Lately, everybody has been talking about how cool it is to stay in Oklahoma and do something awesome, instead of moving away and doing awesome things elsewhere. Lauren took it a step farther. She moved to Oklahoma and decided to make it cooler just by being here. Then she opened Sonder Music, which is pretty cool, too.

Where are you from?
I was born back East in New Jersey and spent my childhood in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Some people think I’m from Boston because I did my undergraduate there.

What do you do?
I run the music/dance/art school Sonder Music, Dance & Art in Norman. We’re on Gray Street, which is a little lonely sometimes, but luckily Gray Owl Coffee just moved in next door!

We opened one year ago as Sonder Music, but the scope quickly expanded to a comprehensive arts school/multipurpose arts space. We’re now offering world dance classes for kids and adults, art classes for kids, as well as music lessons and classes. We have a lot of events too, including concerts and art openings.

Who or what do you use for inspiration?
Other people. I see all the cool things that people around me can do and I try to create programs that support them.

What artists do you respect right now?
I respect lots of artists, but in terms of community arts leadership in Norman, I especially respect Christian Pitt who runs Mainsite Gallery and is a vital force behind the 2nd Friday Circuit of Art, and Marc Jensen, who created the Oklahoma Composer Association (http://oklahomacomposers.org) that has spawned a really cool series of concerts held in our space. They feature different composers and songwriters and the audience gets to ask the composers questions about their music.

What are you sick of?
Negativity. Most people around me are really positive, so negativity catches me by surprise and brings me down.

What music are you listening to recently?
My friend Allie made me a mix of hip-hop tracks that contained piano, keyboard, or organ samples and called it “The Keys of Hip Hop.”

What is your first creative memory?
I think that would be my imaginary friends when I was a kid. There were lots of them!

What is your favorite food/drank spot in Norman?
The Earth Cafe and Deli on campus corner. And Gray Owl Coffee!

Anything else?
I love Norman! It’s the coolest town ever.

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Ten years ago the design scene in Oklahoma was somewhat bleak. Heck, four years ago, when I was a sophomore beginning my design classes, we were told to look to Dallas and Austin if we wanted to stay close to home and actually get a graphic design job. Want a paid design internship in the city? Nope. Nope.

Today is a different story thanks to fresh creatives who are choosing to stay in Oklahoma and cultivate something great. Foundry Collective gives me hope for the Oklahoma design state of affairs. Please check out their website, blog, and Twitter and marvel at their raw talent and impeccable style.

What is Foundry Collective?
An excuse for neither one of us to have a 9-5…

For the sake of public relations though, Foundry Collective is the collaboration between Scott Hill and Paul Wilkes for making pretty things. We bottom line it at making great and beautiful work that functions well. We’ve worked together on anything from campaigns to print pieces to photographs to events. We have a quite the passion for the film and music industry that shows through in a lot of our portfolio.

How long has Foundry Collective been around?
That’s a tough question…

It probably started in Intro to Ad/Design our sophomore year of college…or in 2007 at the Non’s release of Paper City when we joked about starting a business…or a year ago when we started working together on a bunch of projects…or 2010 when we just up and incorporated because we were working together full time on a number of contracts. We kicked it all off with the release of The Non’s sophomore album, Tadaima in January.

Do you have a favorite project that you have done so far?
It has to be a tie between two projects we’re currently working on, both campaigns. We’re working on an extensive campaign for Buffalofitz’s upcoming EP release of “The Belle of St. Louis” that includes a website, photography, release shows, album artwork, and the whole works to have a great album release. You can see the beginnings of it at www.belleofstlouis.com. The other is a custom campaign for Parsons Construction to help get the word out about the gorgeous work they do. We’re working on a documentary about his work with local cinematographer Andrew Patterson, new site, a line of shirts, and a number of other collateral pieces.

You know you’re in a cool line of work when you get really stoked for meetings because each meeting brings something new and exciting to the table.

