Sullivan’s Travels: Chris Sullivan releases his solo debut album

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Influenced by years of traveling and collaborating with local bands that include The Swells and Big Maracas, Lexington musician Chris Sullivan’s self-produced debut solo album, “Western Movies,” is a self-described “geographic travelogue” – and a glorious melting pot of genres and moods.

Sitting at Al’s Bar with Lexington musician Chris Sullivan on an inconspicuous Tuesday night, it is obvious this man has some fans. Smiles, head-nods, and handshakes constantly come his direction. Two passersby buy copies of Sullivan’s new album (and debut solo project), “Western Movies,” on the spot; another stops our conversation to tell Sullivan how much he enjoys the disc. The feedback is impressive considering he recorded and released the album with very little assistance and next to no promotion, and without either of the popular local bands with which he plays (Big Maracas and The Swells) – in fact, he played and recorded every last note himself.

“I had lots of songs kicking around, and it’s just the way it unfolded,” he explained, adding that while he loves collaborating, there was something compelling and freeing about working without a committee. “I was curious to see if I could do it by myself.”

The album was recorded after hours at Pinnacle Productions, a Main Street studio that functions during the day as an audio/video production studio for documentaries. Sullivan refers to the sprawling 15-song album, which was made using a combination of tape recorders and digital multi-track recorders, as a “geographical and musical travelogue.” With influences that range from spaghetti Westerns to acoustic folk blues, French cinema to Brazilian samba, it is clear that his global experiences have shaped the cinematic sounds that flow throughout the album.

Born in Arizona, Sullivan traveled throughout his early childhood. He spent many of his preschool years in Switzerland before moving to Spain, where he went to an international school and began taking guitar lessons at age 6. His teacher, a flamenco guitar virtuoso, taught Sullivan how to sing and play Spanish folk songs; the young guitarist was also heavily influenced by the Spanish troubadours serenading strangers on the street.

“That is what I want to do, but I’ve yet to get my cape,” he said.

When he was 8, his family moved to Kentucky, and Sullivan got his first gig in Lexington: delivering singing telegrams for $30 an hour. His mom drove him to the gigs, where he would regularly play The Who’s “Squeeze Box” (apparently, the entendre was largely overlooked). The job ended when he was 10, but he joked that returning to it is “always an option.”

At 18, Sullivan left Kentucky to attend Belmont College in Nashville, where he formed a psychedelic garage rock band with his roommate, Otto Helmuth, called Serious George. Within two months, they were touring the country, playing with national acts like The Silos and Will and the Bushmen, and even played a gig at the legendary CBGBs in New York City.

“It was a great thing to be doing when you’re 18,” Sullivan said.

He and Helmuth – who also currently makes and records music in Lexington – both left college, and within a year of starting, Serious George was signed to SBK Records, a subsidiary of Universal Records. At the time, their label mates were Vanilla Ice, Boy George, and Technotronic. The label eventually let the band go, and Sullivan continued traveling, including spending some time as a commercial fisherman in Alaska, living in his van while working at a Utah ski resort one winter, and taking annual trips to Seattle during the pinnacle of ’90s grunge – all experiences that have influenced his music in one way or another.

Also influential was Sullivan’s experience at the University of Kentucky, where he enrolled in 1997 after moving back to Lexington. While studying English, he met UK faculty and former state poet-laureates, Gurney Norman and James Baker Hall, who deeply inspired his writing. Also while at UK, Sullivan met another source of influence, UK musicology professor Ron Pen, who stressed the importance of musical preservation.

“He turned me on to all the good stuff,” Sullivan said. “He told me that music shouldn’t be a museum piece; you should make it your own.”

In 2000, Sullivan traveled to Matanza, Cuba, for a two-week rumba drum workshop and experienced “some of the heaviest, most hypnotic music I’ve ever experienced; street musicians were playing Coltrane on the street for change.” Sullivan's musical travels continued, and in 2001 he toured with his band mates from local vintage jazz/blues trio The Swells, Warren Byrom and Andy Mason, around Spain and France, playing on the streets.

“The French really appreciate blues and jazz, so we were well received, but we also learned a lot,” he said. “We went halfway around the world and got a crash course on our own culture.”

Sullivan took a few minutes to sit down and answer a few questions about his music and the album, which is available for sale locally at CD Central and online at www.cdbaby.com/cd/westernmovies.

Why “Western Movies”?

The title came from The Olympics’ song “My Baby Loves the Western Movies.” All of the tracks have a cinematic quality to them, a few of them inspired by spaghetti Westerns – they’re all little short films, at least to my mind. The CD is a mix of new and old songs, ranging from surf-pop to acoustic folk blues, with some tunes that were written 15 years ago and never recorded.

Why a solo record?

In 2010, I was hit by a car while riding my bike – that brush with mortality was certainly an impetus to get a record out. I did it solo for a number of reasons: While I love collaborating with people, there is something equally satisfying in recording things yourself. You often have more freedom to experiment than you might working by committee. It depends a lot on who you’re playing with, of course, but sometimes when you try to create in a group setting, ideas can get shot down before they have a chance to germinate. Working alone is very freeing; it’s a lot more like painting to me. I don’t have a preconceived notion of how something is going to turn out when I write, so I enjoy the process of discovery that comes with multi-tracking everything myself.

That being said, the next one may be a completely live collaboration, who knows? There’s a million different approaches to making music.

How was the album recorded?

