Above, an exclusive YouTube clip of Levin Minnemann Rudess jamming on “Marcopolis”

BY MIKE METTLER — OCTOBER 25, 2013

“I work hard on the music end of things, and record my bass parts as high quality as I can.” That, in a nutshell, is the mission statement for Tony Levin, noted bassmaster and Chapman Stick innovator known for his sharp-fingered low-end work with the likes of King Crimson and Peter Gabriel. At present, his holy mission specifically applies to the down-low flavors he’s concocted for Levin Minnemann Rudess (Lazy Bones Recordings), a 60-minute ride through quite progressive waters. His LMR namesake triomates are drummer Marco Minnemann (Steven Wilson, UKZ) and keyboardist extraordinaire Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater, Liquid Tension Experiment, Dixie Dregs). LMR is on CD, but you should only be interested in obtaining the Deluxe Edition, which contains a separate DVD with filmed interviews, improv sessions, outtakes, and — ahem, fellow audiophiles — 24-bit wav files of the full album.

If you check out The S&V Interview Blog at soundandvision.com, you’ll find us discussing the concepts of composition vs. improv and the trio’s overall sonic goals for their heady collaboration, plus LMR producer Scott Schorr theorizing about the possibility of a 5.1 mix. That was Part I. Here on soundbard.com, you get the exclusive Part II, wherein Tony discusses working with Steven Wilson and Peter Gabriel, and Scott delves deeper into his own 5.1 preferences, including his favorite Steven Wilson surround mix(es).

Stick-ing It to ’Em Live: Levin onstage. Photo by Roberto Scorta.

And yes, all ye faithful Crim lovers, Tony also shared with me his initial impressions of what to expect from King Crimson’s eighth incarnation. “It’s early in the planning stage,” he reveals. “We know the players, and we’re comparing schedules to see when we can get together to rehearse. Likely it’ll start next September [2014], and likely will look back at the King Crimson repertoire for material. However, I expect plenty of surprises along the way — that’s the way it usually is with Crimson.”

To mutate a few lines from Crimson’s bleat-tastic “Elephant Talk,” what follows is more than just small talk, babble, expugnations, and/or idle chit-chat.

MIKE METTLER: Steven Wilson did many fantastic mixes of King Crimson material in 5.1. Would you like to work with him on other projects?

TONY LEVIN: I’ve played on some of Steven’s solo projects, and yes, I do look forward to working with him again. On our [2010] Soup album, we the Stick Men brought Steven in to mix our version of Stravinsky’s “Firebird Suite” (a particularly complex piece) and were very happy with the results. [I can confirm that Wilson did an amazing job mixing all four parts of the “Suite,” which appear as Tracks 9-12 on Soup; it’s challenging listening, to be sure, but you’ll want to conduct along with each movement, right on through to the ultimately elegiac nature of Part 4 —The SoundBard]

METTLER: You got to attend Steven’s solo show at the Royal Albert Hall in London on October 20. How was it? He and his band must have sounded amazing in that storied venue.

LEVIN: It was excellent. Sound was great, as you’d expect, and it was 3 hours of performance, with only a 20-minute intermission (due, he said, to the venue’s rules). Nick Beggs was super on bass, and he played Stick quite a bit — quite a treat for me to see a Stick player in the rock context. I don’t get to see that often, and I really enjoy it. I even think I saw him thumbslapping on the Stick (though I was far away from the stage, it looked like he was doing that) and I’m going to explore that technique, which I hadn’t heard of before.

Rudess Behavior: Was there a conscious effort to compose music for LMR, or improvise it? Levin: “Jordan and I did quite a bit of jamming together, ready for Marco to play to, but we had so much good quality material written that there just wasn’t need to further develop the improv material.”

METTLER: You’re been on the road with Peter Gabriel for over a year, and counting. I saw the So — Back to Front tour in Philadelphia last year [on September 21, 2012], and was consistently impressed by the live sound quality. And I also appreciate being able to have an official soundboard version of the show I attended — a soundboard for The SoundBard, as it were. Why does So continue to have such an impact?

