Elastic Days

About

When he’s not fronting revived rock rippers Dinosaur Jr., J Mascis maintains a solo career making quieter, acoustic guitar-based tune. On his third solo album, written and recorded at his Bisquiteen home studio in Amherst, Massachusett, Mascis—along with guests such as singer-songwriter Mark Mulcahy (Miracle Legion) and Luluc’s Zoë Randell—further mines lower-key musical moment. Mascis tells Apple Music about the benefits of home recording, taking care of his singing voice, and incorporating new instruments into his sound. <b>There was a 15-year gap in between your first and second solo record, but now you release albums pretty frequently. What happened?</b> <i>Martin + Me</i> was a live album of me trying out playing acoustic that I recorded [in 1996]. Megan, who runs Sub Pop, is a friend of mine and she always wanted me to do an acoustic album after that. I finally got around to it, so now if there’s someone who wants to release another album, I fit it in when I can. <b>Are there benefits to recording in your own home studio?</b> Yeah, I was in New York one day in the mid- to late ’90, staring out a window in a studio, and it wasn’t a great view—just a courtyard in the back of a building. I kept thinking, “I’m spending $1,000 to stare out this window.” It was a paralyzing thought I never got over. <b>When did you start focusing more on taking care of your singing voice?</b> When the Dino reunion started, I was having a lot of trouble singing. I seemed to be sick all the time, and I couldn’t hit a lot of note. I had a vocal lesson while I was on the first tour in San Francisco. [The teacher] gave me a CD to warm up, and since then doing that really helped. I started to hit all the notes and stuff. <b>When you’re writing song, is there anything that causes you to separate solo songs from Dinosaur Jr songs?</b> I’m usually writing for a specific record, so I’m writing with that in mind and I come up with some riff that seems more Dino than what I’m doing if I’m trying to write a solo record. I try to file the song away if it doesn’t fit in with the vibe I’m going for at the time. <b>Your favorite song on the album is “See You at the Movie.” Why?</b> I don’t know—I just liked it better than the other one. <b>Have you noticed any changes in yourself or your work since that first album?</b> .

via Apple Music

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