Knol Tate is one of those guys that has been around the Twin Cities’ music scene for quite some time now.  The last decade and a half has found him involved with bands ranging from Killsadie to The Hidden Chord to Ela to Askeleton.  Most recently, he can be seen fronting Satellite Voices.  I recently had a chance to question him on the creative process behind the music.

Todd: Where have you been for the last year and a half or so?  It seems like you played a handful of shows with the release of The Personalization and then you just sort of disappeared.  What’s the status of Askeleton?

Knol Tate: After playing a few shows for the release of The Personalization we lost our drummer and a guitar player, (and) the 3 of us left in the Askeleton band couldn’t really decide what we wanted to do.  I just started working on a new record (and) came up with a handful of songs based sort of on the idea I had had for the first couple of Askeleton releases.  Just simple structures based on a few loops or samples, but this time I just sort of improvised my own sounds and treated them as samples.  Soon after Scott (SBJ) and Noah (Paster) came in with ideas for more guitar, keyboards, bass and drums parts for the songs.  Noah and I basically played all the drums on the project. Noah is a fine drummer and bass player, and would do takes all the way through songs.  I would play a few bars on the hi-hat and kick drum and loop them; then overdub snares, toms and random pots, pans and other non-traditional things for percussion.

[audio=http://borangutan.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Askeleton-Isolationist.mp3]

“Isolationsist” by: Askeleton

We finished up the record pretty quickly, but I’m still waiting on finishing the final mixes.  Someday when we can figure out how to do the songs live I’ll finish mixing it and we’ll play some shows.  The record, which we are calling Isolationist, is pretty much finished, but we want Askeleton to be a whole project ready to release a record, promote it, and work behind it the right way before it comes out.  Askeleton will always be a thing as long as I feel like doing it in some form or another.  With that said, there is no real pressure to do anything other than at the pace I (and we, when that applies) want to do it.

In the meantime, I became kind of sick of not playing shows and talked to some friends that I’ve been wanting to play music with for awhile about doing something new and sort of different.  It became this thing we are calling Satellite Voices.  It’s much more a democratic style of writing in this project – something I haven’t done in years.  It’s much less stressful to only have to write some lyrics, vocal melodies and some random little instrumental parts for my melodica and stylophone.  I’m also trying different vocal and lyrical approaches.  Singing in more of a baritone and trying not to use any personal pronouns (not always successful)… become even more detached than I am in Askeleton, if you can imagine that.

We’ve been playing some shows and planning on recording some singles soon, but are taking it like a new band should.  Working our way up and opening for people.  Not expecting too much – just taking it slow and steady.

Todd: Who’s in Satellite Voices?

KT: Well, I am.  Josh Syx (Swiss Army, Splinter Cells) plays guitar.  Elliot Manthey (One For The Team) plays drums.  Lee VanLith (A Whisper In The Noise, So It Goes) plays keyboard and Travis Collins (Spirit Of 76’) plays bass.  We all sing.

Todd: You released The Personalization strictly on vinyl and as an MP3 download.  What was the reasoning to forgo the CD format?  In hindsight, how do you feel about the record?

[audio=http://borangutan.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Askeleton-InTheBasementWeAllThinkTheSame.mp3]

“In The Basement We All Think The Same” by: Askeleton

KT: Compact Discs are disposable little things good for burning rough mixes or backing up little bits of data.  Nothing to make or distribute art on.  The 12″ vinyl LP, and any kind of vinyl really, just seems more like a medium for art to me.  You can have beautiful big cover art.  Analog in that medium sounds great when done right.  You can hang it on a wall as well as enjoy it in your ears.  I just hate the CD.  Not a big fan of the MP3 either but that’s just reality of music right now and pretty convenient.  As I see it, either have the quickest and easiest way of enjoying music or have a real piece of art you can hang on to and appreciate for what it is.  How many CDs does someone have all over the floor of their car?  I’m hoping to never have to put out a CD again. I feel great about The Personalization.  I had stenciled all the covers and we really tried to make a record special again.  I think it is.

Todd: You chronicled the making of The Personalization on your MySpace blogs “Making a Record.”  One of the most interesting aspects was your intention to “go back to basics” and record basic tracks on a 4-track.  What did you learn from this process?  What worked?  What didn’t?

KT: Working on the 4-track cassette recorder for some of the basic tracking (stereo drums, bass and rhythm guitar) was a blast as well as a blast from the past.  I started, like most kids, recording on a four-track.  We used many expensive microphones, mic preamps and many, many, many takes to get the sound right, but it made recording really fun again.  The sound of tape compression is something people always miss when going digital, but the sound of tape compression on a little 1/8″ tape (or whatever the dimensions of a cassette are) really doesn’t seem to make much difference.  It’s more just having to rethink the way you go about getting sounds and working with limitations (that) can make you more creative.

