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Nuvo.net
Brian Deer’s ‘Black Clouds’
Ex-Citizens Band-er goes solo
Jim Walker
Nuvo
Brian Deer’s new CD is a storm cloud salted with realities from
his life and with the power of musical collaboration. Black Cloud Talk
is the first solo album for Deer, formerly of the roots-rock group Citizens
Band. He’ll celebrate the CD’s release with a show at Birdy’s
Friday night.
Originally from the small Southern Indiana town of Haubstadt, Deer came
to Indianapolis via Nashville, Tenn. There, he worked for Epiphone guitars
and played in a co-worker’s comedy country band. Will Jones and
the Western Fringe’s big hit was “Don’t Fart When We
Are Loving.” “That was a real trip,” Deer said with
a laugh.
Once in Indianapolis, he began working as a music teacher at Indianapolis
Public School 16 at 34th and Pennsylvania streets — a job he loves.
And one that contributes to his music. “There are definitely situations
I see at school with kids that inspire some of the thoughts behind the
lyrics,” he said.
He also soon met fellow guitarist Matt Boyer and helped form Citizens
Band — a group that gained popularity in its four years in Indianapolis,
self-releasing a solid CD of its own.
“Citizens Band was an incredible experience,” Deer said. “We
all learned from each other and grew together. I knew I wanted to go a
little different direction and this is what came out of that.”
Deer and his former bandmates remain friends. Boyer will be playing behind
Deer in the CD release show Friday.
The new direction Deer wanted to go was toward pop music. He said he didn’t
want to do another “me-and-my-guitar album.”
“It’s a personal preference, really. It’s more like
a lot of what I’m listening to now — Radiohead, Wilco, Modest
Mouse, pop alternative stuff,” Deer said. “I wanted it to
be a mixture of that band sound along with coming from the singer-songwriter’s
perspective.”
But, by turning toward pop, Deer isn’t turning away from depth.
“The stuff I listen to is very palatable but also has these underlying
layers so that, each time you listen to it, you can pick up this new layer.
So, after listening to it 10 times, you’re still going, ‘Oh,
I didn’t notice that before,’” he said. “My favorite
albums are the ones that you can peel away the layers.”
Deer found the perfect partner in the project with Chicago producer Matt
Thompson. The two met each other through Thompson’s mom —
who happened to be Deer’s neighbor here in Indianapolis. And they
clicked immediately. “He would throw some demos at me and I’d
think to myself, ‘That’s exactly what I was going for,’
Deer said. “It’s almost like he just knew.”
The process started in August of 2003, with the two working to make demos
in Thompson’s basement studio. “A lot of the stuff, originally,
sounded very, very acoustic or singer-songwriter. Some of it sounded a
lot like my previous band, Citizens Band,” Deer said. “Matt
really started to see a vision for this album before I did, reworking
the music for the songs I had.”
With demos in hand, Thompson, a multitalented musician who plays bass
for the Mighty Blue Kings, brought engineer Dan Steinman and a group of
Chicago musicians into the studio this spring to make the collaborative
vision a full-blown reality.
“Matt made available these amazing musicians who could pull off
the ideas he was putting out,” Deer said. “It really became
a team effort. They all had incredible input and so did Dan Stineman.
He was amazing.
“I would throw in my two cents and Matt would say, ‘That’s
a good idea, let’s do it this way.’ Or Matt or Dan would say,
‘How about this?’ And I would say, ‘Run with it.’
There’s the mixture of my songwriting with his musical ideas and
then you put the band in there …”
This approach was much different than the one Deer and Citizens Band took
with that album. And the pop aspect of the music — with electronic
drums and synthesizer effects — allowed for many possibilities.
“Matt just has an amazing ability to construct these instruments
weaving in and out — the tape effects and instruments weaving in
and out,” Deer said.
He remembered one session lasting until the early morning hours after
a full day of recording. Thompson had a drum loop set up for the song
“Veiled Eyes” that just wasn’t right. “So Matt
and Dan ran it through the tape machine and did all of these effects to
it and it was like two mad scientists with the lab coats on. I was in
the background going, ‘Yeah, yeah, more of that.’ We just
had a blast doing it.”
