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Some (Stanton) Moore Galactic Funk, Please
interview Page 2
Page 1 of interview
Stanton Moore communicates so well with the drums that he has become a sought after musician. In the past few years, Moore sat in on multiple albums, including a tweaked-out, progressive collaboration with eight-string guitarist Charlie Hunter and avant saxophonist Skerik, called Garage A Trois, as well as the debut album for ex-Greyboy All-Star keyboardist Robert Walter. The busy drummer already has plans to record his second solo album this year. This time around, Moore is employing the likes of bassist Chris Wood (MMW) and the multi-talented Karl Denson, among others. Moore also leads another side project, Moore and More, which will be recording an album this year. Even with all these things ongoing, Moore never loses his connection with Galactic. In fact, the group recently finished a live album, but the record's release has been put on hold because of a label merger. Regardless, Stanton and Galactic are pressing on and already making plans to go into the studio to record the band's next full-length album soon.
Mt: Does it matter to you what label you are on?
SM: Yeah, it matters in the way that it needs to be someone who really believes in the project and is willing to work hard for the band. As far as name recognition goes, it is still hard to tell. You could go to Sony or Epic or Interscope thinking it would be a great thing, but you may get on that label and they might not fully understand what you are doing musically, so they won't be able to get behind you as strongly as another label. The thing is, you really have to find a label that works for your own individual situation. I don't think that there is any label that is any better than another; I think there are different labels that are better for different bands. Certain bands never find the right label for their band and that can be a make-or-break factor for them.
Mt: It is kind of like rolling the dice…
SM: Yeah, you never really can tell how a label is going to be until you actually get on it and start working with them. It is definitely a crapshoot.
Mt: There seems to be a connection between you and the San Francisco improv scene. You have played with and seem to run in the same circles as Robert Walter, Charlie Hunter, etc. What pulled you to that area instead of, maybe, Atlanta, a place a little closer to home?
SM: A lot of people in San Francisco are big fans of Jazz Fest, which is based in New Orleans, and a lot of people there are very avid music fans. So, as we played in and around that area, we developed somewhat of a crowd. Our current management agency first came to see us while we were playing in San Francisco. So, when they picked us up, our management was based out of there, too, as well as our record label. At the time, our management team was also managing Charlie Hunter. Charlie and I played together and wound up hitting it off. I invited him to do my first solo record and that is how he and I started playing together. With the whole Greyboy thing and Robert Walter—I'm using Karl Denson on my next solo record and Chris Wood. I'm bringing all the coasts together—East Coast, West Coast, and Gulf Coast. Because Greyboy All-stars and Galactic were kind of contemporaries, we did a lot of shows together. Robert Walter would sit in with us and we started to hit it off. He got on Fog City Records and they asked me to do that record with him. That's how that happened.
Mt: It seems as if—with yourself and Galactic—you really embrace other musicians. Do you see making music as being a family affair?
SM: I really think so. All the guys in the band get along like brothers. Sometimes, we fight like brothers, but overall, we really get along well considering how much time we spend together. Especially considering what we have seen happen with other bands. I am grateful for the relationship that we all have together. I think that translates to the audience and it translates to other bands. If we are touring with a band that we like, then we have them come sit in with us. If there is a younger band that we like, we always have them open for us and come out and sit in with us. We often learn a lot from them. Groups like North Mississippi Allstars, Drums and Tuba, and Lake Trout—those are three bands off the top of my head that toured with us recently and are now out doing well on their own. They are also groups that we learned a lot from, musically. We are very inviting toward other musicians and that definitely helps extend the family. I guess it is a family affair.
Mt: What kind of things do you take from these "younger cats" that are added into the Galactic formula?
SM: Groups like Lake Trout have a style of play where they will sit on one specific riff, creating a sonic trance. We have picked up stuff like that where we will lock into one thing and all the guys will look at each other and smile because we know it sounds similar to what something Lake Trout would have done. It is similar but not the same, because we do base our sound more off of improvisation, so not everyone is playing the same thing over and over. They are also very adventurous sonically with the tones they get out of their guitars and stuff. That is something that we have been experimenting with for a long time. We draw things from that, too. The live drum & bass thing has crept into our music just a hair. To me, you have to be careful with that, because it is almost like a fad. Drum & bass is kind of a popular thing right now and we don't want to come across like, "Look, now we are a live drum & bass group," because we aren't. It is fun for our audience to hear something a little bit different, but we don't want to overdo it. From hanging out with the North Mississippi Allstars, we have gotten a lot more into the delta blues music.
As Galactic continues to tour, its appeal steadily grows. The outfit's conviction to expanding the sound of New Orleans style funk has led them to explore many different avenues within the music. As a result of being on the road so much, the group has had to learn how to keep things fresh and exciting, not just for its fans, but for themselves, too. If Stanton Moore's own fervor toward his band is any indication of how long it will be around, there is no telling how far Galactic is willing to go to keep the funk alive.
Mt: Do you find a push and pull effect with wanting to progress with your music, but at the same time wanting to stay true to the sound that has garnered you the fans that you have to date?
SM: There is a balance that has to be reached. People don't want to come out and hear the same songs the same way every night. When you do that, people stop coming to your shows. We will get bored if we keep playing the same stuff. At the same time, we can't come out one night sounding like Galactic and the next night we are a live drum & bass band. Maybe throwing one or two different style songs into a set is good, but we won't change completely who we are. The thing about being a touring based band like we are and touring the country three times a year is that you can't play the same show. You have to make the music different. That means incorporating new influences, writing new songs, just basically keeping things fresh. You can't go to any extreme. You can't just be the same and you can't just all of a sudden change, because you will alienate your fans. I think what we are doing is the right thing.
Mt: Is there any dissension in the band about what direction you should move in?
SM: Not really. There is a little bit. I think Ben [the saxophone player] pushes for more of—for lack of a better term—the avant-garde spectrum of things. He thinks outside the perimeter, whereas some of the other guys might want to bring things back to the core a little bit. I think that the natural push and pull is good, because we are going to find a common ground within that. I don't think the extremes are so extreme that we can't see eye to eye at the end of the day. We always find middle ground. We have the obvious New Orleans funk and groove to draw on, and that is our mutual influence in the whole band. The band has been getting into a lot of drum & bass like Squarepusher and Roni Size. I'm into a lot of different Brazilian music and other Latin music; Jeff is getting more into the delta blues. All that stuff will take us a little in one direction for a minute and the New Orleans groove just snaps it all together.
Mt: Do you see Galactic coming to an end at any time? Can you see yourself getting tired or bored with what you are doing?
SM: No, not really. I think it would be silly for me to feel that way. If you look at great bands like The Band who stayed on the road for 16 years straight—any band that has had any sort of longevity has done it for fifteen to twenty years, even through all the ups and downs. To find a group of guys that can work together and can function as a unit is a once in a lifetime experience. It is very rare that a group of musicians get together and form a successful band and break up and go different ways and are able to form another successful band. It has happened, but it is the exception to the rule. How many times have you seen a great band split up and the musicians go separate ways and the solo projects just weren't as cool? I think there is something to be said for that and I try to learn from history. Not to mention, playing with Galactic doesn't limit me from playing with other people, so I kind of have the best of both worlds.
by Damani
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