Ithaca-based duo Tzar, featuring Brian (Willie B) Wilson and Michael Stark, will mark the release of a new CD with two shows on Thursday night. Photo by Jim Catalano
MICHAEL STARK AND BRIAN WILLIE B WILSON are two of the most talented and busiest musicians in Ithaca. Stark plays keyboards with a bunch of acts, including Johnny Dowd, Afghanistan, J-San and the Analogue Sons, the Orbiting Art Ensemble, Jennie Stearns and Bronwen Exter, not to mention leading the jazz trio Wingnut. Wilson, meanwhile, has spent much of the past couple of years touring the world as Jamie Lidell’s drummer when not playing baritone guitar with Johnny Dowd’s band. But when they both have some downtime, they play in an instrumental duo called Tzar, which incorporates all sorts of organic and electronic influences.
Earlier this year, Tzar recorded its second CD, “Begin at Sunset.” The duo will mark the release of the new CD with a pair of shows Thursday night. First, they’ll be at The Shop for an Ithaca Underground show that also features Giraffes? Giraffes! and BRIAN! Then, they’ll head over to Castaways to open for Black Castle at 10 p.m. (Stark also will be playing with Hubcap on the Commons at 6-8 p.m. the same night.)
Stark and Wilson have been playing together since the mid-1990s when they both were in local soul band Sugarmoan (fronted by J-San). They’ve worked together on a variety of projects, mainly with Johnny Dowd, before forming Tzar a few years ago. In this band, Stark plays organs and synthesizers while Wilson plays bass pedals, drums and electronics.
At first, Tzar was designed to showcase the pair’s compositional abilities, with short-ish songs and tight hooks predominating. As the pair grew busier with other bands, however, they found it increasingly difficult to find time to write and record new material. They also felt that they couldn’t capture Tzar’s strengths in a studio setting.
“We had so much more fun doing shows, it almost had no connection between our records and what we did live,” Wilson said. “So we said, ‘Why not compose, perform, record all at the same time?’ Because this group works best improvising, live.”
“There’s a telepathy thing we tend to tap into when we play together live,” Stark added. “It’s harder to get to that in the studio because we’re so concerned about the details that are important when you’re in the studio. So we really just let loose. I don’t think of it as jamming as us being really tuned into each other, and coming up with really focused ideas on the spot.”
“When we did a whole string of shows, we had so much fun,” Wilson said. We didn’t have much of a plan, we were just going for it. We’d have a couple of motifs, then we’d start improvising off of it. Then we started getting a concept of improvising with a theme and keeping it coherent, not 20-minute jams.”
This spring the duo recorded a couple of shows at the Wildfire Lounge onto a full ProTools rig, then mixed and mastered the results, which are more soundscape-y and free-form than their previous recordings.
“We were just getting more into the ambient stuff, like doing some pieces without drums,” Wilson said. “Mike has a totally different sound than the first Tzar thing we did. This organ has a totally different voice, so I play totally differently to that instrument.”
The instrument he’s talking about is a Gem Europa, an old 1960s Italian combo organ. “I’ve been getting really into these 60s Italian organs with Johnny’s stuff,” Stark said. “With this material, I can really get more aggressive with it. I’ve been experimenting with lead channels and trying to make it more like a guitar and take it over the top.”
The CD also feature a guest appearance from Johnny Dowd, reciting the words to “Men in White Aprons.” Stark described it as “an ambient drone type of thing that Johnny did a poem over.”
The pair enlisted Dutch artist Rik van Iersel to do the art for the CD cover, which functions both as packaging and as a poster.
Wilson will be hitting the road with Lidell in a couple of weeks, and will be pretty busy with him until December. Stark, meanwhile, seems to be gigging just about every night with one of his many projects. So take advantage of this now-rare chance to see the two perform together as Tzar on Thursday night.
To learn more about the band, visit www.myspace.com/tzarduo.
Angry Mom Records Launches New Vinyl Label
Local store Angry Mom Records is branching out with the launch of a new label that will release limited-edition white-vinyl seven-inch records. The first two records showcase local bands Elsa and the awesomeAWESOMES and BLOW!
Those two bands, along with Johnny Dowd, will perform at the label’s record release show at the Chapter House Saturday night.
Why a new label? “It was that one thing that I noticed about this town that was missing,” said Angry Mom owner George Johann, who opened the store last July. “I knew I-Town had been around for a long time, but it didn’t seem to be that active anymore. And there were a ton of these great new bands that weren’t part of the old guard of Ithaca – Elsa and the awesomeAWESOMES and BLOW! being the best examples – and there just needed to be an outlet for them.”
And why vinyl? “Vinyl is making a huge comeback,” Johann said. “It’s cooler, and sounds better. As we go further on, CD sales are really declining. Everything is turning into mp3s, iTunes, downloads, that sort of thing. When someone wants to own an object, they’re going with a record release.
“There’s also something real about it,” he continued. “Everyone has a CD-R at shows; (it’s rare) to have an actual pressed piece of vinyl. We’re doing a hand silk-screened cover and cool inserts. It feels like an interesting object that you’re getting as a memento of the show.”
The label is pressing limited runs of each record: 500 for BLOW!, 300 for Elsa.
The records also feature covers and inserts with original work from local artists such as Laura Brothers and Mason Speed. “The records give them an avenue to get their work out where it wouldn’t normally be,” said Angry Mom store manager Lee Conlon. “There’ll be stickers and stuff included, too. In the end, they’ll be collectible items”
Future plans include a Johnny Dowd 45. “The goal at this point is to break even,” Johann said. “And the bands get a product that they can sell at shows to promote themselves.” To learn more about the label, visit www.angrymomrecords or call (607) 319-4953.