Deer said he wanted the album to sound something like Elvis Costello backed
by the Cure. Mission accomplished. Deer’s distinct and earthy vocals
carry “Black Cloud Talk” and shine best in “Playing
with Guns” and “I’m Not Built That Way” —
the album’s two cello-and-acoustic-guitar ballads.
The opener, “Sad Song,” and the guitar-driven tune “Small
Town Affair” sound — in the music and vocals — much
like the 1980s new-wave band the Plimsouls. Deer’s songwriting,
with its blend of light and darkness and its influences from the city
and the country, mirror the work of Peter Case, former Plimsouls’
frontman who went on to a relatively successful solo career.
As a whole, Black Cloud Talk shows promise for Deer, who is working hard
to promote and distribute the album himself. “I started realizing
that some of the most successful people I’ve seen grow as artists
started releasing their own records and building their own following —
really working their butts off,” he said. “That seems better
than just throwing it out there and hoping to hit it big.”
News-4u.com
News-4U Review of Black
Cloud Talk
Theresa Culver
News-4U.com
Local
boy (well, he's from Indianapolis), makes us proud. Deer handles his task
as singer/songwriter well. He's like a cross between Bloomington legends
Old Pike and Jackson Browne. The album's opener is a ferocious pop ditty
with four-on-the-floor drums, chiming guitar, fuzz bass, and a killer
Running On Empty-esque hook. The album flourishes with a bouncy beat,
organ runs, acoustic rhythms, and copasetic hooks. One of the highlights
of Black Cloud Talk is the fact that it features members of Sonia Dada
and Bright Eyes and fellow singer songwriter, Robbie Fulks, an integral
person in the upstart of Bloodshot Records. That's an impressive backing
band, my friends. I'm not sure if this one's in the stores around here…
yet… but give it time as Deer is soon to be moving up to the big
league. Until then, head over to www.briandeer.net and pick up a copy
there
Indianapolismusicnet.com
Indianapolis Music Net Review of Black Cloud Talk
Rob G.
Indianapolis Music Net
The
"extended hiatus" of Citizens Band has afforded singer/guitarist
Brian Deer the opportunity to explore a more pop oriented direction than
that of the popular roots rock band. His first solo album "Black
Cloud Talk" is a multi-layered record which stays clear of the alt-country
sound one might expect from Deer given his work with Citizens Band. Though
the focus of the album is on Deer's clear voice and somewhat melancholy
songs, "Black Cloud Talk" also avoids sounding like a singer/songwriter
project and ends up in the same alternative pop ballpark as Wilco.
Producer
Matt Thompson and an excellent cast of backing musicians support Deer's
songs well and add many interesting textures to the album. While troubled
relationships form the core of the songs, Deer's optimistic delivery and
the music that surrounds it keeps "Black Cloud Talk" from feeling
like a drudge through someone's darkest moments. Even a song with a title
like "Sad Song" comes out on the catchy side the way Deer performs
it here. All in all, "Black Cloud Talk" is a sophisticated pop
record highlighting an artist willing to try something new and succeeding
in that direction.
The
Indianapolis Star
David Lindquist
Chet
Atkins and Eddy Arnold helped establish the "countrypolitan"
sound by adding piano and strings to Nashville tracks.
With "Black Cloud Talk," Brian Deer edges toward something that
might be classified as "alt-countrypolitan." Rural rocker Deer
(ex-Citizens Band) downplays the twang on his solo debut and elevates
pop textures.
It's not "pop" in a lowest common denominator sense, but sweet
and sophisticated pop the way the Beatles played in 1965 -- the year they
covered Buck Owens' "Act Naturally."
French horn and cello appear on "Black Cloud Talk," which ranges
from the stark stillness of "Inside Your House" to the avalanching
din of "Domino Effect."
The sonic achievements make an engaging cocoon for Deer's heavy-hearted
lyrics. Opening track "Sad Song" explores an only-happy-when-it-rains
philosophy and sets the scene for what's to come.
Brian Deer is scheduled to perform Jan. 8 at Birdy's, 2131 E. 71st St.
93.1
Radio Now
Mysti Cox
Formerly of the locally renowned Citizen's Band, Brian Deer has taken the creative knowledge that he gained there, and he's forged ahead with a promising solo singing and songwriting career.
His solo CD, Black Cloud Talk, is easily one of the finest that I've come across in my stack of local talent submissions. Brian's voice is exceptionally easy on the ears, and his laid-back style, combined with his fearless and unapologetic insight, is an unbeatable formula for success.
