Works of Art
In the near-infinite wisdom I’ve gained over the course of my thirty-seven years of existence, I’ve found that writing and recording songs is an inherently selfish thing to do. Or at least it is the way I do it. Sometimes the songs come fairly quickly - professional songwriters like to talk about “songs writing themselves,” and it probably sounds like horseshit, but it’s a real thing, and I’ve gotten better at “letting it happen” (as demonstrated by Emperor Palpatine below) - but sometimes it can be a struggle to land on, say, the right melody for the verse, or a bridge that works, or - god forbid - lyrics I actually feel good about.
Either way, it takes time. And then, because I am who I am (like…Popeye? I need to revisit Popeye and whatever he’s supposed to represent), I’ve to date insisted on doing the vast majority of my own tracking and mixing, and that’s where the real time-suck start to, y’know, suck. If you were to ask the other members of my household about my process, they’d be able to verify that it’s by no means uncommon for me to get started on what seems like a fairly simple song and then spend the next two years revising, mixing, remixing, retracking, second-guessing, quitting, and restarting before I ultimately say “fuck it, I’m just gonna release this thing and move on to something else.”
All of the above - however long it takes - happens in solitude. Sometimes I’m barricaded in the guest room of my house, sometimes I leave town hoping to be inspired by a change of scenery - but I’m always alone when I’m working on music. To be clear, I’m also (almost always) enjoying myself, even when I’m slamming my (proverbial) head up against that (proverbial) brick wall! But songwriting isn’t a pursuit I tend to share with anyone else, and that’s where the selfishness comes in.
Anyway, I released “Works of Art” last week, and that’s what it’s about. Listen here:
Of course, musicians like Justin Vernon/Bon Iver have pulled this trick before, and way more effectively: Vernon famously retreated to an isolated cabin in rural Wisconsin and cranked out one of those pivotal touchstones of indie music that will be forever referenced and emulated by posers like me, and I can’t pretend that some of the imagery in Works of Art isn’t inspired by that setting.
Still, though, poser or not, it’s something I think about. Is all the time spent worth it? Is any of this even good enough to keep? Shit, man…I don’t know. AND WHERE THE FUCK IS CAROLINE?!
As always, thanks for listening (and reading!). There’s always more to come, and I have a feeling the third and final single before the album drop is gonna throw you for a loop-de-loop.