What is your take on design in Oklahoma and Oklahoma in general?
We’re really excited about the state of Oklahoma’s creativity. I grew up in Dallas and Scott is from Tulsa. We both made the conscious decision to stay in Oklahoma. In doing so we also made the decision to contribute to the culture and life of Oklahoma by making things happen. At the end of the day it’s a bit of a mantra that we live by – Do. Cool. Stuff. Whether that’s throwing a music event this year or being a part of a festival or just creating things that people want to go to and be a part of. I was talking with another art director the other day and we had the conversation that if (Peter Drucker style) every business did their part to help the community around them then what a cool community we would have.

Oklahoma has a really great community and we’re excited to be a part of it. There’s this amazing feeling here that everyone is rooting for the success of the state and it’s culture. In all of my travels I haven’t seen that anywhere else. (that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist elsewhere but it’s prevalent here)

Dream Client?
Nickelback….a full rebrand. Seriously though, think about it. If we could somehow successfully make Nickelback cool….what couldn’t we do??

Advice for aspiring graphic designers/creatives?
Remember all those cool ideas that college classes cultivated? Find a way to translate those into the ‘real world’ and make them happen. Do whatever it takes. Don’t be afraid to be creative and don’t let anyone take that away from you.

For entrepreneurial creatives that jump off into self employment, don’t let it get you down. When you’re up it feels like you have the whole world and when you’re down it feels like you’ll never be up again. It’s a roller coaster of a ride but it’s worth every single minute of the experience. I’ve been on my own for 5 years now and it’s a killer place to be.

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Chris Harris started Nice People last year, and has been releasing free songs on a podcast that is available here. He has also been recording with a few of my favorite bands lately, and even described one of these unreleased recordings to me as one of the best albums he has ever heard. Looking forward to it.

When did Nice People start?

The concept came together last summer. I didn’t grow up with the internet. I was one of the last generations to finish high school without any exposure to the internet. Having seen both sides of the line between that old world and the new internet world, it’s easy to see how remarkable the new access is. But, it’s also ballooned our bubbles into something that’s not at all like what we traditionally think of as a “community”. I’m all for “shooting for the stars”… But, it’s these little “communities” that we live and exist in every day. And, I want to expose the fact that you can have a wildly successful and enriched life by embracing the community that surrounds you. Nice People is about helping artists to recognize that right here at home, there’s a community of people who appreciate creative work, and who will get behind locals.

The reality is, you can work your ass off, day after day, schmoozing the right people, and wearing the right clothes, and chasing trending genres, and you still won’t have any better chance of major label success or worldwide celebrity than the band who writes good songs and catches some very lucky breaks. Why not focus on the smaller community where your hard work pays off and your schmoozing is less of a charade and more like just being engaged in your community? If the big time success of the next level is in the cards for you, you’re certainly not gonna hurt your chances by being a better ambassador for your local scene.

So, with the idea of shrinking my world to something more manageable and personal, I decided that I needed to do something to facilitate local artists getting their music into the ears of listeners. I just wanted to make it something that would maybe be a rallying point for people who care about local music. But, I also wanted to do it as an example that you don’t have to wait around for big labels to notice you. If you want to be on a label that’s respected by your peers, then go and start a label and earn your peers’ respect.

What have you been involved with in the past?
My main gig is recording. I love making and listening to records. I operate Hook Echo Sound out of Studio B at Bell Labs. I’ve also done a lot of live sound work at various venues around town. I’ve done a few tours as a sound engineer for Starlight Mints and Evangelicals. I’m kind of “retired” from live sound, unless it’s a band or a tour that I’m really excited to work for. I’ve also organized the Locals Only Series of shows for the last several years. I don’t get to throw those parties as often as I’d like. But, it’s something that’s still very important to me. And, I organized a local music compilation CD to raise money for The American Red Cross in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. That project was called Sometimes… Everybody’s Local. Half of the bands on it are broken up now. That’s the downside to doing a local comp. The upside, is that we raised a lot of money to help with relief efforts down in the Gulf Coast.

