Words by David C. Obenour
Circumstance forms unexpected occurrences. For everything that can be expected or even planned for, so much more happens purely by chance of space and time. Improvising is every much a part of life as it is of music.
Having played together in Kenosha Kid back in Georgia, drummer Marlon Patton and saxophonist Greg Sinibaldi found each other once again after having both independently moved to New York City. Sharing similar desires as musicians and needs as new New Yorkers, the two bonded once again and a shared practice place turned into a band… named after said practice space, Room 31.
Utilizing electronics, drums, bass, saxophone, a NuRad, and an innovative approach to performance and production, the duo have captured Crazy Town, a wild album of sound and experimentation. All set to a solid groove.
Off Shelf: You and Marlon Patton started playing together when you both found yourselves relocating to New York City in 2019. A big adjustment during regular times, let alone at the cusp of a pandemic. As a musician, can you describe your mindset during that time?
Greg Sinibaldi: We actually had met playing in Kenosha Kid, Dan Nettle’s project from Athens, Georgia back in 2014 or 2015, I think. We both moved to NYC, unknown to each other, within 2 or 3 weeks of each other and about 6 months prior to the pandemic. In fact, I think it was through Dan that I found out Marlon was moving too.
I moved here because I was looking for new inspiration and musicians to make music with. I felt that the music I wanted to make didn’t have support in Seattle. Particularly, music made with the NuRAD / electronics rig. It was exciting and new for sure. I set to going to shows, meeting people and trying to play as much as possible.
Of course, part of the reality of being a musician in New York is trying to find space you can make noise in. I originally thought I could make sound in my apt in Brooklyn but a neighbor quickly informed me that was an untenable situation! I started looking for a practice space and Marlon happened to be looking for the same thing.
OS: How much of your playing together do you think can be attributed to the time of the pandemic and shelter in place?
GS: We played some duo sessions at our practice space before the pandemic hit in earnest but they were more of a “let’s play,” situation rather than “let’s set out to make a band”. It was just fun mainly because of the unique instrumentation and plus we get along well, the hang is cool. When the pandemic hit, we gave up the practice space and each headed out of NY. Hard to justify the expense of living here when there were few opportunities to play.
Fast forward to mid-2021 and we both came back to town. That’s when we found the practice space we’re currently in and Room 31 became our room number. Upon our return we had a short lived residency at a place called Villainess in the East Village – which is now a pot shop. It was a monthly showcase where we would play a set and have a guest opening band. I think those gigs and the ensuing rehearsals between them started to define what we sound like. There still weren’t a lot of opportunities to play. Things got canceled all the time cause someone had COVID, a venue would be closing its doors, etc. We were lucky that we had a space and could make noise as COVID was wreaking havoc in the world.
OS: Can you describe Room 31 for us? The building and your room in it?
GS: As practice spaces go its pretty nice. I’ve been in some grimy spaces and this one is in good shape. The owners take pride in it. Its a small room, maybe about 130 square feet in a 20-30 room facility in Ridgewood Queens. There’s way too many drums in it! [laughs] There’s a lot of noise sometimes. Some pretty hardcore rock bands rehearse there, which is great. I like hearing all the different music being made. When 5 or 6 bands are rehearsing and 3 or 4 drummers are practicing it can be a little cacophonous walking down the hall. Once you’re in the room you can still hear a lot but it’s manageable. You get used to it. I think it may have something to do with the amount of sound Room 31 can create. We can push a lot of sound so maybe the cacophony of our space has a little hand in it. You know improvised music is of its time and place so…
OS: The album’s cover is a painting you made, can you share a little of your inspiration behind it?
GS: Visual art is something I’ve done for a while now and it’s increasingly taking up more of my time. I often spend more time looking at art than listening to music…
When I’m making visual work, I feel much freer to take risks and don’t hold it too preciously. It’s how I want to feel when I’m making music so its a reminder for me. The cover is actually a crop of a larger piece I made. I have yet to title it, but I had this feeling of being at sea while still being able to see the horizon. All my visual works are essentially self portraits. This is me looking toward a “home” and not really knowing what it is or what it looks like. Both my younger self and older self are looking for it. What am I looking for in NY? Is it far or near? Am I just not seeing it?
OS: Sourced from improvised recordings, have you since thought of these songs as more structured compositions? Would you want to play them live with some reciprocity or is that not the intended spirit?
GS: Great question. I think the question comes from the fact that some of these sound more like compositions rather than improvisations. We actually tried recreating parts of the improvisations at a recent gig. We took some of the themes and compositional aspects of the improvisations and made them into loose tunes with the idea that we would play them live but it just didn’t work. The music felt forced and executing the ideas from previous improvisations just didn’t flow very well. Its like putting a square peg into a round hole.
After some time thinking about it and listening back to the gig where we tried this it became clear that trying to re-create improvisations is a futile task, at least musically speaking. The beauty of improvisation is that it is of its time and place, created in the “now”. The now six months ago or a year ago was one thing and isn’t the “now” of now. It defeats the purpose and spirit of the music. That isn’t to say that some of the ideas presented in the improvisations can’t become compositions. But making that a successful endeavor is a separate process. That involves composing rather than improvising.
OS: I was unfamiliar with the NuRAD as an instrument before. Can you tell me more about it as an instrument? How is it similar and different from a traditional woodwind instrument?
GS: You opened a can of worms! [laughs] I can talk all day about the NuRAD.
It’s essentially a controller for other instruments. It doesn’t make any sounds of its own but it can be hooked up to hardware or software synthesizers. It has touch sensitive keys with many fingering systems available so the player can utilize whatever they are comfortable with. I have it set to saxophone fingerings. It has an 8 octave range, some unique harmonic capabilities as well as microtonal capabilities.
