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00:00:01
Tamar Berk
28 Plays1 year ago
My guest today has been playing in various bands in Chicago, Portland and San Diego since the mid-90s, while consistently writing, recording & producing hundreds of songs on her own and In February 2021, she released her debut full-length album, The Restless Dreams of Youth which earned a nomination for Best Pop Album & Album of the Year in the San Diego Music Awards.
She’s been hard at work crafting classic power pop and indie rock songs since then releasing three other albums 2022’s Start at the End which was also nominated for Best Pop Album at the SDMAs, 2023’s Tiny Injuries which got noticed at KCRW and Fader and just last month released her latest full length “Good Times For a Change”
Four full length albums in as many years, I’m not sure how she found the time to sit down for a chat with me but welcome to Wils Bach’s song pod Tamar Berk.
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Transcript
Introduction and Technical Issues
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to Willsbach's Songpod, a show where we dig deep into the songs and artists that move us and how we're moved to craft the songs we write. I'm Tim Willsbach, and I write, release, and perform music as Willsbach, and you can find me anywhere you stream music.
00:00:16
Speaker
Let's dig in. Program note for this week's episode, I had a little technical issue with the microphone, that technical issue being, but basically didn't turn it on. You can see it in the picture there, speaking into the nice microphone, but didn't have it actually routed into the recorder. So I'm gonna sound a little boomy and echoey this week.
00:00:36
Speaker
I tried a fancy AI-enhanced speech tool that I had, but it ended up making me sound like a robot. So we're just going to go with what we have, but we'll get back to normal pretty soon.
Guest Introduction: Marv Berg
00:00:47
Speaker
My guest today has been playing in various bands in Chicago, Portland, and San Diego since the mid-90s, while consistently writing, recording, and producing hundreds of songs on her own. And in February 2021,
00:00:59
Speaker
She released her debut full-length album, The Restless Dreams of Youth, which earned a nomination for Best Pop Album and Album of the Year in the San Diego Music Awards. She's been hard at work crafting classic Power Pop and indie rock songs since then, releasing three other albums, 2022's Start at the End, which was also nominated for Best Pop Album at the SDMA's.
00:01:22
Speaker
2023's Tiny Injuries, which got noticed at KCRW and Fader. And just last month released her latest full length, Good Times for a Change. Four full length albums in as many years. I'm not sure how she'd find the time to sit down for a chat with me, but welcome to Will's Box Songpod to Marv Berg. Hi, I'm good.
Music Reviews and Background
00:01:41
Speaker
Yeah, this is a good time because since I just put an album out, I'm on the PR circuit, so.
00:01:48
Speaker
And my last album, I love that little bio you wrote. Thank you for doing that. And um actually, the last album was reviewed in Cream Magazine and Shindig in print. Old school. Oh, wow. That's amazing.
00:02:01
Speaker
I know I was just about in tears when I got that issue of Cream Magazine. I love that magazine. and it It's exciting that it's back in print. That's cool that's very cool. i also I'm on that KCRW Five songs to hear every week, so thats that's a cool one to get onto. Oh, that that was that was super exciting. Yeah. Yeah. so in your bio you In your website, you cite Chicago, Portland, San Diego, and your bio, and I think on your even on your Apple,
00:02:29
Speaker
your Apple Music, there's a Q and&A that says you're from Cleveland originally? like where where where are we Where are you now? Where are you coming in from? I'm in Southern California. I'm in San Diego. um i i don't think i'll ever I don't think the Midwest will ever leave me. I don't know why. I think when you grow up in the Midwest, there is just something that sticks.
00:02:51
Speaker
um I think that West Coast works for me now. i I like warm weather and I don't think I could live in Chicago. I just came back from there. We could talk about that because I had a huge show there. Yeah.
00:03:04
Speaker
um And you know September in Chicago is is beautiful and made me feel like, oh God, this is such a cool place to live. I miss it. yeah And then I was like, wait a minute, it gets like 30 degrees below zero with the wind chill in the winter. So yeah, no. um But I feel good in San Diego.
