After a pair of solid releases that established Robert Ellis as an eccentric singer/songwriter with a traditional country foothold, his new self-titled LP is as definitive and weirdly beautiful a statement of defiance as you’d expect from a guy whose primary touchstones are Paul Simon and Randy Newman, as opposed to Townes Van Zandt and Jerry Jeff Walker. Perhaps that’s why the two best tracks on a uniformly great record—the structurally sophisticated yet effortless opener “Perfect Strangers” and the brooding, soulful “California”—are keyboard-based. Already an acknowledged ace on guitar at 27, Ellis has been reacquainting himself with the keys over the last few years. Ellis will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new feature on him.
Ellis: Kelly Doyle is my favorite guitar player. I’ll admit I’m a little biased. The two of us have been playing together for almost 10 years, both as sidemen for other people and in my own group. While on the road, we spend much of our spare time together in green rooms or hotel rooms practicing. We play jazz tunes, drink beer and eat pizza. When we are off the road, Kelly is more or less constantly practicing. When he isn’t transcribing Eric Dolphy solo’s or arranging French musettes for Telecaster guitar, he also somehow manages to write and record incredible records of his own. I asked Kelly some questions about his most recent album over a beer in a Chili’s at the airport.
I love the way your records sound sonically. How did you write and record this most recent one? Logic, ProTools? What are the synth/drum sounds?
Well, thank you. All the songs were written around the same time. Some were guitar first, some were snippets of synth samples arranged into melodies. Conceptually, I wanted simple melodies that could be deconstructed throughout the song.
Ultimately, everything went to ProTools, but the original construction of ideas started in Logic, Ableton and memos on my phone.
Drum sounds are pretty simple. I think your classic 808/909 sounds mixed with various half-deceased drum machines for texture. Also, the spooky and dark drumming of Gene Black on “Advanced.”
You don’t play a ton of guitar on this record, and yet your voice is very loudly communicated. Do you find it liberating to put down an instrument and just arrange in the box? How often do you base the synth or drum parts on guitar ideas? Do you imagine the guitar neck when thinking about stacking harmony?
I went in wanting the least amount of guitar I could get by with. I find the guitar’s limitations frustrating and liberating. So sometimes sitting down at a computer to make music can be pretty satisfying. Getting out of “guitar brain” a bit. Not relying on my own clichés to dictate the writing.
Sometimes I do think about a guitar neck when writing “in the box” or on a piano roll or something. It’s pretty great. You can imagine your fingers aren’t attached to your hand and you can play any note on any string.
You are very aggressive with music in a way that doesn’t really jive with your day to day personality. I think most people would describe you as “quiet” when interacting with you as a civilian. When you pick up a guitar, you have this sort of brazen disregard for the world. You are loud and bold, and you really don’t mind going for something all the way, even if it means you may fall short. Do you think you are more your true self when making music or the other way around? Do you think there is a “Kelly Doyle the musician” character that you take on when writing or improvising?
I don’t know. My brain broken. Offstage, I’m pretty introverted. Social interactions make me sleepy and confused. I’ve always connected with musicians who are improvisers. I like being in the moment and interacting with others musically. It’s more fun for me. I’m a self-indulgent introverted Tele-whacker.
What have you been practicing lately?
I just spent a couple of days learning Prince songs for a Prince tribute night. I love—fucking love—Prince. Horny Hendrix.
Listen to Kelly’s new record here. I love it.
