Recording - June 2016 - 51

JUNE 2016
TAXI Road Rally 2015

Collaboration Nation, Part One
Michael Laskow, Moderator
PANELISTS
Russell Landwehr, Matt Vander Boegh,
Seth Littlefield, Steven Guiles, Carla (C.K.)
Barlow, and Scott Free
A few months ago, I interviewed Russell for our
newsletter and when I read the section about collaboration, it inspired me to do this panel. People
understand the value of collaboration, but maybe
they don't know exactly how it's done, or what
some of the etiquette is, or some of the mechanics
of collaborating. So that's what we're here to do.
Let's start with Russell. Tell us where you live and
why folks in the audience should be collaborating
if they're not already.
Russell: I live in Pleasantville, Ohio. It's a town of
about 1,500 people, and I don't have a chance to
collaborate with anybody really close to me. And
one of the reasons to collaborate, especially, is not
just to get something for yourself. The main reason
to collaborate is to help other people. But the best
reason to collaborate is actually because whatever
you do with someone else becomes better, because
they have different sounds, different skills, different
things that can add to what you do. But not only
that, what happens is you end up playing off of
what they do or sing or say, and everything just
builds. Collaboration is truly an example of the
whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Matt, how about you? Why do you think people
should collaborate? Or why do you collaborate?
Matt: Well, I'm from Boise, Idaho-not exactly a
hotbed of musical activity-so I've done everything
by myself. So I've done everything by myself for a
long time, and you start to realize there is only so
much you can do. You can't do everything. I'm not
a singer, and I was losing out on tons of opportunities for vocal songs and good placements just
because I don't sing-and I sure as hell don't rap.
[laughter] But I wanted to get in on that game, so I
started reaching out to people. I'd give tracks to
people and say, "What can you do with it?" and
then they'd send it back, and now it just kinda

The Collaboration Nation panelists yuk it up after their panel and show just how strong TAXI's community is. (Left to Right) C.K.
Barlow, Russell Landwehr, Matt Vander Boegh, Steven Guiles, Seth Littlefield, Scott Free, and TAXI's Michael Laskow.

widens the net so you have more stuff for better
and bigger opportunities.
Seth, how about you?
Seth: Well, I'm from Seattle, Washington, which
had a pretty good scene during the Grunge era. But
just to add to the list a little bit, of course, to find
new skills to work with, but also to find libraries to
work with, because I've actually signed a couple
tracks from libraries that I would have never been
introduced to, tracks that have been placed, which
is a nice bonus. It's a nice way to have an introduction to publishers or libraries that maybe on the
other hand you wouldn't be able to meet.
And Steven, you do a fair number of songs-probably more songs than instrumentals, at least the
last time I caught up with you. Are you looking to
collaborate for reasons other than the people who
mostly do instrumental stuff? As a songwriter, do
you collaborate in other ways or for other reasons?
Steven: I have come to figure out a lot of what my
strengths and weaknesses are as a songwriter. Like

Matt was saying, I'm not a vocalist. I don't feel like
I'm a very good producer/mixer. I don't feel like
that's my gift, with the detail, really making a track
shine with that extra five percent at the end of a
mix that really makes it happen. I don't think that's
my gift. So I tend to work with people who maybe
have that more attention to detail thing that I don't
have. I think we all find that there is a strength that
we have that we can bring to a co-write or to a collaboration. And then it's like speed-dating or
something, you try a bunch of people. You know, a
lot of us here have collaborated with each other,
and you just try things out, you throw something
out there and sometimes it works, and sometimes it
doesn't. Sometimes you don't have time, or you've
got a deadline you're meeting and you've got to prioritize. I don't know. I didn't really answer that
question, but I love collaborating.
I mean, that's why I love TAXI. I love TAXI because
there's a community, and the community has made
me better, it has grown me.
Continued on page 52
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - June 2016