STRGZR has an interesting and fresh sound. The debut album, Sad Machine, a little like a road trip as a metaphor for life. There are ups and downs and science and family and things to see that make you think.
Please tell us about you and how you got started with music.
I’m a Michigan native and spent most of my adult life in Chicago before a short stint in Houston, Texas. I currently live in Austin, Minnesota with my wife, mother-in-law and our cat Sabrina; it’s great to be back in the Midwest. After a rewarding career in advertising and marketing, I am making a shift to special education and have accepted a teaching position starting this fall, as well as moonlighting with STRGZR.
I come from a musical family. My parents, aunt and uncle were in a band. Another uncle sings in an Ozzy cover band and they gig throughout Florida. Another uncle played bass in a regional rock band in Ohio in the 80s called Warning. And, thinking about my childhood, there was always music playing in our house. Around the age of 12, I started getting into rock music. The Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream and Weezer Blue Album were the coolest things I’d ever heard. For my 12th birthday, my dad took me and a couple friends to see Weezer on the Blue Album tour at the State Theater in Detroit. Afghan Whigs opened. After that I was hooked on music and live shows.
While I dabbled in music in high school, I got more serious in college, playing with some great college bands: Exit 139, Five Year Echo and Never Say Never. Grand Rapids, MI was a great regional music scene. We were fortunate to open for a lot of the bands we were into at that time, like Motion City Soundtrack, MXPX, Mae, Jamison-Parker, Lola Ray, Bowling for Soup, Lucky Boys Confusion and Limbeck.
After college, when I lived in Michigan, I met up with Vince from the great Detroit power pop trio The Singles and did a couple tours with them playing bass and singing backup vocals. I’m thankful for that time as it allowed me to play with an experienced songwriter that I really admired and an amazing drummer, Brian Thunders. I learned a ton from them.
When I first moved to Chicago I recorded a few demos of my own songs at my friend’s place. I didn’t really see myself as a songwriter at that point, but it planted the seed. I am forever grateful to my friend, who is an excellent artist in his own right, for seeing the potential in me. Flash forward to the pandemic and after moving to Texas I suddenly had space and time to explore writing and playing music in a whole new way. I was also astonished how far technology had come, which allowed me to do everything myself at home. Although I prefer collaboration, there is a certain freedom in moving quickly through the creative process without waiting on anyone else. I also learned to embrace my own creative instincts confidently without the need for external validation.
DNA is such a positive song or maybe a song about positive love. And given the name, I want to ask about the inspiration.
D.N.A. is a song about living with depression and anxiety. The title works as a bit of a wordplay, but it also nods to the fact that mental health challenges often run in families. What’s interesting is the contrast between the sound and the subject. The music is upbeat and energetic, but the lyrics carry a sense of melancholy, with a thread of hope running through them. The optimism comes in the chorus. It’s about supportive relationships and believing in yourself. I think that lyric reminds me of how supportive my wife has been with me along my musical journey. She makes me a stronger person.
D.N.A. actually started out as an instrumental and the lyrics and vocals were mostly improvised with some later tweaks. The first thing I did was program a little drum beat to set the tone for the song. You can still hear it in the mix at the beginning and again when the bridge starts.
There’s an exploration of space travel, the view from Texas, camping, having a robot heart. It suits the spacy sound of the music. What made you look at life from different perspectives?
Geek rock! I am definitely a nerd at heart and instilled a lot of that in my music. For example, the lyrics of Ribbons of Light are about how, scientifically, the Northern Lights are formed. The music aims to capture some of that majesty. The themes of STRGZR came naturally out of the songs and provided clarity on what the album would be like.
I have tons of out-takes that didn’t fit the theme of this first album. I plan to release some of them over time. In the meantime, I’m working on the live show and writing new material. I love the album — it’s a reflection of where I’ve been (literally and figuratively) and where I’m headed. I hope listeners find something that resonates, inspires or just makes them feel a little more understood.
There’s a line in Hot Springs about “Don’t get me wrong because it’s not a bad place, it’s more about me and my own headspace.” That should be required listening for every family road trip, especially with teenagers – and I don’t mean just required for teenagers. In some ways that just nails the theme of the album. What do you think? Or how would you describe the album as a whole?
That is a classic road trip line! Maybe I should have called the album Road Trip Songs?! I do a lot of writing through voice memos while on road trips – like the very road trip I went on to Hot Springs, AR where I accidentally brought a space heater with me (in 100+ degree weather) instead of a fan. I ended up ditching the camp sight and finding a crappy hotel nearby for the night instead.
This album offers a glimpse into my life, my interests, and the adventures that have shaped me. But I also believe there are moments, like the line “Don’t get me wrong, because it’s not a bad place, it’s more about me and my own headspace,” that will resonate with others and reflect something universal.
For me, Sad Machine is the song on the album that set the tone. The lyrical content is a metaphor and it’s also deeply personal. Musically, I really loved how the guitar solo turned out on that track. All-in-all it sounds like it sounded in my head. After that, What’s in Your Heart is where I found I could do different kinds of songs outside of my guitar comfort zone. That one started with a keyboard riff and unexpectedly came together quickly. In Arrival and Departure, the opening and closing instrumentals were a couple of the first pieces I recorded as I was figuring out my home studio. I think they fittingly book end this project. Departure starts as a rock instrumental but then morphs into a Radiohead-esque indie jam near the end. The ending of Departure was the last thing I completed on the album. So, we have this full circle from the past to the present in the tracklist, along with a nod to the future at the end.
The stylistic variations of the songs on the album give me a lot of paths I can take with my music in the future. I feel a little unburdened, because there are so many directions to go from here. I definitely enjoy music with an unexpected or offbeat element and will be experimenting with that more as I move forward.
Where can people find you playing live or online?
I absolutely love playing shows with a full band and hope to get that going this year. I will post concert listings on the STRGZR website (www.strgzrmusic.com) as well as social media. I hope to find other musicians to collaborate on the live show and future of STRGZR. If anyone reading this is interested in exploring that, please reach out through the website. I will be starting to do some acoustic shows performing songs from the album with a couple unreleased cuts and a cover or two. I’ve released two STRGZR Sessions videos playing songs from the album in my studio at home. I will keep releasing videos on YouTube and likely released STRGZR Sessions audio as an album or EP.
Mostly Minnesota 