Over the past decade STS9 has moved in a variety of directions. The group’s music has taken on a newfound intensity and nuance that have accompanied a change in the band’s moniker from the lengthier Sound Tribe Sector 9. Meanwhile the quintet has moved forward on the business side to support itself and over two dozen emerging artists via the formation of its 1320 Records label. Still, STS9 remains grounded and socially conscious as the group is in the midst of raising $150,000 to build a house in New Orleans’ 9th Ward, an area still struggling in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Meanwhile, late last year the band released, Ad Explorata, a recording that despite its instrumental nature, interweaves coded messages on short wave radio (sampled for the song “Central”), the Cold War, an abandoned military bunker, patches, gathering signal intelligence on this planet and the galaxy (the band details these themes at its website).
In the following conversation, STST9 percussionist Jeffree Lerner walks through the band’s past, present and future, while offering thoughts on the formation of Ad Explorata as well as the responsibilities of an artist in the 21st century.
JPG: “Ad Explorata,” is it just a name or does it have Latin roots?
JL: Rough translation, and it came from a book that Hunter [Brown] was reading, is “Into the unknown.” Kind of the vibe we were going at.
JPG: Do you remember the book he was reading?
JL: I don’t. It’s on the tip of my tongue. He reads too many books for me to remember all of them.
JPG: That’s a better thing to do while on tour than something that could get him in trouble. Now, from what I read, during the band members’ off time from the road, you hang out quite a bit in the studio. Can you give me an idea of the process for Ad Explorata?
JL: The original intention of the album was as an EP, a shorter more condensed version of an album. We just found ourselves in the studio with things flowing and being so productive and just a really incredible flow in the studio coming off a tour and having some time at home. And, all of a sudden, we had more tracks than an EP. So, we just decided to go with the full album. It was a really a productive time off the road, and had a great time making this album.
JPG: At this point you have your own label [1320 Records]. Ad Explorata was the second release you put out in 2009. You could have made it your spring of 2010 release. Why put it out before the end of the end of the year?
JL: It was just the timing of the music that was there, and the fact that we had taken some tracks that we had already played and revamped them. It all came together really quick. In between Artifact and Peaceblaster was a pretty long time. It’s not like we finish an album and stop working on music. We’re continually working on music through that whole time, getting things together. It was just there. Instead of ‘We could wait ‘til the spring but it’s finished and we are going out on tour so let’s get it out there,’ we had a story behind it and we had a really cool studio experience. It just seemed right.
JPG: You mentioned playing some of the tunes beforehand. With live taping and the internet does that remotely influence decision making where you know that people have heard a version of a song live versus what you can give it in the studio?
JL: I guess that’s part of the logic but the realness of it is having a new expression for the song that’s valid that would dictate putting on the album. As we were looking at the songs we play live that, maybe, haven’t had all the energy that needed to be put into them. We got into some of those tracks and just new parts developed that were really powerful and potent that seemed valid to put them on an album and play them live, even though older versions were out there.
JPG: The album itself seems to be a consciously-constructed whole.
JL: Correct. It’s a story. Go back to Artifact, there’s definitely a theme there. Peaceblaster definitely has a theme. And this one does as well. It’s trying to tell a story, trying to have a complete expression on that little CD. We’re very diverse and a lot of different styles of music, lot of different instrumentation; some really solid inspiration from it.
JPG: Having it set up in that manner, when you move from an EP’s worth of songs to an album’s worth, was the whole vision always there or did you then, with the additional tracks, have to fine tune matters and move songs around to fit it?
JL: For past albums that might be the case but for this one, it all kind of happened together. The story that’s associated with the album and the press release, that was happening. And what we were reading and what was going on in the world, it was all coming together at once.
JPG: When I’m listening to the album, I notice the use of repetition, repeating notes, repeating musical phrases. Do you see it as a musical approach as much as say a brainwave approach?
JL: (slight laugh) Yeah, I mean, sure, all those factors are in there. As much of it is intentional as it isn’t intentional. Things just kind of come together and reveal themselves. It’s a really fine balance because you’re working on the song for the song’s sake, but you also have to think about your fans and the album and everything else. For the most part, the music was revealing itself. We weren’t trying to direct it, mold it too much in that respect, but that was part of it. Kind of a wishy-wash answer.
JPG: Well, let me ask this just to throw it out there, and maybe the band has had to deal with this question in the past. In regards to getting out your ideas, has there ever been the consideration to use vocals. I mean there have been vocals, as far as people reading stuff or stuff like that, but I’m getting to what you normally do, an instrumental with repetitive phrasing, versus a song where it’s a verse/chorus type of construction.
JL: You have to write those songs differently, for sure. That’s part of it. Just because we don’t have lyrics doesn’t mean it’s not something we’re open to and will record in the future. Kind of a progression. Something we’re all really interested in; something that would challenge us as producers and music writers as well.
JPG: The other thing I was getting to as far as repetition and the music is when I listen to you, I think of a particular band such as Tangerine Dream. I don’t know if others have brought that up. I hear you laughing.
JL: We actually hear that a lot. I’ve listened to them in the past and I’m like…I know that’s a really high compliment from where those guys were in their career when they were doing their thing. And yeah, it’s kind of hard to label our band and what we do and other stuff…yeah, interesting.
JPG: I don’t want to pigeonhole it and give it a label, but because their music has pursued similar territory, I was wondering if Tangerine Dream has been an inspiration as far as approaching electronic music in an intelligent manner and using rhythms along with that.
JL: I would have to say that it is not a direct or intentional influence or something that we listen to often. It’s a group that we’re aware of, kind of aware of their principles, and what they did with the music, but not specifically.
JPG: As far as a frame of mind to your approach…I attended a Jim Donovan [Rusted Root] drum workshop recently and while we were using African drums, it was still an approach of united rhythms that become a form of musical meditation. That’s why after doing that and then listening to your material I began to notice connections in the whole musical and brainwave and rhythmic approach.
JL: That’s part of it. I mean, again, when we’re writing music we’re writing the song for the song and the song’s speaking back to us in how it should move and what should happen to it. I think those things are more byproducts than actual intentions. But it is part of it, the solutions of the program, for sure.
JPG: In regards to your fans and playing live, with the ideas behind the music, does it matter if they get it?
JL: I don’t think that we’re in a position to force it down anybody’s throat. We, obviously, don’t have any lyrics, so a lot of the intention comes through the emotion of the music itself. And then the breadcrumb trail is left by the title of the song, if you will, or the artwork associated with it. If people want to dig deeper they can. Does it matter? It matters to me, but ultimately, no it doesn’t. I mean, if a person wants to just listen to a song to get pure enjoyment and do that and not ever get beyond that, that’s part of what we offer as well. If they want to dig deeper into the intention, the reasons behind the title of the song, the artwork or the vibe of the song, we leave ‘em the information to seek it out.
JPG: I was on your website and noticed the peaceblaster.com area, is that the best place for people who hear the songs, look at the titles and wonder what it’s all about and want to feed their mind with ideas rather than just with musical notes?
JL: Yeah, that’s part of it. That’s why we set it up, to give a little insight into us and what is concerning us, what’s important to us, what’s going on out there in the world that might either exciting us or inspire us or influence us in some way. Just things that we have a concern about, an outlet, if you will because we don’t have lyrics in the songs. It definitely is an outlet for that. As far as them actually relating to songs, yeah, you can find it there. You might have to dig a little deeper, too.
JPG: Now if you see an article that you like are you able to put it on the Peaceblaster area immediately or do you have to send it to webmaster and a week later several new items are added?
JL: Actually, the band members are doing that for themselves. If you read an article that’s inspiring, what our fans might be interested in or what we’d be interested in, copy and paste it up there. Maybe make a comment. It’s really a hands-on thing right from the band members.
JPG: Another element to the band, the Axe the Cables acoustic show last December. Tell me how that came about. Was it originally viewed as a joke to some: ‘We’re going to do an acoustic performance.’ ‘Yeah, right.’ Was it a purposeful challenge?
