30 (End Of A Decade)

Today is my birthday, and it’s a birthday I’d felt staring at me for a while; I turned 30 today.

Naturally with such a “milestone” (one of the few that remain, unless you continue to make them for yourself – something I intend to do, of course) the question of a celebration looms. “What are you going to do for your big day?” “Thirty, huh? That’s a big one. Welcome to the club.” “Party hard! You’re obviously not getting younger!” I had my usual ideas in mind: a night out with friends before the actual day, a social battery-draining banger of an event full of hugs and laughter, and on the day itself, time to myself. I tend to close up and spend my day alone, reflecting and indulging in treats, as solitude has proven to be a lifelong balm of mine (and your birthday is the day that no one gets to question your plans). But this proved to be quite different than I expected.

Last night was said friend celebration, and it was one for the books. An endearing quirk of this city is everyone’s willingness to buy drinks and food for one another, which is obviously amplified on one’s birthday. I awoke this morning feeling every drop of whisky I’d consumed and every Motown song I’d boogied. I stayed in bed well into the afternoon, and overall, it was a good start to the day. I answered birthday texts and received a call from my brother (which I couldn’t hear because phones sometimes decide not to work) where his class sang “Happy Birthday” to me. An old friend with whom I’ve recently reconnected ordered Taco Bell and had it delivered to my house (which, as an aside, is a miracle of modern society. My new love language is friends from other states ordering food to be delivered to my house) and after I devoured it in bed, I just stayed there.

The familiar birthday anxiety crept in, and I became horrified that my day was dissolving in front of me. I mean, last year I spent all day feeling anxious and trying to enjoy myself that it culminated in me writing and recording a song in my car to get the feeling out…I didn’t exactly want to do that this year. I got out of bed, showered, all the while planning what all I could get done today, how much sunlight I had left, what more I could do to celebrate for myself, but as I got dressed, suddenly the anxiety broke like a fever. I didn’t need to cram my celebrating into today, because there wasn’t anything I wanted to do today that I hadn’t been doing since I moved to Nashville. Today, though still my birthday, wasn’t the clean cut fresh start I expected, because I’d already had it…and it all came down to this realization:

I have been celebrating my 30^thbirthday since July 31^stof this year.

Finally uprooting from Michigan and moving out of the state where I was born is the best birthday gift I could have ever given myself. I often half-joked for the latter portion of my twenties that I simply wouldn’t allow myself to turn 30 in Michigan or I’d never forgive me. I’d always wanted to leave, maybe for my whole life, and I did it. I’m not spending my birthday longing for what it could be like to live out there past the sprawling beautiful fields of the Midwest because I’m not there anymore. I’m in a city saturated with music, a neighbor to mountains, and a hive of talented, diverse people from all over the country coming together to experience a new place for themselves. Nashville has its problems, sure, and it’s certainly not my final home, but none of that matters. I got what I wanted, what I needed, what had seemed like a carrot on a string smacking me in the face for years. Ever since I arrived here, I’ve been celebrating my future, a fresh start, a new decade. Today just happens to be the calendar date for it.

So yeah, I’ll probably still hit a record store and indulge in a dinner out, but I’ve had my favorite gift for a few months now. I’ve begun a new decade with a massive step into my future where every single day feels new, really and truly new, and I don’t think I could be more excited for what’s to come.

I love you all. I miss you too.

Here’s to new.

Up n Adam interview -- May 2019

It’s been almost four years since the debut full-length album from lo-fi bedroom pop act Up n Adam, and besides an EP and a handful of singles, he’s stayed relatively quiet…but that’s all about to change with a new album and the third annual (and perhaps final?) Michigan summer beach tour.

I recently had a chance to sit down with Adam to discuss the new album, hair length, and why it’s stupid to be elitist about anything at all.

[The following is edited for length. This dude would not shut up.]

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Me: Thanks for sitting down with me, Adam.

Up n Adam: Thanks for having me! I never get to do these things.

Me: It’s been almost four years since your debut album, Hugs. What’s changed since then?

UnA: Four years already?! I guess I’ve been working on this new album longer than I thought…but what’s changed? Not much. I still make dorky pop songs. But I like to think I’ve gotten way better at it. Listening to Hugs for me now is like listening to bad demos…I still love it to death, but if I had to do it now…well, it’d be the new album, actually. [laughs]

Me: Tell us a little bit about the new album.

UnA: It’s called Fun and it’s the absolute peak of what I’ve wanted from this project. The Grand Fun-ale, as it were.

Me: Wow. How do you mean?

UnA: Well, the whole point of Up n Adam has been to make little bursts of positivity and hope and love and fun, in song form. This new album is 20 songs of just that.

Me: Twenty songs?!

UnA: Yeah. Fun is technically a double-album. That’s why it’s taken me so long! There are two distinct halves – ten songs each – even though it’ll all fit on one CD. It’s about an hour long altogether.

