Every once in a while there’s a musician who emerges as a key player in countless ways that help define the musical landscape of a subculture and generation. Sometimes they do this despite their own output remaining relatively obscure and void of any visable mainstream success. It’s influential, but only to a small niche of people that “get it” and are able recognize its quality and significance in the face of the fashionable trends that define a musical era. Often times their contemporaries become their biggest fans and supporters while record labels and promoters are left in a state of confusion as to where they fit in the grand scheme of the business.
Historically and posthumously, Harry Nilsson gained this accolade. Most recently exposed by revealing letters and a stellar documentary, Nilsson’s legacy was shaped not only by his ahead-of-the-times musical approach and vision of his own place in history, but perhaps more from Beatles press conferences where John and Paul would cite him as their favorite American act.
Seth Kauffman and his band Floating Action are the most ideal modern example of this type of act. In an era where most independent music is obscure and everything can only be considered semi-mainstream, Kauffman has made a name for himself, and at the same time is unheard of. A classically trained violinist turned multi-instrumentalist who records every single sound himself, Kaufman has been creating and in a way, searching, for something not even he can quite describe. His records are like rare constellations that require a series of perfect variables to be seen for their true beauty. Time and setting are very important when introducing someone to Floating Action because you have to be willing to invest in truly listening, not scanning for comparisons or immediate likability. Even then, if you end up being some of the lucky few, you might be stuck on describing what you hear and end up with only words like “raw” or “authentic.”
In the meantime, authenticity has become somewhat of a rare, sought-after commodity in the digital age, and as a result Kauffman, almost by default, has become a leading revivalist in this new age of vinyl pressings and l0-fi sensibilities. Though he’s not one for tags, his list of collaborations or simply friends in the biz is impressive. What’s even more impressive is their fanatical praise for him. From Band of Horses to the The Black Keys and even actor Jonah Hill, some big names are citing their admiration and showing their love for the man behind Floating Action.
Nonetheless, Kauffman seems content with the place that he has carved out for himself in the world of music and his home in rural Black Mountain, North Carolina. He doesn’t seem too phased with his band’s cult-like following or tagged on attention. On the heels of his new record Body Questions we got to catch up with the enigmatic character that is Kauffman and pick his brain on how he discovered his recording stylings, sees a bigger picture of himself and his band, and constantly strives to be not only original, but incomparable.
Allston Pudding: I gotta ask what do you think of people calling you this generation’s Harry Nilsson?
Seth Kauffman: I don’t think I really have an opinion on that, I definitely don’t party like he did.
AP: You haven’t peed on a soundboard?
SK: Ha no, I’m still working on that.
AP: I think people are trying to refer to your popular obscurity, yet impressive resume you’ve put together working with people and the cult-like success of your records.
SK: Well yeah, I think that might say where it comes from then.
AP: With that being said then how did all these collaborations come together?
SK: Dan (Auerbach) just kind of asked me if I wanted to come work on the Ray Lamontagne record.
AP: To play, produce?
SK: To play, but I ended up being there a lot of the time.
AP: Then you end up being on Lana Del Rey’s record in the same year?
SK: Yeah it was the same thing. I guess you’re asking me how we got connected? When Dan put out his solo record, I guess somebody suggested that he tour with two drummers and a mutual friend in a band called Hacienda said I should do it, and I was going to, but it required too big of a commitment at the time. It was right at about the same time that the Floating Action self-titled came out so it just didn’t work out. But we we’re both fans of the show Workaholics and would kind of text each other stupid quotes from it and stayed in touch that way. We hadn’t even met yet, but I guess he listened to and liked my records so eventually that’s how that all happened. I think we did the Ray record in November and then the Lana Del Rey record in January and it was a lot of the same people, more or less.
AP: What were these people looking for with you? Are they just looking for your ear, or are they trying to bring your sound or vibe to what they’re trying to do?
SK: I think he (Dan) really just wants me to bring my vibe, or yeah, I guess my ear, because everybody else there does what they do – guitars, drums, bass or whatever. He and I were just kind of like rovers over the whole thing. So yeah, I guess kind of helping set a vibe.
AP: Is it the rhythms? The low-fi sound?
SK: To his productions?
AP: Yeah.
SK: I don’t know. It’s tough to say because if you’ve heard those records [Ray and Lana’s], they don’t really sound like Black Keys, y’know? I think there’s more to his producing that is not necessarily about making the records sound like The Black Keys. I think that might be what he likes about me. what we haven’t heard him do with that type of stuff is what I do, so I think he thinks I could bring that.
AP: Is your sound something you stumbled upon? Was there ever a thought that Ok I’m gonna make lo-fi records?
SK: I never really knew anything about the term lo-fi when I started making records. I guess for years, in the late nineties when I started recording with people, everything at that time sounded shitty and bad. Digital, clean. One of my friends, Bryan Cates, and I were always trying to figure out how to get stuff not to sound so lame. And it was really hard back then, because nobody else thought that way and nobody else was doing it. And then we just started using four tracks and overdriving stuff and figured out how to make stuff sound cool. Then sometime around the same time bands like The Black Keys kind of started doing the same thing.
AP: So then this revival kind of takes off and you’re known as one of quintessential revivalists of this whole scene. Does it feel like you’re finally getting the credit you deserve for being this sort of captain of it?
