Love that Lovage

In today's posturing world of professional music, to say that you do something "for the love" is a nice sentiment, but it's usually scoffed at by people who know you're in it for the money too. But when Dan "The Automator" Nakamura talks about his late-2001 release, Lovage, he's got every right to say he did it for "the love" - literally. Lovage is a collection of mostly new ballads and torch songs, the music written entirely by Nakamura (except the cover of Berlin's classic "Sex") in the spirit of love.
"Well, that record exists for love," says Nakamura from a cell phone in the Bay Area, where he's out running errands on a hectic business day. "I know that sounds stupid, but basically it's this: I've been thinking about making the Lovage record in some form or another for a couple of years now. If you ask me, the last truly great love record was probably Sexual Healing, by Marvin Gaye, and you know, that was made in the '80s! I just thought it was time to make something like that, and it's no big deal, but that whole facet of music as been almost thoroughly ignored. The modern R&B ballad is more of a booty call sex thing, and that's fine, but it seems to me that there's a lot of room for other interpretations of the love song."
Just as there are different interpretations of the love song, there are different interpretations of love, and a good listen to Lovage reveals plenty of songs that are about love-gone-awry, love lost and just getting naughty in the name of love. One could argue that Lovage focuses on the seamier side of love, but Nakamura says that isn't so.
"It's not about just that," he argues. "Obviously, there's a lot of humor involved with this record, but the whole real message is that love is so multi-faceted, there're a lot of interpretations of love, there are a lot of things that happen in the name of and because of love. I'm trying to express the way I feel about the multi-faceted issues involved with love."
Musically, Lovage is all Automator, and much of it is organic. As a producer and DJ who is usually associated with hip-hop (though his signature is all over many pop and rock records as well), it could be assumed that much of the music on Lovage is created mechanically. But The Automator is a vintage instrument collector; therefore much of the music is of organic origins.
"All the bass, all the guitars and all the keyboards tend to be played," explains The Automator, "but there was definitely sampling of some strings and some drums, and I do prefer to sample drums. I get a lot more freedom that way."
Armed with music and some lyrics, Dan the Automator approached Jennifer Charles of the New York City band Elysian Fields about writing lyrics and singing on the project.
"She's the obvious choice if you know who she is. I chose her because I think her voice is amazing, but I'd say that she was somewhat of a leftfield choice," says Nakamura in retrospect. The other vocal candidate was Mike Patton, whose history with Mr. Bungle, Faith No More and Fantômas doesn't really seem to lend itself to the kind of dynamic, emotional crooning that the Lovage project called for, and truthfully, Patton wasn't someone who Nakamura sought out. Patton came to him. "I didn't think Mike would work out at all, but he was convincing me that he would, and you know, it couldn't hurt to try, and in a lot of ways, I chalk that one up to faith. He came to me at a time when I needed a vocalist and he provided a certain kind of quality that I wasn't expecting from him, but that seems so natural now. I hold him in the highest regard, but I didn't know what he would provide, I didn't know his vocal range, and he's got an incredible range but I wasn't aware of it when he approached me. When it all came down, though, I was like, 'wow that's amazing.' Like I said, I consider it to be a faith thing."
You could say it all worked out in the name of love.
"Yeah, exactly, and that's what it was all about," he says. "It was one of those things that falls into your lap and you just run with it, you know?"
Anyone who's experienced love know that feeling - that indescribable boost that comes with the first scent of love. It's a timeless, boundless concept, a powerful motivator, the cause of wars, the drive for peace.
"The Lovage thing is not a record for here or there, it's kind of a record for the ages, you know? I don't look at that record and think, 'oh, that's a cool record for this month.' I look at that as a record that I expect to keep lasting, and guess I'm just enamored with the whole love concept…man, it's for the ladies," jokes Nakamura after a stammering for a second, and then gets back to his thought. "Basically, love is the glue that holds it all together, so for me to be able to participate on some level by making records that highlight what I consider to be the most important concept out there…I can't complain, man. I don't know what else I could be doing that would be more relevant. Plus we got to tour on it and spread the love around. What more could I ask for?"

Dan The Automator's Lovage (75 Ark Records) is in stores now.

Bookmark: