Roots/soul musician Chastity Brown performed three songs off her new record Sing to the Walls, her first LP in five years, at The Current’s studio. Local Show host Diane interviewed the singer-songwriter and her drummer/record co-producer, Greg Schutte, following the performance. Brown uncovers how she finds joy and tenderness via music. She also talks about the process of curating a team of maestros to assist in performance and production.

Chastity Brown will headline First Avenue’s mainroom on August 20 with the local jazz ensemble Omar Abdulkarim Quartet.

Diane here, host of The Local Show on The Current, and today I am with Chastity Brown. Just put out an album called Sing to the Walls. It's incredible. You performed three songs with your band. And we have a band member here with us, Greg Schutte, drummer. Thanks for both being here with us today. 

Chastity Brown: Yeah, thanks. 

After just seeing y'all perform three songs in a row, it brings me into the world of being like, oh, yeah, I've seen you live how many times, I'm a fan of your music. And one of the things I think about when I see you perform live is – I would describe it as a spiritual experience. Because you have this ability to capture an audience and really bring them into your world. What are some of the practices that you use to help bring yourself into that moment and surrender to the song?

CB: Wow, thanks for asking that. I guess right away what stood out to me about what you're saying is my first teachers. So I started in the gospel church. I'm not religious by any means at this point. However, one of the things that I was told when I was like 15 was “You can't lead people where you've never gone.” And that has stuck with me in the approach of what my band and I do. And I have a rigorous discipline for how I practice and part of my belief is like, if I am not fully practiced, then what would I give to the guys? How would I even lead them into a song? I like to say, I'm trying to get my nut. I'm trying to get to that. Music, all the components of it, although we practice, is a mystery. And the way we're playing now after 10 years of playing together is different. I centered so much of this record on the drums and, particularly, movement. I have felt quite stagnant. And yeah, we want to go straight towards joy. And that's what we're doing.

Amazing. And, observation, you have an attention to detail, making sure everything's measured right, just before you start. And then it comes out perfectly. You don't have to do two takes, it's just impressive and glorious. 

CB: Well, yeah, I try to have no ideal of perfection. And that only came through being worn out on the road. And it was really like an iron-in-the-fire sort of situation, the last four years before the pandemic of just like, especially when I was opening for people, you have 30 minutes. I'm not gonna waste that time. And then with the guys, it's like, I play with musicians that I revere, and that I respect. I kind of feel like I could freefall, and they got it. They know where I want to go. They know how to interpret the moment. Every night is different. But we still have this container, I guess, the bones of a tune.

Yeah, we share something in common. We're both musicians. But we both have Greg Schutte in our band.

Greg Schutte: I'm a lucky guy. 

CB: Right! Greg Schutte, y'all need to know him.

Greg Schutte: I've been around town for a while. 

Yeah, tell us the experience of playing drums, especially with Chastity in particular.

GS: I mean, it got me thinking about both of you. And it's like playing with warriors, I like to call it. You never feel like, as a drummer, there's a moment where, “What's going to happen?” or “I'm worried for the artists. This could go really south. What can I do as a drummer to support this and get through?” I never feel like that with you. I always feel like you're a warrior going for it. You never call it in. It's never phoned in. It's always just like, emotive. And I think that relaxes your whole band, when they don't feel like they need to – I don't want to say babysit or over support something. That means they can relax, your band can relax into what you're doing. And I think that's where, then magic can happen. Foundational things are taken care of, emotional things are taken care of. Now it's freed up. 

Let's talk a little bit about Sing to the Walls, your new record. And one of the things I know about the record is you recorded in Sweden. What I know about Sweden – I'm half Swedish, so I have a cousin that lives over there who happens to be an artist, and she's really experimental. And I feel like they have this really crazy rich music scene over there. That's really artistic. And I'm curious to know about your experience of recording in Sweden, maybe why you chose that?

CB: Well, actually, I made half of the record in Stockholm, Sweden, and then the other half with Greg here. Essentially, two drummers helped me produce my record, we co-produced it together. The first drummer is Brady Blade, who I met a few years back on the Cayamo Cruise. Brian Blade and Brady Blade are two of the most incredible drummers to come out of New Orleans. I mean, New Orleans has such a rich history. So I already was just like, holy crap, Brady Blade. We started connecting after this, and I just was like, you know, "Can we be in touch?" And within a few months, I was like, "Oh, I'm looking for a producer for my record." And he was like, "I'll throw my hat in." And I was like, "Done." And within a couple months, I flew to Stockholm. I stayed in this apartment on the second floor. The studio was in the basement called Sonica studios. And Brady Blade assembled a cast of wizards. And Yoakim (Nilsson) is the bass player over there. Yoni on the keys, a couple different guitarists, and he really orchestrated the session and would come in and start banging on things. And he has played with so many songwriters. Like Greg, I would be like, "Oh, wow, you're creating something amazing." And he was like, "I'm following every little intricate thing that you're doing between your voice and your instruments. 

