Part 2

From very deep/high/loud/quiet sounds to very long/short/simple/complex compositions - are there extremes in music you feel drawn to, and what response do they elicit?

I think that depends on many things, what’s happening around me, what’s happening in the world, my personal life, how I feel, and so many variables. I’m not sure I know what I’m drawn to till I sit down, open up, and let the music come out. Again. I feel like I’m interpreting for someone else sometimes, and I’m still learning.

Often, when things are going smoothly, I will create the most chaotic, interesting, and complicated pieces. When things are heavy, I’ll write rolling ascending compositions. When things are at their darkest and hopeless, some of the most beautiful sounds wind up coming out.

It’s all paradoxical somehow.

From symphonies and traditional verse/chorus-songs to linear techno tracks and free jazz, there are myriad ways to structure a piece of music. Which approaches work best for you – and why?

The best approach for me is to go with the flow.

I suppose I’m lucky. I took time to build The Glue Factory (my studio). I’ve engineered it so that anytime I need to, I can go in, power up, hit record, and hope for the best. Sometimes, it meets with mixed results. But I’m always able to create, and I am on 24/7.

It’s nice to have my studio in the same building that we live in, and it affords me that luxury of creating regularly and consistently, being open to the vibes always. I used to go in when I couldn’t sleep, often nightly, but then I had a seizure one morning. That was interesting. My dog Charlotte and my wife Amanda discovered me two floors away in a soundproof studio at 4 a.m. So I’ve paused that approach, sort of.

I have some drugs, Charlotte, and a fancy watch that will help alert Amanda if I'm getting ready to spaz out. But now I try to wait until everyone’s awake so I’m not a hazard. But the best approach is to be receptive always and able to go in and interpret and record.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of one of your pieces, live performances, or albums that's particularly dear to you, please?

I guess like I was saying, my creative process is fluid. I try to keep it always open.

Sometimes, I’ll start with a riff on the guitar or piano. Sometimes, I’ll hear a rhythmic idea, or a phrase will get stuck and bounce around inside my head. Then we’re off to the races! I'll head into the studio. I used to think it was a joke when I’d hear artists say, “Yeah, we just sat down and cranked the whole record out in seven days,” like it was easy. I think I’m opening up more, caring less about what anyone else thinks about what’s coming out, which seems to be hugely empowering.

I think the newest record, I think we’re going to call it Earthburner this one, similar to the last one, is moving right along. Sanford, Matt, and John are encouraging me to go further. I mean, we're encouraging each other. It’s nice to be able to collaborate with some other amazing artists because it gives you the confidence to take whatever you were doing further, to break through whatever paradigm you set up for yourself, and have fun with what’s coming through your head and out through your fingers and mouth.

I asked Sanford if he would work on the next one after Evidence of a Struggle with me, and he said hell yeah, Matt wanted to collaborate, and John was already coming up with images based on the demos. And then, like everyone seems to say, I had about 20 songs in about a month, and then it was just under 40. I think that reality hit me when I was talking to our publicist, Shauna, and she said, “40 tracks is too many. Twenty tracks is 2X more than most albums.”

This one was fun. We’ve gotten into a rhythm, and I can’t stop it now because I don’t know how long it will last. It sounds rad. I'm having a blast leaning into my guitar and vocal parts. I mean, I think it sounds delicious. It's exciting, So we’re all rolling with it.

I feel like that was a lot of words for being pretty vague.

Sometimes, science and art converge in unexpected ways. Do you conduct “experiments” or make use of scientific insights when you're making music?

My experiment is always to see if I can translate what's going on inside my head outwardly through music. I always use science ranger Brad.

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

I think the music and art I create does reflect in some way my life. As artists, we can encourage others to have a deeper understanding of music, all art, and how it speaks to us and might help us, but it is a very individual endeavor. I don't think it's something that can be forced or should be, instead encouraged, which is what makes music and art unique.

How we individually process anything we hear, listen to, or see is so interesting, how something so fluid grabs us each differently. What resonates with me may not resonate with you or anyone else.

What any artist thinks should or would stand out for them may miss the mark for everyone else. It's subjective, so the artist, when they recognize the message they're trying to convey isn't being understood the way they envisioned it would, might add a visual cue to music to nudge the listener towards the narrative the artist wants to pursue or encourage, which then enables them to dig deeper into their subject in an attempt to make the subjective objective.

It keeps propelling the art forward, pressing the artist to keep growing, not to prove a point to the listener but to keep looking for their truth and to help encourage themselves and, hopefully, others that they are moving everyone listening down the path in an appropriate vehicle and possibly giving an option for different ones with every refinement.

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Sure. I mean, it's absolutely a unique experience for me to compose, play, or perform than it is to make a cup of coffee. I think with music, I'm attempting to explore our continuity and connection to and with everything and everyone. We are attached whether we like it or not.

There are things we can and cannot see or feel sometimes that may have the ability to influence us positively or negatively. I think my art, my music, is trying to connect with that, to explore it, to allow that dialogue to exist between myself and anyone who can open themselves up to pick up what I'm putting down.

I think understanding each other might be the beginning of things in our world changing to benefit everything and everyone instead of continuing to use abuse and destroy it. Maybe my music could help us get there somehow.

Every time I listen to "Albedo 0.39" by Vangelis, I choke up. But the lyrics are made up of nothing but numbers and values. Do you, too, have a song or piece of music that affects you in a way that you can't explain?

I think everything I create has some significance inwardly, personally.

I don't mean to sound full of myself. That's absolutely not my intention. But when I sit down to write something, to let whatever is inside out, it is like opening up a floodgate, letting some shared current flow freely somehow. It always grabs me and takes me on some emotional ride, and it's a necessary release. If I don't let it out, it causes problems.

I guess it sounds strange. And it is challenging to explain, but if I don't write, things get really weird really fast. I feel like sometimes I'm just a passenger along for a wild ride.

If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

I wish more people were trying to share their art, whatever was speaking to them sonically, visually, creatively, and emotionally.

I believe that understanding our continuity and connection through our art could help us more smoothly or more easily help us make things better for each other and maybe this whole planet somehow.