GEOLOGIST

Who’s Geologist?

Randy Williams.



How did you get started in the music scene?

It was a way to rebel against all of the social injustice in the world. Music was an escape that offered an alternative. If you tuned in, it didn’t matter whether you were rich or poor, whether you had any status in society. All you had to do was to be observant of what was going on and to express your thoughts. You might have been physically trapped in your life but musical expression allowed your imagination to take you anywhere.



What’s the story behind the band’s name?

It’s not much of a story. I studied all forms of rock music. I knew useless facts about rock musicians and rock songs. Eventually I studied the roots of rock and its history of breaking down barriers, talking about subjects nobody else would talk about. A geologist is someone who studies rock in all its forms. It wasn’t much of a stretch to call me a geologist. It took other musicians a matter of minutes before dubbing me with the name. I’ve never cared much for any type of music but rock music. After the name, I designed the trade mark by drawing it in my high school library. That trade mark was published on the covers of the first two limited edition CDs in 1994. It appears somewhere on every cover.



What are your music influences? Aside from rock music, Geologist has looked at how elements of other musical genres influence rock composition. Elements of jazz, classical, rhythm and blues, country, folk, soul, reggae, breakdance, hiphop, rap have all changed rock. Every artist up to the present has been an influence upon me; however, the performances of the initial influences still appear to be the bedrock for the future. The bass of Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney, the guitar of John Lennon, George Harrison, Pete Townshend, Lindsey Buckingham. Keith Richards, Paul Simon, Buddy Holly, Neil Diamond, Eric Clapton, Randy Bachman, the piano of Stevie Wonder, Burton Cummings, Elton John, Christine McVie, Carol King, Ludwig Van Beethoven, drums of Richard Starkey, Mick Fleetwood, flute of Burton Cummings, banjo of Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye. It was Nat King Cole’s story telling ability that may perhaps have had the biggest influence. The compositional styles of all of those artists has also been informative of what I do.



You are working on a new album, can you tell us more details/insights about it? Any title, official release date in mind?
I’m currently recording, “Cool Fool Baby”. The drums and piano were completed yesterday but we’re thinking we might re-record everything because we want to add a few more bars to the ending.

January 1, 2013, a guitar version of a single, “Playing Politics: Intellectual Gothic World Event Detective” is available on iTunes and CD Baby but the version with keyboard, a second acoustic guitar and a double tracked bass were only released to a limited number of US and Canadian radio stations. It’s likely to appear on the album when it’s finished. So far, the tentative title of the album is “Neolithic Nights”.

There’s also a single, “Joy” with a rocked up version of the Johann Schop and Johann Sebastian Bach pubic domain work. The piano only version is released on iTunes and CD Baby on January 9, 2013. US radio already has the piano only version and Canadian radio has a version that includes brass instruments, guitar and scant vocals with the keyboard and drums. We’re debating re-recording the song with an acoustic piano because the digital processing capacity of the keyboard reached its limits with the speed of parts of the song. We just couldn’t get the acoustic piano into the studio due to the limits of the stairwell leading into the studio in its present location.

I heard a slower version of “Joy” being played before President Obama addressed the audience at the Newtown memorial and I was reminded that Bach envisioned the song to be performed fast. It is more commonly performed over the holidays, at weddings and funerals but always slow. Even the professors at the university of Alberta were aghast when I performed a fast version for them many years ago.

I’m thinking of releasing a Christmas album next Christmas, so I may hold off releasing the more produced version until then.



So you are planning to hit the road?
The summer of 2013 appears to be the target date. Preparing musicians may be the biggest task. There are numerous songs to learn. On the bright side, the musicians ought to be there to record many of the performed songs after they’ve been presented live, which always has an influence. I’m hoping to create some live recordings for YouTube too.



What’s your method at the time of writing a song?

It’s probably unusual but I tend to write numerous songs at once. At the end of the day, I’ll have some completely finished, while others are sitting in pieces. As time passes over days, months and sometimes years, whenever I don’t have a complete song, I try to fit - Vents Magazine

Who's Geologist?

