What’s the story behind your latest song/album?
The album, “Buying Into the Hype,” was originally intended as kind of a faux-Beatles record, believe it or not, in the vein of the Rutles or Utopia’s “Deface the Music.” It wasn’t intended as anything particularly ambitious at all. Then, as things tend to do, it sort of evolved into something a little brainier. I’d gotten super into the work of Scott Miller, of Game Theory and the Loud Family, and I felt a sort of artistic kinship with that stuff not only on the level of it being essentially pure pop with equal propensity for inventive melody and really Out-There sound fuckery, and not only as a fellow self-deprecating overthinker, but also as a white dude with big curly hair from California (granted, Scott Miller was from NorCal and I’m from SoCal, but still). It’s the kind of thing that really inspires evangelism. I wanted my songs to be on that high level. The single, “Uranium Glass,” more or less mulls on people’s impulses towards nostalgia for an imagined past. I also have another song from the album that’s out called “Irony Poisoning,” which is what it’s about, and I have another coming out early next month called “History Repeating Itself,” which is also what it’s about.
How has your creative process evolved over the years?
I suppose, in a lot of ways, I just got more confident in what I was doing. My actual, physical process of recording hasn’t fundamentally changed much; I just got better at doing it. Learned what mid scoops were and such. I’m sure some more uptight music production people will balk at my admission that I record everything in Audacity, and have since I started, but I’d say the results speak for themselves. I think limitations allow for more creativity in many cases. Peter Gabriel banning cymbals from his third album, for example—kind of a genius move. I got to be clever about how I did things because I had no other choice, plus which I’m stubborn as a mule.
Who or what has been inspiring your music lately?
I was on a bit of a Beach Boys kick anyway before Brian Wilson died, but that really kicked it into high gear. Just beforehand, I’d gotten into the unreleased “Adult/Child” album that was supposed to follow “Love You,” which is probably my favorite non-“Pet Sounds” Beach Boys record, and aside from, like, “Hey Little Tomboy,” I thought it was this really fascinating, odd record. It’s actually, sincerely great, and I Mean It. “Love You” is pure Brian, good and bad, and “Adult/Child” is even more extreme in that sense. I recently put together my own rendition of “Shortenin’ Bread” as a tribute—which, to be clear, I also Mean. I’ve also gotten super into Wings’ “Back to the Egg” recently; one of Paul’s two divisive new wave records, the other obviously being “McCartney II.” It’s not one a lot of people hold in very high regard, and I didn’t think much of it for a long time, either, aside from maybe “Arrow Through Me” and stuff, but, you know, As It Turns Out…! I’ve seen a lot of people slag off particularly the “my salamander” line in “Getting Closer,” but all of those people are wrong and they should feel bad for thinking that. I think more songs should have lines about salamanders. Thirdly, Pere Ubu—I’m grateful to the late David Thomas for putting essentially his entire creative philosophy on his website for all to enjoy. It’s been a great opportunity to re-examine my own approach to making art.
How do you handle creative blocks or self-doubt?
Self-doubt is my stock in trade, I’ll have you know. I tend to handle it by playing it up and leaning into it a bit. At the moment, though, I’ll say I feel particularly and uncharacteristically confident in what I’m doing, which isn’t a feeling I always have. I was horrified when my album “Replay Cement” was coming out, for instance, because it just completely sank in that it was Not My Best Work. It’s such a dreadful feeling to know that what you’ve been doing Kind Of Sucks. Your mileage may vary, of course. But I’m pleased to announce that “Buying Into the Hype,” at least by my standards, unequivocally Does Not Suck.
What’s next for you—any exciting projects or goals on the horizon?
I’d like my next album to sound really hideous and noisy. Not to jettison melody entirely, mind you, just with a lot of hideousness and noise. Besides that, for the last few years I’ve been chipping away at a sort of quasi-fantasy novel where most of the characters are cat-people. It’s really only “fantasy” in the sense that I’m using it as an excuse to make most of the characters cat-people.