Most of the time, Emil & Friends is just the genre-bending, time-traveling, pop-rock-electro-folk “produsingermusicianista” Emil Hewitt. Whatever he is, Hewitt’s production is spotless, and his melodies mellifluous. He has created an enthusiastic fan base, a fantastic EP, and a music video in which he rides a horse through Boston dressed in superhero tights. I got the pleasure of electro-chatting with him via email about his inspirations, his aspirations, and the pros and cons of working alone.

Jesse Diener-Bennett: Hey Emil! Who are you?

Emil Hewitt: I am a produsingermusicianista who answers funny questions on the internet about compositions. like this one. I was grown in a vial in Switzerland to a group of mad scientist women who stole sperm from various members of Spanish royalty in the hopes of creating a clone they could use to infiltrate male dominated society. I am currently a double agent, though on my way to defecting. The events of The Hunt for Red October pretty much.

JDB: How would describe your sound?

EH: I try not to. But since that answer wouldn’t fly without me looking like an a**hole, I’ll say Pop. Or maybe that is worse. Everyone older I know who makes dope music says that when you are young you endlessly imitate and copy…even those f***ers that everyone says sound unique. A genre pops out later, when it is golden brown and crispy, beckoning you to munchify on it. Who cares if it is in the spotlight or not. To be honest I designed the EP to detect people’s music taste. If they call me Electro Pop I know they only listened to the first track, Electro Folk, maybe until track three, “Dance” or “Funk” maybe they weren’t listening at all, Rock n’ Roll and I know they are just trying to sound cool.

JDB: Emil & Friends, at least in the studio, is actually just you, right? Who (or what) are these friends you speak of?

EH: The studio is me. The live band is some folks with their own projects lending a hand: Alex Russek (Proles Productions), Robert M Loggia (Robbie Loggia Productions), David T (Grimis band), Steve Brickman (The Steve Brickman Experience). And a girl and stuff, but she won’t return my calls.

JDB: What are the perks and the downsides of creating music on your own? Do you feel that, as a result of it being entirely your creation, your music has a specifically introverted sound?

EH: Pros:

Greater workflow: I started producing myself by trying to recreate someone else’s recording from scratch. After a few years it started working and now I can point that magic wand at my skull and bring my own ideas off the neuron highway and onto the instruments and tape decks and multitracks and backpacks and sandwiches and have it sound like it did in my head.

Training montage: I think every songwriter needs to spend a few years recording endlessly to really get used to what it sounds like when they make noises. A lot of folks I see on stages around Brooklyn don’t really know what they sound like, your brain can’t process playing and singing and twisting knobs AND evaluating what you sound like. Unless they record or film themselves, treating a gig as a rehearsal. I tried to develop a sense of self in the studio. Now I can collect two hundred dollars and set new goals for things like great rock and roll shows and emotionally supportive girlfriends that look like models but know s*** like scientists.

Fun: One time i made a parody album of this other dude’s Electro Glam band. I recreated the songs exactly and sang all his lyrics in a pirate voice. I did it because I was a fan and wanted to collaborate, but I think he thinks I am an a**hole.

Cons:

Lonely: I gave up a lot of Fridays and Saturdays to get decent at production because I am self-taught. Some of my peers picked it up in no time, although I feel most people do not respect the time it takes to get workflow going. And hell, I don’t even do it correctly. Like I know some good players in some successful groups that decided to just “go solo” and “make a record” and they get upset when they sit down at a computer and it feels like kindergarten again. Know your limitations. Live vicariously through the people you envy and stick to your guns, rather than trying to do everything. Or something.

Expensive: saving up for all the s*** to DIY is a hassle. At DIY’s worst, we are a generation of people that do not understand collaboration and audio quality. At best, we are the people that use that to a creative advantage.

No direct translation to live show: I would tell anyone starting to produce their own project to invest in something that translates to a live show. It will save you time.

People dwelling on it and turning it into an interview question.

As per introverted: some of the hottest belly buttons on the beach these days are innies. it is better than a total outty. 20 years from now nobody will notice the DIY aspect of this generation, we will care about what songs stuck with us. It is like using CGI in mainstream movies. It is not a very good preservative of creative product.

JDB: What inspires you?

EH: Dead Relatives. Medieval stuff. Lots of white lights and swirling fabric. Old movies. My personal life. Mostly though, just seeing the people that never believed in me eat it as I progress. But then again, I’ve doubted myself, so does that mean I also have to eat it? Eat what? I could go for some dumplings right now. Actually, I am just in it for the music, man.

JDB: Who are some of your favorite new bands/producers/musicians?

EH: Railbird. Sonny Chiba. Georgeena and the Lamplights. Miami Horror. Longstreth. Tubgirl. Leggy A-Cup. Lemonparty. We Are Trees. Tony Castles. That new Asian bassist in Jamaica, he is great. I don’t understand what constitutes new…does that mean s***ty? Young? Not yet passed over by Pitchfork? The question just seems born out of the fetish to find the “next big thing” which is the crackpipe of the music blog world. Of Montreal‘s latest release makes them new. That s*** is incredible. Like, I put it on and my action figures come to life.

JDB: What’s the best live show you’ve been to in the past six months?

EH: The Boston Symphony Orchestra doing Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde. ‘Bout to blow. Check the hype machine charts on that one.

JDB: You seem to enjoy mashing up divergent genres of music from multiple decades into one song. Is this something you make a point of doing? What is it about genre-bending that attracts you to it?

EH: A time machine is a part of my arsenal. I try and produce stuff in imitation of a wide variety of stuff, by artists who might have been afraid to share a row together in a movie theater. All of it of course in order to learn what it is that I do consistently every time. Then I bottle that and write essence of style on the label, and I bring it to Professor Sprout’s office, but she is distracted by some famous wizard and won’t help me out, so I ask for my tuition money back.

JDB: The album art for your EP Downed Economy is awesome. Who’s the artist?

EH: Mark Brickman. He is my friend and I love him dearly. No homo. He has his hand in a million cookie jars right now.

JDB: I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but the website emilandfriends.com belongs to another dude named Emil and his “Music Ministry.” How do you feel being cheated out of your namesake domain?

EH: I’ve known. I don’t really care. Emil & Friends isn’t exactly what I plan on using as a moniker for the rest of my musical days. I am a child. A wee lad. Dainty. Boy. But serious black and here to attack!

JDB: What does Emil & Friends have in store for 2011?

EH: A 23 track full length album with studio help from wizards like Jake Aron. More shows, touring. Most importantly the birth of an elaborate stage show filled with theatrical brutality and vocally voracious raptors.

JDB: Thanks a lot, Emil.

EH: Awkward to put this as a queston. Jesse. (awkward laughter, ending abruptly with a suspicious stare and a stink eye)…

If you’re in or around Brooklyn this month you can catch Emil & Friends at Littlefield this Sunday (Dec. 5^th), or Dec. 18^th at Union Pool. His spectacular EP Downed Economy is available on Amazon and iTunes through Cantora Records. Here’s “Josephine,” straight off of the EP.

Emil & Friends – Josephine by musicbleep