Life Reflections and Inspirations
00:03:25
Speaker
I'm not sure I'll be here for the ah long haul. I think life requires,
00:03:32
Speaker
excitement and change. and i i never want to get to I know this sounds strange, but i i am a comp I am a person who likes comfort and likes routine. But at the same time, like when life gets too much that way, I feel like I need to change. so I could see doing something else somewhere else. We'll see. Yeah. Gotcha. All right. Yeah. yeah yeah This is the perfect time of year to be in Chicago. so I of order. So Chicagoland. Some people drove from Indiana to see the show. yeah yeah Because we have a lot we, you know, I will, my old band did three songs, my old 90s band Starball.
00:04:18
Speaker
played three songs after my solo set and uh star ball what had a lot of fans in chicago so it was really cool to see some old yeah it was really like a homecoming for you almost yes 100 100 so there there's actually on your new record there's there's some chicago you know you have a song called chicago yes um you've got the song called millennial park yes um which and i don't know if this is intentional or otherwise but the first The first chord of that song immediately puts me into a sonic place of disarm by smashing pumpkins. and he You get off it pretty quickly. You might have been the only person that noticed that. so and Well, you are a musician. so That song was written, the the demo of that song was written a really long time ago. and i It was Millennium Park.
00:05:09
Speaker
before the bean showed up in Chicago. it's and it was It was a true story about me and this dude. It was kind of and ah a momentum, emotional day for a lot of reasons. so I remember going home and writing that song.
00:05:25
Speaker
And there are times when I'm writing an album that I will go back to some demos. I mean, I have hundreds and thousands of like songs on these four track demos. And there was something about that song that I always said, one day I'm going to like produce this in the way that I want it to be, because it was kind of a weird song and very unlike other songs because it had a lot of shifts in vibe and and melody.
00:05:53
Speaker
And I thought to myself, like if I could produce this in sort of an order orchestral way, and I kept thinking about Disarm because I love that song, Disarm. And I also love um that he used timpani and cellos. And so it what it was a coincidence that it was also in G.
00:06:14
Speaker
like i didn't I didn't write it at the time in G because of disarm. But when I was putting it together in that sort of orchestrated way, I was like, if I strum that chord and then I listen to disarm, I'm like, oh, it is G. Wow. And then the the kind of beautiful coincidence that you know Smashing Pumpkins is that Chicago band that I love and that album is like so dear to me. And then me and Matt like working on the timpani and the cello and the
Songwriting Process and Inspirations
00:06:46
Speaker
viola. And when I produced that and I wrote all the chi cello and viola parts on synth and actually found a cello and viola player here and then it just came together beautifully. And it in what was, I think I'm very extra proud of that song.
00:08:00
Speaker
Thank you for noticing that because that was the inspiration. It was actually funny when I sent it to Matt and I was like, I really want this to sound like disarm or be inspired by disarm. And so yeah, that was very cool. And yes, in Chicago, because we were sitting there, me and this guy, at the time I was a waitress and um worked downtown and He worked at the restaurant too, and I was very obsessed with him for some reason, totally like.
00:08:33
Speaker
bad guy kind of vibe, you know? And um for some reason obsessed with him and we walked over to Millennium Park and it was a hot as fuck summer day. It's it's just a bizarre moment that i I'm really happy that I captured. I'm so grateful that I saved all those tapes because it is my life. It just says a diary is I'm like, Oh my God, I remember writing that and that guy or that girl or that moment.
00:09:03
Speaker
And it's kind of a joy. It's very joyous and also like sad. Yikes. Some of the memories that come up, you're like, oh, God, I remember that. Thank God I got through that one. You mentioned you know a lot of a lot of those kind of stories that you're that you're pulling from your life. So as we kind of talked about before we started rolling, basically the central question of this podcast that it tries to add yeah ask and answer is, how do you write a song? so are are is that kind of Is that part of your process that you're pulling from, you know, autobiographical? Yes, I don't tell stories. I appreciate songwriters who do that.
00:09:44
Speaker
But I can't. I don't feel authentic when I'm trying to tell ah a story writing song, like a tale. It feels inauthentic to me. So all of my songs are very much about my life, my experiences. Sometimes it's just a tiny moment that morphs into some sort of song that my subconscious wrote that I'm like, oh, fuck, do I really feel that way?
