“The Conclusion” by BZZZ with Silver Street | EP Premiere

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Sean Beste and Charles Hull are starting anew.

For Beste, his electronic pop project BZZZ — pronounced "buzz" — and its first three songs represent the first material he's released since 2000's This Magnificent Nonsense with his former band Square. For Hull, BZZZ represents the first artist his music production and marketing group Silver Street is unveiling after he left Archrival — the youth marketing agency he helped to found — in April 2012.

Both are betting a good deal on the three songs premiered below, but from an interview conducted on Saturday, as Hull worked on promoting the BZZZ EP The Conclusion in LA and Beste spoke from his Studio F in Lincoln, the two are confident that their work will pay dividends. The production of The Conclusion EP, after all, required 12 musicians including Lincoln's Josh Hoyer, more than 11,000 miles of travel, and burned hundreds of hours writing, recording and mixing in the basement studio of Beste's Lincoln home.

After soft-launching the EP last Friday to family and friends, including Beste's former Square bandmate James Valentine — known as the guitarist for Maroon 5 — the more than 1,000 plays totaled so far seem to indicate the project is starting off on a good note. Read more to learn about what took Beste to L.A. in the late '90s, what brought him back to Lincoln, and how he and Hull connected to produce Ashland-based Silver Street's first release:

Hear Nebraska: I’d like you to start by taking me through your history together. When did you meet, and what was your friendship like before this latest project through Silver Street?

Charles Hull: Why don’t I start off with that because the foundation is Silver Street, then I'll turn it over to Sean to talk about BZZZ. Sean and I have known each other for 15 years or so. Yeah, back in my college days, we sort of ran in the same music circles. I played in several bands, and Sean had his bands. There was a group or scene of guys that played and jammed together, had different bands. That's how I knew Sean.

Then when Sean’s stuff started to take off, I always kept a close eye on his career and the music he was making. I’ve always viewed Sean as one of the most talented musicians and producers at the time from Lincoln. I was always interested in what he was doing and following his music. Then I went on and started Archrival out of college, and Sean moved on to LA with his band at the time, Square. The last 10 years or so we’ve done our own thing, but kept in touch. 

Then when I left Archrival back in April to more or less rejuvenate and think about something new, I decided to start a music production company. The first guy I thought of was Sean. I couldn’t think of anybody better that I’d want to develop this with. So I called up Sean, and to my surprise, he’d moved back to Lincoln.

I think it only took a couple afternoons drinking beer on Sean’s porch to work up the inspiration for BZZZ. I had some ideas about how I wanted market and promote music in a modern way, using digital and social channels, taking music direct to the consumer, so to speak. Then of course, Sean had some great ideas about a new sound he wanted to pursue.

Thus the concept for BZZZ was developed, and Sean embarked on developing the BZZZ sound and EP, which has been what our focus has been the last six months.

Sean Beste: Yeah, I couldn’t have said it better myself. Charlie nailed it all. What’s exciting about this sound he touched upon is, well, first of all, I took a long break from writing and producing. When Charlie approached me with this, it was a reamplification and I got to pursue this new electronic sound I wanted to do.

I had been messing with it and experimenting, but it came together when Charlie had ideas for direction so that we could put this together and make it happen. It’s been a ton of fun. And Silver Street is exciting.

HN: Tell me more about your move from Lincoln to LA. What brought you back here after living in California, and what was your experience in LA like compared with Nebraska as far as music goes?

SB: When I moved to California in ‘99, I went out with a band called Square that developed in the scene here in Lincoln, gosh, 13 years ago. When we moved, it was just the three of us: myself, Ryland Steen and James Valentine, who went on to do great things. The scene out there, we landed out there in Orange County, which if you know anything about that, it’s real pop/punk, real ska-based. We landed in there with a jazz-rock outfit.

 

 

When we disbanded because people went on to do other things, and I don’t know what the hell I was doing (laughs), I kept writing and producing out there. But it wasn't my thing like this is now, so I moved back here to Lincoln in ‘08, and I couldn’t wait to get back because I’d accumulated stuido gear and contacts. So I bought a house here and I built a studio called Studio F.

HN: Do you have a story behind the name of your studio?

