(February
25, 2008) PCM's Melissa go the opportunity to chat with
singer/ songwriter Shwa Lobsen about his debut solo album
Chop Chop. For more information about Shwa check out his
MySpace Page
and his
Official
Site
.
M: Hi! I'm Melissa at Pop Culture Madness, nice to meet
you.
SL: Nice to meet you too.
M: So, how are you doing today?
SL: I am doing great. I'm at Union Square right not now
so forgive me if it gets a little noisy at times and I beg
you to repeat yourself. Don't be mad, okay?
M: I wont I promise
SL: Okay, cool!
M: So, what originally got you interested in music?
SL: Oh wow! What originally got me into music? I guess
I've been doing it…. I can't really pinpoint any one thing.
What got me interested in playing music was probably Pearl
Jam and the song "Black." I remember playing that
over and over again and saying "Wow! That's really
bad ass." I don't know if you can print bad ass so
you don't have to. So yeah, I did that and then, I guess,
originally just to meet girls too. That was important, but
that didn't really work out. But mainly Pearl Jam's Black
and trying to meet girls, I would say.
M: I read that you played the trumpet in seventh grade
and that you weren't really very good at it, so when did
you start playing the guitar?
SL: Pretty much right after the concert, since people can't
make fun of you if you play the guitar and sing at the same
time, because that's a lot tougher then just singing, I
guess.
M: Okay, well that's an interesting rationalization.
How did you come about forming your band?
SL: Well, I actually played with a bunch of different guys
up in New York, but as far as the Shwa band, it has kind
of been a revolving cast. The band as it is now, I met Jim,
the guitar player, at a Thrills concert kind of randomly
in early 2004. He has been with me ever since the beginning,
and the guy who's playing drums right now actually produced
the first record, Mark Reiter, and the bass player we met
on Craigslist. "It's not just for casual commerce."
We auditioned off of Craigslist, and then he came by and
he really impressed us and that was that.
M: What led you to come out with your solo album Chop
Chop?
SL: I had some really good buddies in Texas that had some
time off. Taylor Davis and I had toured together for three
months the year prior and we have been long time good friends,
and I met Johnny Goudie through Taylor too. Johnny had a
home studio set up. Things got kind of slow in the beginning
of the year, and I had nothing to do. I had written all
these songs in England the summer before, and so I decided
to fly down to Austin and we kind of put together a band
on the spot. One of my good buddies played bass and keys
on it. He happened to be down there already, and he just
learned the songs. Whenever somebody offers you an incredibly
affordable studio time, and you have a couple weeks with
just nothing going on, it's the Perfect Storm, I guess.
M: Wow! That's really exciting. On your MySpace page
you list a lot of musical influences. Among them are British
bands like Oasis, Beatles, Radiohead. How have British bands
affected your music and your writing?
SL: Well, besides from me overtly ripping them off, I guess
my favorite album of all time is, Ok Computer, but at first
it was the 90's grunge rock that got me into music. Then
the Brit pop, the Brit rock, was kind of the icing on the
cake. I often hear that music today isn't as good as it
was like twenty years ago or whatever. I think just so much
of it what you are listening to depends on a formative time.
I started listening to the Brit Rock, because it happened
to be the big thing on the scene when I was getting into
music. I got into Brit Pop with the Pulse, the Blur, and
Oasis, right at the time when I was playing guitar everyday
for hours and listening to music every opportunity I got.
I think that it's going to stick with me for the rest of
my life.
M:
You also went abroad to Britain for a while, what was that
experience like?
SL: It was great. I lived in abject poverty, I guess. Like,
I crashed with my family out there for a couple months.
I just…There is something about being in a completely different
environment that almost forces you to be creative. And I
had Jim, the guitar player, he got married over there. He
is actually from the U.K. originally, and so I had time
off again, same kind of deal with time off and the recording
session. I had nothing to do and was just looking for a
little bit of creative stimulation and happened to go over
there. I checked out a lot of music. Got to play a few shows
and traveled around and went through my saving pretty fast.
It was great
M: Yeah, abject poverty usually is great.
SL: (laughing) Yeah, I happened to stay with my
family. A couple, who are my parents age, and they were
like family in the loosest sense. I think it is like eighth
cousin twice removed or something. They cooked meals and
it was a nice little family like out there and then I'd
go into the city and spend all my money at the bar. It was
good.
M: So, when writing a song what usually comes first?
The lyrics? The hook? The melody?