And so we just spent four days, made what I thought was the record, came back, four months later, the world changed. So half of the record didn't seem to make sense, didn't seem applicable for this new experience. I started getting lessons from Greg, I would call him and be like, "How do I record a great vocal?" I started developing my own recording independence, which was imperative for the next half of the record. Maybe I was a composer before, but I know that I'm a composer now. And you can hear it, and playing with the Minnesota Orchestra before the pandemic, hearing my songs in the context of 80, split my musical mind open. And I just was like, "I can do that." So, I made part of it with Brady, part of it here. And over the duration of the first year of the pandemic, I would get it to a vibe. And then I would pass it to Greg. The title track "Sing to the Walls" was what I felt like I was doing. And I have a particular perspective with regards to my craft that I have to approach it with a sense of devotion. I am in awe that I get to do this, that a song actually comes out of my mouth or through my fingers. It's humbling. And it's mysterious. And Sing to the Walls is very personal. But also, in a way, it became the redundance of our time. And in this shell, can we still offer – for me, it was like what I do in the world is offer song. That's my purpose. That's my place. And so Sing to the Walls is just this effort to offer what I can.

Greg, you brought up that recording process. Tell me about some of the things you were helping her with the recording vocals. I know you're a producer. You do a lot of recording, on top of being a drummer.

GS: Yeah, it was a cool collaboration because we had never done that before. And we're kind of forced into finding a way to make a record remotely, which I kind of dabbled with pre-pandemic. I don't think of it as an ideal way to make a record, pre-pandemic; but I think during the pandemic, it kind of fit in with the way we all lived. And sort of fit the vibe of what everybody was doing and had to do to get by. So, making a record remotely during the pandemic, was kind of like a cool exploration that – we're somewhat in survival mode, and we had to figure out a way to make good music and record it.

CB: And we weren't in any rush. 

GS: No, because we didn't know how long it was gonna go. This could be two years. But Chas would call me and be like, "Hey, I sent you this track. Let me know what you think." I mean, performance-wise, it's always top-notch, but just learning how to like, all the silly technical stuff of gain structure, mic placement, types of microphones. If Chas wants a certain type of tonality she'd hit me up.

CB: He helped me shop for microphones, and the line that comes before – I don't even know what. I mean, I struggled knowing the name of this year. I'm like, “What's the gadget? I plug the mic in – a preamp or something?”

GS: Yep. And we just did microphone preamp into – I think at the time it was a new process for you. And it was like, using GarageBand, which is like a cheap version of Logic.

CB: Halfway through the process, I switch to logic. And then Luke, our other bandmate, gave me some lessons on how to put a plug-in. Just click and drag. (Laughs)

GS: Well, it gave me a chance to learn GarageBand.

CB: For me, GarageBand was just immediate. So the last track on the record is called "Gertrude" that I wrote. A week into the uprising, my niece was born. And I wrote this track up in the woods, and plugged my mic into an amp, and was just recording on voice memo or something. 

GS: Was that on your phone? 

CB: Or voice memo on my iPad? Apple Music products, if you want to give me a sponsorship, you can. Definitely, because I've made a lot of fun things with these gadgets. And in particular, I was up in the woods and just made this whole thing with GarageBand. And Greg was like, “It'd be better …” It was the one thing where it was like, we're not going to use the bells and whistles of me singing in a better microphone and isolated, blah, blah, blah. And I just sent him four tracks. And one of the tracks is just me walking around the yard, catching the birds. And my buddy James Douglas over in London, he's a cello player, he added some strings to it towards the end. But so we had this process, I guess of like, high studio finesse. And then the last track is just like –

It stands out. Big time.

GS: I know. And I I tried to talk you out of it. Like, hey, let's come in and get on – the techie side of me, like fidelity. But I knew when I was mixing that song, every time I did a pass, the hair on my arms would stick up. And I was like, this is such a powerful song. And the fidelity is not great. But it's perfect for what it is. It is absolutely perfect. So that was a lesson for me … let go of the technical stuff. Because sometimes as producers, we get stuck in that fidelity, quality world. But that was a real lesson in like, how does it feel? What does it invoke emotionally? Lyrically? That was all there. So we went with it. And I'm glad you were like "No, this is it. I'm done. Make it work". And you did. I mean, I didn't do too much to it. But it was all there.

Well, yeah. It turned out beautifully. It's a great finale. I want to bring it to Sing to the Walls, which is the title track and it's also the title of the record. And I was listening to that single, "Sing to the Walls," and I'm like, I will sing to the wall – I was picturing an intangible emotional barrier that you reach with your singing voice to help heal and help grow and help reach someone that's maybe struggling. And I think that's just so beautiful. I'd love to hear you talk a little bit more about that title about a song.

CB: You know, several moments on this record, I sing in ways that I never have as far as on a recording. And the light, airy falsetto, like, I sing so close to the mic. I wanted every part of the performance to lead back to what the words are saying. I'm smiling because this is also my Maxwell moment … I grew up on '90s soul and R&B and then Erykah coming up and the early 2000s and Maxwell and stuff.  And so this was my moment to like to do that part of my voice in a way. What's funny for me is that I made a pseudo trap beat to sing to it. I created a lot of the bones of the drum beats and then of course, Greg is a wizard on the drums. But this one in particular was pretty distinct. And Greg erased it all and created what then became an accompaniment. Furthermore, this song also features Todd Sickafoose. We sent Todd Sickafoose, the bassist, the track. He sent us a string arrangement, plus bass, back. So both of these guys elevated it in a way that I'm just so touched by. 

