Talk about being in the right place and at the right time. Normally, I’m not blessed with great timing but I consider myself fortunate to reach Randy Honea when he had his last copy of Still Life. Now sitting in front of me, in real life, was this, his album — a heady, moving mix of ECM-style jazz, self-made minimalism, and very American-style acoustic New Age — that still spoke to a great rung of music few, at least in this side of the world, dared to explore. I knew I just couldn’t leave it there. I had to reach out to him to shed some light on this record.
You see, many moons ago, I stumbled upon this wonderful track called “All I Need” on YouTube when I was going through some deep pastoral mood music investigation. In that track from Still Life I heard the intricate horizon-level minimalism of Mr. Metheny, the windswept quasi-synthetic multitrack harmonics of Balearic mastermind Joan Bibiloni and all sorts of little touches from quite forgotten, quite tasteful music curators who weren’t afraid to dial-it back just a little to hit a bigger mood.
To understand that this came out of the state of Georgia, in 1986, made about as perfect sense as did its wonderfully composed album cover.
So, without further delay, I made it a goal of mine to get in touch with Randy. I understood there was a story to tell and I wanted him to tell that story. There was no sense in keeping this secret to myself. In doing so, my hope is that others can find a way to bring his body of work back into our history.
F/S: Can you tell us a bit of where you’re from and where you live now?
Randy Honea: I was born in Rome, Georgia. I moved to the Atlanta area in 1979. In 2013 my father-in-law became ill so we moved up here to Rome to take care of him. After he passed we just decided to stay. The music scene in Atlanta had slowed down considerably. I think we made the right decision.
F/S: How did the music bug strike you?
Randy Honea: I first picked up the guitar at around 8 or 9 years old. The music bug really got me when I saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show in, I guess, 1963 or 1964. I had never heard anything like that before. It wasn’t so much the guitar playing as it was the sound as a good whole.
F/S: What inspired you to pick up guitar?
Randy Honea: My parents bought me my first guitar. If I remember correctly it was made of plastic! I’m not sure if I chose the guitar or it chose me. Even though I did play other instruments through the years, the guitar was always the instrument I most identified with.
F/S: What were you up to musically before the recording of “Still Life”?
Randy Honea: Before Still Life I was playing a lot in the Atlanta area. Back in the 1980’s the music scene in Atlanta was going strong. I was playing everything from hotel gigs to jazz clubs to recording sessions, sometimes 7 days a week. I was lucky enough to work my way into the studio scene and did quite a few sessions back then.
F/S: Can you tell us how “Still Life” came into creation? Where was this made?
Randy Honea: Back during that time ECM records were very popular. I was influenced by a lot of their recordings — the records of ECM and Windham Hill and guitarists such as Ralph Towner, early Bill Connors and other similar artists. Also back then Windham Hill records were popular. I was very interested in acoustic guitar music.
Originally the album was going to be just an acoustic guitar and piano duo, recorded live in the studio. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out because of personal problems the piano player was going through. So, I had to switch gears and piece something together. That’s where Donna Banks came into the picture.
I kept the duo songs I’d already written and filled the rest out with these other songs you’ll hear. I never intended to have any electronic music on there but I needed to have enough music to complete the album. It ended up being recorded at a friend’s studio called Southern Living at Its Finest.
F/S: Can you share a bit more about Donna? Was she a musical acquaintance of yours or a session musician?
Randy Honea: We played in a band together for about a year. She was a local keyboard player and singer.
F/S: Other than yourself, I see that there was another musician (Donna Banks) on synthesizers, who helped create the album. What were the sessions like for this album?
Randy Honea: Donna was the only other musician on the album. I did all of the programming and the short solo guitar piece.
F/S: Atlanta is not known — at least outside the rock world — for inspiring musicians to make music of this type. Were you one of a few interested in this kind of New Age, New Music, European-kind of ambient jazz (at least in Atlanta) back then? I’m trying to jog my memory and I can’t find others from that area making music like this.
Randy Honea: That’s right. There weren’t many people I knew who were interested in that type of music.
F/S: I’m really fascinated by the sonics of “Still Life”, it has an intriguing mix of acoustic and electric guitar plus this whole other realm of guitar synthesis, computer and drum machine sequencing. What kind of gear were you working on? and how did that influence this music?
Randy Honea: I had gotten my guitar synth a few years before, a Roland GR-700. As much as I loved acoustic guitar, I became fascinated with the guitar synth. I think the drum machine I used belonged to the studio. I do remember programming that there. I don’t think the gear influenced the music at first. When the direction changed, the gear definitely influenced the music.
F/S: The Roland GR-700 was famously used by Pat Metheny, as well. Was there a learning curve to make all these other instruments work together in your compositions? When and how long did these sessions take place?
Randy Honea: There was a learning curve to that synth. But I had been working with music computers for a while by the time I got the Roland, so it wasn’t all that hard. The sessions were spread out quite a bit so I can’t remember exactly how long it took. I’m sure it wasn’t all that long, though. I didn’t have the budget to be in the studio forever!
F/S: Can you share some of your thoughts on tracks like “Trapizie”, “Still Life” and “All I Need”?
Randy Honea: “All I Need” from what I remember was definitely written with acoustic guitar and piano in mind. The others were more likely rearranged for the new format.
F/S: Is there any specific track or are there any tracks you still remember proudly of?
Randy Honea: I guess any of the tracks with Donna I remember fondly. It’s been so long that I would have to go back and listen to the whole album again with fresh ears. I might do that.
F/S: Can you share some thoughts on the making of that album cover? A lot of people really think its design nails the music heard within.
Randy Honea: Thanks. The cover was designed by a local artist and photographer.
F/S: Who was the braintrust behind signing you and/or releasing this record? What was the reception like for it?
Randy Honea: My good friend Steve Johnson suggested we do a project together. He financed the project and we set up STJ Records. The reception was pretty good. I got some airplay here in the Southeast and did some newspaper and radio interviews.
F/S: Was this a privately-pressed record? If so, how many copies were released into the wild? I wonder what became of STJ Records. Were there any plans by yourself or others to follow this up with something else?
Randy Honea: The album was pressed at a local Atlanta plant. I could be wrong but I think we pressed about 200 albums and maybe 100 or so cassettes. We gave away quite a few to radio stations and record shops for promotion purposes. I think all of the cassettes sold out. I do still have the original master cassette plus the master 1/4 and 1/2 -inch tapes.
Unfortunately the remaining albums were destroyed in a flood at one of my old houses. There was really no plan for another album, at least on my part. I was kind of burned out on that music and wanted to do something else. STJ Records was just a one off label for this album.
F/S: Is there any other work we can hear from you or that you can share with us? Was there any other work from this period that you still have on tape somewhere?
Randy Honea: I don’t think I have anything else on tape from that period. I do have quite a few more recent live performances uploaded on mediafire.com, though, if anybody is interested!
F/S: Were you able to further explore the styles or ideas you had on “Still Life”, elsewhere?
Randy Honea: No, not really. After that I kind of lost interest in that style of music for a while. Since then I have been in and out of that style of music. I am considering doing a follow up to Still Life since now I can record at home and edit and mix everything myself.
F/S: Is there anything you’re working on now or would like to share with our readers about your current career/life?
Randy Honea: With the whole Covid thing still going on, the live music scene isn’t what it used to be. I am hoping everything gets better but we will have to wait and see.
Maybe now, actually, would be a good time to do Still Life ver 2! I will let you know.