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June
1999 New age music ten years ago was much more alternative than it is today. Songs that had "hooks" were discarded, deemed too mainstream. It was all about space music and long meditative pieces. An album of 4 minute songs that you could tap your foot too, well, that was heresy. Obviously, I couldn't have been more wrong. Every week I was amazed at the amount of CDs flying out the door. Lloyd was right. The record, Nouveau Flamenco, was huge. More than anyone, Ottmar Liebert brought catchy melodies and pop sensibilities to the new age market. He opened the door not only for other types of new age musicians, but more importantly, he expanded the audience. Following the release of his seventh recording for Epic Records, Innamorare Summer Flamenco, last month, NAV took the opportunity to speak with the longtime Santa Fe inhabitant about his life journeys, music, happiness and success. NAV: I understand as a young many you traveled throughout Russia and Asia… Ottmar: I've always enjoyed traveling. As a a teenager I hitchhiked from Cologne, Germany to Paris. I remember sleeping under some bushes on the Champs Elysees one night. When I became 18, I decided to take the train from Paris to Moscow, and then connect with the trans-Siberian train that takes about a week. One of my favorite moments came when I got to drink vodka with a group of Russian soldiers. It was quite interesting. Then from the east coast of the Soviet Union, I hopped aboard a boat to Yokohama, Japan. I stayed in Japan for three weeks, and fell in love with the rock gardens. NAV: Ah, the ones in Kyoto, aren't they beautiful? Ottmar: Just gorgeous. It was a beautiful experience. Then I went to Taiwan for a few months to study tai chi. Then to Hong Kong, Thailand, to Nepal, then throughout India. That was the year that Russia invaded Afghanistan, and the land route home wasn't very safe, so I flew home from New Delhi. NAV: I'm guessing that trip changed you forever? Ottmar: Absolutely. Before the trip I decided I was going to be an industrial designer like my father. I had taken my guitar with me, and played with musicians from every country I visited. I enjoyed those musical conversations so much, I decided to be a musician. NAV: In what ways have these travels affected your music? Ottmar: In two forms really. You hear a lot of different music and pick up things from playing with other musicians. But also just from the experience of travel. I've written some songs based on dreams I've had…"Morning, Arrival and Goa" I wrote one morning dreaming about the boat I took from Bombay to Goa. However travel affects my music in other ways. In Japan, I remember asking a musician how they notate the pauses in their music, how do they know when to come back in, and that sort of thing. He told me, "In Japanese music, sometimes it's written, 'just wait until you hear this, and then do this sort of figure.' It's not like it is in Western music, it's more about spaces where Western music is more about a pulse." NAV:You then came to America, but success didn't happen overnight. Ottmar: I moved to Boston in '79, and lived there for seven years. I took odd jobs during the day. NAV: Like what? Ottmar: Well, I was a bicycle messenger for about three years…then a bank teller…(laughs)…but then I'd play my guitar at night, trying to get into the club scene. But I got very bummed out. Then I visited a friends in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I thought I'd just visit and move on, but I'm still here. NAV: What is it about Santa Fe that gives you such inspiration? You can feel the place in your music. You've really helped to put it on the map. Ottmar: For over a hundred years, artists came here to seek relief from their heath problems because the air is so clean at 7000 feet, and wound up staying because the light was so good. For me it was the mixture of cultures, that interesting combination of people that make up Santa Fe. NAV: And that's where your musical career really got launched? Ottmar: Yeah. I met the artist Frank Howell, who threw these really great parties for about 400 of his clients. He heard my music and liked it, and encouraged me to write a few more pieces. Frank wanted to make a limited edition CD, print up a thousand copies to give away as party favors. He paid for the studio, and we made a handshake deal that basically he could do whatever he wanted with the 1000 pieces, but I would own the master. We recorded and mixed the whole thing in just three weeks. Somehow it found its way to The WAVE in Los Angeles and KKSF in San Francisco. NAV: I'm guessing you got some feedback? Ottmar: