Mastering the art of quiet music

Jose Gonzalez substitutes songs for science

By Chris Nixon
For The San Diego Union-Tribune
August 24, 2006

Before 2003, Jose Gonzalez focused his attention on scholastic endeavors, content to study microorganisms and the building blocks of life. After 2003 and the release of his debut, full-length album “Veneer,” in his homeland of Sweden, the 26-year-old singer-songwriter now tours the world spreading the gospel of his meditative style of acoustic music.

“It was a really big change when I released the album,” said Gonzalez from his hotel room in London, where he's currently on tour with Zero 7. “I went from studying biochemistry to just doing shows and living from the music.”

Going from biochemist to musician isn't a huge stretch, considering Gonzalez's thoughtful songwriting.

“I was really into being a biochemist,” recalled Gonzalez. “When I started doing music in my teenage years, I had hopes of living as a musician, and I saw that as my future. But then I got into studying, and I always had music as a hobby. I went out on really small tours with different bands, but never thinking that would be my main thing. It seemed like I had forgotten that I really wanted to do music once upon a time.”

With his simple, tranquil songs, Gonzalez is quietly rejuvenating the art of quiet music. His parents fled their native Argentina, settling in Sweden and giving birth to Jose in 1978. Gonzalez's father instilled in his son his love of bossa nova and flamenco music. Jose integrated the nylon string guitar into his music, at times flashing complex jazz chords (bossa nova) and other times emphasizing the instrument's natural percussive qualities (flamenco).

With his Argentine heritage and Swedish background, Gonzalez speaks both Spanish and Swedish fluently. Instead of singing in his comfort zone, the young musician decided he would sing in English, his third language.

“In a way, it's really common for Swedish bands to (sing in English),” said Gonzalez, in his not-quite-Swedish, not-quite-Latino accent. “Most of the bands we hear on the radio are English. I think if I had to choose another language to sing in, I would choose Spanish over Swedish just because of the sound of it.”

Gonzalez released “Veneer” in Sweden (2003), and later throughout Europe (2005), gaining critical acclaim and popularity. The album wasn't released in the U.S. until 2005, but it has reached larger audiences through exposure on “The O.C.” and other taste-making outlets.

“I was taken by surprise about how well-received it was,” he said. “As soon as I put out the album, I got a lot of airplay on radio and television.”

His success with “Veneer” led Gonzalez to Sam Hardaker and Henry Binns, otherwise known as the British soulful down-tempo duo Zero 7. The acoustic guitar player and singer performed on four songs on Hardaker and Binn's latest release “The Garden,” including a cover of Gonzalez's song “Crosses,” which first appeared on “Veneer.”

“(Zero 7) contacted me, and they played a little bit of their new material,” said Gonzalez, who plays a show with the duo at the House of Blues Saturday and then returns solo for an Oct. 4 show at the Casbah in Middletown. “I really liked them as people, and I thought they had cool ideas. I thought it was interesting to jump into something completely different and see how other people work.”

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.

Hear sound clips from Jose Gonzalez's album “Veneer” by logging on to http://entertainment.signonsandiego.com/profile/288996.

The Soft Lightes emerge from ashes of Incredible Moses Leroy

Something ventured: Fountenberry sets off on new path

By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
August 24, 2006

You are soft and cuddly / You are warm and fuzzy, sang San Diegan Ron Fountenberry with his former band, The Incredible Moses Leroy, on the band's first single, “Fuzzy.” Sweet strings hovered above a sampled female chorus of la-la-la's as Fountenberry crooned a simple pop tune about sweet love with a touch of irony (Let's paint the town red, like Carrie).

“There's a certain element that people really liked on the first Moses Leroy record,” recalled Fountenberry. “It was probably the bubbly poppy-ness. But I felt like – because of the circumstances involved in making that record – it was a little too saccharine.”

Fountenberry's first album, “Electric Pocket Radio,” earned him spots on a national Gap ad along with numerous shout-outs and instant credibility near and far. But the cuddly fuzziness turned out to be too cute for Fountenberry. He and his former mates shifted gears with the outfit's second disc, “Becomes The Soft.Lightes,” which turned out to be more prophesy than poetry.

Fountenberry decided to take a slightly more contemplative path for his second Incredible Moses Leroy album, produced by crack drummer Joey Waronker (R.E.M., Beck). (The band was named for Fountenberry's grandfather, but most people mistook him for Mr. Leroy.)

The singer could sense his label's displeasure with the new direction, and he tired of being mistaken for Moses Leroy himself. He started planning his next incarnation: The Soft.Lightes.

So now a couple of years later, Incredible Moses Leroy remains another local band fading from memory, the Gap ads have long since stopped running and mention of Fountenberry often prompts a quizzical “where-is-he-now?” look on people's faces.

But this local musician never stopped writing his appealing indie pop music.

“When people decide you're not 'hot' anymore – or whatever the term is in the music industry – it's really hard to get people's attention,” said Founten-berry. “You'll see it with local bands. They'll get a bunch of attention. But if nothing actually happens, people start associating that name with the fact that they never got signed or whatever. I just felt like we were going down a path that wasn't really positive.”

Fountenberry looks to jump back into the music scene spotlight – locally and nationally – with his new cast of characters called The Soft.Lightes. Along with Moses Leroy veteran bassist Christian Dunn, Fountenberry is joined by drummer Tom Fogerty and keyboardist Jeff Hibshman. The quartet recorded a full-length album last year, which is set for release in early 2007 on Modular Recordings.

Despite the indie cred of his label (Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, Wolfmother, The Black Keys), Fountenberry made the record on the cheap.

“Eighty percent of it was done in my apartment, and the other 20 percent at our bass player's house in his garage, for drums and stuff,” said Fountenberry, who will also release an E.P. in October. “It was pretty low budget. It wasn't the prettiest surroundings: I literally did my vocals in my wife's closet. It wasn't the most glamorous situation, but we made it work.”

The songs on The Soft.Lightes myspace page sound like vintage Moses Leroy, combining elements of “Electric Pocket Radio's” saccharine sweetness and “Becomes The Soft.Lightes” more introspective sound.

“I really like where we are musically,” said Fountenberry, who takes the stage at The Casbah tonight with The Soft.Lightes. “And I like the prospects for the future in terms of our possibilities with these people. We have a lot more places we can go now.”

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.