the grassy knoll

Our June Artist of the Month here at KUTX is Austin’s The Grassy Knoll. Imagine hard funk in a latter day Miles Davis mode, slathered with a swipe of psychedelic rock, and it might give you some idea of the futuristic sound of The Grassy Knoll. Led by Nolan “Bob” Green, the Grassy Knoll have been making music since 1994. Following a difficult period for Green, the reconstituted version of the band released Electric Verdeland Vol. 1 in 2014, their first recording in a dozen years. The Knoll lineup is made up of Living Colour’s Vernon Reid and trumpeter Chris Grady, as well as Adam Sultan, Brad Houser, Laura Scarborough, Jeff Johnston and Jon Dee Graham. Green’s music is almost impossible to define – or to resist. - KUTX

A decade-plus has passed since Nolan "Bob" Green put out a Grassy Knoll recording, but there's no conspiracy at work. Civilian life simply got in the way. That long absence gives Electric Verdeland Vol. 1 the kind of fizz that comes from long-suppressed creativity uncorked. Multi-instrumentalist Green still composes uniquely contradictory instrumental noir – mysterious yet melodic, lush but knotty, earthy while atmospheric. Mixing live instrumentation provided by Vernon Reid, Jesse Dayton, Li'l Cap'n Travis' Jeff Johnston, and more, with samples and electro grooves is hardly a new idea, but Green's expert blend of progressive fusion and trip-hop makes "The Kids Want a Little Action" and "The Definitive Manifesto for Handling Haters" fresh. Also setting Verdeland apart from the rest of the catalog: vocals on a Knoll recording. James Rotondi, Laura Scarborough, and Jon Dee Graham provide short phrases and sound bites rather than full sets of lyrics, giving "Voluptuous Misery," "Rain Rain Down," and "Something Together" hooks that don't challenge the music. Balancing conceptual imagination with easy appeal, Electric Verdeland Vol. 1 emanates a dream state before the coming dawn. •••• - Austin Chronicle

Part 1
Name: Nolan Green
Nationality: American
Occupation: Musician / Multi-instrumentalist
Bands/Projects: Grassy Knoll
Labels: Electric Verde Records, Nettwerk
Musical Recommendations: JoJo Mayer and Helen Breznik

When did you start writing music, and what or who were your early passions and influences?

I started playing music in the 8th grade when the choir director suggested I give the bass guitar a go. I think she made the gesture because it was obvious I couldn’t sing a lick.

I instantly connected with the bass. It sounded so cool and I loved how the low notes resonated with my body. Soon after that I was playing in bands. Our set consisted of Thin Lizzy, UFO, Grand Funk, Captain Beyond, Starz, Montrose, Blue Oyster Cult, etc. I didn’t start writing music until I discovered bands like The Cure and Echo and The Bunnymen.

Robert Smith’s gift of taking very simple parts and creating hauntingly beautiful songs really resonated with me, especially after years of listening to heavy rock records. Upon discovering Seventeen Seconds and Faith I borrowed a friend’s 4-track cassette recorder and started messing around.

For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and the transition towards your own voice?

The Grassy Knoll is both a collage of and homage to the music that moves me. I feel that what comes across as originality is in fact the way that various musical genres are melded together and live in a rock setting. Once I accepted the fact that I didn’t want to be in a rock band but instead wanted to create sonic soundscapes that’s when I was free to discover my own voice. The mid-1980s was a time for exciting experimentations in sampled sound—Malcolm McClaren, The Bomb Squad, Art of Noise, Rick Rubin—what these artists were doing musically made perfect sense to my ears and provided an introductory road map.

What were your main compositional and production challenges in the beginning and how have they changed over time?

The real challenge was finding time to create the songs. Song writing is a time-consuming process, and when I started making the first Grassy Knoll demos back in 1993, I was sheet rocking houses in Oakland. I would leave work after an 8-10 hour day and have a couple of hours each night to work on music. That was a huge challenge. Today, I have structured my life so I have more time to create.

Tell us about your writing environment/studio, please. What were criteria when setting it up and how does this environment influence the creative process? How important, relatively speaking, are factors like mood, ergonomics, haptics and technology for you?

Creating a mood is important. Electric Verde Studio is a simple room with cork flooring and panels of acoustic foam strategically placed on four walls. The room sounds great.

The front and back walls are painted green; the same green that is used on the cover of Electric Verdeland Vol.1. I prefer to mix at night with just the glow of the computer screen and a single green bulb hitting the back wall.

