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Sticky Jazz interview Logan Lynn
30 Plays6 months ago
Logan Lynn is a queer multi media artist, a film maker, visual artist and musician. All of these seem to bleed into each other, so it is hard to distinguish how he is telling the story. Which makes his work so interesting.
Having just released an album last week called "SOFTCORE" along with some short film segments as the videos, there is a lot to watch, and enjoy, just don't expect the point of the video to line up with the lyrics, it is all over the place.
His music will change styles, beats, and even genres in mid song, and still enlighten you as to what he is saying. All for the art, as we joked, his new demographic is to reach dumb, straight, American, white guys.
Released during Pride Month 2024, this album features some of the gayest content I have ever heard, but there are even some gems for ideas presented for everyone, there are so many basic human ideas covered in the lyrics on this album "SOFTCORE". Enjoy everyone, Logan Lynn has a lot to share with us on the label "Kill Rock Stars" .
on youtube instagram Kill Rock Stars facebook
#billcallahan #chvrches #laurenmayberry #lloydcole #cheriecurrie #sobriety #soberissexy #bobmould #davidlynch #peachesthesinger
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey everybody, we are KCTC! And you're listening to Sticky Jazz. So sticky. the opinions expressed on the show are solely those of jeremy hinks and sticky jazz podcast and do not necessarily reflect those of anyone else on this planet All right, everybody. Greetings and welcome to Sticky Jazz. This is, what, halfway through Pride Month. And this week I've got Logan Lin. He's a filmmaker and musician and very funny, mega-talented visual artist. Just released an album called Softcore. And, ah man, we cover some really deep, heavy concepts in this interview.
00:00:49
Speaker
And I don't think he's interested in leaving anything out. So here's is the song is called to be of good use to build Callahan cover. And let's fire this one off. Happy pride halfway through. Party on everybody.
00:01:25
Speaker
Most of my fantasy
00:01:58
Speaker
most of my fantasies are all to be of use to be of use
00:02:31
Speaker
Be of some heart, simple
00:03:06
Speaker
Like a horseshoe Oh, like a corkscrew To be of use
00:03:38
Speaker
Most of my fantasy
00:04:11
Speaker
On a horse
00:06:07
Speaker
Coming day Coming day
00:06:22
Speaker
All right,
Artistic Journey and Influences
00:06:23
Speaker
everybody. Welcome to Sticky Jazz. I'm Jeremy Hanks. And this week we are well into pride. And I have Logan Lin on. He is a queer filmmaker slash musician. And the lines really, really blur in his art. And so I'm glad to have him on. ah Welcome to the show, Logan. Thanks for joining us. Thank you so much for having me on. So I guess you have an album coming out day after tomorrow, right? Yeah, it's happening. We're in release week. Release week. So the album is called Softcore. And I've, you know, I love my job. I get the ability to hear music before most people do. I got to say this is some of the gayest content I've heard since Man on Man.
00:07:12
Speaker
hot Nice. Well, then my my work here is done. Okay, good. All right with that. We don't need to carry on. Okay, conversations over. all Everybody get the record. It's the gayest. but Happy Pride. So have you heard Man on Man? Do you know those guys? I have. Yeah, they actually did a remix for my last record and we were supposed to go on tour, but then a little pandemic happened and I had to cancel some of those shows. But those guys are our friends. Yeah, they're great. Yeah, Roddy and Joey, two their ah great they're two middle-aged gay guys making great music. That's what else is there to say.
00:07:44
Speaker
Faith No More is like, not not for nothing, but Roddy's from that band as well. Oh, yeah. Well, yeah. this I'm a big Faith No More fan. Yeah. Actually, the the story goes, I went and saw Faith No More open for Metallica, and I left during Metallica. Right? I love it. Yeah. That checks out for me. i was I was big into them in my youth, so getting to connect with him and have them collaborate on music was a dream come true. Yeah, I, I met Faith no more when they're opening for Billy Idol. I mentioned, I mentioned it to Roddy and he was funny. He said, actually, I do think I remember meeting you that night, but I thought you're wearing a wig. It's like, ah Oh, that was, that was the best job I'd ever gotten for being bald. You know, or that was just be memorable yeah they were great guys. and that Their music is fabulous, but to talk to them, they are just terrific guys.
00:08:37
Speaker
Totally. And you know, I, you know, as a person who's been making in your face gay music since I started in 1998, I love it that there's so many of us out here doing that. Now it's so cool. And I think infiltrating rock, rock and roll as that sort of in your face queer is unusual still. And it's, it's beautiful to see. Like, well, like I remember what getting into like pansy division back in the early 90s, right? you're Like going, wow, this is this is cool. This is, you know, like back then we just got punk tapes because they're punk tapes. And I remember going, wow, this is out there. This is new, you know, and even far between back then, too. I think now we have more selection of folks that are in the genre doing stuff.
00:09:22
Speaker
Yeah, but Queer Core, you know, um but you you're a lot of the electronic-sided things. And so there was a lot more of that. But yeah, hearing the Queer Core where, yeah, we're punk and we're gay and we're loud and we're going to be in your face with it, it was awesome. It's cool. Yeah, I love it. Yeah, I'm a big Pansy division fan. um Let's see who else. there's a they're They're also in a spin-out band called Gacy DC, a couple of them. and Yeah, I know those guys too. Yeah, you gotta to love Casey. They're like, you know, like you you just know what they're about. When you hear the name, you're like, yeah, you can't move up to the brand. Yeah. I'm here for any kind of loud gay wildness. You generally speaking kind of across the board. So sign me up. So wait. So are you, I was told you're up in Idaho.
00:10:10
Speaker
I am going back and forth right now between Idaho and Portland. I've been in Portland the last 25 years. Came to Idaho to make this record and film and then headed back to Portland in August full time so. Little bit of a pit stop. OK, guess your publisher said you were actually in Idaho. We had to do on the Idaho time zone, not up there to Portland. So it's true. I am in Idaho currently right now as we speak, but I wanted my shout out to be from Portland because that's where I live. OK, did you grow up there in Idaho? I did not. No, I grew up in Midwest, Nebraska, Kansas, Michigan, all the worst places. And then moved to Portland in 96. Did some stints in LA. I've been going back and forth between Portland and LA. But moved here in 2022 and December 2022 for love. And then I'm, you know, moving away with love.