If Brian's aim is to make the listener truly feel, then mission accomplished. He tackles the unavoidable, the dramatic, the emotional - and he delivers it so beautifully that it's nearly impossible to escape being completely captivated. While Black Cloud Talk deals a bit with the lovelorn and heartbroken, it also delves into the isolation and insecurity that we've all felt at one time or another. Brian sings of complicated thoughts and messy romance, and he explores his own inner conflicts throughout the album. It's a solid CD from a hugely talented guy.
Indianapolis: experience Brian Deer. Who knows how long a local music scene can continue to cling to someone like him? |
INtakeweekly.com
In the 'write' direction
Musician releases his solo effort at Birdy's on July 16.
Paul F. P. Pogue
INtake correspondent
After
several years of twangy-rock stylings as singer and guitarist for Citizen's
Band, Brian Deer is striking out on his own with his first solo album,
"Black Cloud Talk."
Deer started playing guitar when he was 8 and continued through high school
and college, where he studied jazz guitar, classical guitar and music
education at the University of Evansville. He moved here in 1998 after
meeting his wife, Melissa, and started teaching music at IPS.
Around that time, he met Matt Boyer, and they founded Citizen's Band together.
They spent several years playing live and cutting one album before parting
amicably this year.
"Black Cloud Talk" started out as an idea for an acoustic album,
but under the guidance of producer Matt Thompson, from Chicago, it developed
into a larger indie-rock band sound.
What was the inspiration for the feel of the album and the title?
A lot of the songs were written during kind of a bad time for me in my
life; relationship-wise things were really downhill. That's where the
title came from, "Black Cloud Talk." It starts out with the
black cloud thoughts that surround you when those things are going on,
and then it also became how to get out of that. Life kind of goes in waves
of really dark times, and then sometimes you have to pull yourself out
of that, or things can pull you out of it.
How would you describe the sound of the final product?
I guess you'd say indie rock. It's like if you took a singer-songwriter
and put them with an amazing backing band. It's almost like Bruce Springsteen
or Elvis Costello being backed up by Radiohead or Wilco. The songs are
my songs, but they're backed up in an indie-rock fashion with a lot of
song architecture.
How is this different from what you did as part of Citizen's Band?
It's really a lot more me and not a collaboration of sounds from four
different guys. It steers away from the twang sound, the country influence
-- which is not to say that I don't dig that stuff.
I love all kinds of music, but this is the direction I am feeling right
now.
What's the current status of Citizen's Band?
We called our last show a "last show for a while." So there's
a possibility that we could end up doing something again. We left it open-ended
because we're all such good friends and we loved playing together.
As for now, though, this is my main focus for me. And now Matt Boyer is
real busy playing guitar with Sun Kil Moon. He's going to be playing guitar
with me at the CD release party, so we're still close.
www.MilesOfMusic.com
Miles of Music Review of
Black Cloud Talk
Miles of Music Staff
You
have to take the cover art of Black Cloud Talk at
face value. There is a heartless tin woodsman, having
axed the last tree in sight, sitting miserably on the
fresh stump, weeping into his hands. Perhaps this
newly discovered can of emotional worms got the better
of our subject, who has seen the forest and the damage
done. Parallel that with the songs of Brian Deer,
whose writing on Black Cloud Talk reveals the
discovery of hard feelings once the clouds of dark
times have cleared. From confusion over relationships
destroyed to the exposed wound left in their wake,
Deer has captured himself in the midst of his own
emotional rainstorm. Were it not for the positive
yearning in his delivery, nor the predominantly airy
acoustic and roots-pop arrangements, this would be
heavy stuff indeed. But there are weighty moments too,
like the moody, cello threading "Playing With Guns"
and "I'm Not Built That Way". Or the downbeat, but
steady "I Don't Want To Fight", which has some
stirring Hammond organ work. Deer honed his roots edge
while sharing songwriting and vocal duties with Matt
Boyer in the Chicago-based alt. country group
Citizen's Band. For this project he brings in several
local pals, including members of Sonia Dada,
alt-country hero Robbie Fulks and Chicago icon Larry
Gray to help build a stark and honest baroque-tinged
folk/pop collection.
Order
Black Cloud Talk from www.milesofmusic.com
now!
