GCoulda you tell us what it's like being from L.A.?
LA is a great city for music, like any other large city. Of course the downsides are things like traffic etc. but it is a wonderful place to create music, to hear music and experience great performances.
Could you name the members in Planet of Rhythm and the roles they play?
Doug Hafford (me): songwriter, singer, guitar
Greg Thomas: Producer Rhythm Guitar, Bass, backup vocals
Chad McKinsey: Producer, Drums, Guitar, backup vocals
Juliet Roberts: Lead and backup vocals (what a talent she is)
Elliott Jason: Lead Guitars
Jorge Orellana: Bass, Sax
Who inspired you guys to make electric blues rock music; is it something you guys just have in common?
The music comes from our love of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s style rockers. Of course much of that was inspired by earlier artists such as Robert Johnson, or Howlin’ Wolf etc. We love the simplicity mixed with great musical performances, overdriven guitars and a strong driving beat. That format is just hard to resist!
Can you tell us about your latest project?
We are currently working on a new record titled Watta You Gonna (as in What are you going to do now?) We have all 12 demos done and are just now starting to lay down the final tracks. As usual, there will be 12 tracks including 10 original tunes and two covers.
What is the normally creative process like?
I write the original songs and generally have a backlog of songs that fall somewhere in the spectrum from terrible to potentially good.
The producers and I choose a subset of the songs that show potential
We then create a demo in the studio for each song, changing arrangements, instrumentation, tones, tempo etc. as needed.
The demos are then built upon – replacing demo tracks with real tracks to bring the song to a more finished state
A great deal of collaboration goes on during this phase as each musician brings their own flavor to the song, approach etc. Everyone is responsible in some way for the final product.
Other instrumentation might be added at this point, such as pedal steel guitar, or saxophone etc.
Once all tracks are recorded, we work together to polish, mix and redo any troublesome areas and then create the masters for publication.
Probably much like any other band I’m sure.
Are their any musicians you’ll like to work with in the future?
My dream would be to work with Bonnie Raitt, but that will never happen. We can dream!
Are you guys going on tour any time soon; if so, can you give us some details?
we are primarily a studio band – but may have some performances coming once the new record is finished. Stay tuned!
Besides music, what are some other things you guys are into?
The group has varying interests but mostly around music. Our other singer, Juliet has a pet cow for example named lily lavender!
Any last remarks?
Thanks to all of our fans for listening, we love hearing from you!
http://www.porband.com/
