SS: Why do you call your self/project/band "birds may bite" instead of "Scott Adams?"
SA: I wanted to have a name that, to me at least, spoke more about the tone I take with the music. "Scott Adams" doesn't speak to the music. If I had a really exotic name, I might feel differently. Besides, not a month goes by that someone doesn’t ask me if I created Dilbert!
SS:When and how did you start writing songs?
SA: The first song (both words and music) that I wrote was when I was 16 or 17. It was an epic progressive speed metal thriller called "Arrakis." The title was suggested by a friend and had to do with Dune. The ditty had around 15 distinct parts but still fit neatly into less than 3 minutes. The guitar part was so complex that I don't think I ever could sing and play it. Going by sense of smell, I invented a whole new modal reality and changed time signatures frequently. I'll never forget trying to teach it to the drummer!
SS: What influenced and inspired you in your early songwriting?
SA:
From the above era, I came back to my roots a bit. When I was 19 or 20, I started playing music that was more melodic and harmonically oriented. I went through a phase where I listened to a lot of bands from Minneapolis/St. Paul (namely Husker Du, Soul Asylum, and the Replacements). These bands reconnected me to my roots: my mom's elevator music station, dad's big bands, and my own early steeping in 70's stuff like Neil Young, The Bee Gees, Carpenters, and Cheap Trick.
SS: Who or what are you listening to these days?
SA:
I have always liked a variety of things. I think music is like food in that you are what you hear - so I'm picky about what touches my ears. Astor Piazzola, the Posies, Radiohead, Aiko Shimada, Stevie Wonder, Samuel Barber, Cordelia's Dad, Grace Hearn and Michael Savage, and Guided by Voices are some things that I like.
SS: Tell me about your experience of going to Cornish College of the Arts. How did it influence your work as a singer-songwriter?
SA: I was a sponge when I went to Cornish. I was old enough to take the choice and the amount of money it cost me very seriously. I worked hard and took every critique to heart. Jarrad Powell taught me mental gymnastics, Bern Herbolsheimer and Janice Giteck taught me counterpoint, Jim Knapp taught me not to take anything for granted, Christian Asplund taught me to accept no limits when setting those parameters... But I learned something from pretty much every student and teacher I met.
I studied composition, which for me is about learning to work within parameters: You want to write something in F Lydian mode using a certain melodic shape? You want something in 13/8 that goes with that dance? You want a piece for three broken bottles in a plastic bag being dangled between two carrots and a car wreck overdubbed? No problem.
I can't help but see songwriting through that lens too. It's beautiful when the intellect of creating compositionally folds seamlessly into an intuitive moment and something incredible just pops out.
I'm going through a bit of a crisis though. Music doesn't move me quite the way it used to. I think most people go through this even if they didn't go to music school. School has helped me in some ways but it's also made it harder to just be thrilled by hearing a song. Anyone out there who's been through this and regained some of that "virgin ears" feeling, please chime in and give me some tips! I'm in it for the long haul and want to stay passionate.
SS: Tell me about your songwriting process.
SA:
I’ve gone about the process in different ways but I’m leaning more toward a style of writing that (right now at least) is really working for me.
photo: Travis Hartnett I am capable (as many folks are) of writing some of the most contrived, preachy, self righteous, boring crap. Therefore, I short circuit that impulse by putting myself in a position where I can write flowing words that don’t pound you over the head. If I have to fight with a lyric, I will toss it. I do all my lyrics via freewriting. I almost never have an agenda before I write. I write when I wake up, at cafes drunk on coffee, in cemeteries, etc. I just keep the pen going and write as often as I feel like it. If I have to force something, you can tell. I write and then I read. When something has a nice flow, I’ll start editing a little here, a little there. Completing the lyric is a process of subtraction rather than addition. I have to have more than enough material to even bother. I believe that each lyric/song/idea has this tunnel that you can only get into once. If I leave an idea before thoroughly exploring it, I can’t ever get back to quite the same place. So right now it's lyrics first then music.
Once the words are done, I feel like I’m less naïve as a musician and am capable of making the music fit the mood that the words seem to need. I like to work quickly and record what I do onto a minidisk. I listen later with fresh ears. Sometimes I write different music to the same set of words and compare the results.
I go through phases... I haven't written a song since February of this year. But during February, I wrote 28 songs (a complete song each day.)
SS: Your lyrics are often more akin to poetry, both in terms of form and language, than the average pop song. They read well on the page, separate from the music. Are there any poets or authors who have had an impact on your lyric writing?
