TYLER BRADLEY WALKER & MATT HEIM OF GONE TO COLOR
In delivering arguably one of the finest releases of the year, the formidable duo of Tyler Bradley Walker and Matt Heim as Gone To Color have produced a masterful record. Crafting a supreme fusion of instrumental works and electronica with an impeccable pedigree of vocalists, the Cincinnati natives have coalesced a wide array genres and lyricists into an exquisitely refined self-titled album.
The compositional finesse of the pair coupled with years of engineering and multi-instrumentalist experience, along with a highly curated and accomplished host of feature artists, makes for a prized winning partnership. To explain the thought process behind seeking guest performers and collaborators for the album in conceptual terms and how this impacted the shape of the record, Tyler and Matt clarify that “Before seeking performers, we first chose the songs for this record out of about 50-60 musical ideas that we had come up with over time. Channelling ideas through other musicians has a tendency to take you down roads you may not choose on your own and we find that interesting. Once the instrumentals took shape through collaboration, we thought deeply about each song and reached out to vocalists whose work we thought would complement the music. We think the final product reflects both their individual musical styles and ours.” The exploration of vocal-driven electro-acoustic soundscapes Gone To Color produce are as dynamic as they are interconnected. To understand in greater detail the specific methodology employed in uniting their sonic constructions and lyricism of others, Tyler and Matt elaborate by saying “We think there are undeniable connections between the music and the styles of the vocalists, and we purposefully sought out vocalists who would be a match for the music and the overall direction of the record. It was also crucial that our collaborators have the experience to navigate full instrumental textures. This is something that takes tremendous skill, so it really helps to have that level of experience on the table from these collaborators.”
That skill, experience and intuitive understanding Tyler and Matt were seeking from their collaborators is exemplified by the artists they chose to work with. The collaborators and featured vocalists reads like a who’s who with Martina Topley-Bird (Massive Attack and Tricky collaborator), Pat Sansone of Wilco, Richard Devine, Angus Andrew of Liars, Carson Cox of Merchandise, Ade Blackburn of Clinic, and Kurt Wagner of Lambchop.
Affirming the breadth of musical styles and the calibre of each artist they got to work with, Tyler and Matt state, “We’ve been very fortunate to work with a group of musicians that we’ve been fans of, and have inspired us, on this record. Pat Sansone, for instance, was brought in prior to the mix by our producer Brian Deck, who had just worked with Pat on another project, and he filled out a lot of needed guitar work along with some other instrumental contributions. He, along with the rest of the musicians who contributed, was given the freedom to explore and improvise ideas over our structures. The same could be said for the vocals. When we sent our instrumentals to them, we also sent ideas they could use, or they could create their own. It was up to them. We were familiar with all of our featured vocalists’ work and had a fairly good idea of how their work would pair with ours. Ade’s acidic voice and lyrical sensibilities, for example, was a perfect fit for Illusions. We knew we needed a versatile vocalist for the complex structure of the song, Suicide, and Angus has exactly the type of voice that song called for. Kurt often works seamlessly with acoustic instruments and electronics and we loved what he had done. Jessie and Carson had, again, natural musical connections, in our opinion, for the music we wrote. We knew Martina would crush it, because she has such incredibly versatile songwriting abilities. All are incredible artists.” It is this implicit trust Tyler and Matt had with those who they work with that allowed the interplay between the distinctive styles of those contributors to blend so effortlessly with their own sonic creations.
The true proficiency of the record is embedded in the orchestration of its instrumentation, both digital and analog, and the overall harmony between vocalists and production. It is the masterful execution of these fundamentals which create sonic textures so lush and fertile that the guitar licks and lyrics radiate from each track. In order to give each vocalist the sonic petri dish from which to impart their own signature sound, an auditory substrate must be provided and for Tyler and Matt that comes in the inherit form of electronica and dance rhythms. “There was a focus on real instruments which includes synths. We started the record at Soma Electronic Music Studios, which has an exceptional list of analog synthesizers, and we had access to our own tools as well. The diversity of analog synths definitely helped contribute to the overall sound. The Prophet 5 though, which makes several appearances, is certainly a unifying sonic staple.” This was what Tyler and Matt harnessed to best capture the aural atmosphere they were seeking to convey for their vocalists to build upon.
