(Originally ran in Bandoppler Magazine Issue #4.)
There is pop, and there is pop. First, let's distinguish between carbonated beverages and music. A fizzy drink can be called soda or pop. Soda-pop even. Of course, Southerners call it all Coke. Apparently it's a regional thing. You'd still rather have a good bottle of Jones Soda ̉ over a can of cheap Shastả. Pop music is the same. There's indie-pop, alt-pop, synth-pop, and all points in between. Distinction between good and bad pop music comes via melody, structure, hooks and words you want to sing along with. Fortunately, Seattle's Graham Travis makes good pop.
Travis has been gaining momentum recently with his sweet musical bon-bons. His debut album Why Don't You Know Me Yet has just been released through Poptek Records. (See the pop theme, there?)
What he understands is that schooled complexity does not necessarily make a good song. His self-taught methods have proved beneficial. "I started singing in church choirs when I was a boy. My father was a musician as well and I'd sit in on band practices all the time. I remember reading song books and following the notes up and down the page trying to mimic the intervals, of course having no clue, which might be why I'm such a pitch anarchist. I sang in choir throughout high school but never learned any instruments until taught myself guitar when I was nineteen. [Then] I tried piano. I've never been trained on any instrument but have taught myself to play a simple melody on quite a few now. I'll hopefully learn more and more."
Despite his earlier attempts at "emo rock" in the band Radio Maria, his heart remains loyal to his pop inclinations, which help render a hybrid of retro pop, and indie-rock with aural bits of Buddy Holly, a dash of Neil Young, heaps of Brian Wilson, and considerable amounts of Beatles-esque pop. Self-described as energetic, enthusiastic and creative, with a penchant for daydreaming and internal analysis, Travis thinks that people would consider him 'nice.' He finds paradoxical qualities in himself and his music. "I [couldn't] possibly be exhaustive in describing myself and my personality. WDYKMY? gets a bit at that." He quotes the lines from his songs, 'If you really want to know me well, come back when I know myself.'
He credits much of his song-writing as being as happening while he is asleep He wakes up, grabs a guitar and tries to play it before it disappears. Eschewing "album themes" he prefers solid, individual songs, based on chord progressions, melodies & lyrics. "Greg Young helped me produce [the album.] I must also mention Brian Ward, formerly of Kilmer, who has helped me make better decisions with my arrangements and production as well."
What sets him apart from similar musicians? "To be as simple and sincere as I can. I'm different because I'm me. We can be fooled into thinking that other expressions are similar and parallel but really each artist is very unique and has something different to say. It's communication." His main goal remains to make songs that people will enjoy. "I really want my music to be palatable. If it isn't, then I might as well just stick to writing poetry and stories and leave out the music medium."
Travis' sense of humor becomes evident during the interview. "I wish I was better at projecting and mimicking some of the greatness I see around me but unfortunately I'm not that talented." He pauses, and inserts the sly jab at the journalist's most obvious material. "Quotable, huh?"
He quips about where he might go aside from his solo material. "I have dreams of doing an electronic break thing called I'm On The Verge of a Nervous Breakdance. Someone once told me to always have a future side-project idea in your hip pocket, and that one belongs to me and Lacey Brown depending on who needs it first." For the time being, though, we'll be enjoying the current crop of pop.