Ernie K-Doe, the self-proclaimed Emperor of the Universe, once said, “I’m not sure, but I’m almost positive that all music came from New Orleans.” As it turns out, some of it comes from right here at Peter Mayer. For the third interview in this series, Associate Creative Director Lori Archer-Smith met with Marc LaPorte. For 10+ years, his day gig has been Senior Proofreader here at Peter Mayer. Since 2005, After Hours, he has played keyboards and electronic samplers in Metronome The City. You can download the band’s albums at amazon.com, cdbaby.com or metronomethecity.com.
Lori: I knew when we started this series that we’d find a few musicians in the crowd. What is the name of your band?
Marc: We call ourselves Metronome The City. I’m not sure where the name came from. We’ve just kind of always been obsessed with futuristic cityscapes and dystopian sci-fi.
Lori: How long have you been playing together?
Marc: The three other guys have been playing since 1992, and I joined them after Katrina in 2005 because they needed someone to help them pull off the first record they put out live. The drummer mixed that album in a hotel room during that whole confusing evacuation time, and once it was completed, we were ready to come back to New Orleans and start playing out. It was a good distraction for us. We‘re still a four-piece and have just released our third album on vinyl.
Lori: Cool. What instrument do you play?
Marc: My main instrument is the bass (electric and upright) but I play around on keys and electronic samplers for this project.
Lori: So what kind of music would you say you guys play?
Marc: We all grew up influenced by everything from the Cure, Fugazi, Jane’s Addiction, Smashing Pumpkins, avant-garde jazz, world music and film soundtracks. I’d say our stuff is most influenced by Philip Glass and time-lapse photography film footage from films like Koyaanisqatsi, Baraka and so on. It feels like we write soundtracks for films that haven’t been made yet. We’ve uploaded a few low-budget (no-budget) videos to YouTube.
Lori: Do you have a vocalist?
Marc: We never really had a vocalist, so we’ve tried to make up for it by loading all kinds of harmonies on there that mimic a vocalist. When we play, we usually have film footage behind us or performance artists and such. Wink, wink, Peter Mayer’s own Cat Landrum, fire dancer extraordinaire! We need you!
Lori: Hah! You know, Louis Armstrong said that he didn’t need words, that “it’s all in the phrasing.” So maybe you don’t need a vocalist. Where do you perform?
Marc: One Eyed Jacks, Circle Bar, The Howlin’ Wolf, Republic, Siberia, The Allways Lounge and the defunct Mermaid Lounge, which is now the Rusty Nail.
Lori: Tell me about your first show ever.
Marc: Our first show in the ‘90s was at a place called the Warehouse Café on Annunciation Street. I played finger symbols that night. I probably wasn’t even old enough to be in the bar. I wasn’t officially a band member back then – just a fan.
Lori: Do you write your own music?
Marc: Yeah. Occasionally we’ll cover a video game soundtrack or some other film song that we like (usually ‘70s horror stuff).
Lori: Do you have a New Orleans sound?
Marc: Some New York magazine described us as primordial and swamp-like. I thought that was strange, but I guess you can never really escape your DNA, right? Other than the fact that we all grew up here and the drummer/mad genius mixer Will Gilbert lived right across from the Jazz Fest fence and studied with Johnny Vidacovich when he was a little kid, no. Will does the street beat stuff really well up there with Johnny and Stanton Moore, in my opinion – but he’s too ADD to stick with one beat too long. That’s cool though, because it keeps us all on our toes.
Lori: Would you say New Orleans has inspired your music?
Marc: Yeah, that’s all we did growing up was go see bands. Our parents thought we were at a “coffee shop” or the “library.” There was a show to see pretty much every night of the week, much the same way as it is now. Trad jazz, psychedelic rock, gut bucket blues, punk rock, surf bands, reggae, classical Indian music, African percussion ensembles and so on.
Lori: So where did you go to school and what did you major in?
Marc: I majored in Creative Writing at Loyola of New Orleans.
Lori: Yay! Best major ever. How did you learn to play the bass?
Marc: I studied the bass guitar with Jim Markway when I was 15. He showed me the basics. Then I kind of just started jamming with random people I met over the years. A friend of mine was the technical director at the CAC between 2000 and 2006, so it was great. After hours we’d set up the main stage and roll out the grand piano and record these three to four hour jam sessions. We’d invite about five other guys to come out with all their toys – bassoons, ‘70s synthesizers, bass clarinets, Indian instruments and all kinds of percussion. It was so much fun I decided to get an upright bass and work on that while I was fortunate enough to be in that situation. Good times.
Lori: Humor me with this question, Marc: How is proofreading like playing music?
Marc: I guess the improvisational way that we interact with each other in that department is the only thing that comes to mind. MAKE IT HAPPEN! Hehe…
Lori: Proofreading is all about details. Is music like that in any way?
Marc: With music we try to dot all the i’s and cross the t’s with our recordings, but we leave a lot of things up to chance as well. I guess it’s similar in that proofreading is all about making things fit neatly into a frame, whether it is print or on the Web.
Lori: Is music a creative outlet for you? How do you feel when you play?
Marc: I love it. It’s when I feel the most free, when I’m playing with those guys and after pulling off our shows, which are usually very nerve-racking, it’s the best feeling ever (if everything goes as planned, of course). Every club has its own sound and it can always be a different adventure. There’s that sweet spot during the shows where I can just sit back, trance out and watch the crowd while keeping up in my end of the game. I aim for that every time.
Lori: If a song were to be written about Peter Mayer Advertising, what would it be titled?
Marc: I don’t know, I hear the “Laverne & Shirley” theme song in my head every morning when I walk past Welty’s. I haven’t quite figured out why yet. I’ll leave the Peter Mayer song to the brand folks. It would definitely have to be along the lines of those old New Orleans commercials we all love so much! Maybe a cameo by Al Scramuzza, or perhaps we could have Dr. John summon Coco Robicheaux and resurrect the souls of Buddy D. and Frank Davis to sing a number – Buddy in a dress of course.