Transcription of Spencer Albee for the show Making Music #269
Lisa: “One of my early memories from the radio show was a musician who had been up all night, and came in the next morning, I think he was a little bit late. He wasn’t so lively. I wasn’t really sure about this guy, because I had heard about him. He was pretty nationally known, and his name had been out there law. I went ahead and interviewed him anyway, and he has since become actually a good friend of mine, and of the magazine, and he has really impressed me. This late-night musician Spencer Albee who went on to become our audio producer for Love Maine Radio is actually here in the studio with me today, and I’m going to officially interview you again today Spencer. So that you can have a chance to show us more of your stuff then you were able to bring forward that day, that fateful morning when you grow just a little tired.”
Spencer: “This is my makeup game?”
Lisa: “This is your makeup game. Today I have with me officially Spencer Albee who is a Portland-based and nationally acclaimed singer-songwriter, and producer. It’s 1995 he has toured internationally, signed multiple record and publishing deals, and worked with artists ranging from David Bowie to Delasoul. Today he can be found finishing up his 20th studio album Relentlessly Yours. Curating events like his annual Beatle’s night, and producing Love Maine Radio for Maine Magazine. Thanks for coming in, again.
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Spencer: “Well, I was here.
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Lisa: “That’s right, every Tuesday morning when we do Love Maine Radio, you and I get to hang out together.
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Spencer: “That’s right.
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Lisa: “It’s interesting that somehow we have managed here in Maine Magazine to get such an auspicious individual to be doing our audio with us. The fact that you’ve done 20 studio albums, I mean how many people can say that?
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Spencer: “It is a lot. I kind of did a spotify check on another artists, and it really is a lot of records. Since I’ve started professionally, and it’s almost a record a year. 21 years about that I’ve been doing this.
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Lisa: “You were born here in Maine?
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Spencer: “I was, York.
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Lisa: “You grew up in York.
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Spencer: “Well, technically I was born in Dover New Hampshire, but.
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Lisa: “Well, we will still let you be-
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Spencer: “Thanks. Do I qualify as a native?
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Lisa: “Yes, since you probably cross the border at a few days of age I would imagine.
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Spencer: “It wasn’t my choice.
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Lisa: “Yes. I was just down in York for the York Hospital fundraiser, and it was interesting to have people in the audience come up to me afterwards and say, “I knew Spencer when?” One of them was your piano teacher.
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Spencer: “Yeah, Ray DiMarco.
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Lisa: “He was doing piano for the event, and he was very excited to have me mention your name during the presentation that we gave. Then also somebody that you went to high school with who was a radiologist now with York Hospital.
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Spencer: “Yep, Jenny Cotz.
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Lisa: “You’ve maintained some strong relationships over the years with your hometown.
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Spencer: “Yeah, I still feel very connected to it. I go back, I was recently asked to speak at the honors dinner. Which was for kids who have maintained was it a B+? Yeah, B+ or higher. Overall, like no C’s, not an average, just like all grades B+ or higher. Which is really impressive. It was also very curious that they had me speak at it, because I had a little bit more of a creative approach to my high school education. Leave it at that I guess.
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Lisa: “Well, yeah, it seems like they still when they think of Spencer Albee, they think of a person who has made a success out himself.
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Spencer: “Yeah. Yeah, they’re very kind to say so. It actually kind of gives me pause, because I feel like if I were to look at where I’m at now through the eyes of my eyes at 18, maybe I’m not where I thought I would be, or in the specific terms of success as I defined it then. To kind of look back now at 40, and realize I’m still allowed to be a musician, I’m still allowed to primarily do what I feel like I’m born to do is very fortunate. There is a lot of people who are not that fortunate, they’ve had to take jobs that maybe they don’t like, or aren’t as inspiring. It comes with its own struggles for sure, but ultimately though, I feel very lucky.
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“Having those moments like some of my high school friends, or former teachers, or Ray DiMarco for instance had the unfortunate task of prepping me for USM. Because I didn’t know how to read music, I still don’t, I mean I understand the fundamentals of it, but some people you can put sheet music in front of them, and they can play beautifully, and I just can’t make the connection between the written note, and my hands. It gets stuck somewhere behind my eyeballs. Yeah, I do feel very fortunate, it is a good community to be part of. For sure. There is a lot of people up here involved even with the magazine Matt Cosby, he is from York, Derek Lombardi who is also my manager, and there is a lot of us, and we still kind of band together in a really fun way.
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Lisa: “I honestly had only ever passed through York, and had never been to the town itself. It’s a really nice little area, beautiful harbor, there’s a cliff walk. There is this fascinating there’s Long Beach, which starts with a couple of very nicely maintained mobile home parks at the entrance.
