BM: Yeah. I mean we got together; we said let's get together for a week. A week is a long time! If you're doing writing‚ if you're coming in‚ with just trying to keep it open‚ then a week can be a lot of time. You can spend an hour on a tune or you could spend an hour on half a record. You never know! So maybe you end up spending four solid hours‚ and the rest of the time you're sitting around having a bite to eat‚ telling stories‚ getting set up‚ feeling comfortable‚ and then you start playing. So it's experimental.
DC: Right. It doesn't sound like there was any prep work before you guys got together‚ other than it was just a matter of coordinating the schedules and then starting in on the week together.
BM: Yeah. It was really coordinating the whole thing and saying "We're gonna make a record. We're gonna do it independently and we're starting our own label. Let's find the time to do it‚ and then we'll take it from there." So then Sco gets in the studio. It didn't take long before we realized we had enough material and then some. So we kind of had bonus tracks and things like that.
DC: Yet there was a very clear sense of it being the collaboration with Scofield rather than Scofield just lending a hand. And he talked about it‚ too. It was interesting to hear him speak about how you guys chose to do the rendition of the Beatles song "Julia‚" which I think is absolutely gorgeous.
BM: Yeah‚ it's beautiful.
DC: It was interesting‚ too‚ to hear the Peter Tosh song "Legalize It" on the album at the end. Musically‚ it just seems to bring a definite sense of closure to the whole album. Is that what you intended? Because I know you guys have been playing that song for a while.
BM: It's a combination. There was no intention to necessarily have it on the record. I just thought‚ let's try it‚ you know‚ since we've been playing it. But with Scofield‚ let's turn it into something else‚ and it won't be like we're doing the same thing we've been doing live. And he has such a lyrical way of playing that it's just some kind of thing that happened there that I thought was nice. It wasn't one of the primary songs we felt needed to redefine our collaboration‚ but it kind of ended up there. I think that‚ when you have all this stuff in front of you‚ then you start thinking about‚ "Well‚ what tune are we gonna start with?" Or "Where's it gonna go and what shape is it gonna take?" And it's not that easy! Then everybody has their own opinions and sequences‚ and it sort of just takes shape. And I think‚ yeah‚ it is a good way to close the record! I think that's probably why we did it. I didn't really have strong feelings one way or the other. But now that you say it‚ it makes sense. It has that sense of resolve.
DC: Absolutely. There's a great flow to the album as it starts out funky and then moves into a little noise and then into a little melody and then circles back through all those areas again. And then‚ all of a sudden‚ there's this authoritative melodic theme and it's over! And you go‚ "Wow‚ that was quite a trip. Let's do that again!" (laughter)
BM: Yeah.
DC: You guys are set to go out on the road in a little while in support of the CD. Do you guys have any plans on how you're gonna rehearse and prep for the tour?
BM: Uh… we're gonna get together the day before? (laughter)
DC: Wow!
BM: And there's also that evening Chris‚ John‚ and Chris's brother Oliver‚ and I‚ we're gonna appear at this Bob Dylan tribute that benefits The Children's Foundation. And‚ uh‚ we're rehearsing that day‚ you know?
DC: Cool!
BM: (laughter) And that was Sco! The thing is‚ the tunes we've got‚ they're repertoire with him. Like when he's with us‚ we could do four or five tunes without rehearsing. He happened to be in the same festival and we said‚ "Well‚ let's do this one‚ that one. You know this one? You know that one? Oh‚ well‚ this one's in E." And so there's part of it covered right there in the natural repertoire we have and some of the material we've done before. And there's the record that we did‚ which is‚ just really‚ listen to the record and play it! (laughter)
DC: Yeah‚ absolutely.
BM: And then when we rehearse it's gonna be about learning some of those more intricate things‚ but it's not really that intense. Then we get on the road and we learn on the way! That's what it's about. That way it also makes it interesting each night for the audience. Not that we think of it‚ but for us‚ it keeps us on our toes and interested because every night is different. We're gonna do this set of music or we're gonna do that. Or maybe we're gonna pull a new one out tonight we learned at sound check. Or we're gonna create a new one or he's gonna do one of our tunes.