00:11:01
Speaker
Okay. Oh, they say if you're in Idaho, uh, because of the prominent religion up there, I'm in salt lake city. And so, um, yeah. It's great. I, you know, I, it's been a long time since I approached a restaurant and saw a rainbow flag and was like, let's eat here. We're safe. But you know, that's been happening here. i I think there's a lot of beautiful things about, um, the surrounding area and the culture here is not one of those things. Yeah. Well, I get, i mean I'm in, I'm in Utah and it bleeds over. the Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's bled over to Idaho a lot. So not a fan, not a fan at all. Very, very much similar to my, uh, surroundings in my upbringing, which I escaped. I have no idea why I chose to come back, but here I am. And you know, I've been going back and forth. We found a place in Portland a couple of weeks ago and my mind and while my body may still be in Idaho at times, my mind and heart have already moved.
00:12:00
Speaker
Well, my my mom and brothers all live up in Portland, so. Okay, cool. Yeah, up in Hillsborough, whatever. It's home for me, even though I didn't wasn't born there, I lived there for 25 years, and I miss it. I miss my family, I miss my friends, I miss the music scene, I miss my studio, I miss it all, I miss the rain, all the things I thought I hated. Turns out I love about it. And you gave it all up to go to potato country, all right. You did, for a man, of all things. Okay. it is
Themes and Symbolism
00:12:29
Speaker
Is your man Mormon? Is he Mormon or? no He's ex Mormon. Okay. All right. All right. So you get it. Yeah. Like I'm an ex Mo as well. So yeah, I like it. i I mean, it's been really great. That part of Idaho magic. I'm, you know, I'm engaged. I got a new puppy, all the personal life stuff happening inside our home. Beautiful. But step out that door. Whoa. No. But you do have those mountains up there.
00:12:54
Speaker
I do, and you know, I'm kind of cold. It's just warming up, but my my main experience here other than just like extreme homophobia has been, holy cow, it's cold. I wear base layers year round. I just, the bone chilling cold that I have never been able to warm up from, and I'm excited for moderate weather again. So i I served my LDS mission in Germany with a bloke from Bonner's Ferry, okay which is up on the Canadian border. He said, yeah, there's ah he said yeah it's it's closer to Canada than any place civilized. Totally. yeah it it does get I realize it gets colder from here. And I grew up in Nebraska. I understand cold it has just been a while since I you know experienced it day in, day out for months on end.
00:13:39
Speaker
right Okay. Well, um, so I, I have to say as, as a filmmaker and you're you so like, okay, I love the records. I went through it. Uh, I don't know if your publisher has told you, I'll do a deep dive and I'll just go through your catalog with a scalpel and the magnifying glass. And so I'm gonna, and and that's just how I do it. And great if, if, if it feels like you're in surgery right now, it's cause you are, um, i I'm into it. ah let go surgeryy I like to be here. Okay. So what what I loved about you, you play around with visuals in your storytelling a lot. Yeah. And and that that's where your filmmaker thing is just coming through. Everyone knows, all right, this guy, he knows he loves telling a story.
00:14:32
Speaker
um And I was watching ah to be of good use. And there were some of the lines like, wow, all right, we're straight words right out the gate. This is gay territory here. ah Most of my fantasies are making someone else come. yeah Most of my fantasies are to be of good use, to be of some simple, undeniable use. It's all there in a minor key in the first part, right? Yeah. um
00:15:04
Speaker
all like a spindle, a candle, a horseshoe, like a corkscrew. I'm like, okay, where's a horseshoe useful? where is And i was I was trying to find some of that, right? yeah Okay. um gee Let's talk about the lyrics for a minute there. Because i was like it because some of it was very distinct and of some undeniable use. a corkscrew sure wait a horseshoe like where are we you know do talk aboutler we get Bill Callahan on the line because that is a cover that first song is a cover of a smog song that I love from 1988
00:15:42
Speaker
And did not know that. Okay. Yeah. yeah Bill Callahan wrote that, uh, during his smog era, I, if somebody put it on a mix tape or a mix CD for me when I was a teenager and like, you know, 1998, when that record came out and it just really has mattered to me forever. I think when I first heard him say those first lines, it like for whatever reason, um, I think resonated with me. I think those are the feelings I have. you know the feelings I struggle with trying to be useful in the world and so that has always been kind of a soundtrack for me. I think when I when i started putting this record together um it was important to me to start it with um something I love and that song felt very um very much like it's my favorite song in the world and also as we were creating it I felt like it was kind of a
00:16:31
Speaker
A true foreshadowing of what the record does um with music songs from there where it's sort of, you know, start soft and and tender and ends up wild and dance party. Yes. oh ok you Well, we'll get to that. Yes, ah because it started off very. slow, siggy roast, godspeed, you black emperor, like. Sure, yeah. And please tell me you consider that a compliment. I do. man and And then it rolls into something like churches, you know. Sure. I was like, wow, like musically, the the the the shift in there was great.
