Woods Of Light Interview
Q: Can you talk about your musical history?
A: My personal relationship with music is long and storied. My parents regularly had music playing in the house or car. My father was into bands like Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Styx, Alice Cooper, and Queen, while my mother preferred artists like Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Neil Diamond, and Johnny Cash. So, I listened to a large variety of music. Of course, as a child, your parents’ music isn’t cool, so you rebel by finding your own preferences. I grew up in the 1990s, and I quickly gravitated toward guitar-oriented music, namely punk, alt-rock, and metal. I remember my very first album purchase with my pocket change was Blink-182’s Enema of the State on cassette tape. I also remember borrowing CDs from our local library, including records by The Offspring, Garbage, and Guns N’ Roses. At the same time, I was playing a lot of video games during that decade, especially on the SNES and N64. I quickly became enamored with those games’ soundtracks and would even painstakingly place my small cassette tape radio in front of the TV to record each individual song so I could listen to those homemade OSTs on my Walkman.
For as long as I can remember, I enjoyed the activity of recording. I still have a box of cassette tapes filled with mock radio interviews and parody skits I made with friends when we were children. A friend who lived down the street had an acoustic guitar that he would often bring over. Even though we had no idea how to play, we’d take turns strumming nonsense, singing improvised songs, and recording those on tape. I still have those tapes in storage, and they technically serve as my first attempt at recording a “song.” As my musical palette continued developing in my teens, I decided it was time to learn how to play the guitar and bought my first electric guitar at age 15. I taught myself how to play by reading guitar tabs online. I recall that the first song I ever tried to teach myself was “Master of Puppets” by Metallica. I was a big “metalhead” in those years and essentially only listened to and played metal music. I was able to expand my musical horizons upon discovering progressive rock/metal artists, such as Opeth, Porcupine Tree, Dream Theater, Katatonia, Anathema, Riverside, and Green Carnation. Given that this music often incorporated acoustic guitar, it led me to listen to music outside the overarching metal realm and to become interested in playing the acoustic guitar. From there, I discovered singer-songwriters like Nick Drake, Ron Sexsmith, and Elliott Smith. After buying my first acoustic guitar at age 16, a Seagull S6 solid cedar top, I began writing music almost immediately. At this time, I also bought my first keyboard and began teaching myself how to play the piano. This is when I truly began songwriting. I’ve been writing music for 20 years now and still look for new ways to grow and evolve as an artist.
Q: What was your creative process like while writing Newcastle Park? How do you begin to write a song?
A: The songs on Newcastle Park span many years. I know at least one or two of those songs are close to 15 years old. Despite arranging the songs on Newcastle Park to have more of a “band” sound, I began writing them much like I begin writing any song. It usually involves sitting around and fiddling with my acoustic guitar until I come up with some kind of chord progression or fingerpicking pattern that I like. In the past, when I had more time, I would go into my studio and begin fleshing out what I was coming up with. It wasn’t uncommon to write an entire song from start to finish in a few hours. Nowadays, free time is much more limited. I’m more likely to come up with a verse/chorus pattern and record it quickly so I don’t forget it. Many of the songs on Newcastle Park initially existed in this format, sometimes for years. In the past—once again, when I had more free time—I could write lyrics in one sitting. Nowadays, I’m more likely to write vocal melodies first and then fill those in with lyrics afterward. With Newcastle Park, I wrote many of those vocal melodies in my car on the way to work. When recording demos of those songs, I’d often leave the verses and choruses blank in terms of vocals. I’d then export a quick MP3 and play it in my car on my way to work. My drive into the city for work was often quite long, so I would hum along and come up with vocal melodies and lyrics over those sections. I know that I wrote the entire chorus of “Sunny Summer Avenue” that way. While my process has definitely shifted and evolved over time, the core of my songwriting has always remained the same. It always begins with me noodling on the guitar or piano. I tend to write a lot, so I’ve written hundreds of songs over the years that are in some phase of completion, saved on hard drives in my studio, most likely never to see the light of day.
Q: Can you talk about some of the themes and concepts woven into Newcastle Park?
A: The theme of nostalgia is ever-present throughout the album as most of the songs are autobiographical in nature and based on memories I have of various experiences from my youth. So, I guess that would make Newcastle Park a “concept album.” Nostalgia is a complicated emotion. It involves the simultaneous reminiscing of pleasant, cherished memories alongside the realization that those days are in the past and that moment can never be recaptured. So, in a way, I see nostalgia as an inherently melancholic emotion. Lyrically, many of the songs on Newcastle Park began with a description of a particular memory. For example, “Virtue Hill” is about visiting my grandfather one day at his apartment. “Words We Never Say” is literally about my mother renting a video game for my brother and me. “Blue-Eyed Stranger,” “Hometown,” “Left Behind,” and “Sunny Summer Avenue” are about four of my oldest friends, respectively. I did notice a particular pattern emerging in that I would then begin to ask myself why I remembered this particular memory, with the lyrics cascading into interpretive territory. I would contemplate the significance of the memory and what it entailed, attempting to draw a grander meaning from it. As a result, additional themes on Newcastle Park include forming lasting friendships despite numerous hurdles over time, family bonds, unconditional love, and an uncertainty about the future and the challenges associated with coming of age.
Q: Nostalgia is a common theme often heard in music, and Newcastle Park seems to delve into the past. What approach do you use to help people connect with this feeling?
A: To be completely honest, when I write music, I do so to fulfill my own artistic needs and ideas. Lyrically, I used this as an opportunity to work through translating my memories and interpretations of these memories in an artistically satisfying way. Over time, I noticed specific themes emerging. I do hope people who listen to my music are able to connect with the underlying themes, as I do think they represent universal human experiences. For example, anxiety associated with growing up, uncertainty about the future, and forming relationships with others are, in my opinion, ubiquitous human experiences. While there are multiple references across the album to this uncertainty about what the future holds, I do hope that this could be interpreted with a tinge of hopefulness and excitement, and not total despair.
Q: Can you talk about the actual recording of the album and what that process was like?
A: The recording process for Newcastle Park was actually quite laborious and intensive. Some of these songs are quite old, some dating back to 15 years ago. Many of these songs have existed in some format or another for years. Usually this could be a quick demo made up of two verse/chorus bits that I’d have saved for years, while others would be complete demos made up of only acoustic/vocals. I had a very specific sound in mind that I worked very hard to try and achieve on this album. I knew I wanted to arrange the songs to have a “band” sound made up of vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, bass, and drums. The first challenge is that, once you’ve had a version of your song exist in one format for years, it becomes very difficult to hear it in a different way. I guess this is why musicians hire producers, to help them gain a fresh perspective. I acted as my own producer so I tried my best to flesh them out in a way that matched the overarching sound I was going for. It wasn’t always easy but I was able to make it work in the end. After I finished arranging all the songs and completing every single demo, I began the time-consuming process of re-recording each song from the ground up, in as high-quality a way as possible, in my studio. My demos tend to be loose as I often write and record simultaneously. I don’t bother with proper takes or warm up for my vocal takes since I’m just building the song at that point. When I recorded the “official” versions of the songs off Newcastle Park, I treated them like proper studio recordings. I recorded each instrument separately and the entire process lasted 9 long months. However, while I initially believed that I would exhaust my current level of studio skill to record this album, I found myself growing and developing in those skills, which was an unforeseen and largely fulfilling experience. I genuinely believe that this recording process deepened my own existing recording and arrangement skills. I also left vital space for creating as I didn’t want these sessions to be made up exclusively of reproducing already written parts of songs. I had a lot of fun layering in various guitar and vocal harmonies and spend a lot of time writing interesting bass lines and dusting off my drum skills. Playing drums for fun is one thing, recording drums on an album to a metronome is a whole other experience. I’m not much of a drummer, so that took me a while to complete. After the recording sessions were done, I jumped into mixing. That in and of itself held numerous challenges as I tended to become oversaturated if I worked on mixing the same song too much. What helped was taking breaks and coming back to listen to it with fresh ears. I’d often experience “what were you thinking?” type of thoughts. It’s fascinating how we can lose all objectivity and not be able to hear that, say, the bass is way too loud. I did 3 rounds of mixing for each song and listened to my test mixes on a variety of speakers, such as in the car with my son. Every round of mixing, I’d refine it more and more until I genuinely believed there was nothing else I could do to make the song “better.” It was a really long process, but I do believe it represents one of my life’s greatest achievements at the moment. For my next album, I’ve already decided that I would arrange the songs in a more “stripped back” fashion. Newcastle Park was a really rewarding experience, but I don’t think recording an album of that magnitude will be feasible anymore given my current lifestyle.
Q: What else do you want people to know about your music?
A: I’m in a bit of an uncommon situation in that I’ve been writing consistently for 20 years but Newcastle Park is the first full-length completed project that I’ve ever released publicly. I came close many times over the years, but marked demands in my personal life made it excessively difficult to take that final step. With Newcastle Park, I was finally in a position in my life where I was more stable, so I was able to devote concrete time to its creation and, most importantly, finalization. Sharing this album and my music overall with folks has been an overwhelmingly positive experience and has added to my life in ways I could not fathom. I really do firmly believe that, as artists, we are never done growing, learning, or evolving. I have a number of other albums I want to record for Woods Of Light as well as other musical projects I would like to make public in the future. The overall challenge will be to find the time to do so, but I plan on pushing myself as much as possible to grow from those experiences as well.
