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<\/p>\nBy James Currie<\/p>\n
Chicago based musician, Jamie Dull has a lot of irons in the fire and really stirring the pot in the Chicago music scene. He recently recorded a new album with Whitesnake guitarist Joel Hoekstra providing guest lead guitar solos, teaching drums at Chicago and Oak Park’s School of Rock as well as touring and recording with several bands like Stampy, Smoker, The Blind Staggers and a handful of others.<\/p>\n
Electric Villains is his latest project. It\u2019s something completely different from other things he\u2019s done in the past. It\u2019s an electric\/digital drum record with live instruments. The debut album is titled, Ether Fever and is completely self recorded and produced at home with the assistance of Hoekstra, a few\u00a0other special guests and a MacBook.<\/p>\n
We sat down and talked with Jamie about the new record and its process as well as trying to survive in Chicago and the surrounding music industry.<\/p>\n
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James Currie (In The Loop Magazine) <\/strong>So Jamie, thanks for taking the time to sit down with us and talk about all this great music you\u2019re creating. I know you\u2019re extremely busy with things lately and appreciate your time.<\/p>\n Jamie Dull: <\/strong>No problem man and thank you for the time.<\/p>\n JC: So tell us a little about this new album and collaboration you\u2019ve done. How did this come to be?<\/p>\n JD: Well, I\u2019ve lived in Chicago for about eight years now and in that time I\u2019ve found it really hard to make music. Just because you have to be able to exist here first before you can make music, and it\u2019s really expensive to do so. Making music and a living in Chicago has been really challenging for me, but I wanted to do something that would work around that and my schedule. So I end up making a lot of music by myself because of logistics and whatnot. I play a lot of different instruments so I can do several things. Making albums by myself is very easy, but not the best way to produce things. I like to make music with others because I feel like that\u2019s where I make the best music. Playing music to me is a very therapeutic thing that I need to stay on track of things and get through difficult times here.<\/p>\n In terms of this album specifically, I had never really fool around with electronic drums before. I\u2019m a drummer and normally play live, but this was something new I wanted to try. I\u2019ve recorded live drums before on other albums and live of course but this was something completely different.<\/p>\n JC: And this was something you did this year?<\/p>\n JD: Yeah, I didn\u2019t have my drums set up at a rehearsal place yet and didn\u2019t really have a place to record and I didn\u2019t have any money to go to a studio and record so this was the next alternative. So I was left to my own devices and a couple years ago I started recording with my laptop. I still have this old white MacBook from 2008. It has GarageBand on it. I had my iPhone as a mic and an app called, quick voice recorder. I\u2019d record off tracks and import them into GarageBand and build off of it from there. It sounded like shit, it was pretty poor, but I got my songs down and the job done enough to save. So that was my first experience with digital recording at home.<\/p>\n So fast forward to this past winter and I was getting the bug to record again. I remembered that GarageBand had all those percussion sounds and wondered what I could create with them. I mean, since I can\u2019t record (live) drums, I wondered if I could create something completely new. It all started with the second song on the album called, Centaurion. It was just a joke song, I mean it\u2019s about Centaurs (laughs) it was just for fun, but turned into something more. I wanted a sort of Mr. Bungle or Primus sound and just sort of fooled around with it and realized I had something.<\/p>\n JC: Where did you come up with the Centaur subject?<\/p>\n JD: Well my fianc\u00e9 has a shit load of books around the house and I just picked up one that was near me and it was one on Greek mythology. I opened it up and the first thing I saw was Centaurs, so I just went with that.<\/p>\n I fucked around with that subject and noddled on the guitar and before long I had a song that sounded pretty good. I played it for some friends and they all had a laugh and liked it too and thought, you know I might be on to something here.<\/p>\n Next thing I know, I just kept messing around with those loops and next thing I know I\u2019m like 5 songs in to something.<\/p>\n JC: So that just kind of took off on it\u2019s own then?<\/p>\n JD: Yeah, I just put these parameters on it that all the songs where just in the moment stuff where I just went with whatever was happening around me and went with it. Before long I realized I had like 9 or 10 songs and a full album of stuff. I wanted to have fun and keep working with this new medium.<\/p>\n JC: So how did you get Joel Hoekstra (Whitesnake guitarist) involved?