Randy Williams.

How did you get started in the music scene?

It was a way to rebel against all of the social injustice in the world. Music was an escape that offered an alternative. If you tuned in, it didn't matter whether you were rich or poor, whether you had any status in society. All you had to do was to be observant of what was going on and to express your thoughts. You might have been physically trapped in your life but musical expression allowed your imagination to take you anywhere.

What's the story behind the band's name?

It's not much of a story. I studied all forms of rock music. I knew useless facts about rock musicians and rock songs. Eventually I studied the roots of rock and its history of breaking down barriers, talking about subjects nobody else would talk about. A geologist is someone who studies rock in all its forms. It wasn't much of a stretch to call me a geologist. It took other musicians a matter of minutes before dubbing me with the name. I've never cared much for any type of music but rock music. After the name, I designed the trade mark by drawing it in my high school library. That trade mark was published on the covers of the first two limited edition CDs in 1994. It appears somewhere on every cover.

What are your music influences? Aside from rock music, Geologist has looked at how elements of other musical genres influence rock composition. Elements of jazz, classical, rhythm and blues, country, folk, soul, reggae, breakdance, hiphop, rap have all changed rock. Every artist up to the present has been an influence upon me; however, the performances of the initial influences still appear to be the bedrock for the future. The bass of Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney, the guitar of John Lennon, George Harrison, Pete Townshend, Lindsey Buckingham. Keith Richards, Paul Simon, Buddy Holly, Neil Diamond, Eric Clapton, Randy Bachman, the piano of Stevie Wonder, Burton Cummings, Elton John, Christine McVie, Carol King, Ludwig Van Beethoven, drums of Richard Starkey, Mick Fleetwood, flute of Burton Cummings, banjo of Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye. It was Nat King Cole's story telling ability that may perhaps have had the biggest influence. The compositional styles of all of those artists has also been informative of what I do.

You are working on a new album, can you tell us more details/insights about it? Any title, official release date in mind?
I'm currently recording, "Cool Fool Baby". The drums and piano were completed yesterday but we're thinking we might re-record everything because we want to add a few more bars to the ending.

January 1, 2013, a guitar version of a single, "Playing Politics: Intellectual Gothic World Event Detective" is available on iTunes and CD Baby but the version with keyboard, a second acoustic guitar and a double tracked bass were only released to a limited number of US and Canadian radio stations. It's likely to appear on the album when it's finished. So far, the tentative title of the album is "Neolithic Nights".

There's also a single, "Joy" with a rocked up version of the Johann Schop and Johann Sebastian Bach pubic domain work. The piano only version is released on iTunes and CD Baby on January 9, 2013. US radio already has the piano only version and Canadian radio has a version that includes brass instruments, guitar and scant vocals with the keyboard and drums. We're debating re-recording the song with an acoustic piano because the digital processing capacity of the keyboard reached its limits with the speed of parts of the song. We just couldn't get the acoustic piano into the studio due to the limits of the stairwell leading into the studio in its present location.

I heard a slower version of "Joy" being played before President Obama addressed the audience at the Newtown memorial and I was reminded that Bach envisioned the song to be performed fast. It is more commonly performed over the holidays, at weddings and funerals but always slow. Even the professors at the university of Alberta were aghast when I performed a fast version for them many years ago.

I'm thinking of releasing a Christmas album next Christmas, so I may hold off releasing the more produced version until then.

So you are planning to hit the road?
The summer of 2013 appears to be the target date. Preparing musicians may be the biggest task. There are numerous songs to learn. On the bright side, the musicians ought to be there to record many of the performed songs after they've been presented live, which always has an influence. I'm hoping to create some live recordings for YouTube too.

What's your method at the time of writing a song?

It's probably unusual but I tend to write numerous songs at once. At the end of the day, I'll have some completely finished, while others are sitting in pieces. As time passes over days, months and sometimes years, whenever I don't have a complete song, I try to fit several different pieces of - Vents Magazine

Sounds great.. cool - Song Reviewer