CH.89: If you were to categorize or describe the style of your music, what would it be and why?
B: I always say they are pop songs hiding under screwed up guitars and fuzz.
CH.89: Where do you draw your inspiration from?
B: Hints from nature, sides of buildings, color. The sounds around me. Misunderstood conversations.
CH.89: What made you all want to start a band and how did you come up with the band name?
B: BIRDS started as a recording project in my basement studio. I’ve been playing in bands since I was a kid but took a break from playing live to focus on learning how to record. I kept getting ideas for songs, recording them and playing them to people. Eventually a band just materialized. The name comes from a Bird book at a friends studio, a stuffed bird at another friends studio and some metal graffiti birds in my neighborhood.
CH.89: Can you talk a little bit about what your creative thought process is like when starting a new album?
B: I usually go song by song. And songs come randomly. If you’re open and ready for them. I’ll often take a walk through the city without a phone and just look and listen. Usually a song just starts coming then and you just have to remember it until you get home. I’ve forgotten a ton. Other times it just comes out in a studio jam. Lately we’ve been writing more together as a band. Which is ideal once you find the right people.
CH.89: What would you want people/ the listener to take from your music?
B: A sense of relief and connectivity.
CH.89: Can you talk a little bit about your lifestyle as an artist and what that is like?
B: My lifestyle is often pretty chaotic. I run a small studio and keep pretty busy with that. But there are countless odd jobs and gigs I take to have the freedom to play and record music.
CH.89: When starting out an artistic task, do you think it is better to have a particular direction/set plan guiding your way? Or, is it better to act on impulse and go from there?
B: Act on impulse, then revise. Repeat.
CH.89: What is one major lesson you’ve learned as an artist?
B: To trust yourself and always be working.
CH.89: Do you regard personal style & taste to be of highest importance?
B: Taste, yes. Reality is kind of what you surround yourself with. The music, art, books, movies, etc. that you consume do inform your outlook on the world and the way you move through it. Style is kind of the mask you wear to show the world who you are or want to be. A costume you can take on and off. A bit playful.
CH.89: What do you consider to be the hardest thing about being an artist?
B: Placing a monetary value on what you make.
CH.89: What is one thing you love about being an artist?
B: Getting to know other artists and seeing their way of seeing.
CH.89: Is there anyone in particular, any artists that inspire you in any way?
B: Almost every band I’ve recorded, Donovan, Lee Scratch Perry, My Bloody Valentine, Marcel Duchamp, Cymande, Crass, Sun Ra, Os Mutantes, Karen Dalton, Boyracer, Brendan Reed, Little Jimmy Scott, PK, The Rolling Stones, The Germs, Cy Twombly, VU, Love, Too Many.
CH.89: What do you think of technology in terms of being a useful tool for artists today?
B: It is extremely useful. Always has been in terms of documenting sound. Technology brought us every record we have. Now, you can make a song on a telephone. True DIY. It’s possible to make a whole album with an app and upload it to the internet without having a label or even a band. There too though is the downside. Music feels better as a communal experience. On both sides of creation and consumption. It’s a universal language meant to be spoken with others.
CH.89: Do you think being an artist allows you to view the world differently from those who don’t follow creative paths?
B: Definitely. You get better eyes if you’re constantly looking for inspiration. Ears too. Like another sense you can use. Its like skateboarders. When they see a ledge or a bench, it’s a source of hours of entertainment, not just a place to sit and wait for a bus or eat a sandwich.
CH.89: Do you enjoy traveling? If so, do you have a favorite city?
B: I love to travel. But my favorite city is New York City. I’ve 
never been anywhere and felt so in place. It presents a gift of anonymity and self invention.
CH.89: Do you have a favorite author or book?
B: Raise High The Roofbeam Carpenters by J.D. Salinger
CH.89: Any future goals or plans for your music?
B: Keep recording, put out a bunch of split 7 inches with some friends bands, play to as many people as possible, get a 12 string.
CH.89: What does being an artist mean to you?
B: Doing whatever it takes to see the beauty in every moment and tell everyone what it looks like.
CH.89: Any last words on the aesthetic of your music?
B: Everything All At Once. Now More Than Ever.
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