BF: You sound the same through a range of different gear, which proves that an artist’s sound is much more about their approach. What goes in your basic toolbox, and how do you approach “serving the song”, cliché as that phrase can be?

MFF: A song is a song, and it can be dressed up in a lot of different ways. A song can be sung a cappella or it could be done in a metal group. You can dress up a great song any way you want to, and I think, depending on how I feel like dressing something up, is really what I grab out of the toolbox. If it’s a three-piece or a smaller band, [I’ll use] a Les Paul for a bigger, more spread-out sound that does what I like.

In the Neptune Blues Club, there’s six guys and there’s so much music going on, a Strat works great ‘cause it’s a smaller footprint, it’s more of a direct, “laser point.” I can maneuver around more, and not take up so much space. There’s only so much [space] in [a setting] and you don’t want to fill it all up. Sometimes you want to let the colors be ready to be shown, and not hog it up with a big cement brush [laughs]. I think, more so than anything, [it all depends] on the group and what options will work.

That said, on the Fuzz Machine record, I used a Strat, then a Tele, then I used a Les Paul. I used a gamut on it, depending on the song. I don’t think much about it. It’s probably a curse, and it is why things are the way they are. If it seems right, I’ll do it, and if it’s painfully obvious that it’s not right, then I’ll change it. Sometimes I’ll force my will on it, but I learn, more and more, to not get hung up about things that haven’t happened yet, and be prepared to do whatever I’m walking into and just [react] in the moment. Just being fully ‘there’… everything is right there so you’re at your best, you’re not distracted, or hung up in anxiety.

BF: It seems that the artists we remember most fondly were the ones who mixed quick, sure reactions with the best instincts. Do you think that’s true?

MFF: Yeah, I think it is, because truly great music isn’t “made”, it’s kind of “found.” Music is already going- we just get in a position to maybe grab it and be a vessel for it, and manifest it for people to hear it. And a great player is free enough to really only be listening to where the music is going. It’s coming through you and you don’t get in the way.

I think my guitar playing, singing and songwriting gets better because I’m not editing so much anymore, just kicking it out as it comes to me. You got to have that reaction- the purer it is, and the less work it is- I think it’s more potent. I finally really understand what [is] meant by “less is more”, or “you can say more with fewer notes”, because it’s so direct.

BF: An integral part of your life now is production. You’ve made a home for yourself at the Compound Studio with Anthony Arvizu [http://www.compoundstudio.com]. Of the more than 10 projects you’ve produced and played on there, Chris Lizotte’s “Signal Hill Revival” contains some of the most inventive and emotional guitarwork and production you’ve ever done, including a credit on “broom,” of all things.

MFF: Chris has been a great friend for four years now. We’ve kind of been peripherally in each other’s lives for ten years, but we met and really became friends. It was time for him to make a record, and he had really been liking what I had been doing at the Compound. He had been working at the Vineyard Church as the worship leader there for eight or nine years. My wife took me to hear him sing, and it was one of the few times in my life where I heard someone singing the way I play guitar, and afterward I went and talked with him.

So when it came time to make the record, he said he just wanted to make a record “like what was going on in church.” It’s the same people he’s been playing with for years and years, so that was an easy dynamic there. It was just about going in the studio and making sure everything was set up so that we were all comfortable, the machine’s rolling, and no one has really realized it- which is kind of how we make all the records there. Just set up and no one realizes they’re making a record- we’re just having fun playing songs together. I think he’s getting ready to make another record.

BF: Do you feel that since the record was based around the idea of “worship” that the spirit of the recording was elevated, more so than if it was the typical “let’s go make a recording to take on tour” type of process?

MFF: It was spirited for sure. Worship, in definition, doesn’t really necessarily have to have anything to do with music. It’s the state of your heart, a reflection of God’s spirit back at Him, really. So when you have a room full of people trying to do that, some pretty awesome things happen.

