Carl Interview - Indy Show a homecoming for MMJ Guitarist

[MrB]

From the Indystar


For MyMorningJacket guitarist Carl Broemel,
Sunday's appearance at the Lawn at White
River State Park will be a homecoming
show.

While the band rose to fame in Louisville,
Ky., and Broemel lives in Nashville, Tenn.,
the guitarist grew up in Indianapolis.
Broemel's alma mater, Pike High School,
inspired the band name Old Pike -- a
quintet that signed to major-label Sony
550 in 1998, issued the little-heard album
"10,000 Nights" in 1999 and disbanded in
2001.

Broemel joined My Morning Jacket in 2004,
paving the way for an appearance on "
SaturdayNightLive" and the cover of Spin
magazine.

He's appeared on three of the band's six
albums, including this year's "Circuital."
Broemel made his solo debut, "All Birds Say," in 2010.

Question: Between the demise of Old
Pike and joining My Morning Jacket, did
you have doubts about how everything
would turn out?

Answer: There were definitely moments
when I was not sure what I was doing. I
went out and was a guitar tech for a while. I
played in (Indiana-based band) Transmatic
and some other bands in L.A. when I was
on the short list of guitar players who would
step in and do tours. But it was sort of
hellish. Old Pike was, for all practical
purposes, my brothers and my best friends
. When we decided we were done, it was
really heartbreaking. It was weird to then
jump around and be in different situations.
When I look back, there's really no other
way I could have gotten to where I feel like I
truly appreciate being in this band.

Q: Rolling Stone magazine named you
and Jim James as "new guitar gods" in
2007, but "Circuital" isn't dominated by
guitar. Before you make a record, is
there a plan for the eventual sound?

A: We always try to make a majority of a
record when we're all playing at the same
time. This time, we tried to push it as far
as we could. There are live vocal takes on
most of the songs, so that dictates how it
comes across sonically. We're all playing
something, so everybody has to take a job.
The songs sound the way they sound
because they weren't done once and then
redone, with intent of choosing a specific
part. It was, "We got our take. That's what I
played that time, so that's it."

Q: My Morning Jacket plays big shows,
and you're on magazine covers, but it
doesn't seem to be accompanied by
invasive TMZ-style attention. Is that the
best scenario?

A: I'm in a position now where a person
might lose their mind if they meet me or a
person might not know who I am. I recently
went to a wedding and had a great time.
But some people who didn't know me or
(My Morning Jacket) thought that I might
possibly be somebody they should
recognize. They treated me differently, and
I didn't really like it that much. All and all, I
do feel like this is the perfect situation.
We're trying to focus on playing well and
making cool records that we like

[johnnYYac]

an article on Carl's pre-MMJ band.

Old Pike
Hip Online February 14, 2008



As any passionate music fan knows, there's a real sense of rapture when you find yourself in a small smokey club, packed with people, listening to a great rock and roll band you've never heard before. All the elements are there: free-flying guitarwork, fierce grooves, smart songs, a tightly-knit outfit of gifted musicians and a gutsy vocalist. There's an initial moment of bewildered bliss and then that old black magic kicks inthe fantastic realization that you've discovered one of modern rock's little secrets. Andthere's also that glowing, bittersweet feeling that this brand new band won't remain a secret much longer.

The five members of Old Pike are enjoying that experience, only from the other side of the fence. They are that band in the small smoky cluband they're also a soon-to-be revealed force to be reckoned with. The group opened for Ben Folds Five during the fall of 1997 as an unsigned band and are a local fixture in their homebase of Bloomington, Indianayes, home of that John Mellencamp guy. Old Pike is one of the most vibrant bands to emerge from the American Midwest in years. A group of young guys who understand how to write and arrange anthemic, emotional rock songs in the edgy, grassroots style of Bruce Springsteen or the Replacements. Old Pike smartly appropriates the heart of that older rock style and then, like bold revisionists, imbues it with an unconventional sensibility.

"Not coming from a big urban music scene, I don't think we're influenced by what's hip and what's not," says Old Pike keyboardist Mike Flynn. "We're not influenced by trends. We just started a band because we love music."