What are currently some of the most important tools and instruments you're using?

Logic, iZotope (Iris, Alloy, Nectar and Ozone) Fender Jaguar Guitar, 1975 Fender Precision Bass, and a USB Turntable.

How would you describe your relationships with technology and what role does it play in your pieces? In which way do certain production tools suggest certain approaches, in which way do they limit and/or expand your own creativity? Are there any promising solutions or set¬ups capable of triggering new ideas inside of you as a composer?

The Grassy Knoll depends on technology. I create in an electronic world but it’s essential that it doesn’t sound like it. For all the technology involved, the organic element is its musical heartbeat.

The software I use expands my creativity because it’s a chosen tool. iZotope’s Iris is a sound design tool just like a Fender Jaguar is a sound design tool. A promising solution for triggering new ideas would be if a program like Ableton Live could loop, time stretch, pitch shift, add as clip in the sessions window a video clip like it does with audio clips; that would be a game changer for a Grassy Knoll live performance.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of a piece or album that's particularly dear to you, please? Where do ideas come from, what do you start with and how do you go about shaping these ideas?

"The Definitive Manifesto for Handling Haters" off of the new album contains all the elements of my process. It starts with a solid grooving rock drum track with a driving bass. I add dissonant noisy samples in the background, random breaks that shouldn’t work but feel seamless, an arpeggiated synth electronic bridge, and an incredible improvised horn by Brad Houser in three takes, with one panned left, one panned right, and one centre on top of it all. There are a lots of things happening in a short amount of time. My hope is that the listener will continue to discover new elements on each listen.

With more and more musicians creating than ever and more and more of these creations being released, what does this mean for you as an artist in terms of originality? What are some of the areas where you currently see the greatest potential for originality and who are some of the artists and communities that you find inspiring in this regard?

It means that there will be more great stuff to experience, more sources for inspiration.

Knowledge influences creation, so I get inspiration by learning every day, having an open mind and by being receptive to what others create, by reading books, watching films, flipping through Instagram or listening to music. I live in an incredible musical community.

On any given night in Austin you can soak in a variety of local artist like Jon Dee Graham, Jesse Dayton, I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness, Black Joe Lewis, Laura Scarborough, BLXPLTN, Bill Callahan, Lincoln Durham, etc ... In addition, we have KUTX, which plays an eclectic mix of music, and they are a fierce supporter of the local scene. There is a lot of juice in this town.


Part 2

How strictly do you separate improvising and composing?

It begins with improvisation and experimentation, which is then shaped into a composition. I usually begin with drums and bass. Then I look for interesting sounds, these usually derive from live vinyl recordings from the 70’s. Experimenting with these samples, through manipulation is my favourite part of the process. Once I have a foundation with some interesting sounds and possibly a melody, I give the tracks to a musician to improvise on during particular sections. I then take those parts, cut them up, rearrange them, and react to them to create a composition. "The Kids Want A Little Action" was created from tracks that were recorded for another song. The unused improv takes were too good to leave on the cutting room floor so a new composition was born.

How do you see the relationship between sound, space and composition and what are some of your strategies and approaches of working with them?

They are interrelated. They are the foundation of crafting songs. I work with them by trusting my process.

What's your perspective on the relationship between music and other forms of art – painting, video art and cinema, for example – and for you and your work, how does music relate to other senses than hearing alone?

The one constant I hear people say regarding my music, is that it is cinematic. Having studied photography at The San Francisco Art Institute I enjoy that reaction. It makes perfect sense that so many musicians experiment in other creative mediums. From my experience, the process of making art whether it be painting, photography, film, or music is the same—it's the act of discovery, working with intent, trusting yourself, and letting your filters guide you.

What's your view on the role and function of music as well as the (e.g. political/social/creative) tasks of artists today, and how do you try to meet these goals in your work?

The role of art hasn’t changed today from any other day. The role isn’t singular. People are meant to do certain things; creative people need to create. Society needs creation.

Listening is also an active, rather than just a passive process. How do you see the role of the listener in the musical communication process?

The Grassy Knoll’s music is not background music; it is music that warrants your attention. I am creating sonic landscapes with the hope that each listen reveals something new.

Reaching audiences usually involves reaching out to the press and possibly working with a PR company. What's your perspective on the promo system? In which way do music journalism and PR companies change the way music is perceived by the public?

