To borrow a line from "Sleeping Giant," the hopeful first single off Copper Sails' upcoming, buzz-worthy long-player, Hiding Place, "the world is waking up" to this Richmond, Va., quartet and its intoxicating blend of dreamy atmospheres and well-crafted, starry-eyed indie-pop.

Made up of Boomer Muth (vocalist/bassist), Jonathan Crawley (vocalist/guitarist), Kyle Crosby (keyboardist) and Jim Courtney (drummer), Copper Sails borrows liberally from influences like U2 and Brit-pop supernovas Doves, while propping up the piano-driven epics of Snow Patrol with strong, dark surges of rock. And yet, there is something different about Copper Sails.

Perhaps it's how Crawley and Muth blend their lead vocals to heighten the emotional, searching drama of their lyrics. Or maybe its how they get their complex guitar parts and Crosby's fully realized keyboard schemes to dance so easily together, or how the rhythm section of Courtney and Muth engage in stunning dynamics that lasso listening ears. Then again, maybe what it all comes down to is how rich the songcraft is and how, despite Copper Sails' somewhat ethereal aesthetic, each song — from the tidal choruses of "Still Lost" to the glimmering guitars of the title track and the relentless build of "Reckless Motorist" — is build on a solid structure, with strong, undeniable hooks.

Opening slots for The Strokes and Switchfoot have given the band broad exposure that's only grown in recent months, with "Sleeping Giant" appearing on ESPN's "Baseball Tonight." Help from industry heavyweights like Mitch Easter and Greg Calbi (U2, Interpol, The Strokes) with the sound of Hiding Place certainly didn't hurt. Full of wonder, expectancy and light, Hiding Place begs to be heard, and Courtney tells how Copper Sails does it in a recent interview.

Tell us how Copper Sails came to be, and how your sound developed.
Jim Courtney: Copper Sails came to be in early 2003 in Richmond Va. Jonathan (guitar / vocals) and Boomer (bass / vocals) had recently gotten out of a previous project and were looking to find a drummer and a piano/keyboard player to start anew. I heard about the band through a friend of a friend and had recently gotten out of a project myself. I went out and tried out with the band, and by that time, they had already settled on Kyle (Keys) after jamming with a number of other keyboardists. When I got there, they had already tried out a number of drummers.

The interesting story about me getting in the band actually comes from a song on our previous album Silhouette, and the song is called "Silo." "Silo" was a complete song through in a 7/8 time signature, and apparently all of the other drummers were struggling with a drum part on the song. Like I didn't struggle, too? I guess I did what I try to do even today in writing drum parts, and that was lock into a melody, probably [with] Jonathan, and follow it. When I did that, I wrote a drum part they were excited about it. I jammed a few more times with them and they offered me the job. They were three of the nicest guys I had ever met, especially in the music business. I just enjoyed being around them, and we seemed to meld together well as musicians, so I decided it was the place I wanted to be, and with that, Copper Sails was formed. Everyone else really seemed like they wanted to be there too. It was just a great environment. It is a choice I am really happy I made.

As for our sound developing, I think the guys would all agree that during the writing of Silhouette we were still developing and searching for our specific sound. Boomer and Jon had very similar musical tastes, and influences. Kyle and I each had our own set as well. So it took us some time to meld those influences and styles together. Silhouette was the start of that conglomeration, and while we were all proud of the album, it was when we started writing the songs for Hiding Place that we realized we had really hit on something that we were all really pumped about. We just started getting more and more comfortable with each other. One of my favorite things about the band is that we all see ourselves as part writers. Everyone in the band writes a part that sounds the best for the song. Not necessarily the most complex and noticeable part that makes him stand out, but sometimes the subtle parts that don't necessarily reach out and grab you at first are actually what is best for the song. Musically, I think we share the load pretty evenly when it comes to our sound and writing.


