Snarky Puppy | Interview | Members Bill Laurance and Michael League Releases ‘Where you Wish you Were’
Snarky Puppy members Bill Laurance and Michael League recently released a duo album, ‘Where you Wish you Were,’ out via ACT Music.
Snarky Puppy founder, multi-instrumentalist and Grammy winner Michael League and crossover piano icon Bill Laurance take us to an imaginary place full of beauty, peace and energy. Musical escapism, world jazz 2.0 and an invitation to a place where we wish to be.
It’s now nearly twenty years since Southern California-born bassist/multi-instrumentalist Michael League founded the globally acclaimed, Snarky Puppy. As for keyboardist Bill Laurance, originally from London, he has been a part of the globe-trotting adventure for nearly as long as League has. ‘Where you Wish you Were’ is their first duo album together, which feels at the same time like a logical development and also a surprise.
Michael League takes a very different role here from the one he does in Snarky Puppy. On ‘Where you Wish you Were,’ he can be heard mainly playing the oud and other acoustic stringed instruments. He takes the view that “we are so much more than the roles we play in the most popular band that we’re a part of.” And Bill Laurance adds: “It was only a matter of time before we’d make a record by ourselves. We’ve been close friends for 20 years now and we’ve worked together in so many different capacities – with Snarky Puppy, my own band, and in collaboration with other artists so it just felt like it was a natural thing to do.”
What’s particularly surprising, apart from the duo format with its reduced, concentrated approach, is the sonic and stylistic character of the music. Bill Laurance, who with his own projects and also with Snarky Puppy, often relies on a mixture of piano and a variety of synthesizers, orchestral arrangements and digital soundscapes. He focuses here entirely on the possibilities of an acoustic grand piano, which has been “prepared” with extra felt to dampen the strings. And Michael League, known elsewhere primarily as an electric bassist fired up by jazz and groove, plays mostly fretless stringed instruments of Mediterranean and far east origin here – first and foremost the oud, but also a specially constructed acoustic and electric guitar and a West African lute, the ngoni. All these instruments have the quality of being able to imitate the voice and offer microtonal possibilities which go way beyond the norms of western music.
“Performing and recording as a duo offers a special kind of freedom that relies on an open dialogue”
You have known each other for many years, what brought you together as a duo?
Bill Laurance: We’ve worked on so many different projects together in such a wide variety of contexts, I think it was only a matter of time before we ended up working together on a duo album. Initially we did a duo tour in Italy after the first lockdown, performing a combination of our own compositions and covers. It was a dream tour. No sound engineer or tour manager. We hired a car and made our way south. The tour was such a blast that it only seemed like the next logical thing to do was write music specifically for the duo and record a new album.
This is kind of like a new chapter, what was your creative process like working as a duo?
Having worked together for almost two decades, there’s a lot of trust there in following one another’s instinct. There’s also a freedom and simplicity that comes with working as a duo providing the perfect creative sounding board. We were able to write with each other in mind which is where I think the distinctive character of the record comes from. Given that there’s only two of us, the exchange of ideas was very fluid allowing us to identify the personality of the record comparatively quicker than when working in larger ensembles.
Can you share some further words about writing, recording and producing ‘Where you Wish you Were’?
The writing and co-writing process was really open. Some songs we wrote individually. Others, one would bring a melody or bassline and the other would write around it. The recurring theme in both the writing and the recording was ‘less is more’. In contrast to many of the other projects we’ve worked on together (Snarky Puppy / my own solo work) the instinct this time was to be more spare, to take things away and create more space. We wanted to hone in on the intimacy and fragility that performing as a duo allows. We also recorded at Mike’s home studio just outside Barcelona, Spain where the session was particularly relaxed and so I think the record ended up inheriting a patient and homely vibe.
Would you say this collaboration gave you the opportunity to express some ideas that you weren’t able to before?
Performing and recording as a duo offers a special kind of freedom that relies on an open dialogue. There were many sections within the songs where we are simply responding to one another at the moment. The duo provided an opportunity to fully explore this freedom in dialogue whilst allowing us to strip back the texture and focus in on the nuanced details of the composition and performance. A duo also allows you to explore a fuller dynamic range, which is particularly fun in the context of a live performance.
