Q: Can you talk about your musical history?
A: I first caught the bug when I saw Elvis on TV when I was about three years old. At that age, I was listening to a lot of early rock n’ roll & amp; doo-wop. Which is music I still have great affinity for. I grew up in the ’90s and there were a lot of melodic rock bands on the radio at the time and I definitely absorbed much of that. When I was in late high school, I fell in love with the singer/songwriters of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. That was when I began to get serious about songwriting and really honing in on the craft. When I got out of high school in my early 20s, I got into a lot of the alt-country artists and country music in general. There was a rebelliousness to it that I really dug at that point in my life. I felt like it was a genre that had long eluded me but that I finally understood, and continues to remain a big influence for me.
Q: Can you talk about some of the themes on A Step Behind?
A: I’d say that in general, the album deals with the feeling of being out of place, as well as missing your moment & walking away from decisions that have the potential to change the course of one’s life. Those have always been interesting themes to me.
Q: What is your creative process like? Do you find inspiration in making music in Nashville?
A: My creative process tends to be pretty methodical. Often I’ll come up with a title for a song as well as the angle I want on it and I’ll log that. Sometimes that will include a melody with harmonic choices that I’ll record into my iPhone, and I’ll begin working on it when I sit down to write. I try to delineate between what is a good song idea on the whole vs. what might just be a line or verse material. Going out in Nashville on any given night in any part of town and hearing something inspiring definitely keeps me motivated to continue writing new material. Just speaking the common language of songwriting amongst so many like-minded people here
motivates me to keep grinding.
A: I first caught the bug when I saw Elvis on TV when I was about three years old. At that age, I was listening to a lot of early rock n’ roll & amp; doo-wop. Which is music I still have great affinity for. I grew up in the ’90s and there were a lot of melodic rock bands on the radio at the time and I definitely absorbed much of that. When I was in late high school, I fell in love with the singer/songwriters of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. That was when I began to get serious about songwriting and really honing in on the craft. When I got out of high school in my early 20s, I got into a lot of the alt-country artists and country music in general. There was a rebelliousness to it that I really dug at that point in my life. I felt like it was a genre that had long eluded me but that I finally understood, and continues to remain a big influence for me.
Q: Can you talk about some of the themes on A Step Behind?
A: I’d say that in general, the album deals with the feeling of being out of place, as well as missing your moment & walking away from decisions that have the potential to change the course of one’s life. Those have always been interesting themes to me.
Q: What is your creative process like? Do you find inspiration in making music in Nashville?
A: My creative process tends to be pretty methodical. Often I’ll come up with a title for a song as well as the angle I want on it and I’ll log that. Sometimes that will include a melody with harmonic choices that I’ll record into my iPhone, and I’ll begin working on it when I sit down to write. I try to delineate between what is a good song idea on the whole vs. what might just be a line or verse material. Going out in Nashville on any given night in any part of town and hearing something inspiring definitely keeps me motivated to continue writing new material. Just speaking the common language of songwriting amongst so many like-minded people here
motivates me to keep grinding.
Q: What was your recording process like A Step Behind? Would you explain some of the tools you use?
A: I recorded all of the guitars and vocals for the record in the second bedroom of my apartment. I used a reactive load box to track all the amps and used high-quality impulse responses for the cabs. I didn’t want the record to also serve as my eviction notice! I had originally worked up all of the demos using the Addictive Drums drum software program and a virtual organ from Native Instruments, in addition to the live instrumentation. I had met Aaron Liao back at Berklee around 2011 & knew I wanted him on bass. He is based out of Los Angeles, so we had a couple virtual meetings regarding production, and then he recorded his parts in L.A.. I thought that his performances really elevated each track. The drums were performed and recorded by Caleb Gilbreath, an outstanding drummer & engineer that I also know from around the same time at Berklee. He recorded them at his home studio here in Nashville. I brought on Andy Ellis Valdini to play the organ parts on a Hammond B3, and he recorded them in his home studio in Portland,OR. I ran out of steam a bit near the end & decided to have my live show lead guitarist Evan Phillips play electric guitar on Love on Paper, and he did a stellar job. I also brought in Hamilton Belk to contribute dobro on “Never Felt Better,” which I thought added a really nice flavor to that song. I had one of my closest friends, Eric Weinberg, mix the record at his home studio in Northern Virginia, not far from where I grew up. Eric is the one who taught me the bulk of what I know about engineering and Pro Tools, so it was fitting having him mix it. He then recommended Bill Wolf in Alexandria, VA, to master it. I couldn’t be happier with the personnel I was able to assemble & everyone’s contributions.