JL: In the last three or four years we’ve done some movie work with a company called Anonymous Content in L.A. — just small independent film projects, stuff that we were connected to by the people involved. Between Artifact and Peaceblaster we spent a lot of time writing music that would work for films. We’re in charge of the whole soundtrack. Also, getting other people’s music, picking out the musical producers…and we had all this music that we so enjoyed making and we enjoyed playing it. We enjoyed listening to it and we didn’t really have a full outlet for it. It was just another facet of ourselves that we haven’t been able to share with the public. So, we gathered up a night’s worth of songs and practiced it for a couple months and made it happen. It was incredibly fulfilling for us, as artists, to get up there without all the cables and electronics and all the stuff that we’ve made music and performed with for all those years; just to do something different. It was super, super fulfilling…and more to come.
JPG: Oh, really? That was going to be my next question. Was it going to be just for the audience that night in Denver and those who download it or…?
JL: Well, actually, we just finished mixing down the show. And we’re going to offer that as another album from us. We’re trying to fit in some shows this year, doing some more acoustic sets. Actually, sneaked a couple of those tracks in the live show, maybe more electro versions of those songs.
JPG: Just to make sure on this, the film projects that you did, the music was acoustic-based?
JL: Absolutely. One of the misnomers about us is that we’re just electronic musicians, but our writing process in the studio begins with acoustic instruments, whether it be piano or drums or acoustic guitar. A lot of stuff starts that way and evolves from that. Our instruments – the piano, vibraphones, acoustic guitar, bass, drumming — those are our core instruments and usually where the song begins.
JPG: I think that is something that may surprise people because when I looked at it, it seemed as if it were a stripped down version of STS9 material.
JL: There would be some examples where you’re right but for the most part even our intention of the show and how we set it up and the lights and the production was kind of like inviting everybody into the studio. ‘This is what we do. This is how we create music. This is how we spend our time together in the studio.’ That was the premise.
JPG: It’s quite an ongoing endeavor, with all of you in close proximity, moving from live performance to the studio so regularly.
JL: A big part of our success is our relationship together, not just how we treat each other and how we respect each other but really how we’re all so dedicated to this process and dedicated to our art and dedicated to the creation we created. We’ll go home after this tour and by Monday or Tuesday, without any calls, everybody shows up at the studio. This is our passion and this is what we love to do, and having that in common, having that brotherhood since ’98, that’s when I joined the band, 13, 14 years down the road. It takes that dedication from all the artists. It takes the friendship. It takes allowing the freedom when people need the freedom to do something else in their personal life. It’s just an amazing, amazing process.
JPG: Back to Ad Explorata, while I don’t want to go to far into the whole background of the album and the discovery of artifacts, as far as that story and the interest in the Mayan culture, is that something where everyone in the band is deeply into it?
JL: I would say that it’s all to varying degrees. It’s not that anybody is disinterested. There is a difference between what one is into personally and what the band is into as a group. There’s a balance. They are all little pieces of our journey together.
JPG: What about yourself?
JL: For me personally, it’s part of the whole package, the overall fulfillment of a vision in the sense of us performing music, us having meaning behind the music, us sharing it with fans and our fans being part of something larger than just the show. It’s what we do with our charity work. You walk through the door of a STS9 show, you’re either part of building a house in New Orleans or helping an after school program or supporting local independent media. Just try to be holistic in our approach to the music. As comfortable as we all are in this country, we need to still realize we are in a war. It’s the job and responsibility of artists to bring attention to that kind of thing, and people forget. So, we do our part.
JPG: How do you see the role of the internet for such activism from STS9?
JL: I think it’s a great tool for bringing about awareness. Obviously, the part that the internet doesn’t fully do is put things into action fully. That’s still the responsibility of the individual. The internet is a great help, for sure, not only for activism, but as well as just younger bands coming up and even older bands like us being able to share your music easily and share your message easily as well as having fans be involved — a forum or somewhere where they can share their ideas, try and make it a community.
We’re still reaching out to individuals. You meet a kid at a show and having those kinds of interactions too are just as important. There’s always going to be degrees of all that stuff together. I don’t think any of those can operate on their own.
JPG: In regards to human interaction, bringing that idea to your charity work, the New Orleans Make It Right Foundation, did you walk around the 9th Ward and that inspired you?