Yeah, everyday I'd come home, and there'd be messages from radio stations or record labels, and eventually in '89 I signed a deal with Higher Octave. They remastered, re-sequenced and put it out on April 1, 1990. NAV: And that was under the title Nouveau Flamenco? Ottmar: Yes. NAV: I believe that Nouveau Flamenco is among the top-selling guitar records of all time, any genre. What's that like? Ottmar: Well, it's going double platinum. That's a lot of records. NAV: Yeah, but my question is,how do you feel, how do you personally handle being one of the most popular guitar players on the planet? Ottmar: I don't really know. I was only making the type of music that I wanted to hear. There was no big master plan. It was different musical languages that came together for me. Somehow coming to Santa Fe, something came together for me. The rhythms are not so much traditional flamenco, but more inspired by music like Earth, Wind and Fire and Carlos Santana. I don't have an explanation of why it became popular in so many countries. It went platinum in Australia and New Zealand even. I know if I released it now given the different radio environment, I'm not sure whether it would ever be heard. NAV: But Ottmar, do you ever catch yourself shaving in the morning, looking in the mirror and saying, 'My god, I am a guitar god!' Give us a glimpse of what that's like for our musician readers. Ottmar: (Laughs) I didn't even know I had the most popular guitar record until you mentioned it. To answer your questions, I'd have to say, it's pretty cool. I mean, how could you not like it when you come up with a genre so new. When we were recording it, the engineer would sometimes say, 'Why are you doing this? This doesn't make much sense.' So it feels pretty good ten years later that so many people enjoy it, especially when I wasn't trying to make a popular record. NAV: So with everything going so great, why leave Higher Octave? Ottmar: Because I was getting a great offer from Epic, and they were going to give me complete control over the music. It seemed like the right place to go with the music. The were giving me new options. NAV: Do you find there's much of a difference between being on a major label as opposed to an indie? Ottmar: Um, not really. It really depends on the people you are involved with. There's some small labels I've been in touch with that want too much control of everything, which is understandable since their budget is limited. And sometimes some of the large labels, like Epic, sign you because they like what you do, and they don't spend a lot of energy trying to get you to go in another direction. Whether it's a small or large label, it's the product manager that counts, it's the A & R contact that counts. I'm still in touch with Higher Octave, in fact we've remixed a new version of Nouveau Flamenco which will come out exactly ten years after the first one, with an additional five tracks, so I'm still in a sense attached to Higher Octave. NAV: I think one of the reasons for the success of your music is that it's so up and happy. Are you a happy person? Ottmar: I was then and am now, so the new album, Innamorare and Nouveau Flamenco have a lot in common. In between, there were a lot of moments when I wasn't a happy camper. NAV: On the new record I hear italian influences abound. How did that come about? Ottmar: I spent several months with friends and family in Tuscany, Italy. I really enjoyed that whole experience, and wanted to turn that mood into a record. That was the idea that I had coming back from Italy, and I had a working title Summer Flamenco. NAV: My favorite song on the new album is "Summer Love," which is quite different for you stylistically. It's kind of like a mini-opera… Ottmar: Yeah, I like that song a lot too. My friend Eric Scheermerhorn played all the steel string and slide guitar parts, and in the out section he comes up with this completely different flavor in the melody line. It's one of my favorites on the album as well. NAV: On "Farewell to Summer" you use some different guitars, and the piece ends with some pretty harmonics. But what I want to know is what's the deal with the ending! It sounds like a scratchy old record. Ottmar: I was working on a lullaby record parallel to this album. I had several guitars each play very small melodic fragments in such a way where the it creates a larger whole. I thought it would be a perfect ending for the album. It goes into the scratches at the end because I remember when I was sick and we still had vinyl records. When the album ended, I was too sick to get up, so I listened to the scratches for awhile. It's the sound of a different era that I