Social media gives an artist an instant avenue to connect with listeners. What’s missing from the social media model is the curator, which is what record labels, music reviewers, and magazines provide. Fortunately, there are still taste-makers writing and creating audiences for musicians, such as blogs like Pitchfork, Stereogum, and Brooklyn Vegan.

Just look at what Pitchfork did for Arcade Fire. Plus, if it wasn’t for good PR, I wouldn’t even be doing this interview right now.

Do you have a musical vision that you haven't been able to realize for technical or financial reasons – or an idea of what music itself could be beyond its current form?

I had an artist residency in NYC at Pianos back in 2004. I assembled pre-MTV footage of musicians from all genres, created audio loops with the clips and essentially used Final Cut Pro as a sequencer that just so happened to have the associated visuals attached. I would project the movies onto and behind me while accompanying them on bass. Steve Cook on drums, Rostropovich on cello, Coltrane on sax, KK Downing on guitar—the possibilities were endless as long as I could keep finding fresh clips! It became an obsession and kind of expensive.

Seen with today’s eyes these so-called mash-ups probably might not seem as fresh/original as they were back then but they were fun to make. Some of those movies/songs can still be found on the Grassy Knoll’s YouTube page. I would like to take this idea to the next level but as I mentioned earlier during this interview I need software similar to Ableton Live to treat video clips in a certain way and so far it isn’t happening.

Visit Grassy Knoll's webiste at www.thegrassyknollmusic.com - Fifteen Questions

In the late 1990s, The Grassy Knoll was on the leading edge of a new kind of music, a darkly artful mix of the electric and the organic, of digital sampling and analog virtuosity. It was the sound of rock, jazz and electronica melded into a sometimes sly, sometimes seething and always forward-minded infusion.

A soundtrack for the conspiracy theory in your mind, The Grassy Knoll fuses the technical terrorism of the Bomb Squad with the organic impact of Miles Davis’ Jack Johnson – industrial-strength beats vying with serpentine sax solos, ambient-noir atmospheres cloaking coiled aggression… Cut-and-paste style, it effectively blurs the line between Birdland and clubland.” The albums featured such edgy instrumental stars as Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, avant-jazz saxophonist Ellery Eskelin and genre-blind violinist Carla Kihlstedt. And tastemakers from Shirley Manson of Garbage to guitarist Vernon Reid of Living Colour were among the faithful, singing the praises of albums The Grassy Knoll (1994), Positive (1996) and III (1998), as well as new-century addendum Short Stories (2003).

Aside from an occasional remix and soundtrack inclusion, The Grassy Knoll went dormant for the decade after that, as life challenges took precedence. But now The Grassy Knoll – a/k/a multi-instrumentalist and producer Nolan “Bob” Green – returns with a new album brimming with a sense of fresh possibilities: Electric Verdeland, Vol. 1.

Along with Green on bass guitar and various other tools, the album’s instrumentalists come from far-flung genres and geography, including guitarist Vernon Reid, trumpeter Chris Grady and keyboardist Dave Depper, as well as such Austin luminaries as Brad Houser on baritone saxophone and bass clarinet, Jesse Dayton on guitar, Chris Forshage on trumpet, Brian Batch on violin and Jeff Johnston on musical saw. Also, for the first time on a record by The Grassy Knoll, there are featured vocalists: Jon Dee Graham (the only three-time inductee to the Austin Music Hall of Fame), Adam Sultan of Poi Dog Pondering, Ann Courtney of Mother Feather, Francine Thirteen, Laura Scarborough and James Rotondi of Roto’s Magic Act. Along with Graham, several of these singers are also Green’s fellow Austin residents: Sultan, Thirteen and Scarborough.

Ghettoblaster recently caught up with Green to discuss the hiatus, surviving cancer, breaking ground, the triumphant return, and star-studded guest list. This is what he told us.

The Grassy Knoll is back after nearly a decade long hiatus. Why the break in the first place?

The gap between records happened for a variety of reasons. Losing my deal with Polygram soured me a bit to the industry so I stepped aside to pursue other interests. I became Photo Editor of CMJ Music Monthly Magazine, then Production Manager for the classical music label Andante and then an editor for a TV show. Those kinds of jobs leave little time for anything else. The main driving force that got me creating again was surviving prostate cancer. That shit will make you reevaluate every aspect of your life. You realize what you love and what’s important.

Are you the only original member of the band still participating? Was this endeavor always a collective type atmosphere?

The grassy knoll is a studio-based project and the act of a lone gunman. I’ve been very fortunate to have had some incredibly talented musicians give a lot to this project. The records released on Nettwerk and Polygram were written and conceived before studio time was booked. Once the sequenced and sample parts were laid down to 2” tape, instrumentalists would come in and improvise on the tracks. Electric Verdeland Vol.1 is the first release where collaboration was part of the process

Do you believe your fans will recognize the band? What characteristics of your sound have held steadfast?

Absolutely. All of the characteristics that shaped the grassy knoll sound are still the driving force behind this new effort: darkness, beauty, chaos, down-tempo grooves, sonic manipulation, and great performances. Although, I do think that Electric Verdeland Vol.1 feels more alive, more human than the previous releases.

TGK has long been recognized as ground breakers. Do you take pride in that tag?

I do, but it’s odd to me when I hear that. Being considered a ground breaker wasn’t a motivating factor and still isn’t. I love making this music and if it strikes a chord with somebody that’s fantastic. The music seems to resonate the most with people who enjoy sitting in front of speakers and truly listening. This isn’t good background music. It’s layers and layers of sound that hopefully reveals more and more each listen.

You got some help on this record from some pretty spectacular guests, who not only played the songs, but helped you write them. Can you tell us about those collaborations?

I have a very trusting relationship with the guest artists. I give them plenty of room to do their thing and in return they allow me carte blanche to do with those takes what I please.

For example, as primer for the Pledge Music campaign I recorded a cover version of PiL’s “Poptones” with Vernon Reid, Jesse Dayton, Brad Houser and Jon Dee Graham. There were so many great takes from that session that I didn’t want hitting the cutting room floor that I created a new song by cutting and rearranging those takes.

This became the opening track on Electric Verdeland Vol.1—“The Kids Want a Little Action.” Laura Scarborough was really involved in “Rain Rain Down.” She had brilliant arrangement ideas and her vocals and lyrics were fantastic. That is by far the most lyrical song on the album.

The three tracks featuring James Rotondi were, as far as process, the most rewarding. His studio is in Williamsburg, and he consistently sent back tracks that inspired new directions. I would rewrite bass lines or rearrange the songs and then send them back for his reactions and additions. This back and forth led to some beautifully rich moments.

Do you have a running wishlist of future collaborators?

Chuck D, Erika Wennerstrom, Ornette Coleman, Richard Butler, Britt Daniel, Yoon Kwon, PJ Harvey, Bill Callahan, Paul Banks, Kim Gordon, Robert Plant… You said wishlist, right!?

During the ’90s you had some pretty famous supporters, including Shirley Manson. Did you ever happen to meet her? What was it like having that kind of support?

I met her backstage at a Smashing Pumpkins / Garbage show at the Cow Place just outside of San Francisco. She was extremely nice and very beautiful. It’s really special when an artist I admire says something positive about the grassy knoll.

Is Electric Verde records your own label? If so, is it empowering to have control of your own art in this way?

I was fortunate that both Nettwerk and Antilles allowed me to make records without any intervention. That being said, it is an empowering feeling doing it completely DIY. I own the masters and the publishing. What I lose on one hand, say in recoupable promotion and distribution, I gain in the other, complete ownership.

Do you have plans to tour on the record?

The live setting has always been a tricky one. The grassy knoll has toured as a six piece, four piece, a duo, and solo. Each version was enjoyable but none of them truly reflected the creative spirit of the music. I’m in the process of putting something together that is really exciting, and I hope that it will be practical enough to achieve on the road.

(Visit The Grassy Knoll here: www.TheGrassyKnollmusic.com.) - Ghettoblaster

The Grassy Knoll’s Nolan Green Talks New Album Electric Verdeland Vol. 1

by SLIS on MARCH 6, 2015 in ALBUM, ALTERNATIVE ROCK, INTERVIEWS, MUSIC
The Grassy Knoll’s Nolan Green Talks New Album Electric Verdeland Vol. 1

The Grassy Knoll were one of the most unique electronica acts of the 90’s, forging a connective tissue between trip-hop beats, 70’s arena rock and jazz textures. But the project, led by the Austin, TX based producer/multi-instrumentalist Nolan Green has kept a low profile as of late, the last studio album being 2002’s ‘Short Stories’.

But Green is back in a big way with new Grassy Knoll album ‘Electric Verdeland Vol 1.’, which features contributions from artists including Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid, Mother Feather vocalist Anne Courtney, as well as notable Austin musicians like vocalist Jon Dee Graham.

