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Live, but not unplugged

Renowned UK breakbeat DJ, producer set to debut new live band, spring album
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Freeform Freeland Adam Freeland and Kurt Baumann, frontman for the new, live touring band, simply titled Freeland. The group plays its first live gig at Maxx Fish this Thursday.

Who: Freeland Band

When: Thursday, March 12

Where: Maxx Fish

Cost: $25 at the door

Adam Freeland may be known for his club-rocking anthems and party bangers, but there's more to this UK-born DJ and producer than first meets the eye.

 

These days, he's been spending a considerable amount of time with preproduction work and rehearsals for his live band, known simply as Freelan.

 

"I've been DJing professionally for like 13 years, and I love it, but it's like touring with your mates as a whole collective, and that collective live performance..." he trailed off.

 

This new musical endeavour helps to keep things interesting and exciting, offering a new challenge to the experienced musician.

 

Freeland began working on developing a live group years ago, releasing their first album Now and Them back in 2003. That album featured a rotating cast of musicians and vocalists, but Freeland felt the approach lacked crucial focus, and what the group really needed was a front man.

 

"It's funny what the universe dangles in your path," Freeland began. "I've always been saying, 'I really need a front man, I really need a front man!' and 'It's really hard to find a good front man,' ... and I realized I'd never actually looked!"

 

The day after Freeland began his search, he met Kurt Baumann, who is now the lead vocalist and bass player for the three-piece touring group.

 

"He's a German Texan - amazing guy, great voice, very charismatic - and I've always kind of been looking for someone like him, because I'm not a singer and I always wanted someone to front the band," Freeland explained

 

Freeland himself handles the keyboards, computers and backing vocals, while Eric Tateuaca mans the drummer and acts as another backing vocalist.

 

The reinvented Freeland group just wrapped up their sophomore album, Cope , Freeland's first artist album in almost six years, which will be released in June.

 

"This is the second album I've done as Freeland... but this album has a whole different cast to the first album," Freeland said.

 

Cope features some of Freeland's "heroes" - Tommy Lee of Motley Crue played drums, Alex Metric co-produced, Twiggy Ramirez plays bass, Joey Santiago of the Pixies and Tony Bevilacqua of Distillers/Spinerette plays guitar, and there are guest vocals from Brody Dalle and Gerry from Devo.

 

"It's really bizarre, it really wasn't my intention," he said, adding that everything just seemed to fall into place on its own. "... It all happened pretty organically."

 

They're also busy preparing for their very first live performance, which will take place at Whistler's Maxx Fish tonight.

 

"Right now, obviously, the songs are written and produced, so it's just a matter of translating them live in a way that feels live," he said, adding that they also strive to stay true to the recorded tracks.

 

See, the real challenge will be staying true to the feel of the album in a live performance.

 

"Using technology, when my drummer hits his acoustic kick drum, he's actually triggering my kick drum for that particular track," Freeland explained, adding that it's a challenge to channel the same energy in a live performance.

 

"So what I do is pull the record apart and use the bits... because you physically couldn't do that record, totally, without technology to sound like that."

 

Ultimately, Freeland is determined to keep the show as live as possible.

 

"It would be doing it a disservice just playing it as a DJ because it's a real artist album and it needs to be performed as an artist album, not as a DJ set," he said. "Its not all club bangers - its got dynamics, its got different tempos."

 

As a solo artist, Freeland isn't known for shying away from blending genres. He's remixed and sampled everything from Nirvana and The White Stripes to Sarah Vaughn over the years. And even though some of the names may raise a few eyebrows, somehow, Freeland makes it work

 

"I just go with what I vibe," he explained. "...I'm really not very good at doing stuff and not feeling it. I'm not good at faking it."

 

There's no faking it with Freeland, especially when it comes to this kind of creative and indulgent project.

 

"It's nice to be able to write songs that mean something to you," Freeland said.

 

Cope even features a six-minute long track where the beat never comes in.

 

"Normally, what I do as Adam Freeland, DJ/producer dude, is make stuff that bangs in nightclubs, in my own kind of way," Freeland said.

 

"...Whereas this album I didn't design to play in my DJ set. I just wanted to write music and see what came out without any constraint of trying to rock a dance floor.

 

Make no mistake, though - Cope may not be all about club bangers, but the Freeland live performance will have the dance floor seriously fired up.

 

"It's not been without its pain, making this record," he admitted with a laugh.