Q: Can you talk about your musical history?
A: My personal relationship with music is long and storied. My parents regularly had music playing in the house or car. My father was into bands like Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Styx, Alice Cooper, and Queen, while my mother preferred artists like Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Neil Diamond, and Johnny Cash. So, I listened to a large variety of music. Of course, as a child, your parents’ music isn’t cool, so you rebel by finding your own preferences. I grew up in the 1990s, and I quickly gravitated toward guitar-oriented music, namely punk, alt-rock, and metal. I remember my very first album purchase with my pocket change was Blink-182’s Enema of the State on cassette tape. I also remember borrowing CDs from our local library, including records by The Offspring, Garbage, and Guns N’ Roses. At the same time, I was playing a lot of video games during that decade, especially on the SNES and N64. I quickly became enamored with those games’ soundtracks and would even painstakingly place my small cassette tape radio in front of the TV to record each individual song so I could listen to those homemade OSTs on my Walkman.
For as long as I can remember, I enjoyed the activity of recording. I still have a box of cassette tapes filled with mock radio interviews and parody skits I made with friends when we were children. A friend who lived down the street had an acoustic guitar that he would often bring over. Even though we had no idea how to play, we’d take turns strumming nonsense, singing improvised songs, and recording those on tape. I still have those tapes in storage, and they technically serve as my first attempt at recording a “song.” As my musical palette continued developing in my teens, I decided it was time to learn how to play the guitar and bought my first electric guitar at age 15. I taught myself how to play by reading guitar tabs online. I recall that the first song I ever tried to teach myself was “Master of Puppets” by Metallica. I was a big “metalhead” in those years and essentially only listened to and played metal music. I was able to expand my musical horizons upon discovering progressive rock/metal artists, such as Opeth, Porcupine Tree, Dream Theater, Katatonia, Anathema, Riverside, and Green Carnation. Given that this music often incorporated acoustic guitar, it led me to listen to music outside the overarching metal realm and to become interested in playing the acoustic guitar. From there, I discovered singer-songwriters like Nick Drake, Ron Sexsmith, and Elliott Smith. After buying my first acoustic guitar at age 16, a Seagull S6 solid cedar top, I began writing music almost immediately. At this time, I also bought my first keyboard and began teaching myself how to play the piano. This is when I truly began songwriting. I’ve been writing music for 20 years now and still look for new ways to grow and evolve as an artist.
Q: What was your creative process like while writing Newcastle Park? How do you begin to write a song?
A: The songs on Newcastle Park span many years. I know at least one or two of those songs are close to 15 years old. Despite arranging the songs on Newcastle Park to have more of a “band” sound, I began writing them much like I begin writing any song. It usually involves sitting around and fiddling with my acoustic guitar until I come up with some kind of chord progression or fingerpicking pattern that I like. In the past, when I had more time, I would go into my studio and begin fleshing out what I was coming up with. It wasn’t uncommon to write an entire song from start to finish in a few hours. Nowadays, free time is much more limited. I’m more likely to come up with a verse/chorus pattern and record it quickly so I don’t forget it. Many of the songs on Newcastle Park initially existed in this format, sometimes for years. In the past—once again, when I had more free time—I could write lyrics in one sitting. Nowadays, I’m more likely to write vocal melodies first and then fill those in with lyrics afterward. With Newcastle Park, I wrote many of those vocal melodies in my car on the way to work. When recording demos of those songs, I’d often leave the verses and choruses blank in terms of vocals. I’d then export a quick MP3 and play it in my car on my way to work. My drive into the city for work was often quite long, so I would hum along and come up with vocal melodies and lyrics over those sections. I know that I wrote the entire chorus of “Sunny Summer Avenue” that way. While my process has definitely shifted and evolved over time, the core of my songwriting has always remained the same. It always begins with me noodling on the guitar or piano. I tend to write a lot, so I’ve written hundreds of songs over the years that are in some phase of completion, saved on hard drives in my studio, most likely never to see the light of day.
Q: Can you talk about some of the themes and concepts woven into Newcastle Park?
A: The theme of nostalgia is ever-present throughout the album as most of the songs are autobiographical in nature and based on memories I have of various experiences from my youth. So, I guess that would make Newcastle Park a “concept album.” Nostalgia is a complicated emotion. It involves the simultaneous reminiscing of pleasant, cherished memories alongside the realization that those days are in the past and that moment can never be recaptured. So, in a way, I see nostalgia as an inherently melancholic emotion. Lyrically, many of the songs on Newcastle Park began with a description of a particular memory. For example, “Virtue Hill” is about visiting my grandfather one day at his apartment. “Words We Never Say” is literally about my mother renting a video game for my brother and me. “Blue-Eyed Stranger,” “Hometown,” “Left Behind,” and “Sunny Summer Avenue” are about four of my oldest friends, respectively. I did notice a particular pattern emerging in that I would then begin to ask myself why I remembered this particular memory, with the lyrics cascading into interpretive territory. I would contemplate the significance of the memory and what it entailed, attempting to draw a grander meaning from it. As a result, additional themes on Newcastle Park include forming lasting friendships despite numerous hurdles over time, family bonds, unconditional love, and an uncertainty about the future and the challenges associated with coming of age.
