INTERVIEW: Producer Scott Mickelson Talks New Music Comp To Fight Homeleness Crisis

Hello, I’ve been good. Busy with meaningful things.

How did you come up with the idea of producing an album to fight the homelessness crisis?

Two years ago I produced the “After The Fire: Vol. 1” compilation to help the folks in the North Bay who lost their homes in the devastating fires. The 15 artists on that record including myself raised thousands of dollars. At that time I had no idea that as I type these answers there would be even more fires raging in CA. While that record was in the making I was also producing other artists including Ken Newman who is the founder of Blanket The Homeless. I suggested doing a fundraiser record for his organization and off we went.

Did you always intend to make something like this or were you drawn into this project?

I was proud of the “Fires” project and did want to do produce more benefit records at some point and this just fell into place. I’ve been in the Bay Area since the 80’s and unfortunately the homeless community is part of the fabric of San Francisco. We as a community simply need to do more. We can’t expect the local government to take care of it.

Once you had the idea – what was the selection process on the artists to be featured?

Ken gave me the green light to select the artists and I aimed pretty high. We want to raise awareness on the issue and spread the word to other cities with homeless populations. The first real break was when Phil Green, who manages Fantastic Negrito, quickly responded that they were on board. Because of their touring schedule it would have been too difficult to get them in to record but they gave us the rights to include “Working Poor” which was perfect and we are grateful.

Did you look for anything in particular when picking up the artists and bands?

I wanted to work with established artists who I felt would be open to the project.  There was no “type” of artist in particular. And of course proximity to the Bay Area helped. Although Tobias The Owl (Seattle) and John Craigie (Portland) fit their sessions into their touring schedules.

I am guessing the other acts get to throw in some of their own ideas – how did you guys go on sharing the creative inputs and ideas?

I did not insist on the content be about homelessness, I only asked that the songs be original and something they would be proud to record and promote. All of these artists are great songwriters so the songs were almost 100% intact when they came to the sessions. I do recall that Shannon Koehler from The Stone Foxes was still refining some lyrics but that made it even more fun!

How was the recording process? 

The process was a like boot camp for a producer. I’d never met most of the bands before. Each artist showed up open minded and ready to work. I was limited to 8 channels at that time so there were lots of overdubs. I’ve expanded to 16 since then. Every band/artist was high energy and able to take some direction when needed and all the sessions were really successful. I think there’s a wide variety of style and production. I’m very proud of the outcome.

What’s the story behind the title?

Blanketthehomeless.org is the charity.

When writing the songs – how did you get to balance the main topic with some much general themes?

Each artist brought their own song and have their own method of writing. There were several songs that encompassed the struggles of living in modern society “Million Dollar Shoes” by The Stone Foxes, “Clean Me Up” by Tim Bluhm, “U.S.M.E” by Whiskerman as examples. There were other songs that definitely touched on homelessness like “Odd Man Out” by Mickelson, “Out Of Place” by Tobias The Owl and “ We Should Do It Again” which was based on a direct conversation Ken Newman has with a homeless person.

What was the most challenging aspect of this album?

Producing records is what I love to do. Getting the word out and promoting it is not an easy task.

What else is happening next in your world?