PORTSMOUTH, NH – Based out of Boston, The Gravel Project possesses an amplified sound that exudes a contagious energy. This band led by vocalist and guitarist Andrew Gravel is rock & roll at its core while adding bluesy and soulful elements that are as timeless as they are modern. Back on June 13, this act released a new album titled “Find What You Need,” and they have a bunch of shows happening around the New England region in support of it. This includes a stop at Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club in Portsmouth on July 21 with the music starting at 7 p.m. The upcoming show is part of the venue’s “Local Artist Series” that takes place on Monday nights.
Gravel and I had a talk ahead of the performance about the making of the latest full-length, thoughts on coming to Jimmy’s, and melding new and older songs in the setlist.
135 Congress Street, Portsmouth
Tickets
Rob Duguay: For “Find What You Need”, you mentioned in the liner notes that the songs within the full-length detail a personal exploration of the complexities of relationships. With this in mind, would you say that the songwriting process was more introspective than before or did the inspiration come from a different place?
Andrew Gravel: The songwriting process was definitely different from in the past. Our previous albums have touched on a number of different subjects, we’ve written quite a few political songs in the past and we’ve certainly written some relationship type of songs. We’ve also done some storytelling songs and good vibe songs that are not nearly as personal. With this new record, everything was written within a specific timeframe. I’d say that most of the songs are written in about 18 months while capturing a common thread of basically trying to be the best version of yourself during a relationship both for the benefit of yourself and the other people around you that you love.
RD: That’s a great message to have. The recordings were done at the Power Station New England in Waterford, Connecticut, which is a replica of the legendary Power Station in New York City, so what was the experience like making the album there and how were you able to get into that place?
AG: It was unbelievable. We’ve recorded at some nice studios in the past, but nothing is compared to the experience that we had there. As you noted, it’s a full-on replica of the Power Station in New York, or Avatar Studios, however people know it. So many legendary albums were cut there and mixed there on that board and the room itself, the first time our drummer Dave Fox hit a snare gave us an “Oh s***!” moment. It just sounds so good in there, so I think that was definitely part of the experience.
The room itself sounds amazing, you can be spread out and feel really comfortable, which allowed us to record live together. The other thing that made this such an incredible experience, and it was also something new for us, was that in the past we self-produced our records. We had an engineer, of course, but we never had an outside producer come in, and on this last record, we had two producers working together. John Paterno is a Grammy-winning producer and he’s known for his work with Gov’t Mule, Warren Haynes, Bonnie Raitt, Robben Ford and the list goes on and on. He’s the real deal, and there was also Greg Ogan, who has been involved with the production of a ton of big hip hop and pop albums throughout his time out in Los Angeles.
Those guys are friends and I’ve been tight with Greg since childhood, we’ve stayed in touch through all these years and he was the one who introduced me to John. Their influence on the recording process really made it a unique experience that I think ultimately got the best out of what we could record.
RD: You just mentioned how you’ve known Greg for a long time, but how specifically was John brought into the fold as a co-producer?
AG: When Greg moved back to Boston after 20 years out in L.A., we connected, and we used to play a lot of music together as kids. We had lunch and I said, ”Man, we have to do something together, we gotta jam.” I then told him about the record I was working on and how it would be really cool to collaborate. Greg’s response to that was, ”Absolutely, but knowing what your band sounds like, you need to meet this guy John Paterno.” John and Greg were kind of becoming fast friends and funny enough, they both were out in L.A. for 20 years, but they never knew each other out there.
Then they both moved to Boston within a 12-month period after accepting jobs teaching at the Berklee School of Music. That’s where they met and they became fast friends. Greg from a stylistic standpoint wanted us to meet John, he thought he was perfect for what we wanted to do, and it was also a really cool experience for them to work together for the first time.
RD: Very cool. What are your thoughts on performing at Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club in Portsmouth?
AG: Jimmy’s is one of my favorite clubs to listen to music and see music in the Northeast. It’s my first time playing there, so I’m really stoked to bring the band in. It’s an amazing listening room, I’ve eaten food there that’s delicious, the sound is great and the whole vibe is spot on, so we’re really pumped about the show.
RD: It should be a great night. When it comes to including “Find What You Need” into your live performance, how have you gone about it? I can imagine that the majority of your setlist these days consists of songs off the new record, but how has it been weaving in the old material with the new material?
AG: We’re definitely playing a lot of the new stuff. I think with most of our recent shows, we’ve been playing the full album while cherrypicking some of the older tunes people know and some of our favorite songs from the past. There’s a focus on the new material, but we’ve been throwing in some old ones as well.