I spent my whole life learning how to play instruments, so learning recording is just a natural extension of that process. We recorded the last Swells record live on a 16-track tape machine with no overdubs in the [former Lexington venue] Icehouse. There is such excellent reverb in that space, and the way that record was recorded is the polar opposite of how “Western Movies” was done.

The first track, “Telecaster,” is a tribute to Les Paul, who invented multi-track recording; fitting, because this album was put together using that technology. The album, recorded at Pinnacle Productions on Main, used a combination of tape and multi-track digital recorders and, for most of the recording, I had a ribbon mic running through tube preamps, going to the tape recorder and then into digital.

Jason Nesmith, who did the mastering, also processed the final mixes through tape emulation. One thing I tried to do with the recordings is to create a sense of space and depth of field. I did a lot of hard panning and used tape delays and reverbs to get a three-dimensional, cinematic feel to the music. I try to create a setting that fits the narrative of the song and makes it fun to listen to on headphones.

A combination of sweat equity and working after business hours made the recording not only much more affordable but also slightly esoteric. Several songs were written on the spot and recorded on the verge of sleep at three or four in the morning. I often came back the next day and listened and barely remembered recording it. I found a few of them to be as interesting, to me at least, as some of the others that were more consciously labored over.

Can you tell us about the cover art?

I was going for a something between a Saul Bass and Wile E. Coyote vibe, something simple. I’ve always liked making fliers for shows and have done a lot of paper-cutout-style posters over the years, so it kind of stems from that aesthetic. I don’t see as many fliers as I used to since Facebook appeared, but there are a few people still making cool poster art and hanging them up on telephone poles.

The picture on the back of the album was taken by my girlfriend, Beverly James, in front of a shed that I built with reclaimed lumber, here in Lexington. The dog is my pup, Pua, who is 12 years old.

What bands have you played in?

I’ve played in bands under 15 or 20 different monikers – like Gold Tooth Night, Rug Merchants, Wigwam, the Buckets, Pollywog, the Fosters; I even played in Big Fresh for a short time. But Enrique Gonzalez and I started the Big Maracas after I got into Latin music in Cuba and Brazil.

I also play with The Swells,which is like a musical archeological project. Warren Byrom and I started the band in ’97-’98 playing folk, blues and jazz and a lot of other stuff that has largely fallen between the cracks. With this band, everything is ripe for the picking – everything from Link Wray to jazz standards. We really developed our sound after busking on the streets from New Orleans to Europe. We've played quite a few weddings, bar mitzvahs, and have even played a few New Orleans' style jazz funerals.

I originally met Warren while playing with Pollywog. Pollywog, named after baby frogs, was an 11-12 piece Ellington-esque marching band that played Klezmer-Burlesque-go-go music. Another member of the aural-conglomerate, [Chris’s brother, long time WRFL DJ and local-music stalwart] Mike Sullivan, joined the group as a fire-breather and actually set the curtains on fire one time at the old Lynagh’s location [currently Cosmic Charlie’s].

Who are some of your musical influences?

Mom and Dad listened to a lot of records of ’60’s stuff like Beatles, CCR and Simon and Garfunkel, but also some really different things like Peruvian folk music, Flamenco, Willie Nelson, John Lee Hooker. My mom also is an accomplished classical guitarist and plays some Chopin on the piano now and then, so there were always different kinds of music in our house. My folks have always been really supportive of music. They took my brothers and me to lessons and all kinds of concerts. By the time I was 14 I’d seen everything from Andres Segovia, to Neil Young, Aerosmith, the Kinks and the Talking Heads.

When we lived in Midway, we used to go to the drug store and buy records. In the mid-80’s, I discovered a world outside of mainstream radio. There were no blogs or anything; you really had to dig around for it. I discovered bands like The Pixies, REM, Husker Du, The Replacements solely through word of mouth. This started a lifelong curiosity for music, old and new, local and international, that didn’t fit in the narrow confines of any mainstream FM radio playlists. So I don’t think I could honestly narrow down my influences to a handful of artists or even a handful of genres.

What do you think about the current state of Lexington music scene?

Lots of guys and gals are doing different stuff, and there are more great venues like Al’s, The Green Lantern, Cosmic Charlie’s and Willie’s who are friendly to bands trying new stuff – a real nurturing environment. Nice things going on in non-bar settings too, like the Tadoo Lounge Series at Smiley Pete and art galleries like Institute 193. Back before The Dame [where The Swells played the last show at], there was an era with a lack of venues, so it was all house parties, little places like Yat’s, or even shows in storage bins. Now, it’s a really healthy scene – as good as it’s ever been, maybe better. So many incredible musicians are just a phone call away, and it’s a nice community of people that support each other’s bands.

Do you do anything else besides music?

Sometimes I design and build shacks and kids’ playhouses for people. I'm a stagehand at the Lexington Opera House and a ukulele and guitar teacher. I’m also interested in doing more stop-motion film. Ideally, I would really like to get into recording my own and other people’s music full-time. If people like the sound of this record, and want to record some music, stress-free and affordably, I want to pass on the situation that I’ve got and help people have a pleasant, creative experience. ss

“Western Movies” Record Release Party

Chris Sullivan will celebrate his record’s release party with a live performance at the February tadoo Lounge Session, a free monthly happy hour-style event hosted by Smiley Pete Publishing. Thursday, February 12 Smiley Pete Headquarters 434 Old Vine St. • 6-9 p.m. Free. All ages. For more info, visit www.tadoo.com/ tadoo-lounge-sessions.

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