We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Martin Rivas, an NYC-based singer-songwriter. He is currently touring in support of his latest album “Sea of Clouds”, which is available now. We talked songwriting, influences, and of course, The Spinners:

1.  You play a lot and you have a fantastic voice.  What tips can you offer vocalists on the art of voice maintenance?

Thanks so much! Playing as often as I get to play, I definitely feel as though there are days that I don’t have as much voice as I’d like… so I pretty much go with what I’m given. Which on many days for me is nearly nothing! (laughs) Sometimes, a bit of rasp can be an advantage in a quiet environment. I love investigating and making use of the bits of squeal and snarl that I can get with varying degrees of raspy-voice-ness as opposed to being at 100%. It varies from day to day, and it’s like plugging your guitar into a different amp just to see what might come of it.

Luckily for me, I’m in the fortunate position of not having to speak much during the day, and rest is the greatest thing for me in terms of preserving my voice. Speak softly during the day, drink as much Yogi Throat Comfort Tea, or anything with some cardamom in it, and if you can, run the bathtub with really hot water, let the bathroom fill with steam, and just go and sit in there and read for 10 minutes at a clip. Those are the sort of things that work best for my voice.

2. When did you write the songs for Sea of Clouds?

The songs were written over a period of a few years. Of the tracks on the album, I think that “A New Word” was the first song that came around, and “I Need a Riff” and “Sorry to See You Go” were among the last. The discipline of taking the sonic and melodic ideas that are always floating around and fashioning them into something resembling a song is the part that seems to escape most easily from me, and it’s the hardest habit to get back into. A lot of these songs were floating around as half-completed sketches for the better part of a year before the discipline came back to complete them, which I don’t mind at all; I think it allows me to really understand the song and make it become what it wants to become. I only have a tiny handful of songs that have shown up at my doorstep completely finished, or that took 20 minutes to write; of those sort of songs, “Hide in Me” is one.

Writing songs is like therapy for me, except it doesn’t cost anything, and the sessions can last as long as I need them to. Taking a year-plus to write a song is comforting to me.

3. Who is the first person you share new songs with?

I’d have to say that my wife is the first to hear everything simply because she’s hearing every step of the process. She’ll always say, “that sounds ok” when I play her a finished demo, even if I’m totally stoked about it. She sure knows how to keep me in check. (laughs) I imagine it must be frustrating to hear the same melody six or seven hundred zillion times before it appears as part of a completed song, unless you’re the one writing it.

4. True or false.  You went through a phase when you listened to The Spinners a lot.

That’s not a phase! I STILL listen to Philippe Wynne and the Spinners all the time. I’ve pretty much spent my entire adult life working backwards with music, finding older and older songs, singers, and melodies that make me melt, and 1940s, 50s and 60s rhythm and blues is the music that I have found most appeals to me. The Spinners are one of my absolute favorites, but I’m even more fond of Sam Cooke, Curtis Mayfield, Sam & Dave, Jerry Butler, Smokey Robinson, Otis Redding, Louis Jordan, and lesser known folks like Walter Jackson, Billy Butler, Bill Doggett, Bobby Bland, Wynonie Harris, Jimmy Ruffin, … man, I’ll go on for 20 minutes if you let me.

5. Is there a story behind “a name scratched on a desk?”  Can you share it?

There really isn’t much of a story; I was visualizing the feelings of getting on with your life after a period of mourning. You know, after the shock, making arrangements, the wake, the funeral, and then coming back home and expecting, or being expected, to just get on with it. Those are the visuals that came to mind… someone being a memory now, a name scratched on a desk. It’s nothing new to folks who have been through it, and that’s why I wanted to say at the end, “this isn’t some sort of revelation, and it was never meant to be.”

6.  Who taught you how to play music?  Write music?

I remember singing along to 45s, and making the effort to be sure that I was singing in key, and even finding harmonies and counter-melodies, when I was 5 or 6. I think that was always around. My sister’s boyfriend kept a guitar at our house around the time I was 11, so I’d reach for that and goof around and search for things. Then my sister started taking piano lessons, so of course I’d hop on the bench and explore. It was my Uncle Joe who finally said, “enough goofing around, let’s show you some chords,” and he taught me the chorus to “Ride Captain Ride” by Blues Image, I guess because it only had a few, easy chords. I’m thankful that he took me a bit left-of-center from the get-go, rather than showing me “Michael Row the Boat Ashore” or “Kumbaya.” From there, I just started listening to my Police, Clash, and Beatles records and trying to play along.

7. What advice can you give Wanduta members who are just getting started with their music careers?

Play as often as you possibly can, to the point where there is no difference between being on stage or being at, say, a Dunkin’ Donuts. Put yourself in the position to be as comfortable as possible up there, and people will get who you are.

Listen to lots and lots and lots of music; listen to sounds; listen to conversations; listen to engines and squeaks and squeals; listen to short-wave; listen to everything. Find the comfort and melody within sounds.

Be to people the way you’d wish them to be to you, and if they’re not, be that way anyway.

You can catch Martin’s next show on Wednesday, December 16^th 9p at The Bitter End NYC. He will be sharing the bill with Greg Mayo Band. Both Bands will combine with special guests to perform The Beatles “Abbey Road” full album. Martin will have 2010 residences at NYC clubs The Red Lion, Prohibition, and Slane, along with regular appearances at Rockwood Music Hall.

A sample of Martin’s songs from his new album,  “Sea of Clouds”:

We recently had the pleasure of catching up with Deena Goodman. A fabulous singer-songwriter in her own right, Deena also heads up Rebel Spirit Music, an NYC-based organization assisting independent musicians. She wears several different hats, all of them quite impressively, and was kind enough to tell us more about both her creative and community endeavors:

Where are you from?
Raised in Teaneck NJ, live in Manhattan

How did you get started in music?

My dad played his favorite records on our road trips, including all artists listed above, plus a little jazz and standards for good measure, I have been singing every since. After graduating NYU’s Tisch School for the Arts I began to pursue a recording career, writing songs with big name songwriters and playing shows nationwide. I eventually realized the need for community involvement amongst independent artists, that the notion of doing this together was more savvy then the notion of doing it yourself, so I started Rebel Spirit Music, an effort to promote all artists music, hand in hand.

Speaking of promoting music, what’s the most creative/shameless way you’ve seen a musician publicize themselves?

Hate to say it, but the Naked Cowboy has it down to a science. I am also a big fan of artists who set up accounts devoted to producing records that fans donate money to, giving fans a hand in the making of their favorite artists’ record is a great way to maintain loyalty and camaraderie amongst musicians and fans alike.

Whats next?

Continued work towards bringing new musics to music lovers, through Rebel Spirit Music, live music at Canal Room and perhaps producing some more of my own.

Where can we catch the next Rebel Spirit showcase?

August 5th: The Rebel Spirit Music Series Presents: Garrison Starr, Abby Payne, Jon Solo and Jerzy Jung @ Rockwood Music Hall/196 Allen St (btwn houston and stanton), 8 pm, FREE.

Check out Deena performing “Follow You Down”: