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Archived: Shmat's Features
The Shmat has decided to discontinue the Features section for Shmat Records. That is to say, there will be no NEW interviews or features. If you are a band that was featured here earlier, rest assured that your feature will be archived here for eternity (or somewhere near that).
Like Shmat's Reviews, any future Interviews and Features will appear on the Palebear site.
Please note that the Shmat and his Peoples take no responsibility for typos, inaccuracies or misinterpretations contained within these articles.
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November 3, 2003 :
There may not be a good chance that the average music connoisseur will have heard of Bill Ricchini. After all, though he is well loved in his native Philly and has risen to semi-celebrity status in the music community there, he is only known to most by a sampling of the hushed and orchestrated tales on Ordinary Time which was produced, amazingly, on a home computer in his apartment over one summer. As the well-worn, storybook tale goes, Ricchini lost his job at a dot com as well as his girlfriend, but rather than letting that get him down completely, used the experience as a springpoint to hone his musical craft. Sometimes it seems like his work is the equivalent of murky polaroids seemingly scattered at random on a bedside table that have actually been cleverly placed together as stories of love, happiness, sadness and regret. Fans of Elliott Smith, Badly Drawn Boy, and Brian Wilson have all voiced high praise for his work and the album has been well received by music press around the world.
It's a touching yet satisfying story, and more recognition may be in the works with the upcoming release of his new album. The Shmat traded emails back and forth with the affable Ricchini, who assures him that though his new work will be produced in a "real" studio, it will undoubtedly remain as human and accessible as the first...
- interview by
What is your earliest memory of music?
Bill: I have a very clear memory of George Harrison's guitar sound on Abbey Road playing on the radio in my mom's Cutlass Sierra. It was "Something" by The Beatles. I remember thinking it was so sad and pretty even as a young child.
When you were growing up, what genres of music were played around your house?
Bill: I remember Brian Wilson's voice in the house. My mom had the "Friends" album. I also remember lots of Jim Croce and 70s radio playing in the house. My folks fell pretty hard for the disco phase as well so the Bee Gees were sort of a soundtrack to my toddler years. My sister and I used to perform these little talent shows in the living room I remember singing "Rhinestone Cowboy" and my sister doing "You Light Up My Life." We grew up on pop radio. And I think the combination of my mom being a real 60s girl (Beatles, Beach Boys, Association, Mommas and the Pappas) and my dad's love of 50s doo wop, and stuff like Dion had an effect on me. Lots of music was being played. And I also remember just seeing a lot of stuff on TV through pop culture. I remember Elton John, Debbie Harry on the Muppet Show and John Denver on Sesame Street and seeing a Beatles tribute band at a local mall.
How long have you been 4-tracking and what prompted you to make the switch to the computer as recording medium?
Bill: I had recorded on 4-track for maybe a year towards the end of college chiefly because I bought "Starlight Walker" by The Silver Jews and it made me feel like I [could] take a shot at this. This is when I first started to learn how to write songs.
Were you comfortable with those very first songs you wrote during that time, or did you end up not using them on the album?
Bill: I may have used a few of those ideas on the record but for the most part none of those songs ever were released... I think I started to understand that I did have a good melodic sense but the craft of a fully formed song, linking the verse to the chorus, writing a bridge was still being learned. There is a song called "With Grenades" on OT that came from this era. Well, the chord progression did but not the melody and arrangement. This was the 90s so it was much more of a Pavement type feel than what I do now.
A lot of the praise for your album Ordinary Time focuses on the amazing orchestration and arrangements of the music. When you write a song, do you ever consciously think about the placement of other instruments you may be adding later on, or does that process happen later during recording?
Bill: Sometimes it takes shape later but more often than not I have the whole thing sort of planned in my head. Most songs I write nowadays are strictly thought up when I'm driving or walking or something. I usually hear the tunes pretty fully formed. I carry a little cassette deck with me at all times to record my ideas and that helps. Chiefly because of this I have about 35 songs written for the next record. But as an arranger I am conscious of using harmony and different instruments to affect the listener emotionally. There is craft but it's much more instinctual I think. I just KNOW that a song might need a cello line or a trumpet or a little organ riff. I try to think about songs that sort of work on my pleasure centers "Be My Baby" or "Hello, It's Me" or "God Only Knows" and try to listen and figure out why these songs are not only so well written but so effective and taking me somewhere else completely. I listen to how the songs SOUND.
 Any tips for songwriters who are experiencing writer's block?
Bill: Read personal ads for ideas. I think I read the guy from Magnetic Fields get[s] all of his ideas from that. Listen to good music. Read. I find that forcing it never works but some sort of structure that you will work on an idea for an hour today is helpful. I like to drive in my car with no radio on. After a while I make up songs to fight the silence.
