I play a whole lot of instruments pretty badly, instead of playing one instrument really well.
There's the obvious shift in the tech industry. I'm not really politicized about the whole thing, but it's definitely clear that rent is harder and it's harder for musicians or artists or someone not making a ton of money to live comfortably.
I had some pretty lucky and good living situations; thankfully I never got forced out of an apartment. A lot of my friends got evicted or pushed out and couldn't afford a new place. For me, I wanted more space to set up a home studio, but there was no way to afford that.
I think it's something that really speaks in your head - a very strong melody. But at the same time, if the song doesn't have some kind of edge to it, if there isn't something a little off about it or something very intense or loud or abrasive in some way, it just comes off as a stupid pop song.
With the project where I'm making something with my own name, my main mission statement is honesty. I never want to hold back from what I'm saying for fear of showing it to people. At the same time, I try to take my own personal experiences and problems and wrap them around lyrics that are a little more universal and not naming names. I don't let it get that personal. That's not really a fear of over-sharing, it's just what makes a good song. I want to get people to listen to it and to find a universal aspect of what I'm trying to say.
We found ourselves becoming more serious about playing music than our friends were - or just more committed and had more meaningful connections. I realized then that I would probably be playing in bands for the rest of my life; that that's what made me happy. Even though it's awesome that people are paying attention - buying records or selling shows out - I never have that conscious thought about, "this is going to be the band that will tour the world."
A lot of people I know hate Paul McCartney in general. I guess I understand, but I'm a fan. I think he's a little underrated in my peer group - unlike John Lennon. He's not my favorite Beatle, but he's a goddamn good songwriter and he makes a lot of really cheesy, schmaltzy stuff but he's still underrated.
I realize that people won't even download the entire album and might just download a song or two and put it in a playlist for a workout or in the background while people do dishes. That's fine and I can't dictate how people listen to my music, but I structure records the way I listen to records.
The music comes first, like, 99 percent of the time. I come up with the basic chord structure and the melody first and then I get really obsessed with arranging, adding, and subtracting parts. The last step of the process, for me, is finding words that fit into that structure and figuring out exactly what I want to talk about.
It seems like a cultural shift - you see less and less bands coming up and more people leaving.
I think driving, at least for me, is a good way to listen to music. Sitting in traffic gives you time to listen to an entire record straight through and give it almost [your] full attention.
