Post by will on Nov 7, 2013 16:40:17 GMT -5
Hi guys,
Just heard the news that Joey was diagnosed with a brain tumor in January this year. Sure I'm not alone here in wishing Joey all the best, so wanted to pass along the online fundraiser link where you can read more information, and should anyone be able to donate and/or help by sharing the link with others I'm sure it would be appreciated
Fundraiser: www.gofundme.com/HelpForHuffman
For those unaware, Joey has played with Izzy on numerous releases - most recently you saw him rocking the Hammond organ on the Baby Rann video.
Joey was also kind enough to do a Q&A for the chopaway website to coincide with the release of Izzys "Miami". You can read his interview below, and if you enjoy it, please try to help either by passing along the fundraising link to other fans and/or by donating a few dollars.
Thanks all
Interview with Joey Huffman
Just heard the news that Joey was diagnosed with a brain tumor in January this year. Sure I'm not alone here in wishing Joey all the best, so wanted to pass along the online fundraiser link where you can read more information, and should anyone be able to donate and/or help by sharing the link with others I'm sure it would be appreciated
Fundraiser: www.gofundme.com/HelpForHuffman
For those unaware, Joey has played with Izzy on numerous releases - most recently you saw him rocking the Hammond organ on the Baby Rann video.
Joey was also kind enough to do a Q&A for the chopaway website to coincide with the release of Izzys "Miami". You can read his interview below, and if you enjoy it, please try to help either by passing along the fundraising link to other fans and/or by donating a few dollars.
Thanks all
Interview with Joey Huffman
For Izzys fans who are perhaps unaware of how you came to work with Izzy could you provide a little background information? Does your further involvement with ‘Miami’ stem from your production work on “River”?
I actually toured for a few dates with the Ju Ju Hounds in 1993. They picked me up in Atlanta toward the end of the tour. I think I did two weeks of dates with them before the tour came to an abrupt end and I went on to play with Soul Asylum. I recorded Rick's guitar parts on River so he didn't have to fly to LA. Izzy wanted me to put some keyboard parts down too as well as long as we were in the studio which I did. But due to a patching error my keyboard parts were recorded to the wrong hard drive so when I sent the Master hard drive back for mixing there were no keyboard parts there. I didn't know there had been an error until the record was released with no keyboard parts. As far as playing keyboards on Miami, Izzy and I always talked about working together again sometime so I just called Izzy and asked to play on the record and he said yes.
What kind of keyboard & organ setup did you use for the recording of "Miami"?
I used a Hammond B3 organ with a Leslie 122 speaker and the studio's grand piano. I think it was a Yamaha but I'm not sure. I also used my Wurlitzer model 200 electric piano. We ran it through an amplifier to dirty it up a little and give it a bite. You can hear it really well on the song ‘Partly Cloudy’.
Songs like ‘Partly Cloudy’ give the album a positive "jam-session" sound. Is this how the recording felt at the time, or had the band already planned the songs before entering the studio?
The whole session was kind of loose and comfortable. We recorded as a band. Izzy would just say "this is how this one goes" and we'd roll tape. I think it's a very organic record. We actually had to listen to each other as well as learn the songs at the same time. I think that's what gives it that jam band feel.
Some of Izzys fans find it frustrating that "Miami" was only available on iTunes, however we're of the opinion that it makes the music much more widely available to fans, without needing the extra hassle of a record label. What is your opinion of the music industry today, and do you feel the internet has helped smaller artists like Izzy?
I feel the internet is an essential tool for an artist to take advantage of. I think iTunes leaveled the playing field with the major labels. You don't need a label anymore. With iTunes there are no manufacturing costs which is passed along as savings to the consumer. When you cut out the record label then the artist gets one hundred percent of the profit after expenses.