Michael mainly played oud and other acoustic stringed instruments, while Bill focuses on acoustic grand piano… Was it easy to find chemistry in this approach? Was there a particular mood you were trying to capture?
The chemistry was there straight away as we know each other’s playing so well and this allowed us to explore the more subtle details and what happens when you strip everything back. The composing was very concise with every compositional idea having a specific purpose. With no rhythm, horn or string section to hide behind, the compositions were inherently spare. We became interested in a quieter dynamic in which everything is more exposed.
We also wanted the record to feel live, with little post-production or overdubs in order to capture the purest representation of two musicians playing together live in a room. I think the instrumentation of oud / fretless acoustic bass with felted piano also instantly provides a distinctive character and flavour which set the tone of the album as soon as we began playing.
“To create a sound world of comfort and escapism”
What are some of the most important players that influenced your own style and what in particular did they employ in their playing that you liked?
Donny Hathaway for his soulful approach to playing and his ability to create so much music out of only a couple of chords. Herbie Hancock for his sense of phrasing and unique capacity to stretch outside of the diatonic scale. Bill Evans for his perfect touch andmagical approach to harmony. Oscar Petersen simply for the joy in his playing. Robert ”Sput” Searight for always thinking outside the box. Bernard Wright for being able to make the most complex idea sound so natural as if it was always meant to be.
And how would you describe a creating process in Snarky Puppy?
Generally a song is conceived before it’s brought to rehearsal, at which point we realise the composition as the composer intended. Then the band begins to apply their own interpretation, at which point the music takes on a new identity. There always seems to be a group consensus that allows the band to collectively find its new clothes for a composition and it’s this diplomacy, lack of ego and openness of the individual members that enables the songs to bloom and take on a new life beyond what the composer may have originally intended.
Let me take this opportunity to ask you about ‘Empire Central’ and ‘Immigrance’, the latest two releases by Snarky Puppy. Would love it if you can discuss the making of the albums.
‘Immigrance’ was recorded in instrumental sections, with an emphasis on post production and overdubs, tracking first rhythm section, then horns, then percussion, then overdubs.
The new album ‘Empire Central’ was recorded live in front of a studio audience (who were also on headphones) with the emphasis on everything happening as you hear it and no overdubs. Both sessions were over a couple of weeks of intense song learning and tracking. For ‘Empire Central,’ we spent about 7 days learning all the parts (which allows us to throw different parts around the band in rehearsal, and then recorded 14 shows in front of 14 audiences over 7 nights.
There’s something about the intensity of a Snarky Puppy recording session (learning 16 songs from scratch within a tiny window of time) that contributes to the energy and vitality of every recording we’ve ever done.
On that note, are you working on something new with the band as well?
I just released my new solo piano album ’Affinity’ last year and I’m currently mixing a new solo album featuring an 18 piece string section with piano and synthesisers due out later this year. For this next album, I made the conscious decision to write for strings and piano/synths only, so all the groove is coming from the strings and piano. I’m very excited to get it out into the world.
Let’s end this interview with some of your favourite albums. Have you found something new lately you would like to recommend to our readers?
Donny Hathaway – ’Live’
Stevie Wonder – ‘Innervisions’
Prince – ’Sign ‘O’ the Times’
Michael Jackson – ’Bad’
The Stone Roses – ’The Stone Roses’
Cannonball Adderley – ’Somethin’ Else’
Bill Evans – ’Everybody Digs Bill Evans’
More recent albums…
Domi and JD Beck – ‘NOT TiGHT’
The Smile – ’A Light For Attracting Attention’
MakayaMcKraven – ’In These Times’
Chick Corea with Christian McBride and Brian Blade – ’Trilogy 2′
James Blake – ’Friends That Break Your Heart’
Thank you. Last word is yours.
We recorded this album in lockdown in 2021 and looking back, at a time of such uncertainty, I think we were almost instinctively trying to create a sound world of comfort and escapism. Somewhere you could disappear too. Somewhere, where you wish you were.
Klemen Breznikar
Headline photo: Txus Garcia
Snarky Puppy Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
Bill Laurance Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Bandcamp / YouTube
Michael League Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
ACT Music Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Bandcamp / YouTube
