Sono Oto, which is the name that Mark Henry Phillips has chosen for himself, means “that sound” in Japanese — which is fitting, considering that Phillips has created sound throughout his life — not always creatively, but also as an accomplished composer and sound designer for films, commercials and podcasts. (He wrote the score for the first season of Serial.) His album, Inheritance, germinated when, while on the job as a reporter and producer at NPR six years ago, he learned his dad had terminal lung cancer. Becoming a full-time musician was something he had just given up (he thought of himself as a journalist who used to be a musician), but after his father’s death, music became his vehicle for emotional expression: How could he avoid inheriting all the baggage from his father, who, in turn, inherited it from his father?
Even as Phillips’ career as a composer and sound designer was going strong, he continued recording songs for Inheritance. Last month, he finally released it — it’s a poppy, complex set that harkens to the Beatles as much as it does the Dirty Projectors.
He talks to Myspace about layers of meaning, looking for meaning, and the origins of his sound. Hop to the next page to read the full interview.
Hometown: Columbus, OH
Homebase: Brooklyn, NY. I moved to NYC when I was 18 and never left.
Why do you call yourself Sono Oto instead of your real name? What does it mean?
I’ve always loved making music with lots of layers — even if I’m playing all or most of the layers. So I want it to sound like a full-band sound. If I went by Mark Henry Phillips I think most people would expect it to be a guy with his acoustic guitar. Sono Oto was actually the name I came up with when I was in college. It means “that sound” in Japanese or sort of “We are 8” in Italian (even though it’s spelled wrong and is incorrect grammar). Band names are hard and I think Sono Oto isn’t especially bad and I think there's a nice symmetry to the letters. So why not?
Your album is called Inheritance after your father's death ... do you believe that catharsis is a necessary component of making music?
Definitely. Though I’m not as literal as some musicians. Like, I don’t sit down to write a song specifically about something that’s causing me pain. I just think playing music makes me feel better. So if I’m upset about something — a death of a loved one, a breakup, the state of the world — I make music. And if I play, I accidentally start writing stuff.
How do you describe your music to people who haven't heard it before?
It’s a hard question, but I’ve learned you gotta come up with an answer. I usually say “Indie pop” but with a little bit of a folky feel at times.
When did you realize you wanted to be a musician?
When I was 10, there was a commercial on TV for a local radio station that played a little snippet of "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Band." I remember saying “Who is that?!?” and my mom told me it was the Beatles. Before that, I thought The Beatles were only for old people but I went through my Dad’s Beatles CDs and picked a few songs off each and made a great Beatles mix tape. They weren’t just the Greatest Hits — there were some deep cuts on there. I played it over and over for an entire summer while doing landscaping work around town. As I listened to it I became more and more convinced I wanted to be a musician. I bought a guitar at the end of the summer.
Was that also when you realized you wanted to perform for others?
When I was 10, I rigged a tape-deck into a multitrack recorder so I could layer multiple tracks on top of each other. I just wanted to recreate what I was hearing on Beatles records. Layered vocals. Lots of guitars and effects. When I was 11 I bought a 4-track so I could add even more tracks. That was always the most fun part to me: recording. When I was 13 I found some guys to play with who had real recording gear and that made it even more fun.
I actually met Nick Kinsey — who played drums on Inheritance — when I was in high school. We both ended up on a backpacking trip in Wyoming even though I lived in Ohio and he lived in Manhattan. But we stayed friends and continued playing music after I moved to New York. He’s gone on to play with a lot of amazing musicians (Elvis Perkins, Kevin Morby, A.C. Newman, etc..) and makes great music on his own (as KINSEY) so it was awesome to reconnect and have him on this record.
Who are your musical heroes and why do they inspire you?
Well, obviously the Beatles. In high school, I fell in love with Radiohead. In college, I was obsessed with Medeski, Martin, and Wood. After college, I got super into Debussy and Ravel and then more contemporary composers like Steve Reich. I guess the common musical thread running through all these is that there’s a sense of discovery in the music. None of these guys were just following a formula. They were figuring it out as they went along. I think there’s a lot of happy accidents and cool moments where you can hear the composers/musicians discovering stuff in the music. And that’s really exciting to me.
How did you end up working at NPR, doing commercials and sound design? How did you dive back into creating for yourself?
I worked as a journalist for NPR shows for a long time and was so busy that I never worked on music. I eventually realized that music was too important to not do. I’d always loved film and so one day I just decided I was a composer and sound designer for films. Luckily a few projects came my way pretty immediately. I learned on the job but realized my background in music and editing radio stories gave me a cool insight into how to use music and sound in films and commercials. It’s a great job. You get to totally change how people perceive the film, but hopefully they’re so focused on the story that they don’t even notice your work! It’s sneaky and fun!
What's your songwriting process?
There’s no set process. Sometimes I come up with a chord progression, sometimes a melody, sometimes a lyric, and I just take it from there. More than anything, I try to stop listening to music for a bit and get nice and bored. Then my mind starts making stuff to fill the silence.
If you were a hashtag, what would you be?
I don’t know! These days I’m trying to think less in terms of hashtags and more in terms of going out in the world and doing things. Posting or Twitter or Facebook isn’t going to stop any of the horrible things that are happening right now. I’ve been going to community organizing meetings and want to start getting more involved in making real changes.
What’s your big 2017 goal?
I’m scoring a feature film that looks great. Also, I have an exciting podcast project taking shape. Finally, hoping to put out an album in the fall that’s going to be a lot different than this one.
Do you have an interesting story about being on Myspace as a musician?
I remember using Myspace to put music out in the early days — 2005/2006. It was just so cool to have friends, random fans, and other musicians write and connect with them. There are so many streaming services now but it doesn’t feel like any of them have that same sense of community and excitement.
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from Myspace - Editorial http://ift.tt/2py4vUx
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