Q: Nostalgia is a common theme often heard in music, and Newcastle Park seems to delve into the past. What approach do you use to help people connect with this feeling?
A: To be completely honest, when I write music, I do so to fulfill my own artistic needs and ideas. Lyrically, I used this as an opportunity to work through translating my memories and interpretations of these memories in an artistically satisfying way. Over time, I noticed specific themes emerging. I do hope people who listen to my music are able to connect with the underlying themes, as I do think they represent universal human experiences. For example, anxiety associated with growing up, uncertainty about the future, and forming relationships with others are, in my opinion, ubiquitous human experiences. While there are multiple references across the album to this uncertainty about what the future holds, I do hope that this could be interpreted with a tinge of hopefulness and excitement, and not total despair.
Q: Can you talk about the actual recording of the album and what that process was like?
A: The recording process for Newcastle Park was actually quite laborious and intensive. Some of these songs are quite old, some dating back to 15 years ago. Many of these songs have existed in some format or another for years. Usually this could be a quick demo made up of two verse/chorus bits that I’d have saved for years, while others would be complete demos made up of only acoustic/vocals. I had a very specific sound in mind that I worked very hard to try and achieve on this album. I knew I wanted to arrange the songs to have a “band” sound made up of vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, bass, and drums. The first challenge is that, once you’ve had a version of your song exist in one format for years, it becomes very difficult to hear it in a different way. I guess this is why musicians hire producers, to help them gain a fresh perspective. I acted as my own producer so I tried my best to flesh them out in a way that matched the overarching sound I was going for. It wasn’t always easy but I was able to make it work in the end. After I finished arranging all the songs and completing every single demo, I began the time-consuming process of re-recording each song from the ground up, in as high-quality a way as possible, in my studio. My demos tend to be loose as I often write and record simultaneously. I don’t bother with proper takes or warm up for my vocal takes since I’m just building the song at that point. When I recorded the “official” versions of the songs off Newcastle Park, I treated them like proper studio recordings. I recorded each instrument separately and the entire process lasted 9 long months. However, while I initially believed that I would exhaust my current level of studio skill to record this album, I found myself growing and developing in those skills, which was an unforeseen and largely fulfilling experience. I genuinely believe that this recording process deepened my own existing recording and arrangement skills. I also left vital space for creating as I didn’t want these sessions to be made up exclusively of reproducing already written parts of songs. I had a lot of fun layering in various guitar and vocal harmonies and spend a lot of time writing interesting bass lines and dusting off my drum skills. Playing drums for fun is one thing, recording drums on an album to a metronome is a whole other experience. I’m not much of a drummer, so that took me a while to complete. After the recording sessions were done, I jumped into mixing. That in and of itself held numerous challenges as I tended to become oversaturated if I worked on mixing the same song too much. What helped was taking breaks and coming back to listen to it with fresh ears. I’d often experience “what were you thinking?” type of thoughts. It’s fascinating how we can lose all objectivity and not be able to hear that, say, the bass is way too loud. I did 3 rounds of mixing for each song and listened to my test mixes on a variety of speakers, such as in the car with my son. Every round of mixing, I’d refine it more and more until I genuinely believed there was nothing else I could do to make the song “better.” It was a really long process, but I do believe it represents one of my life’s greatest achievements at the moment. For my next album, I’ve already decided that I would arrange the songs in a more “stripped back” fashion. Newcastle Park was a really rewarding experience, but I don’t think recording an album of that magnitude will be feasible anymore given my current lifestyle.
Q: What else do you want people to know about your music?
A: I’m in a bit of an uncommon situation in that I’ve been writing consistently for 20 years but Newcastle Park is the first full-length completed project that I’ve ever released publicly. I came close many times over the years, but marked demands in my personal life made it excessively difficult to take that final step. With Newcastle Park, I was finally in a position in my life where I was more stable, so I was able to devote concrete time to its creation and, most importantly, finalization. Sharing this album and my music overall with folks has been an overwhelmingly positive experience and has added to my life in ways I could not fathom. I really do firmly believe that, as artists, we are never done growing, learning, or evolving. I have a number of other albums I want to record for Woods Of Light as well as other musical projects I would like to make public in the future. The overall challenge will be to find the time to do so, but I plan on pushing myself as much as possible to grow from those experiences as well.