scott kesner: the person behind 1982Before I ever picked up an instrument, at 10, I'd become fascinated with session musicians. My best childhood friend was a sort of prodigy pianist with older siblings that had all these fabulous records hanging around that I wouldn't have heard otherwise: Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, John Martyn... I seemed to notice that John Giblin or Tony Levin were playing bass on practically every album we were listening to and I was always pouring over liner notes and saw that Pino Palladino was doing much the same and with every artist from Pete Townshend to Gary Numan to Julia Fordham and I became determined to become a coveted musician that could play anything with perfect precision and an identifiable sound.
|
So, in addition to taking jazz lessons, my practice was to learn every song off every album I had in my possession and by 17, I was professionally playing on recordings and was always happy to lend my bass to songs/ Movie and Television soundtracks and commercial spots written by others as well as supporting multiple bands as a sideman playing both fretted and fretless bass.
I always marvelled that people could write songs but never thought of writing my own until a long-time bandmate of mine asked why I didn't. So, I had a crack at it, trying to write songs on bass and that didn't work at all, so I started teaching myself keyboards and a month later I was writing songs and people seemed to really enjoy them when we would record them or play them live, so it very quickly became my favourite thing to do and I began writing songs in droves and never seemed to run out of ideas. I also had a background and love of writing which I could now apply as a lyricist to my songs.
Who are your influences?
Well, I think most people ask this question of the artist and intimate who they think you sound like. I was always a big fan of Simple Minds. I loved how they used atmosphere perfused with groove. It was a very unusual thing to hear but the way those elements worked together was incredibly original and highly-effective and I often found myself close to levitating on each listen.
I began developing a fascination for music that made you float. The Cocteau Twins had a more diaphanous and opaque approach resulting in some of the most gorgeous music I'd ever heard. Genesis writes some of the most beautiful and original music I'd ever heard and used all these sounds I became enamored with: Mellotron, Angelic Choirs, Organ Pedals, 12-string-guitars, bass played very melodically, and guitar lines that soared around the melody using a lot of pastoral shadings but also could take them into much heavier territories with the backbone of Phil Collins' discursive drumming. There was a whole lot of counterpoint going on and the songwriting and humour was magnificent. China Crisis is another favourite of mine. A completely inscrutable band that is virtually impossible to categorize. Their first two records are fusing ambient with afro-gypsy, implied funk and a bit of prog and avant-pop. And then, songwriters like Lennon/McCartney/ Difford/Tilbrook, Andy Partridge, Neil Finn, Paddy McAloon, Aimee Man, Kate Bush, Carole King, Bjork, the troika of Fleetwood Mac and a lot of 60's northern soul and R&B always dazzled my ears and body.
I also think that children's songs from programming like Sesame Street and The Electric Company written by Joe Raposo and Steve Zuckerman find their way into my subconscious because they were so well written and catchy that it's almost impossible to get them out of your head. And they had 100's of them.
Tell us about 1982
Absolutely inspired by Karl Wallinger who had left The Waterboys for a solo career and I thought it was a bit ironic that he called himself World Party as it was just him singing and playing all the instruments and occasionally having guest musicians supplanting his songs. I was doing much of the same, so thinking in a similar realm I came up with 1982 as I so much identified with the songwriting and sounds of that time and that during those times music was virtually limitless in terms of what came out. You'd have Thomas Dolby, The S.O.S. band The Stray Cats, Mtume, A Flock of Seagulls, Rick James, Soft Cell, and Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes played in a row. And despite the differences in style, the songwriting was magnificent and always left an indelible imprint. Then you had all your alternative music as well which was another treat to have access to all of these bands under the radar, approaching things a bit differently but I loved it all, especially the amount of versatility between all of the artists, regardless of their genre.
What are your interests?
I watch quite a lot of movies. I have a particular affinity for Danish, French and English films. Anders Thomas Jensen, Thomas Vinteberg, Lars von Trier, Claude Chabrol, François Ozo, Ken Loach, Mike Leigh all move me deep. I love just about everything that is done well and have a few cheap pleasures as well. I'm besotted with jewelry; mostly rings and necklaces from exotic places. I'm a bit of a sports enthusiast both as a player and as an observer. I also gravitate to wiffleball and ping-pong when its made available to me. I love conversations over coffee and friendship is paramount.
