iNTERViEWED
BY BRiAN LUSH
With the album ‘BRIDGE’, DENNIS CRONIN – the singer, trumpeter
and songwriter for VITAMIN-D – proves himself to be an intelligent
adult pop
architect, building gently crafted pop songs from gentle melodies and
complex
emotions and observations. As the follow up to 2004’s ‘BUILD ANOTHER’,
the title
of VITAMIN-D’s latest effort seems to complete a sentence that took six
years
to complete. The first time around, CRONIN was pretty much the whole
show with
some drum loops programmed in for good measure. This time, VITAMIN-D
has filled
out in terms of sound and personnel which includes PETE GALUB on
guitar, KONRAD
MEISSNER on drums, CLARK WALLACE on bass and ADAM GOLD lending a hand
with
drums, guitar and vibraphone. The songs are not going to be remembered
for
their hooks but more for their subtle nuances and atmospheric tones.
The
opening track ‘KEEPER’ mysteriously opens with the sound of fingers
tapping on a
keyboard (computer not instrument) but that very effect lays the
foundation for
a bright yet delicate pop number that reaches it’s zenith with CRONIN’s
equally
delicate trumpet line.
For
the song ‘
BARTLETT
BRIDGE’
(one of three songs on the album
with ‘BRIDGE’ in the title) CRONIN establishes the mood of this swaying
ballad with
a seductive trumpet riff. ‘SOLID DAY’ is punctuated by a somber bluesy
bounce
while ‘THE SUMMER CROSSING’ is a wistful piece that conjures up images
of
strolling through an opened field on a late Indian Summer afternoon.
Holding
these tales of whimsy, loss and delight together is CRONIN himself. We
don’t come
across many trumpeters in the pop stratosphere but if the general
public can
find something special in the whimsy and somberness of folks like NORAH
JONES
or DAMIEN O. RICE from time to time, hopefully they will make time for
VITAMIN-D.
ROCKWIRED
spoke with DENNIS CRONIN of VITAMIN-D over the
phone. Here is how it went.
Now
that all of the
work that has gone into making ‘BRIDGE’ is behind you and it’s out
there for
people to hear, how do you feel about the finished work?
I feel good! I feel very good about it. It was a lot of work
that went into it. It took a long time to get going and then once it
started
and we started getting the tracks down, it was still a long process to
simply
get things right. I always had the sense that the songs weren’t quite
there
yet. We really took the time to get it right.
The first album was called
‘BUILD ANOTHER’ and this one is called ‘BRIDGE’. Is this an accident or
was
this a planned thing?
I wouldn’t say that it was planned. It kind of came out that
way.
Really?
This record ‘BRIDGE’ started with a friend of mine who was
working on a documentary in Afghanistan
where she was trying to hook up with the first responders there. She
was
actually one of the first responders here in New York City
and she was trying to establish
some kind of connection between these two groups of responders. For
this documentary,
she wanted me to write this song so I came up with ‘BARTLETT
BRIDGE’
and that was how that got started. It turns out that she didn’t use the
song
but that was how the title for the album began. I love bridges so I
decided to
write another song about bridges. That was how that came about.
What do you think is
the biggest difference between ‘BUILD ANOTHER’ and ‘BRIDGE’. What do
you think
has changed?
This one has a lot more of ‘band’ feel to it. I had a band
behind me and we all went into the studio and laid down some tracks.
The first
album didn’t happen that way. The first one was just me with a lot of
loops. A
few things were done in the studio but not every much. For ‘BRIDGE’, we
took an
entire weekend and tracked a lot of the songs in the studio. That was
probably
the big difference.
How did music begin
for you?
Oh boy! The very beginning?
Yes.
My dad had always played piano even before I was born. He
was playing in clubs on the weekends. Ever since I was around, he was
always
playing piano. There was always a piano and there was always music in
the
house. We always hung out around the piano as we were growing up. In
fourth
grade, I was living in New Orleans
around that time and band class came into the picture. I remember
walking into
this big room with all of these instruments to choose from so I
selected the
trumpet. It seemed like the way to go. The tuba was way too big and
flute was
way too small. That was the first time that branched out on my own away
from
the piano.
At what pint did
songwriting begin for you?
I think that started around junior high school. I remember
putting something together on piano around that time and then I picked
up the
guitar and started writing with that and recording on a four track. I
guess it
really started to happen around the tenth or eleventh grade. They were
terrible
songs of course. They were so awful but that was how it started.
How do songs get
written for you?
Most of them are tough. I get an initial feeling for a song
and the chords for it just kind of come out and from there. I might get
a few
words. From there, it gets really tough to try to branch out and hone
in on the
lyrics. The music is always a lot easier for me than the lyrics. The
initial
part of the process just comes to me but everything after that is
difficult
where you are trying to tell a story.
For this album, you
said you had a band backing you. Tell me about the band and what you
think each
member brought to the project musically and personality-wise that made
it work.
I think I’ll start with PETE GALUB who played guitar. He is
an incredible guitarist and he’s so fun to watch. He’s rally great.
He’s much
more of a rocker. For my first show up here in Brooklyn,
we were on the same bill together and that was how we met. KONRAD
MEISSNER the
drummer has played with THE SILOS for quite a bit and now he plays with
MATT NATHANSON.
He is an incredible guy an was pretty much there from the get go as was
PETE.
ADAM GOLD sometimes played drums, guitar and vibraphone. CLARK WALLACE
has been
the bass player for a while. That is kind the core of the band.
What songs of the
album resonate for you the most and why.
All of the songs on the album do different things and they
bring about different feelings. I guess I’ll say something about the
song
KEEPER. The truth about that song is that I didn’t like that song at
all. We
were in the studio recording it and it was new song and the temp wasn’t
right.
That song didn’t start to happen until much later.
It just kind of stuck around and went through
a lot of editing to make it into what it was. BENEFICIAL BRIDGE is a
song that
helped me to get through losing somebody. A friend of min named DREW
GLACKIN died
unexpectedly about two years ago. He played bass for THE SILOS and THE
CRASH
TEST DUMMIES.
What would you like a
person to come away with after they’ve heard this CD?
Hopefully the music will help them to get through whatever
it is that they need to get through and that it hits them in the right
spot.
APRiL 14,
2010
BRiAN
LUSH (FOUNDER,
EDiTOR-iN-CHiEF)
