The Brass Junkies 72: Michael Clayville of Alarm Will Sound

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TBJ72: Trombonist Michael Clayville from Alarm Will Sound on Playing with Medeski, Martin & Wood, How AWS Functions as an Ensemble and Teaching at Lawrence Conservatory as a Visiting Professor

Michael Clayville is one of my favorite trombonists in the world. His playing in Alarm Will Sound is just stunning. The music they perform has incredibly demanding parts, especially of a trombone player! But Michael is one of the most prepared musicians I've ever played with. He's a machine!

He's also a fascinating guy. I interviewed him early for TEM (TEM3 which was 116 episodes ago at this point!) and I was really happy to finally get him on The Brass Junkies!

From the show notes:

Michael Clayville is a musician who is passionate about drawing audiences deeply into the art of sound. His abilities as a trombone soloist, chamber musician, and improviser have taken him to prestigious venues around the world including Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Hall, the Barbican (London) and the Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ (Amsterdam) and have led to him working with some of the most prominent classical and popular artists today including Pulitzer Prize-winning composers Steve Reich, John Adams, John Luther Adams, Charles Wuorinen, and David Lang, and experimental groups like Medeski Martin and Wood, and the Dirty Projectors.

Michael is a founding member of Alarm Will Sound, a group that has been awarded the ASCAP Concert Music Award for “the virtuosity, passion and commitment with which they perform and champion the repertory for the 21st century” and which has been called the “future of classical music” by the New York Times. In addition to being its trombonist, Michael is also the Director of Marketing for Alarm Will Sound.

In this episode, we cover:

• Playing with Medeski, Martin and Wood
• Picking repertoire in Alarm Will Sound by quasi-democratic methods
• Marketing efforts/social media for AWS
• Splitting Adams CD
• The Mizzou International Composers Festival
• Georg Friedrich Haas
• Teaching at Lawrence, working for/with Brian Pertl

The Brass Junkies 71: Jonathan Dorn

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What a life Jonathan Dorn has led! Professional tuba player for 30 including performances on Saturday Night Live and touring all over the world. Professional chef. The list goes on and on.

From the show notes:

Jonathan Dorn has played tuba for everyone from Leon Redbone to The Philadelphia Orchestra and got to hang out with John Belushi in the 70s, 'nuff said. He shares incredible (and hilarious stories) from over 50 years in the business.

Some of the crazy things he shares in this interview:

• How he got started on the tuba as a kid and worked his way through the ranks in Philly
• What it was like taking lessons with the legendary Abe Torchinsky
• Playing 16 shows (16!) a week with Ringling Brothers Circus (think bleeding chops) and getting to work with legendary cornet player and bandleader Merle Evans
• How he learned changes on the fly
• Passing off his regular gig with Your Father's Mustache to the legendary Bob Stewart
• What it was like performing on Saturday Night Live four times with Leon Redbone and partying with John Belushi and Chevy Chase in the '70's
• And how he became a professional chef after 30 years of playing the tuba professionally!

You can check out the complete show notes including all of the links mentioned during this episode over at Pedal Note Media.

The Brass Junkies 70: Listener's Choice: Where Andrew & Lance share stories related to questions submitted by YOU!

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We are always trying new things at Pedal Note Media (after all, if you're not, what the hell is the fun in that?) So this is a new episode format where we answer a couple of questions from the audience. If this gets a good response, we will do more of these episodes in the future!

From the show notes:

This is the first in what may become a recurring episode type (depending on whether you nice folks like the format.) We get lots of questions on a variety of topics and thought we'd try answering some of them.

In this episode, we talk about our early influences and share stories from our formative years. We close out the episode explaining how we ended up in music school and will be unpacking the process of college applications/auditions for the next installment of the "Listener's Choice."

Let us know what you think!

The Brass Junkies 69: Brian Hecht, Bass Trombonist of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

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My good friend Brian Hecht, bass trombonist for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, joined us on The Brass Junkies to talk about the incredible career he has had. This dude has played with the Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and over a dozen other major symphony orchestras. And he's only 32 which is insane.

