![](\"images\/edschraderlive.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBaltimore seems like one of those cities where nearly every art-school grad
\nis trying desperately to become a unique personality, the next big indie
\nstar. Ed Schrader, on the other hand, never had to try to be interesting – he
\ncan fill an entire hipster warehouse with his natural-born chutzpah and nerve
\nand not even realize he’s done it. From initially performing with little more
\nthan his larynx and a floor tom, to his current Music Beat lineup with bassist
\nDevlin Rice, Schrader has always been a fearless performer, invoking all sorts
\nof interesting no-wave and post-punk comparisons, with a creative drive that
\nflows regardless of whether he’s on stage or in line at the DMV. I wasn’t prepared
\nfor all the REM talk, but that’s on me, not him – the man is full of surprises and
\nI wouldn’t have it any other way.<\/p>\n
How did you decide that you, by yourself, on stage with a single drum and
\na microphone (or sometimes just your own lungs), could be a live performance
\npeople would want to see? Was it a scary idea?<\/b>
\nI currently (for the past 2 years) record and perform with a bassist. From 2007 to
\n2009, I played solo: just me and a drum. It was (looking back on it) a time where I
\nwas listening to NON (Boyd Rice, no relation to Devlin Rice,my partner-in-crime \/
\nbandmate), Current 93, Big Black, Swans and Lou Reed’s Berlin<\/i>. I was in a city
\nwhere lots of folks were utilizing electronic gadgetry to make multi-layered dance music,
\n which I enjoyed, but didn’t personally relate to as my own personal form of expression.
\nI’m a word guy, and the bands I’ve previously mentioned are of that nature, so I think
\nI was just trying to make something in that vein with the abilities and tools at my
\ndisposal. Was it scary? Hell yes, but what worthwhile adventure is not? Playing to
\nthousands of people in New York while opening for Dan Deacon, Deerhunter and No Age
\nis one of my favorite memories, just me and a drum – wouldn’t do it again, but hell
\nit was good times. I think people would love to see a dude banging a drum by himself,
\nit will just not be me. That was a product of necessity and honestly had a limited
\naudience – I write songs with whole orchestras in mind. I want to be as big as John
\nWilliams, baby!<\/p>\n
What prompted the decision to have Devlin Rice join the group? Do you
\nforesee more members joining at some point?<\/b>
\nI think I had just gotten to a point about two years ago where I couldn’t imagine myself
\ndoing this the way I was doing it for too much longer. The press seemed to pigeonhole
\nme as some wacky outsider performance artist, or a surrealist comedy routine, and I
\njust wanted to write and perform pop songs. Devlin showed up the moment I was having
\nthat thought, rather I showed up as his new roommate. We would just hang out and play
\nvideo games and talk about music and make Homer Simpson-esque jokes for hours. One
\nnight I told him how I had a weird gig coming up that I wanted to kind of blow off,
\nas I was nervous about just playing to an electronic dance audience with a floor tom.
\nHe offered up his services and we have been a unit ever since. I would certainly
\nlike to bring some other folks in the mix once the time is right, but that stuff has
\nto happen organically. I don’t feel comfortable doing the same thing for too long. I
\nhave always been impressed by people like Ricky Gervais, David Bowie, and Werner
\nHerzog, people who come at you with something new and enthralling every three years,
\nwell we’re still waiting on the Thin White Duke! What I’m saying is I don’t wanna be
\n40 and banging on a drum and yelling “Gas Station Attendant” every night. The world
\n doesn’t need it; once is enough. I like to keep moving forward. Whatever set list
\nyou hear now will be gone in three years. Devlin and I will be in it together no
\nmatter what, he is my core guy, my Mick Ronson, my Steve Merchant!
\nI had a lot of fun collaborating with Matmos, and Randy Randall of No Age on this album,
\nJazz Mind<\/i>. Javelin will be working with us along with Matmos on the next one (if their
\nschedule permits and if they will have me – I haven’t asked them yet, but I can charm
\nanyone!) .
