Setting Sun

Running your own record label while charting your own musical course is now made possible by the advances in technology and connectivity of the world today. That still doesn’t make things any easier. Gary Levitt runs Young Love Records, along with Erica Quitzow (of Quitzow fame), and serves as the mastermind behind Setting Sun — a solo outing praised by NPR and compared to Bright Eyes by USA Today. And while he’s inspired and encouraged by where he’s at personally, he also admits it’s hard holding things together at times.

His new album Fantasurreal blares the horns for the first time, giving Setting Sun’s music a bit of a twist for those who are fans. And while that might affect one person in Milan, Italy, Levitt hopes it means an ever expansive audience for both his own music and the attention given to his label. Anything to ease the tension.

SSv: The new album takes things in a different direction, so I’m curious how the changes come about?

Gary Levitt: I did some remixes of Children of the Wild, which was the last record. In doing those, I was fiddling around with a lot more electronics. It was a lot of fun and I was advancing my studio prowess, because I’m also a producer and engineer by trade. That’s my bread and butter, so it was really a two-sided experience. I was working on the new music and trying out a lot of experimenting with technologies I’d never messed with before. So as I was doing that, I liked what was happening and I knew I’d bring a lot of those elements into this record that just came out.

SSv: When you’re wanting to experiment like that, do you have a list in mind or in hand about the thing you want to pursue? How thought out is the experimentation?

Gary: Usually it’s a bit of everything. Sometimes I hear horns and I don’t play any, so obviously those aren’t right in front of me. So I will mess with a keyboard and put the horn line down with a bad keyboard horn sound and then I’ll call some players to get them in to do something like that. Then another time, it’s just whatever is in front of me. But it usually happens in my mind before. I’m fairly good at hearing something and then knowing what to grab. I rarely grab something only to see if it works. Sometimes I will hear something and try it and it’s    not quite right, so I have to switch some sounds around. But usually I hear exactly what is going on before I will record it.

SSv: What’s the success rate there? You ever hear something in your mind, try to execute that and then it turns out horrible?

Gary: Absolutely. [Laughs] I think being in a studio a lot can be a very humbling experience. When I work with other people’s music, I want it to be a creative, open space, so I want them to feel free to voice their ideas. Same thing with me. I want to be able to voice my ideas to see if they are good. Sometimes I will have an idea and someone will play it or want to play it and then we’ll listen back and realize it’s not that good. So it’s definitely hit or miss, but I do try to keep a free, creative space. It’s important to keep things creatively free.

SSv: So is there an ‘a-ha!’ moment on Fantasurreal?

Gary: I think a lot of those happened with the trumpets. I’ve never used trumpets before in any of my sounds before. It was weird that I was even hearing trumpets. I don’t know why, but it was the first time I’ve ever heard them. It used to be that I heard strings a lot, but for this album I’m not sure what happened. Trumpets were just in my mind and I was usually pleasantly surprised that it worked. Other times, my ideas didn’t work.

SSv: What does inform the horns — is that a product of listening to something different on your own, you think?

Gary: [Pause] I’m not really sure. My guess, if I had to guess at it, was that I was just wanting to hear a new instrument. I mean, I love the cello and I love the violin. I think the cello would be my favorite sounding instrument. The trumpet might be up there as far as just the sound, so I will guess and say it was probably that — wanting to do something new and always loving the sound of the trumpet.

SSv: I just mentioned this to some extent, but I wanted to explore it a bit further. Do you change what you’re listening to when you’re recording? Obviously, we’re affected by what we take in, so I wondered if you calculate those things?

Gary: Yes, we definitely are affected by what we take in. I believe we’re all products of our environment. But when we’re recording, I’m usually working on my music or others a lot. So I almost hear music too much. So unfortunately, I don’t listen to too much music. Lately, I have been getting into Yeasayer.

In terms of a new recording, I think first and foremost, you have to be inspired. I do this all the time as I’m feeling uninspired, I will constantly seek out inspiration. I’m constantly seeking new music that will inspire me. I’m seeking out new books — anything to just inspire me because inspiration is motivation. If you’re not inspired, it’s hard to go into the studio to do good things. So I’m constantly seeking out inspiration, whether that’s in the musical form or book form or anything else really.

SSv: What specifically was inspiring you this time around?

Gary: It’s hard to remember. One thing that was inspiring was new technologies and new studio equipment and a new studio prowess. I’m definitely inspired by new studio tricks and equipment. And the horns, as I mentioned. As far as a particular band or something, I would maybe say Of Montreal. I’m really into their latest album. That was definitely a big inspiration. Grandaddy is a big inspiration, too.

SSv: When you decide to go a more experimental route, do you ever worry about a need to stay grounded to a certain degree?

Gary: Unfortunately, there is a battle between that. I don’t make music specifically for myself. I make it for myself, but I also want people to enjoy it. If no one is going to like it, then I don’t think I would bother to finesse it to the point that I do. I mean, I have a lot of music that I’ve made and I’m like, ‘This is too weird. I’m not sure people would like it.’ I leave it where it is and don’t spend a lot of time polishing and mixing it. So there is that factor of putting myself in the audience’s perspective.

A big changing point for me was the first European tour we did for Children of the Wild. We were playing somewhere in Italy and we’re playing one of the songs and I see someone singing along. This is in Milan and I’m thinking, ‘Wait, I’m in Milan and someone is singing along. Holy shit.’ I’m thinking all of this on stage at the same time.

I remembered me writing the lyrics to the song in my home and it all connected right there on stage, realizing how powerful it is. This can be a light that can be used for really positive things and really negative things, so I wanted to be conscious of what I am putting out there. So in light of that, I thought about this a lot more than I have on previous records.

SSv: A few albums in, is this what you pictured? Is this a good season? A frustrating season?

Gary: As far as my career?

SSv: Yes, just looking at your own body of work.

Gary: Artistically, I’m really happy with where I am. Artistically, I feel like my work is getting substantially better with each record. So I’m really happy with that. Career-wise, music is so freaking competitive that I do sometimes regret running our own label. At this point, I’m totally open to help from another label. There’s just a lot of work. I find the work fun, but sometimes it’s very frustrating, because it is so competitive.

Sometimes I have to think, ‘Man, if I put this much time and energy into being an investment banker, perhaps I’d be close to being a millionaire right now instead of living check to check.’ [Laughs] So, yeah, it can be pretty frustrating in a pretty competitive field. But at least I get to sing and dance at least part-time for a living. But sometimes, I wish the business end of it was a little easier.

SSv: So where do you go from here?

Gary: Well, we just got back from an awesome European tour. We’ve been back for a month and then we’re leaving again here soon. I’m going back to Europe for a solo tour of six countries at the end of October. Then I think the plan is to just play local shows in New York City and work on another record.