by Samuel Weinberg

Signal Problems is a band ostensibly led by trumpeter Danny Gouker. I qualify since the band has a deep rapport, going back years to their days of living in Baltimore; Gouker doesn't seem to lead the group, as much as lend his compositions for the group to dig into, collectively. After years of playing together, they are releasing their self-titled debut on pfmentum and tonight, they are playing their record release party at the wonderful Konceptions Series at Korzo--splitting the bill with a Trio Hornito, comprised of Oscar Noriega, Brandon Seabrook and Tom Rainey. I caught up with Gouker and asked him a few questions about the band, the gig, and much more! You can stream "Pogo Stick"--my favorite tune on the record--a song of devilish rhythmic complexity and playfulness, below!

Signal Problems is a real band, one which uses no substitutes on gigs, and has been around for a while. Can you talk about both your history with these guys, and the way in which playing with a band with a deep rapport like this contrasts to your other work as a sideman?

Eric, Adam, Nathan, and I all met when we lived around Baltimore when I was going to Towson University. When I met Eric, I was freshman and he was in his last semester. I looked up to Eric a lot at the time, and it's funny because I still remember thinking something like "Maybe one day, if I'm lucky, I'll get to play in a band with Eric". I met Adam and Nathan a little later and we all played in a few different projects (including one of Eric's bands) in the Baltimore improvised music scene. In the summer of 2010, I really wanted to write a set of music that took advantage of the rapport of a group and pushed them to improvise in new ways. Eric, Adam, and Nathan were natural choices.

I think the biggest difference between playing in this band and others is taking risks. I feel like I can do pretty much anything at any time and someone will have my back, and I know the rest of the band feels the same way. This gives us a lot of room to push out of our comfort zones and find new opportunities in the music. Nathan put it really well once after a gig when he said something like "I like playing in this band, because I can do whatever I'm feeling today, and it'll work"

I'm really grateful to Eric, Adam, and Nathan for putting in a lot of time, effort, and sacrifice to keep this project going. For example, in 2010, when I lived in NYC and the rest of the band in Baltimore, they were very generous with their time and were willing to come up to NY just to play for the door at the Local 269 on a Thursday. They’re always willing to do rehearsals even though we’ve been playing as a band for four years and could probably “get by” without it, and I think it makes a big difference.

How was the transition from the Baltimore scene to New York? 

The scene in New York is a lot bigger, and at first it was pretty intimidating to me, even though I knew I wanted to be here. The first year, I was in school so I spent a lot of my time just focusing on lessons and seeing shows. In 2011, though, the rest of Signal Problems moved up and we all ended up living together in an apartment in Bushwick. With Eric, Adam, and Nathan in town, we were all able to meet people through each other and a lot of people would come through our apartment for sessions, etc. We had a nickname for a while as the “Baltimore house" or the "Baltimore guys" among some of the NYC people we were meeting. It's really interesting to see how the four of us have branched out since then, each eventually finding their way into something a little different and taking advantage of how big the scene is here.

Back in Baltimore, one of the things helped me meet a lot of like-minded improvisers was a series that Adam co-founded with Matt Frazao called Out of Your Head (hosted at the Windup Space which is a great venue for art in Baltimore). Adam and Matt would put together groups of musicians who had never played together and those groups would improvise two sets of music. Out of Your Head was kind of like a second family for me at the time. When Adam moved to New York, he started a Brooklyn version of the series and the family got even bigger. Brooklyn OOYH is on hiatus right now, but when it starts up again, I will probably be at almost every concert.

It’s kind of interesting when I think about it, that part of the transition from Baltimore to New York involved making New York a little more like Baltimore for us. I still live in the “Baltimore house”, and even though Adam and Nathan have moved out, we found two more people from Baltimore to take their spots.

This is not the first time Signal Problems has played Korzo. Why do you like playing there? What do you find special about the Konception Series?

The Tuesday series at Korzo is consistently one of my favorite places to hear music, and I'm really happy that they've asked us back a few times. James Carney is an excellent curator, and obviously goes to lengths to make sure the music is worth coming out for every Tuesday. Whenever we play there the other set is someone whom I've admired since college- Oscar Noriega this time is no exception. Also, the vibe there is really great; a good mix of a listening room, where the audience is paying close attention, and a relaxed bar setting where most people have a drink in their hands and are hanging out before and after.

What's some recorded music you've been listening to lately?

I've been alternating between listening to Morton Feldman's Piano and String Quartet (Aki Takahasi & Kronos Quartet) and being obsessed with the 3 CD set "Have One On Me" by Joanna Newsom.

What's your ideal sandwich?