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I’m not a prolific songwriter. I’ve been
writing songs for over ten years. It is by virtue of time that I’ve
acquired a significant body of work. I can’t set out to write a song, and
yet they come to me. It is a mysterious process that only comes if I’m in particular
state of mind. I find that state lies between two worlds.
I suspect that I’m a bit “bipolar”. As
I oscillate between the stable and the unstable, I notice a certain lucidity emerges. It’s that state that allows
me to craft words into melodies, and melodies into songs. It’s much like
catching a wave. When I do, and it’s usually in the middle of the night, I
ride it out and hopefully write a song.
I write what I know. For the longest
time, the only thing I knew was myself. My songs were about me-me-me. It’s
only recently that I started writing about other things and other
scenarios. I guess I realized people underground can only take so much of
my drama.
I’m maturing. With a better sense of
self, of the world, and of who we are, I feel I write songs that more and
more people can relate to.
If I did have a particular message….
It would be in the nature of what I do for a living, not what I say.
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The electric bass, in my opinion, is the most
versatile instrument in the world. For one, unlike the piano, you can take
it anywhere. What other instrument can you play a single note on, or a
single line motif, and truly make people dance? The most muscular instrument in an
ensemble, it can pivot in any direction and assert the course of a jam.
It’s half of the rhythm section, but it can also jump forward and solo.
Always supportive, but can it be supported?
You can pluck it, pick it, pop it, slap it, strum it, do anything
you want to it. If you can’t fully compose on it and accompany yourself
with it, someone should tell me before it’s too
late. I love it.
In the beginning, what I heard inside
my head was not necessarily what came out of my mouth. How I survived my
first years underground, I don’t know. I’m a singer, because I’m a
songwriter. My songs are my children. To keep them from being adopted, I’ve
taken it upon myself to sing the best I can. I’m not a naturally gifted
singer. Although I could have taken lessons, it is the self discovery of my
voice that fulfills me. It is through the sheer repetition of my songs that
I’ve acquired any proficiency.
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