| How has music changed your life for the better?
I mean, in every way?! I’m not working some crummy job that I hate and just waiting to punch out every day. I love what I do. I get to see the world. There’s some scary stuff, I mean you have to put yourself out there in a way that invites potential criticism, but that’s a small price to pay for living the dream.
Do you pull from culture, or try to create in a vacuum? Neither. Both. I wouldn’t say a lot of pop culture references slip into my writing, but I definitely pull from the world around me and the culture that I’m immersed in. I don’t even really know if it’s possible to write in a vacuum unless you’re doing some sort of weird art-pop. The very nature of music is that it’s relatable in some way. I guess I write mostly in the first person, but beyond that, I’m definitely allowing the world to influence the process.
What would you say is the most distinctive thing about your new release? The diversity of the tracks, the use of horns combined with traditional bluegrass instruments like mandolin and fiddle, and a sort of irreverent androgyny. Jaron [Pearlman] and I co-produced the record but we were really free with people and we didn’t adhere to some kind of strict idea of stylistic theme. When I told him I wanted an Appalachian second line with horns and fiddle on Gypsy he didn’t hesitate. And the androgyny… I think listening to the tunes on this record you could imagine a male singing most of them just as easily, if not even more easily. A lot of times music is overtly gendered and I’m proud that mine is not.
If you could be creating music in another decade – the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, etc… – which decade would you choose and why? Nah. The future maybe? Haha. I appreciate music from all eras, but I’m not one of those people who says I was born in the wrong decade or something like that. People definitely notice a 90s vibe on a lot of my stuff, but that’s just because I grew up in the 90s. That influence is there and I’m glad about it, but I am happy with what it is. I like this time period for music.
What’s the most inspiring thing you’ve heard/seen recently? If you mean inspiring in the sense that I felt compelled to write music afterward, I guess I’d have to say Texas. The west in general. I just drove across country and back in just over a week and seeing those landscapes, those huge mountains, those wide-open spaces, that lights a fire. Actually, there were literal fires in Texas. As you drive through the oil fields you can see these big pipes that are burning off residual natural gas and just shooting flames up into the sky. I think I might write a song about that. I don’t know what exactly I have to say about it, but it’s probably not going to be something the oil industry would want to use for their marketing.
What’s one thing we’re likely not to learn about you from listening to your music? That’s a weird question. I guess there’s a lot of things, but let’s go with the fact that before music I was a professional soccer player for a couple of years. That was really what everybody expected me to stick with.
How do you blow off steam? Trust me, you don’t want to see it. Take a listen to my song, “Lord, Send Me A Train” and that’ll give you a clue. I’m an extremely emotional person and an Italian. My dad raised me watching the Rocky movies. My life would probably be less complicated if I just put a punching bag somewhere in my house. I should clarify that I’m not violent towards sentient beings for the most part, but I will definitely bust some objects.
Ever tried skateboarding? Any history with Skate culture? See, this follow-up question makes me think. Maybe I should be skateboarding instead of punching stuff. Haha. I was pretty into skateboarding as a kid but I never got good at the fancy stuff. My favorite thing to do was lay down on my skateboard and ride it like a luge down our long steep driveway. I still have a skateboard, or I should say that I got myself another one as I started to enter my midlife crisis. I have a lot of good intentions about getting out to the skate park, but I let my board sit around so long in between that I usually have to find time to lube up my bearings every single time I want to go skate. It’s a deterrent. Maybe you can give me some advice about skateboard maintenance. Haha What’s the best thing about being an artist in 2020? No limits. You can literally do whatever the hell you want. I personally don’t push too many extreme limits, but I like to watch people who do and get inspired. When I was a kid metal bands were so edgy and parents were so disapproving of that culture. Now there are 55-year-old fathers taking their kids to see Tool. We live in a shock value culture that has eaten its own tail. That has created a level of freedom of expression that’s never existed before. Even if I’m not taking full advantage of it, I appreciate it.
What is the next big thing? For me? Or the world? Because I guess Billie Eilish. Haha. But for me, it’s touring and recording with my band, The Ain’t Sisters. We are out of Atlanta, Georgia, so we will be recording here at home for the first part of the year and then in May we have a southern run through the Carolinas and Florida. After that, we will probably come home and do some more work on the album before hitting the road again in August headed for Pennsylvania, New York, and New England. You can follow us and see those tour dates as we post them on our website at www.theaintsisters.com. |
