NEWSLETTER

PHOTOS BY ANGELA BOATWRIGHT
STYLING BY ANNETTE LAMOTHE-RAMOS

Mike: Patrik Ervell jacket, Generra shirt, Kim Jones pants; Lauren: 55DSL dress

Were you able to successfully bring that stuff back with you? Many people have tried. Only as far as songwriting. I was able to take my time with it a little bit more. Maybe the song can be seven minutes long instead of three, and maybe the song can be about more than one thing. I didn’t feel like I was in a rush anymore either. I mean, I’m a little old to be coming out with a first record. No... I’m 27. But you’re one of those guys who’s been playing around town for years now. There’s Soldiers of Fortune, you’ve played with Cass McCombs… I’ve always liked the idea of being spontaneous more than being in a band, so whenever someone asked me to play guitar, I would say yes just to see what we could come up with. But then I started to feel like I was doing that too much. I didn’t want to end up— A session guy? I never wanted to be just a guitar player. I wanted to stand in the middle of the stage, not on the side, so I backed off of playing guitar for other people and started writing these songs. The songs on the record have a lot of words. It’s a real lyricist’s record. I remember being at your house last year and you were reading, like, Greek tragedies. Sophocles! [laughs] So is there Sophocles in your lyrics? I hope so! I mean, I work at it. I sit there like you’d write a book or an article. I don’t just throw down a bunch of words. You’re really into that period of Leonard Cohen that people don’t like to namecheck so much—even though it’s his best stuff. I think that idea of a wunderkind, like early Cohen, Lou Reed, or Bob Dylan, is bullshit. People get better as they get older. Those Cohen records like I’m Your Man, The Future, and Various Positions are so much better than his earlier stuff! There’s all this dark drama on his early stuff, and there are brilliant moments, but he really hit his stride in the late 70s. It makes me happy to think that I have a few more years under my belt before I put out my first record. You used to give a lot of guitar lessons. It was mostly to people who wanted to learn how to play blues or old rock and roll. I figured out a pretty easy way to show that to people. To play that stuff, the less you know about the guitar already, the easier it is. People pick it up really fast. OK, so what’s your favorite chord? I thought you might ask me this. It’s C. Nice! It’s been all about C for the past few years. The tuning I use is kind of a C tuning. It sounds really good when you strum a C chord really loud. Maybe it’s because there are no sharps or flats in it. It’s all natural. C is also the only key I can sing in, so… Last question: Will you cop to the fact that a lot of people think you’re the best guitar player in New York? Well, I mean, I don’t know. I feel like I have a good way of playing. But a lot of guitarists have such a gunslinger vibe. It’s kind of macho… Come on, cut the shit. OK, OK. I’ll cop to it. I am one of the better guitar players in New York. There we go! INTERVIEWED BY JESSE PEARSON

United Bamboo coat, Nudie Jeans, Valentino shoes

GUITAR TEACHER | 1 | 2 | 3 |

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