The Rudy Schwartz Project has a new album out, "Is That A Quadrijawed Sea Urchin Or Are You Just Glad To See Me?".
I've been enjoying this release a lot for the last couple of weeks, so I had to throw some questions at Joe Newman, the mastermind behind the RSP.
UniMuta: Hi Joe. Congrats with the new album. So the first thing that I've got to ask : How do you come up with the lyrics? Or even the titles of the songs or compositions?
Joe Newman: It varies. Sometimes they come from dreams. Sometimes I’ll hear a sequence of words that I like when I’m watching a movie. Sometimes I just think of them out of thin air. I keep a list of potential song titles, and if I’m working on an instrumental, I’ll scan the list to find a title that fits. Sometimes I’ll write lyrics starting from a title in the list. I’m frequently more interested in how words sound together than in whether they actually mean anything logical.
Lyrics can precede their music or vice versa. They can also follow a common rhythmic pattern, or not. They can also convey logical thoughts, or not. So if you accept the preceding three sentences, that means there are at least eight different approaches to writing lyrics.
For example, “Vladimir” and “Yellow Balloon” are both songs that follow a “normal” pop song structure, but the former, whether you agree with it or not, expresses an idea or a point of view, while the latter makes no fucking sense whatsoever. Then there’s the lyrics that don’t follow the music at all. “Puncture Wounds” and “Is That a Quadrijawed Sea Urchin or Are You Just Glad to See Me?” are both examples of this, but while the former is a linear, albeit fucked up story, the latter is complete bulldada. Finally, you can write lyrics with no regard for rhythmic regularity, then write music around them, which can give you unusual song structures. “Barbecue Bud’s” is an example of this.
UniMuta: You do everything in The Rudy Schwartz Project. You write, play, sequence, produce and even release all the music yourself. However, the album features a handful of guests. How does this work? I guess you did not put out ads on the local record store's message board? In other words: How did you meet or get to know them, and how do you record together?
Joe Newman: I do all of that except releasing it. The digital distribution is handled by my record label, DC-Jam Records, for which I am extremely grateful. These days I also do the cover art myself, but in the past I’ve had some talented people provide artwork. The guest musicians come from a variety of places. The new album has people who live in Oregon, Arkansas and Texas. Bob Jacobs and Dr. Astronaut Body are guys I’ve known for many years. I worked with Bob in Texas back in the 80s when we were both software engineers, and we both lived in Portland, Oregon for a while after that. Dr. Astronaut Body is one of the members of Reagan’s Polyp, and I met him through Subgenius circles. David Morrison is in Texas, but I recorded with him before I ever met him in person. He’s a much better vocalist and guitarist than I am, and he’s actually saved my ass a couple of times when I’ve written songs that I find I’m incapable of singing adequately. My vocal range isn’t what it used to be.
The way we record together is made simple through technology. In the old days, when Rev. Ivan Stang appeared on “Günther Packs a Stiffy”, he had to travel to my house in Austin to record his part. Today it’s easy for everyone to record their parts in their own home or studio, then email the stems for me to mix in. Although in Bob’s case on the new album I just had him record a MIDI sequence, which gave me the added flexibility of choosing any patch I wanted for his solo. He did this while vacationing in Costa Rica.
UniMuta: "Is That A Quadrijawed Sea Urchin" presents a beautiful mix of music styles: pop / rock, contemporary rock, doo wop, classical, contemporary classical,...
Today's favorite is 'Republican Toilet Stall Fantasia' where you have a playful and quirky melody over a club mix jazz groove. I love it.
When you're composing, do you have an idea what the finished piece should sound like, or is something that grows while you're working on it?
Joe Newman: I usually have an idea of what I want it to sound like, but to be honest, it rarely ends up that way. Sometimes I’m disappointed, and sometimes I like it better than what I thought I’d get. “Republican Toilet Stall Fantasia” is one I was especially pleased with, and the way it came about was unusual. A few years ago, I mixed an album for Dr. Astronaut Body called “Berfly Tutts”, which is absolutely fucking insane and hilarious. I really hope he gets around to releasing it some day. While I was doing this, I was mixing and matching a shit ton of material, including some vocal tracks that I loved, but had no place to put. So I kept an archive of this stuff and finally got around to asking Dr. Astronaut Body if I could use the vocal residue of “Berfly Tutts”. He graciously consented, so I began constructing music around this stuff, which I enjoyed very much. This is why he gets partial songwriting credit on that track, because I rarely write music with other people.
UniMuta: I think it's great that you're (still) releasing your music on CD. And I guess that the CDR-on-demand service that Kunaki is offering suits you fine?
Joe Newman: It’s really the only option I have for making this stuff available in some physical format for the people who want it. It’s just not practical or profitable to order hundreds of CDs, pay the shipping costs, then not sell enough units to break even, while cluttering up my closets. Not many people consume music that way anymore, and my music has very limited appeal anyway. So I’m glad a company like Kunaki exists for the few Luddites remaining who like it.
UniMuta: Thank you for taking the time for this short chat & please keep on making this beautiful music.
As someone once said: "Music is the best".
The Rudy Schwartz Project's "Is That A Quadrijawed Sea Urchin Or Are You Just Glad To See Me?" is available from Kunaki :
