don't Wanna Dance).
What was your biggest surprise when the record actually came out? As a new label, what was the biggest lesson learned that you would apply to your next release?
The biggest surprise was the reaction from the listeners and critics, which for the most part were incredibly positive. I was bracing myself for bad reactions- or indifference. I was pleased that most people thought that we brought something worthwhile into the world which is all I could have wanted. The biggest lesson I learned in terms of promotion is the power of live performance. We didn't really have that, and I think the project would've have become more known if there was a live performance component to it. Essentially, it was an art project or concept album, like, "hey, wouldn't it be incredible to put Bernie Worrell and Prince Paul in the studio and see what they come up with?". There was never really an intention for Baby Elephant to be a touring band, as much as I would have liked to see it. But in the future, I would hope to take our projects to the people in a more direct and physical way.
Speaking of next releases, what’s happening with Godforsaken Music?
We're at an interesting crossroads from a label standpoint. We've earned respect for the two projects we've put out which has led us to a nice, major distribution deal. But instead of putting out every band i know, I'd like to keep focused and only work with musicians who I really love. I'm not the type to go scout the clubs and keep lookout for the next, hottest thing. I'd rather make and put out less, and be 100% behind everything with our name on it, and we're talking to a few super talented artists right now about working together. Even though I sometimes don't realize it, it's becoming apparent that my tastes are a bit left of center, so that's probably what will come through GFM in the near future. I'd also like to combine my filmmaking with music some more and see what fruits that bears.
I read somewhere about this release that there might have been a few bumps in the road that might have made everyone back off on promotion (for Baby Elephant) a little bit. Can you comment at all?
Ultimately, it was too hard to line up all of the business interests of all of the different parties and take what was essentially an art project and turn it into a 'group' that would tour - we shot for the moon and hit the stars. There were no hard feelings, so the hope is that the music that was documented stands the test of time and that people will discover and re-discover it over the years.
