Tyler James
Stuart Retallack
Tyler James
Escondido
King Tempo 600 Trumpet Holton Student Trumpet Escondido is the musical union of Nashville-based musician Tyler James and B . C .’ s Jessica Maros . After recording under his own name and lending his talents on keyboard and trumpet to a host of acts including Morgan Page and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros , James formed Escondido in 2011 and has since released a pair of LPs , the most recent being 2016 ’ s Walking with a Stranger .
James grew up playing both piano and trumpet , though after high-school , he found himself heavily into the guitar and kept his trumpet in its case until his mid-20s . “ At that point , I was heavily involved in Nashville ’ s small but burgeoning non-country music community ,” he says . “ I worked to get some chops back and found myself playing on a lot of records , not because I was that good , but because I knew the language of indie music . It ’ s more about the vibe and complementing the other parts than it is about being impressive .”
Around that time , he was fascinated with spaghetti western soundtracks and , more specifically , Ennio Morricone , who made headlines recently thanks to his score for Quentin Tarantino ’ s throwback western The Hateful Eight . “ I realized there may have been a reason I spent all those hours practicing trumpet back in the day ,” James says . “ It made me want to start a southwestern-inspired band , and that ’ s when a songwriter from Vancouver , BC , named Jessica Maros walked into my life .”
James says Maros ’ dusty , dark , beautiful songs seemed like the perfect foundation for his vision , and from there , Escondido was born . “ We focused on keeping the music sparse ,” he says – “ simple chords , lots of A minors , some mariachiinspired rhythms , and above all , lots of reverb . Jessica ’ s voice was a perfect centerpiece and the
TYLER JAMES & JESSICA MAROS OF ESCONDIDO trumpet was just the cherry on top .”
He ’ s cautious to keep his trumpet parts tasteful to avoid it sounding like “ a cliché or gimmick ,” noting it works best for introductory leads or in the turnarounds between different parts of a song . “ I often will play it on a song but end up scrapping it because it takes away from the song ’ s emotion or distracts from the rest of the arrangement ,” he says .
Technically speaking , James notes the trumpet often sits better in a mix when several are layered atop one another , though with Escondido , he makes a point to stick to one track per song – “ guns blazing ” – for the desired feel , which he dubs “ that lonesome high-desert sound .”
While the drum parts for Walking with a Stranger were done in a proper studio , the rest of the album was tracked in James ’ home . “ So there wasn ’ t anything glamorous about how the trumpet was tracked ,” he reveals . “ I just sit by my computer , push record , and turn 90 degrees and blow towards the mic .”
His typical set-up involves a Shure SM7 , as it naturally rolls off his unwanted frequencies , after which he adds some saturation , short delay , and long plate reverb – specifically that used on the vocals and other instruments to homogenize the various components and bring everything into the same sonic space .
After six months on the road in early 2016 , Escondido is already at work on their next record with plans to return to Maros ’ homeland in the not-so-distant future .
PHOTO : JP KELLY
Stuart Retallack
Sun K
Jerry Callet Sima Trumpet Yamaha Z Bobby Shew Flugelhorn Korg nanoKEY MIDI Controller Audio-Technica ATM350 Clip-On Microphone TC-Helicon Vocal Harmony-M Pedal Wounded Paw Battering Ram Overdrive /
Fuzz Pedal MXR Blue Box Octave Fuzz Pedal Dunlop Jimi Hendrix Wah Pedal Source Audio Lunar Phaser Pedal Hughes & Kettner Tube Rotosphere MKI
Pedal Boss RC-20XL Loop Pedal Ernie Ball Stereo Volume / Pan Pedal Pigtronix Echolution 2 Filter Pro Delay
Pedal tc electronic Hall of Fame Reverb Pedal Radial Pro 2 Stereo DI Box Traynor K2 Amplifier ( as monitor )
Keeping good , old-fashioned garage rock alive , Stuart Retallack plays keyboards and trumpets – sometimes simultaneously – with Toronto ’ s Sun K . He began studying under internationallyrenowned trumpet innovator Brownman at the age of 11 – “ and he still jokes about how I could barely lift the horn ,” Retallack laughs . “ Brown has taught me by example that the spirit of jazz – improvisation – can take an infinite number of forms , regardless of ‘ genre .’”
While attending Montreal ’ s McGill University , Retallack started incorporating his horn into rock-oriented music , first with his band Claptrap , influenced by the likes of Frank Zappa and The Allman Brothers . In 2012 , he and some friends formed Sun K and were seeking horn parts and tones that fit the rock aesthetic but still stayed true to his background in classical , jazz , funk , and neo-soul .
Sun K ’ s latest release is 2015 ’ s Northern Lies , produced with Cone McCaslin of Sum 41 , and it features several instances of Retallack ’ s unique trumpetthrough-pedals-not-intendedfor-trumpet moments . “ On the STUART RETALLACK songs ‘ Sweet Marie ’ and ‘ Hymn
for Living ,’” he offers as examples , “ we wanted a unique trumpet tone using the Harmon mute , but it was cutting through the mix too much , so we did some subtle phasing effects with two mics and added a ton of spring reverb and ended up with a much spookier , atmospheric tone .”
When it comes to him and his bandmates collectively deciding when to opt for trumpet over keys for a given part , Retallack says it ’ s always about serving the song . “ Creating a unique soundscape for each song – something Curtis Mayfield and The Band did so well – makes the musical diversity of our albums work , and probably makes Sun K a lot less marketable to boot ,” he offers . “ Our producer , Cone , is always a valuable outside ear to advise us on instrumentation choices .”
46 • CANADIAN MUSICIAN