SK: Yeah, I think that might be a good tie-in back to the Nilsson reference, because I feel like I did do stuff that’s happening now that’s acceptable when it was totally not. He believed in what he did and people shot him down but he did it anyway. Now it’s kind of mainstream almost.
AP: There’s something that draws people to it?
SK: Definitely.
AP: The new record Body Questions is out now. Was it the same approach?
SK: I think it’s a new approach. It’s been getting some weird reviews from people online from people that just glance at my bio and just write something. People have been like “oh he works with Jim James, but it doesn’t sound as good as his collaboration” or whatever. Meanwhile I never actually collaborated with him.
AP: A lot of people are throwing your name around while not really listening?
SK: Yeah, they see Jim James or someone and think “oh I like that sound.” There’s a lot of tags we get tied to, like with our friends Dr. Dog. We play with them a lot but we definitely don’t sound like them at all.
AP: No, you definitely don’t.
SK: Here’s the thing, our music and what we’re trying to do is something I think is original and doesn’t sound like anything else really. And usually music writers don’t like it when there’s nothing to compare to.
AP: Yeah, I’ve always had a difficult time describing what Floating Action sounds like to friends. I tend to say things like Mo-Town and Caribbean and they’re always confused. But at the same time I always say its very ambient and a mood setter, a vibe. Is the new record similar?
SK: It’s hard to say, maybe not as much. With the new record I think the songs are really strong by themselves. This is the first time I actually did try to record semi-clean. It’s still pretty not clean, by everyone else’s standards, but I feel like when the Motown/Caribbean thing got thrown around people still didn’t get the overall bigger picture of what I was trying to do. I don’t want to repeat anything twice, so I always try to push it to another level, whether it’s with the songwriting, or the melodies. I think people still might not understand the bigger original thing.
AP: Is all the instrumentation still all you? Start to finish?
SK: Yeah.
AP: That’s incredible. Even when you bring it to the label, like Jim’s Removador, nobody can touch it? It’s a finished product?
SK: Yeah, that’s true. This record is not on Jim’s label though. Our last, Fake Blood was. This one was actually recorded like two years ago and has been sitting for quite a while. We, the guys in the band, were just thinking about how Jim was great because you get his sway of him saying this is good, but his label isn’t really anything but him, so he can’t really work or put a lot into it. We thought we should try to find a better label, so we’re on New West now.
AP: Is that a part of the problem with bouncing around from label to label, that people don’t really know what you’re going for or what to do with you? And perhaps the reason Floating Action is still obscure?
SK: Yeah I think so. Before Jim’s label, we were on Park the Van with Dr. Dog. They had really cool street cred and really young fans which is awesome. And now we’re on New West which is a bit older and more established. But they are trying to get younger bands on their label. But yeah, I have noticed that they have been getting people of different demographics than we’re used to to review the record. They tend think automatically that they know what it’s supposed to be, but I don’t think anybody really understands Floating Action.
AP: So help us. At the beginning of this I thought I did know what Floating Action was going for, but now I have no idea.
SK: It’s tough because some people hear the albums and just get it. Like Dan, and he loves it.
AP: Me too!
SK: Yeah, exactly, but others see things differently, which is fine. But it’s a weird thing that doesn’t fit into anything. Even my character as a person, I’m interested in things that don’t really fit with anything. Which to me is the coolest way to be, but it hurts you in a lot ways.
AP: Is a lot of have to be with how well-traveled you are? Or where you reside in rural Black Mountain, North Carolina? People don’t know how to pigeonhole you and it inspires the sound?
SK: Maybe. Or maybe I just do that stuff because of my personality. I chose to live in Black Mountain rather than in NYC or Nashville because it’s a weird place that’s really cool and has really awesome swimming holes, mountain biking, camping and stuff, and that’s what I like to do.
AP: Is that the routine? Mountain bike in the day, rock out at night?
SK: It depends. Yeah I usually kind of mix-mash mountain biking and doing business and then recording ideas constantly while working. Because even though we have a label I still kind of run a lot of the business side of the band. I guess you could say I’m our manager too, so it’s kind of like an office job as well.
AP: Either way, being close to nature really seems to inspire you.
SK: Yeah, I went to Africa like 15 years ago, it made a big impact on me, but Big Sur in California too. It’s super big cliffs and just kind of uninhabitable and has become a part of who I am, I guess.
AP: Research is a record I’m stuck on and obviously I’m not alone because there’s been a repress of it recently. Was that record just a burst of inspiration? Why do you think that record in particular strikes such a chord with people?
SK: I don’t know, it’s definitely a continuation of what I was doing on Ting, which was like a trial. Then I moved to Black Mountain and it was just a fertile time of ideas. I hadn’t really done the thing yet where there was tons of genres going on and I just wanted to say ” yeah I did that.”. So I made it just with that idea of trying to do something different.
AP: Last but not least, did I see your bass player is in Grace Potter’s band? Did Grace Potter steal your bass player?
SK: Yeah (laughs), Micheal Libramento, but we love him and all those guys, and love Vermont. Burlington, is a lot like where we’re from so it feels like a second home to us.
Floating Action is on tour this fall in support of Body Questions and will be featured at this years CMJ Music Marathon 2014.