SL: Yeah, that is something I have been thinking about
a lot more lately. It's changed over the years! It used
to be, I am going to write a cool chord progression and
try to find a melody that fit it and that goes the other
way around now. Usually I will get a melody in my head and
kind of keep track. Anytime I have any idea worth any substance
at all I will write it down and keep a record of it, but
I find the most inspirational times are really when I'm
walking or on the subway or in the shower or whatever and
just have a pen nearby and just go from there. I think for
me the melody is the most important thing and then an idea
with some substance hopefully will follow.
M: Are the lyrics usually inspired from personal experience?
SL: Yeah, absolutely. I think everything I write has some
kind of personal experience behind it. I think with this
record, in particular, I was able to kind of divorce myself.
Every song is not about me, which is kind of a new concept,
but there is a lot of story telling going on, and even if
it is in the first perspective it is usually not about me
specifically. It's a big step to be able to use the first
person, obviously, but I just tell the story and hopefully
capture people. It has kind of expanded the writing process
a lot for me. Every song isn't about me breaking up with
a girl.
M: I was just going to say you wrote a lot about girls,
and I was wondering if any of those were real?
SL: Well, at least two of them were specifically written
to make a girl like me.
M: Did it work out for you?
SL: It didn't pan out, no. I think you have to give the
girls the songs in the first place and I'm kind of shy,
I guess. That said, other songs in there like "Out
of Ashes" or "'Cause You're New" are based
off of experiences of people who are close to me, but not
me in particular.
M: Okay. So would you say then that on this album you
kind of began to grow and write from a different perspective?
SL: Yes, exactly. Oh, and by the way if I come off pretentious
give me, like, a warning, okay. Be like, "Hey! You
sound pretentious" and I'll fix it.
M: Okay. I'll try. Nobody likes pretentious people.
(laughing) So to me, "Never Too Soon to Compromise"
is a bit sarcastic and has a negative view of the music
business. I was wondering what your motivation is behind
that song.
SL: It kind of stems from a conversation I had with a buddy
of mine. That is actually one of, if not the oldest, song
on the record. The band in DC, we played that every show
and we do it completely different. It is a lot more soft
rock on the record, but the motivation behind it was that
we were talking about Oasis trashing a hotel room, my buddy
Scott and I, and just digging the rock star lifestyle I
guess. The underline current is like, "Oh yeah I'd
totally sell out in a second", like totally compromise
all my values, like not even kidding. You can pay me and
I'll do it. I think the bitch about the press line in there
is absolutely ridiculous. There's a documentary for Radiohead
DVD Meeting People, and I love the band, that is my favorite
band. In the DVD, they complain about doing the radio tags,
where they have to say "Hi, This is Johnny from Radiohead
you are listening to Live 100?" and I'm just like "Get
over it man!" That is such an honor, dude to be doing
that. I think there is a lot behind that song and not necessarily
one idea, but I was trying to be sarcastic.
M: I liked it. Lyrically that was my favorite song on
your album. So you originally started out in DC, but you
moved to New York City. How do you like New York?
SL: I like it a lot. It took a while to grow on me. D.C.
has got that comfort. It just feels a lot more manageable
and we've always done well down there, and New York its
like, I think there are more people in New York who are
in bands then aren't. It's crazy. Everybody is in a band
out here and there is so much going on all the time, but
there are these little pockets at times where you are out
and it all just kind of makes sense, I guess. Creatively
it's been like that London environment for me and I think
a lot has come out of it. It's definitely a different kind
of music scene up here.
M:
What made you decide to move, originally?
SL: I guess, I am a drifter. I was ready for a change.
D.C got really comfortable.
M: That's where you went to college, right?
SL: I went to college there, right, and all my friends
are still down there, my band, and rehearsal space, and
a really cool apartment were all there. For some reason
I thought it would be a really good idea to go to a place
that would be mentally harder to live in. But it's cool.
It has been a work in progress, but I think I am finally
finding the right tone up here.
M: So, you have a number of tour dates set up. How is that
going?
SL: I'm huge now. It is fantastic. I mean now, I am like
the biggest thing in rock….Sorry, I'm kind of sarcastic.
M: (laughing) Yeah, I didn't notice.
SL: The D.C shows are fantastic. I went back there and
got to play. I'm excited I've never really played a proper
show in Chicago. I had like these three or four people that
have been asking me to come out, so hopefully there will
be more people there. I'm excited for that. I don't know.