Determined to make a cohesive album of interconnected songs instead of gambling on a one-hit-wonder affair, Old Pike embrace the subtle, storytelling aspect of legendary rock records on their 550 Music debut Ten Thousand Nights. The result is a true long-playing record that lyrically and musically questions itselfand respondstrack by track. Backed by the expressive musicianship of Mike Flynn, Carl Broemel on guitar, bassist Jason Brammer and drummer Eric Hopper, lead singer and songwriter Tim Jones' husky, sharply observant tunes tell the tales of ordinary people living extraordinary lives.

"Not everybody wants to be a rock star," says Jones. "Some people want to raise families, be mechanics, whatever. As long as you're enjoying that and not getting sucked into the six o'clock news every night, convinced your life is going nowhere, who can say that an ordinary life isn't special?"

Songs like "Half Enough" and " The Rest of You" evolve from left field, seducing with organ riffs or supple basslinesthen reverse themselves perversely, musically following the unpredictable string of Jones' love-wary lyrics. "Already Done" is just plain pure pop ecstasy, with a distinct r&b groove. The opening track "I Should Never Have Left" has the brazen gutsin its first forty secondsto pay homage to (The Artist Formerly Known As) Prince, the Beatles and even Springsteen before kicking into fuzzy, rough-hewn guitar licks and brawny vocals. "We appreciate our influences," says Flynn."We don't try to hide them."

Like any classic, beautifully conceived album, Ten Thousand Nights knows exactly when to rock and when to take a softer step backwardslike a musical blueprint to a doomed love affair. Old Pike is a quintet of Indiana natives, four of whom live together these days in Bloomington in a large, ramshackle housewhich they swear isn't painted pink, despite their reverence for The Band. Jones and Flynn admit that there's sometimes a frat-house quality to their abode. But Old Pike is a very "mature" young band in many ways. Although the five musicians are only in their early to mid-twenties, all played in bands throughout high school; musically, they are far ahead of many of their peers.

"I've known Jason Brammer, our bass player, since I was nine years old," laughs Jones, "and I worked with Jason and Carl Broemel in high school." That first incarnation of the band split up, only to regroup at Indiana University when the three guys began jamming again and picked up Indianapolis-based drummer Eric Hopper. They offered to help out a fellow audio engineeering student by working on one trackwhich quickly became an entire album of twelve songs.

The band, now called Old Pike, released its first cassette; picked up pianist/organist Mike Flynn in the summer of '96, and released an EP on Flat Earth Records. They played local clubs, sent out demos, and caught the attention of Chris White of New York's showcase club Brownies. Opening slots for Soul Asylum, Heather Nova, and Ben Folds Five followed. Old Pike formally signed with 550 Epic at SXSW in March 1998.

The next step was hooking up with the multi-faceted producer, engineer and mixer Jim Scott, whose long list of credits includes work with the Rolling Stones, Counting Crows, Whiskey-town, Tom Petty and Natalie Merchant. Old Pike camped out at Pachyderm Studios in Minnesotathe studio birthplace of Nirvana's In Uteroand recorded for two weeks. "The Land of 10,000 Lakes" spawned Ten Thousand Nights, a remarkably well-crafted debut for such a very young band.

"We grew up really fast as musicians," Tim Jones notes.

"It has taken over everything, but it's what we want," Mike Flynn concurs. "It's funny because our passion for rock and roll has played havoc in our personal lives. So," he adds with a smile, "I just want it known out there that I love the great outdoors, dancing, walking on the beach late at night holding hands"

Hey, wait a minute: A band biography isn't supposed to be a personal ad. "It isn't?" says Flynn.

[mahg33ta]

an article on Carl's pre-MMJ band.


Backed by the expressive musicianship of Mike Flynn, Carl Broemel on guitar, bassist Jason Brammer ....

:o :o :o :o

well that explains a lot!!

[johnnYYac]

an article on Carl's pre-MMJ band.


Backed by the expressive musicianship of Mike Flynn, Carl Broemel on guitar, bassist Jason Brammer ....

:o :o :o :o

well that explains a lot!!

Oh wow!  I didn't make the connection. 

http://www.jasonbrammer.com/Home.html