Allen Clapp
Encyclopedia
Allen Gordon Clapp is the singer, guitarist and principal songwriter for the California
rock band The Orange Peels
. Since 1990, he has also periodically released material under his own name and under the moniker "Allen Clapp and his Orchestra."
Though Clapp's music is largely considered part of the Indie-pop genre, his music production techniques and lyrical content reflect a distinct sense of place—an attribute more common to indigenous folk music
.
-built home in Foster City, CA, where his mother and big sister taught him piano as a young child. He also studied the violin until his teen years, when he hooked up with likeminded musicians Dan Jewett
, Larry Winther, Chris Boyke and Maz Kattuah, and formed a garage band alternately known as The Batmen and The Morsels.
The band disintegrated at the end of the 1980s, with Winther and Kattuah going on to form garage-rock band The Mummies
, and Jewett leaving to form The Himalayans
, a band which included a pre-Counting Crows
Adam Duritz
.
Clapp and Boyke split off to explore more esoteric, folky material in the duo The Goodfellows, who performed regularly around Berkeley (where Clapp had graduated in 1989 with a major in English Literature), and San Francisco. The two later added a bass player, Neal Trembath (Pullman), a drummer, Tom Freeman (The Muskrats), a harmonica player, Juliet Pries, and a manager, Alison Hefner (Dirty Deeds). They gigged around the Bay Area as, variously, "Huck," "Hunk," and "Hulk" (cf. Spinal Tap
). Clapp released one flexi as Huck on Winter's Mist records out of San Jose.
In the midst of playing in those bands, Clapp had begun recording pop songs under his own name using a Radio Shack
tie-clip microphone, a Roland RE-201
Space Echo and his Tascam Porta One four-track cassette recorder. The Roland Space Echo would become an important part of Clapp's production of musical soundscapes, helping him achieve a cool, coastal sound.
Even to the casual observer, he was barely equipped to record a decent demo tape. But Clapp's keen ear for melody and economical pop arrangements captured the interest of Kattuah, who started the Four Letter Words record label while he was in the Mummies. Four Letter Words issued Clapp's first-ever release, a song called "Very Peculiar Feeling" on a split flexi-disc with Japanese pop band "Bridge." (1990)
He followed up with his first marquis release, the one-sided 45, A Change in the Weather. The single quickly sold out, and attracted interest from the Iowa City-based Bus Stop Label. In 1992, Clapp released "Mystery Lawn," a 3-song EP on Bus Stop. Based on its success, Bus Stop owner Brian Kirk asked Clapp to release a full-length album—the label's first. In 1994, Clapp released "One Hundred Percent Chance of Rain" under the name "Allen Clapp and his Orchestra" (Bus Stop) on vinyl and CD.
Still recording on his four track with limited equipment, the album was praised as a lo-fi masterpiece. The album's second song, "Something Strange Happens" was considered a standout track, and has since appeared on various compilations and in two independent films.
Soon after, Allen formed a band with his wife, Jill, on bass, and his old former bandmates—now former Mummies—Winther on drums and Kattuah on guitar. Minty Fresh signed the group, and after a lineup change, the band rechristened themselves The Orange Peels
, who have continued to change lineups and gone on to record for SpinART and Parasol records.
"One Hundred Percent Chance of Rain" was reissued in 2000 by Bus Stop on CD and LP. Clapp released a second solo album in 2002, a spacey soft-rock exploration for March Records called "Available Light."
He is currently writing for a new Orange Peels record and producing albums in the garage of his modernistic Eichler tract home in Sunnyvale, California
.
Clapp has engineered and produced all recordings under his own name, and the entire second album by The Orange Peels: 2001's So Far (SpinART Records). He has also worked as a recordist, producer and mix engineer with The Ocean Blue
(2003's Waterworks EP), the eclectic Santa Cruz collective The Incredible Vickers Brothers, and is currently wrapping up production on The Ultraviolet Garden by San Francisco co-eds The Corner Laughers.
He recently finished production on the fourth album from his band The Orange Peels, "2020." The record is the second by the band to be engineered, produced and mixed by Clapp (2001's So Far was the first). The album is out Nov. 10, 2009 on Minty Fresh in all digital download formats. The band's own Mystery Lawn Music is selling physical CDs as well as a limited pressing of 180-gram vinyl.
