Editor Mitch Phillips catches up with Robb Roy in their temporary studio to record a cover or John Lennon's "Happy Christmas / War is Over" for the "Seasons of Hope" compilation CD to benefit childhood cancer research. Not only does he get to see the boys in action, but he's invited to help sing back-ups! Tons of pictures included and a special "Thank You" from LRL Inc's Lynn Moore. Click "Read More" for a trip into the inner-sanctum of Michigan's hottest rock property.

In the studio w/Robb Roy...

by Mitch Phillips for Michiganbands.com

Coiffers and Creative Types

I pull in to a muddy parking lot in front of a small, nondescript storefront on Ford Rd. The paint on the cinder-block walls is fading and the windows are covered from inside to discourage prying eyes. There's no sign above the steel security door; whatever business once occupied the little building has long been forgotten by passers-by. They certainly wouldn't peg it as the International Headquarters for some of the most polished rock music to come out of The State of Michigan, but that's exactly what it is.

At an adjacent building, John Cottos, bassist for Robb Roy, is leaning against the doorjamb with a jade-colored beer-bottle in his hand. Florescent yellow light gleams from inside his sister's hair salon and out into the ephemeral dusk. There's still two customers inside, slumped into barber-chairs and draped in plastic capes while they're coifed by stylists who will soon be heading home for the night.

"Hey, you're early, " John says as I trudge up with a camera and note-pad. "Hardly anybody here yet."

We sit inside the salon and chat while clippers clip and scissors snip. The pungent odor of perm solution and hair tonic permeates the room. John introduces me to his sister and her employees and tells them I'm here to interview the band. I'm not, actually; I just didn't want to miss the opportunity to experience Robb Roy in the studio before they finished their new record. They already have nineteen tracks in the can and are in the process of tweaking, trimming and mastering the songs for their as-yet-untitled fourth album. Just the night before, Chris Codish, of The Brother's Groove laid some keyboard tracks here. And he isn't the only local notable who will appear on the record. Jill Jack, Chris McCall, and Pat Brennan have also contributed their talents to the latest creation of the standard-bearers of local rock.

Perched on plastic chairs that serve as the salon's "lobby", we talk about one day quittting our day jobs to be supported only by our chosen art-forms. Dream on. Although Robb Roy has picked up corporate sponsorships here and there, sustained a decent level of CD sales and gig regularly at A-Rooms in the local circuit, it isn't enough to keep up with their increasing promotional costs and guarantee a living wage for the band members. Every dime goes back into feeding THE MACHINE that will one day, hopefully, elevate the band to their deserved status. But for the time being, day-jobs are a necessary interruption to the dream. Motivated by that reality, we head for the studio where the dream- work gets done.

Musical Martinizing

John leads me back outside, walking over sheets of warped plywood that serve as a temporary sidewalk and to a heavy steel door with a mortice lock. Just inside is a small refrigerator, some more plastic chairs and and an ugly old couch; the infamous "Green Couch" the band's been hauling around for their laid-back acoustic gigs. He leads me around an open wall and into the studio's "live room." The cold, concrete floor is sporadically covered by 6'x6'patches of carpet spotted with beer-stains and shreds of discarded duct tape. A string of multi-colored Christmas lights hangs in tangles from the ceiling along the east wall. Amps, drums, chords and mics are crowding one end of the room in no particular fashion.

The small commercial building formerly housed Cottos' family's dry-cleaning business. When his father died, John took over the day-to-day operations but found dry-cleaning just wasn't in his blood. He returned to work for KLA Laboratories, a professional lighting & sound reinforcement company run by Wrenfields' guitarist Matt O'Bryan. It pays the bills and, at the least, it's closer to music than Martinizing. When Robb Roy finish their current project, John will market the property to prospective tenants - a promise he made to his mother for allowing his band the time and space to create world-class pop-music.

Just past the north wall of the live-room, John leads me into the heart of Robb Roy's makeshift studio; the control booth. On one side there's a coffee-table, couch and a stuffed futon, and on the other, two computers, a control board and a rack of assorted gadgetry you need to produce first-class recordings. Guitarist Michael Kudreiko is hunched over the keyboard of his Macintosh G4, playing a video clip he'd recently produced for a McNabb Carpet commercial.

Property of Robb Roy Inc. Ltd.

"Mitch is here," John announces. Susan Leigh, the band's manager, is sitting on the couch leafing through a magazine until the words register. Like a light-switch, she turns on hyper-manager mode and it's strictly a Robb Roy press-op from there on.

"Hey, Did you get the list of 'Six New Points of Interest About Robb Roy" I sent you? "How 'bout the new bio?"
I stammer, a little surprised by the ambush and mutter, "Uh, yeah, I think so, I . . ."
"Well, Here's another copy." She thrust it into my hands before I could give an intelligible answer then fired-off a litany of pending opportunities, agreements and plans for Robb Roy's inevitable success as a commercial rock franchise in the coming year. As always, Susan's taking care of business.