I especially enjoyed asking him about performing with Trey Anastasio of Phish, which he had just done a few days before the interview. Every time one of the best musicians in the world agrees with how incredible Trey is, I use it to validate my decision to spend pretty much every penny of disposable income I had over a span of two decades on seeing Phish. Whatever it takes to sleep at night I guess!

From the show notes:

TBJ69: Bass Trombonist Brian Hecht on Playing with the Atlanta Symphony, his Audition Preparation Strategy and Subbing with Almost Every Major American Orchestra by the Age of 32

Brian Hecht is the bass trombonist for the Atlanta Symphony and is a former member of the US Navy Band in Washington DC.

He grew up in Dallas and spent some time in the Navy Band in Washington, DC before hitting the orchestral audition circuit, which led to him subbing with both the NY Phil and Philly Orchestra.

He shares his audition preparation strategy, explains what he learned from legendary clarinetist Riccardo Morales and the importance of noise-canceling headphones.

We also get into the topic of nerves, visualization and the value of a shower and a sandwich.

And no Brass Junkies episode would be complete without a deep dive into Phish frontman and one of Andrew’s boyfriends, Trey Anastasio.

We also spent an inordinate amount of time saying the phrase “poop truck.” Sorry.

The Brass Junkies 68: Dr. Amy Horn, Former Horn Player of The President's Own Marine Band

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Amy Horn recently finished a 29-year run as a horn player with the President's Own Marine Band. Her story about auditioning for the group is must hear! I wonder if she's the only person to ever win a major military band audition after sleeping in a pea-green Chevy Citation!

From the show notes:

Dr. Amy Horn, 29-year member of The President’s Own Marine Band and Adjunct Professor of Horn at George Mason University joins Andrew & Lance to explain how to bloom where you’re planted. A native of Ohio, Amy studied at Bowling Green University with Herb Spencer and played under legendary bandmaster Mark Kelly. We hear the amazing story of her audition for the Marine Band (including camping out in her pea-green Chevy Citation), how she cut a rug on the road with Patrick Sheridan and why she switched from trombone to horn. We learn how she started the Capital Horns, hear stories about her teaching and performing career, including gigs with the Washington Symphonic Brass and the Washington Conservatory of Music.

Her biggest question for Jens is J or Y. Frankly, the world wants to know.

The Brass Junkies 66: Joanna Hersey on the 25th Anniversary International Women's Brass Conference and Being a Woman in a Male-Dominated Brass World

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Without a doubt this is the most important conversation that we've had in 2.5 years of Brass Junkies interviews.

We were joined again by our dear friend Joanna Hersey who is currently the President of the International Women's Brass Conference. She spoke with us about their 25th anniversary conference which was held this summer at Rowan University.

She also went in depth about what it is like to be a woman in a male-dominated brass world. Probably my favorite part was when she offered some incredibly practical suggestions for how we can empower young women who play brass. This was a great conversation that both Lance and I loved being a part of. Enjoy!

From the show notes:

IWBC President Joanna Hersey joined Andrew & Lance in her second podcast to spend some more time talking about gender issues in brass playing. Fresh off the 25th Anniversary International Women’s Brass Conference, we spent a good amount of time talking about that tremendous organization, from the founding (by Susan Slaughter) in St. Louis in 1993 to the highly successful event in the summer of 2017 at Rowan University. We learned that while women represent 28% of the horn sections of major orchestras, they only appear in  3-5% in the other brass sections. We also fall on our swords and explain why we’ve sucked up to this point in booking women. 

Additionally, we’re trying out a new platform for recording the episodes and In a moment of weakness and lack of foresight, Andrew left Lance in charge of a set of sound effects which you may hear from time to time. To time.

The Brass Junkies 65: Ken Watters

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This was a fascinating interview! Trumpet player Ken Watters, who is the brother of former TBJ guest Harry Watters, gave us an inside look at the recording process in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where artists such as The Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin and Willie Nelson have all recorded over the years.