A Change in the Weather, 1991 (Four Letter Words, 7" 45 rpm single)
Mystery Lawn, 1992 (The Bus Stop Label, 7" 45 rpm EP)
One Hundred Percent Chance of Rain, 1994 (The Bus Stop Label, LP, CD)
Brown Formica Table, 1995 (Elefant Records)
Whenever We're Together, 2002 (The Bus Stop Label, CD EP)
Available Light, 2002 (March Records, CD)
Something Strange Happens: Four Track Forecasts by Allen Clapp (1990-2000), 2006 (The Bus Stop Label, Digipak CD)
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
rock band The Orange Peels
The Orange Peels
The Orange Peels is a Northern California band known for its ability to melodically evoke images and atmospheres of life on the West Coast. The group uses standard rock instrumentation to produce soundscapes that are at once sweeping and jarring, giving them a unique place between orchestral pop,...
. Since 1990, he has also periodically released material under his own name and under the moniker "Allen Clapp and his Orchestra."
Though Clapp's music is largely considered part of the Indie-pop genre, his music production techniques and lyrical content reflect a distinct sense of place—an attribute more common to indigenous folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
.
History
Clapp was raised two blocks from the San Francisco bay in a Joseph EichlerJoseph Eichler
Joseph Eichler was a 20th century post-war U.S. American real estate developer known for developing distinctive residential subdivisions of Mid-Century modern style Tract housing in California, United States. He was one of the influential advocates of bringing modern architecture from custom...
-built home in Foster City, CA, where his mother and big sister taught him piano as a young child. He also studied the violin until his teen years, when he hooked up with likeminded musicians Dan Jewett
Dan Jewett
Daniel Ryan Jewett is a musician and journalist.He was born in Orange, California, USA and has lived in New Mexico, Colorado, San Francisco, and, most recently, Oakland...
, Larry Winther, Chris Boyke and Maz Kattuah, and formed a garage band alternately known as The Batmen and The Morsels.
The band disintegrated at the end of the 1980s, with Winther and Kattuah going on to form garage-rock band The Mummies
The Mummies
The Mummies are an American garage punk band from San Mateo, California formed in 1988.-Showmanship:Originally hailing from San Mateo, California, the band was formed by Trent Ruane , Maz Kattuah , Larry Winther and Russell Quan . They became a key part of San Francisco's burgeoning garage punk...
, and Jewett leaving to form The Himalayans
The Himalayans
The Himalayans were a rock band formed in San Francisco in 1990 by Dan Jewett and Chris Roldan. They prided themselves on the quality of their live performances, putting considerable effort into audio engineering to get a "studio" sound in live venues....
, a band which included a pre-Counting Crows
Counting Crows
Counting Crows is an American rock band originating from Berkeley, California. Formed in 1991, the group gained popularity following the release of its debut album in 1993, August and Everything After, which featured the hit single "Mr. Jones"...
Adam Duritz
Adam Duritz
Adam Fredric Duritz is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and film producer. He is best known for his role as frontman and vocalist for the rock band Counting Crows, in which he is a founding member and principal composer of their catalogue of songs.Duritz has recorded solo...
.
Clapp and Boyke split off to explore more esoteric, folky material in the duo The Goodfellows, who performed regularly around Berkeley (where Clapp had graduated in 1989 with a major in English Literature), and San Francisco. The two later added a bass player, Neal Trembath (Pullman), a drummer, Tom Freeman (The Muskrats), a harmonica player, Juliet Pries, and a manager, Alison Hefner (Dirty Deeds). They gigged around the Bay Area as, variously, "Huck," "Hunk," and "Hulk" (cf. Spinal Tap
Spinal Tap (band)
Spinal Tap is a parody heavy metal band that first appeared on a failed 1979 ABC TV sketch comedy pilot called "The T.V. Show", starring Rob Reiner...
). Clapp released one flexi as Huck on Winter's Mist records out of San Jose.
In the midst of playing in those bands, Clapp had begun recording pop songs under his own name using a Radio Shack
Radio shack
Radio shack is a slang term for a room or structure for housing radio equipment.-History:In the early days of radio, equipment was experimental and home-built. The first radio transmitters used a noisy spark to generate radio waves and were often housed in a garage or shed. When radio was first...
tie-clip microphone, a Roland RE-201
Roland RE-201
The Roland RE-201, commonly known as the Space Echo, is an audio analog delay effects unit produced by the Roland Corporation.A tape echo device records incoming audio to a loop of magnetic tape, then replays the audio over a series of several playback heads before it is erased again by new...