00:17:09
Speaker
Thanks. But I did not know it was a cover, so that that's interesting. um i take Again, I'm just listening to it. I just download the audio files and I read the lyrics. That's great. I'm glad you don't know it's a cover. I'm trying to make it my own and it's part of the story of this album. so you know Bill Callahan wrote it, but it's not his on this record. It's mine. okay Well, what does he think about it or does he even know? I don't know. Let's get him on the line. I hope we've tagged him. He's a, you know, he's one of my heroes. So I hope this, and that if he comes across it, he's pleased. But who knows? Well, um okay. Like when Jackie and Sugar Plum Fairy and all of those people, little Joe, right? When, when all of them in Lou Reed's song,
00:17:58
Speaker
Yeah, when when they realized this song was about us, like so many of those people were like, oh, my God, I'm I have someone who's who's acknowledged me and went off and we're very proud to have been, you know, in something is as old as walk on the wild side. You know, even though most of those people have passed on, but I remember reading ah Bob Gruen wrote about them and I was like, yeah, they're like, oh, Lou wrote about us, you know. So, yeah, the tribute, the shout out, it's always good to have. um So let's see. So the the visuals there, right? let's yeah you You start off, ah you're singing there, you're getting dressed, you're in the shower, yeah as back and forth. And then at at first glance, those frills kind of looked like the big a big bird costume. And I realized, no, no, no, that's not what it is. Okay. but and
00:18:47
Speaker
If it is, I'm the big bird that's been kidnapped and forced into the circus in that follow that bird movie that came out. I'm not a Sesame Street big bird. I'm kidnapped circus. You're kidnapped circus big bird. Yeah. But so I was like, wait, what is that? And then i it it it it played well into the other videos when I started to get, you know, the concept there as they went, you know, and as it progressed. Yeah. But, uh, and then the finger painting in the shower. Yeah. Um, what was,
00:19:18
Speaker
What does? Go ahead, talk about that. It was really gives interesting to see that. Go ahead. Yeah, I will say that we wanted to evoke cum somehow and ah that that was just where we landed that it was like easier to do kind of this masculine feminine color mix as cum instead of trying to be on the nose. Okay, because that does that that theme of you in the shower or in the shower pops up in other video, we will get to that in a moment. So um please tell me you're a churches fan. Thank you very much. because I do like churches. Yeah, they're great. Yeah. And she's cool too. Like her Lauren Mayberry solo career that she's having right now, I also think is very special and good.
00:20:07
Speaker
Yeah, it just applies like, oh, this has such a fun churches feel to it in in the music. So obviously my phrase as well. Oh, yeah. No, you and I probably have a very similar record collection. you know but We probably do. Yeah. um ah Like, let's see. So you are obviously the filmmaker and the outfits are getting really arty. What was the, like, okay, those were the the frills in the fluff, not the big bird, but what was, what was that? What was the point of of that in, cause you would flip back and forth to being that with it wrapped around your head and then you're in the shower and back and forth. What was the. Yeah. I mean, I think the idea is to be really forward facing with
00:20:54
Speaker
both masculine and feminine sort of traditional ideas of those mixed together. You know, like I'm, I have a beard and I'm being kind of mask in the shower, but also I'm in a gown here and there. And just feels to me like um I wanted to be really pronounced about embodying both. And I think that record is kind of about texture, about staying soft. And so visually I wanted to bring that out. Okay. Um, yeah. So no, these had like some, uh, the, the naked, naked and famous music sounds in there too. And of course new or new order in that. I was like, Oh God, this record's good. I love it. Well, I, I hope that everybody who the record comes out tomorrow, guys, really a good album, everybody musically and the content, um, stick it up there with man on man, as far as, you know, if you would do a man, if you do a show that I would love to see a show of you guys.
00:21:52
Speaker
You know, you and Man on Man would be a hell of a show. It's fun, like a good mix. i we'll We'll make that happen one of these days. So the, I'm just a whole sir. Okay. Okay. Now, now work with me here. Okay. Making my parents proud with every song. when you went from the video of that switch outfits, walk out the door, yeah and and and then you're doing, I'm just a holster. yeah That was, okay. like Like, okay, next part of the story, let's let's keep going, right? um
00:22:28
Speaker
i that sounded It looked like you had a lot of fun doing these, right? I did, I love playing dress up and I, you know, it's fun to, I think, make the songs mean something else besides just what the song is doing, right? Like to bring it to life in new ways is always interesting to me. ah Well, like the hat and the get, the the jacket or the coat, right? It was like, that was kind of over the top. I'm like, okay, what where are we going with this? yeah Because this it's very feminine dress, but it's very feminine 1960s Italian type
00:23:03
Speaker
you know, all he needs is the big sunglasses and he's off being Sophia Loren kind of thing, right? Sure, sure, yeah. And then you're doing that and then you're walking, I guess, I thought the streets were Idaho or Port, wherever. Yeah, it's Boise. Yeah, we shot everything and made the record and the film in Idaho, all around Idaho.
Personal Stories and Growth
00:23:24
Speaker
Wow. And we had a lot of interaction with the pounds people during the shooting of that video. And was it, uh, apprehensive or was it, Hey, we're up having fun and I think it was a mix. Like a lot of, we got like shoot away from buildings, which has never happened to me before. Like where we are like in a public space and people are like, you can't shoot here.
00:23:49
Speaker
That felt very new. um And then some people were just curious, but there was a lot of like, okay, cut, there's people looking. And then there was like, at one point in the video, you can't totally see it. I can because I was there. But like, at one point in the video in the very background, like a ghost appeared a ghost costume, because we shot it in October, and they were doing some kind of like Halloween walk. And so like, there were just things like that happening. I i think I did notice that. Yeah. Okay. okay Okay. And, uh, please tell me it was fun doing all of those. I mean, it looks yeah, it's always funny. yeah I think that's why I make videos. Like I do always have the visual part is just as important to me as the sound part. Uh-huh.
00:24:36
Speaker
So cool. Yeah. No, I just, as you tell the story that I was on a, we're doing a ah film shoot during the pandemic ah huh and we were out there in camouflage with our guns. It was a mercenary war film, you know, and, and and the BLM pulled up. Yeah. And he gets out and he sees us there with our camouflage and our machine guns. And they were all airsoft. But he comes in, he's like, you guys hunting? We're like, no, we're shooting the movies like, oh, cool. Yeah, I'm out of here. right yeah and Yeah. And I was like, I hope he doesn't ask us for a permit because we don't have a permit to be shooting on BLM land. I hope he doesn't ask. Oh, he didn't. we're Nice. Yeah, sometimes better to ask forgiveness than permission with those things. Don't quote me on that.
00:25:19
Speaker
Well, we we were on BLM land and like, like just, we're we're here just making a fun film, dude. He's like, okay, yeah, you know. And cause it's one of those like, do you have a permit to shoot? And those are always a pain. That's always a pain. That, you know. Expensive. Yeah, that turns a project into a expensive project. Yeah. when And when you have to fill out like 20 pages of whatever for environmental impact analysis. Right. Love it. Yeah. And and you got have medical. No, or' it's five guys that, yeah, it was just so and it's easier to avoid all of that. But boy, some people like the paperwork.
