In Pursuit for the Dream Career: Jeffrey Cramer

By Galya Dimitrova

It is good to see when post graduates actually make steps towards getting into the carrer they have been preparing for while doing their degree. I met Jeffrey Cramer, who plays the guitar, about a month and a half ago at a rehearsal for a degree show and was amazed of the talent he and the other musicians demonstrated. The actual live performance was even better. But I just had to see how he is doing outside university, so to say, in a “real life” situation. So last Sunday I went to a performance of the band he plays in, “The Contagious Grooves” and left more than impressed. After this, I just had to make an interview with him and show what students are capable of, even before they have gained a lot of professional experience. There is no age for a talent, and neither are any boundaries. Here is what Jeffrey shared with me about his music and his professional development in the future.

How long have you been playing for?

I started playing piano at the age of 6. It was the instrument that I learned to read music on, and was my introduction into music I played it till I was 11 years old… I never fully enjoyed the instrument, however, and found it hard to practice due to my lack of interest in the repertoire.

Jeffrey Cramer. Photo: personal archive

And how about the guitar? Did you start playing it because you felt it is more exciting than the piano?

Well, when I was 11 started to listen to old style rock like Hendrix and Eric Clapton, as well as Nirvana. It was also because of my piano teacher, who was also taught me guitar, I listened to him play when i sat in on my sisters guitar lesson waiting for my piano lesson and thought it was a beautiful and exciting sounding instrument.

Piano just never really did it for in the way guitar. I fell in love with it as soon as i started playing.

It was also becoming a popular instrument in school around this age, and a lot of people were learning to play. I pissed a few people off during my time in school when i joined bands because I took music so seriously. I was practicing 4 hours sometimes more every day, which was something that never happened with piano.

All this confirms my observations that you are passionate about it and dont play just for the sake of it. Is there a song or an instrumental piece that you can play over and over again without getting enough of it?

Well, when I went through a phase of playing classical guitar I used to absolutely and I guess still do play Bach’s Sarabande in E minor BWV 996 from his lute suite. I think it is one of the most beautiful pieces written for guitar. But nowadays the first thing I play on a guitar when i pick it up is just improvisations. Sometimes I improvise to things that come on in the background of tv or films, whilst watching.

That is so interesting! Which films for example?

Just yesterday I was watching the tv show ‘Everybody Hates Chris’ and just mindlessly improvising to the gospel/funk soundtrack in the background. I’ve done it to a few things, though, which I can’t remember off the top of my head. Found an example of the music that shows up on it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0BuojigeQ4&list=PL273588B05C210D7F

Have you been thinking of creating music for films and tv shows?

I once made an imaginary soundtrack about 3 years ago based on the imagery of the graphic novel “Maus“. That was just for fun, though. I think if an opportunity like that came, I would definitely take it. I am particularly in love with video game music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IpmezdSifw

Amazing! Will you have a go on that if you get the chance?

Yeah, but i think that is more in the composition side of things. My field is more on playing and performing. I’m much more likely to be the one playing on the soundtrack than composing it. But I haven’t had any opportunities such as that as I am only just starting my career really and I don’t think something like that will come a long till I have been doing this much longer, as it is completely about networking/who you know. Also a lot of these tv shows use electronic intruments that are played directly into the computer by the composer nowadays, which means there isn’t as much work there. I would imagine as the show are saving a lot of money. This is in tv a lot nowadays in particular. “Everybody Hates Chris” is an exception as that has real musicians. But shows like for example law and order are completely digital. It’s a much harder industry nowadays. A lot of the work appears to be from playing live.

Indeed. Just a few days ago you had an amazing gig with “The Contagious Grooves” in the Canal Basin, here in Coventry. Tell us more about the band, how did you form it and what kind of music do you play most of the time?

Performing along with the band. Photo: personal archive.

Whenever I was in London, I attended a lot of Funk/Jazz jam nights put on by professional players. I really enjoyed the music, particularly the brass and felt that it made a huge impact when performing live with them. I’ll show you an example of the jam nights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-6_upd48_w

I also started listening a lot of The RH Factor. I started to make a setlist, which I sent to a few people in the the band and we decided we were gonna play. Originally my setlist was a lot jazzier but i had to compromise a little and play a little more funk. I play all sorts of music these days. I’ve played on R’n’B, Pop, Rap; I have a gig with a soul singer this Sunday. I also play jazz more these days.

However, jazz is a complicated genre and i still have a lot to learn before i feel i can consider myself an adequate jazz player. It is a recent interest which i wish to delve further into.

So you see yourself as a potential jazz player and you want to work on it?

Definitely, it is something which has caught my ear over the past 2 years and I feel it is a chance for me to explore music from a completely different perspective regarding theory and harmony.

Most impressive! Glad to see that there are still musicians who see future in that kind of genre! Do the other guys from Contagious Grooves share your passion?

I would say so yes, there was a lot of work put in and whilst I was choosing the musicians I made extra sure they would be dedicated to it. We did lose one or two members to begin with but the people who stayed definitely enjoy it. It was scary, though, as I had never attempted anything like this before.

But it works and you perform with so much energy and this is why the gig was so good! How do you come up with the names of the songs? I am tempted to ask in particular about “Hot Sauce”as it is my favourite.

Haha, well, we named that on a whim, it just had a real groove to it and we weren’t concerned about it having a serious name as such as we were just having a bit of fun. It was our first original and I think in the future we wish to do much more complex compositions with more musicians. Me and Kirk (the sax player) want to work on composing more things for the group. Getting in keyboard players and singers and seeing what happens. Me and him are big fans of Roy Hargrov and Snarky Puppy and would like to go down that route more in the future.

All the best with it! The outcome will be interesting, I am sure! Do you have gigs in London and when is your next gig in Coventry?

“Contagious Grooves” at the gig in the Canal Basin last Sunday.

We are taking a break for a while to have a rest, the past 12 weeks have been extremely stressful and I think we all need it. “Taylor Johns” have asked us to do a gig there a month but the details are not completely organised, they also asked if they could book some studio time with us as they are also in charge in of the label ‘Tin Angel Records’. I expect we will be doing more shows over the summer, but as of yet we have not decided anything. I will go on to do more gigs in London and trying to progress my career as an individual, too, which right now is my main goal. My next gig on Sunday is in South-East. But i will definitely be happy to play with those guys again in the future.

As a last question, where do you want to play most? Which place do you see as the peak of your career if you perform there?