THE BIRDWATCHER TR: How much of the southern feel do you want to capture in your music? it's not that i want to capture a southern feel. i try to make music that's very personal and intimate. something that actually means something that holds true. TR: Do you believe that by writing works that are personal and intimate that you are actually reaching a wider audience, or a more specific audience? the works are indeed personal and intimate but they are also written a bit non-traditional in the pop sense. it's really easy to sit and write a chorus verse choruse verse pop song. what i'm trying to do is add some tension or just a twist to these traditional structures. because it's more of a listening experience i draw a more specific audience. TR: How do you feel about the recent acceptance of "country-folk-americana" into the indie fold via bands like Whiskeytown and the fashionable straw hat? the music business here in america will blindly grab at just about anything to see if it sells. the amount of money they make on a handful of artists allows for this. sometimes they'll have a hit with something interesting (say, radiohead or bjork) but most times it just gets discarded and watered down by someone else. (if you notice, the same labels that are now dropping the one time buzzing "alt-country" artist have madonna wearing the straw cowboy hat.) they've labeled this music "alt-country" but it's far more country than what they play as country music today. country music is about tradition and honesty and blood and dying. popular country music today just has no integrity. TR: Should all bands hoping to gain recognition for their music rather than appearance move to Europe? Should we all move to Europe? well, the grass is always greener on the other side. i love america and everything it should be. what i think is we should challenge the norm and work harder to get our music or art or politics- whatever it is you believe- heard. TR: What type of guitar do you play on? lately, i've been playing a lot of acoustic on an old martin. i don't play much electric anymore but i have a '59 melody maker and a fender telecaster among a few other odds and ends. also, just got a piano recently and i've been playing that quite a lot. TR: Does maturity automatically slow down the tempo of songs? i think i'm picking up some of the songs a bit in my old age. they may be getting quieter but they're faster. for a while i was playing louder just to combat the audience. in new york city especially, there's a constant fight with a loud talkative crowd. they pay money to come but they don't let their lives stop for a half hour to listen. i've taken it as a challenge. after playing in europe i realized that some people are respectful and appreciative and i sort of realized that's the people i'll go for. it's like courting a girl who doesn't like you and who you end up not liking her. some other quiet minded brethren and myself sort of egg each other on to hush the crowd by just performing. you just have to find a way to grab people and sometimes it works. TR: What should a band not live in New York despite the seductiveness of "making it" ad he fact that there is "culture" there? Is New Yok overrated? new york is a horrible place for the arts right now. it's become a playground for the rich and beautiful. there is absolutely no music scene there. no comraderie. no support. TR: Do you feel "history" in your music? Does it feel like you're adding your voice to a tradition? i would hope so but that's not for me to say. it's always nice to hear kind words about your music and it puts thing in a new light. especially coming from a stranger because you know the have no designs and they are objective. TR: Do you have a day job and what is it? not at the moment. i've just moved away from new york city for that very reason. they work you like a dog there. i'm living in western new york now with cheap rent. TR: What does it take to have a hit song? i think it goes back to that straw hat.....and of course, lots of money. TR: Would you sell your songs to a pop-star band if they wanted to record them? that's a tricky situation considering my earlier rant. if the song was a hit, i'd have to hear it every day for the rest of my life. that could be hell. if it flops it would be my dirty little secret. so i would say yes as long as it was a flop. TR: Would you be happy being a one hit wonder? i'd rather make 20 good records that sold 1000 copies each than beat myself into making one hit song. my songs are hits to me. i walk around singing them and sometimes i'll catch my girl doing to. that's enough for me. TR: Do musicians in general lose credibility with the mass popular audience as their music becomes free as traded mp3s on the Internet? i don't think they lose credibility. most of the bands that worry about this lost their credibility long ago. for me i'd be happy for someone to get to hear the music. but it would never effect me enough to lose millions of dollars to piracy. TR: How important do you feel guitar is in contemporary music and is this good or bad? there's not enough guitar in modern music. people will just pay to go to a club and hear someone play records. they dance to the thump thump like cro-magnons. i love club music but it should not take the place of a live human experience. TR: Would you consider yourself a country singer? i wouldn't say country. just as say smog or low are not country but they are distintively american. i have never really thought about it until i read an article my friend, peter shapiro, wrote on "americana". this is how these tags get started, i suppose, but that's probably what i'd consider myself. an american singer. Learn more about the Birdwatcher at their label's website http://www.arenarockrecordingco.com