Now Playing…Mitch Gettman
By MarQ Manner
Mitch Gettman has been impressing audiences on Omaha stages as both a solo artist and with his band that also bears his name for the past few years. After putting out an EP, Mitch decided to go into the much lauded ARC studios to record his debut full length with the idea of touring and getting his music out beyond Omaha in 2012. That album, “We are the Mad Ones,” is available now for streaming and download at mitchgettman.bandcamp.com. A physical release will show up on Dec. 16 when Mitch celebrates with a party at the Slowdown where he will be taking the big stage that night.
Mitch has been finding himself open for many national bands the past couple of years, he was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2009 Omaha Entertainment & Arts Awards and most importantly has seen interest grow in his actual music and not just the fact that he is a teenager playing music of the quality that he does. His style is seemingly influenced partially by classic rock and grunge rock of the early ‘90s and also the soaring works of artists like Jeff Buckley, the Smiths, and Elliot Smith. On the album “We are the Mad Ones” Gettman puts an emphasis on his own sound and directions of where he wants to go with the music. I met up with Gettman at Crane Coffee to talk about the new album, recording at ARC, and what the future has in store for him. Mitch Gettman will be playing a free show this Sunday at Q Consumables in Little Italy at 7:30 p.m.
Shout! – Why did you decide to use ARC Studios?
Mitch Gettman – I just heard about it and some of the bands that recorded there. It seems like one of the big studios in Omaha, and after specifically hearing the It’s True record that was recorded there. We wanted the album to sound as good as we can make it. I was under the impression that we would be able to get the product that we wanted there and we did.
Shout! – What is the songwriting timeline between the EP and this album?
Mitch – A few of these songs were written and put on the EP, so it started spring of 2010 to a little over a year. A few of the songs were written right before the sessions.
Shout! – Are there any songs that stand out to you or are inspired by something in particular on ‘We are the Mad Ones”?
Mitch – The songs are all inspired by something. I have hard time writing about something I am not interested in. I wouldn’t say there is any song in particular where this song means more than the other. They all mean something to me. From first glance a lot of people might think the songs are love songs and I can see where they are coming from. The thing about songs that I love is that they have a lot of emotion so I try to put that into the songs.
Shout! – So these are not love songs or songs about love?
Mitch – It can start as a love song and end up being something completely different. Just because you wrote it one way doesn’t mean that you can’t interpret it a different way. There are songs that mean something completely different from when I wrote it. I don’t want to say I have been writing songs forever, I have only been writing for about three years, but in that short amount of time I know this.
Shout! – How was recording at ARC? Any crazy stories from the studio?
Mitch – There are not too many crazy stories. It was really short-it took us a week to record it-it was work but it was fun work. After the drums were recorded then me and AJ spent the time doing the vocals and overdubs. It was fun and we did 12 hours days, but you were never really exhausted.
Shout! – Did you feel like you had more opportunities in a studio that size?
Mitch – I was definitely thrilled with the opportunities of what we could do in the studio, just the instruments there give you so many options. I was excited to do the overdubs with piano. The first time I went there I thought ‘wow this is a real studio’ and I was grateful to be able to record there.
Shout! – How was working with AJ Mogis?
Mitch – AJ did a great job. Almost from the beginning we saw eye to eye on the whole project. We would just sit around and exchange ideas and we would be like what’s next? It wasn’t like we were shooting down any of each other’s ideas-we were very much on the same page.
Shout! – What would you like to do with this album?
Mitch – I would like to use this record as an excuse if you will to step up. I don’t want to just sit around-I want people to hear it. I am not super concerned with people liking it I just want them to hear it. I want to hear what people think of the music. We are going to do a tour in the spring of next year. We have the “Stay With Me” video that we are using to try to get people to gravitate towards the record. I want the record to be able to get our name out there.
Shout! – You did the video with Ingrained right? Did you approach them or did they approach you?
Mitch – Justin (Kadlec whom has been booking and managing Mitch) approached them. We just met with Andrew (Roger) and it was another quick and smooth project.
Shout! – What is the premise of the video?
Mitch – The album is called “We are the Mad Onees” which is a reference to a line from “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac where it talks about how the only ones for him are the mad ones. There was this part where he talks about exploding roman candles so we created this fireworks theme to go along with the album title. We did this shoot out in the Elkhorn area on the beach with a bunch of fireworks and then we did a live show at a warehouse downtown.
Shout! – With the album in the can, are you finding a whole new batch of songs coming to fruition, or are you just focused on promoting this album?
Mitch – Kind of both, I like to write as much as possible. You can’t write all the time, sometimes you can’t write anything. I have been trying to find new songs; I have a lot of ideas-and a lot of almost complete songs.
Shout! – Did you do anything on this album that you didn’t plan on doing before you went into the studio?
Mitch – We did a lot fun extra things, but we didn’t do anything too crazy. I guess that will come with time, when bands get older they try crazier things. I played instruments that I usually wouldn’t play. I did piano overdubs, and I wouldn’t want to play piano out on stage, but if I can focus on it I can learn it. I did some hand drums and congas and bongos on the first track “Stay with Me” and you could probably tell if you are a hand drum expert. On the track “Affection Pt. 1” we ended up adding an almost a jazzy feeling up front we used a cabasa and sandpaper, and a shaker. It was just kind of something that we came up with in the studio. We didn’t burn the tapes or anything or record bathwater running.
Shout! – Are you finding that people are not as focused on your age and more focused on the music these days?
Mitch – I think that is better for sure. I try not to communicate to people as if I am young. I know that if I do that they might not take me seriously. I try not to bug people, but I want to always navigate people to my music. I have pitched to all of my teachers over the years, and a lot of them are my biggest supporters, especially the English teachers. If that is how someone thinks, that it is how they think. I don’t want them to be ‘oh check this kid out he is 17 years old.’ I want people to just listen to the music. That is why it is great to get feedback from someone you don’t know. I don’t want people to even know about my age. Just listen to it and consider it music and give it a shot.