I enjoy teaching children with learning disabilities and sheer brilliance. I read quite a bit of everything. Mark Twain and Edgar Allen Poe will alway remain favourites. Canvassing art museums, shopping deluxe, learning esoteric things, absorbing to anorak level, playing music at absurd levels in the car, I'm obsessed with water, swimming, turquoise and anonymously traveling, moments of quiet and stillness, a gentle breeze that brushes my cheek, absurdist humour and mostly love which always puts sunshine in my stomach.
I always marvelled that people could write songs but never thought of writing my own until a long-time bandmate of mine asked why I didn't. So, I had a crack at it, trying to write songs on bass and that didn't work at all, so I started teaching myself keyboards and a month later I was writing songs and people seemed to really enjoy them when we would record them or play them live, so it very quickly became my favourite thing to do and I began writing songs in droves and never seemed to run out of ideas. I also had a background and love of writing which I could now apply as a lyricist to my songs.
Who are your influences?
Well, I think most people ask this question of the artist and intimate who they think you sound like. I was always a big fan of Simple Minds. I loved how they used atmosphere perfused with groove. It was a very unusual thing to hear but the way those elements worked together was incredibly original and highly-effective and I often found myself close to levitating on each listen.
I began developing a fascination for music that made you float. The Cocteau Twins had a more diaphanous and opaque approach resulting in some of the most gorgeous music I'd ever heard. Genesis writes some of the most beautiful and original music I'd ever heard and used all these sounds I became enamored with: Mellotron, Angelic Choirs, Organ Pedals, 12-string-guitars, bass played very melodically, and guitar lines that soared around the melody using a lot of pastoral shadings but also could take them into much heavier territories with the backbone of Phil Collins' discursive drumming. There was a whole lot of counterpoint going on and the songwriting and humour was magnificent. China Crisis is another favourite of mine. A completely inscrutable band that is virtually impossible to categorize. Their first two records are fusing ambient with afro-gypsy, implied funk and a bit of prog and avant-pop. And then, songwriters like Lennon/McCartney/ Difford/Tilbrook, Andy Partridge, Neil Finn, Paddy McAloon, Aimee Man, Kate Bush, Carole King, Bjork, the troika of Fleetwood Mac and a lot of 60's northern soul and R&B always dazzled my ears and body.
I also think that children's songs from programming like Sesame Street and The Electric Company written by Joe Raposo and Steve Zuckerman find their way into my subconscious because they were so well written and catchy that it's almost impossible to get them out of your head. And they had 100's of them.
Tell us about 1982
Absolutely inspired by Karl Wallinger who had left The Waterboys for a solo career and I thought it was a bit ironic that he called himself World Party as it was just him singing and playing all the instruments and occasionally having guest musicians supplanting his songs. I was doing much of the same, so thinking in a similar realm I came up with 1982 as I so much identified with the songwriting and sounds of that time and that during those times music was virtually limitless in terms of what came out. You'd have Thomas Dolby, The S.O.S. band The Stray Cats, Mtume, A Flock of Seagulls, Rick James, Soft Cell, and Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes played in a row. And despite the differences in style, the songwriting was magnificent and always left an indelible imprint. Then you had all your alternative music as well which was another treat to have access to all of these bands under the radar, approaching things a bit differently but I loved it all, especially the amount of versatility between all of the artists, regardless of their genre.
What are your interests?
I watch quite a lot of movies. I have a particular affinity for Danish, French and English films. Anders Thomas Jensen, Thomas Vinteberg, Lars von Trier, Claude Chabrol, François Ozo, Ken Loach, Mike Leigh all move me deep. I love just about everything that is done well and have a few cheap pleasures as well. I'm besotted with jewelry; mostly rings and necklaces from exotic places. I'm a bit of a sports enthusiast both as a player and as an observer. I also gravitate to wiffleball and ping-pong when its made available to me. I love conversations over coffee and friendship is paramount.
I enjoy teaching children with learning disabilities and sheer brilliance. I read quite a bit of everything. Mark Twain and Edgar Allen Poe will alway remain favourites. Canvassing art museums, shopping deluxe, learning esoteric things, absorbing to anorak level, playing music at absurd levels in the car, I'm obsessed with water, swimming, turquoise and anonymously traveling, moments of quiet and stillness, a gentle breeze that brushes my cheek, absurdist humour and mostly love which always puts sunshine in my stomach.