The Ian Harland Interview.

Ian Harland is a hard guy to get ahold of. Spreading his time between many  musical projects, maintaining a successful lesson studio, and networking leaves little time for cool guy interviews.  I cornered him a week or so ago after a rehearsal and forced him to answer some questions for all his fans.  He was reluctant at first, not wanting to blow the minds of those not prepared the fury of four mallet madness.  However, his outspoken humor soon crept out.

Since the infamous Loft incident, I’ve been getting a lot of searches on my channel for Eric Harland. Are you related to him?

Not only am I related to him, I AM HIM! …but really no. I think it would be cool to collaborate with him someday. Just to confuse people 🙂

Vibraphonist Ian Harland prepares to make music.

You were killing it on the drums the other night at The Rook with Charlie, I had no idea.  So, what is your primary: vibes or drums?

Well I’ve played drums since I was 11, so in a sense, it will always be my “primary” instrument.  However, the last few years I’ve really been focused on vibes. I love the sound, and I think it’s an underrated instrument with many unexplored possibilities yet to be tapped into.  I feel like there are so many great drummers out there, and I’ve kind of decided that I don’t want to compete with them, I’d rather just play with them! That being said I still enjoy playing drums as much as I ever did.  I’m just professionally pursuing vibes these days more.

Do you play any other instruments?
Yes. I’ve been able to pick up some piano, guitar, and bass chops along the way as well. I don’t really practice on them though (except piano a bit). Mostly I just play them for fun (or composition) with no real goals in mind.

How has playing multiple instrument families helped you on the other instruments?
Well, I believe that regardless of what instrument you play, we are all drummers first. Music, especially jazz, is rhythmic and the notes are there to be pretty and tell a story.  But jazz doesn’t really happen until that rhythmic thing gets going. So I found that my experience keeping time on drums helped my vibes playing a lot. It has definitely been an interesting transition though, because on drums you are the “time keeper,” whereas on vibes, it’s ok to push and pull the beat more, so I’ve had to in a way redefine my concept of time for the instrument.

Is it true that vibraphone is ultimate chick instrument?  I mean, women find a vibraphonist irriesatable right?
Yes. You heard right Chris. That’s the main reason I switched to vibes from drums.

Dude, I’m not kidding. A few years back I was checking out Robert Glasper at  a club in NYC.  Stephan Harris walked into the club with a model on each arm.  I’m not kidding.

I believe it. He’s a sexy man. Musically speaking. And physically.

Speaking of vibraphonists, I think in a death match I would give Nathan Hubbard 3 to 1 odds over you.  Sorry.

I’ll take those odds.

Your brother is also a musician.  Do your parents play too? Was there music in the house growing up?

Yes. My dad plays guitar, bass and clarinet. He never pursued it professionally but he’s a good player. There was always Miles Davis playing around the house. My dad is a big jazz fan.

Do you ever get tired of explaining to people the difference between a xylophone, a marimba and vibes?

Yeah. I’m thinking of switching to xylophone for that exact reason. I’ve also been thinking of switching to AK-47 for that reason.

You’re involved in a lot of projects now.  What do you have going on?

Well I made a lot of friends (and frenemies) going to SDSU so most of my projects somehow relate back to that. Right now I’m working with a Septet doing all original arrangements for a show coming up on the 30th of May. I’m also involved with a group led my Mack Leighton called the Proxy Quartet – we’re hoping to record an album in August. Other than that, I’m playing with an old professor of mine, Richard Thompson in a group: Spiral; and I’ve been playing in a trio with Tim McMahon on drums and Rob Whitlock on organ up at Northern Spirits. Of course I’m also playing with guitar god, Chris Lougeay and his quintet.  As far as drums goes, I mostly play with my rock group, Addicted to the Vibe, which is always a good time.

10. Do you draw any influences from outside music?

Yes I love playing outdoors. Except when it’s raining.

11. Is there anything you’d like to promote?

Yes. Clorox wipes. The ultimate in wiping your toilet seat after you have jazz induced explosive diarrhea.

 

 

Ian Harland will be performing live with The Chris Lougeay Quartet on May 10th, 2015 at The UTC Westfeild Mall.

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