The word โmellowโ may be part of the band name, and on the surface, the music is mellow. But it also offers a subtle energy to the adventurous listener. The tunes are unpredictable, unexpected and diverse. You will hear new things each time you listen. Thank you for taking the time to check out the exclusive interview below:
- Your roots can often shape your journey. Can you share a story or moment from your early life that had a significant impact on your path into music?
Sons of the Mellow Mafia: If I had to pick one, Iโd say it was discovering the music of Steely Dan. When I was in high school, I was playing and writing music and thinking about it as a career, but I think Steely Dan was the turning point. I enjoyed rock and I enjoyed jazz, but I tended to go through phases where I focused on one more than the other, both listening and playing, and with Steely Dan, I saw that the two could be blended seamlessly. I also liked the idea of these two misfits at Bard College becoming famous by making music inspired by very things โ jazz, beatnik culture โ for which they were probably made fun of for liking when they were growing up. I never fit in at school, academically or socially, so stories of erstwhile nerds who became famous always inspired me.
- Did your musical journey begin with formal training, or was it more of a personal exploration? How has that shaped your unique approach to your craft?
Sons of the Mellow Mafia: Both. I was fortunate to grow up in a house with a lot of music being played, both live and on recording, so I was exposed to a variety of genres at an early age. Later on I had the opportunity to study at Berklee College of Music. That said, a lot of what Iโve learned has come from being in the field, so to speak. I think that theory and technique can be valuable tools, but ultimately with music, you are trying to communicate an emotion or a story, and my belief as a writer, player and listener is that if theory and technique are means to an end, not the end themselves. The question I ask myself is, why should someone spend 5 minutes listening to my track? What is the story or idea that is being conveyed here that they canโt get from somewhere else? If I can use theoretic or technical concepts Iโve learned in the classroom to help myself better articulate an idea, great, but I also believe in the saying that concealing art is an art.
- Who were some of the most influential figures in your early musical life, and how did they inspire your sound? Also, whatโs the story behind choosing the name โSons of the Mellow Mafiaโ?
Sons of the Mellow Mafia: I mentioned Steely Dan earlier, and other bands that influenced me early on were the Beatles, the Electric Light Orchestra, the Doors and the Police. (If youโve noticed that none of these bands were current when I was growing up, youโre right). As for the band name: the Mellow Mafia was the nickname given to a group of session musicians in the 1970s. They played on a lot of albums by artists in the adult contemporary, soft rock and album oriented rock genres (James Taylor, Jackson Browne, etc.) which earned them the nickname. I thought that Sons of the Mellow Mafia was a fun name that paid homage to these musicians.
- What do you believe sets your music apart? How would you describe your sound to someone discovering you for the first time, and what emotions or experiences do you hope to evoke in your listeners?
Sons of the Mellow Mafia: It blends different genres โ jazz, Americana, pop, folk, blues โ in a way that is organic. It might sound a little egotistical, but I think the musical aesthetic I capture is โthinking personโs ear worms.โ Most of the tunes have a fairly accessible melody that serves as an entry point, but Iโve included a lot of details that might not be heard the first time. My hope is that if someone listens to the entire album start to finish, it will have felt like spending time with old friends whom you donโt often see anymore. You might laugh about some old jokes or experiences you shared; you might be reminded of things you hadnโt thought about for a while; you might feel a little sad that you arenโt in each otherโs lives the way you used to be, but you might also feel glad that you still ARE in each otherโs lives. The emotions on the album arenโt extreme โ the up-tempo songs are still a little bit restrained and the slower songs might be sad but the goal isnโt to get the listener to slash their wrists.
- For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style?
Sons of the Mellow Mafia: Thereโs a saying, attributed to Miles Davis, that you have to play a long time before you sound like yourself. I take that to mean that imitation and emulation are natural parts of the creative process. When I first got interested in early rockโnโroll and rockabilly music, everything I wrote sounded like that. At Berklee, I was really interested in jazz-fusion music, such as Chick Corea and Weather Report, and when I learned about hybrid chords (taking a triad from one key and putting it over a root note from another key to create an ambiguous sound, common in modern jazz) everything I wrote had hybrid chords. I still do take a lot of inspiration from other material, but itโs not necessarily from what I listen to the most. For example, the tune โBreonnaโ took the outline from โRun for the Rosesโ by Dan Fogelberg, someone whose musicianship and songwriting I respect but whom I wouldnโt call a major influence on me. I still like a lot of the music I did when I was starting out, and when I was at Berklee, and listening to it now gives me a new perspective on it, but having been listening to and playing music now for a half century, Iโve absorbed a lot of stuff subconsciously as well as intentionally, and I have a hunch that the subconscious stuff may be starting to win out.
- Music often transcends entertainment. Whatโs your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles โ and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?
Sons of the Mellow Mafia: Both. As a listener, sometimes I like using music as a rallying cry while other times I want an escape, and as a musician, I like providing people with the same options. Instrumental music can often do both at the same time. If you look at the protest songs of the 20th century, they often have an explicit message in their lyrics, but with instrumental music, you can convey an idea that has no one right interpretation. Some of the tunes on this record were inspired by socio-political events of recent years, but they can be listened to without knowing the source of the idea.
- Do you feel the rewards of your musical career match the energy and passion you invest in it, or are there different kinds of fulfillment youโre still seeking?
