Mann Underground: Geoff Mann Pays Brilliant Tribute to His Father (Part 2 of 3)

Continued from Part One…

(NOTE: A portion of this feature appeared previously on The Tonearm.)

Why drums and not some other instrument?

Geoff Mann: When I was a kid, I liked music. My school had a good music program, so I knew basic music theory. But when I was like seven or eight, I remember I was sitting with my dad. He had a little den which was right next to my bedroom. I think he was listening to music, and I was tapping along on these big chairs. And I was like, “You know what? That feels pretty good.” And out of the blue I was like, “You know what? I think I would like to take some drum lessons.” It just seemed like it made sense. And when I started taking drum lessons, it came very quickly. I was in a group class, and the first time I sat on the chair, I played and didn’t feel awkward to me. It was instant gratification. As a seven, eight year old kid I wasn’t generally good at sports. A lot of things didn’t come easily for me. So when I sat down, this thunder felt so natural. I think it really just informed my desire. So at that point I was like, “Yep, this is what I do.”

Soundtrack projects show a really different side of an artist, because your brief is to creatively express someone else’s vision. You’ve done quite a bit of work for film and TV and commercials and video games. What creative itch do those projects scratch for you?

It goes back to that collaborative musical idea that I was talking about before. With directors and producers, i’s a back and forth. They give you an idea. I love having ideas bounce back and forth. So the first film that I did, they gave me a rough idea of some of the stylistic things that they were going for. And I went back and I recorded just some tunes. Nothing [synchronized to moving pictures]. It was like, “What do I hear when I see this?” I sent it to them and they loved it. We just kind of vibed back and forth, and it didn’t hurt that we had a lot of the same sensibilities about film, music, comedy and humor. We got along well, so it was easy to do that kind of stuff.

As a creative person, I think it’s easy for all of us to get caught up in the motion of going forward. Even if we don’t feel complete inspiration, we do things on rote. We get an inspiration for an idea, but then it’s like, “Okay, now I know it’s verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge.” You get these forms and ideas that you’re used to doing. I really love throwing whatever idea I have at this person.; they’re like, “That’s great, but can this part come down in volume really intensely right here?” And it’s like, “That’s not what I planned.” And then I think about it and I watch it with the picture. It’s like, “Oh, right. That makes sense.”

My instrument is music. Their instrument is visual. And so I’m saying something to them, and they’re saying something to me back. And we’re finding a place to have a real conversation between the music and the visuals. It’s very satisfying to have that. So far – in every film score I’ve done – the end result has been better than if I had no feedback from people. I think that what we come up with in the end has been better.

I was listening to one of those soundtracks today, The Best of Diani and Devine. I hear Italian ‘60s film soundtrack, Ennio Morricone kind of stuff. Was that your brief, or did you decide to bring it in that direction?

Well, that’s a good question. They were the first people that I worked with, the people I was just talking about. I did two movies with them and then some short online video. We all got along very well. In their second movie, we knew that the Enio Morricone style was going to be a part of it because a lot of it was in the desert and it was very apocalyptic. So it seemed to make sense. But at a certain point I took that idea and then just let it filter into the whole movie. Because it’s nice to have a unified sound; even if there are parts that don’t have that vibe going on, you want to feel like it’s the same piece of music. And that kind of music is so beautiful and has such a dynamic range to it.

What inspired you to make your full-length solo debut a tribute to Herbie Mann?

Many years ago, my friend and great guitarist Josh Kaufman were hanging out, and he asked me, “Have you ever thought about doing a record of your dad’s music?” And I was like, “Not really.” I was always scared to touch that whole thing, because I didn’t want to do it injustice. Also, because kids of famous musicians doing their parents music is not always good; I just didn’t want to be that guy.

But after he said that, I started thinking about the tunes off of Memphis Underground, because it was coming up on its 50th anniversary. And I had some ideas of how the tunes could sound in a way that felt very natural to me, but changing the arrangements, changing the vibes. And then after a while I started thinking, “Yeah, maybe I should.” But what I didn’t want to do is just make the same album, but not as good. If I did the same grooves, same order, same type of thing, it would just be a letdown. If I didn’t bring something different to it, it wasn’t worth doing.

Of course, the reality is, even though I’ve been doing music for a long time, I’m not a known entity in the wider music world. Musicians know me from bands I’m in, sure. But in terms of a way to make something that an audience might listen to someone that they don’t know, or to interest a label or venues, [an album] wasn’t a terrible idea.

I pushed away making any connection between me and my dad’s music for most of my life because I didn’t want to ride his coattails. I wanted to get what I got on my own merits. And I’ve gotten pretty far. I’ve had some great bands, some great tours, great musical experiences, written a lot of great music. But now that he’s been passed away for a long time and I’m not a spring chicken anymore, I am finding it a little less concerning to do that. I have this musical connection with my dad; we played together when he was alive, and I am finding myself missing that connection to his music now that we haven’t played together in 22 years.

I didn’t really realize it when I started the process, but as it was going along, doing this record started to have a deeper emotional meaning to me. And even now that the record’s done and released, I find myself appreciating this opportunity to have more of an emotional connection to him through this album, through this music.

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