00:25:54
Speaker
Yeah, it's a fun thing to make stuff and also there's always challenges and it was like still hot or whatever like these clothes that I wore are so incredibly heavy. Oh, it's a big black coat, man. I mean, every and there's layers like and that hat is so heavy that hats like 20 pounds um it I was tired by the end of it, mainly from just the weight of the clothing. My mom came to visit here like a couple months ago and like I was wanting to see the wardrobe and she tried something wrong. I was like, I can barely stand. So heavy.
00:26:28
Speaker
Wow. yeah and so no but Mission accomplished. The videos were great. You're telling the the story. You were, like you said, trying to embrace the feminine side of it and tell different than what the lyrics were doing. yeah as As let's move on to the lyrics there. um
00:26:48
Speaker
Let's see. I'm just a whole sir. I don't love you and I don't need you. yeah You can touch me how I want you. I'm down on my knees. I don't like you and I don't want you. Just a little old fashioned romance song. Oh yeah, totally romance, love song completely. i So I read a little bit of the background of what you had, just your your notes on it. but you Talk a little bit about that one. Yeah. you're
00:27:21
Speaker
mean i think you know not that it's super original but like the record was born out of a really painful breakup and I think part of my reaction it's sort of a chronicle of like the pain like the the stages of grief and then you know staying open to love finding me again and that's sort of the arc of the record but I think that song is like smack dab in the middle of the rage part of the whatever the stage of grief that rages. um And it's also, you know, so horny. I had been hurt by, you know, had like a big public breakup, had been in a relationship with a man for a really long time and was hurt. And when that ended, I sort of quit the world for like, you know, I've tried to quit the world for a year, but then the year turned into a pandemic, and then it turned into five years pretty
00:28:14
Speaker
quick. And I was just like, you know, ready to be touched, still mad, but like, um you know, needing to needing to be naked. i ands about Okay, I'm gonna put on my my ah high school psychology student class. right you know is As all my psych classes, I did a couple in college, the rest were high school, so I'm really just out on a limb here. Not knowing a lot. Not knowing a lot, but I could see, yeah, you were trying to get back to a normal life after a relationship killed you.
00:28:50
Speaker
Right, but I don't know if you're a Lloyd Cole fan, but the I was going through this going, man, okay, Lloyd Cole did a record called Don't Get Weird On Me, Babe. Huh, I don't know Lloyd Cole. Oh, you you you heathen, okay, go, yeah, Lloyd, you gotta get to Lloyd Cole, but. All right. um he He wrote this and and he described it as this, like, um we met, We fell in love and then spent the rest of time shooting each other's lives to hell, right? you And I remember hearing that he said that about the record and I went and I got the record and listened to it. And I had been through a similar experience like, oh, why did I?
00:29:33
Speaker
just get in there with this girl and let her just run me through the steam like that, you know, and I get that and I could relate to some of those pieces. But Lloyd Colges, he captured that in the album. Like he he needs to go listen to this Lloyd Cole record. Don't get weird on me, babe, because there's so much in there. But like you said, at the end from the in the press release, they're just the dark days of strife to the moments of life affirming intimacy. Hmm. That's how you put it. um I guess that there's a lot of fear of, I wanna get back to normal life, but I'm afraid that,
00:30:13
Speaker
even that's gonna hurt, right? Is that what I was getting from this? And then the pandemic came in and fucked everything up. So then you you know like yeah couldn't do it anyway, but- Yeah, no, I think there was a there what's happening on the record a lot, especially towards the beginning half of the album, is me fighting against this this desire to sort of harden up from the experience, to close down, to like make myself safe again, internally, personally, um and instead, um you know staying open and staying staying soft staying um willing to um you know be part of the world all of this stuff that i might have in years past done um in reaction to this big bad thing this time i didn't do those things you know like i and i think that's why i fell in love i think that's why all this stuff uh ended up happening that was really my big dream for my life it was because
00:31:11
Speaker
I didn't do the same old shit that I always have done when life falls apart. You know, I stayed the course around what I wanted and what I wanted was love. and connection and a personal life and to feel safe and secure in a relationship. um And just because I accidentally let the wrong person in too close doesn't mean that that um sort of dream for a life is off the table for me. I think that's the, that's the higher sort of ah the higher thing going on and in the record.
00:31:42
Speaker
Well, congratulations, then, if that's what came around. because ah Yeah, thank you. It's very exciting. I got, you know, I think once I gave up ah the right, you know, there he was and we got engaged this last year and we're going to get married. So here we are also. So so the pandemic actually. Maybe it was a good thing that yeah did did it put you in an under-comfortable space enough that you you found? like yeah Yeah, I do love this game that you're attempting to play, the good things from the pandemic game. It's one of my favorites because it's important those years feel lost otherwise. I think i think the good part for me was I'm really an introvert or an ambivert. Maybe I'm like a little bit of both, but
00:32:28
Speaker
Before the pandemic, it was taking a lot of time to like become myself every day and then come down from the experience of having been myself during the day, publicly out in the world. And when the pandemic happened, I was able to just work and write and feel and make sense of things in a way because all of that prep work to become the public person that goes out to an office or whatever didn't have to happen. And I didn't have to decompress from anything. So I was one of the few people that actually did thrive. I got a record deal. I was, you know, I've launched a domain. like All this stuff happened during
00:33:04
Speaker
the pandemic. Well, a lot of the people in my life were spinning out. I was like, Oh, shit, like, I know what to do right now. So here we go. Well, no, a lot. We got a lot of good music out of the pandemic. That's for sure. Because everybody got bored. It was like, what am I gonna I gotta write? I'm gonna go crazy. So we got a lot of great records out of the pandemic. It was hard to book studio time for a while afterwards as well. Yeah, well, um booking shows. Are we doing that? ah Probably. Yes, I can neither confirm nor deny that at this stage, but there will be potentially some shows happening. Cool. That'll be great. All right.