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Spencer: “Yeah, if you’re coming up from the harbor. Yeah it’s funny, my dad grew up there, so I have another set of stories associated with each of those areas, so as we see them now, my dad has a different version of what it used to be. Lots of local references, like the running gag. Over down by the Maggie Nielson Road, that’s like not a road, it’s just where this woman Maggie Nielson lived in 1952. It was certainly very fortunate to grow up in a town that had yes, like such beautiful beaches, you had … The way York is organized. I’m actually from Cape Neddick which is just south of Ogunquit. Cape Neddick even though it has its own post office, went to the York school system which involved York Beach, York Harbor.
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“Then just the town of York, which extended little more west. There is a lot of resource there, we grew up going to the beach that was incredible. It’s different now because of the way the sands have changed, and stuff, but you had a small beach. Then about let’s say 50 feet of water when the tide was out. 50 feet of water that was about a little below your knee, so the kids could play. Then as you get a little older, you can go past the rock formation there is the deep hole. All this stuff, that someone from New Jersey would work all year long to gather up enough vacation time, and resource to come up here and have that just for a few days, and it was just kind of our backyard. Pretty fortunate. We had a mountain, I mean I use that term loosely, it’s more of a-
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Lisa: “That’s Agamenticus?
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Spencer: “Yeah, big hill.
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Lisa: “You have a little light house?
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Spencer: “The most photographed lighthouse in the world.
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Lisa: “So small but mighty.
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Spencer: “Small but mighty, indeed.
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Lisa: “Being that we were there in a late September, it was really striking to me how busy it was. That the town was filled, the beach had all kinds of people walking up and down. There really was an interesting pride. When I say nicely maintained mobile home park, people they had their lawn chairs out front, they had their flags. I mean this was something that absolutely as you said, this was something that was such an important part of their lives. To be at their little bit of beach for however often they were able to get there. It seems like people returned year after year.
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Spencer: “Yeah, the way you are referring to are like Luca Cedan that’s a funeral home, the campground. The name is escaping me, but these are people who have their plots, and they come back every summer. Likely you’ve got a sect of people who are maybe retired down in Florida, but as soon as it warms up they are back up in Maine. A lot of people are from there, a lot of people from Massachusetts, and a way they come to enjoy that beach. It does stay busy up through Columbus Day. I think that’s really the end of the tourist season down there. Has always stayed pretty busy. Certainly up until Labor Day you have to know the back roads if you want to get anywhere on time.
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Lisa: “I think the reason why I keep talking about this is just because it’s not unlike other places in Maine, I mean I’ve lived in Maine most of my life, my family is all from here. Yet, I will visit places and I will think to myself, “Why did I not even know that this place existed?” I think York was like that for me. York was a place that I knew was there, but I had no sense of what the town itself was like. I think a lot of people believe that because it is getting so close to the border of Maine, Southern Maine, they just think, “Oh, it’s northern Boston.” That’s really not the vibe that I got.
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Spencer: “No, York, the old jail is the oldest existing structure built by settlers I think, is that right? In the 1600s. The downtown is very well maintained and that all of the historic buildings have been restored to the 1700s specs. We have this beautiful church downtown, the first parish church which used to face the other way, got turned around, I mean there is so much history to the town. There is a statue downtown in the center of York Village that is commemorative Civil War statue. Which if you look closely, the soldier is actually a mistake, the soldier is a Confederate soldier. Which there was a lot of talk about removing that and changing it, but at this point I think everyone is just kind of behind, it has been there for so long that I think that’s kind of a neat thing too.
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“It’s a very very old town, there is a lot of names, there is still town names, families that have been there that are original settlers, which is pretty interesting. We had historic days, old York days, I think they called it where you are assigned a character that was alive at a certain point in history, and you research them, and you can go visit their gravestone. It’s pretty interesting. It does get the North Boston wrap. There is some truth to it, because a lot of people who work in Boston, you can either go up in New Hampshire, over towards the coast, and York is certainly a nice town, and so in the 80s there is a really big boom in development. A lot of developments went in. Some folks from town viewed that as not a great thing.
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“You know, people who lived there a long time, they hate to see change, but the flipside was that I was able to get not just me, anyone who went through the school system was able to get a great education as a result. For instance, my second grade teacher, I found this out all after the fact, but my second grade teacher whom I loved, and we had such a great time, that was my favorite year of school, second grade. I feel like I learned more in that year than any other year prior, or since. He was on sabbatical from Harvard. It was all like a series of called in favors, because Holly McAdam was also there. She really essentially took a ginormous pay cut to be there, because she felt like she could make a difference within the school system, she and her husband worked together to bring in people so that the elementary school system at that time, well there is only one school, now there is two. It was really a great place to be. Really up through high school. Just very arched forward.
