WAKE IS ALIVE.
After more than ten years of writing, thinking, recording, delaying, WAKE is out now on @switchhitrecords . Find it anywhere you stream tunes, or at the link in my bio. Headphones recommended.
No well of gratitude is deep enough for the people who made this record possible. A massive thanks to everyone whose incredible work you’re gonna hear on these songs - @philterfeed , @helloarthurmoon , @basementfloods , @conveyornyc , @ndrewsheron , @ohevelynnn , @kristin.a.y.schmitz , @monique_hafen_adams , @honey.wrestler , Jaimie Branch, and @zubinhensler
More to be said at some point about all of these humans and all the other friends who hold this project up and keep me from floating away into the void.
And thank you endlessly to anyone out there giving this record a chance. I never take your time and energy for granted, and I hope the music offers you a little something in return.
More soon, more soon. But until then,
Happy Birthday, Watchdog 💚
Hello, traveler!
It hath been one month since WAKE and so today…this! Should you wish to wear some wares, find Bert the Shopkeep in town (or…go to the link in bio, same thing). Huzzah!
(P.s. thank you, Phil, for collaborating with me and creating the perfect 8bit version of Shiny. I love you.)
My Body is the Wrong Body but it’s Also Here and it’s Mine: A Mood Board
I wrote about Wrong Body on my Substack if you enjoy that kind of thing (link in bio, of course, of course). Thank you @ohevelynnn for catching the first photo and for jumping up and down in the studio like you were in a mosh pit.
I hope you know you are wrong and right and weird and wild and that being all of those things absolutely rules. 💚
Three weeks post record release, an interlude with random things, upcoming things, a page from a textbook on Watchdogs.
(Still wondering how to say thank you enough for listening to, sharing your thoughts on, and making this record with me, I’ll find words)
(Sometimes it feels strange to keep going with this! If that makes sense!)
Now that the music is in your hands, please indulge me in a walk down memory lane?
Making WAKE: Alright so, Day One - first day in Basement Floods Studio with Phil, Lora-Faye, and Alex 💚
Fever is out three days early on @switchhitrecords !
My brain is full of characters from things I’ve written for work or dreamed and transcribed or made for myself to make sense of my head. Watchdog is one of the third kind of character, and they’re ancient. By that I mean they’ve been my companion for over ten years and pre-date all of the songs on WAKE. They exist for many reasons, but most plainly, they’re how I took mental illness and turned it into something I could write letters to— something grotesque, wily, conspiratorial, tender, soft. Very silly. All of WAKE is Watchdog antagonizing me into living, even when every bone in my body wants to hole up in the house. Fever is about giving in. It’s the promise that, even when every bone in my body wants to hole up in the house, I’ll go ahead and live instead.
Thank you, as always, to the collaborators in the trenches with me - @helloarthurmoon , @philterfeed (on drums this time), @basementfloods , @conveyornyc , @miarassam.art for this truly jaw-dropping single art, and the inimitable Jaimie Branch - she was unmatched, awe-inspiring, and I’m unspeakably grateful that she is on this record and I had the chance to work with her. 💚
Some suggestions for how to best enjoy WAKE 👾
Also come to the listening party on July 23 and you’ll be the first to hear it! Also also, if you RSVP at the link in my bio and let me know about it, I’ll send you a book of lyrics featuring art and photos by lots of cool folks and many mentions of my imaginary friend Watchdog.
Oh hi! I’m releasing WAKE on @switchhitrecords next Friday but you can hear it FIRST by joining a lovely little virtual listening party on July 23rd!
Let me know that you RSVP’d at the link up top and I’ll send you a top secret surprise before the event (…it’s a lyric book with fun art and stuff and I’m really excited about it so I don’t want to keep it a secret!)
This is all scary as hell. I’m completely drowning in feeling and anxiety and joy and doubt about releasing a record in less than two weeks at this time in this world. But doing things in community with other people who want to nerd out about sound or lay on the floor with headphones on and take a chance on new songs or spend any time with this for any reason - it makes it just a bit easier, and infinitely more joyful. Hope to see you there!
A few stills from @basementfloods , where we recorded all of the foundational tracks of WAKE to tape one summer. It had always been my dream to run away somewhere and just work on music for multiple days without interruption. It was an even bigger dream to record to tape. I’m so incredibly grateful I got to do both at such a generative, welcoming, and beautiful studio.
I love how unforgiving recording to tape is. I love (and sometimes hate but mostly love) how it forces you to accept your level of skill at face value. For the most part, tracks on WAKE started with just me and the guitar, playing live. Doing it this way meant I really had to listen, and we had to make decisions on what to keep based on if we FELT it and not if it was technically perfect. In many ways, the record is about the messiness of being a breathing, thinking creature, of being alive. I like that recording to tape makes it sound that way too.
You can pre-save WAKE right now at the link in my bio 💚
I honestly can’t believe I’m saying this but my full length album, WAKE, releases on JULY 25 on @switchhitrecords and you can pre-save it NOW at the link in my bio!
Ahh!
Announcing this is very surreal. These songs have been with me through a decade of my life, some of them even longer. But somehow, they still feel so personally relevant and alive to me. Even though I’ve changed many times since I wrote them, I’m still knee-deep in the murky, strange, wilderness of it and grappling with the same themes. It’s brand new and ancient all at once.
I can’t wait to set this record free. I’m so excited to shout about the people whose heart-filled, rigorous, loving, uncompromising efforts made this record possible (including the folks who were in the recording trenches with me - @philterfeed , @helloarthurmoon , @basementfloods , and @conveyornyc ).
And I’m excited for WAKE to be out of my hands and into the hands of anyone who is willing to give it a chance. I’m already full of gratitude for everyone who has come with me on this music release journey so far, and, even though I don’t think it’s possible to thank you enough, I hope WAKE can offer you a little something in return.
I wrote about Desert on my Substack, and you can see it now! Please click the link in bio if you wish to read about songwriting (sort of?), weird dreams turning into little worlds and then becoming a song, and Watchdog.
I’ve also been informed that Desert is still out for listening and is NOT still buried in the dark caverns of my hard drive. You can find it all in the link up top. 🦇
