Posts

You Wish

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In 2015, I started writing the songs that would eventually comprise my 2016 album Wish You Were Weird. I was mainly trying to prove to myself that I could come up with catchy tunes ala Lennon/McCartney, Ham/Evans, Bugs/Daffy, etc. but what ended up happening was the chronicling of my immediate reality at that time: fickle relationships, alcoholism, and desperation. The paradox of penning earworms related to one's misery isn't a new one in the history of popular music, but it was new to me. In the past I had written songs with lyrics that emulated the surrealistic word poetry of Kurt Cobain, albeit nowhere near as effective. I suppose I had gotten tired of the literary vagueness I found myself attempting over and over again. It was time for something personal. Write what you know, you know? You know.  Listen to Wish You Were Weird (10th Anniversary Remaster) on Bandcamp Wish You Were Weird tracklist: 1. Kinda Sorta 2. Break Yer Heart 3. Kombucha Kids 4. Waiting For The Summer 5....
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Fat Dads

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A lot of the imbeciles who doubted me over the years became fat dads. Some kept their hair but lost their dreams. Others are just as miserable now as they were then, sucking up my oxygen, deserving of only a modicum of bewildered pity, and unlimited misfortune. It's karma, baby. My music is a beautiful plague that I spread and eradicate at will. I'm still here. I am God. 
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I See You Looking

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I see you looking. I see you sneering. I see you drooling over my personal freedom; a freedom that you lost when you decided to attempt to be loved by the world. You lie about who you are and what you've done, taking bits and pieces of my life and my experiences, and unconvincingly passing them off as your own. All except your carefully cultivated crowd of slack-jawed sycophants see right through you, yet they let you operate largely unimpeded, with the knowledge that you're truly only a threat to yourself. You don't create, you take. You don't imagine, you recoil in fear. The short leash which has become your signature style is the instrument of your demise. The instrument of your demise? My guitar. 
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Audio Vérité

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Orson Welles once said "The absence of limitations is the enemy of art." I get it. Struggle is the creative pressure that results in the artistic diamond. To that end, I assemble songs and albums much like a low budget filmmaker crafts their films. I use whatever resources I can scrounge up in order to translate my ideas into works of art. I consider myself a visual songwriter more concerned with the overall message of a song than with the sound. Each one of my songs is like a little movie. I'm not looking for perfection. I'm looking for truth. 
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It's Alive!

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To be a truly unique artist can seem like a curse at times. I used to avoid classifying myself as a singer-songwriter, or even a musician, not merely because I sometimes feel that such titles are pretentious or braggy, but also because I really don't like calling attention to myself. My Frankensteinian 6'8" frame should be explanation enough, but my penchant for composing fringe indie pop songs doesn't help matters either. However...after years, nay, decades, of self-sabotage and self-loathing, I am pleased to announce that I have come to embrace my unique space in the musical world, and the world at large. I no longer give a shit about how I'm perceived, and I have embraced taking pride in my unique talents. I've also gained the wisdom to know that a state of exaggerated humility is unbecoming of a *true* artist, and ultimately very annoying to any potential listeners.  Yes, you need a bit of arrogance to acknowledge that you've got the goods, but I always...
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Modern Strife

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I reject modernity. I play a guitar, into a pedal, through an amp. I don't rely on AI or apps to make my music. Do I record my songs onto tape anymore? No, that really isn't convenient for me. I record into a DAW, but in my defense my software of choice is Audacity, and has been for over 20 years. I never said I wasn't a hypocrite. Hypocrites have been around since the dawn of time, so that's totally retro and not very modern at all. The concept of modernity in its current form seems to be a propaganda tool, wielded against people with ideas and values such as mine. What are my ideas? Well, they're rooted in a deep respect for self-expression. What are my values? Artistic integrity and personal autonomy are at the top of the list. These things inform my music, and drive me to create deeply personal songs, if not poetically baffling at first. I do not seek to relate to anyone or anything, save for those who sincerely pick up what I'm putting down. 
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Real American Hero

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"You may not care about politics, but politics cares about you!" they bark.  This banal retort generally follows the exasperated phrase "I don't care about politics."  We live in an era of generalizations and blanket statements. This is where nuance goes to die. Of course we care about politics. We understand on a basic level the relationship between our personal prosperity and our political choices, but we as citizens don't always wish to explain or defend ourselves against an increasingly nosey and radicalized society. The same goes for musicians who choose not to insert political messages into their songs. I've always seen political discourse as a creative dead end. I'm simply not interested in showing the world every card in my ideological deck, and you can't make me.  This refusal to engage doesn't mean I'm not engaged, it merely means that my beliefs are none of your business, unless I wish them to be. That's the power of the in...
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