Pretty incredible to get to hear how the entire process goes down from the first call trumpet player. Ken did a great job of painting a picture. I found it riveting.

From the show notes:

Alabama Horns trumpeter Ken Watters joins Andrew & Lance for a fascinating masterclass in the difference between the Nashville horn sound and the horn lines from Muscle Shoals. Ken currently spends the majority of his time recording with legends like William Hightower, Eddie Floyd, Smash Mouth and Billy Ray Cyrus. He explains how Muscle Shoals became such a hotbed for recorded horn sections and explains how sessions and arrangements come together. He talks about how to write good lines, that simple is good and less is more and that sometimes it is best to write away from the horn. There are also tons of great stories from his time in NYC, Atlanta, recording and touring with his brother (TBJ guest and psycho buddy to A & L) Harry Watters and the story of how he met another TBJ alum, Wes Funderburk, in a 10 pm phone call, summoning him to come record with Natalie Cole.

He is also the first person to actually play his horn on the show (how did that happen?) and says that his trumpet is the watermelon. Whatever that means.

The Brass Junkies 64: Composer Pete Meechan

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Pete Meechan is one of today's foremost brass composers and I am lucky enough to call him a dear friend. His pieces have been performed by soloists and ensembles around the world including by the President's Own Marine Band. He is a top-notch knucklehead and it was great to have him on the show!

From the show notes:

Pete Meechan, composer of “Song of Hope”, joins Andrew & Lance to talk about, wait for it, composing! Pete explains how he went from working in the bar at the Royal Northern College of Music to writing pieces which have impacted countless listeners and has allowed him to work with and write for some of the best players and organizations in the world. We discuss music as a healing process, talk about the state of the industry and how CDs can still serve as proof of quality. We learn who he considers to be his favorite composers, get the story behind his incredibly popular “Song of Hope” and hear about the music he is working on today.

And how he strives to set “new standards in not sucking."

The Brass Junkies 63: Michael Martin of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

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Michael Martin is infuriatingly good at way too many things. And on top of it all he is as humble as people come. It was a pleasure to get to interview him and talk about being in the Boston Symphony, touring with the Chicago Symphony and composing professionally.

From the show notes:

Boston Symphony trumpeter Michael Martin joins Andrew & Lance to talk his career as a player, and composer. Michael joined the BSO in 2010 and has had great success there, building on the training which began with his dad (Freddy Martin). We discuss his days at Interlochen and Northwestern, touring with his brother (Chris Martin) and the Chicago Symphony and how his composing career got off the ground at an early age. He also discusses his favorite conductors, what it takes to be a good section player, how to listen and how to learn new repertoire really quickly.

Oh, and he shares a hilarious rookie error story during a rehearsal of Mahler 2 under Michael Tilson Thomas. "20!"

The Brass Junkies 62: Andy Bove of Bove Audio

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Andy Bove is one of the most talented dudes I know. As you will hear in this episode, we go way back to 1991 when we were both students at the Empire Brass Seminar at Tanglewood.

Seriously, Andy is a phenomenal tuba player, one of the best recording engineers in the world and just an all-around incredible musicians. I have learned so much from him over the years. I had a whole lot of fun making this episode.

From the show notes:

Epic Low Brass game of Thrones mastermind Andrew Bove, joins Andrew & Lane to talk about his life as a tuba player and recording engineer. From his parallel life coming up with Andrew Hitz (the met as tuba-longs at Tanglewood and went on to study together with both Rex Martin and Sam Pilafian) to his opportunity to record the brass section of The Met, Bove also talks about recovering from a broken collar bone and the problem with peacocks. Lots of funny stories about his and Andrew’s “educational opportunities,” including a great story about Darth, I mean Professor Koch. 

Oh, and there are some other folks named Andrew Bove. Eclectic bunch. Check out the pics if you don’t believe me.