CD Review of Homunculus's new CD, "Words"
By Matt Toledo - 5/3/2001
Homunculushas a new CD out entitled "Words" and if any of you know Homunculus' new bassist, Adam Schoen, you can see the humor in their choice of title. For those of you who don't, Schoen's trademark phrase for as long as I've known him has been "Word." "How's it going Adam?" His reply, "word!" and so on. Coincidence? Maybe?
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Trivia aside, Homunculus has put together a tasty CD chock full of hooks and urban influenced jam-grooves. A jazzy cross between Steely Dan and some of Incubus's mellower ballads, Word contains several tracks that deserve to be placed in every radio station's rotation. Tracks one and two have the best pop appeal. "Here and There" is damn near as perfect a pop song as you can get. Like wise, "Cocoon" features a deceptively simple bass melody that has the uncanny ability to burrow into your skull and make a home for itself. Tie in "Stargazing" and this CD makes my minimum 3 song requirement for possible purchase. However, the disk is not just about pop. There are several other tunes with substance on this disk that could find a home in the hearts of jam and jazz lovers everywhere.
The band formed in Indiana in the mid nineties and released 2 CD's prior to their current effort, "Words." Now based in Cincinnati, Homunculus tours regionally at clubs in Cincinnati, Athens, Columbus, Chicago and New York. The group has been together for years They've managed to play the Rock and Roll hall of fame, and had a song of theirs featured on a VH1 show, and even won a citywide battle of the bands contest for a major Cincinatti radio station.I recently had the opportunity to chat with Adam Schoen about their new release.
AMN:Where did you guys record the CD?
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Adam:We recorded it ourselves - me and Kevin in the band house - we did a couple piano tracks at Ben's mom's house on her nice ass piano - and cut a Rhodes part at Mikes Music on Short Vine here in Cincy... we did it all on the Roland VS-1680which is really portable
.AMN:What is the Roland VS-1680? Is it digital, 8 track, what?
Adam:It is a digital 16 track - hard disk recorder...
AMN:You guys play a lot of instruments, how did you fit your band on 16 tracks? Did you have to bounce all the drums on to two tracks before you recorded the rest of the band?
Adam:We bounced the three toms and overheads to two tracks - we bounced some vocals too - but since it's digital - there was no sound degradation. We really need a 24 track which they just came out with, but we made do. We recorded all the drums on separate tracks, then tracked some other stuff. We were able to use the virtual tracks - so after we had all our tracks down - we started to do the minimal bouncing we did. The virtual tracks allow you to have, like, 16 tracks on each 16 tracks - and then you can pick and mix and match the best takes and ideas... really great stuff. I love the machine and the album sounds really good I think. Jeff Redefer, my old audio professor at OU was blown by the quality which made me feel really good.
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AMN:Yes, the quality of the recording was exceptional. I had no idea it was self produced. Is "When Shelia Dances" still your favorite tune?
Adam:No, it's not my fave tune. But, I think it's one of the top three best mixed songs on the album, along with "Time In a Can" and "Wild West." My fave tune on the album is "Cocoon" and "Stargazing," ; but I am really happy with how the album came out. Of course, you are never really happy with everything when you do the recording - you always wanna go back and do more. I feel that way now having not touched the board and mixed the stuff for months, but overall, I think considering Kevin and I were learning how to use the machine at the same time we recorded the album, we did considerably well. If we were to do it again now, it would sound even better since the learning curve is gone. We did re-cut"Your Own Design" and "Stargazing." The versions on the album were cut several months after the other tracks... I wonder if there is a big sound difference?
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AMN:Cocoon and Stargazing are definitely the two most radio friendly songs on the CD. Have you guys gotten any airplay yet?
Adam:Yes, we are getting played on 97X WOXY (www.woxy.com) We won that 97Xposure contest and they have really helped us get the word out. They have a couple songs in rotations "Here and There" for sure, not sure what else. They played us on their Local Lixx show--talking about the band and hyping up the new album and played three or four songs off the album. It was really nice of them. Matt Sledge who is one of the DJ's down there came out to our CD release party at the Mad Frog and hung out with us--great guy. They also invited us to play down at Sawyer Point for Earthday - with the Ass Pony's and Cowboy Junkies and some other bands - it was a good time.
AMN:Are you enjoying the move to Cincy. Do you feel you are getting more accomplished there compared to your career in Athens?
Adam:Well, Cincinnati has a lot of doors. There are some bigger venues here then in Athens - including the downtown area of course. It's not really the area as much as the state of mind and band. The bands I played with in Athens were homeboy bands - yeah, we played in Columbus or Cincy - but mainly we played in Athens, worked hard and had a good time. In Homunculus - this is our job. I am not going to school anymore. My career is this band. That's the way it is for everyone in the band. Thus, to do that - you have to play a lot and open new markets etc... we make our living by playing live and selling our CD's and shirts etc... We have gathered a very nice following in Cincy - but also in Chicago and NY and Philly and things are starting to roll in Pittsburgh and Cleveland.