\nI perform minimally, but when I compose songs I imagine an orchestra. The minimal performance
\nis for me more captivating than a nine-piece band. I just did vocals for the new Matmos
\nsingle coming out soon, and that was lots of fun because all I had to do was show up and
\nI was given themes and soundscapes to work with, and was asked by Drew to do something
\nrelatively phonetic, yet I ended up tossing in some lyrics, cause I’m a word guy. They
\nended up going with it. I think it’s going to be their first song with that type of pop
\nvocal structure, it’s really an honor! Those guys have worked with Bjork, and have made
\namazing music! But yes the future will involve many players.<\/p>\n
How did you meet and get to working with Matmos? Was it different for you
\nto approach singing on an electronic song, versus your own songs that are straight-
\nforward rock, at least by comparison?<\/b>
\nMatmos and I met over dirty dishes. I was a dishwasher at this place called The Golden
\nWest in Baltimore, and they had just moved to town. As I was busing their table (picking
\nup the dirty plates) Martin mentioned that he and Drew had bought my record The Choir
\nInside<\/i> and were rocking it in their house quite a bit. I did not know who they were
\nright away by face, just seemed like two nice folks making a dishwasher’s day. We chatted
\nfor a bit, and I slowly realized who they were – duh! I was a bit intimidated, especially
\nsince I was wearing a dirty smock and had crud all over me. They were so gracious, they
\nreally made me feel special at a time where people just kind of laughed at me or yelled
\nfor more oval plates. They talked to me like a real artist, and even asked what my future
\nrecording plans were. When I told them about Jazz Mind<\/i> they seemed very intrigued,
\nso I said, “hey, wanna cut a few tracks with me?” To my complete amazement they said yes,
\nand Devlin and I cherish those tracks.
\nAs far as the way I do things, well here goes. I walk to Dunkin Donuts, pump out a chorus
\nover my hand held recorder, sit there at the cafe for an hour, make a verse or two, come
\n home and bang it out on the drum then eureka! At that point I show it to Devlin, who is
\nbrilliant at taking something broad and harnessing it with just the right touches, like a
\nyoung Peter Buck! (He is a metal guy so probably wont like that comparison.) They both
\nshare the bond of less is more, and economy of sound. We tour the song around, see how it
\ngoes over, and feels. If it makes it through a tour and still feels right and gets folks
\nclapping, we hit the studio and lay it down. Now with electronic music (i.e Dan Deacon or
\nMatmos), you have guys that are well versed in music theory or capable enough to create a
\nlarge fleshed out atmosphere in the lab, and have it essentially ready to blow minds when
\nthey hit the stage. Not to say they don’t try out different things on the road and work out
\nsongs over a course of time, but essentially they have the nuts and bolts at the front (the
\nwell expressed and mostly realised vision). I start with a crooked paint roller and a rickety
\n ladder, and as the tour progresses and I listen to what the audience is saying to me about
\nthe songs, I develop and mold the idea to fit that “live” physical world, and use that as
\nthe boiler plate for the fully realized tune. I feel like as long as you have a good stock,
\nthe soup can’t get too fucked up, unless you just burn the shit out of it, or over think
\nit, which I have done. Devlin is really good in that situation, with honesty, and the ability
\nto say “hey dude, take a break, you’re thinking too much.” If i didn’t have that, I think
\n I would meander a bit.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Why do you want to write songs, do you think? Why did you gravitate to songs,
\nrather than abstract electronic music, or painting, or any other art form?<\/b>
\nThat question’s never been asked to me oddly enough. Well, I think some of it is hereditary,
\nlots of showboaters in my family – at the age of five I saw Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean”
\nvideo, and around that same time my parents took my sister and I (more for my sister who
\nhad a crush) to see this Michael Jackson impersonator who up until the age of fifteen I
\nthought was actually Michael Jackson. That was all I needed to get the bug – I wanted
\nto be a pop musician. After a spot on performance of “This Is How We Do It” in 8th grade,
\nand three unsuccessful REM cover bands, and lots of bad jobs, this is just kind of the
\nweird thing I ended up doing with my life. I happen to be doing pop\/rock now but who
\nknows in five years! I am a ham, and it’s really hard to ham it up with a laptop in
\nfront of you – I mean try doin’ a wizard’s hand while you open ProTools – yuck. I’ll take
\nthe other special, please.<\/p>\n
Do you find that your hamminess ever leads to people not taking you seriously?
