Interview with Missy Davis Jones for WoNo Magazine and
WoNoBloG
by Wout de Natris
© WoNo Magazine 2013
How would you like to introduce yourself to the readers?
My name is Missy Davis Jones, and I live in Florence, SC. I
am originally from NJ, but also lived in Los Angeles for eight years before I
moved here to be close to my husband’s family. My husband, Ken, and I own a
recording studio called Southern Harmony Recording here in town, as well as the
record label Yonder Music. I’ve always been passionate about music, and I’ve
dabbled in many facets of the industry since I was a teenager (band
photographer, band merch buyer/manufacturer, the list goes on) but really found
my niche when I started producing and developing some of the local talent in
this region of SC.
What made you start a record company in days of copying and
the Internet?
Sheer stupidity and madness? HA! Actually I’m mostly driven
by the fact that there is abundant, world class talent right in my backyard
that deserves to be heard by music lovers all over the world. South Carolina
has limited opportunity and resources for singer-songwriters, it’s hard to get
anywhere without relocating to larger markets like New York, Nashville, LA, and
Atlanta. But I felt the level of talent here was too incredible to waste, and decided
to do something about it. We’re more of a holistic artist development agency
than a traditional label, and that allows me some latitude in terms of finding
different ways to seek out opportunity for my roster.
What are your expectations?
The recording industry is really struggling to figure out
how to make money. I do not expect to solve any of those problems – I mean if
Warner Brothers can’t figure it out, what makes me think I can, right? My only
real expectation is to make great records, and I think we can, and do,
accomplish that. I’d also like to not go so deeply in debt that I lose
everything we have worked for over the years. But if I can break even eventually,
that would be fantastic. I understand that without great risk, there’s no great
reward. I told James Scott Bullard (one of my artists) that you have the rest
of your life to make money, but only a short window of time to make history. I
guess I expect to make something memorable, or at least that’s the hope
everyone involved with Yonder has – to create something special and beautiful
that will outlive us all.
You come from a completely different industry and switched
to music. When did you get the inspiration to work with musicians and produce
records?
That’s not entirely the case. I do have a day job right now
that’s totally unmusical - I am in sales, for an American company called
Monster.com. It’s very unglamorous, but it funds the recording studio and
label, and is basically one of the best jobs you can get in Florence, SC (this
is a small town!) But when I lived in
Los Angeles, I was a band merchandise buyer for the music based retail chain called
Hot Topic. So for a very long time I was eyeball deep in the Los Angeles music
industry. Not to toot my own horn, but I always had a knack for spotting talent,
which was a large part of my job at Hot Topic – to figure out what the next big
thing was going to be. The merch business is not exactly the same as the record
business, but I learned enough to get me started from close friends who ran
indie labels and managed bands. When we moved to South Carolina we decided to
open a recording studio. My husband had a home studio in Los Angeles so it was
a natural progression to open up a public location here in SC…in LA we had
equipment but never could have afforded the overhead. The label was conceived out
of the fact that we saw so much talent coming through the door at our studio, that
it was just impossible to ignore. I believe Stephanie Fagan called it kismet,
and it really was…it just all came together in this really cosmic way. The
studio, the singer-songwriters, and the studio musicians are what make the
label possible, it’s very much a Stax type model we have here at Yonder. As far
as production goes, I’m still very new to it, but I am an organizer and a wrangler
by nature, so I just sort of stumbled into the role. For many years I worked on
the outset of the creation of music, and I was definitely a music business
person. I was attracted to production as a way of being a part of the creative
process, really wanting to get my hands dirty in all aspects of making a
record. My husband engineers, and I was envious of the deep connection he had
to the music as it was being made, and I wanted to be a part of that. We make a
great team in the studio, I’m not sure I could do this with anyone else.
What is the story about the label’s name, Yonder Music?
It’s because we’re making music waaaaaay over yonder…here in
little old Florence, SC. We’re far away from the traditional “music industry” –
bucking the system a bit but I think that makes us unique and special, and
gives us a family vibe.