Who have you worked with so far?
Well, we haven’t done any physical releases yet. So far, we’ve been trying to build a name for Nice People by releasing quality singles, from great local bands, for FREE. I wanted to put them on iTunes… But, iTunes won’t let you give away songs for free. So, we went around that little restriction by creating a podcast. Instead of uploading a podcast episode, we simply upload an mp3 single. So, not only can you get it for free… But, you can also subscribe to the podcast and get all of the singles delivered automatically to your iTunes library, when you log in.

The Nice People Podcast currently features singles from Gentle Ghost, Feel Spectres, and my band, Depth & Current. We had a limited edition Holiday Single this year, which was a killer cover of Do They Know It’s Christmas? by Jeff Richardson (Locust Avenue) and Steven Drozd (Flaming Lips). The reason that it was “limited” is because it costs a lot of money to license a cover song for distribution. I paid for 1000 copies. We reached 1000 downloads on Christmas night! It was a Christmas miracle!!

What are some of your goals for the future?
Well, we’ve got some exciting new FREE releases coming up for the podcast. We should have something from Early Beat & Electric Primadonnas. Student Film is putting the finishing touches on an EP that will be released one-song-per-day on the podcast. We’re pretty excited about that.

We’ve got some physical releases coming up as well. Gentle Ghost is preparing to record for a full-length vinyl LP release sometime in the Spring. Feel Spectres are close to wrapping up recording for their first full-length CD release. And, when Scott Twitchell gets back from his Alaska adventure, Depth & Current will be recording for a 7″ vinyl release and a slew of free singles for the podcast.

What are your thoughts on the Oklahoma (and specifically Norman) music scene/community?
I love it! It’s not as simple as a singular “scene”…. There are so many little sub-scenes around here. And, that’s ok. You shouldn’t feel pressured to like or support something just because it’s local. But, trust me, whatever you like or whatever want to support, there are some cool local people doing it. Go seek them out and BECOME a part of the community. It’s really that easy. Wanna be part of the scene? MAKE YOURSELF part of the scene. Make friends. Be Nice People.

The Norman scene, or at least the part that I seem tied to, is really great! It’s filled with really nice, creative, intelligent, artistic people. The scene here is encouraging and inspiring. It changes a lot with the University here in town. But, one thing that seems to always stay the same is the nice people.

Bands to keep an eye out for in the future?
Hmmmm… Most of my exposure comes from bands that I work with. Copperheads are a really cool new garage punk band from OKC. They’re young. But, they’ve got their heads on straight and they’re doing fun, cool stuff. Mickey Reece has got a new band in the works. Last I heard, they were gonna be called Gangstarr Museum or something like that. I think that The Mean Spirits are gonna end up surprising a lot of people. They seem to make huge progressions every time I see them. Trent’s working with a band called Deerpeople that I really love. There are a lot more. I could talk all day long about bands that excite me. And, if you meet me at a show, or someplace around town, I probably will!

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The wait is over, and it has been worth it. Nice People is releasing one song off of the brand new Student Film EP each day this week, starting tomorrow, on a podcast that is available here. That. Means. Free. Music.

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Listing out musicians that have recently recorded with Norman based Blackwatch Studios is pretty much the same thing as listing out my favorite local musicians. The amount of talent involved in their endeavors is a little bit humbling. I am, and will continue to be, excited to see what new work they produce.

Who and what is Blackwatch?
Blackwatch, officially, is a recording studio in downtown Norman, OK. If there was a mission statement for Blackwatch, it would probably go something like this… Blackwatch is a community of local artists. In our aim to help our local art scene be exciting and progressive, we strive to support and expose a wealth of local talent and create a community where collaboration and new ideas are always exploited.

