Ryan Webermulti-instrumentalist, producer:Decibully, New Sense and Magill

Touring the country for weeks on end with six other guys:

BJ (William Seidel) and I have been playing together since age 15 in almost every project we've done (more notable than our high school bands are Camden, Promise Ring, Decibully, and New Sense), so we're really used to being around each other and usually have the same wants on the road (ie. coffee, bagel, OJ in the AM).

I think we're lucky that everyone really loves each other and respects each other in all of the bands I play in and have played in. Problems will very occasionally arise. (I think in Decibully's career we've had 2, maybe 2 1/2 fights. Usually two factors cause us to fight: 1. poverty, 2. alcohol in the system.) What happens then is we do this crazy thing where we all talk about how we can make it better. In Decibully we're lucky enough to usually have 3-5 mediators. Oddly enough this has worked. I think a big reason Decibully functions so well is that there are so many of us. If two people are mad at each other (which is very, very rare), they've got at least five other guys to talk to and hang out with so the tour is never ruined. We never get involved with factions or anything like that. In smaller bands you've got crazy tension when two people are fighting. Three-pieces are just screwed usually.

Maybe these are good rules to live by if you've never toured:

• Load your fair share of gear IN and OUT! (If he/she really likes you he/she will wait.) Make a couple of exceptions for schooozming with VIP's, though...
• Respect your band mates' space in the van (ie. don't draw on them while they're napping).
• Respect your band mates' stuff. (Don't just throw someone's headphones in the back to get crushed in load just cuz they're on your seat.)
• Conversely, nobody likes the guy that leaves his shit all over the van. Keep it tidy.
• If someone in your band doesn't want the nick name "ShitCan", just try not to call them that.

I think these are pretty good rules. I know I'll break 'em sometimes, but overall I think I've found these are the things that get under the skin of passive aggressive indie rockers.

Playing shows on unfamiliar turf:

We take pride in what we do, so we'll get up there and try to play our best set possible for five people if that's the hand we're dealt. I think some of our tightest, most energetic shows have been for comically small crowds.

Half the time if we've got peeps or meet cool people, we usually stay with them. Seven or eight dudes in your living room... Sound ridiculous? How about the other half of the time when we sneak 7-8 dudes into a single hotel room?

What happens at home while you're on tour:

My girlfriend or my neighbor, Old Man Malcolm, usually watch the crib while I'm gone. It's good to have neighbors that rock. Although last time on tour, someone tried to burn down my garage. That's when you gotta call in real reinforcements like Mom 'n' Dad.

My current job is very good to me. Anodyne Coffee. (Best cup o' joe in Milwaukee. Better rekanize!) Yeah, they have been cool with me touring and then coming back to work. Some of the guys work at Comet, Fuel, and, yes, Starbucks, and they also have really cool bosses. Without very understanding jobs we would not be a touring machine.

If you like plants I would recommend buying them at the most horrible place you can find. Like in the back of Wal-Mart. The way I look at it is, if they can survive living in Wal-Mart for most of their lives, they'll be alright if they don't get water while I'm on the road.

The difference between engineering, producing, mixing, and mastering:

Engineering is getting the sound, mic placement, EQ, etc... tasteful grunt work. A producer is sort of the engineer's boss if the sound isn't right. They will also make adjustments to the music: notes, progressions, keys, usually song length, tempo... Music stuff, ya know? Mixing is pushing up the faders and dealing with the fx. Mastering is taking the mixed song and throwing some more EQ, limiting, compression, on the overall mix. It's also getting all the songs at the same level and sequencing the record. Everything is important, but if I had to pick, I would like to spend the most time during mix. In mixing with a computer there are sooo many options to change what's been recorded, you can make something completely different in the end.

I feel like some of the coolest records out there right now are basically home recorded on a computer, then taken into a nice studio and mixed by someone who knows what they're doing. You get the vibe of your world and the quality and sound of a pro studio. Best of both. I did most of the new Decibully record all over my house, garage, and practice space. I did some drums, most bass, and all vocals at Bionic Studios, then I mixed everything at Bionic. So really 85% of the record is not from a studio. I guess the public will decide if it sounds like poop March 8th.

Preparing to go into the studio:

Have all your shit together! It can drive me nuts recording a band if they don't know the song structure or their parts and they're there to record. What the F???? This is rare but it happens. Be very prepared. Grab some 9 volts, some strings, borrow some amps, guitars, other snares and drums. Be on the same page musically. If anyone in the band is really standing their ground over how they want their part to sound, you've got let them have it their way.

Practicing and songwriting:

Well, often times we'll practice twice a week with each band. If Decibully is just getting off the road we'll take a lot of time off. Since our new record is done and we're not touring for a while, we've taken a lot of time off to save money, which is cool cuz in that time I focus on New Sense. It's a weird balancing act if you play in two bands. When I was playing with Camden we'd practice 2-5 times a week. With Promise Ring we'd rehearse like a week before tour every night.