Distribution seems a challenge to me, looking from the
outside, for a small and starting label. Is the Internet, paradoxical as it may
seem, a blessing for a start up?
Absolutely! Nobody wants to distribute a tiny label in South
Carolina with a bunch of unknown artists. Without the internet it would be
impossible to get exposure. My husband always says, “Nobody wants you, until
everybody wants you.” With regards to a big distribution deal, I figure around
the time it becomes necessary, it will also become very possible. Internet
radio, online bloggers (like yourself)...social sites, Pandora, Jango – these
have all been intergral parts of building an audience for Stephanie’s music.
We’ve been very fortunate, Stephanie’s record was well received and got many
positive reviews in the online music community.
I’ve always read there are two kinds of producers: recorders
and influential. My hunch was you are in the latter category, which was confirmed
by Stephanie Fagan. How do you know or feel what a bare song needs?
As you said, producers all have a different ways of doing
things, some are incredible musicians and songwriters in their own right (like
Brian Eno and Alan Parsons), many are recording engineers (like Tom Dowd) that
cross over into production – but that’s not me, so I suppose that puts me in
the influential category by default. It’s my job to help the artist present the
music in a way that it tells a story, and that has a consistent vision – to
help create a true “body of work.” I like album rock - I am not a fan of pop
singles. I actually learned how to create a cohesive body of work as a
photographer, and also as a merchandiser – it’s the same concept of
presentation, only you are applying it to music instead of visual mediums. I
talk to the artists about what they are trying to convey – we have
conversations about influences and what inspires them. We talk about concepts,
and may decide something like “this song sounds like driving in the car with
the wind blowing your hair” and it’s my job to arrange the right performances
and instrumentation that will inspire that sensation when we hear it. Functionally
speaking, in the studio I am the coach, the editor, the embellisher, and the
organizer. I’m also a quality control person, which makes me a killjoy sometimes.
I’m the one making you sing it again, “this time with feeling” haha! I’m also
the one going through the bassline with a fine toothed comb, making sure there
are no mistakes, or saying “you know what this song needs? Vibraslap!” It’s
hard to tell someone that a song they wrote doesn’t make the cut for the album,
or that their performance was weak and they need to step it up. But all my
criticism comes from a place of love! My artists call me Mama Bear, if that
sheds any light on my production and management style. I’m nurturing, but also
tough. My artists trust me and know I share their goals. If I think something
can be done better, it’s my job to speak up and say something so that we’re
making the very best record we’re capable of.
You wrote that you work with a set of musicians. What are
their roles in the creation of a record?
We have access to world class studio musicians in Florence,
believe it or not. Like I said, it’s very much a Stax or Motown model. We
connect a singer-songwriter with a group of musicians who help us execute the
vision. These are really versatile guys, true professionals who can play
anything from jazz to country to blues, gospel, rock and bluegrass. They work
on projects for the label, but are also our go to guys for hire on tons of
projects Ken works on at the studio that I do not release. The main three guys
who played on Stephanie’s record had been playing together since the early 80s:
two brothers, Ray and Timmy Berry, and bassist Steve Hamilton. They would play
twenty different tempos and arrangements if I asked them to, until we found the
sound we were looking for - they were incredibly good sports! Structuring
Stephanie’s music was a lot of work because we started with these little
acoustic demos that didn’t always have intros or solos or bridges, and created
really big songs out of them. And much of it was done with just me and Ken and
the musicians, because Stephanie was in Germany during the major recording
sessions. We had practically the whole town pitching in on that record,
different background singers on each song, a few different guitarists. There
were so many notable performances: John Bazen who played an amazing dobro part
on “Prodigal,” Tommy Hatfield who played all the lovely pedal steel work, Chris
Cottros (who is Terri Clark’s touring guitarist) really saved us on a couple of
songs where we were struggling to get the right guitar part. There were so many
amazing players, and that I think contributed to all the special little moments
and surprises on “Heart Thief” – it’s like a little Easter egg hunt catching
all of them. On the flipside, James Scott Bullard has an excellent group of
guys he plays with in his live act: bassist Kevin Singleton (who is my rock on
many projects, I don’t know what we’d do without him!) Jeff Springs plays pedal
steel and guitar, lead guitarist Tyler Roberts who is frick to JSB’s frack, a
very talented organist (who also works with Stephanie) named Justin Banks, and
a very talented drummer named Adam Brown. These guys are all total superstars
in our local scene, we basically have assembled a supergroup. JSB’s new album
will be very different from Stephanie’s because they will have played his new
songs together many times prior to coming in to the studio to record. They will
know their parts, so it will just be a matter of tweaking the arrangements,
getting the best performances out of everyone, and embellishing with percussion
and overdubs. That’s very different from “Heart Thief’ which had almost no
pre-production work – all the parts were formulated and arranged IN the studio.
