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.

Click here for my Electric Verdeland, Vol. 1 Review

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.