Studio to stage

"There are no second acts in American lives," F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote. The same goes for the music industry: It is rare for bands to make comebacks that amount to more than a rehash of decade-old classics in a transparent attempt to keep the taxman at bay. It is even more seldom that a famed record producer gets a new lease on life as a performer in his own right, but that's exactly what Martin Bisi has done.

Bisi gained a reputation in 1980s New York by producing some of the most innovative and interesting acts in American music: Sonic Youth, Cop Shoot Cop, White Zombie and even Herbie Hancock, whose album Rockit won a Grammy in 1983. More recently, Bisi produced the Dresden Dolls' self-titled breakout album, which launched the cabaret punk band onto the world stage in 2003.

But Bisi has begun making a name for himself on the other side of the mixing board as well. Earlier this year, he released the album Sirens of the Apocalypse, followed by the digital-only EP Son of a Gun. The albums bring Bisi's peculiar brand of darkly humorous psychedelic pop-punk to the fore: at times raucous and at times quietly personal.

Bisi, who comes to Prague this week in the midst of a European tour, spoke to The Prague Post from New York City, describing his transition from studio to stage, and his growing focus on performing, rather than simply recording, original music.

"Twenty years ago I was content with releasing solo records, and I didn't even worry about playing live. I think partly the change is because the realm of recordings was more exciting and essential back then, and that has slowly eroded over time," Bisi says. "But I always felt I needed to do some time on the other side of the camera to be happy about putting so much time into other people's work, for artistic and narcissistic reasons, and also because I know that's where the fun really is."

As a veteran producer, Bisi would seem acutely prepared for a successful music career, as he knows what it takes to assemble a brilliant album. His production experience is evident on Sirens of the Apocalypse, which manages to be streamlined without sounding overproduced. But he says he has difficulty learning from his own mistakes.

"I spend and waste huge amounts of time when I work on my own stuff. But I kind of need to take my time and indulge, because I'm so used to feeling under the clock with other people's stuff. I also feel I can safely ignore certain standards when I'm only responsible to myself," he says.

Bisi's music is a mix of the best low-fi legends, from Lou Reed's street-wise folk to the silly pop of The Flaming Lips, topped off with some old-time storytelling. Several tracks on Sirens of the Apocalypse feature spoken word, as Bisi weaves tall tales atop overdubbed guitar tracks and loops, often with distorted vocals. The songs range from the darkly humorous, such as "Mile High Formaldehyde," to bouncy pop tracks like "Drink Your Wine," on which Bisi sings "On your darkest day, you've still got to go out to play. You're just a girl stuck in the city. Drink your wine, don't be silly." It is a style Bisi calls "urban storytelling."

"The more the listener knows about the artist and the music, the more receptive they'll be. So I try to convey as much as I can very explicitly. Sometimes, just speaking seems like the surest way of making that connection," he says.

Bisi has been getting rave reviews for recent shows in New York City, and he's looking to ride that momentum over to Europe, where he will be playing several dates throughout Germany before visiting Prague.

Dresden Dolls drummer Brian Viglione, who contributed to Sirens of the Apocalypse, will join Bisi on tour. Bisi's performances are known to combine elements of cabaret, and often feature cameos from his famous friends. Let's see what has in store for his first Prague performance, in the intimate confines of Club 007.

Stephan Delbos can be reached at
sdelbos@praguepost.com