The music of Sundance ASCAP Music Café performer Jeremy Current exists in a unique space where hooks get twangified, rock music feels folksy and everyday emotions turn into poetic proclamations. This Charlotte, NC native wowed us when he came through the ASCAP Los Angeles offices recently. Give a listen to "Falling," the final track from his independently released 2011 album Dark Land of the Sun, and you'll understand why:
Here's another one, taken from Jeremy Current's debut EP, House on Fire:
Clearly Jeremy Current knows a thing or two about songwriting. Better yet, he shares his knowledge via a regular blog and podcast. Jeremy's frequent collaborator and fellow Music Café denizen, Bailey Cooke, took some time to interview Jeremy about them. Here's what Bailey and Jeremy had to say.
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Do you ever contemplate your creative process, or wonder how other artists create music? Every artist does it differently, but artist and writer Jeremy Current has invited us to examine the process and join him in the discovery. Current, an emerging Americana indie artist out of Brooklyn, NY, shares new creative content every Monday through Friday in his blog and podcast. Podcasts are usually under five minutes long, and include Current’s explanation of his idea and a short clip of the sketch. He includes poetry, music and song sketches throughout the week to give us an intimate look into one artist’s creative approach. Whether you are a listener or a fellow songwriter, Current’s podcast presents an intriguing and intimate view of one artist’s creative process, which is inspiring to all. I sat down with Jeremy for a quick cup of coffee and asked him a few questions about the podcast. -Bailey Cooke
Bailey Cooke: Do you ever feel like you are giving away your ideas too early?
Jeremy Current: All the time. I’m an idea hoarder. I don’t like sharing things with people until they are fully thought out and developed, but I’m trying to break that habit. I can’t make the songs I want to make without realizing the amount of creation and weeding it takes. I have learned through the podcast that some ideas are mediocre and some are amazing. Being able to tell the two apart takes deliberate practice but if you don’t flesh out ideas regularly, you’ll never get to that next step of choosing between good and bad ideas. You’ll just use the ones that first come to mind. You might get lucky, but art isn’t a crap shoot.
What would you like to see your podcast create in the future?
First of all, I want to create a line of communication between myself and listeners. I want to hear what people see in the content and I want them to feel invited to give input in the way you’d look at a friend and tell him what you thought if he showed you something he made.
Will this podcast create good pre-production material for your next record?
The podcast is a viewing of the process that already existed. I wouldn’t say that it is creating new record material, but it is giving me a little more understanding of what people find interesting. Demoing work is incredibly important to making a good record. The podcast is making me better at demos. So, in the end, it all works together.
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Jeremy Current plays the Sundance ASCAP Music Café on Monday, January 23rd at 2pm.
Check out Current’s blog/podcast and stream his music at www.jeremycurrent.com.
Find out more about the Sundance ASCAP Music Café here.