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LOVE IN THE OLD DAYS – PVD REMIXES
FEATURING
JAMES FRANCO, TIM O’KEEFE, SMOKEY ROBINSON
KOLOUR KULT, MIKE HOSKER, & TED JAMES
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<tfo>’s remix of Daddy’s Crime featuring Smokey Robinson
Daddy is the new music medium driven artistic endeavor of James Franco, and Tim O’Keefe of <tfo>. We recently released our first EP entitled MotorCity, which was inspired by the sounds of Motown, and features guest vocals by Motown legend, Smokey Robinson. The record has received a warm reception from the music press including video premieres and interviews with Rolling Stone, Spin, and Billboard.
The motivation behind Daddy is to push beyond the sonic space of music into the surrounding ecology. Daddy investigates the territories of film/video, installation, and performance while simultaneously exploring the connections that form between them.
I interpreted the Daddy song Crime through a <tfo> filter, and this remix (included on the Daddy MotorCity EP) is the result:
It’s Too Easy (demo mix)
As Spring hits, I am finishing up on song ideas I’ve been working on over the past year, and will be working on mixing a number of new songs down for completion this coming summer. These tracks will either fill a new <tfo> EP, or a full-length, depending on which ones I decide to release. Unreleased tracks will also go up on my soundcloud at the same time of the official album release. Stay tuned for more demo mixes, and details.
Flashback: <tfo> side project: The Bloodless Coup 2003 – 2006 unreleased studio works
Between 2003 and 2006, <tfo> was a three piece made up of Timothy O’Keefe (electronics/production), Ryan Rooney (guitars), and Matt Everett (Strings). During this time, <tfo> performed a many improvisational performances at numerous music venues, clubs, festivals, and warehouse parties. These performances were key in development of a beautiful chemistry between all three members, each bringing a unique musical history, style, and set of influences to the <tfo> sound.
These performances also generated the essential elements of the <tfo> sound, which would then be brought into the studio, and act as the building blocks for a diverse set of songs. The Bloodless Coup compilation features many of the unreleased songs <tfo> produced during this period. They truly combine a range of influences including electronic, electro-acoustic, Arabic, Eastern, downtempo, hip-hop, funk, punk, dance, ambient, chillout, and mash-up.
Flashback: <tfo>’s 2003 debut release Surface_Sounds
In 2003, <tfo> released their debut album entitled Surface_Sounds, a lush ambient and downtempo flavored collection of tracks. At the time <tfo> was the work of solo composer/producer Timothy O’Keefe, but collaborations that took place as a result of the Surface_Sounds’ recording sessions would eventually lead to Matthew Everett and Ryan Rooney becoming full-fledged members of <tfo>. Many live performances and studio sessions soon followed. Since then <tfo> has gone through a number of forms due to members relocating to other parts of the country, and thier own creative endeavors going off in different directions. Since December of 2010, Matthew rejoined <tfo> as a full-time member, and together with Tim, composed the score for James Franco’s Endless Idaho. They are currently working hard in the studio on additional soundtrack work, a full-length <tfo> album (due for release in late Spring), and a Motown inspired music project with James Franco. Stay tuned…. much to come in 2012.
You can purchase Surface_Sounds on iTunes, and most other major digital retailers.
soundscape improvisations – live at Pixilerations
<tfo> performing live at Club Pixil as part of the Firstworks Pixilerations Festival. Tim O’Keefe on electronics including Ableton Live, Roland TR909, Korg MS10, mixer & effects. Matt Everett on violin, and Beth Wexler on visuals using Max MSP/Jitter.
Performing Live Soundscapes for James Franco’s Collage Performance in NYC
I am currently in NYC performing live soundscapes for Collage, James Franco’s dance-theater directorial debut. The show’s producer John Morrow describes Collage as “a mixed-media piece that uses sound and visuals to play with the idea of how different art mediums interact. Using video, dance, poetry, theatre and music, we have created a performance that will be an engaging experience for the audience.”
The interesting thing about doing soundscapes/sound design for this show is that sound is used in a very different way than more traditional approaches to sound in a show. In those instances, the sonic component either creates a foundation or adds to the dramatic moments of a scene and its characters. In Collage, the sound is generated, manipulated, and performed live in response to the actors and dancers. In this instance, the sound takes on a character of its own. It is no longer a static component to the piece, but an always changing acting, and reacting dynamic one.
Here’s a recent write-up about the show on the Gothamist blog
Stay tuned for samples of the Collage soundscapes.
<tfo> scores Endless Idaho, James Franco’s 12 hour version of Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho
<tfo> spent the month of January and the beginning of February composing the score for Endless Idaho. Creating the score for a 12 hour film has made the task of scoring a traditional feature length film seem like something one could do in a few days. I suppose it will only get easier from here.
Matt Everett brought his array of instruments including a guitar, bass, accordion, mandolin, violin, cello, bouzouki, and recorder. I worked the usual electronics including a variety of synthesizers, a harmonica, qin, various shakers & percussion elements, and acted as the in-house engineer/producer.
The songs we composed for the soundtrack have a very distinct sound, combining ambient textures with folk elements. A dreamy, contemplative Western feel. The combination of Matt’s folky guitar playing with it’s twangy sound, courtesy of the perfectly deteriorating strings, and the string pads I programmed on the Korg Polysix, are the key ingredients to the Endless Idaho sound.
