Forgoing the drama that can come when trying to settle creative differences in a full band and the steep East Coast rent, Phillip-Michael Scales headed to Chicago seeking greener pastures, or at least a cheaper apartment. Having wrapped up his formal music education at Berklee College of Music, Scales was ready to strike out on his own under the new moniker Briar Rabbit.Taking his East Coast experience and reflecting upon it, Scales created Briar Rabbit’s debut release, Briar Rabbit & The Company You Keep, an album whose recording was appropriately divided between Boston and Chicago using friends and former band-mates.
Briar Rabbit & The Company You Keep is a record of reassessment, chronicling the musician’s transition from one place to another as he embraced his newly granted musical independence. To place Briar Rabbit in any one genre is difficult. While Scales seems to have a penchant for jazzy melodies and what can only be described as the folk equivalent to shredding, there is also a touch of jaunty indie pop in songs such as “The Company You Keep” and “Note to Self: Make New Mistakes”. We can’t say that Briar Rabbit and the Company You Keep easily lends itself to direct comparison either, which is a refreshing find. We definitely were reminded of Matt Pond PA and fellow Midwestern local Jeremy Messersmith, due to the strong, clear quality of Phillip-Michael’s voice as well as his talent for weaving the style of present day indie pop with 60’s era pop rock. Scales manages to almost perfectly balance diversity and cohesiveness without jeopardizing the natural feeling of progression an album should bring.
Reviewsic favorites from Briar Rabbit and the Company You Keep include “Tread Lightly” for its string accompaniment, light organ and sweetly self-aware lyrics like, “I’ve been warned/ but its never stopped me before/ I love like a clumsy kid/ whose limbs are too big/ I break the pretty things on accident” and comforting chorus of, “And I know this sounds selfish/ but please just bear with me/ because for the first time in a long time/ what I want is what I need”
All throughout Briar Rabbit and the Company You Keep, Scales invites the listener to share in his story of getting from point A to point B, which as it turns out, is one that most of us can relate to. A record played with impressive instrumental proficiency and written with a noticeable sense of earnestness, Briar Rabbit and the Company You Keep is a debut from a newly budding project that is going to surprise you with how well developed it is.
Briar Rabbit on Bandcamp
Briar Rabbit on Facebook
Catch Briar Rabbit tomorrow night at the Double Door
Phillip-Michael Scales, the man behind the moniker, took some time to answer all our pressing questions about Briar Rabbit and the Company You Keep, his growth as a musician and who he’d like to bring along on his dream tour.
Reviewsic: What are your top three musical influences?
Phillip-Michael Scales: The Beatles, Soul, and early jazz.
Reviewsic: Is there any instrument you don’t play, but wish you did?
Phillip-Michael Scales: Oh sure, tons. I would love to learn trumpet or be sweet at piano. I’d just play rag piano all day long. It’s some of my favorite stuff.
Reviewsic: What are the last three albums or bands you listened to?
Phillip-Michael Scales: Kevin Devine – Brother’s Blood, The Weakerthans – Left and Leaving, and The Best of Otis Redding.
Reviewsic: If you could work with one person in the music industry (musician, label, producer etc), who would it be and why?
Phillip-Michael Scales: I haven’t given it much thought but I think Jack White would be a really cool producer. He approaches music so much differently than I do so I think the record would sound rad.
Reviewsic: If you could book a tour with any 3 bands, past or present, who would they be and why?
Phillip-Michael Scales: I’d want a songwriters tour with Oberst, Kevin Devine, and Bill Withers. The show would be so inconsistent but I’d love to have beers with that group and talk shop.
Reviewsic: Lately we’ve been on this kick of revisiting bands we didn’t pay as much attention to in the past and wondering, “Why didn’t I listen to this 10 years ago?”- If you could go back in time and push 3 bands/records on your younger self, 
who/what would they be and why?
Phillip-Michael Scales: Fevers and Mirrors by Bright Eyes & Tom Waits:
When I was first introduced I couldn’t get past either one’s voices and it wasn’t until I heard “Wide Awake” Or “Heart of A Saturday Night” that I could go back with a different ear and love it. OK computer – Radiohead: I don’t know where I was or what was going on but I’d tie my fifteen year old self to a chair and play that record on repeat till he got it.
Reviewsic: Tell us about this new release- where did the inspiration for it come from? Did you set out with the specific intention to make the sort of record your made or were the end results surprising?
Phillip-Michael Scales: The inspiration was moving from Boston to Chicago. It was the end of my band, college, relationships and then trying to restart and put roots down here. I didn’t intend it to be but it was an exhalation of being in music school. Without the constant pressure of writing great, complex, cool songs I wrote ones I was really happy with. I didn’t really figure out what it was until the songs were done.
Reviewsic: How would you compare yourself as a musician at this point as opposed to when you first began writing music as Briar Rabbit?
Phillip-Michael Scales: Since Briar Rabbit is only a year old and still getting on it’s feet, I have to compare myself as a musician. My writing has become more precise and I’m playing more with textures and subtly (arranging wise). I’ve read more books and practiced more so there’s more to pull from.
Reviewsic: What are some of your favorite cities/venues to play? Any places you haven’t gotten to that you’re dying to play at?
Phillip-Michael Scales: I played this spot called the Drake Hotel in Toronto and it was pretty much the coolest ever. I haven’t played much of Chicago but I’m for sure excited to play the whistler and the dirt room. I do think the coolest show would be to play on that tiny stage at rainbo club on Damen. The bar is in between the stage and it’d be the oddest set up ever.
Reviewsic: What are the best and worst music moments so far in your career? In Phillip-Michael Scales: Briar Rabbit there have thankfully been no worsts. There have been a lot of awesome moments. I think the best is when I played my first in my loft and everyone was super enthusiastic and having a great time.
Reviewsic: What are three words you’d use to describe your music to someone who’s never heard it?
Phillip-Michael Scales: Thought-Pop…and I still have one to spare.
Reviewsic: What are your plans for your music in the next year? Do you have any special resolutions for 2011?
Phillip-Michael Scales: To play with some of my favorite locals (Dirty Diamonds, Jared Bartman, 1900’s etc)
-Collaborate with as many poster artists as possible
-Play Wicker Park fest.
I’m also making a music video, releasing a split album about a minstrel in 1890’s with my best friend, writing a full length that’s better than this, and making exactly 58 friends.
Tags: Interview, New Music, recent release, stream
