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MICHAEL WYLIE
lo BANG'
UPCOMING ALBUM FINDS HIM
ON BOTH SI DCS OF THC MIC
S even years ago, Ben Harper had to worry
about stealing his kisses and promoting
Bum to Shine, an album that would thrust
him in front of a larger mainstream audience
than any of his four previous full-lengths. Today,
Harper is more occupied with the upcoming
release of his seventh studio album Both Sides
of the Gun. and combating the stereotypes that
naturally arise when one releases a double al
bum. With the album's street date looming on
the horizon, Harper finds that he doesn't have
much time to feel nervous or excited or anxious
about the release. He's too busy with rehearsals,
promotion, interviews and life in general to focus
on Tuesday, Mar. 21.
Harper himself admits that people often view
double albums as overindulgent or unfocused,
and he certainly tried his best to cram all of his
songs onto one disc. But, alas, the music just
wasn't having it. "The music was the main rea
son behind the necessity to [make it a double
album]," he explains. "I wasn't comfortable
releasing it as a single record, as much as I tried
to sequence it like that. So once it made its way
to its double record concept. I was satisfied
creatively."
D espite the need to split up the songs, the
two halves of the album aren't polar oppo
sites and tend to flow in and out of one another.
Disc one plays up Harper's more soulful, groovy
and funky side, while disc two reflects the acous
tic rock style at which Harper excels. Both discs
taken together represent a new direction and an
evolution for Harper, but at the same time, they
are rooted in his previous efforts.
Compared to records past, Both Sides of the
Gun sets itself apart not only by being a double
album, but also by being the product of a new
approach to recording. Harper spent three
months recording, self-producing and mixing the
album with the most laid-back and casual feel of
all of his prior studio sessions. Whereas Harper
would normally close all doors and immerse
himself completely, this recording process was
marked by an open door policy, friends arriving
bearing gifts of food and mid-recording skate
sessions. The nonchalance wasn't planned, it just
evolved organically.
This is also the third time that Harper has
manned the sound board alone, opting to self
produce Both Sides of the Gun rather than employ
an outside opinion. The decision had less to do
with a desire to maintain creative control and
more with Harper's current
mindset of being able to con
ceptualize his music clearly
and concisely, enabling him to
have a focused vision of the
end result. “It's different [not
having a producer] because
you yourself are getting to the
sounds you're hearing in your
head more than having it be
someone else's vision of the
song," he says. "I've never had
a bad experience with produc
ers either, so I can appreciate
both. But this time around,
it really made sense for me to
lean into it on my own, hear
ing the songs so clearly in my
head."
H aving released his first
album back in 1992, Ben
Harper has tong been im
mersed in the music industry.
It's a world where so many
get burnt out, screwed over
or fed up so quickly, and a
world in which so few even
"make it" to begin with. It's a
lifestyle that has been over
romanticized and portrayed as
one in which everything falls
into one's lap without much
effort. That's not the life that
Ben Harper has led. But nor
has the industry been as dirty and unfriendly to
Harper either.
By surrounding himself. Harper says, with
good people and doing good business, he's been
fortunate enough to avoid the underhandedness
of the biz, though he doesn’t for a second deny
that that side of the industry exists.
For Harper, it has been the music that has
motivated him. "The politics of the industry are a
sort of standard procedure," he says, "and there's
a lot of that that I can defer to people around
me. But there's also part of it that's unavoidable.
And if you're not ready to do that, you shouldn't
sign on the dotted line."
Leah Weinberg
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