00:33:39
Speaker
um
00:33:41
Speaker
Let's see. So but when when you wrote this song, I feel alone when I'm with you. Okay. And you said putting that in a vehicle that helps the medicine go down has been your things in stay one now. Yeah. lyrically okay like that was a great line to relate to um Me, okay, i had I had gotten burned really bad and then I ended up leaving. I thought she was the one, she was evil, whatever, I moved to Boston. She was in Dallas, I had to move to to to Boston. I think that was far enough a way to get away from her. sure And when I was this, before I met my wife, but I was dating all these girls, great, wonderful girls. But,
00:34:31
Speaker
I never felt complete with it. I never felt, you know, and I remember making out with one girl going, wow, she's wonderful, she's beautiful, she's a lot of fun, and I still feel completely alone. And so that line right there, that song, you hit it, man. you Like something that i I experienced that going, you know, everything should be right. but I'm still not feeling it. I still feel alone. I still feel like you're you're physically there, but emotionally you are not.
00:35:05
Speaker
it for me and so queer straight and that was you killed it with that piece right there thank you thank you yeah i would rather be alone than feel alone in the presence of somebody who's supposed to be with me right like that that experience to me feels so much harder than just actual loneliness or being alone so that's sort of the you know i think as i was starting to make to sort of like move through the anger and accept what was actually going on and make moves towards ah change. that was That was sort of like the dominant theme was that I just felt very um other in the relationship and I felt by myself no matter no matter where we were, who we were with. I always felt kind of solo. That was that was great. I mean, you,
00:35:54
Speaker
ah Like I said this one and you don't get weird on me babe, man. It's a psychology paper right there people need to you know, this it was just Very introspective but it applies to queer straight Aspects or you know, doesn't matter where you are It's you know what you are on the spectrum. it it It's something that I could really relate to and You know Yeah, you're you're reaching dumb straight American white guys, you know, yeah My new demo Okay, new demographic, dumb state American white guys are getting some from the music. That was what we set out to do, so I'm glad it's working. Okay, now did you do the art direction for nothing is ever wrong? Nothing's ever wrong. Yeah, I didn't. Okay.
00:36:40
Speaker
OK, now this is me magnifying glass in a scalpel here, OK? Sure. Yeah, yeah. um and Like I said, you you obviously have being in the shower in is is part of that. I was like, oh, look, he's in the shower again. There's a guy in the shower, right? Yeah, I love clean. Okay, so um but I okay, so you're there and then there's the aerial shot of this beautiful house. Yeah, beautiful surroundings and it was immaculate, right? Yes. And I was like, wow, this is very aesthetically pleasing here. Yeah.
Industry Experiences and Sobriety
00:37:20
Speaker
And
00:37:22
Speaker
then you've got the person saying, ah I wasn't always searching, I was always searching for a bigger liar, because nothing's my fault. I was searching for a harder hammer, blaming it on my brother, because it's not my fault. Nothing's my fault, right? yeah um Or it's not my life. I don't need your advice. um
00:37:50
Speaker
I felt like, ah There is this complete, I have to be in complete control of everything. Everything has to look right, but then everything has to fit me in my narrative and I'm never wrong, right? Yeah. And that sounds like a certain narcissistic world leader that we might know about. Yeah, but that song was not about that particular narcissist. But it was about a narcissist. It was, yeah.
00:38:23
Speaker
and I don't need your advice, though those are heavy lines, but I noticed, okay, now is this just me going, okay, you're walking past the globe, right? where Where he's walking past the globe, and you know which which take which which shot I'm talking about? yeah Walking out the front. Was that symbolic of, look, I own the world, the world needs to understand this about me, but was or was I just reading into that because the globe just happened to be there? No, I think that whole thing was about, you know, the other side of really weird fame, you know, and like how the world perceives a person who's famous and how that person then internalizes that and reacts in relationship with like a normal person.
00:39:08
Speaker
um And that whole record was about that, you know, like just me trying to, ah trying to leave, trying to say goodbye to something that felt really Hollywood and fake and, um you know, painful. I think a lot of the, that record's like pre-anger. That record is like the precursor to this one. um Pre-leaving, pre bre-hurt pre hurtt anger, ah but still sort of in the middle of of the experience. Okay, because um I don't know if you remember Beethoven, right? But what what most people don't understand about Beethoven is what a complete asshole he was. um But he thought that. Yeah. He thought I am the greatest there was, the greatest there is, and the greatest there ever will be. My contributions to the world are going to our are the greatest. They shall not be challenged. And when the world understands this, it'll be a better place. Yeah.
00:40:06
Speaker
That was what he thought. And that was what most narcissists, whatever. But in Beethoven's case, I think he was actually right. that's i did Is this Beethoven speaking? um Yeah, you know i i I feel like that's a very common thing in Hollywood. I experienced it with several people and you know one of those people happened to be my long-term relationship. and ah you know ultimately like you can't break through that when somebody's self-perception is i think fed by external projection or you know seeing themselves on screen or whatever that is it's hard it's really powerful fame is a one hell of a drug yeah obviously yeah so the idea of the person gets their validation out of
00:40:56
Speaker
how many tweets they get, like, or wherever they're on the screen or how often their record is played on the radio, all of that. um And it's hard to compete when if you're just a person in that person's life, real life is hard to beat the whole projection from Hollywood or fans or whatever. So I think that record was all about me trying to wrestle with being a regular person in that environment and trying to love somebody who was so lost in the projection. Wow. And you survived. I did. You did. Well, you know, thank you. can high fire on yeah five i five I survived. And also, I think, you know, like this past March, I celebrated 16 years in recovery from cocaine and alcohol. And I think all of these How old are you? I'm 44.
00:41:51
Speaker
Geez, i's like well okay cause you're I'm reading this 25 years this. I got assigned when I was 17. I started really young. Where were the adults telling me no, they were not around. um yeah no i I think I had so many opportunities to relapse and throw in the towel and instead I created albums and and tried to heal through therapy and rescued some really important dogs in my life. Just tried to just like build a build something else that was the opposite of that experience. And I think I've been really successful in doing that. you know That search for peace or quiet or love um ended up giving me all three of those. so And 16 years sober, man. Yeah.