I get bored with the routine, so it's nice to kind of mix
it up a little bit.
M: Have you had any crazy tour experiences or any performances
where something cool happened?
SL: Something cool?
M: Yeah. Something crazy or interesting at all.
SL: Well, we played one show with all of us on mules. And
guitars and bass and drums and everything were all played
on mules. That was cool. That's not true. That didn't happen.
Something crazy or cool… A couple of the guys from the Counting
Crows came up and played the cover of Walkin on Sunshine
not too long ago. That is actually on the MySpace page if
you want to see it, and we tend to raffle off door prizes
at shows. Is that cool?
M: Giving stuff away is cool.
SL: Ok, yeah. We raffle off the band pasta and basically
I will raid my Sir-Mix-A-Lot-trading cards and…maybe…I don't
know. I feel like I need more gimmicks.
M: Yeah, I think you do. You're kind of searching for
things to say here.
SL: Ok. Good. Good. But we do raffle off a lot of door
prizes. That's important. Usually we have like dancers.
We don't have dancers, but we should. I'll think about it.
I will try to come up with…like the time Bono came on stage
I'm completely forgetting about or something like that.
M: Okay, well we can come back to that later.
SL: Good. Sorry I am getting tripped up on it. I am questioning
how cool my shows are now.
M: Yeah, they seem pretty lame to me. I mean you don't
even have dancers.
SL: Oh, come on now. That's not… no. Well, ok. 
M: How does performing live compare to recording in the
studio? Which do you prefer?
SL: At the end of the day I think that the coolest part
about being a musician is the ability to have a recording
of your creative output at a particular time, so in that
respect, I think if I could only record albums… It is hard
to distinguish one from the other, because the way the industry
is I make so much more of my progress out on the road meeting
new people and making new fans, then I do if I just put
a song up on my MySpace page and tell them to download it.
So, it is kind of hard to divorce one from the other. Bless
you. Was that a sneeze?
M: A cough. I'm kind of sick.
SL: Oh, I am sorry. Ok. Well, anyway, I can never tell
the different between coughs and sneezes.
M: Yeah. It's difficult over the phone.
SL: It is kind of a personality quirk too, but ok, so,
for me personally, and I could probably say this a lot more
eloquently, but having that recording of your creative output
is probably the reason I am doing music in the first place.
M: Okay, that's a good answer.
SL: Thank you. I heard David Bowie say that once.
M: Oh, you're just ripping him off? (laughing)
Well, then that's plagiarism, but that's okay. So, what
music are you currently listening too now? What is on your
ipod?
SL: Today I listened to a Coconut Record CD, and I've been
listening to a lot Athlete lately.
M: Ok. Well, I haven't heard of those people. Can you
tell our readers about them a little bit?
SL: Yeah, well Athlete they're for rockers. I think they're
awesome. You should check it out. They have a new CD out
now, but their song Wires is just kick my ass. Great pop
stuff too from the first record. Coconut Records I just
listened to the CD for the first time. Its good. Its Jason
Schwartzman's band after Phantom Planet, I guess. What else
am I listening to these days… I'm listening to a Wakey!Wakey!
CD. He's a guy I know in New York. I got my ipod in my pocket.
You want me to take it out?
M: Sure!
SL: Okay, let's do it. I've been listening to a lot of
pod casts lately too. So here we go, Artists… There has
got to be a recently played thing right? Pretty much I've
been listening to myself (laughing).
M: That's a little egotistical.
SL: The new Nada Surf record. I am listening to that.
M: To be honest I have never heard of any of these bands.
SL: You haven't heard of Nada Surf? They sang that song
Popular a long time ago.
M: Oh, Oh! I know that song.
SL: They are a lot better then that. Their lyric stuff
is really cool. Jason Faulkner, he's in a band called Jelly
Fish. I don't really know him at all, but I like that CD.
I listen to a Michael Ian Black comedy record. Comedy records
tend to help pass the time, while I'm driving. Okay. What
about you? What are you listening too?
M: Well, I listened to your CD today so there's that.
SL: Were you like, "This is garbage I can't believe
you are putting this in here?"
M: No. I wouldn't say that. I liked it.
SL: That's cool. Thank you. That's good. Yeah. I guess
that would suck if you hated it, but you'ld probably still
have to do the interview wouldn't you?
M: I would still have to do the interview, but I don't
think I would tell you I liked it if I really hated it.
