Logan Lynn – My Movie Star

By starrymag | November 9, 2018

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

A) This answer has really changed a lot over the years. When I started out in the late 90’s I was all about this ‘Putting the Disco back into Discomfort’ tagline, which was evident in both my music and behavior at the time. The electronic period that followed was also a time in my career where I was signed to a major label and several indies, so I had other people describing my sound a lot, trying to help “shape” my sound, all of that bullshit. Ever since breaking out on my own again I’ve felt really free to do whatever the hell I want, work with whoever I choose, and follow creative whims that have taken me down a bunch of different sonic paths that I honestly never would have been allowed to go down if I were still making records for other people. So, people know me as this electronic emotional dance pop dude because that’s what my records were from 1998-2012. My last album was just full-on college rock — an homage to all of the bands and songs that actually shaped me — and that led to this very stripped down, intimate situation I find myself in currently. Jesus, that was a long way of saying “piano pop.” [laughs]

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

A) Now this is not something that has changed much at all over the years. Liz Phair matters to me just as much now as she ever has. I grew up listening to pop like Tiffany and Debbie Gibson, then found Liz, The Sundays, The Innocence Mission, Tori Amos, The Pixies, The Breeders, Lush, Nirvana, Mudhoney, Teenage Fanclub, Sam Phillips, 10,000 Maniacs, R.E.M. and all kinds of rad 90s folks. When I moved to Kansas City from the small rural Nebraska town I grew up in, I found the downtown rave scene and by the time I landed in Portland in 1996, my raver damaged songwriter had emerged. I fell in with The Dandy Warhols, Elliott Smith, Dan Reed and a bunch of other PDX bands that went on to do great things on their own and for my career — and I listen to those bands, as well. But no songs matter to me more than what mattered to me in 1992. I’m still there. I’ll be there forever.

Q) Talk about the story behind your new song “Beside You.”

A) Well, My Movie Star came out four weeks ago and we have been releasing videos and singles every few weeks as it rolls out. Some have been really big productions, and some have been these small, very intimate slices of life — which I think is the resounding feeling behind the album as a whole. “Beside You” is a track that features Portland’s GLASYS on keys and backing vocals and it’s about leaving things where they belong and letting go. I struggle with that. It’s a theme that shows up on all of my albums, actually. I’m aware of that and I suppose I’ll keep writing about it as long as it’s what I’m actively working through. These aren’t stories about other people, you know? It’s not like I white board themes. During times when I was addicted to crack and alcohol early in my career, those were the songs. Now that I’m a decade in recovery, these are the songs. But that thing where I’m loving someone I shouldn’t, where I’m hurting myself and can’t stop? That’s not a new thing.

 

Q) What do you think it is about the song that fans connect to?

A) I can only hope that they will. This record is very different than what I’ve done before, and I understand that not everyone will be able to make the genre transition from dance pop to piano pop, but that’s ok. We’ve had a good run. I’m changing, and so is my music. And it will continue to. I’ve never been one to give much of a shit about what I should or should not be doing with my career. I’m just doing what moves me in the moment, then I move on as soon as that moment has passed for me. Great if other people dig it, but I’m more at peace than ever before even if they don’t. I love this record and I’m proud of everyone who poured their heart and soul into making it with me. I think people always connect to songs and people they perceive as being real. I know I do. If I’m that for someone else, or many other someones, that’s great…but I’m not living my life chasing what I think other people want from me and that applies in the studio too.

 

Q) How does the video for the track play into the message behind it?

A) For the video we just shot me shaving my enormous beard off, which as I’m saying it out loud seems totally mundane but I used to hurt myself a lot and now I don’t. Shaving my head is actually something I have historically done during times of deep crisis and transformation and visibly taking a layer off holds a lot of symbolic meaning in my life for whatever reason. I’m down with people to watch me sparkle or suffer, depending on the day. I’m open.

Q) You worked very closely with Jay Mohr on My Movie Star. How did he inspire you?

A) We did work very closely together on this album and all of the associated videos and films. He really pushed me to strip things down to just me and a grand piano and believed in me and my work in a way that no one ever has before. He really took the time to listen to everywhere I had been previously and then felt moved enough to share with me that he felt I needed to do this. It was bold and I am not known for listening to other people when it comes to my career —- particularly not men — but we love each other and I trusted him, so here we are.

 

Q) The album was initially nineteen songs. How were you able to pair it down to just ten songs?

A) Yeah, I wrote and wrote and wrote. For months. It was impossible to narrow them down, actually. In the end, Gil (GLASYS) picked. I just gave them all to him to listen to and see what he was most drawn to with regard to building out the piano arrangements. But we essentially have a full follow up record ready to roll. I would love to find a label that actually gets it enough to let me do whatever the hell I want; to be myself, since that’s what I will always be able to be successful at. So far those aren’t the meetings I’ve been having since the last time I told a room of suits to go fuck themselves, though. The music industry is wild. If you can clear your own path, do it.

 

Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics? 

A) That used to be the case, but with my last album ADIEU I wrote all of the songs as A cappella spirituals first and then brought producers and players in. This time I wrote them all live online streaming to my social media followers. It was really intense. Cool, though. It for sure unlocked something. I wrote the lyrics and basic key melodies at the same time, with like thousands of people watching. It was imperfect and raw and scary, but the songs ended up being better. I ended up being better.

 

Q) How much of a hand do you have in the production of your music? 

A) I produced this record. And I’m in it every single time. My whole career. The times when things haven’t gone well are the times when I let someone else tell me who to be or times when I tried on my own to be something other than who I was. This is honestly a universal truth that I wish all bands would learn. We got a lot of submissions from people for the remixes and covers record that coincides with My Movie Star and the bands and artists that ended up not being selected were the ones who tried to be someone else. Like…we reached out to YOU to reimagine one of these songs to sound like YOU and what you came back with sounds nothing like YOU. That’s a big mistake. And it’s one I’ve been guilty of, particularly in my earlier years. I don’t regret a lot, but I regret listening to the people I listened to between 2006 and 2010. They tried to change my show, my collaborators, my entire essence — and it ended up being completely unsuccessful as a result. If I had my career to do over again, I would tell more people to get lost sooner.

 

Q) What can fans expect from a live Logan Lynn performance?

A) These shows we are going to be playing starting in April will be intimate like the record. Me, GLASYS, a grand piano and some very special guests. 2019 is going to be so much fun.

 

Q) What songs off your My Movie Star album are you looking forward to performing live?

A) We played “Big City Now” for a crowd of eight thousand in Seattle and it was really special. I’m excited to play through the record and see where each night — and crowd — takes me.

Q) What do you hope listeners take away from listening to your new album as a whole?

A) I hope people connect with these songs and I’m not attached to how that ends up looking. But I do really hope they will listen.

 

Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you? 

A) Well, the rooms and venues I have loved playing in for our big dance parties are going to be different than what feels ideal for these new songs. We shall see where they take us. It’s going to look very different than it ever has before, though. I know that much already.

 

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

A) Liz Phair. The Innocence Mission. My buddies Portugal. The Man. And oh my god Mitski. I love her.

 

Q) What album/band are you currently listening to and why do you dig them? 

A) I’ve had Chromatics Kill for Love on a loop again. That record is so good. My friend Ruth is an actual super-talent.

 

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

A) I love that it has made the world smaller and it’s so great to be able to connect with people who actually give a shit about what I’m up to on any given day. It’s probably less important than any of us think it is though. Hugs from real friends are better. Still, I’m so grateful.

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

A) Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.