This month, we turn our attentions to a veteran of the independent synthpop scene, The Echoing Green's Joey Belville. The Echoing Green first hit the scene in 1994 with their debut album "Defend Your Joy" on Christian dance label MYX records. Since then, they've called several labels home, but none seem more deserving of that than A Different Drum, who will be issuing a ten-year retrospective box set on the band later this year. We had the chance this month to ask him a few questions about synths, the ten-year anniversary, and flexing his muscles....
AeschTunes: Where did the group's name come from?
Joey B: "The Echoing Green" is a song/poem from William Blake. (Depending on where you look, the "echoing" is spelled "ecchoing".) It's a beautiful little poem that tells of a place where people really tasted life.
AT: So it has nothing to do with the song by Cause & Effect? ;)
Joey: nothing. that was pretty common misconception back in the day - and it almost made me change the name. I'm sure they got the idea from the song from the poem as well.
AT: How do you feel that your approach to your music has changed since the release of your first album, "Defend Your Joy", in 1994?
Joey B: While the music has changed alot since then, I'd say my approach has only changed a little. Some things haven't changed at all, like the fact that I always write the music first, then the lyrics. Sometimes I'll come the title while I'm writing the music and kinda use it as an artistic outline. Take "Supernova" for instance. I came up with title write off the top, and the music, quite intentionally, has an "explosive" feel - or at least that's what we shot for. All that said, I still only take that approach occasionally. I don't really have an exact method... I just do it. I wish I did it more often, though - I'm a bit of a slow songwriter.
AT: I understand that your most recent album, "The Winter Of Our Discontent", was created almost entirely with "soft-synths". What does this mean and how has it (if at all) affected live performances?
Joey: It means that I got rid of all my keyboards/synthesizers. The only one I used on Winter was a Virus Indigo, which I no longer have (I must admit that I miss that one). You can hear the Virus most prominently on the lead sound right at the top of "New Gold Dream". Basically, my G5 does the work that all my hardware synths used to do with software versions of the synths. Technology has really started to close it's gap with imagination in recent years. Live it means that we have a couple powerbooks on stage (as well as a couple "real" keyboards).
AT: On "The Winter Of Our Discontent", you showed a much larger vocal range than you had on previous albums, from the low notes in "Blind" to the highs in
"Heidi's Song". Which was harder for you to do?
Joey: Probably the lower ones. Although neither was that difficult, technically. It was more of an issue just to push myself to do something different than what I would normally - and that was the true challenge.
AT: The Echoing Green have a sizable catalog of cover songs - with at least one cover appearing on each album of new material. How do you decide on the songs that you cover?
Joey: Again, no concrete method. The covers or a bit more fun to decide, we simply think of some great songs that we'd like to take on and then we just do it. :)
AT: In 1996, you released an acoustic version of "Aurora", and this year will see the release of an acoustic version of "The Story Of Our Lives". Could you ever see yourself doing a full album of acoustic material, either re-recordings or all new songs?
Joey: Hmmmm... good question. I suppose it's possible, but i don't really see it happening. I think the acoustic "version" should be reserved for the really special songs. I don't know... I think I would rather have an acoustic concert than record an acoustic album.
AT: You've also got a new project that you're working on, under the name of Pristina. Can you tell us more about the project?
Joey: I'm super-stoked about Pristina. Pristina is a collaborative effort between myself and various different female vocalists. It's, for the most part, a downtempo-chillout type of record. Smooth & slick is what we're shooting for. It's been pretty interesting so far - there's alot of travel involved in a project like this. I'm either traveling to the singers with a mobile recording setup or they're flying in to record in my studio. One track was done strictly via internet. I would senda rough mp3 of the track and they would write vocals around it and record it - then I would download the vocal parts they put up and integrate and mix them into the final song. It's really great.
Pristina is a wonderful chance for me to step away from the EG for a minute and flex some different muscles as well as take a backseat from the limelight. It will release this fall on A Different Drum.
AT: It's been mentioned that one of the vocalists on the Pristina project is the Echoing Green's Chrissy Jeter. How did collaborating with her on the Pristina project differ from working with her on an Echoing Green project?
Joey: We haven't recorded her portion of Pristina yet, but I don't imagine it being too different then when we recorded "Starling" for the winter album or when I tracked her vocals for a few of the System22 tracks on their last record. We have such a great relationship - we know each other so well - that we can figure exactly what the other is thinking and get things done really fast. She's a pro and I think her tracks will be the easiest. Now, one thing I'm also really stoked about is her solo record for A Different Drum. We will begin work on that this fall - she's long overdue for something all her own, and it's gonna be amazing.
AT: Production work for other artists has also been keeping you busy recently, with sessions for both Leiahdorus and Sly's Alter Ego. How has working with these bands affected your own music?
Joey: Working on the first Leiahdorus album really sharpened my production skills, I think. With previous EG records, I focus so much on the creative end of things that the technical side often got neglected. With Leah-D, I focus much more on the technical, since Jason is writing everything, and it's really good for me. With the new Leah-D we're doing some different things and pushing for a not-so-polished kind of sound. Very raw and quirky, yet still very cool.
Doing the SAE stuff was great simply because everything is live instruments. Even the little bit synth stuff I added was not sequenced. I've recorded a couple local hard bands here in town as well and that's been a great experience as well.
AT: This year is the tenth anniversary of the release of your first album. Where do you see the band going over the course of the next ten years?
Joey: Over the hill. jk! The future is exciting to me. I can honestly that I don't know what I'll be doing, except my best. I'd like to see the EG continue as long as it can, without burning out. I also see alot of cool projects on the horizon - one thing I'm really excited about is Chrissy's solo record. We'll be starting on that one in the fall. There's also the 10 year EG box set coming out this summer. It will be a 5 disc set with one of the discs being a DVD.
AT: A "free question" - what would you like to tell the readers of this newsletter, about the band, yourself, life in general...?
Joey: I feel privileged to have made a career of being myself. I'm also humbled that so many people have shared lives with me via the music. I hope to continue!