JL: How that whole project started, was myself and Hunter, we were in New Orleans twice before and we’d go down to the 9th ward and check it out to check up on the progress. Obviously, something has been ongoing for years and years. The third time we visited after Katrina, we went down there as a band, we were so open arms welcome there. It wasn’t because we had been doing charity work. It wasn’t because of anything. It was just because we were down there and concerned. We ended up getting invited into people’s houses and hearing stories. A gentleman invited us into his FEMA trailer with his two kids and mother and wife, all living in a little trailer. It was moving, man. It was inspiring. It was heart wrenching.
We walked away from there like, ‘What can we do ‘cause nothing’s changing here? These are people. It’s their homes.’ So, we just set the goal of reaching out to the artists on our label and reaching out to some other artists to do a remix of the Peaceblaster album. Everybody donated their time, from the people doing the artwork to the people producing the tracks to the guy that mastered it. Everybody threw in their energy to it. We sit today at 115, 120 thousand. We’re $30,000 away from building a house. Everybody wants to give us credit for it. I say, ‘Fuck that!’ We just made it available in the sense of our fans. That’s our fans building the house. That’s the people that are supporting, that are buying the music. They’re building a house. It’s a really neat thing. I mean five years from now, I can take my daughter to New Orleans and say, ‘Papa built this house. Papa’s fans built this house.’ Obviously, it’s not fixing the problem, but we’re trying to do our small part.
JPG: As far as 2010 are you still concentrating fully on the Make It Right Foundation?
JL: Until we reach our goal of building a house, we’re going to be behind that 100%. We’ve started selling tickets to our sound checks. All the money goes to the Make It Right Foundation. We invite people in for a sound check. We have a little meet-and-greet. Play a couple songs for ‘em. Take a couple requests for about 30, 45 minutes. It’s been doing some good to raise some more money for the house. As far as our focus for the non-profit, we’re going to follow this one through until the house gets built. Obviously, we want to try to do something for Haiti this year.
JPG: You’ve mentioned your 1320 label a few times. I see that there are about 30 acts on it. How has that evolved and how have you selected the artists?
JL: A lot of it has to do with the music. A lot of it has to do with connections, both musically and personally. It really speaks to the music, and we get submissions a lot. We like the bands to be out there doing shows, to have their foot in the door somehow. It’s a real open thing. It’s really all about the music.
The intention was it’s not created from a label owner’s perspective. It’s created from an artist’s perspective – a quick turn around to payments to a respectable royalty rate to just a different model than a physical CD model. It’s been great for us. It’s a really up-and-coming thing. It’s just starting to take off. Really getting some steam behind it. We’re planning a lot of 1320 events where we’re bringing all the artists and doing a particular night of 1320 showcases. A lot of those things to come.
The next step is a lot of collaborations between the artists on the label. It’s trying to make it a really cool family vibe where artists are interacting with each other, maybe going out on small tours together — this artist is remixing this artist’s track, a real cross-pollination of music. There’s a lot of younger people out there like Steve Nalepa on the label has brought to us a lot of his music students, 18, 19 year old kids, Virtual Boy, St. Andrew.
JPG: As a musician has there been anything that you’ve learned via the label experience, like learning to say, ‘No’ for the betterment of the label whereas as an artist you would want the label chief to always say, ‘Yes.’
JL: We haven’t crossed too many of those bridges yet. Everything that’s come to us has been right. There hasn’t been too much that we wanted to say, ‘Yes’ to that we couldn’t or vice versa. We have our hands on the wheel and are able to direct it and do as we see fit.
JPG: In the end are you hoping that 1320 becomes a label like Sub Pop or 4AD or SST or another indie label where people buy it simply because it’s a 1320 record?
JL: That would be great but I don’t think we work everyday thinking about that. Some of the first intentions are a safe, fair way for kids to put out their music without getting taken advantage of by the record companies or getting advances that they have to pay back that they never will, and never see a dime from their record. We try to have the artist take responsibility for some things that they should and that leaves them with their own investment in their music. The intention is a set up there for the artist and for them to see a fair shake in the market; a tough thing for people today.
