The Song:

This song and video are born of a desire to explore efficiency. It's a reaction to my tendency to re-work things over and over for years, growing to hate them and then never releasing them into the world. This song and video are about finishing.

Recorded over two days in July and August. I set up my childhood drum set in my parents' living room and recorded 2 short drum tracks onto 4 track tape.

I took the tracks out to the garage on a hot July night - fluorescent lights humming and summer insects buzzing. The garage is a drafty, dusty, two story old three car garage with big wooden swinging doors. It's full of tools, home grown garlic drying from the rafters, and boxes containing several lifetimes worth of stuff. Earlier in the week I had setup a big wooden work table balanced on wooden horses.

I looped the drums into alternating sections in Ableton, programmed in some hi-hat samples, and recorded a basic bass line and keyboard part on the Crumar Roadrunner - an Italian keyboard from the 1970s.

The vocals were written and recorded in one take. I plugged in a cheap AKG condenser mic (purchased in 2001 for my high school recording projects), and sang into the noisy summer air along to the loops. I rubbed my hands together. Afterwards, I recorded direct electric guitar and bass guitar.

A couple of weeks later, in August 2018, I brought the song to Mirah's studio, which I had been renting out in the early mornings. I ran the guitar and bass tracks through her amps, recorded shakers, and recorded the sounds of my bare feet walking in circles on the wood floor. Earlier in the year, I began a sound art project called "Process Pieces" in which I recorded the sounds of artists making various kinds of art, along with interviews about their processes. Two of the artists I had featured were physical theater makers, and I loved the sounds their breath and feet made during a contact improv exercise. Inspired by that exercise, I incorporated the sounds of my own feet walking in circles into this recording, which already felt largely circular, looping and experimental.

Instead of letting the track languish on my hard drive, where many songs go to die a slow death, I brought it to Eli Crews to mix and then to Sarah Register for mastering.

The Video:

I got an idea for the video on Monday Nov 6, then filmed and edited it on Tuesday November 7th, 2018.

After the 2016 election, I came home at 2 AM and took the hottest shower of my life, completely numb. I've continued to retreat to the shower during difficult moments over the past couple of years. I filmed this particular shower after returning from the polls on midterm election day 2018.

Over the years I've really hated taking press photos. I don't recognize myself. I thought I'd make a video that I'm now comfortable making.

The closing shot of the drain is a "Psycho" reference. I grew up watching a lot of Hitchcock.

My goal for 2018 was to start finishing things. This is my re-entry into the world of the living.

Watch Video: youtu.be/syE4eIFK2G8