Q: Hey, can you tell us a bit about where you come from, and what made you want to start a career in music?
A: I was born and raised in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and I currently live in Greensburg, which is a little less than an hour east of Pittsburgh. I’ve been passionate about music for pretty much my entire life. My parents collected CDs and they had a really nice stereo setup, so I would occasionally ransack their collection; found lots of cool music that way. They also had VH1 playing on the TV a lot. Neither of my parents had any musical background – they were just really avid listeners. But I knew that when I was growing up, I wanted to pursue music or something performance-related as a career – just loved it! I got my first guitar for Christmas 2006 and shortly after I began to take lessons. A few years later, I began writing my own songs, and when I hit my teens, I started to get into music production, albeit slowly. Most of my early work was self-recorded. I just enjoyed doing it, and I still do. It’s fun, and therapeutic in some ways. I graduated from college with a music technology degree, but these days I primarily DJ.
Q: And what other artists have you found yourself listening to lately?
A: Right now, I mainly listen to a lot of folk and baroque pop. My taste right now is pretty much 80% Lee Hazlewood. “Cowboy In Sweden”, “Requiem for an Almost Lady”, “The Very Special World Of” – all just pure genius. He was one of America’s greatest songwriters, and I aspire to be as clever of a songwriter as he was someday! But I’ve also been listening to lots of singer-songwriters like Leonard Cohen, Bruce Springsteen, Scott Walker – people like them. And I still enjoy my fair share of indie pop – The Japanese House, Alvvays, Beach House – they’ve been on good rotation lately.
Q: Who were your first and strongest musical influences, and why the name ‘Great American Racer’?
A: A lot of ‘90s alternative rock laid the groundwork – Counting Crows, R.E.M., and very early Snow Patrol come to mind especially. I got into indie music when I was a tween – bands like Yuck and Porcelain Raft were very formative to my current taste. And then, Red House Painters came into my life around 2013, and they pretty much altered my brain chemistry! Rollercoaster is still my favorite album of all-time. It is the most achingly beautiful album I’ve ever heard, and to me, every track is perfect. But I love every one of their records. I feel like I really channel their sound on most of my music. For a while I used to perform as Blue Navy, which sonically was very slowcore-influenced, but with lots of ambient and ethereal stylings too. With this new Great American Racer record, I received a lot of comparisons to Red House Painters, so perhaps I wear their influence on my sleeve much more these days. As for both the Blue Navy and Great American Racer aliases, they don’t have a particular meaning and just came to me out of the top of my head!
Q: You have just released your new album, ‘Great American Racer’. Is there a story behind it?
A: Yes. So “Great American Racer” is a concept album pertaining to the opioid epidemic that is currently raging on in Rust Belt communities like my hometown of Johnstown. Johnstown used to be a very industrial city fueled by coal and steel, but after a few awful floods and job outsourcing, Johnstown was basically reduced to nothing. When I was a kid, I would see all the empty steel mills and crumbling buildings, and I began to ask myself, “Why are things like this?”. So when I did some research and learned about the events I just mentioned, it really saddened me that my hometown, with such a rich history and culture, had essentially caved in over time. What also really bothered me, and still does, is the city’s issue with substance abuse. Growing up, I would always see and hear news articles about the region’s struggle with drugs. And at first, I thought this problem was exaggerated. But it later crept into my own personal life, both with friends and family members. I soon realized how serious it actually was, and naturally I took to music to express my sadness and frustrations about it so to speak. I feel that there’s a strong correlation between Johnstown’s industrial decay and the rampant substance abuse problem among its people. It’s a topic I explore pretty vastly on the album, and I want it to bring hope and comfort to those who are going through similar situations. A portion of all profits I make off the record will be donated to anti-drug causes in western Pennsylvania. I donated to a few organizations already, and I feel very grateful for that. I just want my music to inspire positive change in the world.
Q: Can you describe the overall sound and musical style of the album “Great American Racer”?
A: If I were to pigeonhole the album into one category, I would say folk rock. I’ve seen other publications call it alt-country, which I can kind of see. Regardless, I knew that coming in, I wanted to create a much more acoustic-oriented album than anything else I made previously, and since I wholeheartedly love “Nebraska”, Nick Drake, and Simon & Garfunkel, I kind of realized that the music would naturally take on a more folk-heavy sound. However, I also wanted to carry over some of the dream pop elements from my Blue Navy days. The album’s production still sounds kind of cavernous and shimmering – just a bit more dialed back.
Q: What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
A: This is a very lyric- and story-driven album, and since the subject matter is very deep and personal to me, I hope that listeners resonate with what I’m trying to say the most. But at the end of the day, it’s music – not a book of poems. So, I wanted the music to nicely complement the words, in addition to sounding good. I had a very specific sound in mind – something that was equal parts rustic and equal parts ethereal. I mainly wanted plenty of acoustic guitar layers, boomy drum sounds, and lots of reverb! Maybe sprinkle in some grandiose “Born to Run”-esque moments for good measure, as well as some jangly guitar riffs here and there. I challenged myself to capture a very melodic, somewhat polyphonic sound for “Great American Racer”, and from a compositional standpoint, making this album definitely took me out of my comfort zone in a very fulfilling way.
Q: Is there a specific track on “Great American Racer” that holds a special significance to you or has an interesting backstory?
A: “Porches” is a very personal track to me because it was inspired by a childhood friend of mine who passed away during my freshman year of college. About a month after I began to write songs for what would become the “Great American Racer” album, I was informed of his death. Even though it wasn’t caused by substance abuse problems, it still troubled me quite a bit, and I felt that transferring that grief over to my music would really help me heal. I will also say that the record’s closing trilogy of songs is deeply significant to me, but that’s a discussion for another day.
Q: Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song?
A: The music comes first nine times out of ten. It’s either made by a melody that my brain just pulls out of thin air, or by noodling on my guitar. Once I have enough of a foundation, I write the lyrics. Most of the time, the words come to me pretty naturally and I write them all in one sitting. But sometimes it takes me a while, and it can be very frustrating! Anyway, once the lyrics and guitar parts are finished, I go to record. Whether it’s for a demo or an official version? It’s usually 50/50. I recorded demos for every song on “Great American Racer”. I didn’t do that for a good chunk of my Blue Navy material; more often than not, I would just immediately write and record songs like they’re on an assembly line. Either way, all the other instruments besides guitar and vocals are added later on, usually during the recording process, to fill out any empty space.
Q: What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
A: Dealing with criticism has always been kind of tough for me. It can feel very defeating when you’re slammed by others after putting so much time and effort into your art. After a while though, I’ve come to realize that if my music faces negativity, then it’s reaching out to more people than just my acquaintances, which is a good thing for sure. These days, finding a balance between music and real-life obligations is kind of hard. It’s nearly impossible for me to go out and perform live on a regular basis as a full-time employee. And since I’m not directly in Pittsburgh at the moment, that also puts me at a disadvantage. I have been performing in and around the area on occasion, though, and I know if I do it more, it could lead me to greener pastures.
Q: On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
A: Honestly? Releasing “Great American Racer”. This album took me five years to make. I started writing the songs back in 2018, and most of the recording took place during the spring of 2019. These songs go back way far! However, once the pandemic hit, it kind of entered into a development hell. I was really scared to put it out during such a time of global uncertainty. Then, when things started to simmer down a bit and the album mixes were finally being worked on again, too often I would wind up unsatisfied with how things sounded. At one point, I considered shelving the album entirely. But last year, I managed to get my ass into gear and finished it. I took my time with the music and was very meticulous. And since I’m talking with you today, I believe that all my hard work paid off!