00:42:37
Speaker
like you sober Can I get another one? Another i5 coming? into the play well So many screen high fives. I love it. Yeah, no, it's a big deal. And I you know i had a 16-year addiction. So to be having having that particular anniversary was very special. It felt like I had sort of run the course of the whole experience. And I've you know i've been on this earth longer now as a thinking, feeling person than I ever was as an avoidant drug addict. it So, so you're sober longer than you were addicted and 16 years is a long ass time to be addicted. So yeah yeah, yeah, no, it wasn't great. And I think the first decade of recovery was also not great. But the last six years have been spectacular. Wow. Hey, I
00:43:24
Speaker
like kudos, man. Thank you. Really? um but I don't know if you know who Cherie Curie is, lead singer of The Runaways. Yeah. Yeah, she's she's sober. And I was just talking to her and i I said, look, after reading your book, like I've read a million rock and roll memoirs and man, the drugs in there. It's like, yeah, it's the thing. and she's I'm like you have everything in the world we're proud of this album you should be as proud of this album as you are you sobriety and she's like wow thank you you know she she put out a really killer album but and I was like you know like that should be measured but I read all these books and you know I didn't read you haven't written a book about all your drugs and whatever but
00:44:09
Speaker
And I'm sure. i not Yeah, that yeah. You know, that you're still young, but once it gets out there, I'm sure it's going to be like, I mean, yes, I read so many of these stories. I go, oh how did you freaking survive? How did you live with like, man, kudos, like to get up in the morning and say, all right, I'm still addicted to that coffee. And that's that's my limit. Right. just like well Because you can't take coffee away from a man. You know, coffee is, you know, Well, now, congratulations. that's That's beautiful. That really is. re um so ah All right.
00:44:46
Speaker
ah Your song, Feed Me to the Wolves. Yeah. Harken back to the olden days. Dude, we have YouTube. Yeah, I love it. So, parent days as well, totally. no just look I look a bit younger in that particular music video. Yes, yes. you you You had a little more orange in the bottom part of your beard. Yes. No, your publisher sent me the links and, hey, what do you think of this guy? And I had to go back and and watch a lot of this. I go, man, this guy's terrific. And then it took forever to try and coordinate getting you on. Yeah. i
00:45:20
Speaker
Oh, I love your publicist, man. i i agree She's the best and yeah I hope she smiles listening to this. can we um char yes Oh, hey, you said it. Okay. because i Yes. Her name is Sarah over at Charm School. We love her. um um That was what held a freaky video to start with. That was early on in the career. Yeah. And that was one of the first videos they ever played on MTV's logo network. Like I had the first video in my MTV artist development deal that happened way back when. And it was quite the thing to lead with it, you know, 20 that went out to 26 million homes every week. Um, and they were not consenting to like gay content coming into their family TV or whatever. So it was very noticeable at the time. And I think some of those people, you know, one only has to like,
00:46:12
Speaker
go over to my public Facebook page and read the comments under my pride post to see how things are still going with that crowd. um They're definitely tuned in still. So this I mean, just that I was going to ask, how did you get away with, quote unquote, um I mean, the, the, the approach to the video making, obviously you're probably on no budget when you made it. Yeah. And I was like watching it. Let's see. Can you find a way to ease this pain? Can you find a way to give me a break? You had that half naked women in there. Yeah. You had the deer and then you had a guy stand there sharpening the blades and I'm like, okay, is he going to go butcher the deer? Is he going to go butch Logan Lynn? You know, and
00:47:04
Speaker
I was on drugs still then I will say like anything before 2008 I was very much smoking cocaine and drinking alcohol. So a lot of it is dark from back then a lot of it is um about violence or about um sort of the intersection of sexuality and shame and drugs like it's all very different than what I do now. But i I think it's cool that I was down to be so open about where I was at. I think that's the three line of my career is that back when I was struggling and maybe, you know, not as good a songwriter, I still showed up as my whole self and like put it out there. I liked that about the very old 1998 embarrassing work that I would love to delete from the internet.
Creative Influences and Processes
00:47:54
Speaker
um But, you know, that's still true. I think now is that I- I liked it.
00:48:00
Speaker
Good, I'm so glad. No, no, 2008, I'm happy to still own. I still own people. You have to go further back for me to be too embarrassed. But yeah, no, I think, you know, it's it's different. I own all of that back catalog, but if I had it to do over again, I probably would do less raw meat and less whatever. Oh yeah, you're right yeah, okay. I was like, yeah, so because there was the raw meat, there was the butchering in there. Yeah. um you You seem to be, able to allow yourself to be degraded or, or threatened. Yeah. In your videos and in your storytelling. This one, it was actually threatened. Yeah. Well, I mean, you've got the knives and the but yeah yeah yeah, yeah, no, it's about violence. I think I was exercising my own demons and um making art about things that were personally scary to me or that I was trying to figure out and
00:48:59
Speaker
I think ah safety in the world and with other people has been a thing that was always a struggle. um And so a lot of those early videos in particular, even through like 2012, like tramp stamps and birthmarks era, like it's all about power and and violence and um' trying to love through that experience. and be a filmmaker at the same time. Yes, make art. Yeah, no, because like I can watch your videos and go this guy is a real filmmaker. And I love
00:49:36
Speaker
Like I watched some videos and I'm like, did they mean for that to be there or just happened to be there on the set, you know, or whatever. And no accidents happening around here. Right. And so that's where I i really like, OK, I could because like I love taking apart film film and and lyrics and all that, which so I think you and I could probably spend weeks on but like, oh, hey, you know, watch that series. yeah I, yeah, I probably would be like, I, I love behind the scenes. I love the interviews with the guy like, Oh yeah. You know, like David Lynch, I would spend a month with David Lynch on a five minute scene, you know, then another month trying to figure out what he meant. Yes. Yes. And David Lynch was like, like for me, one of the greatest movies ever made was fire walk with me. Oh yeah. So good. And people go, what was that about?