We overdubbed everything we couldn’t do on 4-track in the digital realm and also mixed that way.  I wanted to be able to use the best of both worlds.  It’s not easy for me to record my vocals in the old analog way of rewinding the damn tape over and over again, but it really worked for the base of the record.  The 4-track stuff recorded in my old basement really made everyone that worked on the record kind of feel young again.

I like to try to go into the making of every Askeleton record in a different way and that was just another way of making something different and creative.

Todd: Askeleton obviously went from a one man band situation to a much more collaborative effort.  How has your approach to songwriting changed over the years?  What do you think makes a “good” song?

KT: Well, first off, I’m not even sure what makes a song at all let alone a good song.  But I still come up with the basics for just about every Askeleton song.  With the last record I wrote all the songs as little ditties in a more traditional singer/songwriter style and everyone in the band kind of helped arrange the songs and their parts.  With the newest record I just built on improvised ideas and built up from there.  There were a few songs where either Scott or Noah had a chord structure or riff or two, and we built up (those) the same way.

Todd: Does the music or lyrics come first?  Do you spend a lot of time rewriting songs or do you find the first ideas are usually the best?

KT: I am constantly writing lyrics or poetry.  I write at least 7 poems or what have you a week.  I’m always writing down or text messaging myself a few lines or at least an idea.  When it comes to time to get lyrics for some music we are working on I just go through all the stuff I’ve written and sort of find something that fits what we’ve been working on and then I edit the lyrics around that.  Sometimes I take a long time to edit down the phrases or syllables, but sometimes it just comes easy.

Todd: You’ve got your own studio and have recorded the majority of your own releases.  Have you had any formal training as an audio engineer or are you strictly self-taught?

KT: I don’t own my own recording studio anymore.  I just couldn’t afford the space.  I still have gear at home and do some recording of full bands there, but mostly rent out other people’s studio to do work I can’t do at home.  It just isn’t economical for me to run a full blown recording studio myself anymore when a lot of people are doing what I’ve been doing for years and recording their own records at home.  I’m very much for that and I’ve been working on mixing a lot of projects that people have recorded themselves.  I have a pretty good ear for what are the strong parts in songs and focusing on that and ducking some of the limitations in the recordings or just finding a way for the bad parts to sound cool and original.  I’m open to working with anyone on anything.  I like the art of recording, a lot.

I’ve been recording, starting on a little 4-track, for about 25 years.  I tried to go to college for recording but when I read ahead I didn’t read anything I didn’t know and dropped out after a month to just do it myself.  I had a really good mentor when I started working digitally who helped a ton when I had any questions, but I also just dove head first into digital the same way I did analog.

Todd: Any advice for a recording enthusiast?

KT: I don’t think I’d have any advice for people into recording other than the generic statements like “don’t be afraid to try anything” and maybe “never be afraid to ask questions”…  That’s always the best way to learn.

Todd: I know the term “producer” is pretty broad, but who are some of the recent bands you’ve worked with?

KT: I’m mixing the long awaited record for local indie band Communist Daughter right now as well as slowly tracking a record for a friend’s fun, kind of punk band called Badgermen.  I haven’t been doing a ton of work with bands lately.  Life gets in the way of work sometimes.

Todd: What do you think you’re able to bring to a band’s recording?

KT: I basically just try to make a band sound a little bigger than they are live.  Try to capture the energy and other generic terms engineers use, but add a little something extra.  More microphones maybe? (laughs)  I just like to find whatever is most unique about a band or artist and enhance that, (and) also make the drums sound unique as well.  I really have a thing for recording drums – not always making them sound huge or what have you, but different.

Todd: I agree with about your unique drum sounds, in-fact that’s something I always notice about your records.  Do you usually cut the drums to a click track or do you record them “live” playing off each other?

KT: It all depends on who’s playing the drums.  With Askeleton we always play to a click, but I think all the other drummers I’ve recorded have always played to at least one other member of the band.  Got to get the feel of the song – sometimes to a click, sometimes not.  I like when bands play altogether in one room, but it can’t always work out like that.  (Sometimes) you really want to clean up one instrument, but there is too much bleed into another microphone to do so.

Todd: While on the subject of drums, what’s the most unusual place you’ve recorded drums to get a unique sound?

