Some songs please, others make us question the world. You Ain't No Better does both. It's constructed from truthful lyrics, solid guitar playing, and a straightforward statement making it an artist's song that's honest in every respect. An anthem to those who don't feel rich or famous enough, the song was conceived with the conviction that money and status are not higher powers; they don't justify being more important or better than another regular person who simply wants to be heard.
The High Desert Grit is the sound at the heart of the artist's music, a sound influenced by the vast open spaces and rocky mountains of Albuquerque. It combines heavy guitars with the liberty to innovate free from fads and industry demands. All of the song is composed, played and recorded by human hands, in keeping with the idea that music should remain a human expression.
The artist has opted to remain independent, and create music in their own way without relying on record labels or industry gatekeepers.
In this interview, we delve into the concept behind You Ain't No Better, the significance of artistic freedom, and the idea that there's nothing like a good old true story rather than a formula.
Listen to You Ain't No Better
https://open.spotify.com/album/2KbAhhrrp0lXP9n7Z5rQyW?si=AbHwr88wTrOS_HMnYEMGhQ
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"You Ain't No Better" feels like a statement of intent right from the title. What was the moment or feeling that pushed you to write it?
I saw something online where somebody was featuring an expensive brand of some product and the way they were pitching was as if to say “only elite people can afford this”. The idea that someone is better or more significant because they have a butt-load of money did not sit well with me.
You've coined the term High Desert Grit for your sound. What does that phrase mean to you, and how does it show up in this track?
Big sound, knife edge of a Telecaster and the freedom to make music however you want to make it. The desert out here is a wide open expanse with mountain ranges gashing up into the sky. I want my music to sound like that.
You've been very direct about your frustration with corporate radio and algorithm-driven playlists. What specifically pushed you to that breaking point?
The main thing—boredom. Country music is treated like a product and not an expression of human experience. It’s like someone just sat down and said, throw in a line about a cowboy hat, cowboy boots, drinking beer and two-stepping with a woman. Add in a fiddle and a steel guitar and we got ourselves a hit country song. And, I call bullshit. Sing about something real. Tell a story that means something.
Country music is treated like a product and not an expression of human experience.
This song is built on a strict 100% human-performed and produced policy, with no AI shortcuts. Why was it so important to you to draw that line?
The AI thing is a snake eating its tail at this point. AI learns music from humans and generates a copy of a copy. THEN, humans go to AI for help making music and they end up with a copy of a copy of a copy… The stupidest thing a songwriter or composer could do is go to the matrix to help produce music. Music is a human expression—let’s keep it that way!
You describe this record as being for the bottom 98%, everyday people fed up with being talked down to. How do you keep that audience in mind while you're writing and producing?
I draw from my own life. I spent most of my life earning money as a bartender. I’ve been in the trenches just like everyone else working to make ends meet. And, I know there are people who’ve got it a lot worse than me. The one or two percent wealth class at the top do not know what it’s like to struggle to afford basic things. So I write music for the rest of us.
The track leans on traditional songwriting, a driving Southwestern tempo, and twin-guitar arrangements. Walk us through how those elements came together to build the song's backbone.
I always start with an acoustic and hammer out the chords. Then I go to the Telecaster to find my sound and my rhythm. Next, a lead track that sits on top and cuts pierces that and gives it and edge. That’s pretty much my process.
You've said you don't seek gatekeeper approval or celebrity, only connection. How do you measure whether a song has actually succeeded by that standard?
I don’t even worry about it at this early stage. I’m just producing music and getting it out there. Time will tell if it connects to a wider audience or not.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4LITNdD1aWjnVkaiBb2jlS?si=5qxeyELBSXWOtifFGvirrg
Albuquerque and the high desert seem central to your identity as an artist. How does that landscape, physically and culturally, shape the music you make?
It’s like I said when you asked about High Desert Grit. The musical landscape is just like what you see out here wide open space with jagged mountain edges knifing though the boredom.
You call this song part of a rebellion. What does that rebellion look like beyond the music, in terms of how you release and share your work?
We are all, us 98% bottom-feeders, are going to have to rebel if we want anything to change. I’m making my music on my own terms and self-releasing to preserve my artistic integrity. I might regret saying this, but I don’t see myself ever signing to a label. I don’t ever see myself performing live. The things I would have to do in this day and age to effectively live in that world are things I’m not willing to do.
I don’t want some music corporation telling me who I can and can’t associate with because they’re afraid of compromising the brand. And I'm never going to dress up like Woody from Toy Story on stage just so people think I’m a real cowboy or a real outlaw. Cosplay is not “authentic”. It’s playing dress-up. I’m going to be myself on my own terms and let the chips fall where they may.
For someone hearing "You Ain't No Better" for the first time, what do you want them to feel by the time the last note plays?
Honestly, I want people to think, “fuck ‘em!” Fuck anybody that says you ain’t good enough. Fuck anybody that thinks you are defined by the size of your bank account and fuck anybody that tries to stick you in box and define you. Fuck that.
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