00:50:30
Speaker
and like well he told you how Laura Palmer died and then what and then you walk out with a thousand more questions that even David Lynch was like I don't know I'll answer it in 25 years and he and I mean it was just totally yeah he's genius and David Fincher as well David Fincher um all the Davids Yeah, it's like if if I was to have a film of my life, it would be David Lynch, David Fincher, Scorsese, Oliver, to all of them, and they would have to fight about the visuals. And they would have to resurrect Stanley Kubrick as well to fight about how they're going to make this movie about my life.
00:51:13
Speaker
Cool. and i need i and I need Bruce Willis to play it. you know so like So many challenges to making this film. I know, but I'm looking at you. like i'm I'm being totally serious, right? I've met Bob Mould a dozen times. Yeah. I'm like, dude, I'm talking to Bob Mould. You look so much like Bob. I like that. I'll take that as a compliment as well. Well, I mean, who doesn't love, I mean, Any real rock and roll punk fan, like, well, there's Bob Mould is the God, you know, punk God guitarist. So. I know. He came to my show in San Francisco, one of the worst shows I've ever played in 2013. And I almost got electrocuted right in front of him. I knew he was there. I was nervous. And I spilled my water like all over the lighting wires and all over my pedals, just like the first thing I did. And so the lady like from the bar came with towels and I sang.
00:52:04
Speaker
eye contact with Bob Mould while I wiped the water so I didn't die. It was a nightmare. And then I tried to find him after to the show and he was gone. Oh, gosh, I'm sorry. I know i I've since reconnected through the internet and just been like, Hey, that wasn't my best night. But you know, we all have those nights. And of course, our heroes are there when they happen. Well, but Bob is also a very gracious, good guy. He's such a good dude. Yes. i'm My guess is that he's almost been electrocuted many times on stage as well and understood that it was important that I mop that up. Okay. Example of that. Right. I remember I was at a Bob Mould show and he had literally this just, it was him with his guitar, which is just Bob and a pedal board.
00:52:51
Speaker
Yeah, I'm like, how does he like that pedal board was so intricate? I mean, it had so I was like, you could launch a space shuttle with this thing, man. i know you He's a wizard. Oh, he's the best. um He's the best. So ah by the way, who who else are your big influences, by the way? Because like like I said, I know you and I probably have a very similar record collection, but throw out names. Yeah, I love Liz Spare always. and I saw that. Yeah, in the notes. I think also like, you know, I was raised in a acapella church, wasn't allowed to listen to anything secular. So honestly, a lot of my songwriting influences are like from that era, all my songs are written as like acapella spirituals on my phone, and then we build up in music, just how I
00:53:37
Speaker
So I think like you know Amy Grant and people like that are probably in the mix too, which I proudly wear. Michael smithby Smith. Sure. But like Amy Grant writes good songs, right? Like in that environment of contemporary Christian music, I was lucky to find Amy Grant because at least she knows how to write songs. um I also, you know, I think for me, REM and certainly the Dandy Warhols and some of those on the rock side, Elliott Smith and all of those bands from Portland that were so meaningful to me and in my life and in my music career, I still listened to all those records. I think for like on the electronic side, Simeon,
00:54:18
Speaker
and some of those ah like just 90s house DJs. I just always loved disco D and then peaches. Like that I was like big into electro clash in the early aughts. So I have a lot of, I think, singer-songwriter, particularly female singer-songwriters and certainly all 90s. And then, um you know, some- Have you seen Peaches Live by the way? I have. Yeah. no said Okay. He's so cool. Yeah. Yeah. I, she came to Portland. I produce a record that she had a song on. And so she came to Portland and ah played a show at the Roseland theater. And I can was like backstage and walked with her to just like take a photo. And there was like a motorcycle parked out front. And she hopped on and she goes, get on my baby seat.
00:55:09
Speaker
And I did, and there are photographs of that, but like if Peaches tells you to get on somebody's motorcycle baby seat, apparently I do it. So yeah, so so you're a bitch to Peaches. All right. yeah totally Okay, baby seat it is. I had heard maybe two songs of hers, and then I started opening for Bauhaus and Nine Inch Nails. Oh yeah, cool. That's a fun mix. And she came out like, I mean, I don't know if you've seen Baos live in Peter Murphy as a God on stage, but man, she stole the show. She was amazing. She is completely unhinged and unafraid, which I love. Yes, I love that about Peaches, but you also need to say David Bowie and Lou Reed or, you know.
00:55:55
Speaker
I want to say that and I agree with you. However, I'm allowed to listen to classic music. I was never allowed to listen to any music. So my music thing really starts. You haven't dove into Bowie and Lou yet. Oh, I have. Okay. And I think my my inspiration still comes from what I listened to as a youth. oh Oh, so when you when you picked up at okay, all right. Yeah. And so like, obviously, like I've had like, so much like I had to go I like went to public school and was like, what's evolution. And the same thing happened with music, you know, like I was like, suddenly able to like, you know, discover everything backwards. But yeah, a lot of my influences are, are
00:56:36
Speaker
what was allowed what I could sneak through like I was able to sneak through Jesus Jones ah right here right now single because I told my parents that it was a Christian band they're just Jones and for Jesus and the Sundays I was able to sneak in oh yeah Harry we love um yeah Sunday Church the Innocence Mission they were kind of secular but also had they were Christians or something so I found loopholes to find good music but like There there would have been no way for me to get David Bowie and Lou Reed into that house. Jeez. Wow. You really had it. Wow. Like I remember I said to my parents, hey, mom, can I go and see my life with a thrill kill cult? Well, and and and my my mom and dad were there. And I said, should I take that name seriously? No. OK.
00:57:25
Speaker
That's awesome. Yeah, we had very different experiences around it all of that. ah Music, I think, matters to me in a very intense way. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Because you you had to fight to hear. I mean, that's like... Yeah. And like CDs, like I had to steal at stores and put down my pants to get them in the house and then put them in the case of an Amy Grant CD. And like, that was how I got Nirvana. And I think every time I listened, I always knew like this could be the last time I ever hear this. um And so I do relate to music in an intense way. It was forbidden. It was contraband. Yeah, especially the kind of music that I have made my entire career. I think the reason it is at times up on the line and over, particularly in those 90s early aughts records is because I was pushing against the culture I was in. I was pushing against the racist, homophobic, oppressive, like super conservative fundamentalist environment I was in.
