Scene Makers Q+A: New Primitives singer Stanley Kipper balances music and playwrighting

Stanley Kipper has a busy August: His band, the New Primitives, is releasing a new album; the group has gigs all over, including in Seattle and at the Minnesota State Fair, and he’s putting the finishing touches on his play that will premiere next month.

The New Primitives signed a three-album deal last year with Loud Folk Records of North Carolina. The first release, “Primitive Road” — a delectable mix of rock, jazz, Latin, reggae and hippie grooves — will be celebrated Friday at the Hook & Ladder Theater in Minneapolis. Kipper’s play, “Behind the Sun” — about his family’s experience with redlining in Minneapolis — will open Sept. 21 at the History Theatre.

The reggae-loving Minneapolis drummer/singer — who spent 20 years in Los Angeles playing with Gypsy, Minnie Riperton and others — talked about making his first new album in five years, discovering reggae and balancing writing music and plays.

Q: How did you get the album deal?

A: I started writing songs with my friend George Marinelli. We played together in Andrew Gold’s band. He’s been playing second guitar with Bonnie Raitt for 20 years. They rolled through town to play the State Fair a couple summers ago and we got back in the saddle, and we wrote 10 or 11 songs. We thought we should hunt for a deal. I was talking to John Wright, a musician up here who has New Folk Records. I played [him] some stuff, and he sent them to Ken Onstad, the president of the record company. He said, “You need to sign with a major [label].” So in light of that I played rough mixes of [”Primitive Road”] and he said, “I want to sign this.” So I signed a three-record deal with Loud Folk, which is the more aggressive version of New Folk.

Q: George produced “Primitive Road.” What did he contribute?

A: He opened it sonically. This was a lot rawer than the other records we made. I didn’t want it to have such a thought-out studio vibe. We did minimal overdubs. George tightened some things arrangement-wise. He also sang some background parts and he played lead guitar and rhythm on a couple things.

Q: Where did you record?

A: We recorded a bunch of it at Creation [in south Minneapolis]. We did the singing all over the place. Some I did in Seattle, some I did in Mesa, Ariz., some I did here. George sang his stuff in Connecticut.

Q: I’m digging the new album, especially “1000 Ways.” You guys really extend these songs.

A: I like it myself. The chemistry was really good. “1000 Ways” and “Crazy From the Heat,” we haven’t played that live yet. We haven’t played “Red Shoes” and “Our Home Now.” The song is the ruler but there’s plenty of room for some serious improvisation.

Q: How did you get into reggae music?

A: Way back in ‘71 or ‘72, I was in Florida and a friend played me Burning Spear and Toots & the Maytals. Then I heard an early version of “Concrete Jungle” [by Bob Marley & the Wailers]. I was like “My God, what is this?” Then the music started blowing up and I became infatuated with it. I used the reggae vibe on “Thunder Island” that we did [with Jay Ferguson]. I started writing songs with that vibe.

I got booked on the Wailers’ first tour after Bob passed away. We played two shows in Santa Barbara. I was really nervous if they’d like the music. I had my interracial ska band going. Brad Palmer from America, Todd Sharp from the Fleetwood Mac vibe, Bernie Pershey from Minneapolis was playing drums. I was playing timbales.

After we played the first set, their road manager came back and said, “The Family Man [Aston Barrett] wants to have a word with you right now, mon.” I go back there and there’s this huge cloud of herb smoke. They asked me if I wanted to open the West Coast dates on that tour. It was a life-changing thing for me.

Q: What do the State Fair gigs mean to you?

A: It lets me know that our music has appeal. When we get up in front of people who’ve never even seen us before and they come from all walks of life and rural people, to see that music work like that, it’s something that lasts long after the fair vibe is over. It lets me know we’re hitting on the right cylinders to make it work like that.

Q: How did you get your play to the History Theatre?

A: Laura [Drake, his co-writer] knew Rick [Thompson], who is the [new artistic] director of it. They’d worked together at the Children’s Theatre in the mid-1970s. She texted and emailed Rick repeatedly and said, “You’ve got to read this play.”

Q: What percentage of the play from the workshop version presented at Minneapolis Community and Technical College in 2019 has changed?

A: We’ve rewritten a bunch of things. The opening is different. It’s not as ethereal. I’d say maybe 10% has changed. We’re toying with the closing scene. Some of the play is still in the process. We’re meeting this week to finalize things. We were listening to what Rick was telling us. Some of his advice we took, some of it we didn’t. Instead of “From Behind the Sun,” it’s just “Behind the Sun.” It opens Sept. 21.

Q: How do you change gears from writing songs to writing plays, because I know you are working on some other plays?

A: The songs just roll up. I sit and wait to see what kind of vibe the chords are going to send me. I hang around and wait for that. Thank God that still pops through. I write six or seven pages of lyrics for songs, and I end up using like 12 lines. Ha, ha. As long as it keeps coming, I keep writing. Same with the plays. I wait to see what gets sent to me. I try not to force it. I look at these characters and see what kind of language rolls in. All of a sudden, I can hear it. Sometimes I can barely keep up with it. It’s weird writing songs and working on plays at the same time. I don’t know how that happens. But I’m happy that it does. I try to get out of the way.