House of Essex: Blending Musical Influences, Creating a New Sound

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Learning that Maplewood, NJ had become a hotspot for music and musical talentsurprised no one more than this New Jersey native. But apparently, it has. Starting witha two-day music festival called Maplewoodstock nownine years old, the township of Maplewood, located twenty miles outside of NewYork City, is quietly becoming a landing spot for musicians. This year’sMaplewoodstock provided the debut performance oflocal band House of Essex, an eclectic, vintage rock band oozingwith talent and experience.

House of Essex lead vocalist, songwriter andkeyboardist Tim Welch, formed the group, adding each complementarymember slowly and methodically. Veteran drummer David Longworth wasthe first on board, bringing the experience of playing nationally andinternationally with renowned artists such as Phoebe Snow, Southside Johnny andBruce Springsteen. David also can be found playing with LaBamba and theHubcaps. Bassist Gregory Jones involvement with top tierartists goes back to Sly & the Family Stone. With Brazilian, Cuban, Afroand Funk influences, Gregory adds his unique style with David’s in creating afirst-class rhythm section. Guitarist Courtney Sappington doesmore than just play guitar, he creates punctuation with it. Think exclamationpoint. A veteran of Broadway orchestras, Courtney has also toured extensivelywith artists from Garland Jeffries to Bobby Womack. LoraMcFarlane-Tazewell brings her R&B, Soul, Jazz and Reggaeinfluences into the band, empowering her rich vocal range.While each member of the House of Essex equationis a skilled, stand-alone musician, the sum of its parts is absolute magic. Theband sat down for a talk about beginnings, creativity and of course…music.
Kats's Theory: You all come from various musicalbackgrounds with huge amounts of experience. How did you all actually meet?

David Longworth

David: I was doing a local collegiate theatre prep production, Iwas in the pit and Tim was the conductor. We met at a great time, hooked up andhe said “Well, I was thinking, do you do drum lessons? Why don’t youcome over and do a drum lesson?” So I said sure. I go over there to doone lesson and he says ”Well I have some original tunes, you want tohear them…maybe you could do the recording on some of my tunes.” Isaid yeah and we started getting to know each other in a different kind of way.In one of the sessions he goes “Would you know a bass player around?”Gregoryis someone I’ve known for years, more professionally than anything else, and Isaid I’ll give him a call. Greg came over and the three of us for six monthsevery Thursday from 10-12, we got together working out tunes. I meanreligiously. And it ain’t about money or anything else, we didn’t even know ifwe were gonna gig or anything like that. We just really enjoyed each other’scompany, musically speaking and personally. We started to form a sort of bondand some of the songs on the CD were from the original trio thing.
Tim plays everything: the guitar, piano, keyboards. Westarted to think we really had something going here, if we wanted to play live,how are we gonna recreate all the stuff that he (Tim) does? That’s when westarted thinking about guitar players. Courtney is somebody I’ve known fordecades at gigs, and Gregory has known him too, and they're all Maplewood (NJ)people.
Kat’s Theory: And Lora, when did you come into the group?

Lora McFarlane-Tazewell

Lora: Tim is my vocal coach and I started working with him, I thinkit’s going on two years. I was working on getting back into singing and I wasprepping for a special recording project. It was like a godsend to be able towork with him. Then he started working on this project and asked me if I’d liketo be a part of it, because he knew that I really wanted to sing with a band.
Kat’s Theory: House of Essexbills itself as an eclectic, vintage rock band, which I think is prettyaccurate. Tell me how you ended up going in that direction. 
Tim: You know it’s funny, our first gig out, we played 15 songs Ithink, all originals. Now our library of 17 or 18 songs are even more diversethan what we play in our 6 or 7 song set. The songs all came over a time periodof maybe five years of writing. They were never necessarily ready for anypurpose other than I have a creative idea. I’d be inspired by an artist andwrite a song

Tim Welch

Then it became a matter with the group, it was sort of “let’stry out these songs” and they really became more of a skeleton, or atemplate around which this sound that we have now kind of happened. Courtney’saddition was really a huge sonic change to the music. He brings a veryspecific, unique to his own playing, sort of style of guitar playing that addeda thumbprint to the sound. And Gregory has a distinct style of playing; it’snot always straight rock, it’s not always jazz, not always Motown, it’s a realhybrid type of thing. So the songs that were all scattered in the beginning,were thrown into this fusion of whatever harmonic and sonic things that werehappening with us getting together. So the sound hasn’t really been aformulated or calculated “let’s go this or that route” per se,because I’ll write a song and drop it into the machine, and out comes whateverHouse of Essex sounds like now. It becomes its own thing.
Kat’s Theory: "Right to Love You," I love theheavy keys at the beginning, then Courtney comes in with the accent of theguitar. As opposed to most rock songs, with the heavy guitar and the keys comein as an afterthought. Is that a trial and error kind of thing, or just absolutegenius on your part?Courtney: Oh, it’s just trial anderror. It’s just accident really. It just comes out. I hope it just soundsgood.Tim: We’re still changing things all the timeand it’s very much feeling it out. We’re interjecting ideas all the time. Wejust changed “Learn From You.” Lora’s going to sing the second half of theverses now, as opposed to me singing all of the verses. We just did that about20 minutes ago before you called and it was like “that’s kind ofperfect.” So it’s very organic.

Courtney Sappington

David: And then we’re trying to find the rightkey to make the vocals and the song fit and feel the best, so it’s all part andparcel. But I think the overall thing, is there’s an element of trust herethat’s a rare kind of quality that allows you to go out on a ledge and stillfeel like there’s always a safety net around you. It’s because people are goingto take your ideas seriously, give their best effort and let the chips fallwhere they may. And if it sounds good, it sounds good. But we’re really gettingto the point where we are really trusting each other along the way. I thinkthat’s one of the essential ingredients to this kind of thing. 
Kat's Theory: Now do you think that it’s coming from thefact that you guys are not kids and have been around the block, or is it thatyou think you have the exact right group right now?Lora: A Combination
David: Yeah a combination that’s extremely rare. I can get in theroom with four or five other men and women who I might know really well, but wemight just not find that kind of quality. It really is almost an unspokenthing. To find it, it’s a really rare quality.
Kat’s Theory: Either during the recording process or inrehearsal, what was that moment like when you looked at each other andsaid “Yeah, this works. This is gonna be good”Tim: It was in the beginning, we had a good timeplaying, getting together and experimenting on things, but I don’t think it wasuntil we actually heard the first rough mix of “Right to Love You.” And we werelike “Holy Cow, this kind of sounds cool.” I think maybe thatwas the moment when we thought maybe we had created something cool.
David: The three of us (Tim, David, Gregory) were all kind ofreacting the same kind of way
Kat’s Theory: Tim, how do you do this? You have vocalstudios, you teach, you have three bands in progress, you are trying to get acabaret act going with your wife Elizabeth, and you have a life. How is thiseven possible?
Tim: I’m not a big fan of sleep and I love coffee. First of all, Ihave an extremely understanding and supportive wife, that I am happily marriedto, and she really supports my music projects a lot. As far as my creativetime, she’s on Broadway, so she working in the evenings and my daughter goesdown about quarter to nine or so. Then until she (Elizabeth) gets home around 11:30, that is avery sort of protected time for me. That’s my creative time: mixing songs,recording, writing music. I also have some time during the day. It’s all ajuggling thing I guess like it is with all of us. You’re balancing spendingenough time with the family, enough time on this project, that project. It’sthe same that we’re all doing. I just drink a lot of coffee.
Kat’s Theory: Gregory, Your bio mentions Brazilian,Afro-Cuban, Jazz and Funk among your strengths. I can't think of any betterinfluences for a bassist. Did you naturally drift into those genres or was it acase of being handed an opportunity?Gregory: In the case of jazz, I grew up in Boston at a time whenjazz was everywhere, and very accessible. Funk, and Soul, was the music we allheard on the radio, as well as more sophisticated bands like Steely Dan,Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, and the like wereplayed on college radio.

