Interview
The Bashful Dodger: Welcome to my humble home, Herr Olson, have a seat.Gary Olson: Why thank you, Master Henning. Just let me swipe these cobwebs away from the loveseat. Shall I draw the curtains?
Q: I must apologize...my hoover broke. It's been four years since the last album's release – how long did you actually work on „Clutching Stems“?
A: Oh, we have been playing some of the songs for 3 years now and then slowly built up another batch. Once we got into the studio it was our usual 9 month process. Basic tracking, procrastination, writers block, mixing meltdown until we finally gave birth to our 7th child
Q: To my ears, the songs on the new album sound lighter than the previous records. Do you have an explanation for that? Or is it just me?
A: It's difficult for me to be the objective one, but yes there could be more than a few on the new album that are a bit less heavy in arrangement. It's also the first record where we've embraced some digital recording, so it may be a bit "cleaner" sounding then some of our earlier albums.
Q: The Ladybug Transistor's sound has changed a lot since the first album. How would you describe the road you've been down so far?
A: Well, the first two albums were really studio projects masquerading as a band. I was playing a lot of the instruments myself along with our original drummer Ed powers. By the time we recorded our third LP „The Albemarle Sound“, Jeff, Sasha and Jennifer were full time members and Ladybug became a proper band, writing together and touring lots. My role around that time shifted away from playing instruments and I began to focus more on my singing and the recording/production side of Ladybug. band membership has ebbed and flowed over time but we've had a pretty steady crew with me, Eric, Michael, Julia and Kyle for almost four years now… Kyle had been with us for six of those and Julia since the Albemarle days. Our newest recruit is Mark Dzula who partnered in writing a lot music for Clutching Stems. He plays guitar with us whenever he can.
Q: As a producer, you seem to have been pretty busy in the last coupla years. Crystal Stilts, Frankie Rose, The Cinema Red And Blue, … is there a record you'd say you're most proud of?
A: It's a special relationship with the Crystal Stilts. In my engineering work it's been wonderful to help them carry their vision to completion. We spent a lot of time on their last LP „In Love With Oblivion“ … about 6 months on and off. In that time they became welcome faces around the house. JB has great focus when they are mixing and is really a master at giving them distinct sound. I'm a big Comet Gain fan so of course it was wonderful to work with David Feck and the gang on Cinema Red and Blue. That record was recorded very quickly and really benefits from from the spontaneity. I love the sound of something coming together. I'm glad to have helped Frankie get things off the ground with her first single and it's nice to see that she's on to greater things.
Q: The records all sound from one another. Still I'd say one can hear the Olsoncraft. Would you say there's a distinctive Olson sound?
Ha, well it depends on the project. I recently did a couple records for bands who like to record live to tape with very few overdubs. That was The Beets, Beachniks and German Measles. On those records you get a real sense of the room and feel the interaction of the group. It's a musical tightrope which brings a lot of immediacy to those recordings. It's nice to just let those situations happen and work with the limitations of 16 tracks of tape.
I do plenty of projects that are more layered and are recorded into Logic (recording program). It's a whole different approach with shaping and editing sounds but with using my usual microphones and preamps. I enjoy both ways of working.
Q: I've worked with producers who push musicians in order to make them do things they'd never thought of – and producers who hardly interfere in the songwriting and instead apply their magical musical skills when the band is done recording. How closely do you interact with the musicians?
A: It really depends on the group. A band like the Beets play three or four shows a week with songs bursting at the seems. In that case I really try to my best to make them at home in the studio and capture as much of their live energy as I can. Some solo artists come to me alone without much but a song and acoustic guitar. They want more input from me when it comes to color and arrangement and trust mixing to me. That's more of a case of building a song up one track at a time.
Q: What's the difference between recording with the Ladybug Transistor and recording another band? For you, as a producer.
A: It's harder to be objective with Ladybug as it's too close to me so I tend to work on something for a bit and then come back to it later for a fresh listen. I'm always writing as we are going along up until mixing so there is a lot of revision and honing of my vocals and lyrics.
Q: Are you a gear nerd?
A: Ah, somewhat I guess. I've been slow on purchases lately and more into working with what I have. Some of my favorites are the UA 6176 mic pre/compressor which I use on almost everything. My studio partner Bill just restored a 50s Neumann U47 and that is a truly gorgeous sounding microphone. I also love old Ampeg guitar amps… dark sounding with rich reverb and nice optical tremolo.
Q: Is it true you're running a hostel for Scandinavian musicians?
A: I think my phone number and address is written on the wall of the bathroom at JFK. Yes, we run a small bed and breakfast
Q: What's the most exciting recent record for you?
A: In two words: Tanks Amigo!
Q: Record companies have been in a crisis since mp3 made music accessible for everybody and for free. One cannot really expect big money from the companies these days. What would you say is the most viable option for an artist to be independent AND have control over where the money goes?
A: I really can't say. It seems the industry is in such a huge transition. No one seems to want to pay for mp3s. One of the only ways to make a significant amount of money for independent artists seems to be in publishing and ad work. We are starting to see a little bit of income from streaming services. It seems to be getting better. The way people listen to music has changed so rapidly that it's going to take a while for the industry to catch up. Hopefully in a few more years it will be fairer to smaller artists.
Q: What's your favourite Harry Nilsson record?
A: I can't say I own a single thing. Would I like him? Maybe a bit to quirky for me.
The Bashful Dodger: Thank you for your time, Mister Olson!
Gary Olson: The pleasure was all mine.