Your new album, Hiding Place, due out on Jan. 19, and yet, you've had a track on ESPN's "Baseball Tonight," you've played with The Strokes and Switchfoot, and there's talk of a song appearing on an MTV reality show. How has word spread so fast about you?
JC: I don't know that I would say the word has "spread so fast" for us. We have been at this for quite a while. I think we have learned a lot since the previous album and surrounded ourselves this time with people that have guided us in a better direction. Don't get me wrong. We have always been very concerned about the quality of a recording and how well our albums are produced, but we were also much more cognizant of money back then, too. We thought that we could get a great sound but pinch the pennies here and there to save money. The truth of the matter is that if you are going to do it, go all out and do it right. An album needs a Mitch Easter or Greg Calbi on board to even have the chance of getting the recognition from the industry people that it deserves, or if you are really lucky, credentials like that just help get the A&R folks to give it a quick listen. We also had (producer) Ted Comerford on our side this time, and he is invaluable, not only from a production and engineering standpoint, but also from a knowledge and contact base.

We have also had some great help back in our home town and surrounding cities. We have had Brad Wells from the National Theater and Innsbrook After Hours in Richmond on our side for a lot of years, and he has really helped with shows that got us the Strokes and Switchfoot gigs. Bill Reid with the Norva in Norfolk, Va., too. We spent three years as the Richmond Budweiser True Music band as well, and that helped us with some recognition. Planetary is on board now as well and helping us on the marketing end. So, I wouldn't really say the word has spread so fast about us, but it has definitely helped to get the word out there now that we have so many great assets on our team, and a marketable product that we are really excited about. We are just excited and thankful for the whole experience.

The song that appeared on "Baseball Tonight" is called "Sleeping Giant," and it's on Hiding Place. Of all the identifiable traits of Copper Sails, the chiming guitars are perhaps the things that get noticed right away. You really use them to create kind of starry atmospheres. How do you come up with the guitar parts for that song and others? It definitely seems to have some basis in early U2 and Doves, and bands like that.
JC: This is a guitar question being answered by a drum guy. Jon would certainly be the better person to answer, but since I am answering the questions, I will do my best. Jon would probably be mad at me for saying it on record, but he is just an amazing guitarist. Hands down, [he's] the best one I personally have ever played with. Although you do notice starry atmospheres and intricate melodies in the guitar parts right away, there is also a nicely orchestrated conglomeration of guitar and keys in many, if not most, of our songs. Kyle and Jon work tirelessly together to create melodies that complement each other, and don't step on one another. Jon is a great writer as well, and the songs he brings into the band to develop are mostly guitar based, but our writing sessions in practice often times lend to guitar parts that become organ parts and visa-versa. Kyle and Jon both have the skill for creating powerful moods, textures and tones.

As for the influences, you sure hit that nail right on the head. Jon, Boomer and really now Kyle and myself are all staunch U2 fans, and actually are quite fond of the Doves as well. None of us would be upset that you hear those influences in our music; in fact, it is quite the compliment to us. I was never much of a Brit-rock fan before I got involved with Copper Sails. I never had an appreciation for U2, and I had never even heard of the Doves. I'm really glad these guys introduced me to that genre of music, and with all of the other bands that I have grown to like as a result, I realize how much I had been missing out on.

In a way, Hiding Place comes across as dream pop, especially on the atmospheric "Spinning," but there's not that amorphous quality to your sound that you sometimes hear with that genre. There's real definition to all the instrumentation and the melodies. Was that something that was important to you?
JC: Absolutely. I cannot tell you how many songs we tried to write but lacked one specific part that we felt like it needed to be really good, and those songs generally get put on the back burner or tossed completely. We seem to generally hold to the pattern of writing definitive verses, chorus, bridges and other sections that set themselves apart from each other. I think we feel like that the individuality of the parts make them interesting in and of themselves but also flow nicely with each other as a whole song. Again, this goes back to all of us being part writers and doing what is best for a song as a general whole. We tend to attack songs in sections and make sure that each section is distinguishable to the listener, as well as complementing the rest of the song. "Spinning," as you referred to, is one of those songs that is very atmospheric and ethereal, but it still has structure that is easily defined by the listener. None of our stuff is really all over the place in that regard.

There's a real flash of sonic light in the choruses, especially on the title track and "Still Lost." And I think people relate to the combination of vulnerability and the summoning up inner strength found in the lyrics, especially in these times. I've always loved that combination of sonic grandeur and lyrics that look inward to gauge just how strong or weak you are. I think that's a contrast that results in something epic, because that struggle within — as self-absorbed as it sounds — is an epic one. Do you find that as well?  
JC: Jon and Boomer have written the majority of our lyrics. The band pretty much maintains the idea of democracy in this arena as well. Meaning that when we write a song in a practice session, Boomer or Jon or both generally come up with a natural vocal melody in conjunction with the music we are writing. Along with a rough vocal melody generally come rough, scratch lyrics to fill the melody until we figure out where the song is going, and what we want it to say. With that said, the scratch lyrics over the melody are pretty much open game for anyone in the band to write lyrics for. Jon and Boomer tend to be the ones that do this, and tend to be the ones that lyrically get their message out. I think you will see more of Kyle and myself writing lyrics as new songs come to fruition, but most of the lyrics you hear on Hiding Place came from the minds of Jon and Boomer.

As this is the case, I think you hear a lot of these "epic" internal battles and conflicts because that is where they were in their lives. The concepts of relationships and life-direction struggles. The "what am I supposed to do" and "why am I here" type things. Even though Kyle and I are both six or seven years older than the other two, we still relate to a lot of the issues that are in Copper Sails' lyrics, being as that it wasn't that long ago that we sat in similar shoes. I think that is why we don't feel the need to be so lyrically involved, and to let the two of them do most of the writing, because the issues they write about can hit home to the 21-year-old college student as well as the 50-year- old businessman. I hear that from fans of the band and my own friends when they listen to our music, and they are all over the board in ages. With that kind of feedback, I would say you are correct, many of our songs are a bit epic. I like that.

You had quite a recording team help out on this record. Talk about working with Mitch Easter (mixing), Greg Calbi (mastering) and Ted Comerford (producer).
JC: This is such an easy question to answer. I mean how could we have been more lucky? Talk about being in the right place at the right time. It all started with a relationship we developed with a band out of DC, and our good friends, No Second Troy. They were releasing their last album up in DC, and we were fortunate enough to get on the bill for the release show. Ted had been working with No Second Troy, as well as a number of other up-and-coming bands that were doing really well in the region. Ted heard us at that show, as he was present, and approached us about doing a record with him. I think it took us a couple of weeks to realize the magnitude of this opportunity. I mean, he is truly one of the great up-and-coming producers in the industry, who has already established a stellar resume for himself. Working with Ted was just an amazing experience. He is so good at what he does, and he has an ear for what makes the music better. We went in with the attitude that we would let Ted be the expert and follow his advice, which is what we did. I can't think of any ideas or changes he suggested that we didn't capitalize on, and those ideas only made the record better. It was truly an unforgettable experience.

As for Mitch Easter and Greg Calbi, I can only say what an amazing feeling it is to have the two of them like the music enough to be willing to work on the project. The support of those two guys energized us and gave us so much confidence that we had a marketable product. We all know those guys can pick and choose who they work with. Mitch Easter has to be the nicest person on the planet Earth. His studio is absolutely amazing, and he was just so nice about letting us in there and opening up his doors. It is a privilege just to have Greg Calbi and Sterling Sound's credentials on the CD, but what was so great about the combination of Mitch and Greg is that they really took the album to the next level. What's even better is the way people in the industry's ears perk up when they hear those three names. What an honor to have all three of them on the album.