SA:
Thank you! I do make sure I can stand to read them before I make music for them. I almost never read poetry though. I have taken a few creative writing classes here and there and hung out with some really good writers but whatever gift I may have for words has to do with heredity and luck. My dad was an advertising writer and is now retired. He spends his days tirelessly writing, editing, and rewriting the Great American Novel... I no doubt absorbed some ways of thinking (and rebelling against thinking) from him. He has this knack of never saying anything the same way twice; along the same lines, he will hang himself before getting caught using a cliché – I find it inspiring. He’s 80 this year and still very lucid and disciplined.
SS: Do the reactions of listeners and reviewers sometimes surprise you?
SA: Yes. That's one of those things you learn when you put yourself "out there." What strangers hear and report hearing is very illuminating. Sometimes I wonder why more listeners don't distinguish between songwriting and production. Some of the credit people give me belongs to [producer] Dan White.
As far as being misunderstood goes, I don't feel too bad... I've never made a huge effort to be literally understood in the first place. I like the listener to have their own experience. I'm not interested in hammering my politics, stories, message specifically into their head but I definitely want to move people emotionally, cause them to think, etc. But I don't care if they know what the song is "about" or not.
Whose stories and memories are more powerful to a listener? Mine or their own? I'm more into giving them images and suggestions.
SS: What do you think songs are "for?"
SA:
Songs are for taking you places in your body, in your mind. They're for bringing you into the moment with a new glow, they're for taking you out of the moment and reminding you of a former glow, they're for an exchanging of ideas and even communicating news; songs are snapshots breathing color into a mood or thought and they're pure sugar.
Having said all that, I never have thought too much about what they're for - kind of like a brother or sister that's just always been part of your life.
SS: In your work, I'm often struck by the thematic interplay between the guitar and the voice. Your songs feel less like "lead vocals with guitar accompaniment," and more like duets between two equal voices or instruments. Tell me about the relationship between the voice and the guitar in your work, and in your songwriting process.
SA: That’s a huge part of the songs on "if startled." I wrote all of those songs during the year after I finished Cornish. Bern Herbolsheimer turned me on to Bach in a huge way; Janice Giteck taught me the mechanics of counterpoint. How the voices of the guitar (itself a multi-voice choir) combine with the voice is something I can’t take for granted.
But those were the ideas I was stoked about 5 years ago when I wrote those songs. Since then, I've been evolving and rounding out as a musician who plays music and performs frequently. Five years ago, I had just spent several years exploring music in a much more cerebral fashion. I had written orchestral music, string music, gamelan music, etc.
I get infatuated with ideas consciously and then they become more intuitive as they get absorbed into the everyday work. I think the infatuations of the music I'll record next time are modulating (changing keys) in powerful ways and working to make the whole 3 ½-4 minutes develop. But who knows…
SS: Do you write songs on other instruments than the guitar?
SA:
I play accordion, banjo, and some percussion instruments. These instruments are also newer to me and I struggle with them more technically. My early attempts with the accordion were just too damn hard to play. I took a break. I probably will work with the other instruments more but the practical concern of finding a parking space and then making three trips to and from the car to get all the instruments and amplification and then all the setup does influence (sad but true) what I do.
SS: Your CD has a wonderful sonic variety and scope. Tell me about the process of creating the CD, and of working with producer Dan White.
SA:
Working with Dan is a dream. He is brilliant and an incredibly hard worker. The world needs more Dan Whites... "if startled" is the first record that either of us made. We had both played on people’s CDs and absorbed and had ideas but were just jumping in and seeing what would happen. We didn't compromise but we did a lot of stuff the hard way.
photo: Maren Aberle and
Heather WoffordOften people will do all the basics (drums, bass, rhythm guitar, etc.) in a weekend, then overdubs over the next bit of time or whatever. On that CD, each tune has its own story. Many started with my scratch vocals and guitar and a click. I’d be at work (I had a hideous office job) and Dan would send a link to an MP3 of what he did that day in his studio. Dan’s ability with subtle sonic detail is an amazing thing. He’d play so many mixes of "Sister Sue," and I’d be like, "Sounds great..." And then he’d mix it again. I got to do a project with someone I absolutely trusted whose skill set was complementary to my own. Can't beat it.
SS: Given the wide musical range of the CD, how do you approach presenting your songs in concert?
