There’s a revolution that has been happening in music in the last five years based on the availability of recording equipment for anybody to make records, the availability of being able to produce those in somewhat of a mass capacity. I mean 500 copies. These DJs can get a computer system set up to cut albums for under three grand. Then they just have to pay for supplies.
Shields: Right. Because it’s so simple now, there’s a huge rise in that now everybody’s a DJ. But that’s a good thing because with more people that do it comes more people that will last. That’s a long-lasting thing. There’s kids out there who’ve never seen a live band, yet they go to see music all the time.
At a rave.
Shields: Exactly. So to me, these bands have a long-lasting appeal because they’re taking what I think is going to be around for a very long time, and that is dance music. It may not be as trendy as it is becoming right now, but it’s going to be around forever. The bottom line is that people like to dance. If there’s going to be a lot of people making dance music, then there’s going to be bands out there. If there’s people out there to dance, there’s going bands out there making dance music.
My theory is two-fold. One, the music industry already has hooked the youngest radio listeners through these teen-pop acts which are very hip-hop-oriented. When they outgrow that, they’ll want something meatier to bite into. Then add in the fact that it is what they grew up with, a live act rather than a DJ, and you’ve got the Britney Spears fans of today becoming The New Deal fans of tomorrow.
Shields: Absolutely. It’s not a new thing anymore. They listen to that music and there’s a dance element for sure. Sadly, that’s the only dance element that gets on the radio nowadays. But I’m sure The New Deal and The Disco Biscuits and those other bands aren’t fresh off the boat. They know what side their bread is buttered on in regards to radio play. They know who’s going to play them and who’s not. So anybody who harbors any surprise that KROQ in L.A. is not playing The New Deal has got a little learning to do. Those guys play the kind of dance music that is three minutes long, has a verse and a chorus and a solo. This is the kind of dance music that these kids grow up on, and, hopefully, they grow out of it, but they stick with dance music.
This recording equipment that you mentioned. It’s not just for DJs. The bands are tapping into it too. But does the band have to have a technology base or could a conventional Rolling Stones-type band tap into it?
Shields: Well that question can be applied to writing music. Do you have to have the technical understanding of music to write a good song? The answer is no you don’t. In regards to recording, it’s about being creative. For a lot of DJ stuff and people that are more sample-oriented — The New Deal doesn’t use any samples — but for people who are more sample-oriented, you don’t need to know how to use the sampler. It’s really easy to use. Anybody can use them.
Take a guy like Danny Elfman, who wrote the Batman series, all the music to The Simpsons, all the Tim Burton movies. That guy doesn’t know how to write a note of music. He can’t tell you the difference between a C and a G, but he’s written some of the most innovative and compelling movie soundtracks in the last 10 years. So who’s to say? You’ve got people like DJ Shadow, who’s never used a computer in his life. He uses standard recording equipment and again, he creates compelling and very innovative music. Knowing the technological stuff I’m sure helps, but at the same time, it could be hindrance. If you know already what you can’t do, then your limitations are in front of you.
You have two live CDs out already. They’re both live. They have very sparse packaging. They’re sold via the Internet and shows on a limited basis. Comment on that unusual approach to releasing records.
Shields: That’s the ethic of The New Deal’s performance: once it’s been performed, it’s never going to be performed that way again because a lot of the show that we do is improvised. We like to feel that each show is special. Our first album was our first show ever. We happened to tape it by chance. We were like, ‘Oh, there’s a tape machine.’ We recorded it to cassette. And we taped it just so we could listen back to it. And we listened back to it and I was blown away. I was just floored. As a result, we felt the need to put this out. We didn’t think, we’re going to release this 75-minute CD with a bunch of improvised instrumental pieces and become stars. It was all about getting this music that we were very proud of out to our friends and to people who might enjoy it. That worked far better than we ever imagined. We touched a nerve with a lot of people who were into this kind of music.
With our second one, the ethic still applied. We wanted to start releasing shows that were special to us. You make them limited editions so it’s much like show itself. It will soon be gone forever and you were either at the show or you weren’t. So you either bought the CD or you didn’t. You don’t have a chance later on. You have to partake in that experience as it comes to you or it’s gone forever. Our second CD is an EP. We’re releasing another one soon. We run a record company called Sound and Light Records. What this is something called The Sound and Light Live Series of shows that we’re particularly proud of or maybe had some sort of turning point in the band’s musical direction.
With the first one, it was a complete surprise. The soundman brought us tapes and said, ‘Here, I taped your show.’ We were like, ‘Cool, thanks.’ And he taped it on other people’s demo tapes. It was pretty funny. Then we left the tapes in Portland, Maine, at a Holiday Inn there. We didn’t realize it for two weeks. We were like, ‘I thought you had the tapes. No, I thought you had the tapes. No, nobody had the tapes.’
How’d you get them back?
Shields: The hotel was like, ‘Yeah, we’ve got them right here.’ We were like, ‘Wow, cool.’ It’s one of those many situations were the stars were in alignment. There’s been a number of them and that was yet another one.
The second CD was in Portland, Maine, in a snowstorm in December ’99. There were about four people there. The third one is from April from a place called Guelph, Ontario. And again, that was just a show that we were like, ‘Wow, good show.’ That’ll be out in about a month.
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