00:10:11
Speaker
um And it's it's not always like Millennium Park where it was a specific moment and I was very specifically written like, you know. Sometimes it's just ah an event that sparks something, um but they all are all autobiographical. All of my albums so far, and I've released four and four years, um I'm not a singles person. I can't just put a song out and just like float out of the air and like just sits there. like It has to be within the confines of some sort of theme that I'm building in my head. It helps me be more focused on the lyrics and like what I'm actually trying to say it. So in that sense, when I do find an old song on my four-track demos, I'm really very specific like, this is not right for this album.
00:11:03
Speaker
you know, or this one really fits the theme. And then another thing about that is that I will sometimes revise lyrics. um So, for instance, Chicago, that was discovered on a four-track tape, also written back in the early 90s when I just moved to Chicago. I was very lonely. It was not a good time.
00:11:25
Speaker
And what happened is I popped this four track tape in and I heard this like really terrible recording of me just saying, it feels okay to be going back home today. Cause mom and dad, it's been a long day in Chicago. And then the rest of the song was like, not great, you know, just kind of like, ah, the chorus was bad. Um, there were some other interesting ideas in some of the verses, but those four lines, I was like, dang,
00:11:54
Speaker
there's something there. And I do remember the lonely, deep, deep loneliness I was feeling. And also there that theme of when you leave home the first time and then you want to go quote back home, even though you sort of created your new apartment and your new home or whatever the hell you're doing, you want to go home and feel that that warm hug and that safety But you go home and it just feels weird and it doesn't feel right anymore and you feel so disjointed and you can't wait to go back.
00:12:30
Speaker
but You know, that that was that story. I drove back home from Chicago to Ohio, thought I would get some sort of hugs and kisses or comfort. And it was weird. It was just like, what am I doing here? I don't live here anymore. And it wasn't the home that I wanted. It wasn't the feeling I wanted. And so there was more to that. And I was like, I want to release this. I want to do something to the song. I worked on that song a lot lyrically, production wise.
00:13:02
Speaker
And I love the way it turned out, with the mandolin and everything. but But that's an interesting story, because that was based on just four lines from an old demo, but then became a new song.
00:14:07
Speaker
So there's no, there's no one process for me. You know, and like the first song on the album, Good Impression, is 1000% new. Just, and actually took me 10 minutes to write the music for that one. And sometimes that happens. I don't know if that happens to you too.
00:14:27
Speaker
It just was like, whoa, that's that's fun. The lyrics took you know a while to like rejigger and just get just right. But um when that happens, I actually always say, oh, this is shy. like I sent it to my guitar player to be like, could you put something cool on this because I might not put it on the album? In fact, I didn't think I wanted to put it on the album. and and when i did think about it. I was like, it will go on the second side. And then it just kind of crept up to be the first song. Sometimes that happens. But I think as songwriters, we think
00:15:03
Speaker
it does It's funny, the ones I struggle and struggle and struggle, sometimes they're not very good. And then sometimes they end up being the best. And then the ones that I don't struggle at all on sometimes are really great and catchy. And then there's no rhyme or reason, honestly. like That's why it's fascinating. It's it's a mystery and it's fascinating and it teaches me a lot about myself. and I love the process. As torturous as it can be sometimes, I love the process. you know It's almost like as a songwriter, you're you're kind of it because I feel the same way with that you just mentioned. like Some of the songs that really take off and have a life of their own and that an audience reacts to are the songs that I'm sitting there going,
00:15:49
Speaker
I wrote that in 30 seconds and I thought it was a throwaway and it's a like, what? and So it's almost like you are just, you're collecting, you're like an antenna, just kind of collecting whatever's happening around you and you translate that into the song and then you just have to let it go and it's going to be what it's going to be. It's going to be what it's going to be. I mean, I do tinker and tinker and tinker obsessively. I'm not a solo lead player, so let's say I get the track, the song like to a really good place. And I'm like, I do a little bit of a rough solo. I'll call depending on the song, I'll pick the right person for it. Like I do have a guitarist that lives here and in San Diego. He's an incredibly creative guitar player, and he's a linear thinker like me. So he'll go through each part of the song.
00:16:40
Speaker
and do like these little tiny licks here. So I'll get, I'm not kidding you, I'll get 50 tracks from him. But they'll come in order of of the song. So it's like first verse and he'll put them in a folder second. And they're all these tiny little things um because they're not a traditional like lead solo. Like unless we're at that part. Because he knows that I like i like texture.