You're going to be lumped in with the Death Cab For Cuties, Doves, Snow Patrols and Rogue Waves. How do you see yourselves establishing your own identity?
JC: I would really like to think that we have already done that. I hear all of these bands that you have mentioned here, and I do hear their influences stylistically, but I think we have worked really hard to develop our own sound. I think that myself and Kyle bring a fresh element to the music as our past musical influences are so different than those bands. So, the sounds might be buried in there, but I think it is still unique. I think Jon and Boomer have very unique and distinct voices, and myself, as well in the harmonies. The way Copper Sails regularly trades vocal parts and melodies between Jon and Boomer is unique as well — sometimes having two different vocal parts and two different melodies simultaneously. I'm certainly not suggesting that this has never been done before, but the combination of it all I believe gives us a unique sound and keeps it interesting. We can only hope that fans of the bands you have mentioned will gravitate to our music because they hear things they like, but at the same time they hear something new. I think the music shows the unique style in the range of age groups of fans we have, as they range from teenagers to middle aged adults.

A lot of people talk about dynamics at work in certain various songs. How would you describe the dynamics of Copper Sails? Is that just one of those nebulous concepts that hard to put into words?
JC: Dynamics is definitely not a nebulous concept to us. In fact, dynamics also play a significant part in our writing sessions. As a drummer, I play a large role in this. I think when you listen to our music you will hear definitive dynamic movement throughout the songs. None of us are really in favor of writing a song that stays on the same dynamic plane from beginning to end. It seems more interesting to us to move that dynamic around. The highs and lows so to speak take the listener to a much more interesting place in my opinion. This is not to say that songs can't be written without dynamics; it happens all the time. We just pay attention to it and try to vary the energy throughout the song dynamically. I think it works for us and makes the songs stronger.

What's next for Copper Sails? What's on the immediate horizon?
JC: Right now, our push is Hiding Place. We have invested a lot of time and energy in the album, and we really want to get it out there and give it the chance that we feel it deserves. So right now, we are working with Planetary and trying to capitalize on all of the things they are doing for us. We are marketing hard on Myspace and Facebook, as well as our newly updated website www.coppersails.com. We are still working with Ted and using his contacts to try and keep good, solid high-profile shows on the books, as well as continuing to work on licensing deals such as the ESPN opportunity that we had. Our big push now, after we released Hiding Place, is to keep the buzz going, and try to move this to the next level. We all have worked hard to get where we are, and only hope to continue to push the band and the music higher and higher. We really appreciate people such as yourself taking the time to ask us these questions and put us out there. We can't thank you enough.

Todd Rundgren walks a fine line on his new album, Arena. Released Sept. 30, through the new music enterprise Hi Fi Recordings, Arena, as its title indicates, is brimming with the kind of machismo-fueled, guitar-centric arena-rock of the '70s.

Only, as is always the case with Rundgren, Arena offers a bit of a twist on the old formula. While Arena has enough guitar energy to light up a city block on such songs as the first single "Mad" and "Mercenary" and the AC/DC proto-metal throwback "Strike," there are also melodic treasures like "Courage" and "Weakness" that traffic in keyboards and other instrumental staples of Rundgren's history.

In making Arena, Rundgren wanted to do more than just reheat Van Halen leftovers, and being the brainy type, and a visionary musical innovator, he has more on his mind lyrically than satisfying base urges. The itch he does scratch is a need for huge riffs and big hooks.

"Well, you don't want to be just completely arch and totally imitative of an era," says Rundgren. "You have to kind of approach it not so much scientifically but kind of like nostalgically, let's say (chuckles). You know, you have to try and remember it and try and conjure what it was without going back there. And so the touchstone elements were, for me, that the guitar was the central instrument. And that the songs had a basic accessibility so that by the time you got to the end of any particular song you might be able to sing along with it. And while those individual elements may be a part of some other projects that I've done, I haven't really made those like the rule, you know, the actual Modus Operandi of the whole record. So, it still has me in it; it's still supposed to be me, and it still doesn't, for instance... well, at least in my mind I try to avoid pandering, especially in the lyrics. And so I still have something of a more philosophical approach to the lyrics than let's say a lot of the original arena rock, which mostly would have been about getting laid."

Look for more on Rundgren's new effort, and his thoughts on other projects he's been involved with over the years — like Meat Loaf, XTC and Grand Funk Railroad — in future stories online and in the print edition of Goldmine. Also, stay tuned for a podcast of our interview with Rundgren.