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“Like I said earlier, I was surprised to speak at the honors dinner, because I certainly didn’t graduate, well, I did graduate with honors, but not because every class … I didn’t do well in every class. I kind of recognized my junior year when they are starting to put pressure on you, get your transcripts ready for college, I’m like I haven’t really done very well here and here. Well, I ran for class president and won. That helped, and then I was able to create my own independent music studies course, because I recognize that there was an independent studies course and all of the other liberal arts except music. So I wrote my own curriculum, which I didn’t take it easy on myself. I stuck to it, was graded well, and then I did graduate with honors. Which was a huge surprise to the administration when I walked up to get my gold sash.
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Lisa: “You have an interesting mind.
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Spencer: “Yeah, tell me about it.
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Lisa: “I mean it is truly fascinating to me, but I think that the first time I ever interviewed you, and again, it was very early on in the radio show which is now 5 years old, we’re in our 6th year, you and I have been doing this together for a year. One of the things that I was completely intimidated. I was thinking, “Oh my gosh, this guy, I mean he is a musician who has been on the Portland scene, and national scene for years.” It wasn’t until I started to work with you more that I understood that you were connecting with things that other people just wouldn’t connect with. From an auditory standpoint, you would be hearing things that you would say, “Hey, hand me the headphones.” You would say, “I’m totally geeking out on this. I’m being on audio geek, but I want you to listen to this.” It’s such an interesting reminder to me as to how people’s intelligences vary. That a school system may not necessarily, not through any fault of theirs, but they may not necessarily bring out those intelligences.
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Spencer: “Right.
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Lisa: “They might evolve later in one’s life.
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Spencer: “Yeah, when I was in elementary school it was suggested all within a very short time, A: Ritalin was very big at the time, so our word get thrown around. Our parents weren’t too keen on that. Then, it was suggested that maybe I would be held back a year, and then that I would be advanced a year. They just didn’t really know what to do with me, and I ended up in a lot of the special ed courses I guess, and Holly McAdam ran one of those. Where instead of me being in class, you are being distracted, or distracting the other students. They would take me out and have me do my own special thing. It was like management I guess, I don’t know. I took a lot more from learning how to build an electric motor from wire and cork, then I did being in the class, it kept me more occupied, and had my mind working harder, and also allowed the other students to get their education without me being a distraction.
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“Yeah, there are some courses that there is certain styles of learning, that for instance, if you were to hand me a manual, and say, “Learn this program.” I mean I can reference it for sure, troubleshooting absolutely. To really take it in and learn something, that never worked for me. If I were to watch you do it, then I would take it all in. Any lecture course, or teaching by example. That always worked well with me. That’s why music class is you are with an instructor, they will show you how to do it, as opposed to biology, you know, is just pointing at the chalkboard. It’s just like 45 minutes of that tone. I’m out. It’s not to say that I wasn’t smart. That just wasn’t my style. You mentioned Jennie Cotz earlier who is … She does have that type of intelligence, she is brilliant, she always has been.
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“Yeah, I know we do, because we actually interviewed a couple guys earlier in the year that work with a program called Odyssey of the Mind. That still to me is the best, that’s the best education I’ve ever got. I did it starting in fifth grade, and up through eighth grade. We did four years, and for those who don’t know, it’s a creative competition, they have several categories. I’m spacing on the third, but we were in more of the theatrical one, and there was an engineering one where they would build … You were allotted an X amount of balsa wood, and X amount of glue, and you have to build a structure that will hold the most weight. The theatrical one was it’s almost troubleshooting, you have A, B, and C, that’s all you’ve got for resources.
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“You need to do X, Y, and Z within a certain period of time, and has to fit into these parameters. You get the rules, but then you have to come up with your own solution to the problem. We did so with creativity, and song. There was also another part that was brainstorming as a team. Even though Jenny Cotz and I, both of a reasonable intellect, but totally different styles, we are now sitting around a table, and they put an object in front of you, and you are just going to say what you think that is, or the most creative thing. That could be practical use, that could be something humorous. Learning how to work with other people. Working in a team setting with people of different skill sets, and mindsets to achieve a goal.
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“Also, some people I feel like go through life and when a problem hits, they get very like *sigh* about it, or wish I had … If I had a wrench, I could fix that. Okay, well we don’t have a wrench, we do have a stick of bubblegum, and a paperclip, and a AAA card, what can we do with what we’ve got? That really put me in a good position to problem solve, and I can’t tell you how many times throughout my adult life, traveling all over the country, being in arguably dangerous situations over and over and over again. With a team of people, that would be my band, and everyone just kind of staying focused on here’s our goal, how do we get there. If you run into trouble, you work with what you’ve got to get out of that trouble, and into safety. Yeah, what was the question?
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Lisa: “You’ve answered it. We talked about different sorts of intelligence.
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Spencer: “Oh good.
