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’m from Westport, CT, an hour away from New York City. I moved to Brooklyn after college and seeing and interacting with all the awesome bands coming up during that time (2006ish) made me want to be a professional musician.
Q: Did you have any formal training, or are you self-taught?
A: I took lessons from a great Blues guitarist named Chris Cass. I started when I was ten and continued until college.
Q: Who were your first and strongest musical influences, and why the name ‘Megafauna’?
A: Blues and grunge! My dad listened to blues constantly: John Lee Hooker, Albert King, Albert Collins, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Jimi Hendrix, RL Burnside, Junior Kimbrough. Then I got really into grunge: Nirvana, Meat Puppets, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots.
Our bassist Will came up with the name Megafauna. It was the name of his roommate’s intramural basketball team! We decided to use it because Megafauna means large mammals and we were going for a massive sound.
Q: You have just released your new single, ‘Dozer’. Is there a story behind it?
A: My bandmate, Winston, brought me the song as an instrumental piece with the name Dozer. This is the first tune that I didn’t have a hand in writing the music. Hearing the name and how heavy it was, I felt the song should be about destruction society as it stands to make way for something better. This was right around the time that Roe v. Wade was overturned and we were all really pissed. In the song I sing “Did you think I would freeze in a cell? I’ll retire with my ladies in hell. With my foot on the gas I’m a goblin… Dozer start it over right now.”
Q: Can we expect a new EP or even an album from you in the near future?
A: Our new album comes out April 28th!! You can preorder it here.
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: I think listeners dig the raw vulnerability and honestly of our lyrics, heavy distorted riffs and non-linear song structures. Our sound is psychedelic grunge with ethereal vocals leading the way, a siren floating above the raucous guitar festival and transporting listeners to new galaxies.
Q: Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it, or are you expecting something more?
A: I think just getting to play with my best friends and share our music with the world is enough. Sometimes I get into a rut and wonder what the hell we’re doing but then we’ll have a particularly exciting songwriting session or show and I remember that it’s all totally worth it.
Q: Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song?
A: I start by playing whatever idea I think is cool. If I like it, I record it. Then I play it again and again and record it many different ways. I record possible choruses and different parts. Then I wade through it all- that’s the hard part- and try to form something to show to the band. At rehearsal, my bandmates usually come up with a place for it to go or a cool way it should change. I usually write lyrics at the end of the process, but sometimes words or phrases from the initial passes make their way into the final version.
Q: What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
A: Probably making the decision to end my relationship with my kid’s dad and to go about parenting in a new way. I consider myself an open-minded, irreverent person, but even so, the pull toward the nuclear family is strong. Now we have a blended family and it’s pretty awesome.
Q: On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
A: Releasing this album! It feels like a big step forward for us. The songs feel more like cohesive stories. Also, going on tour with Cursive and Beach Slang a few years back was a high point for sure.
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