Danger In The Workplace: Remote composition, improvisation and recording with Stick Men

Stick Men are a progressive rock trio consisting of bassist/stick player Tony Levin (John Lennon, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, King Crimson and countless other well-loved recordings), drummer Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson, Mr. Mister, The Rembrandts, XTC, Flower Kings, etc.) and German musician/composer Markus Reuter (centrozoon, Tuner, The Crimson ProjeKct, Europa String Choir and solo artist).

The band name comes from Tony Levin’s exclusive use of the Chapman Stick, Markus’ Touch Guitar (an instrument of his own design which marries the tapping techniques of the Chapman Stick with traditional guitar strumming styles), and Pat’s use of drumsticks.

Spanning 13 years, the trio has 7 studio albums and 14 official live albums and compilations, plus this does not count the band’s bootleg series of board and audience recordings. Check out stickmen.bandcamp.com for them all.

The band’s latest release, Tentacles, was composed, improvised and recorded remotely in Kingston, New York (Tony), Austin, Texas (Pat) and Berlin, Germany (Markus).

I sat down with all three members on Zoom to find out the details. As we talked, I was struck by the respect, admiration and bond these musicians share for each other and their music.