Interview FaceMan

With Tim Tebow and the Broncos sitting out the Super Bowl this year, it’s safe to say the biggest local event going down this weekend is FaceMan’s Waltz, which will be taking over the Bluebird Theater Friday, Feb. 3.

The second annual Waltz will feature a plethora of local talent, including bands like The Outfit and The Knew among many others. The local lovefest will also serve as an album release show for the FaceMan’s second full-length, FeedingTime, which itself features plenty of special guests. Before the show, we talked to FaceMan about the new album, the second Waltz, and where the band is headed next.

The A.V. Club: What can you tell us about the new album?

FaceMan: The new album is called FeedingTime, and it is a 10-song, full-length album. We recorded over the last year, probably from March 2011 to January 2012. We recorded some of the songs with Bryan Feuchtinger at Uneven Studio in Denver, and we recorded a few songs with Evan Reeves at UI Studios in Boulder. All the songs are mixed and mastered by Randall Frazier, who’s the sound guy at the Walnut Room and pretty well known in the scene.

AVC: How is it different from your debut?

FM: This album is pretty different from our first record. Our first record was a little bit more of a folk record, and it only had us as a trio on it. This record’s probably leaning more into the rock category, and it’s definitely collaborative and a little bit more in-your-face, if you had to compare them.

We do have some high-profile people that we’re featuring on it including The Dirty Dozen Brass Band and the Rebirth Brass Band on two separate tracks. Then Scott McCormick on keys, Jeff Rady on pedal steel guitar, Kate Shoup is a backup vocalist; Medicine Man is our harmonica player. I think we just wanted to open it up to some of the people we’ve really enjoyed working with and kind of diversify the sound a little bit.

AVC: How did you get Rebirth and Dirty Dozen on those tracks?

FM: I wish it was a more exciting story, but it was literally just going off a hope that they would e-mail me back. I knew they were coming to town, and I just e-mailed them. I said, “Here’s what we’re looking for: We’d like to feature you guys on a record, and these are the songs we’re interested in having you play on. We can write the horn parts, or you guys can write them.” I hit send and, unbelievably, they both e-mailed back.

Dirty Dozen we got first, and I kind of used that as leverage to get Rebirth. And I think Rebirth was like, “Well, if Dirty Dozen did it, we’ll do it too.”

AVC: Did you end up writing the horn parts, or did they?

FM: It was a little bit of both. They were really busy, so we gave them an idea of what we’re looking for, and then they put their little twist to it. I would say it was collaborative. On the one track Rebirth’s on, we actually added some horns from Denver as well, just to get it bigger and add a few different notes. Those guys were really good—Kerry Walsh on trumpet, Doug Blease on tenor sax, and Steve Novotny on tuba. We didn’t have so much time with Rebirth, so we added some other horns, too. It’s sounding strong I think.

AVC: You just recently put out a video for “Need.” What can you tell us about that?

FM: Isn’t that fucking hilarious? Basically our drummer, Dean Hirschfield, he in a previous life was a busker, a street performer—so he toured around doing bucket drumming. He said he put himself through college doing it. He met all these crazy performers all around this world. One guy he befriended is named Lee Zimmerman, who’s a puppeteer from Los Angeles. So Dean said, “Hey, let’s see if Lee wants to do a puppet video for us.” We had no creative involvement in that. We said, “Here’s the song.” And that’s what he gave us, and we’re really freakin’ happy about it.

Need from FaceMan on Vimeo.

AVC: Did he also do the Etch A Sketch art in the video?

FM: Yeah! He’s an Etch A Sketch guy, too. It’s just sort of in line with what we try to do. We try to open up our projects as much as we can, just from a creative perspective. At this point we have a little bit of momentum, so it’s easier to get people involved.

AVC: Did you make any new visual accompaniments for the live show?

FM: Oh yeah, we’re going to have videos for all those [new] songs live.

AVC: Did you make them, or did you have other people make them?

FM: Both. We have a guy named Greg Raih who kind of does the videos now. He does them live. He’s got this really crazy computer program that lets him do really cool shit. It’s definitely an upgrade from what we had.

AVC: Organizing the Second Waltz, were you looking for all new bands to join you onstage, or did you want the same bands from last year?

FM: It’s a mix. I’d say it’s half and half. There wasn’t really any sort of specific thought from our side; we just asked people. People with availability and interest, we just kind of signed them up. But we got some really cool people there this year. I think the show’s gonna be pretty amazing.

AVC: Was this year any easier to put together having done it before?

FM: Not really. It’s still a ridiculous amount of work, just to coordinate schedules and stuff. But I don’t know, I think we’re a little bit more confident in where we’re trying to go from an organizational standpoint. I think it will be a little bit more streamlined this year. We’re shortening it up a little bit. We have DJ Cavem; he’s gonna be DJing at the end of the show so we can all kind of have a good time together, because last year it went right to the end.

AVC: So are you planning another jam session at the end?

FM: We are, but it’s gonna be a little more controlled.

AVC: Both Waltzes have been CD-release shows. Would the third one also be a CD-release show?

FM: Yeah, man. I think we started realizing that that could be a cool way to release a CD. We already have plans to start recording the third album, starting in March again. We’re just trying to move as fast as we can. When you’re in a project where there’s a lot of good energy surrounding it, you just wanna try to get as much stuff out as you can. And I think the music just gets better and better, because we know each other and we’ve grown together as a group.