Syrupy soundscapes, jazzy progressions and electro-influenced beats co-mingle to produce mellow and beautifully realized night music from Motown. Behind these atmospheric jams is long time composer and multi-instrumentalist Greg Utech.

MusicZeitgeist.com coaxed the following insights about the crafting of these recordings from the artist:

MusicZeitgeist: Who is Greg Utech?
I have been a musician for over 30 years in the Detroit area. Mostly on drums, but I can “mingle” with most any instrument. I have released three disc’s to date with my 4th CD due out in July. I appeared on Rick Matle’s CD “Ears Wide Shut.” Of course like most Musicians I have a “Day” job which just happens to be the best job in the world, a stay at home Dad to our first child Noah.

MZ: Where are you based? Has it influenced your output?

The “D”. Born and raised in Detroit. This part of our world seems to have a Vortex of creativity, From Motown to Madonna, and all the Jazz greats it has been a treat to call Michigan Home. The long winters foster a need to keep busy and I think this has a small part to do with the plethora of talent to come from this area.

MZ: Talk about influences on your sound

Jazz, Fusion. Artist I would call mentors include Stevie Wonder, Donald Fagen, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Joni Mitchell, Robbie Robertson, The Band, Pink Floyd, McCoy Tyner, Pharaoh Sanders, Jeff Beck, Bill Bruford, Tony Williams, Jack Dejonet, Elvin Jones, Fela Kuti, Peter Gabrial, Tereje Ripdal, Frank Zappa, Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix, Joe Pass, to name a few.

I worked in professional theater for 18 years at Meadow Brook Theater at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. From set design to writing the score for the 1993 production of Dr. Jeckel and Mr. Hyde. This along with being around the right crowd inspired my artistic style, From being involved in over 120 professional Theatrical productions, and being a part of all of them, from Shakespeare to Ain’t misbehaving, I was exposed to some real creativity and different thought patterns that translate into my genre of music. Also a self taught abstract painter with over 30 major shows to date help play a major role in my tonal creations.

MZ: Tell us about your recording process.

Mostly from my modest studio at home I am able to create most of the rhythm and “beds” for each song, then it’s off to a more technicaly sound studio for all the final mixing and last minute solos. I produce all the tracks with some help from my friend Rick Matle who also plays most of the guitar on my CD’s. And of course when you are a one man show, it’s then time for laying out art work, song titles and order, copyrighting, duplication, and finally all the marketing involved, especially if you want to make at least $12.78 per year. But it is the love of the craft luckily and not the fame and fortune.

MZ: So what motivates you to keep making and releasing music in these changing times?

“Everything has been done before.”

It has to be fun to be somewhat unique in this world of soundalikes. The most memorable musical experience I have had was when Ralph Valdez, a DJ from WDET in Detroit, called and said he loved my 1st disc and would play it on his next show. We had a party that night and it felt as though a dream had come true.This event is realy what pushed me to continue on with endeavors. My music has also been aired on the Jon Moshier program, and “The Listening Room” with host Chris Felcyn. As well as KAOS FM in Olympia WA, Tomorrow Jazz, aTTeNTIoN sPaN raDIO, IPM.com, And reached the feature page on New Orleans Radio.com. With some generous reviews from, Joe Henry, Serge Kozlovsky, and a two-page spread in Acid Jazz Magazine by Sylvia Turin. Everyone has some “Big Break” if you believe in what your doing, and are not doing it for the money.

MZ: When will you know your work is done?

I guess my lofty goal of 10 disc’s is still attainable, but with Cd’s approaching 90 minutes these days it is like producing a double album from the old vinal days, so each disc so far has taken at least 2 years to complete, with the exception of my upcoming disc “Mars is Missing” which will be at about the three-year mark due to the birth of our 1st child Noah Gregory Utech.

VITAL LINKS:

Greg Utech in the press
Get Greg Utech’s music at CDBaby
Download Greg Utech at iTunes

Listen now to “City to City” by Greg Utech at MusicZeitgeist.com’s free Indie Music Jukebox

To see your act in MZ’s Artist Profile, submit to our gig listing at Sonicbids today!