<\/p>\n JD: I was siting on Facebook one morning and I saw a post from Joel Hoekstra. He\u2019s someone I had met a long time ago and sort of worked with and thought, I\u2019m going to reach out to him and see if he\u2019d be down with a collaboration or guest appearance. I had like 100% certainty he wouldn\u2019t have time or consider being a part of something like this, but, I don\u2019t know if you know Joel or not, but he is a really down to earth, super cool guy. He responded to my request in like an hour with a simple message that said, yeah I\u2019ll do it.<\/p>\n JC: WOW!<\/p>\n JD: I\u2019m pretty sure that\u2019s the moment that I like shit my pants (laughs). I dropped everything. I didn\u2019t even really have a song for him yet. So I realized I had to write something for him. Then once he got on board, I knew I had to do something with this. So we pushed it forward and that\u2019s what brings us to today.<\/p>\n JC: So how did you guys work together? How did that process go and how many songs did you do together?<\/p>\n JD:\u00a0Joel did just the one song called, Cosmic Hope. I sent him the track and he did the guitar solo for it. I like to have special guests on my work as much as possible. I\u2019ve been doing that for years. I love the idea of special collaborations, especially like what Queens of the Stone Age do. Josh (Homme) has that open door policy that really bring out some diverse and incredible music. I want to build up something like that. So Joel did a special guest appearance on the song providing an amazing guitar solo.<\/p>\n The recording process of the album was really weird. I remember that during that time frame my fianc\u00e9 got food poisoning. We were at home one day and she was just sick as a dog on the couch and I wanted to be around her so I was sitting there with my laptop and headphones. There\u2019s a song on there called, Brimstone. I remember being just frustrated and sad that I couldn\u2019t help her. I just sat there and the solo I played was one take. I just took all my sadness and anger that I couldn\u2019t help her out in that track.<\/p>\n JC: So that one is from the heart. I mean, it definitely developed into something more from a joke thing to something with real feeling and passion.<\/p>\n JD: Yeah for sure. It really all sort of took off from there with real meaning. I mean any time I make music it\u2019s for real. I just took that passion and emotion and recorded it down.<\/p>\n JC: So did you know Joel before being Facebook friends? How did you get him to agree to be a part of this?<\/p>\n JD: I had met Joel about ten years ago in Phoenix Arizona when I was living out there. He was at the time doing a traveling play called, Love Janis, which was with Big Brother and the Holding Company, Janis Joplin\u2019s old band. Well, a former bass player friend of mine named, Corey got connected with Joel and we went to the show. He got in contact with Joel and asked him if he wanted to come by our bands place and practice with us. He said yeah and so the first time I met him was at our bands rehearsal place. He showed up and we just jammed. I was on drums and he shredded guitar. It was great. We were nobodies and he was this already established famous guitarist that just came and hung out and jammed with this local band. What a great guy. That was like 2006 or 2007.<\/p>\n JC: So the relationship just kept going from there?<\/p>\n JD: Well, so I moved to Chicago right after that. We got asked to play this event where Joel happened to be also be playing. I talked to him again and let him know I was living here now. Since then we just kept in touch with messages, happy birthdays and what not. So when this moment appeared to be right, I just asked. We hadn\u2019t been like best friends or anything, but close enough to talk and keep up with things in life. I\u2019m hoping after this, things will foster into something more.<\/p>\n JC: It\u2019s pretty cool that someone at that level can still relate with other musicians starting out or struggling along with things. And it\u2019s cool that you can continue to keep, and build, that friendship throughout the years.<\/p>\n JD: Oh yeah. He is just so humble and nice. Once we got connected on Facebook and started chatting more about this project, he laid it out that he had just a specific time he could work on it. He said that he was going to be touring Europe and starting a new project and that there was a gap of time he had he could work on this.<\/p>\n It just blew me away that he was willing to give this nobody in Chicago time to do something like this, while doing all these other amazing things? He was so crazy nice.<\/p>\n He\u2019s at the level I dream about. I hope I\u2019m lucky enough to reach that level. It just proves to me that no matter what level you\u2019re at, you should just always be on the same level of the person your talking to. If you can do that, you\u2019re a good dude in the book of rock n roll.<\/p>\n JC: I agree and like the quote. That\u2019s all pretty amazing. So now that it\u2019s complete, where are you going with it?<\/p>\n JD: Well, you know what, that\u2019s the big question. Sometimes I have no idea.