What have you been involved with in the past?
We’ve been involved in lots of records… many local, many not. A list of our favorites would look something like this:

Ryan Lindsey (White Paper Beds)
Bishop Allen (The Broken String)
Jacob Abello (Nothing But Gold)
Sherree Chamberlain (The Wasp in the Room)
The NON (Tadaima)
Vandevander (The Great State of Emotion)
Chase Pagan (Bells and Whistles)
Umbrellas (Illuminare)
Dead Sea Choir (Thin One the Red One)
The Workweek (Untitled, Unreleased)
Brine Webb (Untitled, Unreleased)

When did Blackwatch get started and how has it progressed?
The creation of what is now Blackwatch was a slow evolution. The building was initially utilized as a rehearsal space for a few local bands. Over time, some of those bands were writing records and the space was a great spot to set up recording gear and get the job done on a low budget. One thing led to another and we started picking out small construction projects to do one at a time. Over the course of 2005-2007 we remodeled most of the building ourselves to the specifications that made it a comfortable and efficient creative environment to make records in.

In the early days the studio was super vibey, but also had lots of problems (leaks, little to no isolation between the control room and tracking room, and fluorescent lights that buzzed and had to be turned off everytime you hit record). Our main objective in the renovation process was not to lose the cool and comfortable vibe that makes you feel relaxed and creative while working. We’re quite pleased with the current blend of vibe and professional or commercial quality. The renovation definitely opened up the doors to a whole new clientele.

Why did you choose Norman, of all places?
The short answer would be, we all grew up and went to college here. It just happened to be the place where we lived when we started putting the studio together. That being said, I don’t think either of us would change the location right now even if we had the choice. We love our friends here and believe greatly in this surprisingly talented and creative midwestern music scene.

What exactly are your thoughts on the Oklahoma music and creative scene / community?
Being from Norman, the Flaming Lips have clearly paved the way for local artists to be optimistic about working on innovative and abstract art. Its cool that there is a conscious thought process among artists here to expose this music scene on a national level. Its exciting to think about any given local artist getting a big break and pulling others from this community in the the national spotlight… I don’t think its a stretch to think that way either.

Do you focus mostly on local artists or is there a wider spectrum than that?
We love working with local artists, but don’t focus on it exclusively. At the end of the day, I think we just want to be a part of the best music that we can be a part of… no matter where it comes from. I’d say about half of our business would be considered local.

Favorite Blackwatch project so far?
I don’t think we could list a favorite. We’re just really excited to be involved with lots of talented artists all the time.

Any future goals or projects in the works?
We are planning on doing some more renovation to Studio B this year. We recently bought another vintage yamaha console that is really gonna help make Studio B another very legitimate room. We just teamed up with News OK for their Static series. They shot a few segments at Blackwatch that will be airing within the next couple of months.

Is there anyone in Oklahoma that you would like to work with but haven’t had a chance to yet?
Yes. Mike Hosty.

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Todd Jackson (from Evangelicals and my favorite blog ever) just made my day with a copy of Brother Gruesome’s new cassette tape, released on LA label Slanty Shanty Records. Todd and Levi have recorded five awesome songs with a little help from local heartthrob, Penny Hill, who is also releasing a tape on the same label in March. You can pick up the tape at Guestroom Records.

Room for Rent

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Chicago boys Geronimo! dropped us a message to let us know about their upcoming show at the Soundpony on Monday. Not sure how they know who we are, but we figured we would pass the word along. And if you don’t already know, the Soundpony is a bar in Tulsa with a bicycle theme. That’s right, bicycles. Best. Bar. Ever.

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The Non has been causing quite a stir lately with all the hype for their new album Tadaima. I’m really diggin’ the new album art and the general direction these guys are going. Their mathy instrumentals are a welcomed sound in the local scene. Plus, it’s always nice to see something good come out of Edmond. You can download their debut album Paper City for free on their website for a limited time, and don’t forget to check out their two night album release party this weekend.

Where are you from?
Wil – I’m from Edmond, Oklahoma.
Tom – Oklahoma City, born and raised.

