IN THE STUDIO WITH...
A Series of Artist Interviews
A Series of Artist Interviews
“I’m there just to facilitate other people doing great things.”
John Eisemann directs some of the most beautiful musical experiences in Portland. In 2019 he and his wife, Jen Milius, founded In Medio (which means “in the midst”), a choir of classically-trained young adults singing powerful music. Their range is wide. I’ve seen the group fill a bar with brash, beer-swilling sea chanties and grace a candle-lit church with holiday carols.
Eisemann recently invited me to his office at Grant High School (where in his day job he directs five youth choirs). We talked about how he chooses music and develops the programs his choirs sing, how he rehearses them and how he views his responsibilities as an artist. Bonus: in this video he quickly explains the origin point for virtually all the popular music we listen to today.
Find more about In Medio and their upcoming performances here.
DJ Bryson Wallace draws on a delightfully wide musical palette reaching decades deep and around the world. Weekend mornings, from 9am to noon, he hosts “First Light with Bryson Wallace,” a cheerful, boundary-pushing jazz show on KMHD (89.1 FM for those near Portland, Oregon). And about six nights a week you can find him spinning vinyl at clubs and events all over our weird city. Wallace loves to educate his audience, and I enjoyed the chance to ask him how he navigates a three-hour set. We talked about how he loosely plans—then improvises—what he plays based on cues from the crowd, avoiding becoming the center of attention, preferring instead “to be a wingman for everybody.”
Read more about his radio show here. It’s available for streaming wherever you are, and follow him on Instagram: @brysonwallace.
Primarily a keys player, Daniel Clarke is a veteran musician in Richmond, Virginia, and has toured the world with Mandy Moore, Ryan Adams, Jason Mraz, Rachel Yamagata and the Dixie Chicks, to name a few. He’s been k.d. lang’s musical righthand man for more than a decade. (I’ve heard k.d. call him “the best musician I know” in front of thousands of people.) In this video Clarke explains his creative process. He plays his way into a rendition of “Deck the Halls”—we recorded this right before Christmas—and shows us around his home studio, full of fabulous things for playing, including a tea set for his daughters.
In a wide ranging conversation, we talk drum machines vs. computers, why lots of “starts” help him make good songs, the importance of playing music like a child, and plenty more.
Find more of his work here: https://spacebombgroup.com/artists/daniel-clarke