<\/p>\n JC: I mean, are you releasing it on iTunes? Vinyl? CD? Cassette? Website release?<\/p>\n JD: As of right now, it\u2019s just going to be a digital media release. In the past, I had recorded something and pressed it and put it out. But what I\u2019ve learned is that it\u2019s hard to get buzz around a band that already has a release out. It makes more sense to have something be coming out with a buzz. I want to release it digitally and see what happens. No band. No tour. No physical media. After I release a track or two, I\u2019m going to see what the reaction is and play it by ear. If people like it, of course I want to go on with it. I have a supergroup ready to play live if we get there.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been pretty interesting lately as another band I\u2019m in called, Stampy. We\u2019re making an album direct to tape with no computer or digital influence. So it\u2019s pretty wild seeing the differences in recording both. Gives me a new perspective for sure seeing the process from the two sides.<\/p>\n I\u2019m most likely going to release this exclusively through my website, SoundCloud and BandCamp. And another new service called, Orpheum. A great new company that has good returns and assistance to get into film and TV.<\/p>\n JC: So what did you know about making electronic music before hand?<\/p>\n JD: Doing this Electric Villain project really opened me up to that world. I never really had given any time or attention to electronic music before. I felt like I didn\u2019t understand it you know because I wasn\u2019t doing it or really listening to it. I wanted to get a solid understanding of it before giving it an opinion. So I felt like for me to truly get an honest opinion was to do it myself. I liked doing this, but I\u2019m a drummer. I need to physically make things happen with beats. So I think the next time I do something like this, I\u2019ll use a digital drum kit.<\/p>\n JC: So how was the actual process of making this album verse a live one in the studio?<\/p>\n JD: This was really hard. I don\u2019t like fine tuning digital drum beats or lining up things. If this were a real drum kit I could just bang it out, but this was a process. To sit there and move this kick drum beat 1\/64 note over is just a pain in the ass. I got so frustrated. But I absolutely want to proceed down this pass and do more.<\/p>\n JC: So going back to the beginning of all this, where did you get the name from?<\/p>\n JD: Oh man, I am really bad with coming up with band names. I mean, the heavy hearses? Are you fucking serious? I\u2019ve never been good with coming up with names and so I guess that fact that this is electronic music and all, that something needs to fit. For me, being a real drummer, it was kind of a slap in the face of drummers to make a record as a drummer, with no real live drums. So, I felt like a sort of villain. By calling it Electric Villain, it was almost like I was doing something I wasn\u2019t supposed to do. It was fun. Doing it makes me feel like I\u2019ve kind of tied (music experiences) all together\u2026 Plus, it was one of the few names I could find that wasn\u2019t already taken on Facebook or Twitter.<\/p>\n JC: I hear ya. I was a challenge for us here to come up with our name. Same deal, everything we liked, and we had at least 20 names on the list, was either taken by someone else now or in the past. It\u2019s tricky. But I actually love the name you came up with. It truly fits what you are doing and what it\u2019s about. Great job!<\/p>\n JD: Awesome, thanks man thanks. And the worst part is when you find a great name, and someone has it, but not using it. Pisses me off so bad.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve actually even expanded the name to include more than just a band name. I was thinking I could cross over into the comic book world too. I can see the whole picture. I don\u2019t think music always needs to be so goddamn serious. It can and should be fun. I mean don\u2019t get me wrong, there will always be a place for serious music and that\u2019s great, but sometimes you just gotta let go.<\/p>\n JC: So what are some of the other fun things on the record?<\/p>\n JD: Well, besides Centaurion, there\u2019s another song called, Cosmic Hope. The one with Joel. It\u2019s about extra terrestrial live. That\u2019s all I\u2019m asking. You know about space and aliens. The song after that is about zombies! (laughter). But then there is one called, I Still Have To Try. It\u2019s about me still struggling about music and making it. Should I keep going or retire from live music.<\/p>\n JC: Well you definitely have a direction in mind for this. I see it and dig it. I think others will too.<\/p>\n For more info about Jamie Dull, click here<\/a><\/p>\n For more info on Electric Villains and the debut release, Ether Fever, click here<\/a><\/p>\n![\"12697433_10153555630973661_6275339762295377079_o\"](\"https:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/12697433_10153555630973661_6275339762295377079_o.jpg\")
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