00:17:06
Speaker
And that, when I get stuff back from him, it will be hours of me finding just the right place for it. But it's always a cool puzzle to put together. Yeah, that's super fun. Yeah, it's super cool. And that's always challenging because if I have keyboards or a mandolin already on the song and then I'm trying not to talk over, like have the instruments talk over each other, and then the vocals are there too. It's challenging, but it's it's ah it's cool. It's it's definitely fun. It's almost writing as you know collage instead of writing as a sketch with you know pencil and paper. Yes. All right. you mentioned You mentioned The Good Impression, which is the first track from your Good Times for a Change. Yes.
Themes and Song Evolution
00:17:52
Speaker
um Actually, before I ask you about that song, tell me about the title of the record, Good Times for a Change.
00:17:58
Speaker
yeah So is that someone is having good times for a change or you would like some good time? and know but so about whatever Whatever you want to bring to it. But if you're not a Morrissey fan or a Smiths fan, then you wouldn't know this. so that I forgive you. um i I'm a huge Smiths slash Morrissey fan. One of my favorite songs of the Smiths is um please, please, please let me get what I want." And it's just him and acoustic guitar. Well, Johnny Marr. And it's some the first line. Good times for a change. See the luck I've had can make a good man turn bad. So that first line,
00:18:46
Speaker
was one of those lines, I don't know if you're like this too, but there's a handful of artists in my life where when a a lyric line strikes me to a degree where I feel like, goddamn, I wish I would have written that, like that line. i were And I felt so strongly about that line when I was putting the songs together for this album that I said, I'm going to make got the title of my album. So it's actually a lyric line from a Smith's. Okay. Gotcha. Yeah. It does mean both. So, you know, good times for a change. Or is good times for a change? Like, will I actually change?
00:19:29
Speaker
I mean, the whole theme of the album is being present, which is a very challenging thing for me to be, is be present. But at the same time, looking forward and looking backwards is not always a safe place for me to be either. So the last song of the album called Coming Around to Me Again,
00:19:52
Speaker
is it really sums up the entire album because I have a line that says, um, someone told me once the past and future is not the place to be. Now I know just what they mean. So I'll stay right here and face my fear and be somewhere in between. So that's kind of the theme.
00:20:12
Speaker
Did the theme kind of emerge as you were writing those songs or? Yeah, OK. That's bad to happen. I don't go, this is going to be the theme of my album. And then all these songs start. No, no. it I sat down at the piano and was writing. I was very, very down. It was not a good day. I was feeling really depressed. And um and I was I was doing some reading about depression. And like when you have the tendency,
00:20:42
Speaker
to be that way. It's always lurking. And you have to be conscious of that and make an effort to find, look for happiness. Happiness doesn't just appear. Happiness doesn't just happen. You have to consciously do things to make you happy. And I sat down at the piano and I was writing this like these chords, and I just said, sorrow is hunting. And I wrote that song and I was like, this is very different for me. Even the production of that song is very different.
00:21:18
Speaker
and um i wrote that and I really liked it because it was different and it was more of an epic tale, really. um And I thought, oh, is an album coming? like Is something happening here? I didn't make a decision, but I i just started putting that one down and um And then I started thinking about the feeling of my ending of that song. Like the ending of that song I say, you know, could you tell her that I'm not in? Like Sarah was hunting, could you tell her that I'm not in? And what and what that really said to me was like, oh,
00:22:05
Speaker
Because I don't always know what my subconscious is going to say. When I said that, I said, oh, maybe I'm like trying i'm finally trying to be conscious of the darkness. I'm not in the darkness anymore. I'm not du you know depressed necessarily. But I'm like, maybe there's something there. like I don't want to be there right now.
00:22:28
Speaker
and that fight against being in the dark place. And that's where the theme started to come. I didn't have the title yet, but I was like, maybe there's something there. like i And that that that started. That was the first song.
00:23:00
Speaker
So she can't see in
00:23:44
Speaker
That one definitely was a stand-up to me. So I'm glad to get that glad to get that story there. That's pretty cool about how that started. okay and then so again And then I wanted to ask about good impression. yeah you you know You mentioned what that one was kind of a quick one. I listen to that and I hear a heavy cars influence. 100%.
