1.0 What is the most recent song you have written and what is it about? Daze Long. It’s about 2 months old and I have recorded it. Waiting to mix it. It’s about being on the cusp of losing your job and all of the fears associated with that. But at the end of the day, life is still good. It’s good to be alive.
2.0 Has your approach to song writing changed over the years? I’m more critical of the material. I’ve gotten to a place where I consciously need to let go, do the work and not self-edit to early in the process. I’d gotten to a point where I was doing a little something then dismissing it because it either reminded me of something I’ve done or possible something someone else had done.
3.0 Material wise, when do you know you have something? When it feels right. It’s a gut thing.
4.0 You can take Boom Hank out of the south-side, but can you take the south-side out of Boom Hank? LOL. I must say, Boom Hank is very un-south-side for south-siders but having said that, it is a part of who we are, whether we like it or not. That is the thing that makes us “unique”.
5.0 How do you feel about sharing mp3’s? I’m all for sharing music, just as I did as a teenager. I’d make as many mixtapes and dubs as I could to spread the love and turn people on to, what I thought, was great new music. I’m not for file sharing networks where millions of people can grab it for free…unless the artist allows it as apart of their marketing strategy.
6.0 Have you ever set anything on fire? Oh yes! It was spectacularly out of control and scared the shit out of me. I was very young and a girl was involved. I could see how an event like that, at a very young age, could have had an inverse effect and a person being very much enthralled with the power of being able to create that kind of event. That’s where the inspiration for the song “Kindling” came from.
7.0 Is it still important for bands to rehearse a lot before entering the studio? I think it depends on the level of ability that a band has and what it is they are trying to accomplish with the recording. A band that is too well rehearsed can take the edge out of a song that should have it…and vice-versa. The tricky thing about recording is that you try and capture some kind of “magic” and the conditions for catching it are constantly changing.
8.0 You have been an engineer for many years, how does that impact your approach in the studio? It makes me nuts. I would rather have a bit more ignorance to the process. I know of all the choices and that can drag me down. Keep it simple stupid!
9.0 Your stuck on i-94, what have you to listen to? In my car now is, The Tallest Man On Earth’s “The Wild Hunt”, Bon Iver’s “Blood Bank” EP, Frightened Rabbit’s “The Winter Of Mixed Drinks” and The xx’s “XX”.
10.0 There’s an alien is the backyard; he’s got a record in his hand, what is it? “Rocket 88’”….it’s his/her first rock ‘n roll experience and what sent them here ~
CHICAGO 'N BEYOND 