If we're starting a new song, practice is usually chaos for 20 minutes, then something just takes shape. BJ comes to practice with a song (lyrics and changes), and we'll
write and reshape it. Yeah, we jam. I think maybe the next record will be a little more
collectively jammed. Maybe.

Writing a song can sometimes take thirty minutes, and sometimes a year. I guess it takes as long as it takes to record. I spent nearly six months working on the new Decibully, but the majority of it was done in 2-3 month period. New Sense on the other hand has seven songs done right now that we've been working on for about four years. That's almost a pace of 1.8 songs a year! So yeah, it all depends.

Record labels:

Indies are much more artist friendly than majors. In fact it seems to me majors are artist unfriendly at this point in time. Our labels have been mostly supportive, but yeah I'm sure I've been screwed. I just don't know how badly, so I try not to think about it.

Here are some things I would want from a label:

• Distribution. (You want it in stores dontcha?)
• Some publicity, an ad or two.
• For them to work as hard for you as you're working for them. Say you're out on the road six months out of the year not making any money... What are they doing to help it get better?
• Radio servicing by a pro company.
• They have to pay for the recordings and masters or they don't own your music. WORD...

For Decibuly, I think Chris Rosenau (Pele, Collections of Collonies of Bees) called the owners at Polyvinyl in the middle of the night and told them they had to sign us. Then he told me I had to send some material over, so I did and they liked it. Camden signed to a friend's label. New Sense did a record on Brilliante. Friends. We're shopping right now and it probably wont be with friends for the first time in my career, but we'll see...

I have in the past been in the position of sending out tons of records to labels all over the world. The nice labels will send an e-mail saying "no thanks". Otherwise ya just hear nothin'. I've never been on a label that I wasn't connected to through friends. I think that's just the way indie rock works.

The business of being in a band:

Who ever gets the shit done should be in charge of it. I've played with a lot of people who have said they will do something band-related and not done it. It is my biggest pet peeve. Drives me mental!!!!!!!! With cell phones and computers there is no reason to not get something done or communicated immediately.

Decibully has a booking agent, New Sense books our own shows. A booking agent is a nice thing to have. Let them worry about the details with the promoter and you just gotta show up and play.

Both bands I play with currently have a close relationship with Chris Strong and Joe Wigdahl (two Chicago artists), so they do all our album art. We've never used anyone else.

[Q: Who handles the money? A:] Money in indie rock??? We're way over getting paid with money. We only except gold bars or black velvet bags of diamonds.

New Sense has a lawyer, or will soon. Promise Ring had some big-shot dude I think. For Decibully we had an attorney close to us look over the contracts, but we don't have an official high-powered music attorney. Camden only did hand shake deals. So all different scenarios, and guess how much I've made from records... $0...

[Q: Does every band need a manager? A:] Depends. Is it some guy you know that likes to hang out at practice? Then maybe he's really not your manager, ya know? Is it an actual manager that has connections and can help you out? Then yeah, probably.

A manager should be shopping your music if you're not signed, trying to get you licensed, pushing your music on people that can do something with it, finding endorsements, make sure you're not getting screwed by a label, a booking agent, a promoter, a web site, etc... An omni-present dude that has your back cuz he's riding on it for 15%....

How to spot a good manager: They should always be on their cell phone ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS!!!!! They should maybe even have an ear piece thing. I think it's cool if they call everyone "babe". They've gotta have a really flashy car (if they're young and hip: a mini... if they're old school: a Beamer... if they're hip hop: a f-ing Hummer looks nice). They should be all about XM radio and ipods and some download site you haven't heard of. They should hit on all the band's friends and groupies. They should have a gold dangly bracelet, maybe even a gold chain necklace. They should have a cool accent (California or British is highly recommended).

Making music in Milwaukee:

Oh, Milwaukee! I grew up in Racine. I never thought I would stay in WI, but I had to do it for the band, MAN!!! I went to school in Madison but dropped out so I could go on tour, and moved to Milwaukee for the band, MAN!!! I have grown to love this city with all my heart. I can go anywhere, but my friends live here so why would I want to? Seasons, close to my kin-folk... So yeah, I can't leave anymore... Ya know, the band, man. Also the people. Maybe I'm crazy but I feel a community here. The way I look at it is, I'm here, I might be here for a while, so I better do everything I can to make this a kick-ass place. If that means answering really good questions about music totally dorkily, then that's what I'll do!

Of course when my next record goes platinum thanks to all the support we get in Milwaukee... fuck y'all! I'll be playing with my ipod under an orange tree in L.A. with my Hummer parked down the street and my hot actress girlfriend pouring me another glass of something from Napa Valley while polishing my diamond pinky ring...

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