4/8/18
A wealth of new music came out just the other day. New Gum, new Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Kali Uchis. There’s not enough time in the day to digest it all -- I’ve only saved and listened to Sex and Food once, let alone any of the others... And that’s partly why I didn’t settle on this date to release my own material; I figured people who enjoy the same music that I do might be overwhelmed this weekend. Still though, April seems as good a time as any to finally let go of my songs: Spring, with a capital S, a time for growth and change.
So Friday the 13th - that’s when it’s all happening, folks. I figured it would be catchy to say, and if things flop I’ll just cheekily chalk it up to bad luck! Anyways, just a little under a week! I’ll be playing half of a solo set and half of a full band set with good friends backing me at roughly 9pm at the Garden Room in downtown Iowa City. Hopefully there will be some kinds of merch there. I have yet to get a decent handle on all of that.
It goes without saying, because I feel like I’ve mentioned it all before - of course a lot of time and effort went in to this venture. It’s bittersweet to see it all come full circle. When I listen to the songs now, I can understand the headspace I was in when I was writing and arranging them. And I hope that message is relayed across the few months of time it took to gestate - I know it still resonates with me, despite becoming a different person in the past year or so.
As for any sort of follow up to the debut, I always have songs on hand - but I’ll likely give Speakerphobe some time to breathe before taking a crack at DB II. I’ve written some new things, and I have a well of melody that I like to dip into from time to time. But I’m not sure what the zeitgeist of the moment really is. This album represented ambivalence, overwhelmed feelings, the balancing act between negativity and positivity - it covered a lot of ground for me, personally. I’ve debated addressing the crazy environmental and political times we live in, but at the same time I don’t want my music to reflect any anger. I want it to remain a bridge. That could be another balancing act in and of itself...hm.
Regardless, the summer will be a great time to just stretch my legs, creatively speaking. But I’ll mainly be taking the time to work on the other aspects of myself - try to be more wellrounded as a person. In the meantime, I have some good friends who are willing to remix some of these tunes. I think “Variations” would be a clever title for an EP of reworked songs. Keep your eyes out for that, and possibly some live recordings in the future. More is on the way, and the best is yet to come!