By Jayne Ellen White
Midtown Memphis’ music scene is prolific, much like one of its primary contributors, the multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Graham Winchester. Winchester can be seen performing as one half of the band Turnstyles, and co-founded Memphis’ Blast Habit Records in 2021. The label’s first release, So Gung Ho, is also one of Winchester’s many music projects, but the label has plans to release as much Memphis music as possible in the coming years. A Blast Habit Records festival is in the works for the fall of 2022, but until then you can catch Winchester on tour around the world playing drums for garage rock legend like The Reigning Sound and Jack Oblivian, or locally in bands like Devil Train, The Sheiks, The Md’s, and more. We sat down with Graham to ask him 5 questions.
What are some of the advantages or disadvantages that you see in the current Memphis music infrastructure?
We have an incredible pool of really cool tape and analog studios– from Sam Phillips recording, Memphis Magnetic, to Southern Grooves, Royal Studios, Sun, and even home studios. There are a ton of those resources. There are so many ways to record here. There are also a lot of really good musicians here. Memphis has always been a breeding ground for raw talent. It’s an amazing place for musicians to live too–– with comparatively lower rent.
I’d like to see licensing and pay increases for musicians. I really feel like what’s lacking is on the rise. When that rise meets the talent that is here and ready, other scenes will take note that we are a force to be reckoned with. Hopefully when that happens, the rent won’t rise too sharply.
That said, I really just think we are such a cool community and the reason that I started Blast Habit Records is to start another community based thing where we can have a fest, and put out records, and bring people together, share the same stage.
What would you say are some of your direct influences?
I do love so many different genres of music. I studied jazz drumming in college, so I loved that genre for many years. I would say Miles Davis was a big influence, my son’s name is Miles—- and all the branches of musicians that played in his quintets, Coltrane and drummers like Max Roach and Tony Williams. So that is the “Jazz Third” of my influence.
I really think for all of the garage rock that I love, The Sonics best encapsulate that genre of influence for me. They influenced The Oblivians in a big way, they influenced punk directly.
Charlie Rich has got to be in my top three. He is that dude that played a little bit of jazz, a little bit of rock, a little bit of country at certain points. I really feel him. I wish I could meet him and tell him I really feel him getting pulled into every genre. A lot of times that’s how I feel– and I like that!
Also, you gotta say The Beatles, right? The songwriter’s influence for me is with them. They wrote so many wonderful songs. I’m a big fan of short songs. I like to get in and get out. Also, Booker T & The MG’s. They are the greatest band ever- for all the tunes they composed and all the bands they backed, it just puts them in the legendary category.
What is an important music memory you have from a young age?
My friend’s dad took us to the Allman Brothers at Mud Island Amphitheater when I was young and we had front row seats. I just remember Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes firing up a Les Paul and a Gibson SG and it being so loud that it rattled my chest, and it was literally like I was gripped by rock n roll. I felt like somebody was sitting on my chest. Insane sonic energy!
How important is recording your music to you versus performing live and how do you prioritize which is most important in relation to creating for your audience?
I think that once that songwriter spirit is flowing, it’s very important to me to be able to record shortly after that when the idea is very fresh. If you can get that exciting energy and that spark recorded, it’s going to touch the listener way more than something that has been played for years.
When a song is new, there is a crucial need to get that energy down and that’s why guys like Sam Phillips [Sun Records] and Willie Mitchell [Hi Records, Royal Studio] would record something- and it didn’t have to be flawless to get released. If someone listens to one of my records, I want them to be able to go to a show and hear that song in a way that rings a bell, and not something that’s way more stripped down or way more layered. I think it’s nice to have those things match up. I like to keep the studio and the live experience very similar. I like recordings that sound raw and exciting. I don’t want to make a safe record.
Sun Studio, which has been a big influence on my philosophies on recording, has so many examples of that. Carl Perkins did a three oclock in the morning session there after drinking, and later didn’t want it to be released. But that is my favorite Carl [Perkins] song, “Her Love Rubbed Off”. It’s important to give a part of yourself to the listener, otherwise we’d all just stay in our bedrooms.
Speaking of your recording philosophy, how has your philosophy as a creator changed over the years?
If one thing has changed with my songwriting, I think that as I get older, I just don’t care what people think as much anymore. I think that’s kind of the human experience for most people… just IDGAF energy. Ha!
Really, I’ve gotten better at thinking of a human condition that I’ve experienced and relating it to a narrative voice to get the song written. I think too many times people are thinking that songwriting is just.. “Dear Diary..” and that’s the album. I love the ability to just put things through a creative filter and not worry what people think about it. I’ve written songs assuming the identities of a shoplifter and a pyromaniac and I am no longer worried about people thinking I am connected to these fictional characters.
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