After nearly 30 years of producing, and performing with various musical outfits, MITCH EASTER has finally released his first solo album DYNAMICO and it only took him 18 years. One can’t accuse EASTER of jumping on something while it’s hot. After his band LET’S ACTIVE disbanded in 1989, MITCH fell back on that other thing he does best; producing. In the nineties, EASTER’s production credits included the likes of MARSHALL CRENSHAW, PAVEMENT and VELVET CRUSH.Visit his website to hear some samples from Dynamico.

What inspired you to actually start “Dynamico”? How long ago were the songs written?

ME: I always think I’m on the verge of making a new record! Having

time to get something going without some monster interruption is the

hard part. Mainly, there was a pretty good gap in the studio schedule

in the summer of 2006 and I had a couple of weeks to listen to things

and actually start accomplishing something. And I probably did spend

way too much time in the 90s wondering if anybody on earth wanted to

hear anything out of me. At this stage of things I have to come to

terms with the fact that anything I do is pretty much a “vanity”

project, which for a long time made me feel sort of confused about the

whole thing. But then, I’ve gotten gratifyingly nice comments on

Dynamico, so I guess it was worth doing. I love making records, but an

important part of the equation for me is to have some version of “the

public” actually like them. I kind of think that if you make records

that absolutely nobody cares about, it’s worth considering what that

means…

The oldest song on Dynamico is probably “Love Slaves to Paradise Lost”,

which I did in 1991 and immediately forgot about. When I came across

the tape I thought- “This is crazy! I like it!” The newest ones are

“Break Through” and “Why Is It so Hard”, which were done in the fall of

2006. Another thing which helped me go ahead and just make the damn

thing was to stop worrying about formalistic concerns like when things

were written, who’s playing on them, etc. I kept thinking I should

make an all-new band record but we’d start some tracks and for some

reason I kept liking versions I already had, even if they were sloppier

or whatever. And I figured that since nobody has heard the older songs,

why not use them if I still liked them?

Have you stayed in touch with your old band mates in Let’s Active?

Any reunion talk ever come up if you did?

ME: I occasionally see most of them, I guess. The only “reunion” I’d ever

consider would be the original Faye & Sara version, which isn’t going

to happen. It doesn’t really appeal to me except maybe for a situation

where somebody else organized everything and we did a one-off for some

occasion.

Even though you helped put REM on the map, you worked with a ton of

well known artists. As a producer, do you have any favorites? Easiest

to work with? Most difficult?

ME: I’m no good at questions like this! I’d need a list of records in

front of me. I always enjoyed the Game Theory/Loud Family sessions

because I really liked a lot of the songs and they were pretty creative

sessions. I couldn’t say what the easiest and hardest sessions were-

in a way they’re all quite hard work, but the more I like the songs,

the more I enjoy the work, which makes it easy, sort of.

I’ve seen this asked in other interviews, but I’ll ask again. Is there any

chance of a Let’s Active box set coming out?

ME: I doubt it. There’s not that much material, really, and the IRS stuff

is owned by EMI, who aren’t going to bother with such small fry. The

Collector’s Choice reissues probably satisfy most people. I may post a

bunch of out takes and unused songs one of these days, which is

nowadays probably the most practical way to offer the oddities.

Longevity is hard to come by in this business, why do you think

you’ve been able to survive this long?

ME: The studio has been a “real job” that’s let me do something in music

all this time. In the 80s, club bands like Let’s Active could actually

sort of make a living, but now really big-time bands play the same

clubs we used to play as semi-nobodies. So the economics of all this

is pretty weak now. The touring we did last year was completely

subsidized by the studio. We make, you know, $60 these days. I mean,

it’s just pathetic. Meanwhile the club is taking $240 off the top!

This really happened on a recent show! Anyway, I think I’m a decent

recording engineer and people still want to make records, thank

heavens.

What is the next album going to sound like? Will it take another twenty

years (I sure hope not) ?

ME: I really could start tomorrow if not for sessions I have to do. I

don’t know about the sound – probably more “of a piece” than Dynamico,

but I think people generally just sort of sound how they do, so it

probably doesn’t matter what I say about what it sounds like. My idea

is a fairly simple sound, uncluttered and clear. I’d love to make a

record that is non-fatiguing like a great old rock record from before

the last 20 years of too much compression and too much high end… Oh, and with good songs! Well, that’s the idea, anyway.