“I see a lot of bands who play this kind of music get frustrated and leave New Orleans. I love this city, and I don’t plan on moving,” says Micah McKee, singer, guitarist and songwriter for the folk-pop group Silent Cinema. His response is in stark contrast to many “indie rockers” who, when confronted with the phrase “New Orleans music scene” by lazy music journalists rear their heads in anger, scoff or issue forth a bitter tirade against the city.

McKee, who’s actually hails from New Orleans, formed Silent Cinema in 2002 with Mike Rodriguez, who was looking for someone to produce. McKee happened to have some songs lying around, and the two clicked. They began practicing, and six months later had produced a demo.

“It started off with me, Mike [Rodriguez] and two other people playing the songs live, for a few shows. We threw that lineup together, and dispersed in 2003,” says McKee. Roderiguez left for his native Oklahoma City shortly thereafter (though still produces the band), and McKee had to form an entirely new band, which includes Mike Bloom on lap steel, Sam Craft on violin, Brandon Bunch on bass, Matt Glynn on guitar and Cory Bucker on guitar. “This whole thing has had a revolving cast, but this is a steady lineup right now.”

“I’ve played these songs with 11 people,” adds McKee. “I think it has affected the music in a positive manner. You have to keep searching for a group of people who make your music sound the best it can sound. Having a different group of people play your music over a long periods of time is okay, because it allows it to be interpreted differently. There’s nothing wrong with new ideas.” Nailing down Silent Cinema’s atmospheric brand of folk is therefore hard without specific reference points, as McKee’s song writing evolves with each iteration.

“Neil Young has always been a huge influence. You can probably spot that a mile away, but that’s okay. I think he’s one of the greatest song writers of all time.” McKee also drops Bob Dylan, early Van Morrison and hip-hop when confronted with the inevitable influence question. “Your sound also depends partially on what you’re listening to in the studio. During this last recording, we were listening to Sufjan Stevens and a lot of Jay-Z, and it had an effect on the end product.”

“The first demo we did in 2003 was very pop-oriented. Our last record, Fiction, was more space-pop and folk,” says McKee. “This next record, Rain, is a lot more atmospheric. We put a lot more into the arrangements; the songs are six to seven minutes.”  That record, due out in late February/early March, was recorded five months ago—a fact that makes McKee a bit restless. “I’m ready to go back into the studio and record. I always feel like that because the music is always changing. The music changes and evolves as you experiment and work with different people. It’s important to keep up the pace. My goal is to record an album at least once a year.” For McKee, the whole musical process—writing, playing and recording—is cathartic, and that emotional release is reflected in his song craft and the band’s performance.

“The feeling of playing live, in front of a 100 people , is like telling them all a secret. It’s a huge weight off your chest,” says McKee. “Recording is completely different. The music is really insulated, and you have to revisit it over and over again. You have to be bombarded with your own emotions and your own thoughts all the time. It’s painful, but not in a masochistic way. It’s a self renewal kind of pain, almost in the Buddhist sense—self renewal by suffering. That kind of honesty is my biggest influence, and the thing I look for most in music.”

Silent Cinema is taking the month of January off from performing live to put the finishing touches on their new record, deal with business and to master the complex arrangements of their new songs, but plans on returning full force to the New Orleans music scene come February.

“Bands that cut and run at the first sign of non success are shortchanging themselves,” says Micah. “What makes New Orleans special is because [it’s an impoverished city], people are able to put material things aside and pursue the things that we love to do—things that maybe aren’t paying off right away. The sense of community here is really helpful to making music."

BACK BEAT

On January 15 at 1 p.m., the Tipitina’s Foundation presents another installment of their Master’s Seminar series. “Legends Of New Orleans Drumming” will feature the Joseph “Zigaboo” Modeliste, Earl Palmer, and Smokey Johnson. Students will have a chance to learn from living legends for a only five dollars. At 10:30 p.m. that same night, Zigaboo and the 501 Crew, featuring Ivan and Cyril Neville, Renard Poche, Nick Daniels, Mark Mullins, Roger Lewis, Troy Andrews, Clarence Johnson III and Walter “Wolfman” Washington, throw down a no holds bared funk marathon.

BAD MEDICINE

In 2003, jazz trio the Bad Plus released These are the Vistas, an album of avant-jazz Nirvana, Black Sabbath, Blondie and Aphex Twin covers and originals. While at first glance, this may smack of ironic posturing—or worse, pretension—the results were an impressive blend jazz vocabulary and rock sensibility and garnered nods from jazz aficionados and pop-media outlets such as Rolling Stone and Blender. Check them out with the Stanton Moore Trio on January 29 at TwiRoPa.

KINDA KINKY

Talk about strange-but-true. Liquidrone’s Clint Maedgen, founder of the late Bingo!, received a call from Preservation Hall proprietor Ben Jaffe asking if Clint might like to go on tour with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and sing a couple of Kinks songs. Clint thought it was a wonderful idea and has lately been touring the nation with the Preservationists: “It’s like working with my grandfathers!”