Robert Walter's “Or Else” and “Franklin” are the first two tracks in his ‘Better Feathers’ series, in which the keyboardist drops a new "digital 45" every month from now through October. Written and recorded entirely at home during quarantine in 2020 and 2021, Robert immersed himself in the writing and recording process as a way to remain creative and fend off boredom while faced with a year of no live shows. In his own words, "it was time to shift gears and think of the situation as a positive and not a negative; an unexpected abundance of time to emerge with something of value." The title 'Better Feathers' comes from the idea of birds molting—shedding their old, worn out feathers for new, better ones.
"The music is influenced by the methods. In the absence of working with a group, the focus turned to overdubbing layers of sound. Inspirations were found by digging into late 70s NYC dance music, dub reggae, archaic blues, Krautrock, jazz and funk," explains Walter. "Rather than making the more obvious quiet, introspective music, the focus instead turned to my personal nostalgia for sweaty bars and crowded dance floors. Somewhere during the process, tracks began floating back and forth to friends like Stanton Moore (Galactic), Craig Brodhead (Turkuaz), Chris Stillwell (The Greyboy Allstars), Jake Najor, John Kimock and Mike Gordon (Phish) to add their own parts remotely."
"Or Else," the first track in the series features Robert Walter's frequent collaborator, New Orleans drummer Stanton Moore and Turkuaz guitarist Craig Brodhead. "It was influenced by early '80s dance records by artists like Grace Jones and Le Chic," adds Walter. "The melody was conceived in the spirit of the dub melodica explorations of Augustus Pablo—pure tropical funk and summer vibes. It was the first tune I wrote for the sessions."
The "b-side" of "Or Else" is "Franklin" named after Walter's elementary school and his memories of those days. Once again Stanton Moore joins on drums, adding an especially spare and funky beat. "There was a certain time during the mid-‘70s where it seemed like everything in pop culture was funky. Saturday morning cartoons, television commercials and most of the music on the radio had absorbed (and sometimes bastardized) the sounds of James Brown, Sly Stone and the Jackson 5,” says Walter. "It’s an attempt to do the Bernie Worrell trick of overdubbing lots of different keyboards that all snake in and out of each other’s way in just the nick of time."
credits
released June 30, 2021
Robert Walter - Keys
Craig Brodhead - Guitar
Stanton Moore - Drums
A founding member of the seminal groove band The Greyboy Allstars, organ, keyboard and synth sharp-shooter Robert Walter splits his time between his own 20th Congress, Greyboy, and a robust film soundtrack career in Los Angeles.
supported by 4 fans who also own “Or Else / Franklin”
Steven & Band:
I purchased this as a early 61st Bday present to myself! I hope to get you all to sign the LP cover someday ..☮️🙏🏼🕉
Rick aka Eric aka Ben’s brother 😉 ep_in_kc_mo
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