SB: The true story would be awful to write (laughs). What I tell people is that it’s for fruition/failure because I didn't know what it was going to be at the time. It hasn't totally turned out to be fruition, and I've only had great times here. It's been really cool. The studio is awesome, and I just love being here, and that it's in Lincoln. It feels right.

When I was in California, I loved every minute of that, but I wanted to open a studio here in Lincoln. No, it’s not a commercial studio, just my personal use and for extended family of now BZZZ. It has all the flavors I need to make these sounds we're making now with Silver Street and with BZZZ.

HN: What projects have you worked on as writer or producer, and how have they informed your work with BZZZ?

SB: Geeze, man, the truth is, I was laying in the dark for 10 years. What should I say here, Charlie? I'm not totally sure.

CH: What I think is interesting is the last release from Sean Beste was Square, This Magnificent Nonsense, and the sound of your next release shows such an evolution. The question is what are the influences between now and then to make you arrive at this. Is that what you mean, Michael?

HN: Yes, exactly.

SB: I think what happened, Michael, is that I would have arrived at this anyway. The point is that I took a long break in between releasing anything that I'd written and produced. Nothing has been released until now. The last release was in 2000, so that's definitely a big deal. How the sound got here is I was writing the whole time, but I just didn’t release anything. I didn’t show friends. I didn't even show family for the most part. I wasn't secretive, just under wraps. The sound was evolving the whole time.

Now that we’re able to release like this, I think we're seeing exactly where I’ve come out the other side of that tunnel. It’s 10 years of evolution in sound and production style. Who I choose to work with is important, the new people on this EP who we’ve chosen to feature. This all has to do with the new sound, only producing the highest quality possible, which is want I want to do with my first peek out into the light after all these years.

HN: Sure. In particular, talk about Josh Hoyer's appearance on the record.

SB: Josh, he really saved the day with that track. As I’ve been writing these songs, it came to me as the songs were already in production who I wanted to sing on these. And I drove down to The Zoo one night and parked in the alley, I remember very well. I parked in the alley and drug him out into the car, and I told him I hear your voice for this. And he was a little taken aback, like really, "You want me to sing on this pop song?"

But he said yes, and he came into the studio that next week, and he just nailed it. It was exactly what I wanted to hear on this track. His voice and his style and what he puts into everything he does is really great.

HN: Cool. Who coined the name BZZZ, and what do you hope the name lends to the music?

SB: The name BZZZ, B-Z-Z-Z, BZZZ. You know, I did an interview…. I haven’t told Charlie this yet, which I'm sure he's ecstatic about. But I was doing an interview years ago about Square, and someone said, if you could do this all over again, what would you name the band? I said "Buzz Band" because there was this buzz about it, and I love that idea. So the name came out of that, and changing the spelling is fun. It has an edgy thing about it, and that's the way the music has gone to this edgy vibe.

CH: Yeah, we brainstormed a number of names trying to capture the sound, and also be a marketable band, something distinct. When Sean brought up the idea of BZZZ, I immediately loved it. I didn’t know that part of the story, but that’s great (laughs). I loved it because it wasn’t just a surface-level name brand.

To me, it also very accurately represented the sound Sean was developing in his studio. It’s very electronic, but it has this very strong analog element. The analog thing is imagining these old-school wires and electricity and things buzzing. It’s just electric. Sean says there’s an electric edge to the music that the name encapsulates well. The music we're putting out there fits well with the BZZZ name, and when we decide to build on it, it's extremely flexible.

HN: Sure. Bands have done this before where names are pronounced differently than one might want to pronounce it at first. So is the idea that you join this group when you find out it's "buzz" rather than "bzzz"?

SB: I’ve thought about that quite a bit, and I know Charlie has, too. I don’t mind things like that. If people call it "bzzz," I’m fine with that, too. But I think the name will spread and people will catch up on it. I’ve already run into people who have passed me on the street and said, "bzzz," and I thought that was kickass.

HN: Charlie, what is your opinion on the name pronunciation?

CH: Yeah, that’s part of it, that’s part of the mystery to it. I like it because it's BZZZ; it’s more of a distinct brand than just another word. The larger focus here is to develop a music brand that produces great music. Beyond that, there's more things we can do with it that we have plans for in the future.