LEVIN: We’ve been having a great time out here on the road, doing the So music and tour quite close to the way we did it back in 1987, and with the same band. I can’t say there are favorite songs in the show for me — I’m somewhat equally happy during the whole show. It’s great being part of a band, and a production, that’s really giving the audience what they want. Peter’s ideas about show production are pretty groundbreaking, and the way the lights and crew choreography add to the music in the show is quite special. I can’t resist photographing quite a bit of the show, even while I’m playing in it, so my online diary has become a nice way to get the feel of the tour — both for those of us on it, and for the fans who came to shows and like seeing the “band’s-eye” photos.

METTLER: A number of Peter Gabriel’s tours are available on Blu-ray [New Blood: Live in London, Secret World Live, and Live in Athens 1987]. Do you like the Blu-ray format?

LEVIN: I’m not an expert at formats, but I can say that we just recorded this show in a very hi-def format (4K Ultra HD) on October 21 and 22 [at the O2 Arena in London]. It’ll be great to have a concert film made to commemorate this tour. I can’t tell you when the show video will be out, or even in what manner and format. I hope to find out myself before long! [Keep soundbard.com bookmarked for updates —The SoundBard]

Minnemann of Action: The drummer sent the bassman excellent LMR aural blueprints to work with, says Levin: “As for the bass parts I played, Marco sent me tracks where he had played not just drums, but guitar and bass, too — the bass to give me a sense of where he was going. In some cases, I played a different part altogether; in others, I played somewhat what he had, keeping the essence of it, but giving my own flavor to the part — and in a couple of cases, I played exactly what he’d suggested for the bass part. ”

METTLER: Ok, Scott, your turn. Tell me what your favorite surround mixes are, and why.

SCOTT SCHORR: My favorite 5.1 mixes are anything that Steven Wilson touches. I see Steven as the modern-day Phil Spector meets John Lennon. One thing I love about his 5.1 mixes is they always seem to stay as close as possible to the original mixes. However, in 5.1, he allows everything to breathe. Just listen to “Elephant Talk” [from King Crimson’s 1981 album, Discipline] on a great surround sound system. Tony Levin’s stick seems to bounce from one speaker to the other. Bill Bruford’s drum sound is incredible, and his snare is tighter and brighter than it usually is. Another Crimson album Wilson remixed, [1970’s] Lizard, is incredibly experimental, and would scare the average listener. But for the hardcore fan, the separation of the instruments in 5.1 is why the medium is growing as fast as it is.

In the original stereo mixes of Lizard, there’s so much stuff going on that it’s sometimes hard to decipher all the parts in the original stereo mix versus 5.1. And to consider that Robert Fripp was occasionally standing over Steven while he was mixing the Crimson catalog in 5.1? Now that is pressure!

I also know this is sacrilegious in some circles, but I’m a big fan of the ’70s classic records when they’re converted from analog to digital for 5.1. It just seems to “crispen” everything up and add clarity to all the instruments — without sacrificing all the warmness. And I’m super-anxious to hear Steven’s 5.1 remix of Yes’ Close to the Edge, one of my all-time favorite records. [Me too! —The SoundBard]

METTLER: Back to you Tony, with a quick barrage of Qs to wrap this up. What was the first record you bought with your own money? Does it still resonate with you today? Do you still have a copy of it? Do you still like the vinyl format?

LEVIN: I’m afraid I don’t remember that. (It was a long time ago!!) I was a classical music fan from a young age and listened to a lot of material, probably mostly on the radio. I did like the vinyl format, and somewhere I have my records from my teens — but like with the CDs I’ve collected, I don’t have much time to listen anymore. Happily and luckily, I’m too busy making new music most days.

Above, an exclusive YouTube clip of Levin Minnemann Rudess tackling the mysteries of “Scrod”