00:24:02
Speaker
yeah and i i um i will i i I had about probably eight songs or something, maybe seven songs done. Not done, not mixed, but like recorded. and As I get to those places, I'm looking for energies of the songs that I've already recorded. and i'm like i I feel like I need something fun and something high energy and something that like danceable.
00:24:30
Speaker
and so What was fun about this one was I knew that I wanted it fast. like And so I i started thinking, like what's a cool, like I'll find a drum loop that was just like this fast tempo. And the drum loop became the inspiration for what I was playing.
00:24:52
Speaker
So that sometimes happens, but the tempo and the drum loop that I found, I get very inspired by drums. Drums is like very, very. Yeah. And when I found that drum loop, I was like, cause I, I, I knew that I wanted something to be Carsey and eighties. And so, and, um,
00:25:12
Speaker
I just started like kind of chugging which is like one of my favorite things to do that like chuggy guitar thing cuz it's just in my I don't know my DNA to chug on a guitar and then um I was like oh this is cool and I had this sentence written down. um I make bad impressions because it's a joke in my family. It's actually a very true um thing. um I don't give good first impressions. I mean, that's kind of people who first meet me ah or job interviews, things like that. It just doesn't work out for me. i i
00:25:49
Speaker
We kind of joke about it in the family. and so it was kind of ah i was like I like that theme as a fun song because I'm not going to get all sad about it. like You can't get sad about that shit. You have to laugh at it um because we were laughing in my family about it. We were just like, you just people just don't like you right away tomorrow. Or they're just like, too much, or whatever they think. So I thought it'd be funny to like make a ah fun song about about that kind of truth, because it is a truism. And um I didn't want
00:26:29
Speaker
to I wanted to make fun of myself a little bit too, because it's it's like, and then at the end, I wanted to make myself feel better, so I was just like, eh, I don't fucking care. yeah like Why am I even here, basically, is is the lyrics, yeah. um and then And then when Chris Marsteller, my guitar player, put his,
00:26:50
Speaker
fantastic leads on there. The song just came together. When he sent his shit back, I was like, fuck yes, that's great. And that's when it started like moving up in the list of ah songs on the album.
00:27:56
Speaker
good way to kick out the album. And I love that you think of it the same way that I used to mention earlier, side two which I guess is coming back now that vinyl is big again. But in the in the in the era of streaming in singles, I always feel a certain kinship with people that still think in and an album length and not only that, but just side A, side B. and Oh my God, I'm obsessed with that. Yeah. And people make fun of me for it. They're like, nobody fucking listens to it that way. But I have to tell you, I have a lot of fans that buy my vinyl.
Album Order and Music Industry Insights
00:28:31
Speaker
They buy whether they listen to it all the time on the vinyl But they have it and they listen to it on the vinyl and then you know if they're streaming it on their phone or whatever later, but it is very very important to me how side one how the order and and It's because I look at this as my artistic statement. i i mean Nobody else has to give a shit. If I don't give a shit, then nobody else will. so i I take it very seriously. It is a story. It is a mode. and what ah You know what I love the most is when people say, this order is so cool because it's taking me on a journey.
00:29:10
Speaker
And um I love that. I love it. And you and I are, you know, I grew up with an older sister who was bringing home Kiss and Alice Cooper albums and Bruce Springsteen albums and being an Elton John albums and being like, what is this man?
00:29:28
Speaker
You know, like this is magic and secret. And that's really how I felt about it. I would like look at these albums and just feel like some secret society that I just entered. Oh, absolutely. I love that scene in Almost Famous when his sister, you know, leaves leaves him all of his records and he, you know, and she leaves him little notes on each record and he puts in the who, the who's Tommy first. And he's just, I could see, I can remember that feeling like he lights a candle and he listens to like the who and he's in his room alone and I can see just the way that this little actor plays it. It's like the look on his face. He's just like, what is this magic?