Visit www.tri-i.com for all things Todd Rundgren related.

Kevin Ayers, founder of '60s psych-rock radicals The Soft Machine, resurfaced in 2007 with The Unfairground, a haunted carnival of gorgeously textured, sometimes surreal, songs that stand up to anything in Ayers' rich catalog.

Now comes an archival find as valuable as any in recent years. What More Can I Say... is brimming with previously unreleased gems — outtakes and demos that are as up close and intimate as you can get — that have been meticulously remastered from Ayers' private reel-to-reel tapes by Reel Recordings, and it boasts the work of Ayers' associates such as legendary drummer Rober Wyatt, organist David Bedford and bassists Mike Oldfield and Archie Leggett.

Rough sketches, mostly, that served as demos for songs scattered throughout Ayers' vast empire of recordings, these pieces of psych-folk artistry were put to tape at the apartment of Lady June, Ayers' muse and friend, in the mid-'70s and left abandoned. The tapes showed up, however, in storage with Ayers' former flat mate (and guitar wizard) Gerry Fitz-Gerald, and as a way of paying tribute to Ayers, Reel Recordings cleaned them up for release as What More Can I Say..., a simply wonderful, intimate gathering of songs that reveal a glimpse of just what makes Ayers' songcraft so engaging and warm.

In an e-mail interview, Ayers gave Goldmine the story behind What More Can I Say...

What More Can I Say ... is a collection of songs culled from your private reel-to-reel tapes that were abandoned at the London apartment of Lady June. When were these recordings made and what happened to them?
Kevin Ayers: These were demo recordings I made in the early '70s for songs which ended up on various albums. Pretty much the whole of one side of Dr. Dream and Other Stories is included here. That was an album I recorded for Island records and which is going to be re-issued early next year by EMI.

In the liner notes, guitarist Gerry Fitz-Gerald talks about the sort of transient living situations of the people who, at one time or another, lived at Lady June's apartment. Mike Oldfield lived there. Archie Leggett lived there. Fellini's cameraman lived there. Was it a bit of a madhouse? 
KA: You put a bunch of rock musicians and various French actresses together in one house, and there is going to be a scene of some sort or another. I used to throw some some pretty wild parties — one of which, of course, ended rather badly for Robert Wyatt. Keith Richards showed up at that one and left fairly swiftly as it was all a bit too crazy even for the likes of him. Generally though, I kept pretty much to myself. I was producing an album a year in those days, so I was fairly pre-occupied with that and being in love. As soon as I had a bit of money, I bought myself a large house boat on a canal in central London so that my girlfriend and I could have a bit of privacy.

Fitz-Gerald also talks about asking Lady June about the tapes, and he says that she figured you didn't want them. Was that the case and, if so, why didn't you want to keep them?
KA: They had served their purpose as far as demoing material and getting ideas down. I have never been one for archiving or collecting my own memorabilia. I used [to have] a great big pile of Hendrix/Soft Machine silk-screened concert posters as kindling in my house in Provence one winter until they ran out. That was probably a bit reckless in hindsight as they would probably be worth the price of a house these days.

While at Lady June's, you composed songs to set Lady June's poetry to. What did you like about her writing, and how did you fit your music to her words? Fitz-Gerald says she was infatuated with you.
KA: She was a character — right out there and I liked her very much — [with] her warm and open mind. We got on very well and remained good friends beyond the Maida Vale days when we both had houses in Deia. Her poetry is very playful, and I like that with language. I always start with words myself, and so it was no different in my approach working with her words than it would have been with my own. She asked me if I wanted to make some music for her poetry, and I simply thought, why not — it would [be] fun, and I guess I wasn't too busy that week. I knew Richard Branson at that time, and he was starting up a new record company, so I was able to get her a deal. I asked Brian Eno to help as well and he did.