What do you do?
Wil – I’m a student at Oklahoma Christian but spend my time daydreaming about music.
Tom – Lots of music things and lots of airplane things. I love playing in the band and working on everything that entails, I love everything about it. I listen to huge amounts of music all the time, always finding new tunes from the past and present. I really can’t get away from it and would never want to. A life entails more then music, though. I’m a student at the University of Oklahoma and spend a good amount of my weeks flying airplanes out of Norman as a professional pilot major.

Who or what do you use for inspiration?
Wil – I guess I read a lot of literature, which always makes me question all of my convictions on everything. I think being unsettled as a person keeps me moving, and as long as I don’t get stuck in my thoughts, I think I’ll always be able to find inspiration.
Tom – Every day I wake up is one for inspiration—everything influences us, musically or otherwise. From the coffee in the morning to texture of your mattress at night, it can make you think or feel a certain way and that can have an impact on whatever it is you do. My biggest sources of inspiration are my mood and thoughts at any given moment. They can make you play a certain way and think about the music you’re making from completely different angles within a matter of minutes. It’s amazing. Of course I have to mention music as an inspiration; something is constantly spinning wherever I am and I am hugely impacted as a musician by what I listen to and think is cool.

What artists do you respect right now?
Wil – In Norman/Oklahoma City, I am obviously a huge fan of Evangelicals and Sethy McCarroll, both in Gentle Ghost and as a visual artist. I will always love Kunek/Other Lives/whatever the band featuring Jesse Tabish and his talented band mates.
Tom – My big time all stars are John Frusciante, Weather Report, Modest Mouse, Jethro Tull, Yes, The Mars Volta, Led Zeppelin, Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, and Charles Mingus, among others.

What are you sick of?
Wil – Christmas music. It’s enough to drive me out of Starbucks for a month, which is actually a good thing anyway. So that too, I’m sick of Starbucks and all the money I wish I never spent there.
Tom – Petty problems being abundantly voiced by those feeling the need to do so.

What music are you listening to recently?
Wil – I feel fairly unoriginal for loving Animal Collective’s “Fall Be Kind” but it really is pretty amazing. I fell asleep to it a few days ago and I swear I had visions of a tight-rope walker (Bleed), flashing neon shapes (On a Highway), and strange pyramid tunnels (I Think I Can). Really great. Also, I am obsessed with Kaki King’s “…Until We Felt Red.” She’s brilliant. Her chord progressions are impossible and she’s able to make guitar sounds that are unique in a musical world of constant reference to other bands.
Tom – I just got bought two Midlake records the other day and that’s what I’m binging on at the moment. They’re an astonishing band from Denton, if anyone doesn’t know who they are. I had never heard them before but now I know what I was missing. The top five CDs sitting in the stack in front of me are by The Sugarcubes, The Clash, Dan Deacon, Return to Forever, and Tortoise.

What is your first creative memory?
Wil – I’ve been drawing since forever. In elementary school, I used to draw these extremely elaborate drawings of Star Wars-esque soldiers or medieval knights and whatnot. For class in second grade, my friends and I drew this super-bloody mural of a medieval-era siege, complete with people cutting off heads and getting boiling liquid poured on them. I’ve always wondered what my teachers thought of stuff like that, it was pretty morbid. But awesome.
Tom – The farthest back I can recall is a family road-trip where, for some reason, I had a really old child’s keyboard, the kind where you can hit only one key at once. I figured out how to play that thing on the drive and had a great time. This would have been in the mid-nineties.

What is your favorite food/drank spot in Norman?
Wil – It’s really hard for me not to pick anything other than The Library. It’s great when it’s warm enough to sit outside there, and the Sunday $5 pizza is just about impossible to beat. The atmosphere’s a little irreverent and you always overhear some way-out-there conversations by what seem to be brain-fried physics professors or something and that’s always great for a little while.
Tom – Lot’s to choose from! If I had to pick, I would say I either The Greek House or Midway.

Anything else?
Wil – Thanks!
Tom – Check out our new website and our new album, Tadaima!

Video by Nathan Poppe.

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