00:30:14
Speaker
You know, and I always feel that way too about music. It is magic. And I'm very grateful for it. At the same time, it has tortured me, but I don't know what else I would do. Honestly, I mean, I paint, but it's like, I really don't know what else I would do. for sure. I put on my first record with a band called Paging Raymond in 2000. We put out two records and then I did another, after that one, Dissolve, and there was another band in 2007. And that was why I lived in the Midwest back then and moved to LA and, you know, had a couple kids and was kind of away from music for about a decade. And just, I couldn't, I'm like, like you, I kept writing that whole time and I had this backlog of songs. But yeah, I just,
00:31:09
Speaker
there's i don't there's There wasn't an audience to speak of when I put out that first solo record, but I'm yeah i'm like, you i'm like i cant I have to do it. i can't I can't stop. It's in there and it's got to get out. Even if three people listen, that' that's enough. Similar story. so okay so I started that first bit. I was in a lot of bands in Chicago. When we moved to Portland,
00:31:32
Speaker
um you know when a musician starts over in a new town, really depressing. And I was like was like, I don't fucking know anybody in Portland. This is going to blow. I'm just going to sit and start writing and collecting songs. But what I did do was I answered a Craigslist ad to just join a band. I was like, maybe I'll just play keyboards in a band. And that way I i don't need to try to
00:32:05
Speaker
be the lead of a leader of a band anymore, but I can try a new experience. um And I liked not having the pressure of being a songwriter because I was still writing like you, like writing and collecting. So for 10 years in Portland, I was a keyboard backup singer in lots and lots of bands.
00:32:29
Speaker
What that afforded me was time to write a lot of my own songs, but also time to meet a lot of great musicians and to listen to a lot of different kinds of music and then ah moved here.
00:32:44
Speaker
once again had to start over and I was like, I can't do this anymore. Like I just have this great community of musicians and wonderful people in Portland and now I have to start again. And what happened was the pandemic and it was like the world was telling me this is the time tomorrow.
00:33:06
Speaker
Because what else are you going to fucking do? And I know that happened to a lot of musicians, but like it was really lined up for me to do that because I had so many songs just burning, you know, and I had no expectations like at all because I didn't understand at that point.
00:33:26
Speaker
You know, I was on Facebook, I was on Instagram, but I didn't understand, and and TikTok was just new. it It hadn't really even taken off. So I was just like, how are people even gonna, and Spotify was kind of new.
00:33:39
Speaker
So I didn't even know how to be be in the world of music. So when I put that first record out, I learned a ton. Yeah. absolutely yeah and it's it's I mean, it's something, though. you four out Four albums in as many years. is I mean, that's... i'm what i'm goingnna i'm already and My brain is already thinking about another one.
00:33:59
Speaker
I know of you through Gio. And I asked Gio, I said, what you know what should I ask Tamar? What do you know about Tamar that I should ask her? Oh, it's curious. So he said, he's he mentioned your discipline discipline. She's released four albums in the last four years and all of them are solid. What's her secret? Because it's not just the songwriting side. She's her own management company and label. She is a fucking force. There's no secret. I'm on the internet.
00:34:29
Speaker
all day long and also I believe in myself. Yeah, that's key. It is. and I he like listening to my songs. like i I love my songs and I know that there are people out there that will like them too.
00:34:47
Speaker
like And it's my job to like get it out there because i I can't tell you how many times it's like, oh, you you did this Instagram post and I discovered the sun found you. And there's a lot of that. There's a lot of people like, where have you been? What what what the heck? like I love these songs or they're super catchy. I love this 90s vibe. I love your guitar. you know And I kind of look at it like that. like like Like, it's my job to get myself out there. And I'm sure people unfollow. They might be sick of my posts at some point. They can unfollow. It's fine. But like then I'll get five more followers. So I look at it like you constantly have to be putting writing and putting things out.
00:35:39
Speaker
you know you you Whether you're um on your own, like I am, I can't wait three years to put something out. It is almost more important. in my position as are a true independent artist to put more stuff out more often. Because I don't have a machine behind me ah like you know Geffen or Capital to like put hundreds and thousands of dollars to promote something three years from now and and start this machine going. like i have to And every year that I've put an album out, they've sold faster. There are more listeners.
00:36:19
Speaker
like it's It is exponentially like growing, but boy, is it's so much work. Yeah, it's not a stop, right? It's a lot of work. It's non-stop. But the thing is, I don't feel like, yes, I get tired of it, but I also like i love my own songs. And I should, i should because I wrote them. And and I'm like my own fan, so I feel like I believe in my product. It's like anybody, start a business, you you know you start whatever. ah the hair clip business. You better fucking believe in that business and you better push that business because it's your business.