So, do you maintain your own MySpace page and how involved
with you are you with your fans?
SL: I am involved with pretty much everything I got. I
do maintain my MySpace page, which is probably why I am
really bad at responding to people. It's amazing that I
function on a daily basis. I maintain my MySpace page and
my Facebook page and usually when I am not touring I am
on the computer all the time. It doesn't look very good,
but I'm trying to fix it. I am not very good with code.
M: I thought it was fine. I mean, I got all the information
I needed to talk to you from it, so that was good. Have
you ever considered a career in something else other then
music?
SL: Have I ever? I think a college professor would be a
really fun job.
M: What would you teach?
SL: Yeah, that's kind of the big problem. I like that idea
of that. I'm sure there are way cooler jobs out there, but
that is something I have always wanted to do. Probably a
little early to think of a back up plan. My experience,
when I make back up plans for anything, I tend to follow
them.
M: Have you had any other job besides music?
SL: Yeah! I had a job where, this is actually when I wasn't
touring, I'd go out to the hospital and I would act out
medical illnesses like narcolepsy and social anxiety disorder.
So, yeah I did that like last summer and that's just how
I paid the bills after I came back from England. That 's
the only other weird part time job. I used to be music editor
for a paper On Tap in D.C., but that was a long time ago,
like three or four years ago or something like that. I don't
know. I feel like I should have more cool part time jobs.
I'm probably forgetting some, but those are pretty much
the big ones.
M: Sounds interesting. So, what can we expect from you
in the future?
SL: I don't know. Keep your expectations low, so…
M: So that you can achieve it?
SL: Yep. Set the bar low is what I would say.
M: That's a good motto in life.
SL: Nah, we are in the works right now trying to record
together as the D.C band and to keep the final line up as
it is now. We are still writing and playing a lot, and that
is something I am looking to do as soon as the summer. Lots
of touring and hopefully in the future you'll see me on
a tour that actually makes sense with routing.
M: I did notice that you were all over the place.
SL: I guess the big expectation is logical touring and
eventually more music. I don't know if you can actually
really expect a logical touring from me because that doesn't
really happen very often.
M: Well, make it your back up plan and then it will
come true.
SL: Yeah, exactly. It is the goal. I guess I have to get
rid of the back up plan of the illogical touring? Is that
what you are saying? It makes sense. So yeah, only illogical
touring from now on. Is that a good answer?
M: That is a great answer.
SL: Hey. Can you make me sound cool?
M: I'll try. (laughing) Okay, can you tell us
one interesting fact about yourself that your readers may
not already know? This is your chance to be cool so come
up with something good.
SL: Well, I am color blind.
M: No way.
SL: I am. Yes. It's true. I am color blind, and I don't
know if that's interesting though. I think it's kind of
interesting.
M: It is interesting. Not everyone is color blind.
SL: Let me think if I can think of something else. I guess
I am not that interesting. We'll stay with color blind for
now, but oh, yeah, I don't eat red meat! Not for ethical
reasons just because of the personality quirk.
M: You just don't like it?
SL: I guess so, yeah. So, I arbitrarily don't eat red meat
and I am color blind and, oh, and I don't know anybody in
the world that is as good as me at Connect Four.
M: Do you always win?
SL: I always win. I am really good at Connect Four. That
is an interesting fact. Like, it is really hard to beat
me. I may lose one game, but in a best out of three series
I haven't lost in like ten years.
M: Ten years! Wow! Maybe you should consider that as
you back up career. I don't know, you could probably make
some money.
SL: If I could get a sponsorship from Hasbro, the makers
of the game, how cool would that be? But I don't know what
kind of sponsor…like I don't know. A lot of people get sponsorship
by companies like Gibson guitars, like stuff that could
actually help them. It's not like I need multiple games
of Connect Four.
M: That's true. I guess you really only need the one.
SL: So, color blind, don't eat red meat, and probably the
best Connect Four player you'll ever meet.
M: Alright. Well, those are good qualities.
SL: Thank you.
M: It's has been excellent talking to you and so thank
you.
SL: Was is Melissa or Alyssa?
M: Melissa with an M.
SL: With an M. So, it's Melissa. Well, it was really good
talking to you, Melissa. Thank you so much, and I hope you
can make me sound non-pretentious.
M: Alright. Well I will try and work on that, but I
think it might be pretty difficult. (laughing) Have
a great afternoon.
SL: Thank you so much, Melissa.
M: Bye.
