Published:
July 12, 2009
By MDM Writer Josh Hogan
On any given night in the Jupiter House Coffee Shop on the square in Denton, you will find a very familiar crowd. And on this warm spring evening, among the college kids with their laptops, and the families with their children, sits Rocky Ottley with his neat stack of posters. They are promotions for the upcoming CD release party for Backside Pick. Ottley is the lead singer and guitarist for the band whose show/party will be held on May 8th at Hailey's Club. It is in promotion of the release of the band's first full-length album entitled Higher Place. Backside Pick has gained a fairly stable following in Denton and largely around the metroplex with their up-tempo style of funky dance music. Ottley and his band mates have created a very unique live music experience with Backside Pick, which has been translated perfectly to their new album. "Sorry dude, just one second and I'll be right there," he says. And after watching him engage in a bit of rearranging on the bulletin board in the corner of the room, making a nice big spot for the poster, I was lucky enough to sit down with Ottley for an interview.
MDM: So, What is Backside Pick for you?
Ottley: For me it's the music I want to hear, the music I want to play. The reason that I play it, is because its the music I like to listen to. That's the way I like to approach most music, especially in this genre, which I would consider to be Dance, but I tell people its Funk because most people relate to Funk. When they think of Dance, they think of Techno, and not exactly our style of music. So for me, Backside Pick is my own personal genre of dance music.
MDM: What should fans expect with the new album coming out May 8th?
Ottley: Definitely quality. I mean the main thing about the album is that nothing has been short changed. With the writing, we scrutinized songs and tore them apart to figure out which ones were going to be on the album. Everyone who was involved with the album was the absolute best at what they did. Our engineer for the album, which was at Nomad Studios, which is one of the best studios around, was the multiple Grammy winning engineer Eric Hartman. Everything about the album is quality, total quality. But I guess the thing that people should most expect from the album is listening to it from the very beginning to the very end. Because the whole thing is very intertwining and it is a very mood oriented album.
MDM: Any other big announcements from the band aside from the new album?
Ottley: Doing a tour. We are still in the middle of booking it. We just hired some PR people. We are really looking to just do it, you know, and make it happen in a big way. But at the same time, we have never been too big on jumping the gun or anything. So we will take our time, keep developing the music come out with some more albums and eventually just tour.
MDM: What is the most exciting part about making music for you?
Ottley: The performance, definitely. Every time I play with my band I love it, it's like a musical lesson every single time. It is so great to play with these guys once a week because everyone goes off during the week and does whatever they do, and comes back and brings stuff to the table that's new. So the performance part of it is what makes things so interesting.
MDM: How have your surroundings, especially here in Denton, influenced your music?
Ottley: In Backside Pick, I can't say that it has influenced it too much. More so Dallas, more so the Gospel, the R&B scene in Dallas. Denton doesn't seem to really latch on as well as other places in the states. There are a lot of really great players here and they can recognize it for what it is, but a lot of people just aren't into the genre of music. Denton has more of a huge Indie scene.
MDM: What was the strangest show you ever played?
Ottley: Wichita, Kansas was a pretty unusual show. It always seems to me like the shows on tour that you think might not be so good, or you are not looking forward to having a good show, end up being ridiculously awesome. Wichita, Kansas was one of those places where we came to this place, which was just an art gallery, and they showed us the room and it was really, really small spaced. And we were wondering how we were ever going to even fit in there. The ceilings were and really everything about it was just awkward. And by the end of the night there was no air-conditioning in the place, and this is last August. So people were just drenched in sweat and the place was packed with all ages of people really, it was crazy.
MDM: Which Denton artists do you most recommend?
Ottley: Oh, that's a tough question. Because there are so many that I hate to leave out. I mean, the probably most popular bands are the first people that are going to come to mind. You know Snarky, and Oso Closo, I really enjoy watching Trebuchet. There are some rock acts around that really just nail it. RTB2 is one of my favorites lately, I mean the dynamic between the two of those guys has changed so much. As far as Hip Hop, I've always really dug the Fab Deuce guys. And you know, a lot of the guys from the Jazz School really have a lot going on and some of the hype, like the guys over in New Vintage. Those guys have their shit together, and I really respect what they're doing a lot.
MDM: Ok, enough of the tough questions, lets have a bit of fun, so ... Cats or Dogs?
Ottley: Dogs, oh yea dogs.
MDM: Biggest vice?
Ottley: Working
MDM: On the band in particular?
Ottley: It all leads to the band yeah.
MDM: Favorite language other than English?
Ottley: Spanish
MDM: If you were a god, what would you do for the world?
Ottley: Hmm. Plant shit.
MDM: What is in your refrigerator?
Ottley: Uh right now, not too much. I should go grocery shopping. I think right now there is some yogurt, some fruit, lunch meat and juice. That's about it.
MDM: What was the last song you played on your ipod?
Ottley: A really great band called Heavy. They are killer.
MDM: OK, last question, one word. This time next year I will be _____________
Ottley: Haha, this time next year I will be ... working probably.
Contact Backside Pick on:
My Denton Music
MySpace
