What are the common elements that prompted you to create two "Telegenic Exes" cuts (as opposed to a song called "Hapless Dance" and another called "Astoria")?
I wrote them separately, and afterwards realized they were based on the same riff. There's a slender narrative connection, too. The connection isn't accidental, but it is pretty mysterious.
How did it happen that you are releasing two new projects close together, given that Dubious Luxury is also coming out in August?
I just wanted to get Dubious Luxury out, and fast. It's an all-electronic record, cut-up samples and sound effects over large, weird beats. I don't sing on it--I got vocals from Todd Colby, Joanne Kyger, Young Jean Lee, and some other people, and sliced and diced them. Rachel Benbow Murdy's also on there--she's the ghostly voice on Soul Coughing's "Janine".
When you write a piece about music like this (in response to a New Yorker piece) are you hoping to inform, foster discussion, or merely looking to voice your displeasure (or none of the above)? Have you talked to Sasha Frere-Jones since writing your response?
I just want to be a part of the public discourse about music. I know Sasha from way back, was a fan of his band Ui. In fact, his bandmate Wilbo Wright played bass in Soul Coughing for a minute. I'm sure Sasha rolls his eyes at my screeds.
Is "The Huffer and The Cutter" a song about addiction on some level, or am I misinterpreting the meaning of the song title?
It's about a dude who gets high by sniffing glue loving a girl who compulsively slices her skin with a razor blade. A huffer and a cutter. I wouldn't say it's about addiction, because that kind of implies I'm making a moral judgment on the characters' drug use. I'm an addict, totally, it's in my bones. But, addict-hood is a condition of being, not necessarily a consequence of getting high.
Which came first (in your head) on the song "Vegetable", the rhythm or the title? (I love both is why I ask)
I'm not sure if you mean the groove of the tune, or the groove of the word "vegetable". The latter came first, the word had the rhythm buried inside it.
Article comments
1 - Julie
Sorry, but this is most disappointing. I was the hugest fan of Mike and Soul Coughing. I bought every release, but this is just the end for me. We'll see this on the soundtrack to Grey's Anatomy or some other lame show. Do your thing and good for you, but you were poised to be an eternal musical force and now you release these things? Ugh.