Review Fix Exclusive: George Whitty Talks ‘Die Living’ And More

About George Whitty and Ellis Hall:

When music legends George Whitty and Ellis Hall decided to turn their longtime mutual admiration society into an official partnership, they committed full throttle to recording their explosive contemporary twist on classic R&B and came up with a clever branding idea. 

Rather than simply calling themselves Whitty Hall, Hall added “Artistic Team” to create WHAT. Add in  a handful of exclamation points and WHAT!!!! was born.  As the full CD shaped up, with its probing commentary on the ups and downs of living today, the title In the World suggested itself as the accompaniment to the band’s name. 

When longtime fans of these two keyboard powerhouses and newcomers to the Whitty-Hall experience check out these eclectic ten tracks, their initial responses will truly be a rousing, “WHAT!!!! In the World?” 

Review Fix: What makes Die Living special for you?:  

George Whitty: It’s another track I get to do with Ellis Hall, more than anything else!  It’s also a kind of very elemental tune;  we have a lot of songs with really beautiful, sophisticated harmony in them on this CD, this one is very much a simple, direct statement.  And the lyrics are something that 2 people with a lot of life experience would write;  Ellis and I have both learned that there’s a lot to know about how to get the best out of our time here, and other people have a lot of wisdom on the topic.  Everybody’s trying to do the same thing, and when I run into people with a lot of insight on how best to live our lives it honestly makes me laugh, in a good way!

Review Fix: How was it created?   

Whitty: “Die Living” came about the way a lot of good music comes about:  somehow that phrase occurred to me and I thought “Gee that’s kind of a good hook”, and I sat down to just play with it for a little bit to see if I could frame something up, and within a couple hours it was already sounding somewhat like the finished version, including a lot of the lyrics.  But Ellis is a particularly gifted lyricist, so I sent it to him and said “Make This Better”, and he did!  Always a great thing, too, to get the guy who’s going to sing it to make sure the words ring true to him or her.  And then it was just a matter of finishing out the track;  as I told Ellis, I wanted to see if we could keep this one kind of simple, a “front-porch thing” as I put it, but a front porch with a MiniMoog on it!  So I did a fairly complete version of the track, doing the bass, drums, percussion and a good bit of keyboards, then sent it to Ellis, who overdubbed his signature vocals (DO NOT tell me this guy isn’t this year’s winner for R&B VOCAL PERFORMANCE!), replaced my organ with organ from the master, and a couple great guitar tracks.  

Review Fix: How did it change during the creation process?  

Whitty: Ellis likes to call us “Reducers” instead of “Producers”, so as this one went on we kept looking for ways, again, to keep it ELEMENTAL.  My son Chris plays me a lot of music that is super stripped down, things like Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas, and I really love the economy of those tracks and the way that they put the most focus on what they LYRICS say.  A lot of rap is like that too, really economical on the elements in the music, maximum focus on what’s being said.  Ellis and I have a deep love for all the beautifully orchestrated R & B we’ve listened to all our lives, and a lot of our CD, “In The World” reflects that, but on this one we wanted simple, dry, and direct.  To me the track really reaches maximum escape velocity at the end, when it’s just percussion, one guitar, me on the Moog bass, and Ellis’s deep vocals.  I almost wish that part of the tune was a half hour long.  

Review Fix: What does it say about you that nothing else can?  

Whitty: That’s an interesting question.  There’s a lot of our collective wisdom in this.  It would never have occurred to me to write what I wrote, nor Ellis, I think, to write what he wrote into it, if we were both 22, instead of in our early ‘30s (NOTE:  THIS IS A JOKE!).  Musicians live a kind of charmed life, getting to travel the world and see how everybody, from all these different cultures, do their lives, and particularly to get to experience that in the company of their fellow musicians, who are almost all really funny, insightful thinkers.  And this song, with its respect the wisdom of others, reflects that.  The “Old Man Sitting Next To Me”, for example, could be from ANYWHERE, in a lot of ways, the further we’ve come to get together, the better!

Review Fix: Who do you think will enjoy it the most?   

Whitty: Honestly?  I think people who enjoy a really great groove will be the first to respond.  This track is a groover.  When I was a kid, I had a 45 of “Boogie On Reggae Woman” and I wore it out so bad I had to squirt this fluid called “Disc Saver” on it to keep it playing.  Ellis and I both just laugh when we talk about tracks like that, and the influence of Stevie’s funky synth bass playing is obvious on this one, and several other tracks on the full CD.  But also I think the lyric is something we need these days:  OTHERS can actually help us live our best lives if we will ask them what they know!  

Review Fix: What’s next?   

Whitty: What’s next is the release of the full CD in January.  I think people are going to be blown away by that.  Ellis and I put full heart and soul into it, and I think he might agree, and I would be deeply honored if that genius would agree, that we kept elevating each other.  Ellis is an absolute legend, so as I worked up each track I had this huge inspiration to completely exceed myself to be worthy of what he was going to do with his half of the project.  Yet I was consistently just boggled by the tracks he would send, which would prompt another round from me, and more from him, two really good musicians working our asses off to crack each other up with every element of a record like this.  It has been just HUGE FUN to work with Ellis and all the other musicians on the record, and we are incredibly excited about getting it out into the world.  

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?

Whitty: I think if there’s anything else to add, it might be that to me this CD sounds like a LOT OF EXTRA LOVE was lavished on it.  If there was a little blast of cool harmony, or a great guitar lick, or a beautiful organ performance, or a touch of extra groove to be found, we really found it and heaped it on.  Two very similar sensibilities who grew up on the work of the true masters, but also enjoy all the work of the modern masters, and who’ve been around the world over and over again working with, and absorbing from, so much genius over the years.  And the CD sure sounds like that to me!  

Review Fix: Where can people find out more?   

Whitty: JOIN US!  Find us on Instagram and Facebook and stay up on the developments at whittyhallartistteam, visit our website at whittyhall.com