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Tags: Detroit music, electro, Greg Utech, jazz progressions, Motor City, Motown, soundscapes

Atari Blitzkrieg is putting out a full-length record. Why this is amazing is that it comes after the self-release of ten, count ‘em – TEN E.P.s. That is a lot of practice and market-testing. You can feel it when you first encounter his wicked laid-back ciphers – there is something immediately centered, self-assured and right about his mixes and his flow. Counter to the frenetic sense of his namesake, Atari Blitzkrieg is not a noise-core post-electro-clash/Blade Runner tributary. Evoking something more along the lines of Jedi Mind Tricks sharing kind with Common and maybe even MC. 900 Ft. Jesus, Atari Blitzkrieg is ready too drop a fat collection of eloquence and Cheshire Cat propensity on the sleepy indie music world.  Recently featured in Urb Magazine’s Next 1000 list, Kick, Punch, Fight, Rhyme will be released June, 2009.

Here is what the man had to say for himself from his underground fortress in Lorton, Virginia, when pressed by MusicZeitgeist.com:

MZ: Who?

Atari Blitzkrieg!  I’m the man who crafts the clever prose you hear, composes the strange soundscapes the phrases go over, pays for the records I occasionally sample, plays the instruments that might appear within the soundscapes, designs most of my artwork and cracks heads open.

MZ: What?

I prefer “drum-based poetry,” a general classification would be indie hip-hop, but with the variety of genres I incorporate into the music it tends to float around, keeping drums and the words as a constant. It’s been called “futuristic,” “space-age,” and “non-conformist.”  I once did a track that was sort of a cover of The Cranberries “Zombie,” I did a track about my family that was more indie rock, had a song with John Lennon on it, I just did a track that’s pure house but you know, it’s all me, I never force anything to try to adapt. My first single, “Rokkonorrottenhell,” had Groovie Mann of My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult on the A-Side and Royce Da 5’9 on the B-side, it’s just the diversity of the music I create.

MZ: Why?

Anytime you are able to be creative and have fun doing something you enjoy, then why not? I don’t create the music to make money, I do it to keep iPods all over the world happy. I like being able to blur genres and develop music that expands past a certain niche. I think the overall classification of my music has created negative connotations that keeps potential listeners away and I do what I can to reel them back in. Plus I am able to create new things that have nothing to do with music, like my PS3 theme … Atari on your Playstation 3!

MZ: Until When?

Until I am unable to make music. I’ve been doing it since 1995 and I still enjoy doing it, but as a husband and a father, you need to be able to balance time. If I get to a point where I can’t do it all, then the music will go. Fans will cry, the skies will rain blood and the planet will fall into a state of disarray. Robots will begin to wreak havoc on the planet, bringing on a nuclear apocalypse that destroys the remaining humans.

MZ: Where?

I’m global man, I don’t do the tour thing so I prefer giving the fans a healthy supply of music to satiate appetites. I have an idea about doing digital shows that I’ll begin playing with later on this year, so stay tuned. Until then you can find my stuff at my record label’s site (www.godsendant.com) or any major digital store (iTunes, Amazon, etc.), just type in my name and let the wonders begin. A big shoutout to the fans who have supported the music, I do all I can to show my appreciation. And a shoutout to MZ from AB of VA in the USA, LOL!

Find out more at:
Website: http://www.iamsubstance.com
Myspace:  http://www.myspace.com/substancerefrain
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/AtariBlitzkrieg/68150629173
Free EP’s, PS3 Theme, etc: http://www.godsendant.com/gmstore/

Listen now to “The Central Parking Lot Rangers feat. Vast Aire” by Atari Blitzkrieg at MusicZeitgeist.com

* To see your act in MZ’s Artist Profile, submit to our gig listing at Sonicbids today!
(not all acts are selected)

Tags: atari, b side, Blade Runner, cheshire cat, ciphers, cranberries zombie, electro clash, groovie mann, indie music world, jedi mind tricks, john lennon, lorton virginia, mc 900 ft jesus, my life with the thrill kill kult, noise core, non conformist, playstation 3, prose, royce da 5 9, self release, soundscapes, space age, strange sound