I finally was able to continue the recent interview process I began with Sean Padilla of the Cocker Spaniels (really Sean IS the C.Spaniels.) The one man band has actually released a new album "Sometimes You've Gotta Fight to Get a Bit of Peace" recently released on Hornbuckle Records. So my only real claim to any kind of indie cred was kind enough to respond to a few questions from me about the new album release.
The album is, of course, bananas and I would suggest you go pick it up yesterday. If you're lucky you might get one of the limited edition 'zines included with the first 60 albums. Trust me it's worth it. The 'zine comes with photos, lyrics, and great anecdotes about the making of and inspiration behind each track.
And without further ado:
Gogo: Let's talk album, how would you describe the album? Does it have an overall theme/concept or is it more a collection of work over the past couple of years?
SP: "Sometimes You've Gotta Fight to Get a Bit of Peace" the result of the life experiences I've accumulated and the musical progress I've made over a three-year time span.
If the lyrics have an overall theme, it's the struggle to define who I am and what kind of life I want to lead, in spite of people and institutions that have hindered my self-actualization. I left relatives, friends, lovers, jobs and churches behind in order to become a freer and more focused person, and many of the album's songs address both the positives and negatives of the process. I missed my family, but didn't want to remain in an economically and psychologically oppressive city to be with them; I wanted to devote more of my life to music, but didn't want to starve because of it; I wanted to maintain a relationship with God, but didn't want to follow the illogical rules of God's representatives.
Musically, the album reflects a more diverse set of influences: hints of R&B, shoegaze, Tropicalia, dub, and electronic music appear in the songs. Although the album was still a homemade, low-budget affair, I bought better recording equipment, so the fidelity is higher. I'm a better singer, writer, musician, arranger and performer than I was when I released my previous album six years ago, and I believe that it shows.
Gogo: What has your creative process been like?
SP: My writing process is more scattershot than the hyper-composed nature of my songs would imply. I write sets of lyrics and sets of melodies/riffs whenever inspiration strikes me, and put together different combinations of lyrics and music until I find a good fit. My recording process is a bit more streamlined: I always record the drums first, then the guitars & keyboards, then the bass & vocals. After that, I add or remove whatever I feel the song needs. I try to adhere to what Chad Clark (of the Beauty Pill) calls "song monogamy": I don't start recording another song until I finish recording the one I'm currently working on. That way, I'm forced not to spend too much time recording a song, lest I get creatively constipated.
Gogo: Recording vs playing live?
SP: Playing live has become less stressful for me than recording, simply because any wrong notes I sing or play disappear immediately after they're heard, and audiences rarely notice them unless I draw attention to them. Recording, on the other hand, immortalizes everything...yet, it's still the more personally fulfilling of the two activities for that same reason.
Gogo: You're DIY-ing a lot of the promotion and etc yourself; is that an intentional choice? Overall how have you felt about it?
SP: Doing everything myself is a pain in the ass sometimes, but it's an intentional choice. First of all, I simply can't afford a manager, a publicist or a booking agent; even if I could, I'd still want to be as hands-on as possible so that I can fully understand the mechanics of the music business. I believe that artists need to pay more attention to administrative manners, as long as they don't significantly hinder the music-making process. Second of all, most people on the "industry" side of the music industry don't really know what to make of my music. Even if they LIKE it, they can't figure out how to promote or book me. Therefore, I'd rather just do it myself: I'd have just as good a success rate, if not higher.
Gogo: New album, new tour? What are your plans post release?
SP: I'm in the process of promoting five shows I'm playing in Texas during the month of August to support the album; choosing which songs of mine I'd like to record for an upcoming EP; and booking a tour of the East Coast for late October and early November. Once I return from tour, I plan to bring 2011 in by beginning work on the next full-length album, and booking a tour of the Midwest & West Coast for the spring.
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