Let's talk about some of the songs here. There's warmth and a real intimacy to these songs, with, I think, one exception. And that is, the surreal "Dreaming Doctor." It's not as easy to like as the others, but it may be the most interesting, with those cycling acoustic guitar figures, the mounting tension of the organ and that simple piano plunking out an insistent beat. The effect of all these elements is incredibly disorienting and yet, there's a constancy to it. It's almost as if the musician making it is trying desperately to hold onto his sanity. Did that song require intense concentration to finish? 
KA: I am quite fascinated by the effect of repetition in music. I was a big and early fan of Terry Riley, and with Soft Machine, I did quite a bit of that sort of thing. I wrote a song called "We Did It Again," which was a repeated riff which in some concerts [that] could last for some 40 minutes or so. Playing like that with Robert Wyatt and Mike Ratledge taught me a thing or two. I used the same approach on "Why Are We Sleeping." You are absolutely right when you say disorientating and constant — yes that is an interesting effect. It works for me if the music is played, and so I don't find what computers do interesting at all.

The last track, the title track, was actually initially called "Blues," according to your discussion of it at the beginning of the song, which has a real sparse folk quality. And it's broken up into two parts. It's interesting hearing you talk about the song as we're listening to it. Why did you decide keep that conversation in?
KA: The finished recording exists on an album, obviously, without the conversation, but as these are demos and the record company compiling them thought it might be of some interest to people to get an idea of how I approached the writing process, I guess that's why they were kept in.

"Hungry cats all drowning in the cream." That line really sticks out to me. There's imagery of you knocking at a door and being left out in the cold. Where did those feelings come from and what does that line signify?
KA: Anything that I write originates from my own experience and my own feelings. You can't be convincing unless you are convinced yourself. Besides, the whole purpose of what I have ever done is creative self-expression. I have never been interested in being a rock star for which writing songs in order to achieve that goal would be secondary. I am a very shy person and never feel comfortable in expressing how I feel directly in conversation — but I have to get it out somehow. So, I used to write poetry as a teenager, and then, when I met up with Robert Wyatt, I started getting into music, as that is what he was doing. I can't tell you what any line signifies — obviously, at the time it meant something to me, but I think the interesting effect of poetry is that something personal for the writer takes on something universal which would be diluted if the lights were raised.

"Unfinished" seems to be very much a bedroom recording, just you and an acoustic guitar. It's a very pleasant melody, with a blend of two voices. The lyrics seem to imply a frustration with not being able to express emotion through words. Were you feeling that way at the time?
KA: Words are rather clumsy approximations of illusive, indefinable feelings such as love or being in love. That's why, for me anyway, it is always hard to write a love song and easy to get the words wrong.

Probably the most expressive, most beautiful, song on the record is "This Song Isn't Called Anything." At the beginning, you talk about freedom and imploring people not just to be free, but to figure out what they want to be free from. Was that something that perhaps the youth of the time didn't seem to get?
KA: Sure — "you gotta be free man" — that's just a t-shirt, and that's why most of the people who went about saying that on sunny days in Hyde Park went on to get hair cuts and mortgages. For me, the '60s was about questioning everything, and that's what I am still doing. So you have to ask what is free. Naturally, there were so many people simply drawn to the bright colours of the '60s and had no interest in anything beyond that. Was it something the youth at the time didn't get? I find that people are even more opinionated and fixed in their thinking today and express themselves in slogans. I ended up calling the song "Hymn" — it was on the album Bananamour — my fourth for EMI.

Hearing these songs some 30 or so years later, in their kind of raw, unpolished state, what are your impressions of them?
KA: Beautiful innocent times.

How did you come to choose Reel Recordings to care for these tapes and assemble this collection?
KA: Mike and Miki are the real deal. They do a label because they love music and deeply care about artists. People like that are unbelievably rare in the music business these days — perhaps simply because they don't survive for long. There must be others, of course. They are two with a label who have come into my world and specialise in archival recordings.

Could you ever have done songs like this in Soft Machine?
KA: In the early days I did, but then Robert and Mike wanted to do something else which I was not interested in doing. I am a songwriter, and so I left Soft Machine to continue in that way. Those guys played on my first solo album, so that worked out well for me.