Space Echo and his Tascam Porta One four-track cassette recorder. The Roland Space Echo would become an important part of Clapp's production of musical soundscapes, helping him achieve a cool, coastal sound.
Even to the casual observer, he was barely equipped to record a decent demo tape. But Clapp's keen ear for melody and economical pop arrangements captured the interest of Kattuah, who started the Four Letter Words record label while he was in the Mummies. Four Letter Words issued Clapp's first-ever release, a song called "Very Peculiar Feeling" on a split flexi-disc with Japanese pop band "Bridge." (1990)
He followed up with his first marquis release, the one-sided 45, A Change in the Weather. The single quickly sold out, and attracted interest from the Iowa City-based Bus Stop Label. In 1992, Clapp released "Mystery Lawn," a 3-song EP on Bus Stop. Based on its success, Bus Stop owner Brian Kirk asked Clapp to release a full-length album—the label's first. In 1994, Clapp released "One Hundred Percent Chance of Rain" under the name "Allen Clapp and his Orchestra" (Bus Stop) on vinyl and CD.
Still recording on his four track with limited equipment, the album was praised as a lo-fi masterpiece. The album's second song, "Something Strange Happens" was considered a standout track, and has since appeared on various compilations and in two independent films.
Soon after, Allen formed a band with his wife, Jill, on bass, and his old former bandmates—now former Mummies—Winther on drums and Kattuah on guitar. Minty Fresh signed the group, and after a lineup change, the band rechristened themselves The Orange Peels
The Orange Peels
The Orange Peels is a Northern California band known for its ability to melodically evoke images and atmospheres of life on the West Coast. The group uses standard rock instrumentation to produce soundscapes that are at once sweeping and jarring, giving them a unique place between orchestral pop,...
, who have continued to change lineups and gone on to record for SpinART and Parasol records.
"One Hundred Percent Chance of Rain" was reissued in 2000 by Bus Stop on CD and LP. Clapp released a second solo album in 2002, a spacey soft-rock exploration for March Records called "Available Light."
Recent Projects
In fall of 2006, the Bus Stop Label released a compilation of Clapp's early singles, outtakes and unreleased tracks called "Something Strange Happens: Four-track Forecasts by Allen Clapp (1990-2000)."He is currently writing for a new Orange Peels record and producing albums in the garage of his modernistic Eichler tract home in Sunnyvale, California
Sunnyvale, California
Sunnyvale is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is one of the major cities that make up the Silicon Valley located in the San Francisco Bay Area...
.
Clapp has engineered and produced all recordings under his own name, and the entire second album by The Orange Peels: 2001's So Far (SpinART Records). He has also worked as a recordist, producer and mix engineer with The Ocean Blue
The Ocean Blue
The Ocean Blue, formed in Hershey, Pennsylvania in 1986, is an American indie pop band that combines melodic guitars and synthesizers. Its core original members included David Schelzel on lead vocals/guitar, Steve Lau on keyboards/saxophone, Bobby Mittan on bass guitar and Rob Minnig on drums and...
(2003's Waterworks EP), the eclectic Santa Cruz collective The Incredible Vickers Brothers, and is currently wrapping up production on The Ultraviolet Garden by San Francisco co-eds The Corner Laughers.
He recently finished production on the fourth album from his band The Orange Peels, "2020." The record is the second by the band to be engineered, produced and mixed by Clapp (2001's So Far was the first). The album is out Nov. 10, 2009 on Minty Fresh in all digital download formats. The band's own Mystery Lawn Music is selling physical CDs as well as a limited pressing of 180-gram vinyl.
Discography
Very Peculiar Feeling, 1990 (Four Letter Words, flexi)A Change in the Weather, 1991 (Four Letter Words, 7" 45 rpm single)
Mystery Lawn, 1992 (The Bus Stop Label, 7" 45 rpm EP)
One Hundred Percent Chance of Rain, 1994 (The Bus Stop Label, LP, CD)
Brown Formica Table, 1995 (Elefant Records)
Whenever We're Together, 2002 (The Bus Stop Label, CD EP)
Available Light, 2002 (March Records, CD)
Something Strange Happens: Four Track Forecasts by Allen Clapp (1990-2000), 2006 (The Bus Stop Label, Digipak CD)