Empowerment and Advice
00:58:25
Speaker
Wow. Well, you know, high five to like i i that cocaine addiction, honest, my guy. Jeez. Like, wow, you you got you come out with some scrapes, man. Be proud of those scrapes. Yeah, I am. You got a lot of great songwriting out of it for sure. um ah Let's see. ah Your lot, your your song where the sun don't shine. Yes. That's just a good record. um Like, okay. Let me just go with some lines here, okay? Can I, okay. ah And you're still tied up. You're still getting poked and prodded right back where you started. And you don't have to fight it because it's what you've decided. We will try to bring the sun and we cry. If we will ever make it out alive, this will be the last time.
00:59:24
Speaker
yeah i geez like yeah that's about my Now I'm starting to see this is about like a lot of like like you said this would be the last time I hear this song kind of thing right you there's a lot of like threatening finality in situations here, but this is, you're still there. It sucks. What the fuck are you doing? Right? Yeah, I think that song is about, um, at some, on some level, my recovery, also like always knowing that, uh, if I were to pick up again, I would probably, that would probably be the last time, you know? So I think there's this looming, like don't fuck your life up. Uh, that's really important for me to,
01:00:09
Speaker
I think about it all the time and I certainly write about it. So that's I think what largely that song is about. And there's a, you know, I think that that theme echoes throughout my life and my career, my songwriting, my catalog of just being sort of being in trouble and having to make amends or reckoning with my humanity and who I've been or what I've done or what I want to do, like all of that. um I think is me still working through shame from way back when. But you're still able to own it though. Yeah, I am not afraid of it. And I am not embarrassed by it. ah But I am still very much myself, you know, experiencing it.
01:00:57
Speaker
Jeez, man. you let let's When you write your book, you're out of biographies. Yeah. Here are some of my scrapes, right? because you yeah Wow. But again, like you in Fight Club, right? The line, I don't want to die without any scars. Yeah. Good movie. Yeah, geez, I love the in-your-face that you've been, you know, even though I can't relate to gay sex and all that, I'm a dumb straight American white guy, I can appreciate
01:01:29
Speaker
yeah just stop the new buting i appreciate the Okay, it's good music and I can enjoy listening to it. And then I'm like, okay, this is what this guy's about. This is what he's experienced. You're telling somewhat different story than than what I would have gotten at a man on man is like this or whatever, which is fine because you're different people. But you're still saying, look, here's where I am. these are This is where I've been suffering. This is me saying, fuck you. This is me saying, I don't need this. you know um je
01:02:01
Speaker
Great, thanks. Yeah, I think this album is about me sort of reclaiming myself in a way. And it feels, I listened to it recently again when we got the vinyl back. And I was like, hell yeah, hell yeah, good job. you You've sufficiently done the thing that you set out to do. I'm proud of this album. And you know I think I always feel a little scared right now on release week as these records are about to come up, just scared of overexposure, scared of what people are gonna think, scared of what I look like to the world or to my parents or whoever. um But this time I don't feel that way. ah I've cool. Yeah, I don't have any any kind of at all. It may just be that the runway has been longer. So I've had more time to get used to it. I'm not sure. But I don't have any of that, which is very cool. But you're also the ah the shameless introvert. So that's where you very shy little guy. Yeah.
01:02:56
Speaker
No, and and I appreciate you, sure, the introvert, there's an I won't mention the band, but there's a there's a band, they're huge, and I know them, and I tried to get into interview them, and they say, look, we're friends, Jeremy, but we we won't do interviews. I'm like, why not? Well, we're all introverts, and we hate talking to people like that. Right. I'm okay one-on-one, but if you and I were on a stage right now with a bunch of people, I would feel less comfortable. See what I do is think is when they all take the stage, they're up there having a great time because they're all just off in their own little world doing their thing and they pretending that there's no one beyond the bright lights. i got it and and they're there but they're And they also won't do interviews where we have to preserve our mistake. like um I don't have a mistake. My mistake was lost in the late 90s.
01:03:47
Speaker
so well you haven't you're not trying to hide anything anymore i mean like uh but melissa answered when she wrote her album your little secret she's yeah i don't have any secrets i maybe won um so final question uh when You have the opportunity now to say something to the young queer kid who is afraid, who's suicidal, who's in the closet, right? That's why I'm on this campaign to put an end to that. I'm in Utah, you know what happens here to gay kids. Yeah. Okay. So what would you, the guy, the successful introvert queer musician, what would you say to that kid?
01:04:28
Speaker
Yeah, I would say stay the course, be yourself, wait till it's safe and then get away from those people that don't understand you. There are other people out in the world like me, like our whole community who will welcome you. You have a safe place sort of beyond the current experience. It's hard to, I think it's hard to see past life when you're young and your whole world feels like ah you know authority figures are against you. there's It feels like there's no no safe place. It feels like you're broken or damaged or don't belong. I think that's really a big lie. And I would just encourage you not to believe it. Okay, well, awesome. Thank you, Logan. And we're coming out of time here. What do you want me to place out with?
01:05:15
Speaker
What song do you want me to play as now with? Okay, I'll play as South Corp, everybody. Cool. All right, everybody. Thank you, Logan. This went so fast. It was a fun convo, but it went light speed, man. Thanks for having me on again. Appreciate it. Oh, hey, i I enjoyed it. I love doing the deep dive and me. i My life's great. I just get to ask you questions. So love it. um So thank you, Logan, Lynn, and happy pride and all the best with this and everybody else. Take care. Be good to each other. and Let music do awesome in your lives.
01:05:48
Speaker
And thank you, Logan, for the conversation, the rude, lewd, overly gay content in your music, and just just being funny, okay? David Lynch fan, of course, we, you know, had to go there. ah Special thanks to Barry Andrews from Shriekbeck for letting us use the theme and title of Sticky Jazz, and everybody go check out Logan Lin, Softcore, and enjoy, really. Have a happy pride, everyone.
01:08:39
Speaker
You came for but I know just what you'll stay for It's not a goddamn mystery