Words by Harper Mahood
Gregory Uhlmann explores uncharted sonic territory with Extra Stars, his solo debut album on International Anthem. The Chicago-born, LA-based composer, producer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist has built a rich musical world, collaborating with artists like Perfume Genius, Tasha and Hand Habits, co-leading the jazz quintet SML and recording as one half of the duo Duffy x Uhlmann with Meg Duffy. Inspired by the vastness of the universe, Extra Stars combines harmonic depth, rich textures and heavy processing into something singular, cementing Uhlmann as one of today’s most compelling voices in experimental instrumental music.
Off Shelf: Extra Stars is your solo debut on International Anthem. How did the solo creative process differ from that of your work and collaborations with SML, Perfume Genius, Hand Habits, Anna Butterss and others?
Gregory Uhlmann: It was different in that it was mostly solitary and over long stretches of time. This music only came into focus as a collection after a few years. The biggest overlap was with Duffy x Uhlmann and SML in the way that I was resampling myself and others to make new parts and instruments. I’ve really enjoyed being very collaborative on most of my releases of the past few years, so this was a new challenge for me. Of course, I couldn’t resist having friends contribute to it as well towards the end of the process.
OS: The title of the album, Extra Stars, is inspired by a trip to California’s Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. What was the significance of this experience to you?
GU: I grew up in Chicago and have lived in LA for my whole adult life. I’ve only really started to get out into nature more in the past ten years and I’ve really connected with the area around Bishop. Ancient Bristlecone Forest is a really unique topography of these gnarled, witchy-looking trees that are some of the oldest in the world set on steep cliffs. I try to always visit when I’m in the area. The title is more tied to the area than the actual forest. It was a reaction to the overwhelming feeling of seeing the density of stars in a very dark and clear sky. The universe is vast!
OS: Chicago is one of the most vibrant and renowned cities for jazz across all of the US. What were your early experiences with music? Were you inspired by any particular local musicians?
GU: Chicago was an incredible place to grow up! I feel super lucky. I had so many musicians looking out for me there. My teachers Bob Palmieri, Steve Rodby, and Jeff Parker were all huge influences for me. Jeff has been a constant source of inspiration from early on and it’s been really beautiful to continue to learn from him over the years. There were a lot of young musicians interested in improvising when I was growing up there and we’d form bands or just get together and play at people’s houses or little gigs around the city. It felt really self-motivated and DIY in a beautiful way. There was also a nice mix of the older generation of musicians mixing with young musicians and looking out for them.
OS: These days, you live in Los Angeles. How would you compare L.A.’s music scene to Chicago’s?
GU: I’m always interested to know what’s going on in Chicago these days and try to keep in touch via friends. It’s hard to compare exactly because I’m a little older now and it was very different being a kid in Chicago vs an adult in L.A. as you would imagine, but the sense I get is that there is a robust scene happening in both right now. I think maybe L.A. is just a little more mysterious in how the scene comes together as there are less venues that act as meeting places at the moment but I hope that changes soon, ETA was the one for a while here. In general, though, L.A. is just so vast and the music scene is pretty huge and Chicago feels a bit more tight-knit. L.A. you have to find your little corner a bit more. It’s easy to get lost in the possibilities. There are so many people doing so many different things!
OS: Extra Stars is a texturally rich album and very rhythm-forward despite having minimal percussion. What was your composition process like? How did the production build on that?
GU: I’m glad that came across! That is something I’ve been interested in for a while. I love when stringed instruments are treated more like percussion. Surprising textures and timbres start to appear. The production approach depends a little on the song, but for a song like “Burnt Toast” I wanted to make a highly percussive piece just using guitar, so I really just played with how many different sounds I could get within that limitation. “Back Scratch” was similar but with piano. I had Booker Stardrum add percussion to complete that piece as well.
OS: You have a very distinct ability to transform your guitar into almost unrecognizable tonalities. I imagine this can be quite an exciting and explorative process. Can you tell me about it?
GU: I love to find new sounds that come from the guitar. Some of it is just trying to find analog techniques and some is from finding an approach with pedals. As I mentioned earlier, I also have been having fun with resampling guitar as well. I also find different pickups react to touch in unique ways and that has been an interesting exportation as well. I have three beautiful pickups in my guitar designed and built by Bob Palmieri of Duneland Labs and he’s given me a lot of different options for timbre and touch.
OS: The lead single “Lucia” was born from field recordings of waves crashing on California’s Cabrillo Highway coastline. Do you make field recordings often? How do you find that it can add to a composition?
GU: I have been more in the last few years. I like how it brings the outside world in. It can also be a way of creating new instruments to play via sampling. When I started exploring MIDI capabilities with guitar it got me excited to play with found sound in the world of composition more.
OS: You just came out with an album with SML, How You Been, in November. How has playing with SML informed your musicianship over time?
GU: In so many ways but a big way one was the process of making the record. I hadn’t edited live recordings in that kind of way before and it’s become a part of my practice for myself and with other groups. Also, the use of MIDI clocking in an improvised setting was new to me. We actually didn’t start that way, but it has been a technique that has expanded a lot of possibilities for me in my own music as well. And, of course, I’m just so inspired by each of the members and have learned so much from them. It felt important to include them all in some way on this record because of that.