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
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