For the long term and the big picture, a name like BZZZ works better than calling it Buzz. It's more distinct, more memorable, and there's a lot of things we can do with it. I don’t mind if people pronounce it in different ways. It’s part of the discovery process. When you find a new band and you start digging into it, and you learn it’s actually pronounced this way, it's another way to connect with the band and be more intimate with it.

HN: I’m curious why you built the production facility for Silver Street in Ashland.

CH: That’s where I live. For me, just a little bit of backstory, when I left Archrival in April 2012, it was an amazing experience for me, 15 years of my life, and I would do it all over again exactly as I did it. Just at the time, I was ready to step out of that world and have more time to focus on family. I have a son and another one on the way. The travel lifestyle and the time I spent away from home started to get to me.

So when I left Archrival and started Silver Street, the idea of Silver Street is you can do it anywhere, so why not just Ashland. I have a 5-minute commute to downtown Ashland. I can ride my bike in or walk in. The studio I’m building is two blocks from the elementary school, so that's why: It's where I live.

plans for Silver Street production facility

HN: Why is the EP called The Conclusion?

SB: I can take that. The Conclusion, I’ve had it in my head for a long time. It's a play on words, which I love. It’s not the end as you might read it first, it's having an idea. I’ve had this conclusion to make this EP for a long time, to incorporate all these sounds, so that’s where it comes from.

HN: Lastly, could you talk about each song individually, how the sound differs, or what in particular you were going for on each of the three?

SB: Oh man. You know, I write in a way that it’s just whatever comes out next. If I’m not there to record it, it’s just going to disappear, I don't have a second chance. If we talk about "Never Think Twice," which is the song featuring Josh Hoyer. That came from a demo where I stayed up in the middle of the night a few months ago.

I heard the chorus in my head, and I ran a recorded the chorus then went back to bed and then two weeks later, I'll keep working on that while I come up with new ideas for "Can't Stop Running" or "Fashion." So although they were produced and recorded individually, they were written all at the same time. Pieces and parts came from all over, so I have no idea how to answer that question.

HN: Charlie, since you've had some time to listen, do any of the songs speak to you in certain ways?

CH: Yeah, and I’ve been right there in the process, so I’ve heard these songs as they’ve evolved from rough demo to various mixes to the final master of each song. It’s not like I listened to the EP for the first time a few days ago, so it’s hard for me to speak to it in that regard, which is one of the reasons why we’ve released it to friends and family. We’ve gotten a great response, which is encouraging because Sean and I are so close to the music that we felt like it was great, but just the response, we’ve got more than 1,000 plays already, just from sharing on Facebook, that's helped.

But to answer your question, I love them all, but "Can’t Stop Running" to me is the standout that has the most potential. It grabs people right away when you play it. Jay Buchanan's amazing vocals, the vibe of the song and the groove, that's the one that speaks to me the most and captures people's imaginations the most as well.

HN: OK, last question, talk about what you have planned for the near future, and tell me anything that we might have missed over the course of the interview.

CH: Yeah, I’ll take that. What our plan has been as we've been rolling it out, we more or less soft-launched the EP to friends and family of Sean and myself and Silver Street over the last few days primarily via the Silver Street and BZZZ Facebook pages. The website is online and will be the main presence going forward. It's where you can view and listen to the EP. We’ll make certain songs available for free download, but they're all available to be streamed in their entirety.

Going forward, the EP will be available on the 25th on iTunes. It will become available on Spotify, Rdio and all the usual digital channels. After that, then we’ll turn our focus on releasing "Can’t Stop Running" as a single with the supporting music video we're going to produce.

Beyond that, who knows. That’s part of the adventure, part of the excitement with BZZZ and Silver Street. We're doing things in a very DIY, bootstrap, grassroots way, and we’re letting the results of each step form how the next step folds out. We don’t have a six-month media plan, and it’s not all mapped out because it’s organic. We’re letting ourselves be flexible, to put things out there to see what happens and adapt to the results and make the decisions based on that. Beyond the music video for "Can't Stop Running" and the efforts behind that, who knows.

HN: OK. Sean, do you have anything else to add?

SB: I don’t think so. I just feel really good about this.

Michael Todd is Hear Nebraska's managing editor. He wonders if anyone has made music with the buzzing of cell phones. Reach him at michaeltodd@hearnebraska.org.