From the official Gagosian Gallery press release:
“For Endless Idaho, Franco edited outtakes, deleted scenes, alternate takes, and behind-the-scenes footage from My Own Private Idaho into a 12-hour film. Endless Idaho provides an unprecedented look into the workaday process of making a movie, from location scouting to repeated takes. Like many of the films of Andy Warhol, a major influence on Van Sant’s own auteur style, it is a provocative, often riveting blend of documentary and fiction. Interviews with actual hustlers who played secondary characters in My Own Private Idaho are intercut with shots of River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves improvising and refining their performances under the direction of Van Sant and his crew.”
<tfo> is currently working on a full-length soundtrack album for Endless Idaho with a release planned for late Spring. Here’s a few more samples of the songs composed for Endless Idaho:
Score 2
Score 3
Score 4
Scape 2
<tfo> releases the Grand Strategy I EP
<tfo>’s Grand Strategy I EP is the first in a series of Grand Strategy releases scheduled for release in 2010-2011. Each installment will feature 3 to 4 original tracks combined with remixes by other artists. Grand Strategy I was released on July 13th of 2010, and is distributed by IRIS Distribution.
Grand Strategy I was composed, arranged and produced by <tfo> founder Timothy O’Keefe, with significant contributions from Matthew Everett, Ryan Rooney, and Mike Lamantia Jr.
The songs of Grand Strategy I combine intricately programmed beats, beautifully sculpted synths, meticulously performed & arranged instrumentation, and evocative vocal melodies.
You can purchase Grand Strategy I on iTunes, Emusic, Amazon, and most other major digital retailers.
Change
The Song
Change communicates one’s frustration with the monotony that can arise in a romantic relationship, and the static nature of characteristics or habits inone’s partner. Change is a desire for new experiences, new inspirations, stimuli, and independence.
Change combines seemingly opposite music elements by bringing together electronic and folk music motifs. A drum machine kick, a Casio CS-80 synth pad, and the swirl of white noise from a Korg MS10 are intertwined with a banjo-sounding plucked viola, mandolin, bowed strings, and a variety of overdubbed percussion including a glockenspiel, human hand claps, tambourine, and snare drums.
The Process
The original track began with a straight 4/4 Roland TR707 kick drum and the Casio CS-80 synth pad. I then wrote the bassline to reflect the key change of the pad melody, and added a simple yet complimentary piano part.
Change: Starting Sequence
Guitars
Once this sequence was written, I could hear the sound of a variation of the “train beat” layered on top of the kick drum. I could also hear the sound of staccato guitar chords. Ryan Rooney was brought in to record the the staccato guitar part, and we recorded two versions of it. One in a higher octave and another in a lower octave to create a fuller sound. We then did a few passes over the entire song as Ryan improvised a variety of different melodic guitar parts. This produced an additional guitar melody including one with a bell-tone quality, which would eventually be used in the song’s chorus section.
Change: Guitar Layers
Drums & Percussion
I originally attempted to capture the “train beat” with a high tom drum I found in the basement of my building. I used a drumstick and a brush to try to capture the shuffling sound. This produced a nice additional percussion element with a shuffle and rimshot quality, but it didn’t get the full effect I was looking for. Later on in the arrangement process, I brought Mike Lamantia Jr. of makeupbreakup into the studio to capture the full train beat using a snare and a hi-hat. This would eventually lead to Mike contributing a number of drum tracks to <tfo> material. I also recorded a number of other percussion overdubs including human handclaps, egg shaker, and tambourine.
Change: Drum Section – drum kit/drum machine kick/tambourine/human handclaps/
Matt Everett was brought into the studio to listen and see what elements he could add. I knew I wanted him to record a bowed viola part with the chorus. Matt often experimented with plucking his viola, producing a range of sounds that can sound like, well… a plucked viola or a number of obscure rare string instruments someone might discover while traveling through various parts of Asia. Always a lovely additional sonic element when it clicks with the track’s other instrumentation. On Change, Matt’s plucking lead to strumming and produced an almost banjo-like sound. A sound that complimented the other folkish sounds on the song, and rounded out the overall sound.
Change: Strummed Viola & Mandolin
I then took these elements and began to develop the song’s arrangement along with the song’s lyrics. This process usually takes longer than I want it to, as I constantly work through the elements in my mind, developing words and melodies that work, and have moments where everything clicks and words come to me. As the track developed, it was being pulled in two different distinct directions. One being a more “electronic” sounding track, while the other being a more “folk” indie feel. My goal was to find the best mix of these elements, and to make it them work in a complimentary way with one another instead of the final song sounding the two opposite sounds being forced together.
After developing the verses, a chorus and what I call a “post-chorus” was developed. This allowed me to form the song’s basic structure. Matt and I experimented with a variety of overdubs including mandolin. The mandolin track was chopped up into little melodic pieces that complimented Changes’ folk elements and arrangement structure.
At this point in the production process, the track lost some of its electronic feel. I cleared all the track levels and slowly mixed the track from scratch, balancing the drum machine kick, shuffle drums, synth bass, synth pad, percussion, guitars, vocals, and strings. I made sure the kick and bassline cut through the mix creating a strong foundation, and throughout the mixing process I made minor touches to the arrangement.
Once the existing tracks were mixed, I added two additional elements including white noise sweeps to transitional points in the arrangement using a Korg MS10. The other final element was a glockenspiel melody line that fit perfectly with the chorus. I mixed these elements in after finding the right takes, and the track was complete.
Change: Glockenspiel with Guitars and Viola