wanted to recreate. NAV: Your guitar sound is extremely consistent. Do you ever get the urge to use a different sonic palate? Ottmar: It doesn't sound very consistent to me. I think it's improved steadily. I think the guitar sound is quite different on this record. It's been an evolution to this point. On "Funky Poet" I experiment with a strange reverb. We do play a little bit with the sound, but the focus has been to make the guitar sound as real as possible and for some reason a nylon string guitar is the hardest to make sound like the real thing. I do think this album has the best guitar sound to date. We didn't use any EQ on the guitar at all. NAV: On what format do you record your guitar. Do you use ADATs for example? Ottmar: We found that ADATs sound worse than cassettes. I have four ADAT machines, but I use it more for people in foreign countries who want me to play on their record. It's easier for them to just fly the track in. ADAT loses both top and bottom end compared to analog. I like to use 2 inch, 24 track with Dolby SR. We recently did a comparison with that system and the new Pro Tools 2448 with the Apogee digital in and outs and it was nearly impossible to tell the difference. I think the digital meeting is finally at the point where it's affordable and sounds as good as analog. NAV: To many people, you've become a model of how to succeed in this business. Many labels have tried to copy your sound and success. I must get 3 Ottmar-wannabe CDs in our office every week. But bring us back to earth. What's the worse thing about being Mr. Guitar? Ottmar: (Laughs) I don't consider myself a celebrity. That's why I've stayed in Santa Fe. People here don't care much for that sort of stuff. Even if my head was to swell, I'd quickly be brought back to earth. I do get noticed more though in California. NAV: I was in a department store the other day and heard Muzak versions of your work. Have you ever been buying a Black and Decker Workmate at Sears and all of a sudden your music comes on and you say, 'Hey, I know that dude!?' Ottmar: I didn't know there were Muzak recordings of my work! That'd be funny. I'd love to hear how that sounds. NAV: I hope your getting your royalties for that! Ottmar: You know, you can check up on as many things, but there's always going to be some that will get by you. NAV: You use a lot of dramatic pauses in your music. Ottmar: You're right. I went to art school, but never a music school. I could talk a lot longer about art than music. I've always been interested in the white spaces in painting, and consequently the silence in music. Without contrast you have nothing. The stops or pauses give you a little breather so when the music comes back on, it's even more fun. It also helps in the transitions of time signatures. I've trashed a lot of guitar tracks over the years because I thought they were too clever. For me, it's important not be too clever, but rather beautiful and touching. NAV: When it comes to soloing, do you believe in the Pat Metheny school which says any musical phrase should never be longer than a human breath? Ottmar: I think that's absolutely correct. I was reading a book recently which said that there's only so many notes and melodies the brain can remember. And melody only works because of memory. If I play a group of notes to an animal, he'll only hear a group of notes. But a human's mind is able to put those same notes into a melody by saying this note relates to that note, and that note relates to the first one. Like Metheny said, if it's longer than a breath, it's most likely going to be really hard to hear since you can't shape it into your mind as a melody. NAV: Okay, here's the obligatory question: Do you have any problem with being considered a "new age" guitarist? Ottmar: When I started out, I just saw my music as music. I didn't think of it in terms of an affiliation. But when it comes to being a new age guitarist, well, I'm okay with that. NAV: Our magazine is widely read by radio programmers who have been very kind to you. Any words for them? Ottmar:
I've seen radio change quite a bit over the past ten years. I was lucky
to come out with Nouveau Flamenco when I did because I think radio would
be much less accepting of a sound that was that different now. Although
there are a lot of exceptions, I perceive radio programmers to be a lot
less creative than they were ten years ago. I think they're basing more
of their decisions on test audiences. I kinda miss those days when a DJ
would surprise you. But like anything, it's a wheel that turns. At some
point someone is going to come out and take chances and be more adventurous
- and be hugely successful. |