SA:
We did a band thing for about a year around the time the CD got finished. It didn't quite feel right to me... I didn't like playing the same songs over and over and I wasn't coming into my own as a bandleader, so it fell apart.
As a solo performer, I enjoy trying to find ways to work in arrangement ideas on the guitar and reworking parts to make the thing more full but I’m a little discouraged with that too. Playing Folklife this year was a dream come true but as soon as I put my guitar in its case, I said to myself that I’ve had it with the "guy with a guitar" approach.
I was in this speed metal/punk band called Vehement Spevy when I was 20. We were in a college town and someone hired us to play a masters level art show. People left in droves – except for the 20 people who ripped each other to shreds to our music. One guy proudly told me that he broke his ankle slamming to our music. That kind of polar (love it or hate it) response sets well with me.
Folklife (and other venues like it) are filled with people using that same guitar-and-voice medium. I don’t like being so easily ignored. I also have trouble being enough of a businessman and organizer to keep a band together; it is so much easier to perform solo! I’ve turned down a couple of gigs recently because of being burnt out on performing. I want to love performing as much as I have in the past before I go back to it.
The sad truth about being a musician nowadays (or perhaps of being a mediocre one) is that music is no novelty. Music is more often noise pollution than something that is sought after and enjoyed. It is an especially difficult time for creating original music. But on the flipside, it sets the bar that much higher – especially if you’re not willing to compromise your own standards to create something that other people will be into hearing. Hell, when I’m having a great conversation, I filter out music myself.
SS: Tell me about some of the other musical projects you're involved in. Do they feed back into your songwriting life?
SA: The Seattle Harmonic Voices (www.harmonicvoices.com) is a small choir where we work primarily with overtone singing. I play banjo in the Smilin’ Scandinavians (www.smilinscandinavians.com). We play polka, swing, Dixieland, and old school country favorites. It’s a dance band. Monktail Creative Music Concern (www.monktail.com)is a collective of improvisers. Within the collective are many smaller groups as well as a huge one made up of everybody. DJ Police at the Door is a duo - I play accordion and Julie Baldridge plays violin. We play Balkan sounding improvised music; we mostly busk.
Being in these projects has definitely helped me to be a better musician, each in a different way. I've always felt that my songs could be stronger if I had a wide palette of colors to choose from. But I also think that birds may bite would benefit if I’d make more time for it.
SS: What opportunities - and challenges - does being a singer-songwriter offer you, that you don't get from these other projects?
SA: Well, as a recovering control freak, the advantages to being a solo singer songwriter are obvious. You only need to please yourself. But after having pleased myself so much for so long, I feel I need to make more of an effort to reach people. Lately, I'm getting such a lukewarm response from the universe. My mind interprets the response to mean that I'm not doing enough. So right now, I don't think I can get by being a solo performer.
I’m a shy person and not a born singer – so getting up in front of people and making these songs up took a lot of balls at first. Now that I’ve been doing it for 10+ years, my soul is not satisfied. I need to grow a lot to find that same satisfaction. I’m gonna take my time before I put out another record... As fun as it is to do, I feel that I have to earn the right to put out the next one. The whole process is too expensive (in many ways) to justify just putting out a CD when I’ve written the next 10 songs. I’ve written about 50 since ‘if startled’ and I’m still not ready to do the next one.
SS: Is music your bread and butter?
SA: Yes, but that includes teaching music. I’m an elementary school music teacher. That pays most of my bills and pays me many times over thanks to inspiration from the kids. Logistically, a day job doesn’t interfere with gigging and it keeps me playing and singing every day. I get summers off and 4+ weeks of miscellaneous days off during the year. A couple of the aforementioned bands pay for some meals here and there but it would be very stressful and dramatic for me to try to survive by just playing music. If I had to worry about making a living that way, I’m not sure if I would make time to write.
SS: Any plans for a new CD of songs?
SA:
Yes. Dan White is currently putting together an awesome (very analog-driven) home studio. He plans to record the amazing Kym Tuvim starting in September or so. We talked about working together after that. Whenever I stare at the boxes and boxes of CD’s that I still haven't sold, I wonder if anyone in their right mind would want to do it again. Along with the above goal of needing to "grow" up to the next CD as a writer/musician, I also need to be honest with myself: I am no self promoter... If I do it again, I'll get help.
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More about birds may bite:
Scott's song, "Sister Sue"
www.birdsmaybite.com
buy
Scott's
CDs online
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