Thank goodness we own a studio, or else it may have been the most expensive
record ever made! It was like my “Chinese Democracy” sometimes I never thought
it would be done.
What is your own musical background as, at least I imagine,
that you need to know about music to be able to assist artists in creating or
translating their music from the home/practice room to
the studio?
Well, I’m no George Martin, that’s for sure! I’m just a
lousy pianist and an ok singer. I used to be able to read music, but I am very
out of practice. What I think I have to offer is the ability to understand the
artist’s vision - really zero in and “get it” in terms of their point of view,
and come up with a plan to execute it. You don’t need to be an orchestra
conductor to do that, especially if you are surrounded by others who have those
talents. I can say to a great session player “I want it to sound like X,” and
they can do it without me having to explain it in super technical terms. While
I am not a technical genius, my general musical knowledge is pretty deep and
wide, so I have a lot of reference points. For example, if I tell my husband “I
want the guitar to have so and so tone” he knows what guitar and amp and
preamps and effects to use to create that. I don’t need to know how to
technically make that happen, I just need to know what I want and keep coming
up with good ideas to make the songs better. I have always been a ponderer of
music; I don’t just listen, I examine music from all angles…conceptually,
emotionally, historically – what were the influences and where were these guys
coming from when they made this album? I think I apply that thought process to
my production style. One of my most famous lines when we were working on Heart
Thief was “make it sound like ponies!” Of course studio musicians hate that
sort of direction haha, which is why I rely very heavily on my husband. He’s an
excellent musician with a far greater technical vocabulary than I have, so he
helps me translate that to the gang in a way they can work with. I’m getting
better with my production lingo though, I can communicate more clearly to the
musicians now than I could two years ago when we started Heart Thief. I think
at first it was a lot of “I don’t know what I want, but that’s not it.” So in
other words a whole lot of try this, try that, how about this or that, until I
heard it and said BINGO! After some practice now I can say with confidence that
I want a Wurlitzer on this song, without having to listen to twenty different
other piano and organ sounds first.
You worked with Stephanie Fagan. What did you recognise in
her music, that made you want to release a record?
Well her voice is a dream, first of all. It’s so warm, full,
and earthy, and every tone that comes out of her mouth is just sumptuous. Her
voice is familiar but also very unique, we toss a lot of comparisons around,
but in the end she’s Stephanie - she’s not intentionally emulating anyone else.
Her lyrics are outstanding, just honest as hell. She puts thoughts out there
that most people would be uncomfortable confessing to. I like emotionally driven
lyrics, I’m not extremely interested in anything too political or that has an overly
detailed story line (contemporary country music does that too often.) At the
same time, I also get irritated by intentionally vague lyrics…obscurity for the
sake of being artsy. Stephanie tells you just enough to convey the emotions
without getting so detailed that you can’t imagine yourself in her shoes. She’s
also very clever, without being pretentious: for example “Two Strangers” really
knocked me out when I first heard it. “Don’t know how I’d sleep at night with
your warm breath against my shoulder, if you were my man. If just the thought
of you, can make the ground shake, oh honey, heaven help your hands.” The idea
of desperately wanting someone who you’ve never touched and can’t have, it’s
ages old, but she makes it new with the way she spins it. There are absolutely
no clichés in Stephanie’s lyrics or melodies, that’s why it was so important to
make sure the music had just as many unexpected treats, and surprises.