The other thing I guess specifically is, aside from like, just the devotion, I used to nurture my sorrow in my music in a way that I've been exhausted of. And I dance more playing this music than ever. But I'm not running away from tenderness. One of our bandmates, his grandpa once said that our generation never writes tender songs anymore. That was eight years ago. But it's always stayed with me, so "Sing to the Walls" is also my attempt to be truly tender – not sentimental – just truly tender. I also sent Greg 16 different vocal parts. I had a blast arranging all my backing vocals, and every one of them are doing something very specific. The high part was the lead. When I sent it to you, it was the lead on the chorus. Greg moved up another vocal part that I did and I was like, "Holy crap. That's the lead." So there's all these moments throughout the process of writing that song up in Wisconsin in the woods, to just the final brushstrokes. We maintained our patience with that song. And yeah, that's kind of all I can say.

Yeah, well, it's beautiful. And love, of course, is a subject, relationships is subject on the record. Of course, lesbian to lesbian, I got to bring up the queer energy.

CB: Absolutely. The impetus of this album was because I read Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Are Watching God. I had never read it. I had read her essays before, her letters. I never thought I could read in that vernacular. And so I was like, whatever. When I read it, I was floored. I've never read a love story like this. And Alice Walker does the foreword. And she says how Langston Hughes and W.E.B. Du Bois really slammed her. Because at that time, Black writers, a lot of them, their writing was within the lens of oppression, with oppression in view. But Zora wrote a love story, where oppression has nothing to do with it. And if I could, that's what I want this album to have achieved, is like, I am a Black queer woman in America. I wrote a record that does not center oppression. So that's, that's what it is. 

Yeah, I mean, of course, I relate to it. Because I'm also a queer woman and a person of color. And it makes me feel seen a little bit. And to feel the lyrics, read the lyrics, to hear the song – the triple threat of it is just like, Oh, it's beautiful.

CB: Yeah. And it's super gay. And what I realized about my gayness, my queerness, my Blackness, is I don't have to say a thing about it. It just is. It is like, just blasting out of me. And so that was also lyrically, within the narrative, a fun way to approach the songs. Of course, you have "Golden". And that is life. When "Golden" happens on the record, it's abrupt. It's startling. And in that way, it is like a crack of lightning. But then the story goes on. 

And that was, I think, in response to George Floyd, wasn't it? In part, the song "Golden"?

CB: Yeah, I mean, it's like there's thousands of names. There's thousands of sweet, warm bodies. And the thing about "Golden" that was important to me was the juxtaposition of white, hot anger. And swag. Effing swag. Like, that's why it's like, I want to scream. Live, the band screams for me, so I can save my vocal. But my voice never breaks. Because it's like, the thing about Black people, the thing about Black musicians is that we always change music. We always affect culture on a global global level. We are always leading culture into a new and fabulous direction. And so that's why it's imperative that the song isn't – there's a complexity to the song. And so that's on any given night, it'll be interpreted in any kind of way. And that was a proud moment for me.

You talked about genres, switching styles. You definitely own roots music, soul music, folk music, and you ride this balance expertly, I would say.

CB: Oh, I appreciate that. I feel like I'm finally – what I said earlier about being a composer, it's similar to so many aspects, in the sense of like, I have always been biracial. I'm half Irish, half Black. That's what my music sounds like. And there's so many times throughout my career that folks are like "What is it? What is it?" It's a blend of Irish music and Black music. That's what the what. That's what-the-what it is. 

Before you started recording, you were like, "MPR should get sponsored headphones for people with dreads." 

CB: Word. Yeah. 

Did they actually make those?

CB: I don't know. But I feel like MPR has a connect. Y'all, look into that – headphones for dreads or afroed folks. Yeah, let me know what you find.

(Laughs) Okay. Cool. I just had to bring that up because I was just like, "I feel you right now."

CB: Yeah. Why not? Y'all got a reach.

Anything else that you would add about this record Sing to the Walls, out now. It's been out since June, you have a big show at First Avenue coming up. Anything else you'd like to say that we might not have covered?

CB: We've been out on the road since May off and on in America and Europe, which is really the first real touring. So I just, over and over again, I'm like, what a privilege this job is. To get to sing to folks, that's the bee's knees. That's why we make records. So then we can travel around from town to town and give folks some music. So yeah, it feels good. Feels good to be back.

Well, it's the bee's knees for the audience. That's for sure. It's a treasure.

CB: Am I from 1947? 

Perhaps! 

CB: It's the bee's knees

I love saying the "bee's knees". That's swell. I still use the word groovy sometimes. Well, Chastity Brown and Greg Schutte, thank you so much for being with us in studio today. 

CB: Thank you. 

GS: Thank you, Diane.