No record is however without its challenges and surprises. For Tyler and Matt what constituted as unexpected challenges conversely provided the greatest surprise. “The musical world is rather small when you consider musicians and vocalists who have a ton of experience and who also happen to be great songwriters. The challenge becomes finding these individuals and of course they also have to be interested in working with us. It can also be challenging to channel other ideas if there is a strong stylistic differentiation; but, we try to do our homework before we collaborate with someone. The amount of paperwork wasn’t very fun! Writing music is a constant battle. You go for so long down a creative path sometimes, whether working on a song, album, or career, and not every road works out. But, you keep working for that diamond in the rough. Finding musical moments you care about is always a pleasant surprise. You keep fighting in hopes that they reveal themselves.”
Tying the project together was producer Brian Deck of Grandaddy fame along with the additional engineering from John McEntire of seminal outfit Tortoise. With Brian sitting more on the alt rock side of the fence and John in the electronic realm, the stylistic dichotomy between the two, albeit unintentional, was the master stroke in fusing the eclectic genres and styles that feature throughout the record together to produce such a rich album. However as Tyler and Matt explain, “It all came about in a very organic and unexpected way. Brian initially agreed to work with us as a drummer during our first recording session at John’s studio. John was our engineer during that session, where we were recording mostly drums, bass, and taking advantage of a lot of the synths he had. We’d say both producers work seamlessly with acoustic and electronic material. We really hit it off with Brian during that session, and he eventually agreed to co-produce our record, to which he brought a lot of indie/alt rock influences. It was exciting to throw a boatload of electronic influences Brian’s way and see how we could shape the material. When starting the project, we never would have predicted that it would have turned out like it has. Like putting together the pieces of a sonic puzzle.” And with the bones of the record in place attention turned to the finer details such as the importance of track sequence and narrative of the album.
Explaining that significance Tyler and Matt articulate by saying that “It was important to let the dust settle after the vocal contributions but also to be able to hear the mixes. It was a traditional mix session but it’s not uncommon for us to be producing almost through final mixes. We didn’t consider an album order until we knew which tracks were going to make it onto the album, which was actually during the mixing phase. It was at that point that we put the record together in the most affective and effective musical form we thought possible. For us, it’s very much a concept album, though we understand that this doesn’t fit the historical narrative of a concept album.” And if the record is to be viewed as a concept album, extending beyond the boundaries of the musical landscape and crossing over into the field of visual media is befitting of such a collective and conceptual work. The creative disciplines of graphic design, photography and film making each feature throughout the record in their respective ways. Most notably the striking artworks of Norwegian graphic designer Simen Røyseland whose typography is overlaid across Baltimore photographer Patrick Joust’s artwork. Acknowledging the influence of Wolfgang Weingart, the post-modern graphic designer who broke from the rigid international “Swiss” style, it was the artistic sensibilities of Joust and Røyseland that resonated so strongly with Gone To Color as Tyler and Matt go on to say. “The associated visual art is very important to us and we spend a lot of time considering it. We consider our music to be bold, and wanted to mirror that with appropriately strong artwork. Both Patrick and Simen are artists with powerful stylistic sensibilities.”
Completing the visual media trio and to compliment the warm textures and delicate vocals of Jessie Stein on The 606 video clip, it becomes more apparent how Tyler and Matt approach their craft in marrying the audio with the visual. “We reached out to Louis Dazy, whose photography is dreamy and we felt it matched our aesthetic. The concept is kind of surreal and mysterious, you know, someone running from something, but they don’t know what they are running from.”
It is through each medium that the completed work of Gone To Color has evolved. A concept record and for that matter any great record, always uses mixed media to its full potential and draws upon it from all four corners. This is evident throughout the record, its contributors, production, artistry and delivery. It is only fitting that the final word on Gone To Color and that of music in general comes from Tyler and Matt in response to the existential and philosophical question, what does music give you that nothing else does? “Everything.”
