Hotline to the
Underground
Adventure Set, Idb Green,
Greg Paquette and Rockower
https://adventureset1.bandcamp.com/track/cleaner-west-coast-remix?fbclid=IwAR07M9FpFwbGlYTh3-bsP_14EbzogZX4R-FcVsWMDe61Q2WWE6TNWqfM-kY
We’ve got a wild array of music this week at the Hotline…
Rino Benenati's radio edit remix of Adventure Set's
"Cleaner." Released November
19, 2020 it’s a wonderfully smooth and highly danceable rock track. Ken Scales
voice is simply amazing and eerie here. A perfect song for the new Invisible
Man film that was recently out…maybe it can go on the DVD a la The Lemonheads’ “Mrs.
Robinson” landed on the classic The Graduate film home release. Mark Pothier’s writing, programming,
production and keyboards reliably top notch.
Recorded in Plymouth, Mass. Remixed at
Spectrum Sound Lab, San Francisco Rino
Benenati: Mix engineer, co-editor
Bill Williams: Editing (Bill Williams Media Production,
Hayward Ca.) …stands up to repeated
listenings…find Adventure Set on Bandcamp…
My dear friend Raquel
Reynolds at Zionrock finds the best tunes out of Jamaica. “Level Level” from
IPD green is a mesmerizing three minutes and three seconds on Vevo.
https://youtu.be/_4z84qIvGL8 The colors and quasi science fiction edits
make for an amazingly compelling vignette. A haunting keyboard brings you back
to play it again…and again…and again.
https://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/email/newsletter/1413426292
Greg Paquette is back with a
new album Retro Active. The first track, “Swing,” has a slinky guitar improving
upon the Dire Straits formula. It too groves with Paquette’s vocal writing an
essay on the young lady’s subversive moments on the dance floor. Spin it a few times and you’ll catch the
spirit. Greg’s previous album, Single Stone, has an essential track, “Into the
Sunset” that shows another side of the songwriter/vocalist.
Into the Sunset Greg Paquette
https://youtu.be/ssHED5qbALs
GOING TRACK BY TRACK
WITH MARK ROCKOWER
Band: Rockower
Album: It's
Alright but Never Enough
Songs
written and arranged by Mark Rockower
Produced by
Derek Hughes and Mark Rockower|
ark Rockower Music LLC
Q When did the concept for the It's Alright But Never Enough album
begin?
A: The concept
for the song began roughly 2 years ago when I wanted to write something
autobiographic and to have acoustic with
slide in it as I enjoy playing the slide guitar stuff.
Part of the lyrics refer
to a “type of person” who reaches a goal in life big or small and then decide
it’s not enough and adjust their goals higher. It’s also about coming
to terms with the past.
I chose the songs on
the album from a bunch of songs I had written over a couple of years, I chose
those I felt would fit together well and make for a good album, both musically
and theme wise
Q: What was the inspiration for American Dope?
A: American Dope musically inspired by some of the
punk rock music of the past I have listened too. I would say soft-core punk as opposed to the
hard-core stuff.
The lyrics are about
the so-called war against drugs and also the plight of the middle class worker
and the dwindling size of the Middle Class.
Musically I
was thinking of the band the Precious Few and writing something that would fit
in with the style we played, as initially I wanted to do it for a Precious Few
project.
Q With
Big Money, what came first, the lyric or the music, and did you record a
"demo" prior to going in to the studio? If so, how did
you approach the recording in the studio setting?
A: With Big Money the music came
first. I was thinking with the dual guitars in it playing the lead riff Of
Thin Lizzy or even Iron Maiden. I generally write the music first or at least
start from that point. Recorded a demo for each song prior to the final
recording and some of those tracks made the album. I want to make sure I know
everything I am going to do first before I go in. This way we can stay focused
on the music and think about nothing else.
We are also well-rehearsed so my first take has been my best on
several occasions It helps doing it with Derek as he sets a good natured
approach for the session
And we feel at
ease with the entire process.
Q: How did "Sometimes It Rhymes" come about?
A: Sometimes It Rhymes came about from listening to
an 80’s band The Motels and how they used keyboards and synth. It also
was geared towards my ex-girlfriend and at the time things were going well and
I thought two people can rhyme when in love, however naïve that might be to
believe
Q: What was the approach to recording
"The Other Side?"
A; The Other Side was approached relatively the same
as the other songs and I played two guitars on it and Derek Hughes played the
bass.
He recorded and mixed the song
I wanted to write something about the other side of
Love and that’s what I came up with.
Q: With songs like Sunflower on YouTube - the opening sounding like a
tribute to Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" - how
important is it for you to have videos for each song on the album?
https://youtu.be/PzvC5FRkgwk
A Thank you, any comparison to Elton John, especially
his early work like “Madman across the Water” is a big complement. I
think lyric videos are great and would have one for every song, I hope I
do. Currently there are a couple on
YouTube.
People are using more senses when they listen to
music that is accompanied with a lyric video.
The
video was by Derek Hughes , who played some bass on the album and recorded and
engineered….as well as co-produced it with me.
Q:Who produced and directed the video?
A:
Derek handled all aspects of the video’s
Q How did you decide to sequence "Simple Minds," "Lunar
Star," "Vacation Girl," "Driving Force" and the title
track as the second half of
the CD, and can you give us short thoughts on each composition?
A: I categorized each song and then made sure
not to pick two songs that were similar in style back to back.
Simple Minds is
supposed to be a country rock song like the Rolling Stones would do on several
of their 70’s albums.
Lunar Star is more
of a pop song and Vacation Girl a little more danceable with some rock moments,
Driving Force is a
A straightforward
rock song and I “It’s Alright but It’s Never Enough” is a little more country
rock sounding to me. It is autobiographical in content
Q: How did you go about creating the cover art, and how did the entire
project fall into place?
I wanted a shot of the Milky Way a shot of space
with color in it. Derek designed it and went with a simple approach and
the project took about 9 months in total
however we are always putting out music and have a new single coming out in mp3
that will be available for purchase along with the album.
