Pigeon Spins Featuring an Interview with Julie Paschke

Julie Paschke - Cold In Your Town

"My songs are generally more streams of consciousness than planned out or written about anything in particular. As is often said by songwriters, the lyrics tend to make sense after the fact. They generally allude to delusions and troubled psyches, difficulties in connecting and the quagmire of human interactions."

"I've never been terribly interested in talking about my music. If people want to ask questions I'll try and answer, but I'd much rather the music was interacted with rather than me. Personally I have no interest in knowing too much about the people whose music I love. If anything, and in this day and age of social media, artists reveal too much and it doesn’t warm me to them. I prefer the mystery of the old days."

Interview with Hellkern Warriors

You handle writing, performing, and recording yourself. What drives you to maintain that level of creative control?

What drives me is wanting to be left alone really, haha. I am always happier working by myself. I can do as I please, when I please, and there is no outside influence on what I’m working on. I’ve never been much of a collaborator, preferring to trust myself with whatever comes out.

How does collaborating with Dan Duszynski at Dandy Sounds influence your music?

Once I am finished with a song I do allow another human into the end process, haha. I trust Dan completely so when I am finished I throw the songs over to him without too much direction. I like to see what naturally comes up for him when he listens to it. He will add little embellishments here and there and I’m always impressed. He mixes amazingly also which is great because I have little interest, nor any real talent in mixing music.

Your lyrics are often streams of consciousness. How do you decide when a song is finished?

When I no longer feel the pull to keep working on it, which is generally pretty quickly. When I have no ideas left. It’s just a sense I guess that that’s the song, I have nothing more for it. I’m not one to fuss too much over revising anything, and generally go with the “first idea, best idea” approach. I’m quite sure it isn’t always the best idea but you can spend a lifetime never finishing anything.

Can you describe the recurring themes or ideas in this release?

Cold In Your Town is like many of my songs, I don’t often set out to write about anything in particular. Words just start drifting out and it’s usually years later when it makes any sense to me. But generally I think a lot about the delusions we live under, the troubles we cause ourselves, the difficulties language brings, and the overall absurdities that come with being human.

Recording at home comes with unique challenges and advantages. How does this affect your process?

Definitely great to work to your own timetable. I can record whenever I like which is so nice in this day and age. But of course, relying solely on yourself means you can procrastinate a lot as there is no real external pressure. I like recording myself though because there are natural limitations at play due to my own performing capabilities. It’s never great to have too many options, tight boundaries gets work done.

How do you decide which songs make it to a release?

If I like them basically. If my ears enjoy them. There are a few songs here and there that just have parts I don’t love and so they stay in my computer’s closet, probably forever.

You focus on the act of creating rather than outcomes. How does that perspective shape your music?

It provides freedom to just do my thing with no thought or worry as to what people may think of it, or that it has to be popular and liked. What happens after I’ve finished any work kinda isn’t any of my business. I can just relax and enjoy the process. One has no real control over outcomes anyway so why let it influence you all that much. I’m just happy to contribute to the pool of music out there. I’m grateful for all the musicians who’ve thrown their music into that pool.

What role do visuals play in your music and how do you approach making videos?

I love turning each song into a bigger project by creating a video for them. It just gives a greater dimension to the music, which I feel the little songs deserve. With headphones on and eyes closed, I generally just sit with the song for a bit, listening over and over, until images and ideas start presenting themselves. The creative process is so cool in that ideas always come if you take the time to allow them to appear.

You prefer mystery over personal exposure. How does this influence how you interact with fans or curators?

I’m not at all a fan of knowing about the private lives of artists. It kind of ruins the whole other-worldly place music generally takes me. But with social media the push is to let people into your personal world, but I have no desire to do that. I’m happy to talk about the music, the process, influences, etc, but anything beyond just doesn’t make sense to me. So far, no one has complained, haha.

(•)> That's all, Folks! Check out Julie Paschke on the Pigeon Spins Playlist