Interview with Farmer Dave Scher (All Night Radio, HOO)

Los Angeles musicians Farmer Dave Scher and Jimi Hey had played in a string of bands together in the nineties, including Strictly Ballroom and Beachwood Sparks. But it was as duo All Night Radio that the pair were able to give full flight to their creativity. All Night Radio's sole album, Frequency Spirit Radio, was released on Sub Pop Records in 2004. Admired by those in the know at the time, the record's stature and reputation is such that it's now getting bespoke vinyl release later this month thanks to UK label Big Potato Records. You can hear it's psychedelic majesty via the embedded player below, or click over the jump to read the full interview with Farmer Dave about how the album came to be.

(CLICK OVER THE JUMP FOR THE INTERVIEW WITH FARMER DAVE)

 

 

How did you meet your Jimi Hey and what were your first impressions of him?

Jimi periodically called in to my radio show at KXLU in the 90s during the 2am-6am shift which is where DJs get their start there.  We later met through the community of music and especially the group Strictly Ballroom, which featured my not yet Beachwood Sparks bandmate Chris Gunst and also Jimmy Tamborello (later of Dntel and Postal Service). These were my college friends and radio colleagues and there was a thriving scene of underground venues and concerts, labels etc.  Jimi was and is super funny, incredibly talented, very deep record head, and unique. Handsome fella, too! We always got along , though socialized within the dynamics of other bands, first Strictly Ballroom, then Beachwood Sparks (of which he was a founding part). It was natural we’d collaborate together down the road…. dude rips!

 

(Farmer Dave Scher & Jumi Hey)

To me ears the Frequency Spirit Radio is made by people with big record collections and eclectic tastes. Any truth in that?

Absolutely true! We were and are both deep record freaks. Jimi would bring special records to play me before we’d set in to work at my apartment studio in Echo Park, CA. I also, in addition to bands and albums, loved raw sound and sound effects. I’d always have microphones on and be playing records and movies and feeding the sounds back into the computer. All Night Radio has a lot of layers. Jimi also played me a lot of comedy, cool stuff… plenty of desire to embrace and reflect influences going on with All Night Radio.

 

How would you say your contributions to the album differed from Jimi's?

The differences might not be the easiest to refract… I would say in the beginning, I was more of the Don Quixote and he the Sancho Panza, I’d sent the demos to Sub Pop and asked him to come aboard, but as the situation evolved, we were more like Watson and Crick, Gilbert and Sullivan, Roland and Curt… it became the two of us. It was clear after a point we two were in a rowboat heading to China or some faraway place… there wasn’t any shortcut to getting there and we had to work together and be real… and we did!

 

How long did the album take to record and what was a typical session like?

The album took several months, possibly more than a year… we’d convene, take a walk in nearby Elysian Park, sometimes a cosmic additive was introduced into our consciousness, and we’d get to the order of the day. I had a Digi 001 for the computer and we definitely melted the computer back then. I would move the mouse across the screen and it would leave trails. Some songs needed two or three separate sessions to contain the rhythm, band, vocal, and “weather” tracks. Jimi and I would go through all this together. Some things I worked on alone, but once we had the material established, we’d make the major decisions together. Once an album at least, there’ll be something which appears and I have no memory of how it got there, who played it, etc. That’s very important to the health of an album, I feel, especially when talking about Spirit Stereo Frequencies. Frequency, energy and vibration point the way to the future of humanity.  Jimi and I both ended up studying energy healing,,, he reiki and myself chakra balancing and qi gong. 

 

Despite All Night Radio being a duo in the studio, I believe you did play live with an extended line-up. What are your main memories of the shows you played?

The shows were great, and we had Tim Koh on bass,, holler! It was great. Again for workflow, however, we were melting computers and I remember spending a lot of time backstage trying to bounce sounds and tracks to play along to, as well as get sound people to understand us.  I ended up melting over the pressure of being so technological, among other things.  But when the sounds and band worked, it was phenomenal.  We had many great shows and victories, as it were, my fave live offerings prob the song 'You’ll Be On Your Own' and 'Daylight till Dawn', I remember playing those and getting chills. Lot of road stories, waking up by the water at Town Lake in Austin w a whiskey bottle.. what happened? Psychedelic expansion was in the air.  We loved Andre 3k 'The Love Below' and so many things. Helio Sequence 'Square Bubbles'. Eggstone 'Better Day', so many!

 

Can you tell me about the award you recieved from LA Weekly?

I still have the plaque! Best rock / pop band… thanks for that, LA! It meant a lot and we showed up and gave an acceptance speech. Fossilized in time, now.

 

Big Potato Records are reissuing Frequency Spirit Radio, how did that come about?

Jimi and I met Nick in previous times in the UK and again in Spain. There was a resonance there, and it’s always meant so much that Nick of Big Potato is a good friend and champion of All Night Radio and now my FDWOW project as well. There’s more to be done, felt, heard, seen and said… more Camberwell Carrots to roll!

 

What are your thoughts on hearing the record these days? Is there anything you'd change?

I’ll take it as it is. I’m still the person who made that, definitely happy it still turns people on… grateful to Jimi for his boundless talent, patience and savoir faire…good records go beyond time and space and this one does so, for me… it was a deep labour of love, we didn’t turn back when it may have been sensible to do so, we didn’t compromise tho we may have been left with nowhere to stand… we went for the Muse and dove in all the way and were rewarded!

 

Do you have a favourite song on the album, or any particular aspect of it you're most proud of?

I think the spirit sound element of the album pokes it’s head out of the context of its day…… music for people, ghosts, plants, those not yet alive… I love the songs, yes, and beyond them in the grooves lies the idea of all of creation being tuneable … attunement to different dimensions and octaves of thoughts, feelings…. Love is like this… and it never fades. We humans are but one bandwidth among many here, there, and beyond.

 
You've remained active musically and recently contributed to the new LP by HOO. How did your involvement with the band come about?

 

We’ve been in touch for years and there’s more involvement just around the corner… kindred flames! Thanks!

 

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