What kind of differences can fans expect on the new album? Are you going to keep most of the recording techniques the same, or are you and the band members going into a recording studio?
Bill: We're going to do this in a studio. I'm talking to some pretty big producers at the moment so yes it will be a larger record but my goal is to keep the sort of intimacy and things people liked about Ordinary Time. I think it's going to be better.. the next logical step for me. It may be a double album at this point. I've conceived a song cycle that in many ways tells the story of a couple from meeting, to dating, to breaking up, etc. Definitely coming from a pop perspective but it's more adventurous exploring soul, Tin Pan Alley, folk, rock and more Ray Davies type story songs, character sketches.
Without giving away your recording secrets, what kind of mics and/or preamps do you prefer to use on vocals?
Bill: I use a Radioshack knock off of an SM57 and SM58 for mostly everything. I like delay pedals. I have an Epiphone Dot, a strat, some old acoustics, some old Casios. I did buy a Rode condenser mic for the vocals and strings but that's it.
What do you say to people who shun the digital world in favor of analog tape recording?
Bill: Analog is fine, I simply used what I had which was my computer and a few microphones. Digital simply gave me more options for tracking, layering sound, adding instruments. I could not have done this (Ordinary Time) on 4 track.
If you could play/record with any musical group or artist of your choice who would that be?
Bill: I often think of writing songs for other acts. I've heard Astrid Gilberto lives in a high rise here in Philly and I have a song I wrote for her that I'd like to send over. I'd love to write a song from Solomon Burke. I'd love to do a duet with Cat Power or Debbie Harry.
Speaking of Cat Power (Chan Marshall), do you ever get nervous at shows or are you pretty comfortable on stage?
 Bill: I'm pretty comfortable or at least by the time I take the stage and get into it I feel good. I initially never thought of myself as a performer but as a songwriter but now I am more intrigued by the idea of putting on a good show. And I have a great band that really makes it cook live.
When you play live, how stripped down are the songs versus the full arrangements of your recordings? That is, do you make an effort to keep all the recorded parts (like cello, trumpet, bells, xylophone) the same in a live environment?
Bill: We do try to keep the arrangements as much as possible. The live show is a bit more loose like the difference between the Velvets "Waiting For My Man" studio and the version on their live records. But we really so keep the vocal harmonies, the trumpet and percussion arrangements, countermelodies, etc. It's sort of as big production live and I like it that way. Everything is in it's right place in a sense. But often I play solo acoustic and that is a challenge that I really have learned to enjoy too. Sort of stripping the songs down to their core and emphasizing the lyrics. Either way I see too many bands that just get on stage and bang out their songs and I'm trying to really connect, to do the kind of show I'd pay to see.
What is the music scene like where you are... do you find that Philly is in general supportive of independent bands?
Bill: Philly has a really thriving music scene with lots of diversity from rockers like La Guardia and Capitol Years to more mellow acts like me and Matt Pond (who is a friend of mine, real nice guy). So Philly has been super supportive of me personally in giving me great press, good shows, etc. I couldn't have asked for a better welcoming. My favorite Philly band is The Lilys who I think are one of the best bands going anywhere.
Do you consider yourself a morning person or a late night person?
Bill: Late night for sure. Most of OT was done in the wee small hours.
What's been on rotation in your CD player recently?
Bill: Old Elton John, Neutral Milk Hotel, Nilsson, Something/Anything by Todd Rundgren, Plastic Ono Band, Donovan, Felt, The Band, The Lilys, Cocteau Twins, My Bloody Valentine, Billie Holiday, Gershwin.
Do you believe in ghosts?
Bill: Yes I do. I have a new song about ghosts. I think sometimes people haunt you long after they have left your life in a very real way. It might not be white sheet and clanging chains in the halls but some people stay with you.
Any shmats, er, cats living at your place?
Bill: No pets. I'm a dog person.
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Bill Ricchini Factsheet
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Members:
Bill Ricchini, vocals and acoustic guitar parts, synthesizers, tambourine, cello, trumpet, sleigh bells, vocal harmonies, xylophone
Bill Avayou, drums and percussion
Brian Christinzio, keyboards, vocals
Chris Doyle, electric guitar
Nathan Slabaugh, trumpet
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Website: www.billricchini.com
Current Label: Megaforce / Transdreamer
Latest Release: Ordinary Time CD
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Archived Shmat Features
February 2005
Anamude
November 2004
American Analog Set
October 2004
Pants Yell!
July 2004
Snoozer
June 2004
Elk City
May 2004
Popgun Recordings
April 2004
East River Pipe
February 2004
Elliott The Letter Ostrich
January 2004
Damon of the Swirlies
December 2003
The Ladybug Transistor
November 2003
Bill Ricchini
October 2003
Shiny Around The Edges
September 2003
Dave Klotz of Fonda
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