Though her tenacity is a bit disconcerting to a dilettante journalist, it's definitely paying-off for Robb Roy in the business of music. Among her list of weighty accomplishments is a deal with General Motors / Hummer, to license Robb Roy's single "Roll On" (currently available for download ) for a national promotional campaign in 2003. They've also struck a deal with a start-up liquor company to license the song "Happy" and thirty seconds of the video to promote a new alcoholic beverage nationally. In any case, Leigh's not waiting around for major labels to discover what she already knows: Robb Roy is a commercially viable entity with highly marketable material and many prospects. Every band should be so lucky to have her and Select Management in their corner.

"We're really glad you could make it, Mitch," Susan greets me officiously and shakes my hand. Though we'd met at least twice before, I get the impression that I'm blending in with a host of other nameless journalists and hangers-on who are trying to gett close to Robb Roy. "Now, where would you like to conduct the interview? In here or maybe out. . ."
"Uh," I interrupt, "I didn't really plan on doing an interview."
Pause.
"Oh."
Another pause. The hurried pace of "manager-mode" slows to a dead stop.
"Well, what did you have in mind?"
"I just thought I'd soak up the experience and write it as it happens," I say.
Uncomfortable pause.
"Well, great!" she bursts enthusiastically. "Then we don't have to do anything, do we? Let me just tell you a little about the message we want to get across: We don't want to talk about the past, ex-bandmembers etc.. We want to focus on the new record and the opportunities we have in the coming year . . . "

Though I wouldn't swear to it, I think Michael Kudreiko rolled his eyes as Susan pelted me with biographical information, tour plans and pitches regarding the Robb Roy franchise. She'd put a lot of hard work into crafting Robb Roy's image in the previous year and I think she didn't want me screwing it up. But business has a way of sucking the creative air from a control room faster than opening a door in a jumbo jet at 35,000 feet. Kudreiko picks up his Apple I-Pod, pokes the touch-pad and Iron Butterfly's "Inna-Godda-Da-Vida" comes bursting through the studio monitors, drowning out the din of music business. Susan doesn't seem to notice at first, but after a few minutes of trying to convey to me the importance of Robb Roy's upcoming European Tour , Robb Roy's inclusion on Album Network Magazine's Rock Sampler, and Robb Roy's recent triumphs on Broadjam's Top 10 and Jim Beam's Band Search Contest, she jumps up to swat the offensive Iron Butterfly once and for all.
"I've had enough of that," she says, quieting the air with a touch of the I-Pod.
"Oh come on," Mike teases and grins. "You can never have enough Inna-Godda-Da-Vida!"

Drummer Duane Huff arrives and Susan re-introduces me. Huff's played and recorded with a list of notables in the music business, including Dr. Dre, Snoop Dog and George Clinton, but he's stayed with Robb Roy for the past three records; he knows a good thing when he has it.

"Duane, do you remember Mitch? He's going to be doing the interview for the magazine."
Interview? Magazine? Uh, actually it's a . . . oh, never mind.

Can You Sing? No, really. Can you?

We're to record the background singing for a cover of John Lennon's "Happy Christmas / War is Over" for a holiday compilation called "Season of Hope", to benefit Leukemia, Research, Life, Inc (LRL, Inc), a non-profit organization that raises funds to research childhood cancers. When I say "we", I mean that I'd been invited by John to join the chorus and sing on the recording. "Can you sing?" he asked over the phone before my departure. I told him I sang, then asked for an address. "No, really," he added. "Can you?" Well, if you put it that way. I sang in a band for over a decade, but that doesn't mean I'm any good, does it? And I haven't really done anything vocally in a few years so I might be pretty rusty. John seemed satisfied, but now I'm having doubts. Am I going to suck?

Meanwhile, singer Graham Strachan arrives looking disheveled and a bit groggy, like he'd just awoke from an afternoon nap, plucked the soggy fruit-loops from his baseball jersey and drove straight to the studio. This isn't "Happy" Graham Strachan from the slickly produced rock-video of the same name. Nor is it rock-star Graham Strachan, the lead-singer babes swoon over in the local clubs. It's mid-week, post-job, pre-studio Graham Strachan who wants to squeeze-in some sleep between working THE MACHINE and working for a living. But this project is important to him and the band, so he makes the time, fruit-loops or no. Actually, we're all looking a bit work-weary tonight. Except for Duane - he always seems to look "video-ready." How does he do that?

Graham helps John find extra voices for tonight's session via cell phone. John calls Noreen Novrocki, co-lead singer of The Wrenfields, but she isn't feeling well and begs-off. But Graham gets a call from some friends who'd gotten lost on their way to the studio. Apparently they blew right past the building and went too far. He sets them straight and they say they'll be there within fifteen minutes. While were waiting, Jen, (John's girlfriend) arrives and we step out for a pre-session smoke. Jen works in the movie business and I'm fascinated by her stories of working with people like Jeff Daniels. She's also the only other person I know who's as much of an NPR freak as I am - so we always have lots to talk about.

Kim & Steve arrive minutes later. Kim reminds me of Sarah Jessica Parker (i.e "Sex in the City"?) They're newly-weds who will soon be performing their dancing magic show in Vegas. Kim's a dancer and Steve works production. They tell the band they should come do a show in Las Vegas because the stages can't be beat anywhere in the world.