The instrumentation on ‘Heart thief’ is very diverse, making
the album delightfully diverse. Was this more inspiration or blood, sweat and
tears?
A little of both, maybe? We wanted to give each song it’s own
special voice – treat them like individual pieces, and some took longer to take
shape than others. Some songs, like “Prodigal” were a piece of cake and came
together quickly – in the matter of hours. Other songs like “Spring” were an
absolute nightmare. We didn’t figure that one out until the wee hours of the
morning during the last week of production. The timing on the intro was so off
that we added a triangle to help create the illusion that the song was in time,
when it really wasn’t. There was no click track, no count off…poor Chris
Cottros was pulling his hair out trying to lay that intro down over Stephanie’s
scratch guitars. The horn players were laying down their parts at 2-4AM, and I
was so delirious I wanted to cry. I was practically useless – those poor guys! When
Stephanie went in to lay down her final vocals she had trouble figuring out
where the melody had run off to, it was just so drastically different from the
way she played it…I had to sit in the booth with her, and cue her on when to
come in. So that was a beast, for sure. But in all honesty that is now one of
my favorite songs on the record. There were times when we were trying to
intentionally push a song in a particular direction, and that approach tended
to backfire. We did best when we said “ok let’s just try pedal steel on this”
and then we let the pedal steel player come in and do their thing. The players
truly contributed a lot to each song’s feel. Like I said, I’m not Phil Spector,
I am really new to this role…but it seemed to me that my job was to assemble
the team, pick the players, and communicate the vision as best as possible. I
don’t want to micro manage the session players too much, or the engineer. Like,
I’m not going to tell a seasoned pedal steel player how to play his instrument,
that’s just insulting. It works better and you get a more unexpected and
special performance if you just let your players have an opinion and play what
they think sounds right. I’ve never been let down by doing it that way, and
some of the most magical moments on the record came out of that approach. But
really, we just hammered away at each song one at a time until we found the
magic combination of instruments. I know there were a few times when Ken and
Stephanie thought I was bonkers for wanting to put a certain instrument on a
track, but it would usually turn out better than everyone thought. I do seem to
have a knack for that particular aspect of production. And I also knew when to
stop - I don’t think the record sounds overproduced…which is a small miracle
considering how much time went into it!
What are your ambitions over the coming period and what
records can we expect?
Well next on the agenda is a Gram Parsons tribute EP by
James Scott Bullard & The Late Night Sweethearts and also featuring another
artist I’ve been working with named Rebecca Morning. After that, is the full
length James Scott Bullard & TLNS record I was talking about. Then we’ll be
going back into the studio with Stephanie Fagan, to record an EP to be released
this year, followed by a new full length record which will most likely to have
a 2014 release date. Her next record is going to return to more of a folk
sound, in the vein of her first record “Ideas For Your Earbone” more so than
“Heart Thief.” Many of her new songs are very sweet and romantic – she’s in a
different place than she was when she wrote “Heart Thief” and the new record
will show a drastic change in her lyrics. But she’ll always be clever, and
always have that voice of hers so never fear! I think in order for an artist to
continue being relevant a drastic change in direction is necessary. In the
early discussions we are having, we’re leaning in more of a Celtic Folk/British
Folk/ meets bluegrass direction. So think of Natalie Merchant singing for
Mumford and Sons, or Sinead O’Connor singing for Old Crow Medicine Show, for
lack of a better description. Also with Stephanie back in the States, I believe
she will have more to contribute to the production decisions, and we are likely
to co-produce the next record. I have a few other artists I’m keeping under my
hat for now, some are very young and I don’t like the idea of making a record
until they are 18…everyone deserves a childhood out of the public eye. Mostly I
just want to be able to afford to keep things going and keep making great
records. We want to put Florence, SC on the map! There’s something in the water
here that just breeds amazing musical talent, and we want to tell the world
about it.
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