It's All About The Music
The Paul Keller Band
Interview by DGT's Publisher
Bruce J. Maier
DGT: Paul I really like all of the songs from your new CD.You're not only a strong stage performer and band leader as I recently witnessed at your show, but a great songwriter as well!
PK: Thank you.
DGT: How long have you been writing songs?
PK: Oh, since I was a teenager. I started playing my Brother-In-Laws acoustic guitar probably when I was fourteen and I had been writing short stories and kind of lyrics before that so that’s when I started to write songs.
DGT: And is this your first effort putting out a CD or have there been other recording projects before?
PK: I have done other recordings in the past but nothing I was proud enough to put out there on CD Baby like this one . So this is the first professional recording.
DGT; Ad how many songs are on the album?
PK: There’s eight.
DGT: Is there a favorite of yours on the CD?
PK: It’s really hard to pick a favorite because they are all so different.
DGT: After listening to some of your songs I notice there’s not a typical or should I say, predictable pattern which is you know, a good thing.
PK: My process is from the lyrics usually so it depends on that, though some songs are different like…I have one called Monkey Man that was based on the music first and the lyrics came after. There’s not a straight, structured, patterned sort of thing.
DGT: People ask us how we get an inspiration for a song and sometimes it just comes from out of thin air. Who knows?
PK: Exactly.
DGT: So Paul, would you say you have some influences in your writing style? Have you just read and listened a lot?
PK: I have. I was the youngest of five and my oldest brother had every Beatle album, so that probably gives you some sort of an idea about my influences.
DGT: I knew there was some reason why I liked you Paul!
PK: Well I listened to all the fifties ,all the sixties and I have you know, the Willie Dixon Boxed set and Chuck. I have listened to a little of everything and love it all!
DGT: Sounds like you started out ( musically ) to crawl before you were running.
PK: That’s right.
DGT: A lot of the young guys today in music, particularly in Pop and Rock don’t start from there.
PK: Well it’s the feel too Bruce, like I tell my band members it’s the feel of everybody together, it’s not one individual and it’s not a set thing every time. We have to play as a group so it’s a “ feel thing “.
DGT: Paul we noticed that you give everybody in the band space to express themselves really well. What about this band? How long have you been together?
PK: I have been playing with the drummer ( Wayne )for about ten years and the other guys- the guitar( David Short ) and bass player
( Kimbrough ) about five to eight years. Dale, the keyboard player has only been with us a couple of months now.
DGT: I understand that you have another business, that you are involved in Real Estate and you have been able to be successful at that. Would you say that it’s a good idea for other musicians, bands and writers to have something else they can do for a living, while pursuing their dreams?
PK: Absolutely! It’s a matter of necessity a lot of times like my band members can’t make it on what we earn in the clubs so they all have other day jobs and most musicians I’ve met are like that unless they have some other kind of support like from their family or some other source of income.
DGT: Paul where do you want to go next? Obviously you’ve gone to the trouble of producing and releasing the new CD, you have it available on CD Baby and the other digital-download sites. What do you think the next logical step is for you?
PK: Well I think that right now we’ve concentrated on playing a manageable radius of venues and the next thing will be to expand further out all the way between Seattle and Portland Oregon as well as some of the festivals in the region like Bumbershoot or the Blues Festival in Portland would be the next step for us.
DGT: Let’s go back for a second and talk about recording: How long you've been doing this and maybe talk about your earlier efforts.
PK: Well I started with a four-track Fostex recorder and an inexpensive beat box and then I would lay down the bass tracks, the guitar and then the vocals and so forth. How we recorded this new CD we used Ableton LIVE. And we played live. Everything on the album is recorded live. No overdubs at all.
DGT: So you did it the old fashioned way – you made your musicians rehearse!
PK: Well we took several takes on each song and then selected the best of all for the CD. I produced the record but worked with an engineer, as I don’t know the software as good as he does but I think that overall it turned out pretty well for all of us.
DGT: Where would you like to see yourself five years down the line Paul?
PK: Well I would like to be traveling with the music out a whole lot further and for us all to be able to rely on the music for our living and not have to do other things. That would be the ultimate for me; to be able to pay my bills with the music.
DGT: What kind of encouragement might you want to pass on to others and especially young people considering being involved in the music business?
PK: Just continue to play and have fun playing. Don’t get dragged down by all the negativity. I’ve also seen other bands who are yelling at each other and fighting on stage. You know that’s the beginning of the end when that happens, and if you’re not having fun with the music or with your partners in the band, then why do it?
