An interview with my friend, Sam Day, mandolin guru of the band –

SHTETLBLASTERS

with thoughts from bass and synth player, Aaron Sherraden

How I know him:

I met him, red-haired curls and all, in Cape Town, South Africa in a long line of other study-abroad assholes, all confused about what it was they were late to. Sam and I liked the South African saying  “I’ll be there just now,” where “just now” could mean in 20 minutes or four hours. It’s all relative, no? Turns out this little gem is a musical genius. He’s like Prince only ginger, and he can do a hell of a jazzercise instructor impression.

Sound: idiosyncratic, quixotic, impulsive, klezmer, 80s electro, improv.

Watch this video. It involves jazzercise and window panels. It’s worth it.

Shtetlblasters

is a klezmer-electro-improv band formed in 2008, and it’s run as a collective. The name means “ghettoblasters” in Yiddish. Don’t get them confused with the “other” Shtetlblasters – a mitzvah/wedding band based out of San Francisco. Sam encourages you not to accept any substitutes, claiming “we’re the ones without the ‘the’!” They thought about changing the name, but having a middle aged bar mitzvah band alter ego seemed too intriguing to pass up.

The group’s foundation consists of Sam Day (mandolin, synth) and Aaron Sherraden(electric bass and synth). Others include Mike Mitmoen (keyboards), Rucha Trivedi (clarinet), Ben Willis (upright bass), Corey Evans (drums), Mike Kozsewski (percussion) and Grant Goodman (electronic percussion). “Membership has been pretty fluid,” says Sam. Everyone met in Madison, WI, where most of them attended Middleton High School together. Aaron says they were all best friends. Other members were found in the Madison Music scene, where they were music students at the University of Wisconsin. The bulk of the group went to high school together, however. After graduating in 2005, they still managed to play together after being spread around in separate directions. One of their high school bands, Kosher Sound Deli – a traditional klezmer band – included many of Shtetlblasters current members.

In 2008, however, Aaron, Sam, Rucha, Mike and James stopped playing at the Sound Deli and started playing shows as Shtetlblasters. They’ve played all over the place – the Twin Cities, Milwaukee, Chicago, Boston, New York and Oberlin, although they play mostly in Madison. They’ve released an album that you can get on iTunes, called Tantz Mit The Shtetlblasters in 2010. Last year, they released a digital single with two songs.

Now, they’ve finished their latest release in the form of a digital single, “Oh Kinderland/Devil’s Sher” (released in Dec). This track, along with the older single “Eileh Chamda/Doha,” will be part of a full length album to be released later this year. They’re currently finishing up production and exploring release options. It’s coming together nicely and will feature some pretty special guests, including an oud player named Ali Hasneen, who Sam met in Nablus in the West Bank while visiting in January. “Some sweet cross-cultural stuff, yo!” says Sam.

If it’s anything like the rest of their music, this LP should be the tits. Finally, music that doesn’t sound identical to something else. Sam says, “Finding a coherent space between klezmer, electro-funk, and free improv ain’t easy,” and I believe him.

Their method of music-making “happens when it happens,” according to Sam. Live, their music is full of variation and group improvisation. As for the writing, sometimes it comes on suddenly and other times – it develops slowly in the studio.

Luckily, the band gets along very well. Typical midwesterners, these guys are pretty laid back. With so many members over the course of the band’s history, Sam admits, “bringing in and sometimes firing members can be a little tricky, but we’ve managed without too many bruised egos.” They’ve even had to deal with love triangles between two bandmates and the music. When Rucha and former-electric drummer, Grant, broke up, Grant left the band. The drama died and the music lived on.

Everyone in Shtetlblasters considers themselves to be lifelong music appreciators. Sam’s early exposure to bands like the Talking Heads, Price, Ornette Coleman, and of course – klezmer, really sealed his passion for sound. We says, “Without a doubt, we owe much debt to musicians like Socalled and David Krakauer, who are taking klezmer unto unexplored areas of funk and hip hop. I also love the aesthetic of krautrock (for lack of a better term). Early funky electro like Zapp, Cameo, Man Parrish, Afrika Bambaataa have been a big influence too.”