KT: Other than my old basement onto 4-track I haven’t really recorded drums in any place too unusual… Mostly just recording studios or small rooms in my house.  I like to get the feel of a room into a recording and try to choose studios or spaces where it just sounds, you know, cool.  I like to do a pretty normal set up of mic-ing drums in a typical way, but always use more than a few room mics – close and far from the kit if I have enough channels.  I like to put mics on the beater side of the kick along with in front and in the drums… or under the drummer’s throne.  Maybe put a stereo pair closely behind the drummer to get some of that “drummer perspective.”  Lately I’ve been trying to get more of a close sound with drums so I’m using small rooms and really making some parts of the kit dead and other parts really live, then just going nuts in the mixing with parallel compression and weird effects.

Todd: What’s some of your favorite odd-ball percussion embellishments?

KT: I don’t know if I’ve used too many odd-ball percussion [instruments] in songs.  I realized the other day that at least something like 95% of all Askeleton songs have a tambourine in them.  I used to try and get other things to sound more like traditional percussion, like having a handful of coins used as a shaker or hitting a tin pan on every snare hit to oddly brighten it up and then do the same thing with something like a big pot to get a lower tone in there as well.  I’ve banged banjo skins with drum sticks or radiators.  Whatever I see when tracking I try to make some kind of noise with it.

Todd: Who are some producers that you would cite as influences?

KT: I don’t know if there are many producers or engineers I could really name as influences, maybe more just certain records I like the sounds of.  I guess a few big names would be Nick Lowe, Brian Eno, Tony Visconti, Peter Katis, Bob Ezrin, Glyn and Andy Johns and I’m sure many more.  But like I said, it’s more just the sounds of certain records that have influenced me more than just one or two people behind the board.  It’s the magic of everyone involved in a record that makes it sound cool.

Todd: What have been your latest musical obsessions?  Anybody in particular that’s got your interest piqued – local or otherwise?

KT: There are a lot of good bands in the Twin Cities and surrounding area.  If I named any I would feel stupid about ones I would surely forget.  I see lots of local bands working live sound at a nightclub and there sure are a lot of really talented people playing here right now.  I’m always catching up on music that I haven’t heard before and really couldn’t tell you many national or international, for that matter, bands that are newer that I know of.  I don’t listen to the radio.  I don’t read blogs about what’s hip.

Todd: What nightclub do you work sound at?

KT: I’m working at the 501 Club and sometimes at our sister club the 331.  I’ve become good pals with the owners and most the staff, so it’s a pretty good job to have.  I’m not big on doing live sound, but sometimes it can be a real blast and I get to see lots of bands I normally wouldn’t.  Live sounds can also be much more of a challenge than recording for me.  It’s much more immediate than recording and if you screw up live you can at least try and fix it quicker, but it can be far more stressful for me.

Todd: Finally, what’s next for Satellite Voices?  I know you mentioned recording a couple singles and starting small.  When can we expect something to be released?

KT: It’s still so new that I don’t know how we will proceed.  We have booked a little studio time to start work on basic tracking on what for now will be well-made demos, but maybe they’ll turn into something.  What I would like to do is release a couple what I was calling 4-sided 7-inches.  Have 2 songs on 7″ vinyl and the record comes with a download code to get those two songs and two more digitally.  Maybe release the first 12 songs we write that way.  We have no plans for a proper release yet.  Just taking it as it comes.

Todd: How have the first couple shows been?

KT: The shows have been good.  It’s pretty fun to play these songs with the line-up we have.  Everyone in the band is a really great person and I love spending time with them whether playing music or not.  I really invested in some gear to be able to play different instruments than I’ve played before.  My pedal board I have just to run the melodica microphone and the stylophone the correct way though reverbs and some other stomp boxes and effects are 4 times the size of my guitar one. It’s kind of stupid, but really fun!

I want to try and get some other instruments to use in this band I haven’t used before as well.  Still thinking on that.  It’s also been fun trying to come up with a new persona for this band other than the Knol Tate/Askeleton guy one.  Also still kind of working on that.

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More info:

Askeleton
http://www.askeleton.net/
http://www.myspace.com/askeleton

Satellite Voices
http://satellitevoices.tumblr.com/
http://www.myspace.com/satellitevoices

“Knol Tate” photo by Andrew Cahak

Editor’s Note: Todd Millenacker performs in local electronic band Avenpitch and writes about the TC Electropunk music scene in Minnesota. He can be contacted at avenpitch[at]avenpitch[dot]com.

posted January 18th, 2010 at 6:30 pm MN Rock Askeleton, Knol Tate, Satellite Voices