All Photos By Gordon Keiser
Interview Conducted by: Seema Choudhary
Editing by: John Warner
Digital Tape Machine performed at the Lafayette Theater February 26, 2011. OMFC had the opportunity to sit down with Dan Rucinski (Land of Atlantis) and Joel Cummins (Umphrey’s McGee) about their side project Digital Tape Machine.
OMFC: How were the members for Digital Tape Machine Selected?
Rucinski: Well, it (DTM) started as a studio project, and sort of took off from there. As far as picking musicians, its kind of a no-brainer, you pick the best ones that are around, right? (Looks at Cummins) For instance, Mr. Joel Cummins.
Cummins: Well, that’s a huge question mark.
Rucinski: Well, one of my favorite bands, amongst a lot of them, is Umphrey’s McGee. I’ve always liked their style, I’ve always like the Hue, I’ve always liked Strange Arrangement, and I got to be friends with all these guys through a couple different outlets, so it just kind of grew, until it made sense to combine forces into a project where on days off we could get together and play more.
OMFC: How has Digital Tape Machine’s sound been created/evolved? Did you have something in mind when the project began, or has it taken on a life of it’s own?
Cummins: I think that with a lot of the things I did, Dan had some pretty well thought out forms that we laid down, and then kind of riffed of that for awhile. So there’s actually quite a lot of composed material with this project. Certainly, there’s improvisation that happens as it goes, but for the most part, these are song-based stuff that we are working with here.
OMFC: How did DTM’s performance at Wuhnurth Music Festival serve as a launching pad for the group?
Rucinski: Well that was the first one (performance). James Nimmer took a chance on us, he liked the concept, I sent him some music, he liked it, and he thought it would be a good idea to try it there (at Wuhnurth). The show was sort of a coming-out for us, and it went pretty well, and we have been feeding off of that. Joel got involved, and since then, we’ve added some shows, and are kind of going off response, you know. It’s nothing that we take lightly, but at the same time, it’s a fun project for us to explore other stuff outside of our initial groups.
Cummins: For sure, I think that as far as a big accomplishment for us, the first show that I got to do, which was during the Umphrey’s McGee run in Chicago for New Years, we had a late night show at the Kinetic Playground, which we sold out. So when you are able to go into a new year with that kind of momentum and start the year that way, things are definitely looking good. For me, this project is especially cool, because much like Dan, I’ve known all these guys that I’m been playing with throughout the years in different types of projects. It’s nice to have two, maybe three keyboardists, you know, we deserve a little more respect.
OMFC: With such busy schedules, how do you guys find the time to practice for Digital Tape Machine?
Rucinski: I think that the good thing about that, is that because we do a lot of digital stuff, I can send a session of what I’m thinking to the other band members instantly.
Cummins: Yeah, it (Digital Tape Machine) is not just the name of the band.
OMFC: So you guys compose by putting things together piece by piece?
Cummins: Totally.
Rucinski: We use technology to make sure we are all on the same page. I think that’s what makes it cool, there are a lot of different heads, a lot of different people, and a lot of different styles involved that we have blend into one, so, if you don’t take the prepared, professional route, you are going to hear it. I think we are doing a good job of managing our time well when we do get a chance to get together and do it. It’s not the easiest thing to do to get everyone together, but we make it work.
OMFC: What’s next for Digital Tape Machine?
Cummins: In April we have three shows, one in Bloomington at the Bluebird, one in Chicago at Martyr’s, and a final show at the Bell’s brewery in Kalamazoo, Michigan (Apr 8th, 9th, 10th). I’m looking forward to that, we’re getting a chance to do some serious rehearsing beforehand, and have some new material for those shows. We’ve also gotten some great offers from some festivals that we will announce in the next month or so.
OMFC: Alright, now on to some more personal questions; If you weren’t a musician, what would you be?
Cummins: Well, I’m a big fan of severe weather, so I would probably be chasing storms. I don’t know about the financial stability of such a career, so I’d probably have to clear that with the wife.
Rucinski: If I was not doing this, I would probably be trying my hardest to be doing this. I think that’s my answer to that. I don’t think I would ever not be trying to make music.
OMFC: What is something you would like to change in the world with your art?
Cummins: Well, there are a lot of things we could talk about, but I will give you a couple things; I’ll start with the music, we have seen the major label aspect the music industry start to crumble, and its nice to see that the decisions that are being made about art are being made by artists, as a opposed to executives. I like that, and I would like to see that trend continue. I would also like to see, in our country, same as everywhere, less reliance on oil. That is a trend that seems to be growing despite people in government and big business trying to put a stop to it. Also, I would like to see a stop of religious warfare, it’s really dumb, and people need to grow up and embrace, and let everybody do their own thing. It’s too bad that there are so many important voices in the world, but that people can’t learn to share the space together.
Rucinski: I’m just gonna stick with what I would like to see musically, but, in this day and age, and this technology is right around the corner, I would like to see wireless everything. I’m talking about coming into a theater and everything on stage is just wireless, monitors, everything. As far as other countries, I personally don’t understand violence for no reason. That is the cry, when a country is in pain, they tend to act in violence, but I don’t like that route.
Cummins: I’m concerned on a couple levels about the direction our country is going, I saw some statistics the other day about how of the thirty-three most prosperous countries the world, we are thirty-first in income disparity, which is really upsetting. I was looking at a math and English scores, and we are in the bottom third. Things are not looking good, we need to find better ways with education, this is not a situation where its ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, no, there is some shit that needs to change. I don’t know what were going to do as far as how to reverse that, but it’s hard to get people to teach if you can’t pay them.
OMFC: Is there anything you want to say to your fans out there?
Cummins: We love you!
Rucinski: He said it.
