Hargo is a San Diego based eclectic indie band draws on diverse musical styles and influences ranging from Americana to Hip-Hop to Indian classical music.
HARGO’s upcoming full-length, 'Out of Mankind' is out February 28, 2012, following the EP 'The Faint Glow,' with the hot singles "Just the Sky" and "Soul Survivor".
Catch Hargo @ The Mint, 6010 West Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90035 on Monday, January 23, 7:30pm
1. What's your favorite vinyl album?
I've always loved Emerson, Lake and Palmer's self titled debut. I remember listening to it for the first time on CD and absolutely loving it. My favorite thing is to get a new album and listen to it straight through from start to finish right after I buy it. That was the case with this one. Years later, when I finally bought my first turntable and began my quest into the world of wax, this was one of the first albums I bought. I think I picked it up at Amoeba Music in LA along with a few other goodies. Sanjay Parekh and I were playing music one night and decided to stop and listen to the album, laying on the floor in my room with the system up pretty loud, probably pissing off our all too nice neighbors in the duplex next door. The warmth, crackle and hiss always changes the tone of any album, but this one really came alive. Some records, especially from that time, are just meant to be listened to this way.
2. What's your favorite song on that album?
"Take a Pebble"
3. What is about that song that speaks to you musically?
This song is really a journey. The lyrics are so poetic, so melancholy, with such vivid imagery. "Wounded words of laughter are graveyards of the past", I mean who says that? The beginning is so mystical with Keith Emerson (probably one of the greatest keyboardists in the last 50 years) sweeping his finger over the piano strings, something I discovered after watching live footage of them performing this song in the 70's. The song breaks down midway through into an acoustic jig with clapping and then back into strange ambient/rock/jazz world with Emerson and Palmer going to town, then back to the verse at the end as Gregg Lake's confident voice penetrates right through you.
4. You worked with a man whom has made many great vinyls...what was it like working with Phil Spector? What song did you produce with him?
I met Phil through a friend who was producing/directing an indie documentary called "Strawberry Fields: Keeping the Spirit of John Lennon Alive", who was going to use the original version of my song "Crying" for John Lennon during the ending credits. While in the last stages of filming he received a letter from Phil offering an exclusive interview at his Alhambra estate in LA, just weeks before the official start of his first trial. I was invited by Mark, the director, to the interview and met Phil afterwards. Mark asked if Phil would listen to my song, which he then agreed to do. We walked into the billiards room, past the ivory piano on which "Imagine" was written and performed, and Phil listened straight through the recording (which I'd humbly made at my small home studio). I was so nervous. He is one of the most recognized record producers of the 20th century, working on "Let It Be", "Imagine", "All Things Must Pass", and so many other great records. After hearing it he said that he loved the song, that it was reminiscent of a demo John would have given him to produce back in the day, and that I "reminded him of a young John Lennon".
The latter statement was, and is, probably the most arresting and humbling thing I've ever been told. Mark asked him if he'd be interested in producing the song for the film, and, after a few weeks of driving around listening to the demo in his Mercedes, he agreed. I was instructed to send all the tracks and session files I'd recorded to a studio in Sherman Oaks where he would begin working on the song in between pre-trial court dates and lawyer meetings. About a month later, I was asked to come up to LA to record my vocals. I was to come ALONE, as Phil didn't want anyone but us and the engineer in the studio. I arrived outside the gate at the studio and met Phil who was with his bodyguard.
We went into the studio and I ended up chatting with him for about 45 minutes, just the two of us, while we waited for the engineer who was running late. We talked about Bowie and photographer Mick Rock (a mutual friend who had done Phil's 'Back to Mono' boxed set). The actual vocal session was probably about 2 hours. Phil sat with his back to me, as I looked through the window in the isolation booth, and would relay his feedback and thoughts to the engineer (which I couldn't hear) who would then tell me what Phil wanted.
The first time they played back the song, with everything they had done, I was stunned. It sounded so incredible and right from the start had Phil's touch all over it. By the end of the track the Wall of Sound, with his signature strings, tambourine, and piano was in full force. This was the sound I heard in so many of my favorite songs, and to hear it enveloping my own is still beyond words for me. At the end of of the session he told me how pleased he was with how the whole thing came out. I had a CD with some other brand new demos I was working on and the engineer, Graham Ward, and I listened to them together in the control room. Phil, from the other room, came back in and listened to both tracks and really liked them, particularly the first demo (which would become "Empty Cups" on our new album OUT OF MANKIND). I know Phil had been working on his wife's project prior to doing "Crying" for John Lennon, and was putting everything else aside to work on the song and focus on his court case. So it may be, in fact, that it was the last project he did before his incarceration. Who would have thought?
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