By Maitreya Ravenstar
Portland, Maine-based musicians Jeff Beam and Domonic Lavoie drove south to Skidmore College to play a show at The Wilson Chapel on November 16th, 2024, with the Saratoga/Schenectady band Nice Hockey. They came to the WSPN studio the morning of to record a WSPN Presents, but first we sat down for an interview. We talked about their processes for music-making, the increasingly present need for community, and how they create a life with music as an epicenter.
Jeff Beam is a multi-instrumentalist songwriter from Portland, Maine. He write, performs, records, and releases melodic music tinged with kaleidoscopic soundscapes. Beam seeks to fuse together unorthodox pop melody with compelling sound texture and colorful instrumentation. Jeff Beam tours the US and Canada often and has recently played with Spoon, Big Thief, Chris Cohenm Khruangbin, The New Pornographers, Steve Gunn, Deer Tick, Daniel Romano, and many other fine acts.
Listen to him on Spotify here.
Dominic Lavoie is an accomplished Acadian songwriter, musician and producer based in Portland, Maine. Known for his dynamic artistry and dedication to his craft, Lavoie has shared the stage with renowned acts such as Rayland Baxter, Mikaela Davis, Los Lobos, Dr. Dog, Guster, and Ghost of Paul Revere. With an impressive catalog that includes seven full-length albums, two EPs, and a self-directed music film Mariposa, Lavoie continues to push creative boundaries. His forthcoming album, Round Trip, reunites hum with acclaimed producer Steve Berlin (Los Lobos, Deer Tick), who also helmed Lavoie’s 2020 solo release, Wave With A Broken Arm. In addition to his recording and performing career, Lavoie runs Shabbey Load, a recording studio in Portland where he produces and collaborates with other artists.
Listen to him on Spotify here.
Bios courtesy of the artists’ Spotify profiles
Maitreya Ravenstar: Alright, so I wanted to start with a big ambiguous question. How would you define your identity as a musician?
Dominic Lavoie: Mine comes from curiosity as a kid to just make things. And then finding a medium to do [that] brings me peace of mind and comfort and expression. I also like making things visually with cameras and stuff like that. Music is a way to do that because then I have an excuse to make a music video or something along that line. So it’s also led me to surround myself with people who are also drawn to those things creatively, pursuits of self-expression, figuring out who you are, feeling comfortable. So over the course of my life, I’ve made decisions to hang out with people and ended up being around people who kind of have the same core principles, which is being true to yourself and being nice and trying to find the thing that makes you feel good by expressing yourself. And then I ended up meeting Jeff a long time ago and we’re here. So it’s all kind of connected, it all does branch from just like learning to play music as a kid, realizing I could funnel my writing into that and then it getting way out of control, ending up here.
Jeff Beam: For me, I like chasing sounds, I think. And it’s that very basic concept of just sounds and wherever that leads is where I try to go to. And when I was young–– we were kind of talking about synesthesia earlier. Apparently, I would say certain days of the week had a color correspondent. And so it just seems that sound and I were just attracted to each other. And sound is kind of my entry point for maybe all the other senses too.
MR: Do you have synesthesia?
JB: Yeah, it’s not as prominent now, but yeah, it was a whole thing when I was a kid. Like colors and numbers and times of the year and a calendar. You can visualize a calendar in a certain way in your head. Like it goes in a direction for some people, it’s linear, some people it’s circular. But it all distilled down to sound, I think for me. And I never pictured myself as like a writer or a singer or anything. But once I started playing with sounds, it seemed something that I could gravitate towards and expand. It really started as finding cool sounds in middle school. And just for it to blossom into a whole thing where I can travel around parts of the country with a good friend, and have that community element too. It’s cool to think about. And it’s not something I usually think about. So thank you for the question.
MR: When you say you like finding cool sounds, does that mean like, a door closing in the right way?
JB: Yeah, that’s maybe an extreme example of a found sound. But like, you could go the route of everything is music. And where do you want to draw the line of what you want to incorporate? For me, I guess it’s the smaller circle of the sounds of the instruments and the exact timbre of a guitar sound or an amp or a keyboard. And then how they all blend together, making a bigger sound. And then also coupling that, weaving that in with making music that I think is interesting and chords that sound interesting.
MR: Do you guys both write all your music?
DL: Yep.
JB: Yep.
MR: What is that process like for you?
DL: That’s a good question. I’ve been thinking about it a lot because I’m going to start teaching a songwriting course at the Maine College of Art in Portland. I just got asked to be the professor there, which is insane. So I’m going to go teach a songwriting course. I said yes, because I’m most excited to actually have to think about that question on a bigger scale. It might just be [that] I write down one line that pops in my head, but there’s no music for it. And then that is the seed. Or I have a whole guitar thing and then I need words. Or I’m making a beat and then some melody pops in my head and silly words pop in. And those silly words sometimes are the lyrics that stay. So there’s no clear cut way to do it. So I don’t know how to teach it yet. I think it’s very gray. There’s no right way to do it. Recording helps though. I put a record out in 2021. And those are all songs that ended up being the genesis of [being] around a campfire camping. I went camping a bunch that summer, and I just was noodling around. And then I’d get to a point and be like, I should record that. And then revisit it in the fall. And start to be, like there’s songs here. And then make them into a thing. I like that process a lot because that just seemed like a stream of consciousness kind of thing.
MR: Yeah. Organic.
DL: Yep. It’s tough to sit down and be like, I’m going to write it. I’m going to make something. And make it actually good.
JB: Well you said a stream of consciousness, and that’s I think it’s where it is for me. It’s setting an environment where you can kind of be subconscious or unconscious about it. Sometimes a lot of songs come if you just have an instrument in your hands. And you’re just watching TV and your hands are making shapes and you’re not consciously thinking about what you’re doing and then you just sneak [up on] yourself, and you’re just like, what did I just do here. It can come from anywhere. And you said, like, a door slamming. I do think sometimes it’s more like a melodic thing in the world. I’ll hear birds mixing with a city sound. And sometimes that’s the spark for a thing. I record a lot of the instruments myself, so I like layering in the studio. So that’s where the sounds blending kind of thing, I’m just getting into the nitty-gritty of all that. So that’s what gets me going a lot. But I do like working with a band as well. It’s two sides of the coin.
MR: Yeah well I was curious because with music it’s kind of an inherently collaborative art form because you’re working with other people. So how do you work collaboration into your own creative practice? And is there an aspect of self-sacrifice when you’re writing with others?
DL: Yeah you can’t help it. But the trick is to be okay with it. Luckily we both play with people who are very very good. So we write collaboratively a lot. We’ve been a band since like 2019. So we’ve done three records. So we have a flow. We already know the boundaries of what we would think would be corny. And so we’re working within a set of parameters already just based on taste. And then it typically turns into something that I love. But then the recording process is like a whole other series of, like, 10,000 decisions. The mixing? The mastering? Who’s doing it? Where are they doing it? How much is it going to cost? What can you afford to do? It’s never what I thought it was going to be at the beginning. And that’s not bad. It’s just the process.
JB: And I usually don’t get other people involved in the writing and sometimes recording process. Sometimes I do, and I have been doing it more lately. But historically it’s been me writing on my own. Me demoing the thing. Slowly fleshing out the demo and then bringing that to a studio and recording all the parts myself. Like me on drums, me on guitar. And it’s been a fun philosophy because the ego element is not there on every instrument. Like, if the drums need to be painfully simple to serve the song, it’s as simple as it needs to be. Nobody’s bummed that they don’t have a more expressive part. And the band that I have play with me, the group of musicians I do, are really understanding that it is a vision for me. And they’re on board with it. They’re perfectly okay to serve the song. And when you play live you do get some variations and sometimes, like Dom said, the new idea will come. It’s up to the artist to observe that and catch the opportunity when it goes by. And so what I’ve done is I’ve recorded the albums myself. And then I like recording live and then putting out a live version of the same songs with the players. And it’s got a different energy to it. So there’s definitely some things you can’t replicate if you’re doing things on your own. So you’re always compromising something. For me the process is finding that sound, finding the production. Just kind of going down the wormhole.
DL: It’s super fun. It’s addicting, creating like that. That’s my whole goal in life, to just keep making records. It’s so fun. Every step of the process. I’ve been working on [an album] since two Octobers ago. We went to a studio for a week, then spent most of the year doing overdubs. And I worked with a producer. Those were Zoom sessions. So I was in my studio and he was producing from wherever he was on the road. He’s in a band called Los Lobos. And they were everywhere. And so that was an interesting process, time consuming and you have to be patient. You get one thing done. I’ll see you next week. And so you make progress and then it’s mixing, mastering. And that is time consuming, detail oriented work. I’m staring at my computer screen for like eight hours, shifting letters and all that stuff. And I like every step of the process. It’s great. And now I’m there. I just ordered the vinyl and the CDs.
JB: It’s real.
DL: Yeah, exactly. It’s exciting. It’s going to come and I’ll be like, hey, here’s what we did.
MR: Yeah, and I love what you said about serving the song. Like, finding what works for that specific thing that you just made.
JB: And that comes out of the vision I think sometimes too. Some people hear things a different way.
DL: Some songs don’t want a lot of things on them. Some songs are like, I hear horns on here.
JB: So that’s why it’s important to collaborate with people who you know [will] bring something to the table that you might not have.
DL: Something that I’ve worked hard on is not throwing the kitchen sink at it because you can. Because of digital recording, you can basically layer endless amounts of things on top. So you can get carried away. And I have gotten carried away.
JB: We’re both dubbing in tape machines now. That limits you to a certain number of tracks.
DL: Exactly.
JB: You have to combine tracks if you want to open them up. It’s a good limit.
DL: Yeah. Confines are good.
JB: And the sound is really good.
DL: It’s good to have self-imposed guardrails sometimes. And technology is one. Like, I have a studio. There’s good gear in it. But it’s modest nonetheless. And it’s nice to have a limit. I don’t have access to everything. So then I have to get creative with it.
MR: Yeah. So you don’t get consumed.
DL: Yeah. That’s a whole other thing.
JB: It’s fun to have limits on the gear you have. What’s the most I can do with this gear that I have? Or what’s a different way to use it that it’s not intended for? That’s where the real creative fun stuff happens.
MR: Are music-related-things both of your full-time jobs?
DL: Yeah.
JB: Yeah.
MR: How did you make that happen for yourself?
JB: I’ve been in the venue industry for almost a decade now. I just bounced around town in various media jobs. Worked for a magazine for a bit. My degree is in politics. So I was in politics for a while. I was the Director of Communication for a U.S. Senate race in Maine 10 years ago. And it was a rough experience honestly. So I just looked to do something else, and I was already playing music. If I’m spending all day booking bands at a venue (which is what I was doing), it’s going to naturally rub off onto being able to book myself. If nothing else then I’m well practiced at it. So at some point it was just a practical thing. And thankfully I had the opportunity to make it happen. I had a few people in town looking out for me. And somebody recommended me for the job. So just kind of knocking at the door long enough [until] you get in kind of thing. I’m still involved with venues. And then having a job that allows the schedule flexibility to occasionally do things like this and get out on the road. It all comes together at some point hopefully.
DL: I think I just ended up just saying yes to the things that I wanted to do. And saying no to things I didn’t want to do. But it was like a 10 year process of filtering it. So I’ve worked a million jobs, some really crappy work. Like, I’ve worked in a paper mill before. I went to school for Media Studies. But I really went to school to play music with people. Eventually it was like a 5 year period where I had one dedicated W2 income source, mostly making money off of running live sound. Playing gigs. Recording people. DJing weddings. I’ve been on the radio for almost 20 years, on commercial stations in Portland, learning about the music scene that way. And then just saying yes. Yeah it’s like 6 or 7 different revenue streams coming in that make probably one revenue stream. They all feed each other. Because sometimes it’s like I’ll go DJ some weddings. I don’t love to DJ weddings. It pays alright. And I have all the gear. And I know the music. I love music. So I know all the songs. I’ll go do that gig. And then the wedding planner there, the following year, is like, I’ve got some cocktail hours for you to play. And then I go play those cocktail hours. They pay great.
JB: And then you meet somebody there.
DL: As long as it’s related to music. I feel like it’s always kind of helped. Even the original albums. I’ll put them out. And it’ll affect my immediate circle for the most part. But that helps with all the other things. And all the other things end up helping with that. They’re not isolated pursuits. They all kind of just blend in.
JB: It’s all the same song.
DL: It’s interesting. I only figured that out by getting to where I’m like, oh, I guess this is what I’m doing. It’s very weird how it happens.
MR: I was curious about what the community is like in Portland. And also are there any specific creative or musical spaces that exist? Or that you want to exist?
DL: Yeah, I’ve been in Portland for over 20 years. And it’s not the same town. But that’s to be expected. Things change.
JB: COVID really changed it too.
DL: Yeah, it’s just tons of people moving there. There’s more money there. It’s more marginalized. There’s more homeless people. And there’s more rich people at the same time. And everybody who could afford to live and work there on a modest income, they don’t live there anymore. So a lot of the artists have moved out. So that’s a bummer.
JB: But there’s still some cool spots.
DL: That’s why people move there and then everybody gets pushed out. It’s kind of a classic tale. So when I first started playing music in town, there were way more smaller venues that you could kind of make a name at. And then there were medium venues and then larger venues. And it was almost like a path. The commercial radio stations played local music.
JB: They were a big part of the ecosystem.
DL: They were national acts and it created an energy and a buzz about these bands. So there was almost like a little ecosystem. There were weeklies that would print shows. There was infrastructure built around showcasing art and promoting it. And that doesn’t exist anymore. That’s all gone. So now if you just moved to town and you were starting from scratch, there are a handful of places to play for sure, but there’s no middle ground. It’s all just like these little DIY venues and then these huge rooms.
JB: There’s nothing that connects.
DL: So that’s the bummer. If I could change something, I would get some more mid-sized rooms in there. For sure. And more practice spaces probably. I’m very lucky I have one.
JB: Like a hub, a media hub, like something that covers local music more frequently, a place that hosts video performances that people all watch, people that write music reviews.
DL: There’s a really great college radio station there that does stuff like this.
JB: Yeah, and they do some of the local music on WMPG. Shout out. I was a DJ there for a bit.
DL: They’re great.
JB: And I went to Emerson too, and we did WERS. It’s a really good program there. College radio stations end up being the cultural hubs a lot of times. That’s why we love being here today. But some kind of a media hub where everybody’s talking about the scene and people. We just don’t have that. Like you said, the middle is gone. I’d say the same thing.
MR: Yeah. Well, I mean this is going to be an article that’s on our college radio website. So do you have any advice for student musicians and how to enter the world and make music and art their life?
DL: I would say, don’t be close-minded towards what you’re doing with music. Don’t pigeonhole yourself ahead of time. Jeff and I were talking on the way here, like, last night we played a Neil Young song. But we’ve played that song together a lot because another thing Jeff and I do is we just play like tons of cover gigs. We’ll play anything.
JB: Yeah, they pay pretty well sometimes.
DL: There’s an infrastructure in Portland to play cover gigs, so it’s a way to pay the bills. We go play other people’s songs. And I don’t have any problem with making money doing that. I’m playing music. I’m getting better by learning other people’s songs. I’m learning about songwriting through other people’s work.
JB: It’s fun to play songs that people respond to in that way sometimes too.
DL: Yeah, and I’m keeping my skills. I’m honing my skills. So I would say, yeah, just don’t limit yourself to like, you know, I only do original stuff. There’s always a debate about tribute acts and all this stuff. What about the original music? I think it’s all the same thing. As long as you’re playing music. I mean it does suck sometimes that you could play a cover show and there’s like 300 people there when you’re playing other people’s music, and no one comes out to your own shit. That’s not great. But from my point of view, at least I’m playing some music and it’s keeping me moving.
JB: And you can slip your originals in too.
DL: Exactly. So I think I would say, yeah, just don’t be close-minded about your direction. Just do it all because it all supports itself. You’ll get better by learning other people’s stuff. And then work on your stuff. Try to get your stuff to be as good as the stuff that you’re playing that people are excited about.
JB: That’s good. I would encourage folks to get to the heart of why they’re doing what they’re doing and what they want to achieve, whether it’s making a career out of it and being a well-known person and making music that people really like, or if it’s for your own thing, or if you do it just to kind of travel or for your own use and you never release it. But to kind of hone in on what you want and if you really want to make it, don’t assume someone will just kind of find you. You’ve got to knock on just about every door to get to the audience you want. I would also say musically really think about what you’re doing too, and hone in on what makes you tick for a song that you really like, and then if you can crack the code and then write your own version of that. You can borrow from influences but not copy them completely. Rewriting the code. What makes this song work and then how can I do that version of myself? And just really getting into the craft of songwriting and taking songwriting courses at art schools taught by amazing local musicians.The experts.
MR: Well thank you so much.
DL: Thank you. This is awesome.
MR: Is there anything else that you wanted to speak on?
JB: Everybody should buy Dominic’s albums.
DL: Everyone should buy Jeff’s albums.
Jan 22., 2025