PK: Thank you.
DGT: How long have you been writing songs?
PK: Oh, since I was a teenager. I started playing my Brother-In-Laws acoustic guitar probably when I was fourteen and I had been writing short stories and kind of lyrics before that so that’s when I started to write songs.
DGT: And is this your first effort putting out a CD or have there been other recording projects before?
PK: I have done other recordings in the past but nothing I was proud enough to put out there on CD Baby like this one . So this is the first professional recording.
DGT; Ad how many songs are on the album?
PK: There’s eight.
DGT: Is there a favorite of yours on the CD?
PK: It’s really hard to pick a favorite because they are all so different.
DGT: After listening to some of your songs I notice there’s not a typical or should I say, predictable pattern which is you know, a good thing.
PK: My process is from the lyrics usually so it depends on that, though some songs are different like…I have one called Monkey Man that was based on the music first and the lyrics came after. There’s not a straight, structured, patterned sort of thing.
DGT: People ask us how we get an inspiration for a song and sometimes it just comes from out of thin air. Who knows?
PK: Exactly.
DGT: So Paul, would you say you have some influences in your writing style? Have you just read and listened a lot?
PK: I have. I was the youngest of five and my oldest brother had every Beatle album, so that probably gives you some sort of an idea about my influences.
DGT: I knew there was some reason why I liked you Paul!
PK: Well I listened to all the fifties ,all the sixties and I have you know, the Willie Dixon Boxed set and Chuck. I have listened to a little of everything and love it all!
DGT: Sounds like you started out ( musically ) to crawl before you were running.
PK: That’s right.
DGT: A lot of the young guys today in music, particularly in Pop and Rock don’t start from there.
PK: Well it’s the feel too Bruce, like I tell my band members it’s the feel of everybody together, it’s not one individual and it’s not a set thing every time. We have to play as a group so it’s a “ feel thing “.
DGT: Paul we noticed that you give everybody in the band space to express themselves really well. What about this band? How long have you been together?
PK: I have been playing with the drummer ( Wayne )for about ten years and the other guys- the guitar( David Short ) and bass player
( Kimbrough ) about five to eight years. Dale, the keyboard player has only been with us a couple of months now.
DGT: I understand that you have another business, that you are involved in Real Estate and you have been able to be successful at that. Would you say that it’s a good idea for other musicians, bands and writers to have something else they can do for a living, while pursuing their dreams?
PK: Absolutely! It’s a matter of necessity a lot of times like my band members can’t make it on what we earn in the clubs so they all have other day jobs and most musicians I’ve met are like that unless they have some other kind of support like from their family or some other source of income.
DGT: Paul where do you want to go next? Obviously you’ve gone to the trouble of producing and releasing the new CD, you have it available on CD Baby and the other digital-download sites. What do you think the next logical step is for you?
PK: Well I think that right now we’ve concentrated on playing a manageable radius of venues and the next thing will be to expand further out all the way between Seattle and Portland Oregon as well as some of the festivals in the region like Bumbershoot or the Blues Festival in Portland would be the next step for us.
DGT: Let’s go back for a second and talk about recording: How long you've been doing this and maybe talk about your earlier efforts.
PK: Well I started with a four-track Fostex recorder and an inexpensive beat box and then I would lay down the bass tracks, the guitar and then the vocals and so forth. How we recorded this new CD we used Ableton LIVE. And we played live. Everything on the album is recorded live. No overdubs at all.
DGT: So you did it the old fashioned way – you made your musicians rehearse!
PK: Well we took several takes on each song and then selected the best of all for the CD. I produced the record but worked with an engineer, as I don’t know the software as good as he does but I think that overall it turned out pretty well for all of us.
DGT: Where would you like to see yourself five years down the line Paul?
PK: Well I would like to be traveling with the music out a whole lot further and for us all to be able to rely on the music for our living and not have to do other things. That would be the ultimate for me; to be able to pay my bills with the music.
DGT: What kind of encouragement might you want to pass on to others and especially young people considering being involved in the music business?
PK: Just continue to play and have fun playing. Don’t get dragged down by all the negativity. I’ve also seen other bands who are yelling at each other and fighting on stage. You know that’s the beginning of the end when that happens, and if you’re not having fun with the music or with your partners in the band, then why do it?