Q: How do you usually go about writing lyrics?
A: As I mentioned above, I like to start with a title if I can. Then I will decide on what my angle is on that title and I’ll begin a pre-write on it to further develop the idea and I’ll create a worksheet of sorts, which includes rhymes to words that may be in key positions within the lyric, or words
that bare some degree of relation to my overall theme. I also try to develop new angles on my overall theme to provide some contrast within verses and try to plot out what turn the lyric may take in a bridge section. I try to always make sure that the first line is interesting. If I have a chorus and the first line feels right, a lot of it then tends to fill in itself.
Q: Are you going to be touring for this release?
A: Unfortunately that’s not in the cards with this release, but I am playing out locally here in Nashville with my band.
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: I think that if you really listen, you can hear most of the influences who had the greatest impact on me in one way or another. That’s one thing I’m very proud of with this record – I feel like I was able to channel a number of my musical heroes to create a collage that is unique to me and my sound. I really tried to create a record with some variety, yet worked within a family of related styles. With digital streaming these days, we don’t often listen to records the way we used to, but I grew up listening to records from start to finish (and still do), so it was important to me to create something that had a real arc to it. I feel as though I was able to accomplish that.
A: I recorded all of the guitars and vocals for the record in the second bedroom of my apartment. I used a reactive load box to track all the amps and used high-quality impulse responses for the cabs. I didn’t want the record to also serve as my eviction notice! I had originally worked up all of the demos using the Addictive Drums drum software program and a virtual organ from Native Instruments, in addition to the live instrumentation. I had met Aaron Liao back at Berklee around 2011 & knew I wanted him on bass. He is based out of Los Angeles, so we had a couple virtual meetings regarding production, and then he recorded his parts in L.A.. I thought that his performances really elevated each track. The drums were performed and recorded by Caleb Gilbreath, an outstanding drummer & engineer that I also know from around the same time at Berklee. He recorded them at his home studio here in Nashville. I brought on Andy Ellis Valdini to play the organ parts on a Hammond B3, and he recorded them in his home studio in Portland,OR. I ran out of steam a bit near the end & decided to have my live show lead guitarist Evan Phillips play electric guitar on Love on Paper, and he did a stellar job. I also brought in Hamilton Belk to contribute dobro on “Never Felt Better,” which I thought added a really nice flavor to that song. I had one of my closest friends, Eric Weinberg, mix the record at his home studio in Northern Virginia, not far from where I grew up. Eric is the one who taught me the bulk of what I know about engineering and Pro Tools, so it was fitting having him mix it. He then recommended Bill Wolf in Alexandria, VA, to master it. I couldn’t be happier with the personnel I was able to assemble & everyone’s contributions.
Q: How do you usually go about writing lyrics?
A: As I mentioned above, I like to start with a title if I can. Then I will decide on what my angle is on that title and I’ll begin a pre-write on it to further develop the idea and I’ll create a worksheet of sorts, which includes rhymes to words that may be in key positions within the lyric, or words
that bare some degree of relation to my overall theme. I also try to develop new angles on my overall theme to provide some contrast within verses and try to plot out what turn the lyric may take in a bridge section. I try to always make sure that the first line is interesting. If I have a chorus and the first line feels right, a lot of it then tends to fill in itself.
Q: Are you going to be touring for this release?
A: Unfortunately that’s not in the cards with this release, but I am playing out locally here in Nashville with my band.
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: I think that if you really listen, you can hear most of the influences who had the greatest impact on me in one way or another. That’s one thing I’m very proud of with this record – I feel like I was able to channel a number of my musical heroes to create a collage that is unique to me and my sound. I really tried to create a record with some variety, yet worked within a family of related styles. With digital streaming these days, we don’t often listen to records the way we used to, but I grew up listening to records from start to finish (and still do), so it was important to me to create something that had a real arc to it. I feel as though I was able to accomplish that.