00:36:54
Speaker
And I do look at it like that. I also look at it as relationships because like anybody who buys my music and is a fan of mine knows that I will email them and I will DM them and I'll talk to them or sometimes text them or sometimes like I'm not like a person that just, or thank them. If they buy my album, I'm like on bandcamp, like personal message to them.
00:37:22
Speaker
I know their names. like and When I just played Chicago, a guy came up to me and was like, oh my God, Tamara, that was so, so, so so great. i'm like
00:37:32
Speaker
I'm so happy that you and your wife came and we were talking, and I was like, if you should buy one of my records, and I was like, I have all four. I'm like, what's your name? And he said, you know, this is name. And I was like, oh, I remember signing all four of the records for you over the last four years. And I knew who it was. And because i I'm there, I'm like fully present with whoever isn't is a part of it, because I don't take it for granted. Like somebody to shell out money these days for music,
00:38:00
Speaker
is a very big deal and most people will just stream. So when somebody does shell out $25 for my vinyl, I don't take that for granted. um I'm very grateful for anybody and everybody who buys my music. and And so I will put it out on vinyl and CD because I know that those people like really like to have those collections. And so do I. I have a big vinyl collection and it is a vibe to sit and have a glass of wine and fucking play records. It's so fun. i you know And I also love the art, the process of
00:38:38
Speaker
making the artwork and thinking about the artwork and creating it and designing it. I'm just very like into the whole thing. Yeah, so you're you're in it every day with with the know the marketing of it and being on Instagram. You're also clearly, and I'm assuming this, but and you'll tell me, but I'm assuming you're probably writing every day as well.
00:38:58
Speaker
and so Usually two or three months after the release of a record and I'm cooking my brain is cooking and I kind of call it that because what I do is I walk every day about three to four miles and while I'm walking I I have my little phone out and I'm writing little things that pop into my head or little melodies or thoughts, or I'm listening to podcasts and things come into my brain about truisms or emotions. Or sometimes I listen to music and I'm like, oh, I want to write a song at that tempo. Or, oh, I really like, I want to start a song on with organ.
00:39:39
Speaker
You know, like things will pop into my head. And so I'm in the cooking phase right now. um and And then once I'm in the writing phase, every day I'll wake up and I'm in the studio.
00:39:51
Speaker
Yeah. so And then i you know I do other things to make, quote, unquote, money. um you know And that just is teaching and tutoring and voice lessons and stuff like that, selling my art. It's it's a lot of hustling. Hustling is the word, I would say. For sure. Yeah. Yeah. Unlike you, have've got I've got you know pages of of, you know, 13, 12, 32nd files on my voice notes. The most recent one, well from a run on Saturday, I've got like three different of them. I'm like out of breath and, you know, we're very similar. I kind of love this, Tim. We're very similar in that way. I, I, those are the, those are the only times when I'm doing my walk, that I'm fully like,
00:40:41
Speaker
folk like their nature is is and me alone with music or my head is a very important part of my daily routine because I i get so distracted that in front of the computer. There's a million things to do. So distracted. Yes. so distracting and and and and yet got to do it. um But that is like iss just that time of just pure like moments with your brain, your own thoughts. and It's harder and harder to find. um My kid has finally moved out and on their own and in school.
00:41:18
Speaker
And so and doing great and and so that like this is a great time to just be present with my thoughts. I don't have to be a mom anymore in the same way. Right. So that's nice. It's also sad, but it's nice.
00:41:35
Speaker
Yeah, we're, we're approaching it. We have ah a 15 year old, so we're not quite there yet. But we're Oh, that's a tough one. Good luck. We're gearing up for that. Yes. Yes. My God. Well, Tamara, thank you so much for coming on. This has been a fun conversation. I've enjoyed i really touched your ear off. So wishes for a podcast is Perfectly amazing. i guess I've listened back to the last few episodes I've done. um I'm actively sitting here going, just just listen. Just listen and and you know interact when you can. so So yeah, I love when someone like you comes on and and it just has a lot to say. Thank you, Tim.
Conclusion and Audience Engagement
00:42:13
Speaker
Thanks for listening to Willsbox SongPod. You've made it this far. Please rate, review, like, love, add, subscribe, do all the things on whatever app it is that you're hearing in my voice. That lets the almighty algorithm know that interesting people like you like this show and will serve it up to other cool and interesting people.