I recently spoke with Green regarding his new album, his creative process and more. Enjoy the Q&A below.

So it’s been 12 years since the last Grassy Knoll album. What sparked the new album Electric Verdeland, Vol. 1’s creation, and why the long gap between releases?

I had a major scare with my health that forced me to reconsider many aspects of my life. Creating new music was in the forefront of my mind when I received an email from Vernon Reid. He was on the road with Living Colour and had been listening to the Grassy Knoll on his iPad. He wondered if I was interested in collaborating. If that couldn’t inspire me to dive back in then what would?

The next day I upgraded the computer, purchased the latest version of Logic, and started assembling Electric Verde Studio. The gap between records happened for a variety of reasons. Losing my deal with Polygram soured me a bit to the industry so I stepped aside to pursue other interests. I became Photo Editor of CMJ Music Monthly Magazine, then Production Manager for the classical music label Andante and then editor for a TV show. Those kinds of jobs leave little time for anything else.

This is also the first album that features vocalists. When did you make the decision to include vocal performances? Did you write certain songs with specific vocalists in mind?

I was experimenting with spoken word on the previous album “Short Stories” which was recorded when I was living in NYC in the early 2000’s. I loaned Broadway actress Becca Ayers a portable DAT machine, and she recorded her poetic thoughts for a couple of weeks. That became the vocal source for the album. In hindsight the project wasn’t my finest hour but it did teach me some valuable lessons. The greatest lesson was I realized for the kind of music I create vocals shouldn’t have a greater weight than any other element in the song. The voice should simply be a color or added texture.

I never started a song for “Electric Verdeland Vol.1” with the thought that this is going to be a vocal piece. It wasn’t until a song was taking shape and an instrument was needed that vocals were considered.

I read that Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid contributed to several tracks and that he was a crucial creative spark for the album. How exactly did he become involved?

I first met Vernon in 1998 at the Warsaw Jazz Festival. We were on the Sunday night closing bill. The Grassy Knoll, Vernon’s My Science Project, and Branford Marsalis. We tossed around the idea of recording together when we got back to the States but it never panned out. That’s why the email he sent was so inspiring. After all this time, I had no idea I was still on his radar!

The one thing that hits me after repeated listening is that it’s a hard thing to define your sound. It’s so cinematic and genre bending. I’d like to know when your interest in mixing elements of jazz, rock and electronica began?

Mixing elements has always been the driving force behind the grassy knoll. I’m not a fan of genres. The language of music is too fascinating for that. What moves me is the spirit of expression. Glenn Gould, Hendrix, Shostakovich, Miles, Page were all free thinkers trusting their individual voice and for some reason they struck a universal chord. It’s that chord that I’m interested in.

Though I began mixing elements early in my career, the pinnacle of my efforts was when I had an artist residency in NYC at Pianos back in 2004. I assembled pre-MTV footage of musicians from all genres, created audio loops with the clips and essentially used Final Cut Pro as a sequencer that just so happened to have the associated visuals attached. I would project the movies onto and behind me while accompanying them on bass. Steve Cook on drums, Rostropovich on Cello, Coltrane on sax, KK Downing on guitar—the possibilities were endless as long as I could keep finding fresh clips!

It became an obsession and kind of expensive. Seen with today’s eyes these so-called mash-ups probably might not seem as fresh/original as they were back then but they were fun to make. Some of those movies/songs can still be found on The Grassy Knoll’s YouTube page.

Your music is a mix of organic musicianship as well as heavy sampling. What usually comes first when creating a song, and how did that process develop?

Typically I begin with drums, bass and samples. I started creating music this way back in 1991. My tools were a Mac Classic that I used as a MIDI sequencer, a Roland S¬550 sampler, and Roland D¬70 keyboard. The 550 could only hold two floppy discs worth of samples per song, which wasn’t much time at all. The first three grassy knoll albums were made with that 8-bit sampler. Once in the studio the sequenced songs and samples were dropped down to 2” tape in preparation for tracking organic elements such as drums, horns, strings, etc.

My 550 was stolen years ago so for Electric Verdland Vol.1 I used iZotope’s Iris as my tool for manipulating vinyl samples. Many of the musicians on this record live outside of Austin so they recorded their takes in Logic or Ableton and sent the files back to Electric Verde. This allowed them the comfort and freedom to work in their own environment and it allowed me to react to the recording as more of a sample than an organic take. I really enjoy this process of the artist reacting to a foundation, my reaction to their take, and then rearranging or redeveloping a track.