\nIs that even a concern of yours, if people think you’re “joking” when you’re actually
\nquite serious?<\/b>
\nYeah it is a real big concern which is ridiculous because I do stand up comedy routines
\nwhere David Bowie and Rush Limbaugh are talking on an elevator about cat sex toys. It’s
\nlike in one sense, I’m walking around with a sign that says “throw tomatoes at the circus
\nfreak”, but then the next night I’m in Manhattan being like “check out my stoic beatnik, Bob
\nDylan-on-acid drum-and-bass thing – okay, now don’t laugh.” I think I have to come to grips
\nwith the fact that I’m an intense dude and it’s not bad if someone laughs – I laughed when
\nI met Michael Stipe, and he’s my hero.<\/p>\n
Why Michael Stipe? I only know you through your music, but I would’ve never guessed him.<\/b>
\nGrowing up in Utica, New York, I really didn’t have access to lots of counterculture – the
\nmusic scene mostly consisted of wedding bands and weekenders who mostly covered Top 40 hits.
\nThere were a few exceptions: a cool guy named Dante Blando that worked at Sears and made
\nme mix tapes, and my friend Bill Seth who made even cooler mix tapes and somehow always knew
\nabout edgy stuff a year before people in New York. I’d say those guys were a big part of
\nmy early exposure to weird stuff. But what really kicked it off was when I worked at this
\npizza joint called Tolpa’s and one day in the middle of an ungodly awful shift “What’s
\nThe Frequency Kenneth” came on. I wanted to run as fast as I could to the magical universe
\nwhere that was emanating from – I soon started a band called LOL, with Andrew Morse.
\nWe covered REM and The Police with two originals. I felt like I was Bono! My fate was sealed!<\/p>\n
You started a band called LOL? Did you predict the popular internet-speak, or
\ndid this all happen very recently?<\/b>
\nI wanted something like REM, but I didn’t want to seem obvious, so LOL it was. It would be
\nlike naming a band Netflix or “Who Let The Dogs Out?” (“WLTDO”). It’s pretty stupid, but
\nthe things we do when we’re young! Man what a dumb name. Named it after the term was phrased.
\nI though it meant “Laugh Online”, does it?<\/p>\n
I always figured it was “Laugh Out Loud”. Anyway, what’s the next big change we
\ncan expect for Ed Schrader’s Music Beat? Will there be some Jazz Mind<\/i> tour support?<\/b>
\nThe next big change will be our direction musically – this next record will be as experimental,
\n but coupled with a broader pop sensibility that we hope taps a nerve with people besides
\nfolks who are already in on the joke. I have no plans to stay underground – it is an
\natmosphere that, although it fosters much in terms of musical progression, speaks a very
\nspecific language to those privileged enough to relate to it – a dude playing put-put with
\nhis family after putting in 60 hours at a car plant has a hunger for the catharsis offered
\nup through bizarre musings, but in the same breath does not have time to figure out what
\nPitchfork is, or what he “should” like – he just wants to be blown away – that’s our guy.
\nThis next album’s for him, and it’s gonna have to be a monster.
\nAt this rate, we’re touring about six months out of the year with constant shows in between.
\nWe’re about to hit North America for six weeks, then off to England and Europe for five weeks.
\nThe buzz of the record and great press really helped, but you have to tour. So yes, we have
\nbeen supporting this record – it’s our job and we love our job!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Baltimore seems like one of those cities where nearly every art-school grad is trying desperately to become a unique personality, the next big indie star. Ed Schrader, on the other hand, never had to try to be interesting – he can fill an entire hipster warehouse with his natural-born chutzpah and nerve and not even […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yellowgreenred.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yellowgreenred.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yellowgreenred.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yellowgreenred.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yellowgreenred.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5428"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/www.yellowgreenred.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5528,"href":"https:\/\/www.yellowgreenred.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5428\/revisions\/5528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yellowgreenred.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yellowgreenred.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yellowgreenred.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}