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After we played the rock and roll hall of fame we got some good vibes from the organizers and some positive feedback. It was a great experience and they want to have us back. The coordinator up there is a big fan of the band now. We are working on opening new markets and hoping that Athens can be one of those - we all really love playing there (especially me of course...) But it does seem a bit different there then when I was going to school there. But, you can't always have the same I guess - we are looking really forward to our shows in Athens coming up May 4th at the Union with ran. And June 2 at the Casa Cantina.
AMN:So are you officially in the hearts of the other band members yet, or are you still considered "The New Guy?"
Adam:I guess a town like Cincy allows you more press then Athens too - we just got a write-up in the Cincinnati post. The reviewer gave "Words" 3 1/2 out of fours stars - that's a great thing to have for our press stuff. We have also had some great reviews in the Village Voice in New York City. A bigger town is a bigger market. It lets you meet other bands that have connections you can swap.
AMN:Who writes a majority of the songs for the band? Is it a group effort or do certain members bring tapes to practice with their latest songs on them.
Adam:As Ben puts it - Ben, Kevin and I are the song concept people. Then the music is put through the "Homunculus meat grinder" where we arrange and rearrange parts to come up with a finished product. All the guys in the band are great writers.
AMN:Did you guys do the mastering for your CD too, or did you ship the tracks to a studio for the mastering?
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Adam:We won a free CD package from QCA down here in cincy when we won the 97Xposure contest. So, we worked out a deal with them and they did the mastering. Dave Davis did our stuff. He did a really good job.
AMN:What else has Dave Davis done? Any bands of note?
Adam:I am not sure of exact bands - I think he did Swim's album as well.
AMN:What was some of the sources of inspiration for the songs on the new disk?
Adam:Just music we like I guess. It's a very different album then the other two studio albums that came before it. The songs are more "song based" - very tightly structured and arranged - not as free as some of the other tunes on the other discs. We like to call it "subversive groove pop"
AMN:So a bad acid trip wasn't the inspiration for "Cocoon" and a mental journey out to Arizona wasn't the inspiration for "Stargazing" or anything like that?
Adam:Nope - Cocoon is pretty straight forward I think - Stargazing is kind of too - it's about what it says... dancing in your bathroom naked.
AMN:Is nudity what makes your music "subversive"? Seriously, what is the "subversive" element of Homunculus?
Adam:I think it's not being tied down to one genre....this album has something for everyone - and Pop can be a very bad word nowadays. So yes, it's pop - it's catchy - but there always some kind of element in each song that sets the songs apart from what most people would think pop music is. What the hell is pop anyway? That's the point - I think some of the songs on this disc are very radio friendly, but the ones I think would do well on the radio are different from what other people think ....Is that making sense
AMN:Your definition makes sense. I think that the term "pop" pretty much encompasses any song with a short, memorable hook. It also generally means any song that fits into the classic 3 to 4 minute song structure. You have pop elements but you combine them with other forms of music. It's a simple concept that a lot of other bands have tried to do in the past, not all have met your level of success though. What sort of bands do you feel most comfortable sharing the bill with? Your schizophrenic, transcendence of pop makes you fit well in just about any bill, but who do you prefer.
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Adam:Again, I was a fan of this band for three years before I joined up - I always loved the way the band went form one form of music to another and I still love that. I like bands that do what we do - switch it up a bit. We have played with reggae bands, ska bands, alternative bands, you name it. For some reason, it doesn't seem to be a problem, which is great. That's the most fun too, getting to see two totally different bands share a common audience.
AMN:You're going to hate this comparison, but your tunes remind me of some of Incubus' mellower tunes like "Antigravity Love Song" Do you guys like Incubus at all?
Adam:It's funny you say that cause Kevin told us that someone else made that comparison recently. I don't know much of Incubus except for that they went to high school with my cousin. I have heard some older tunes that were pretty heavy and some of the more recent ones that were mellow and l did enjoy the mellower stuff more.
AMN:Honestly, you are a mix between Big Ass Truck without the DJ, Incubus on a mellow day, and jam based acts like Schleigho or Peach Melba. Am I way off base with that comparison?
Adam:We do combine funk with some jazzy rock and some pop rock so I see the comparison. I would choose more Big Ass Truck, Steely Dan and the Talking Heads if I had to choose three - We have played with Schleigho. I have played with Peach Melba and Steve from Big Ass Truck sat in with my old band Hot Box Lunch.
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AMN:I see the David Byrne influence.. and the Steely Dan... I was trying to remember their name earlier when I was trying to make comparisons to your band. All I could remember about them was that Steely Dan was named after a marital aid (dildo). Now that is subversive! Anyhow, where can people buy your CD?
Adam:Right now people can only buy the CD's at our shows or on our website which is www.homunculture.com - we hope soon that it will be distributed semi nationally...AMN:So when are you getting married?Adam:No date yet - probably about a year and a half or so....
AMN:What is your "honey's" favorite song?
Adam:I'm not sure which one she likes the best...I will ask her when she gets home.
