while browsing through spotifys album recommendation tab, i ran into kreitz’s debut album, scarecrow
with only ~320 monthly listeners, an interesting sound, and a manageable discography, i quickly went through all his available work
what i found is an artist in which every single/album is an improvement on the last
i am glad i was able to get him to answer a few questions of mine, and i look forward to his next project
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interview
1) i went through your playlist on spotify and found some great artists (american football, yo la tengo, richard dawson) – is there any artists in particular you would say are a big inspiration for your music?
you really nailed it by mentioning those 3 artists because they are huge for me. american football was a gateway band for me to find a lot of other emo music, and they are still one of my favorites. i was a drummer before i learned guitar and started singing, so the drumming is one of the first things i notice about songs. their drummer steve lamos will forever be in my top 3 favorite drummers of all time.
yo la tengo has become really important to me recently, especially this past summer. i specifically focus on the production of their album “i can hear the heart beating as one” because it’s just so clean and uncomplicated. that is the goal for me now, to be able to produce my music to sound like that album. i also love their other album “and then nothing turned itself inside‐out.”
richard dawson is really interesting because i don t think i’ve ever listened to one of his songs and been like ‘oh man i’ve gotta make something like this’ (because i really don’t think i am capable) but he’s easily one of the biggest inspirations for me. i love his art direction, especially on “peasant,” which is probably my favorite album ever. i loveeee medieval adjacent media for some reason and he really communicates it in such a cool way.
some other artists that have been huge inspirations for me are pohgoh, everyone asked about you, rei harakami, and pedro the lion. but of course so many others that i am just blanking right now on i’m sure.
2) what is your process like? are you a perfectionist, do you take long breaks, or how does that work for you?
i don’t mean to sound too abstract, but really my song writing begins with images that i feel like tell the whole meaning of the song that i am about to write. and my main struggle is just trying to stay true to that original thought, because after seeing it i feel the idea start fading away immediately. that’s why i would not consider myself to be a perfectionist when it comes to the writing for a lot of my songs, because i feel like i have to do it super fast before i forget that image that started the idea (what it’s all about). but after getting it on paper and recording my initial thoughts i do go back and spend a good bit of time getting things to fit better and make more sense, but still not in a perfectionistic way i think.
from there, the grueling production process begins where, if i’m excited about the song, i spend most of my time trying to finish it. i would say that about 90% of my songs die at this point and are abandoned after being almost finished because i just stop liking them from hearing them too much while working on the production.
i don’t take breaks often from music, i definitely take about a week or so away from it every once in a while because of maybe a busy week at school or other responsibilities, but typically i would say that i make and produce about 1-3 songs a week, but rarely ever feel that they are right to release.
3) your bandcamp says you are from va but the never fully realize video was shot in nyc – did you relocate to nyc, were you always in nyc, or how did that come to happen?
i am still in va! i just went to new york for the filming of the music video. i got really lucky with that opportunity. my partner’s sister (jillian junco) graduated from film school in nyc/lives there and wanted to make a multi-media music video and liked my music so she asked to do it to one of my songs and i thought wow. we may work together again for another one, definitely next time it will be with a song that i am a bit more proud of because i feel like i rushed the making of “never fully realize” a bit.
4) on the topic of the video, i noticed there seems to be a lot more input from other creatives and just more collaboration – what was that like?
it was pretty odd.
i am used to being in total control through every bit of the process for my releases, but i decided to leave everything up to everyone else in this case. it allowed me to focus on the whole experience of going to new york to be on a set and ‘act’ which was so much fun. i learned so much about the process of making a coherent video with a team.
i think in the future i will definitely make more attempts for there to be more of a back and forth between me and whatever teams i may work with regarding the direction, but i think this time it was perfect for me to just listen and try my best to execute their visions of what they wanted the video to be.
5) lastly, what are you working on right now? any timetable for another project or anything else in the works?
i am dealing with a really unfortunate vocal injury right now. apparently i have stomach acid going places it shouldn’t and it’s fried my vocal chords.
after months of being convinced i would never sing again, i am finally starting to recover though! i have been making a lot of instrumentals and writing lyrical ideas in the meantime, but it’s much harder for me to write without my voice (as i’ve realized a lot of my instrumental decisions are based on how or what i want to sing). once my voice is back, which i hope is soon, i’ll probably drop an EP or 2. i really want to release something before the year ends.
also, i made a nightcore album of unreleased and released songs with my friend who goes by Colander on all streaming services. i want to release something a bit more serious before i put that out, but if my voice doesn’t heal fully soon enough, i will probably just put it out there.