Cent.com
A&A Review of
Black
Cloud Talk
Jon Worley
A&A
Anyone who gets Robbie Fulks to pitch in on his album must be doing something
right. Add members of Bright Eyes and Sonia Dada to the guest list, and
I started to wonder how many pals this guy has.
If songs could make friends, Brian Deer would have a million. He writes
tightly-crafted, easy-going snippets of joy. The lyrics aren't always
(or even mostly) joyful, but the end result is happy, nonetheless. It's
exceptionally difficult to make such well through out music sound so loose,
but Deer does a nice job with it.
There's still that "I'm a damned good songwriter, and I'm gonna make
sure you know it" sheen to many of these songs--and that's alright
by me. While the production is sterling (and often quite inventive), this
still sounds to me like a collection of demos that Deer plans to send
out to the more fortunate (and famous). And while I cringe thinking at
the damage Nashville would do to these delicate masterpieces, it would
score Deer some (I'm sure) welcome ready cash. These songs are good enough
to be destroyed by a "major" artist, but they're probably never
going to sound as good as they do here. Most pleasing.
Night
and Day Events
From Pitch.com
Pitch.com, Kansas City, MO
Ryan
Adams has proven himself the singer-songwriter equivalent of a sociopathic
ex-boyfriend, and Chris Carraba's hyper-sentimental yowling is about as
sexy as the cries of a dying musk ox, so the lasses with the horn-rimmed
glasses are no doubt looking for a new over-earnest, strapping young solo
hunk to sweep them off their nondancing feet. Brian Deer, a tall, blond,
honey-voiced tunesmith from Chicago, may be their man. "People can
be emotionally rocked to the point that it's detrimental to their health,"
Deer says on his Web site. "It affects your physical well-being,
and in a way it can be as painful as playing with guns." Now there's
a man well-acquainted with passion and heartache, if not with firearms.
Anyway, Deer is sure to sweeten the bitterest cup of dark roast when he
plays the Westport Coffee House (4010 Pennsylvania) from 9 to midnight.
Call 816-756-3221 for more information.
Ripsawnews.com
Brian Deer to Visit Minneapolis and Duluth, MN
Brandy Hoffman
After
hitting the 400 Bar in Minneapolis, Brian Deer, a singer-songwriter from
Indianapolis, plays Fitger’s Brewhouse on November 19. His new CD
Black Cloud Talk was recorded in Chicago and features guest appearances
by Robbie Fulks, members of Sonia Dada and Bright eyes.
Muse's
Muse
www.musesmuse.com
Stacey Board
It’s
a little alt-country, a little pop and a little rock and roll. And it
is all very good.
Deer has all the tools he needs. This includes foremost, talent as a songwriter
and singer. The songs are intelligent, funny, sweet and engaging. His
voice is a simple canvas on which he lays the melody. As a writer he has
a large palette also and is refreshingly unpredictable.
Deer also has a good ear for arrangement and made a great choice in Matt
Thompson. Thompson produced the CD and co-wrote two of the songs. The
songs have many personalities yet they all coexist happily on this CD.
Not one song is overdone. They hit the right mood with arrangement every
time and that is quite rare.
“black cloud talk’ is a great CD for those that appreciate
top quality sophisticated songwriting that is perfectly well-done.
Cincinnati City Beat
Mike Breen
It's
fitting that Robbie Fulks makes a couple of guest appearances on Black
Cloud Talk, the superb 2004 solo debut from Indianapolis singer/songwriter
and former Citizen Band singer/guitarist BRIAN DEER. Like Fulks, Deer
-- thanks to Citizen Band's role as one of the region's best Americana
Rock bands -- is likely to have the words "Roots" attached to
any adjective used to describe him. But, also like Fulks, Deer transcends
that tag with songs that are sturdy in their own right a la Elvis Costello
or Bruce Springsteen, artists who similarly defy easy categorizations
other than "brilliant songwriter." The heartland vibe bubbles
underneath, but it's mostly the warm familiarity of Deer's soulful songwriting
that makes Black Cloud Talk such an engrossing listen. It's a magnificent
debut from one of Indy's best-kept secrets -- though with talent like
this, it's hard to imagine he'll be a secret much longer. Deer and his
band swing through the new Viper Room downtown for a show with locals
the Gregory Morris Band and Vaughn and Co.
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