Gregory Jones

Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, African, and various other worldmusic, was the result of being a little familiar with latin jazz through someof my favorite players like Anthony Jackson with Michel Camilo. I could fake ita bit! I got a call to do a last minute restaurant gig with a brother andsister group, Cidinho and Vera Mara Texeira, and drummer Vanderlei Pereira. Allfrom Brazil.I was a really strong sight reader, and could groove. They offered me steadyweekends, and proceeded to school me on the vast music of Brazil mixedwith their jazz approach. That led to working with bands from Peru, Uruguay,Argentina, West Africa, South Africa,Parisian-Afro scene. It's a lifelong study, as each country, and region havetheir own rhythms-just the individual islands in the Caribbean alone, one couldspend years absorbing. It has also given me a deeper appreciation of our ownmusic, such as soul, rock, and jazz
Kat’s Theory: Courtney, You've done a lot of work inBroadway orchestras, and also touring with some very well known artists. Iwould think it's a lot easier to have a normal life playing on Broadway butit's probably more fun to be on the road. Other than the economic factor, whatwould make you choose one over the other?Courtney: Many factors come into play. Theeconomic factor is very important, but so is the fun factor, the quality of themusic, the travel conditions when on the road, the company, etc. And of course,once you have a family, it can be hard to leave home for extended periods.
Kat’s Theory: David, playing drums behind Ben E. King,The Shirelles, Southside and playing at the New Jersey Hall of Fame (NJHOF).Was that two different years you played at that event?David: They started that four years ago and I’vebeen in the pit band there every year. Originally I played with LaBamba &the Hubcaps since 1982. And though they were still located in New York when we did the first year at the NJHOF, now of course theyare located in California.But he’s come back each year to do those, and I will still fly somewhere….to doa Hubcaps gig. It’s a great little gig for us to do, it’s a solid packedweekend and we always get to play with some nice people. And to play at thatperformance center (New Jersey Performing Arts Center) is reallybeautiful.
Kat’s Theory: Now do you go into it with a differentmindset when you’re playing with somebody like Phoebe Snow?David: Well, I played with her and had doneinternational touring with her before and she was a Jerseygirl. Everyone in the band has known her and done some stuff with her, so thatwas easy.I will tell you a very funny story about the NJHOF. It wasin 2011 and it was all politicians, scientists, doctors and athletes. It’s thegovernor, Woody Johnson and it’s just to create some publicity for New Jersey, so to speak.They had Susan Sarandon, Jack Nicholson, Yogi Berra, I mean all these famous New Jersey people boughtinto the concept. So they’re given some sort of award and they have some otherfamous people introducing them… that maybe have a relationship with them. Westart to rehearse during the week because there’s always a special guest, And Southside was a guest in 2011.
It’s a long day, lots of rehearsing. So we do the show andwe’re at the last three minutes of a two-hour show. “We’re Having A Party” withSouthside Johnny, and the producer of the whole event is standing in the wingsand Joe Piscopo is standing with him…with a pair of drumsticks in his hand.We’re in the last song, the last part of the last song, and the two of themcome over to the drum riser and he points to me “Joe sits in.” I’mlike“You’re kidding right.” But I didn’t have a choice. All theguests were on stage, like sixty people on stage and so I sort of move over onthe drums. So Joe comes up and sits down and I take literally a step and a halfand I’m going “Oh my god, he can’t play drums.” He can’t playand we’re in the encore.
It was like a tidal wave from the back of the bandstandthrough to the front. The groove is destroyed. Joe Piscopo cannot play and I’mpissed and upset all at the same time. So really quickly this tidal wave hitsthe front of the stage and Southside turns around like “What the fuck?” Andit really messed him up, and the gig had gone great. His songs beforehand weregreat. So he throws the mic down, storms off the stage and there he practicallyruns into me. We are standing about two inches from each other and he’sspitting at me “How could you fucking do that to me? What the fuck didyou let him go up on stage?” “Don’t be yelling at me, I had no choice.” Imean we’re like face to face spitting at each other. And I did eight years withSouthside, I know him. So he leaves and the show sort of just collapses at thatpoint in time. We made up, it was fine and everything like that, but to me it’sjust another Southside story.
Kat’s Theory: Lora, You step out in the front for “BrightLights.” Great vocal. How did you approach that vocal and did you have to fightTim to get the lead on it?

Lora: Actually Tim wrote that for me. Being theamazing vocal coach that he is, he created a song that he thought reallycomplimented my vocal register and helped take me out of my shell a little bit.He really had me in mind with that song and said Lora “I have thisidea, can you come over and hear it?” And we went through it maybefive or ten minutes and it was so natural. It was a natural fit. Before I hadeven performed it or recorded it, it felt like it was so much a part of me. Sothat’s a very special song.
Kat’s Theory: “To The Bone” You have this big wall ofsound that comes at you and it’s just fabulous. How did you come up with hugetidal wave of sound to start it out with?
Tim: Well, as we’re playing out live more, we’restarting to get a feel for how we want to interact with the audiences and whatsort of energy to bring. When we did our first gig, our library of songs, maybehalf of them are mid tempo, some of them are ballads, bluesy…very much not thiskind of raucous, wild, in your face live energy six song, half hour set. Ourwhole library of music is much wider ranging. Real diverse. So sometimes itfeels we need, in a six or seven song set, to bring a little more energy, morepunch. Because in the sort of in-and-out half hour set, sometimes the slowersongs feel like they dip the energy too much. When “ToThe Bone” came out, it was like "let’s do somethingraucous, a little dirty, a little sort of wild" andthink of a great opener. That was how that idea started and then the wholelyrical content really came more from the chord progression. Usually the lyricsalways come second for me. The chords come and I’ll get the energy of the song.

Kat's Theory: You don’t seem to get writer’s block…Tim: See, the trick to not having writers block,in my opinion is, to in any moment write a crappy song. And be ok with it. Justdon’t stop. I just don’t stop. I try to be very careful at what stage I edit.I’m a big believer in complete, unjudged brain-dumping, look at what comes outand sort of move it around. Turning off that editor for a large part of theinitial creation of a song. I haven’t had that (writer’s block) in a while
Kat's Theory: What does the future hold in store forHouse of Essex?Tim: We’re just gonna keep playing and trying toreach people that would connect to our music.
David: We’ll see how it goes. There’s going to be bumping andbruising along the way. I mean the gigs we’re doing right now, we just sort ofthrow ourselves up on stage. At the level we’re at, there’s no sound check ornothing. Just going up and hittin’ and quittin’ and that’s just part of theprocess. So it’s all good. I know we’re just all excited about keeping ourmomentum moving forward.
Follow House of Essex:
Official Website http://houseofessexband.com/HOE/Welcome.htmlFacebook http://www.facebook.com/HouseOfEssexBandTwitter @HouseofEssex1Reverbnation http://www.reverbnation.com/houseofessex
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