It used to cost from a hundred thousand up to a million dollars to make a record. Now you can make a great sounding record for around forty thousand. Obviously the less you spend to record the sooner you start seeing a profit. You don't have to sell a million records anymore to have a successfull record anymore. An artist can be a success by selling as few as ten thousand records or downloads. An artist doesn't need a major label to promote their record anymore either. With vehicles like Myspace a band can target market their music and develope a substantial fan base and it's free. Some unsigned artists are getting five hundred thousand plays in a month. You can't get that kind of exposure the traditional way. You'd have to pay an independent record promoter to pander to radio stations and then there is no guarantee an artist will get that range of exposure. I think when the smoke clears the internet and iTunes will be the standard.
Have you heard the final cut of the album, and if so do you feel the songs could be easily adjusted for a live performance?
Yeah, I actually downloaded it from iTunes. I think it's a good sounding record. It lends itself to live performance. We basically recorded it live in the studio. I'd love to get the chance to play this record live. Who knows, it just might happen.
I actually toured for a few dates with the Ju Ju Hounds in 1993. They picked me up in Atlanta toward the end of the tour. I think I did two weeks of dates with them before the tour came to an abrupt end and I went on to play with Soul Asylum. I recorded Rick's guitar parts on River so he didn't have to fly to LA. Izzy wanted me to put some keyboard parts down too as well as long as we were in the studio which I did. But due to a patching error my keyboard parts were recorded to the wrong hard drive so when I sent the Master hard drive back for mixing there were no keyboard parts there. I didn't know there had been an error until the record was released with no keyboard parts. As far as playing keyboards on Miami, Izzy and I always talked about working together again sometime so I just called Izzy and asked to play on the record and he said yes.
What kind of keyboard & organ setup did you use for the recording of "Miami"?
I used a Hammond B3 organ with a Leslie 122 speaker and the studio's grand piano. I think it was a Yamaha but I'm not sure. I also used my Wurlitzer model 200 electric piano. We ran it through an amplifier to dirty it up a little and give it a bite. You can hear it really well on the song ‘Partly Cloudy’.
Songs like ‘Partly Cloudy’ give the album a positive "jam-session" sound. Is this how the recording felt at the time, or had the band already planned the songs before entering the studio?
The whole session was kind of loose and comfortable. We recorded as a band. Izzy would just say "this is how this one goes" and we'd roll tape. I think it's a very organic record. We actually had to listen to each other as well as learn the songs at the same time. I think that's what gives it that jam band feel.
Some of Izzys fans find it frustrating that "Miami" was only available on iTunes, however we're of the opinion that it makes the music much more widely available to fans, without needing the extra hassle of a record label. What is your opinion of the music industry today, and do you feel the internet has helped smaller artists like Izzy?
I feel the internet is an essential tool for an artist to take advantage of. I think iTunes leaveled the playing field with the major labels. You don't need a label anymore. With iTunes there are no manufacturing costs which is passed along as savings to the consumer. When you cut out the record label then the artist gets one hundred percent of the profit after expenses.
It used to cost from a hundred thousand up to a million dollars to make a record. Now you can make a great sounding record for around forty thousand. Obviously the less you spend to record the sooner you start seeing a profit. You don't have to sell a million records anymore to have a successfull record anymore. An artist can be a success by selling as few as ten thousand records or downloads. An artist doesn't need a major label to promote their record anymore either. With vehicles like Myspace a band can target market their music and develope a substantial fan base and it's free. Some unsigned artists are getting five hundred thousand plays in a month. You can't get that kind of exposure the traditional way. You'd have to pay an independent record promoter to pander to radio stations and then there is no guarantee an artist will get that range of exposure. I think when the smoke clears the internet and iTunes will be the standard.
Have you heard the final cut of the album, and if so do you feel the songs could be easily adjusted for a live performance?
Yeah, I actually downloaded it from iTunes. I think it's a good sounding record. It lends itself to live performance. We basically recorded it live in the studio. I'd love to get the chance to play this record live. Who knows, it just might happen.