So it's going to be Kim, Steve, Susan, Graham, Duane, Jen, John and me singing back-ups on "Happy Christmas" tonight. Mike will man the board and produce. He calls everybody into the the control room then plays Lennon's version of Happy Christmas so we can get a feel for the tune and remember the order of the lyrics. After one listen, I'm not the only one cringing at the pitch of the back-ups; I'll need vice-grips to hit Yoko Ono's part. Graham clutches his throat and says his falsetto isn't working, so he's out as well. Mike thinks we'll definitely need more female voices but then decides, "Hell with it, let's make it our Happy Christmas."

Take 12

He leads us into the live room, encourages us to get comfortable and sit anywhere - '...so I looked around and I noticed there wasn't a chair.' "O.k., sit cross-legged, in a semi-circle right here," he points to the patch of beer-stained carpet below our feet and begins arranging microphones. When he disappears into the control room to tweak the computer, a couple of us decide to head straight for the fridge; we're going to need a cold beer to get through this. Well, I will anyway.

It's almost time to lay tracks. First we listen to Robb Roy's pre-recorded version of Happy Christmas with Graham singing the verses and Chris McCall leading the chorus, our part. Her strong, clear voice fills the room and we're charged with enough false confidence to risk a take.
It's a boner.
Mike comes out of the control booth, rearranges the mics and our bodies, asking the girls to stand closer to the mic and the gents to sit back and mind their projection.
We do another take.
Boner.
Mike yells from the control booth that he still needs more projection from the girls. We try it again.
It's still not quite happening.
Jen's new husband, Steve, volunteers to add his falsetto to the girls' naturally higher, yet weaker voices.
Another take. Mike's satisfied; now we're cookin'. With a few more takes we're done with the first part of the chorus. Mike doubles it, tweaks it, and it's etched in silicon for posterity.

Between takes, we sit cross-legged on the studio carpet, drinking beer and chattting. Someone quips about musicians who appear in movies and we all pipe in with our favorites; David Bowie (The Hunger), Bon Jovi (U571), Bette Midler (The Rose), Sting (Quadrophenia), Madonna? (Evita maybe?). Duane's playing with his cell-phone. Graham's sitting quietly, rhythmically bobbing his feet with his legs crossed in front of him. John flirts with Jen from across the carpet. The rest of us drink our beers, complain about our vocal deficiencies and secretly hope we're not singing flat. Mike says he's ready for us. We all perk-up and prepare for another round.

But we're warmed up now. With a half-a-dozen takes we finish it off and it's already time for play-back. The troupe files into the small control room, wondering what it's going to sound like. Jen and I prop open the door to escape the stuffy control-room and sneak-in another cigarette. We talk about quitting as the playback of our bellowing bleeds into the cool night air and out onto Ford Rd.
It doesn't sound bad, really.
Not bad at all.
Mike's a genius!

"Season of Hope"

Mike, Graham and John talk about the coming Friday; a host of children's voices will be added to ours and Robb Roy's cover of "Happy Christmas / War Is Over" for the "Season Of Hope" compilation will be complete. I'm told they'll be available in all the Meijer stores this holiday season so be sure to pick one up, support a very worthy cause, and listen for yours truly tightening the vice-grips.

With any luck, your support and God's causeless mercy, it will be a Happy Christmas for some kid who beats cancer next year. Hopefully, someday soon, the war really will be over.

Mitch Phillips

Lynn Moore of LRL Inc. Thanks Robb Roy and Friends Well over a year ago, LRL decided to develop a piece of merchandise that would appeal to the public with the goal of raising the much needed research dollars for childhood cancer.  I found that there was a multitude of musical talent and artistic generosity in Michigan and the "Season of Hope" was born.  I was researching nominees and winners of the Detroit Music Awards and the name Robb Roy kept coming up.  Soon after, a prominent Michigan musician recommended the band to me.  I figured it had to be destiny so I grabbed a few friends and went to a live performance of Robb Roy.  That evening I approached Mike Kudreiko about the "Season of Hope" Holiday CD and he was immediately enthusiastic and passionate about the cause and the project.   I asked that they choose a song that they felt would be a good fit for them and make it their own.  Without hesitation, they went into the studio and produced an incredible version of John Lennon's "Happy Christmas".  My feelings remain without question...There is no other band that could have performed that song with the level of perfection that Robb Roy did.  You are one talented group of people.  Many, many thanks to all of Robb Roy for your hard work, generosity, and mostly for the priceless contribution that you have made to children struggling with cancer in our community and around the world.  God Bless you all!  Lynn Moore, LRL   TO PURCHASE A "SEASON OF HOPE" CD BENEFITING CHILDHOOD CANCER RESEARCH AT CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF MICHIGAN, LOG ONTO WWW.LRLINC.ORG OR CALL THE LRL HOTLINE AT 313 883-0931 ***PLEASE NOTE THAT 96 CENTS OF EVERY DOLLAR WE EARN GOES DIRECTLY TO RESEARCH!