Five easy pieces
Brit band Gomez 'morphed into what we do for a living'
By Chris Nixon
January 13, 2005
When it comes to recording, most bands either lose themselves in fiery worship at the church of gritty rock or quietly meditate before the studio soundboard altar, twiddling with a sea of knobs and orchestrating every last detail. But with the British band Gomez, one style of recording (Zen studio contemplation) led to the other (fervent guitar-powered rock).
With its refined take (adding flourishes of strings, crackling electronic beats or muted mellow horns) on boogie blues, roots rock and pop harmonies, the quintet scored a major-label deal without ever playing a live show.
Ben Ottewell (vocals, guitar), Tom Gray (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Paul Blackburn (bass, guitar), Olly Peacock (drums) and Ian Ball (vocals, guitar, harmonica) created a masterpiece of pastiche rock by simply huddling in their cramped garage in a small town outside Liverpool.
The band's 1998 debut disc, "Bring It On," garnered the band the prestigious Mercury Prize, beating out the Verve, Cornershop, Robbie Williams and Massive Attack's classic "Mezzanine" album. Great Britain's Mercury Prize honors the best album of the year by a British or Irish band.
Ottewell's gravelly vocals combined with the band's bluesy atmospherics and airy instrumentation set Gomez apart from the glut of retro Brit-rock bands coming out of Europe in the late 1990s.
"When we first started out, we didn't have any money or anything," says the jovial Ball. "We just had a crap four-track (tape deck), a few dusty guitars and some drum machines we'd found. It was just about experimenting to see if we could make records that we would like to listen to, or our friends would like to listen to. Then, it just accidentally morphed into what we do for a living."
In 2002, Gomez reached its personal apex of studio layering with the brilliant album "In Our Gun," a rambling collection of electronic blues songs and acoustic ballads. The five British chaps capture the essence of bluesy acoustic music while stretching the boundaries with modern studio tactics and clever instrumentation.
But all this experimentation leads to one question: how do you pull it off live?
"Our live shows are pretty full on," says Ball about the recording process for 2004's "Split the Difference." "We encountered some difficulties with 'In Our Gun' playing it live. A lot of the songs were vitally based around loops we'd generated. We didn't want to be tied down to playing along with something.
"You can't speed up. You can't slow down. I think that was subconsciously how we ended up with a record that was quite simple. ('Split the Difference') was recorded during and around a lot of touring. In terms of its inner complexities, it was very much just rocking it out."
So Gomez plunged back into guitar-driven retro pop. For the conversion, Ball and his mates picked an unlikely partner in crime: American producer Tchad Blake.
After producing textured releases by Los Lobos, Soul Coughing and Travis, Blake guided Gomez through its most complete album to date. "Split the Difference" quickly establishes Gomez's ability to rock a mean guitar riff, while not forsaking the band's bedrock of beautiful harmonies and psychedelic dreaminess. Blake's ability to reinforce the rock sound and roll with the band's current trend of straight-ahead composing led both parties to new territory.
"I think it was very interesting for (Blake) to be confronted with a more solid rock sound, but he was great," said Ball, who now lives in Los Angeles. "What was amazing was that he didn't put one cowbell on it, because that's what he's famous for with the Latin Playboys (a Los Lobos offshoot group). But he never once suggested it. It was a constant running joke during sessions: 'When is Tchad going to get the cowbells out?' "
With "Split the Difference" almost a year back in the rearview mirror, Ball and Gomez will continue on the "live" theme. During its upcoming West Coast swing, the band will be recording during three nights at San Francisco's classic Fillmore theater for a live album.
The group's two dates at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach will serve as a warm-up to the Bay Area shows: "San Diego is going to be fantastic because we're just going to be experimenting with a bunch of stuff to see what works and what we're going to record.
"On the next recording, we'll probably have a few more expansive pieces as opposed to the type of song that picks you up by the scruff of the neck, thrashes you around for two minutes and just drops you on the floor," says Ball about the band's plans to start recording another studio record in early 2005. "So we'll probably calm things down a little for the next album. But you never know, maybe we'll turn into Slayer. Slayer with harmonies, God help us."
Whether delving into zealous garage rock revelry or searching for studio perfection, the five geezers in Gomez seem to be staying true to one of their more poignant lyrics from "Split the Difference": We don't know where we're going, but we're on our way.
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
Gomez basics
Hometown: Southport, England
Discography:
"Split the Difference" – May 18, 2004
"In Our Gun" – 2002
"Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline" – 2000, B-sides and rarities
"Liquid Skin" – 1999
"Bring It On" – 1998
Lineup:
Ben Ottewell – vocals, guitar
Tom Gray – vocals, guitar, keyboards
Paul Blackburn – bass, guitar
Olly Peacock – drums
Ian Ball – vocals, guitar, harmonica
Desert Island Discs:
When asked about the few CDs he'd take to a desert island, Gomez's Ian Ball quipped: "Of course the I-Pod has rendered that question irrelevant, but having said that, here are three random choices of things I could listen to over and over-and-over again:"
The Necks, "Drive-By" (2003, Morphius Records):
File under: Space jazz soundtrack for the elevator to Mars.
"There's an Australian band called the Necks. They're a three-piece, madcap jazz band that do hour-long wonderful improvisations. So I'd take one of their albums. Probably 'Drive-By.' I listen to a lot of music on airplanes, so I really like ambient music. Not ambient in a cheesy, New Age way, but ambient like I'm in a ship going to Mars kind of way."
Rafael Toral, "Violence of Discovery" (2003, Touch Records):
File under: Guitar soundscapes in the tradition of Robert Fripp.
"There's a Portuguese guitar player called Rafael Toral who operates in a similar type of world like 'Whoa, what planet am I on?' That would have me out for the count."
Charlie Patton, "The Best of Charlie Patton" (2003, Yazoo Records):
File under: Delta blues from a dusty 78 rpm record.
"And then I'd bring one record to sing along with, probably some kind of Charlie Patton compilation. He did only enough music to fit on three CDs. Probably his first two recording sessions, I'd take that along."
– CHRIS NIXON
