Stony Point Rd Interview
Q: Can you talk about your history as a musician?
A: One of my earliest memories is of me listening to one of those old school record players from the ‘60s where the speaker was built into the lid. I was listening to my parents’ old singles and EPs by Dylan, The Beatles and The Kinks. From that moment I was hooked. I tried taking guitar lessons as a kid but never really liked it. You know they wanted us to play nylon stringed guitars and I wanted to be Jimi Hendrix… So mostly I taught myself – that was a slow, inefficient and painful process. If we only had had Youtube in the ‘80s and ‘90s. But the thing is, I just never stopped playing. So it was victory by attrition – all of those really talented guys I knew as a kid maybe they quit playing or grew up and found other things to do with their time. I am still fascinated by creating music – playing, tracking and mixing.
Q: On your release you mention “Beautiful Losers” was inspired by ’60s and ’70s Americana. Can you expand on that?
A: I guess it goes back to that old record player. As a kid all of my friends listened to Kiss or Michael Jackson. But for me the aesthetics of the ‘60s and ‘70s were imprinted on my brain, I guess. So I’ve always listened to the artists from that time period. Many of them have that personal touch that I find most great modern artists lack. The sounds I tried to create for drums, bass and guitars were inspired by the sounds of those decades.
Q: What is your creative process like?
A: Most of the time I start with a chord structure that creates some type of feeling. What usually happens as I try to figure out the structure is that some type of melody with words starts to grow out of those chords. Once in a while I get this idea where I have some vocals with a melody that pops up in my head and then I write the chords around that. I have one of those moments happening right now. For the song “Beautiful Losers” I had the chords and the whole song structure for years not knowing what to do with it. Then one of my childhood friends died and the words just wrote themselves. That song is 100% true, even down to the Elvis impersonator.
Q: What are some of themes of your release Beautiful Losers?
A: For me most good music is born out of melancholy or despair. Depressing, I know. Very rarely do I write a song just from a made up story or a very happy place. There’s almost always a real life story behind my songs, and that is very true of Beautiful Losers. The whole album is based upon people I have known and, often, lost. Either to death or we just lost touch. It’s about going back to your past, to your roots, to be able to figure out who you are. There’s a pathos for the underdog and for people struggling with what it means to be human. There’s a loser in all of us that needs to be accepted and understood and that loser is beautiful.
Q: Have you played any of the material live or perhaps virtually?
A: Oh that was a long time ago. I did play Joey Lee at a songwriters’ gathering in Nashville in 2004. Some of the other songs have been performed maybe once or twice in the early 2000s. I’m not really into the whole live scene. I’d much rather write and record the songs. Living like a recluse ☺
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: I have some great musicians working with me on this album. I was able to have the legendary Charlie McCoy play harmonica on a song. Charlie has been on some of the most iconic albums ever made by Dylan, Cohen, Simon and Garfunkel etc. I had to cut the song from the album – can you imagine that?
Q: Can you talk about your history as a musician?
A: One of my earliest memories is of me listening to one of those old school record players from the ‘60s where the speaker was built into the lid. I was listening to my parents’ old singles and EPs by Dylan, The Beatles and The Kinks. From that moment I was hooked. I tried taking guitar lessons as a kid but never really liked it. You know they wanted us to play nylon stringed guitars and I wanted to be Jimi Hendrix… So mostly I taught myself – that was a slow, inefficient and painful process. If we only had had Youtube in the ‘80s and ‘90s. But the thing is, I just never stopped playing. So it was victory by attrition – all of those really talented guys I knew as a kid maybe they quit playing or grew up and found other things to do with their time. I am still fascinated by creating music – playing, tracking and mixing.
Q: On your release you mention “Beautiful Losers” was inspired by ’60s and ’70s Americana. Can you expand on that?
A: I guess it goes back to that old record player. As a kid all of my friends listened to Kiss or Michael Jackson. But for me the aesthetics of the ‘60s and ‘70s were imprinted on my brain, I guess. So I’ve always listened to the artists from that time period. Many of them have that personal touch that I find most great modern artists lack. The sounds I tried to create for drums, bass and guitars were inspired by the sounds of those decades.
Q: What is your creative process like?
A: Most of the time I start with a chord structure that creates some type of feeling. What usually happens as I try to figure out the structure is that some type of melody with words starts to grow out of those chords. Once in a while I get this idea where I have some vocals with a melody that pops up in my head and then I write the chords around that. I have one of those moments happening right now. For the song “Beautiful Losers” I had the chords and the whole song structure for years not knowing what to do with it. Then one of my childhood friends died and the words just wrote themselves. That song is 100% true, even down to the Elvis impersonator.
Q: What are some of themes of your release Beautiful Losers?
A: For me most good music is born out of melancholy or despair. Depressing, I know. Very rarely do I write a song just from a made up story or a very happy place. There’s almost always a real life story behind my songs, and that is very true of Beautiful Losers. The whole album is based upon people I have known and, often, lost. Either to death or we just lost touch. It’s about going back to your past, to your roots, to be able to figure out who you are. There’s a pathos for the underdog and for people struggling with what it means to be human. There’s a loser in all of us that needs to be accepted and understood and that loser is beautiful.
Q: Have you played any of the material live or perhaps virtually?
A: Oh that was a long time ago. I did play Joey Lee at a songwriters’ gathering in Nashville in 2004. Some of the other songs have been performed maybe once or twice in the early 2000s. I’m not really into the whole live scene. I’d much rather write and record the songs. Living like a recluse ☺
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: I have some great musicians working with me on this album. I was able to have the legendary Charlie McCoy play harmonica on a song. Charlie has been on some of the most iconic albums ever made by Dylan, Cohen, Simon and Garfunkel etc. I had to cut the song from the album – can you imagine that?