Best known among Milwaukee musicians these days as one of the city's top mastering engineers, Gary Tanin is also a veteran local musician, songwriter and producer and his list of credits is a long one.
Lately he's distinguished himself via the work he's done with Roger Powell -- of Todd Rundgren's Utopia -- and Fossil Poets, with Genesis and Phil Collins sideman Daryl Stuermer and with the BoDeans' Sam Llanas, to name just a few.
But since the late 1960s, Tanin has released solo records like 1971's "Love Changes All" and 1995's "Sublime Nation" and with bands like Otto & the Elevators in the '70s and Xpensive Dogs, an ongoing long-distance collaboration with Japanese musician Toshiyuki Hiraoka.
In recent years, Tanin has worked to make much of his long-out-of-print oeuvre available on CD and his latest disc, "Natural Selection," is a retrospective of favorite tracks from his long career. A few rarities are added for good measure.
We asked Tanin about "Natural Selection" -- which includes the song, "Pinocchio," heard on "OMCD3," the third OnMilwaukee.com sampler of Milwaukee music -- and other projects he's working on, too.
OnMilwaukee.com: Is this the third in your series of reissues?
Gary Tanin: The first two reissues were "Anthologies." "Anthology I" was music from 1967 to 1971 and included unreleased versions of songs as well as my first two 45 rpm singles, which were never on CD.
"Anthology II" covered 1973-1980 and encompassed the Otto & The Elevators material, both LPs and the single. It also included a never-released b-side from 1980.
"Natural Selection" is taken from the period of 1971-2004 and includes tracks from albums released after 1980. I came up with a list of what I considered some of my best recordings.
So, this release is something I've wanted to do for quite some time, but somehow never could justify spending the time and energy to do until now. I based some of my choices on critical favorites and on personal favorites.
OMC: Can you tell us where the songs on this new reissue come from in your catalog?
GT: The first four came from "Sublime Nation." The next four from Xpensive Dogs releases. Tracks 9-11 are from Otto & The Elevators material. Track 12 is from XPensive Dogs' "Dog Eat Dog" CD.
Tracks 13-15 are ballads from Otto & The Elevators releases. Track 16, "Dreamin'," is a ballad from "Sublime Nation." Track 17 is a solo piano and vocal from 1971's "Love Changes All" session out-takes.
The last song, "Then You Die," is from Xpensive Dogs (from) 2004.
OMC: There are a number of well-known guests on the disc, too, right?
GT: The first four tracks all have cameo appearances from well known musicians. "Little Black Book" had an appearance by the 1970's a cappella group The Essentials, along with Victor DeLorenzo of the Violent Femmes. "Out Of My Head" had keyboard parts by Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads, Modern Lovers), who also co-produced that track.
"Every Trick In The Book" had a piano solo by Junior Brantley (Fabulous Thunderbirds). "When You need Somebody" had keyboards by T. Lavitz (Dixie Dregs/Widespread Panic). "Sacrifice" has vocal harmonies by Sammy Llanas (of BoDeans).
OMC: Are there more discs like this to come?
GT: I really don't envision another reissue being published in the foreseeable future.
OMC: Are you also working on new music of your own these days?
GT: I've been working on material that was targeting a follow up Fossil Poets record.
OMC: What can you tell me about it?
GT: (It's) some experimental electronic music along with the beginnings of my work with Algorithmic compositional tools. This is software that allows a composer to create rules by which notes, colors of tones, intervals and rhythmic components are chosen.
As musical expression the idea has always fascinated me. It's musical territory that is open ended and requires lots of taming of the results with imagination and discipline.
I also have plans to work on a more contemporary approach to writing. I plan to compose and record another album of vocal material next year. That's, of course, in between all the other projects I do with other artists and bands.
OMC: Tell me about those other projects that you're working on right now.
GT: I mastered a single that was released for a New York artist named Rosi Golan. She has a national TVradio/cable TV commercial that was running during the holiday season for JC Penney. The song, "Follow The Arrow," was used in the commercial and was simultaneously released by the record company in time for ramp up to Christmas. That was a high profile project that came from a referral by producer Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T-Rex, Joe Cocker).
I'm also finishing work on a new Sammy Llanas solo record. We're adding a few string arrangements; touches of cello and viola on a few tracks to accent the mixes.
We've been working on the project between BoDeans touring dates over the last year. It's an organic, soulfully performed group of tracks that I feel will attain many kudos as the follow-up to Sam's first solo record from 10 years ago, "Absinthe -- A Good Day To Die."
The instrument compliment is much more acoustic than electric, which makes it uniquely different from "A Good Day To Die" and BoDeans recordings.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
