(Iceberg/Royer) Coplach arose from a period when Michael and I were doing a lot of writing together. I had to adapt my method of collaboration because Michael Iceberg is not your average songwriter and Coplach is not your average song. We were working, at that time, on the score for a roll-out film for Walt Disney’s Epcot theme park.
Coplach arose from an improv Michael did one evening. I had learned from bitter experience, when I see him heading for a keyboard, run like hell for the tape recorder. After he did the improv, we took the whole thing apart, created a form, wrote bridging material, he would flesh out lines I sang to him, and Coplach is what we ended up with.
Many have asked about the name. We felt it sounded like Bach’s melodic structure with Aaron Copland’s harmonies, hence Coplach. Of course, it’s a play on the word Kreplach which we felt was justifiable since Michael and I constitute one-and-a-half Jews.
The video was shot by Harrison Holmes, Harold Jarboe, Michael Catalano and me at my farm. It was edited by Harrison and Ryan McVay.
Your Pitch Sheet is turning into a great-sounding album. The scenery in that beautiful Coplach video looks an awful lot like my home area up in Hayward, Wis. which I get homesick for as the work week here in Madison wears on.
ReplyDeleteReading "kreplach" triggered a sudden recollection of seeing a thrown dumpling arcing over the dinner table, trailing a stream of the soup it had been in, like a comet tail.
Michael appeared in concert (so long ago) at the Madison Area Technical College a couple times, each time following an afternoon workshop he held where we could see his Iceberg Machine up close and personal. He did everything live with his synthesizer magic - no prerecorded tracks whatsoever. I had known of his work years before from the interlude in "Goin' Back To Boston" on Jimmy Griffin's first Polydor LP - as should all Bread & Griffin fans. I never got to see him at Disney World but was fortunate to see him on tour. Incredible talent.