One of the unique features is obviously the breath sensor. The breath can be utilized in the programming of whatever synthesizer you’re using so it gives a different flavor to synth sounds. I try to make the sound design of my synths sound like keyboards but with a different flavor. You can tell it’s a synth but its not made with a keyboard. A simple example of how the breath sensor can be utilized is volume. As I blow harder the sound gets louder. You can assign the breath sensor to all kinds of different parameters in your synthesizer so its possible to get some really unique and expressive sounds.
I also like the microtonal capabilities of the instrument. It’s possible to overlay all kinds of different tunings over the “normal” fingerings of the instrument which allows for completely unique lines. I spent considerable time creating tuning systems that work in a “tonal” aspect. The instrumentation of Room 31 helps with this too. When there’s simply a bass note coming from Marlon its easier to be freer with the microtonality. Compare that to a piano or guitar hurling equal tempered harmonic information at you… there’s less space for the tonality to breathe. Sorry, I can go into the weeds on tuning and tonality! [laughs]
The NuRAD, in addition to other wind controllers, like AKAI’s EWI and Rolands Aerophone are marketed to wind players as “if you can play a wind instrument you’ll feel right at home with a wind controller”. This is not true. Theres a steep learning curve if you want to really learn the instrument. They are unique instruments and require all the techniques and practice of learning a new instrument. Of course there are similarities but I liken it to learning a double. As a saxophonist we’re required to learn doubles like clarinet or flute. Wind controllers are the same. They are their own instruments and need to be treated as such. I’ve been playing wind controllers since about 2006 starting with the Akai EWI. I learned pretty quick that it’s its own animal.
In addition to the technical idiosyncrasies of simply playing the instrument there’s the whole sound design aspect. I’ve probably spent more time learning and experimenting with sound design and synth programming than practicing the instrument! There are stock sounds out there that come with synths of course but they are rarely wind-controller friendly. I also don’t find most stock sounds very interesting timbre wise.
OS: What do you enjoy about playing a baritone saxophone in contrast? What strengths do you see it lending to songs that an electronic instrument cannot?
GS: That’s easy. I’m a better saxophone player than I am a wind controller player! [laughs] I say it jokingly, but it’s actually true. I have many, many more years of playing saxophone under my belt.
I feel like the bari just fits with the music and the vibe of the band better. When we were doing the Villainess shows I played a lot more tenor and it just didn’t quite fit. It worked on occasion but the bari just feels like a better fit sonically. Tenor can get swallowed up in the sound easier than the timbre of the bari.
I also feel like playing bari can take the music to a higher place. As much as I’m an evangelist for wind controllers they have limitations. You can’t make a wind controller bark like a bari. At least I can’t. It’s difficult to be truly percussive in the attacks on a wind controller… really get a bite out of the sound. Bari lends itself to that in that there’s so much sonic information in the timbre of the instrument, especially in the attack. Its ability to morph timbrely is unique and wind controllers just aren’t there yet. Wind controllers don’t have the complexity or the flexibility yet to even come close to the timbreal variance of many acoustic instruments. They can try, but it sounds synthetic. I also like to hear the acoustic sound of the bari come sailing in over the top of whatever sonarchy might be happening. I feel like it grounds the sound a bit.
OS: The drums on Room 31 really hit me almost immediately. Your partner in the band, what stands out to you about Marlon’s playing?
GS: Marlon is one of the best drummers around! What I love about him is he’s not only a badass drummer but he’s a deep musician first. His musical sensibility is on the highest of levels and everything he does is in service to the music. He creates a vibe from note one. It really elevates the music.
He’s also a great engineer and producer. He engineered the two recording sessions we did and we both mixed it. I say we both mixed it but it was more eighty percent him and twenty percent me. His mixing creativity really stands out. I knew some of his mixing work from a few of the Kenosha Kid records he mixed but I learned a lot more about his mixing prowess as a result of the mixing sessions we did. He’s super open to all kinds of experimentation in the mixing process and the results can be really interesting. He’s willing to turn a knob all the way to see what happens. I think that’s a big part of the drum sounds on the record. Not only is his playing great but the mixing and production on it is really unique. He did things you’re not “supposed” to do as a mixer and the results sound good! So why not?
OS: Now that we’ve started to feel more confident in things becoming more normal again, have you started writing new music together? Does it feel notably different to you?
GS: Honestly it doesn’t feel too different to me. I mean we don’t have to wear masks anymore but shows still feel a bit like they did during the pandemic. Sparsely attended, and mainly other musicians attending. I feel like before the pandemic there were more non-musicians at gigs. People coming out to experience shows… I think the pandemic taught a lot of people how to entertain themselves by doing other things. There are just so many other things pulling at our attention these days.
We’re continuing to make music. I have some compositions that I’ve been working on that we’ll start to suss out soon. They’re composed specifically for the two of us and utilize the uniqueness of the instrumentation. I think improvising together over the last couple years has been an important part of the process in that I’m learning what can and cannot work compositionally.
I’m also working on a large ensemble piece that will feature Room 31 as the core component but the ensemble will be expanded to add extra instruments. It’s definitely in the gestation stages but it’s informed by my other composition work that incorporates electronics and acoustic instruments. There’s so many possibilities to experiment with timbre particularly with pitched percussion like vibes, piano, marimba, etc.
Website + Greg Sinibaldi: Website | Facebook | Instagram | X + Marlon Patton: Website | Facebook | Instagram | X