Do you try to pull from different sampling sources each album, or is there a specific type of vintage recording that’s crucial for you to get that “Grassy Knoll” sound? And just as with vocalists, do you ever write a song with another musician or certain instrumentation in mind?

Being a child of the 70’s I grew up loving live albums. The sampling magic in those records happens when the song is over—the crowd noise, a whistle, a guitar tuning, etc. Taking those sounds and slowing them down, reversing them, experimenting, while listening for the happy accident. On the track “Something Together” the flute melody is a sample of a fan whistling at the end of a song-tuned way down. All that surface noise, the pops, and the needle friction create sonic elegance.

Yes, every now and then I write a song with another musician or certain instrumentation in mind but usually it’s something sonically that I respond to that triggers an idea, like the kick drum in The Verve’s “Life’s an Ocean”, Robert Fripp’s way up high in the mix solo on Sylvian and Fripp’s “Firepower”, or the wandering keys in Miles Davis’s “Freaky Deaky.”

We both share the same hometown, so I wanted to ask you how you feel about Austin’s place in musical culture at the moment? Does it feel like the city’s growth is adversely affecting artists? I was watching the Foo Fighter’s Sonic Highways episode on Austin, and it focused on the high cost of living and rent hurting veteran music venues and local artists. Does it concern you as well?

If I didn’t live in Austin I would want to move here! I am happy that I knew Austin in the Slacker days but everything changes and I think some of these changes have been fantastic. It sucks that veteran music venues are being affected by it all but this isn’t a new thing. Losing Armadillo World Headquarters, Raul’s, Liberty Lunch, Electric Lounge, and Emo’s leaving Red River, etc.—these were all huge disappointments.

However, I don’t think there is another city in the USA with a more supportive music scene than Austin. Organizations like HAMM (The Health Alliance for Austin Musicians) are here to aid performing artists with affordable health care. We have KUTX, a fierce supporter of the local scene. The community is strong and creative and will face the challenges brought by the changes.

I like how the album is alternately warm yet ominous. And most of the vocal performances showcase a certain vulnerability, specifically Voluptuous Mystery and We Are Building Something Together. Was that a conscious decision and did you have influence on the lyrics, or was that left up to the vocalists?

The idea was to have a vocalist react to a track’s initial foundation, write the lyrics, and then record the vocals. Once I had their takes I could edit the parts and reassemble the song. A few of the songs ended up drastically different from what the vocalist heard while tracking. “Voluptuous Misery” was the third track that James Rotondi and I had collaborated on for the album. For “Voluptuous Misery” I mentioned to Roto that I wanted to see if he could somehow echo the feelings I had recently experienced during a battle with cancer. The journey of not knowing what’s going to happen while trying to keep hope alive in the darkness.

He took that theme and put us in a van blindfolded, as a hostage, not knowing if we were on the road to freedom or execution. I though it was brilliant. For “Something Together” I sent Jon Dee Graham the basic track. He said that five words “We are building something together” kept repeating in his head so we ran with it.

You worked through Pledge Music to fund Electric Verdeland.What do you enjoy about that process vs. the old record label model? Or do you ever miss the 90’s era where labels offered more funding?

Everything about the PledgeMusic campaign was fun and rewarding. The ability to have friends and fans become the driving force behind the project was inspirational. Each pledge was essentially an album purchase free and clear of a label taking 90% or more! After having gone through the major label food chain during the 90’s this was a refreshing way of moving a record forward.

So the Vol. 1 title suggests a follow-up. Do you have any ideas or concept in place for your next release?

Vol. 2 is in the works but in this early stage I have no idea of how different it will be. It will simply be the second volume to be recorded at Electric Verde Studio. Vol. 3 will be remixes (by other artist of tracks they select from Vol.1 & Vol.2), instrumental versions, and extra tracks.

Lastly, do you have any plans to take the album on the road, or to do some local performances? I imagine that would be tricky given all the various collaborators, but would sound great in a live setting

The live setting has always been a tricky one. The Grassy Knoll has toured as a six piece, four piece, a duo, and solo. Each version was enjoyable but none of them truly reflected the creative spirit of the studio. I’m satisfied at this point with living in the studio but I wouldn’t rule out any opportunity to share the music.

Many thanks to Nolan Green for taking the time out for this interview. You can order The Grassy Knoll’s Electric Verdeland Vol.1 via their official website by clicking here. - Smells Like Infinite Sadness