BF: Perhaps your biggest Compound production is Ryan Bingham. You produced the two albums that gave Ryan the momentum to build towards a Grammy victory, and now Elijah plays bass with him. What makes him special?

MFF: His authenticity, I think. That’s what really got me. What you see is what you get. He’s just the real deal and it was really powerful for me. And it was such a bizarre set of circumstances that put me in front of him in the middle of the night by chance- it was like divine intervention.

He was travelling through town with his drummer, and I said, “You know what? I really like what you do, kid! [laughs].” [I told him] I’d do [the gig] for free if he’d come down and record for just a day and see what happens. They were excited and had some new songs, so I got on the phone to Anthony and told him “Listen, you’ve got to give me a free day, you won’t regret this.”

So we ran through five of these new tunes, and then just let the tape roll so they could do some things. They had such a great time and they were like “Man, this is the first time we’ve heard what we sound like coming back at us- that’s what we sound like to us!” In the end, three of those five tunes ended up on Mescalito. I got to show them what I know, and they were more than willing and happy to listen. He wasn’t in it for anything other than the sheer love of it and the need to do it.

I love the guy, and I like Matt Smith, the drummer. So, over the years, they picked up a guitar player, Corby Schaub, a bass player who had to go, and it was time for another record. Elijah was kind of around, it just sort of developed, and now [Elijah’s] got a great gig with him and they love him, and it’s just really cool.

It was a little tough to watch Ryan go up to a whole other [level], but after I got over my initial pouting [laughs}, I sat with him and said “Absolutely no hard feelings, you have to go and do this. You deserve this,” which is what we had been telling him, and getting him ready for. Ryan deserves to be at the top right now.

BF: Have you talked with Ryan about doing another record down the line?

MFF: No, I think that’s obviously always an option, and that’s known between us. Right when [ Crazy Heart ] was being released, we were in Chicago at the same time, and I think all that stuff was said. He knows what’s up- he’s a good guy. He’s hard to get a hold of these days [laughs], but we see each other every few months.

I recorded a band in the last year that I’m as excited about as I was with Ryan- a band from London called Phantom Limb. They have just an unreal singer, they’re great songwriters and we had a great time making the record.

BF: Is that record out yet?

MFF: No, there’s no label yet. They paid for it themselves with some publishing money they made from some hits they had for other people. Last I heard, they’re talking to Atlantic, Atlantic is very serious, and they’re just waiting to find out.

BF: As you do more production work and build your connections, is there an artist or two you’d like to produce and play with?

MFF: I’ve always wanted to make a record with Willie Nelson. I really have. It would at least be fun. Who knows if it would be better or worse than any other record he’s made, but I think I have something I could bring that he would enjoy. He would at least enjoy making the music. It started out kind of funny, but I just keep thinking about it. At this point, I love producing so much that if I get what the people are doing, then it’s fun with anybody. But I think it’s Willie.

BF: You are a magnet for die-hard fans who tend to second guess your choices, but why is it always more important to follow your muse than anything else?

MFF: I respect music far too much to be on a treadmill trying to sell some songs. It’s not a job to me, it’s more of a privilege. It is hard work, and people don’t tend to get how difficult it is to keep it going. To keep it running as a source of income, even just one aspect of it- you start to get locked up in it. It starts to become one dimensional, and when I feel that inspiration isn’t on it anymore, I jump out of it. Because if I’m not happy doing it, if I’m not inspired by the music- then I’m going to be looking around to be inspired by something else. And I’m not going to be doing the music very good. But if I take a break and come back to it, then I will care.

It’s very personal, and if it wasn’t that personal to me, it wouldn’t touch people the way it does. I’d just be another guitar player, slinging some rock & roll licks out to people and be like everybody else that’s doing it. But if people like what I do, then it’s because of how dear it is to me- it translates to them. And I’m not afraid of being broke. Being broke is actually easier than having money. There’s a lot of miserable people with money, and I don’t really have any other reason to make music. Music is a gift to me, and taking care of it, being true to it, is way more important than what anybody thinks about what I’m doing.

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