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Lisa: “I think it’s useful to have that conversation, because so often as parents we are given feedback about our children based on other people’s children. Now, if your kid falls in line with all the other scholar athletes, if your kid doesn’t fall in line with the other scholar athletes, and then as a parent, my children are mostly grown, except for my 15-year-old. I feel like I’m kind of on the other side of it, but I remember acutely feeling this oh no, what have I done wrong? What should I be doing differently? I think to speak to an adult who is able to say, “Well, my experience with education worked in a slightly different way, and I came in on the other side, and I’m well-adjusted, arguably. I’m a musician, and I’ve managed to do things to create a life.
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Spencer: “Mm-hmm (affirmative). I think some people can get frustrated by their educational experience. Understandably so. If they are constantly in trouble, or getting bad grades, or disappointing themselves, their teachers, or their parents, and just not being understood for who they are, that can be very frustrating. I was lucky in that even though it was frustrating for me, and can remain frustrating, you just kind of keep your eyes on the prize, and figure out a solution. That’s all everyone is doing, and even if you went to school, and you are super book smart, and you have your own frustrations too. That’s the other thing too, is like being more inclusively forgiving of everyone around you. Everyone in life is just kind of bumbling around, and bumping into things trying to figure it out. Even though you might have come out of high school with tremendous grades, and gone to a great university, you might on the other end be like, “Ah!” Still just trying to figure it out too.
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Lisa: “What are some of the favorite things that you’ve continued to put your energy towards in the last year?
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Spencer: “Starting in 95, when I started playing professionally, up through about 2000, the music business was in really good shape. It almost bubbled, it was a balloon. Then the balloon popped, because no one saw Napster coming. What has been very difficult in the music business is watching the executives, the record companies try to make the old model work. Rather than recognizing that the old model is now failed. That’s hard, because these companies have agreements that span years, and time moving forward with artists already. How do they make that work? If you can’t sell records, how can a record company exist? Be that in the form of CDs, downloads, whatever. Because by and large, people don’t buy music. Not like they used to.
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“When the start of that in the early 40, and now 40 change horses in the middle of the stream has been incredibly challenging, but to answer your question, the one thing that I still love to do, is to create. That’s my favorite time, to be in the studio, to be writing, to be pushing yourself to do something new. That moment where you have a song in your head, and you don’t know exactly what it is, but you can kind of just hear what it is going to be. You know what you wanted to be at the end, and kind of like pushing yourself to get to that point, and take chances. Then sometimes fail miserably, and you listen to a song afterwards, like “That is awful. I’m going to delete it, now.” I never do, just because I want to go back and embarrass myself.
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“That actually sometimes they are good ideas, and they just need to be pulled out of the bad idea. When it works, and you know you’ve done it, it used to be I think when I was younger, it used to be you would write a song, with the band, you played out, the audience reacts to it, you put it on a record, and it goes on the radio and if it’s a hit, and if someone reviews it, then there was some sort of justification that it was good. As time has marched on, that has become less and less important to me. I’m always grateful that people react to it. To me, when it comes off of my recording desk and I’m happy with it, then it is done.
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“That’s a nice feeling, that confidence. You are saying I’m making videos, one bad thing about when the industry was bustling, was that if you wanted to make a music video, I mean that was just to say music videos, was like saying $75,000. Because there are people with cameras, and film, and developing, and crews, and all this stuff. Now you can legitimately shoot a beautiful piece, as long as you have vision on an iPhone, and edit it on your laptop. On this one laptop to my right, I record this show, you can make a record on it, you can edit videos. It’s really astounding that if you want to push yourself, if you want to learn, I’ve never been in a better position to create than I am now. I always try to remind myself of that, and take advantage of it.
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Lisa: “If people want to hear more of your music, or if they want to see you perform live, or they just want to know more about you, what’s the best place to find out?
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Spencer: “Well, I have a website which is it has a selection of videos and stuff that I’ve done, it links to music. I’m on Spotify, I’m on all the online outlets. I have an artist’s profile on Spotify, but to even kind of get to know me a bit more, my Instagram is kind of where I live. Just Spencer Albee.
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Lisa: “We will have your website on the show notes page. I hope people do take advantage of really the wealth of things that you’ve created, and sent out into the world, because it’s nice to see that something that you so enjoy can be enjoyed by other people as well.
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Spencer: “Very lucky.
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Lisa: “Yes, it’s a fortunate thing that you have.
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Spencer: “Very much so.
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Lisa: “We’ve been speaking with our audio producer, but more importantly, a Portland-based and nationally acclaimed singer-songwriter, and producer, whose name is Spencer Albee friend of mine, friend of the magazine. I appreciate your taking the time to revisit our early conversation from so many years ago, and also taking the time to really be a part of the family that we’ve created here with Love Maine Radio, you’re doing a great job.
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Spencer: “Thanks. Thanks for having me here.