Sons of the Mellow Mafia: Over the long haul, Iโd say probably yes โ there have been times when Iโve felt like I couldnโt buy a gig, or that no matter how hard I worked to try and come up with something, I couldnโt, but there have also been times when inspiration came unexpectedly, or when an opportunity came up when I wasnโt looking for it. Having been playing music for over 40 years, most of that time professionally, Iโve realized that one bad gig or one creative dry spell isnโt the end of the world. Also, if I didnโt struggle from time to time, the successes wouldnโt be as impactful. As for fulfillment that I might still be seeking, itโs kind of a moving target โ what I want from music at age 50 isnโt the same as what I wanted at age 15, and what I want in 10 or 20 years probably wonโt be the same as what I want now. When I was 15, I imagined groupies swarming me before, during and after the show. Now, Iโm happy when the venue has an easy load-in.
- Can you walk us through your creative process? From the first spark of an idea to the finished track, whatโs the most essential part of your process, and how do collaboration or external influences shape your work?
Sons of the Mellow Mafia: It varies. Sometimes a musical idea just pops into my head โ โSeafarerโ and โBuck Jonesโ were like that โ and the creative process then becomes about fleshing it out. Then sometimes Iโll sit with an instrument and play whatever comes out, and ideas can be born that way. โOctober 9thโ was written on that day in 2023, two days after war in Gaza broke out, and it also happened to be John Lennonโs birthday. I sat at the piano and tried to imagine how Lennon might feel about the current state of the world, and after messing around with some ideas, the tune started to take shape. In the summer of 2022, after Roe vs. Wade was overturned, I sat at the piano and started playing a series of opaque, ambiguous sounding chords, and that become โInflection Point.โ Earlier that year, Iโd written โAgent of Changeโ as a way of processing the Uvalde school shooting. It had been over 20 years since Iโd written a ballad in a minor key (too depressing) and the Uvalde shooting seemed to be an event that called for a minor key ballad. (Although I still donโt want people to slash their wrists when they listen to it โ maybe just to think about whether the 2nd amendment is still worth it.)
- Whatโs been the most challenging hurdle in either your personal life or music career, and how has it shaped you as an artist?
Sons of the Mellow Mafia: The biggest challenges for me have been the ongoing ones. Yeah, it sucks to lose out on a gig you really wanted or to have to deal with disrespectful management or obnoxious drunks at venues, but those are usually short term. For me the biggest challenge has been being flexible and open minded about how my relationship with music has changed over the years. Sometimes I get bummed out because I donโt feel as excited about music in general as I used to, but then I remind myself that Iโm experiencing it in new ways now, as a listener, writer and player, and I try to focus on how it feels now, not on how it used to feel. Some of the music I used to really enjoy doesnโt hit me in the same way now, but thereโs also a lot of stuff I didnโt get the first time I heard it that I now appreciate in a new way. Sometimes todayโs trash is tomorrowโs treasure (and vice-versa).
- On the flip side, what moment or achievement in your career so far has made you feel the proudest, and why? And letโs talk about your latest release and future plans.
Sons of the Mellow Mafia: The album isnโt perfect, but Iโm happy with how it came out; the other players and I all worked hard to get it sounding good, and I think itโs a good sketch of where I feel I am now as a person and as a musician. Career wise, I feel like I have a long record of having been a successful live performer on different instruments in different contexts, and Iโve also done a bunch of studio recordings before this one. Iโve done two under my own name, plus four with Outside Pedestrian, the instrumental jazz/rock trio that I founded with Anthony Fesmire (who mixed, mastered and co-produced the album). O.P. has just started writing material for their fifth album and I am also working on material that I hope will become the second Sons of the Mellow Mafia album.
SWAP Questions!
- With social media having a heavy impact on our lives and the music business in general, how do you handle criticism, haters, and/or naysayers in general? Is it something you pay attention to, or simply ignore?
Sons of the Mellow Mafia: At this point I tune out or laugh at haters; some people just have nothing better to do with their time but rain on parades, and the less brain power I give them, the better. Of course, thatโs easier said than done, but when I do get upset about something, I remind myself that somewhere someone is benefitting financially by my being upset and for all I know, that someone might be a bot, not a human. I think social media interactions are the modern-day version of gladiator arenas.
- Creative work in a studio or home environment, or interaction with a live audience? Which of these two options excites you most, and why?
Sons of the Mellow Mafia: Both have their benefits. I feel more personally fulfilled working in writing and recording, which is understandable since two of my favorite bands, the Beatles and Steely Dan, both stopped touring so they could spend more time on their albums. (Yes, Steely Dan has been touring for 30 years, but the albums they made in the late 70s after they became a studio band arguably laid the groundwork for the later demand for them as a live act). But live performance has enabled me to meet and spend time with some great people and travel to places I wouldnโt have otherwise been (I probably wouldnโt be able to find Dubai on a map if I hadnโt played a show there) and having to perform live without edits and connect with an audience has widened my perspective on how music communicates ideas and emotions.
- Do you think is it important for fans of your music to understand the real story and message driving each of your songs, or do you think everyone should be free to interpret your songs in their own personal way?
Sons of the Mellow Mafia: I think everyone should be free to interpret the music as they see fit. Yes, I have specific inspirations for some of the music and ideas that Iโm trying to convey, but if my music captures peoplesโ imaginations in ways other than I intended, I consider that to be a happy accident.