Me: That’s a lot of ice cream. [laughs]

UnA: You have no idea. [laughs]

Me: What makes the two halves so different?

UnA: The first half is called “All Day” and the second is “All Night” – “All Day” is lyrically more day-focused and uses all real instrumentation…uke, bass guitar, melodica, stylophone, bells, shakers, thumb harp…I even use cookie tins and plastic boxes for percussion at some points. The only real exception is a drum machine, but I love the sound too much to not use it.

Me: And the “All Night” half?

UnA: That one is like “Up n Adam after dark” – completely electronic. It’s almost entirely digital, thematically about the feeling of nighttime, and it’s a huge dance record. Fun beats, catchy synth lines, just an all-out party. The only “real” things on it are my voice, stylophone, and a little sound clip of some pinball machines.

Me: That sounds like quite an undertaking to make.

UnA: Dude, I’ve never put so much energy and time and love into recording music before. I wanted this album to be a big ol’ mess. Tons of instruments, sounds, beats, and all of it centered around one thing – having fun.

Me: When do you think we’ll be able to hear it?

UnA: Soon…I’m throwing together some videos and finishing up mastering it now. I’m hoping to have the album out early this summer.

Me: Are you doing the beach tour this year? How did that little tradition start?

UnA: That’s the plan, yeah! I probably should get that sorted…it’s almost summer already! But it all started when I realized my music wasn’t exactly something you’d want to hear in a coffee shop or a bar. It’s perfect for a beach, though. I asked my Twitter followers what they thought and they seemed into the idea, so I packed up the car and hit the beach! It’s always a blast; free ice cream, gorgeous Michigan beaches, and my goofy self singing at you. This year will be the third one…and possibly the last.

Me: Last year you played with a musician called Sprout as well. Will she be joining you again?

UnA: I hope so! That’s my friend Chloë. The beach tours would never have happened without her; she came up with the idea for the banner, helped me make it and spray paint the stool I sit on when I play, and she’s the one who helped me make all the merch I have…not to mention, she’s the artist who did all of my cover artwork since the 25 EP way back in 2014. And of course she did the cover for Fun as well. She really helps me make these big silly ideas I have a reality.

Me: She’s basically the second member of Up n Adam?

UnA: [laughs] Yeah, more or less. The Beatles had George Martin and Brian Epstein. I’ve got Chloë and my brothers. 

Me: Wait, hold up, you said this beach tour might be the last one?

UnA: Yeah, maybe. I can’t promise I’ll still be living in Michigan next year, and even if I am, the places I’m going musically are getting a little bigger than a ukulele. It’s hard to say what’s going to happen next…I might not even have all this hair by the time the album drops!

Me: You do have a lot of hair.

UnA: Look who’s talking.

Me: Back to the new album, what were some of the musical influences on Fun?

UnA: The same stuff as usual. Say Hi, Relient K, really early Hellogoodbye, The Beach Boys…but this time the influences are a little more focused in their respective halves. So the “All Day” half of Fun is definitely more influenced by The Beach Boys, Hellogoodbye, Relient K, Blink, Weezer…it’s more the pop-punk side.

But the “All Night” half is a little different. That one is massively influenced by 80’s dance and pop music, like New Order, The Human League, Soft Cell, Phil Collins (and the very Collins-y era of Genesis), Bowie’s 80’s stuff. But it’s also pretty obviously influenced by Say Hi at times...and some more obscure songwriting influences like Joy Electric. There’s also some Lorde and Taylor Swift as well.

Me: Phil Collins…New Order…and…Taylor Swift? That sounds like an awful combination.

UnA: Hey, pop music is pop music. Every one of those artists use the exact same methods of writing songs, just with different instruments. If you’re hung up on the image they clothe their sounds in, you’re gonna miss out on a lot of really incredible art.

Me: …Taylor Swift and Phil Collins?

UnA: Being elitist about anything only hurts yourself. I’m not saying everyone has to like everything…there’s plenty of music I don’t like. But to limit yourself to only a couple genres or one scene or certain trends or whatever is only going to close you off to chances for something beautiful.

Me: Something beautiful like “Sussudio”? [laughs]

UnA: [laughs] Yep! Or the unabashed joy of “Shake It Off” or singing “Time After Time” in your car at the top of your lungs or dancing by yourself to “Blue Monday” – pop music is a focused injection of pure emotion in a tiny three-minute package. Because sometimes life can get heavy and you just need a little shot of happy to get you through it. And instead of turning to an unhealthy vice, we have pop music!

Me: Well thanks for chatting with me, Adam. Looking forward to the new album.

UnA: Of course!  Any time.

Me: How exactly do you end an interview with yourself?

UnA: I dunno, man. I guess we just stop.

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Fun, the sort-of double-album from Up n Adam, is coming soon.

lovelovelove