Aaron studied Indian music as well as western composition, both of which can be picked up in a keen listener’s ear. He says, “Aside from the relatively recent klezmer revival, I’d say the late 70s into the 80s – as a general cultural phenomenon worked to influence a large aspect of our sound. Be it in the innovations in synthesizers, drum modules or recording technology. I think we have to blame a on the implication of those innovations by Kraftwerk and Zapp & Roger – amongst many others, of course.”

Aaron’s favorite Shtetlblasters song is “Git Ferschnickered” because he says “it takes people on quite an adventure. I’m pretty into the vocoder beat-boxing breakdown in the middle.”

Sam’s favorite is a song called “Doha.” He says, “There’s a lot of things happening in that song – it’s pretty dense and an unusual three and half minutes. Plus, the noise/improv bit in the middle was fun to record. We had a great guest saxophonist, named Patrick Briener, who sat in with us and made some really skronky sax sounds. Sam’s favorite lyrics from any of their songs is in “Doha.” It goes like this: “cigars in the airport / numbers mark the time / sun is slowly rising / a prayer for the mind.” He wrote the song during a really long layover in the Doha airport and there were many Arab men smoking cigars around him.

Sam says, “Our newly released Yiddish-electro track, “Oh Kinderland” has got some flavor too. The song actually comes from the Jewish socialist camp I attended as a kid.” It features a guest vocalist, Rhiannon Johnson, a Barbados-born soul singer.

Most fans love the song “Tantz Tantz Allemin” for good reason. If you didn’t check out the music video already, here it is again.

Having toured all over, the Shtetlblasters have had lots of great memories of playing live. Sam thinks the band’s best show was right here in NYC at Mehanata Bulgarian Bar in the Lower East Side on St. Patty’s day last year. “So many drunk Eastern European guys! I think our music went well with their vodka drinking and green plastic hats. Surreal!,” he explained.

Aaron’s favorite show was in a Madison basement right before he left for India in June 2010. He says, “There were so many bubbles, jazzercisers and funky grooves – not to mention a really good turnout.”

One of the band’s worst nights was at a show in Chicago. They got put on a bill with a bunch of metal bands. Sam says it was a weird night, but that it seemed fitting because it was on the same day as the Jewish holiday of Purim – a celebration that Sam considers kind of weird as it is.

That wasn’t even the band’s craziest moment. Sam says, “One really weird project we were involved in was producing the soundtrack for a Korean knife-throwing video game called Circus King. I think it’s still in the iTunes app store. They used our songs “Los Bilbilicos” and “Khusidlekh” as background music. Basically, you – the knife thrower, attempt to successfully throw knives at a clown tied to a rotating barrel. Bizarre doesn’t quite capture it.” If you don’t already own this game, you’re welcome. Go get it.

In the meantime, grab yourself some pot and some potato vodka and give the Shtetlbasters a listen. You’ll be glad you did. Also, don’t forget to keep an eye out for their new LP. More information on that is coming soon.

Here comes the important information:

If Sam could bring anyone back from the dead to play in Shtetlblasters, he’d choose Naftule Brandwein (a famously drunken klezmer clarinetist) or Sun Ra (next level shit).

If you’re drinking to his music, Sam recommends traditional vodka or some absinthe.

Don’t compare him to Nickelback (not that you would).

Fun facts about Sam:

He was born in New York City (hence his love for the Mets) and he moved to Galena, IL when he was 7 and then moved again to Madison, WI when he was 14.

He studied at Oberlin College in Ohio and then finished at University of Cape Town and the University of Wisconsin.

He’s half-Jewish, but he was raised in a secular/Buddhist household.

One time, he dressed up like a woman to celebrate woman’s day in South Africa.

He currently is an expat in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He just saw Grandmaster Flash there.

He’s pro-headbands for the purpose of keeping sweat from the eyes during live performances and for their nostalgic 1980’s synth-sound swag.

Sam would like to pollute your mind with Marxism, decriminialized pot, free jazz and good books. Go listen to his songs and have what Sam would consider “crazy time on dance floor.”

Leigh Greaney can be reached at lgreaney@thoughtpollution.com.