J Schnitt – Interview – Thanks for Asking!

J Schnitt – Interview – Thanks for Asking! – by Liam Sweeny.

RRX: Music genres are difficult for some artists. Some strictly adhere; others not so much. What is your perspective on the genre you play, or the genres you hover around?

JS: Genres are a difficult thing, and even within genres, changes take place, making them vastly different than what came before. I mean, the big band jazz of the ’20s is vastly different from the cool jazz period of the ’50s. Yet, its still somehow quintessentially “jazz”. I think artists notoriously have a difficult time defining their own oeuvre, and probably shouldn’t. Leaving it to the listener is probably best. Woody Guthrie said “It’s a folk artists job to comfort disturbed people, and disturb comfortable people.”  Ive kind of taken that as my working mantra for what I’m attempting to do with my songs. And so first and foremost, I consider myself a folk artist, and all that contains. And being heavily influenced by traditional American folk music. That of course usually involves dipping into country, blues, bluegrass, etc.

Ive also written a lot of songs, made entire albums, formed different projects that are far from that “Americana” style. Growing up listening to Genesis, King Crimson, Gentle Giant, ELP and prog rock has a special place in my heart. Current bands like Tool. I love playing with odd time signatures, song structures, instrumentation. So Ive formed different bands and projects over the years to explore these elements. In the end, I think about genre as being more important to the listener than the artist. It helps in giving context for the listener, but in the end, I don’t think the songwriter should be all that concerned about it, and should let the song and inspiration tell you where you go.

RRX: It’s a lot of fun living in the present, but we all collect memories and give birth to dreams. We’re talking dreams here. Where you see yourself next year? In the next five years?

JS: “Chasing a dream ain’t for the faint of heart, but giving up is just as hard”. That line shows up in a song I just wrote a few weeks ago. Ive been chasing this “dream” for going on 23 years now. In many ways its been a completely failure. I’m still unknown, I struggle with booking gigs, getting my songs out there. Its a constant struggle, and feels like I’m constantly fighting against the urge to chuck all my guitars and notebooks in a bonfire and call it a day. Yet, inevitably, there’s always one more song I gotta write, one more album I gotta finish, and I think “once your done with those, you can quit”. But of course that doesn’t happen. Because the ideas don’t stop coming, and writing songs is the only way I know how to truly communicate with the world, explore the universe we live in, and plumb the depths of my own thoughts. Its a thing one can’t escape, and becomes a very essential part of existing.

When I first started writing and playing music, the dream was, “make a living, no matter how meager, through your music”.  I have accomplished that dream. And yes, it is a meager living. One of my biggest dreams is to write for other artists. I would be perfectly content churning out songs in my studio and never play another gig again. But goals change, aspirations shift. You want more prestigious shows, bigger gigs, more listeners, more followers. It doesn’t end. So I find myself today just hoping beyond hope, praying, and dreaming, that somehow these hundreds of songs I’ve invested my life into, will be remembered in some way, and perhaps outlast my tiny existence.

RRX: We have to play somewhere, and sometimes those places have more going for them than a stage and a power outlet. What is a memorable place you played, and bonus points if it’s not a well-known place.

JS: As much as I complain about gigging, and the constant struggle of booking shows, I have been very blessed to have performed on some great stages, in historical and prestigious venues, and with some of my favorite artists. But one of the most memorable “stages” was a sidewalk in front of a coffeehouse in Syracuse, NY. What started as a horrible gig, with absolutely no one interested in the least. I could have been the worst music ever, or the most incredible thing ever performed, no one cared at all. On the edge of quitting altogether, a man and a woman, raggedly dressed, dirty, shoes hanging on by a thread. I don’t know for certain if they were homeless, but it appeared so.  They stopped and listened intently to every word I sang. We laughed and cried. I couldn’t care less about the upper-middle class women sipping on wine or the college kids laughing at these two. They hugged me when I was done, and told me how much it meant to them. I got to do my job that day. “Comfort the disturbed”, as Woody Guthrie said. So it just felt special. It was special.

RRX: With services like Spotify, streaming revenue can be pretty dismal. Without spilling secrets, do you have a promotional mindset or philosophy?

JS: Promotion is one of those things I just don’t understand, and frankly have very little interest in. I do my best to promote shows, albums. I release a lot of videos performing live and in my studio. I recently started a series called “To Obscurity and Beyond” where I play acoustic versions of my songs and talk a little about the writing process. I do have records up on Spotify and Bandcamp, but I see little from that. I know its a necessary evil, but I’d really rather be writing. So I do what I can, and know how to do, while hoping something catches on. Meanwhile, just keep writing. Just keep singing.

RRX: How does practice go? Is the road practice enough, or do you have a practice shack? If so, how does it look? What’s on the walls? What cool sh*t is in there?

JS: I have a studio in downtown Utica, NY. The third floor of an old building above a pizza parlor. Ive made over twenty albums there. And I absolutely love it.  It is in a constant state of being in between unorganized and absolute mess. Almost any instrument you can think of is there, along with my recording computer equipment. An ashtray sits on an organ I use as table near the console. Some photos of Leadbelly, Sonny Rollins and Miles Davis are around, as well as a few concert posters from my past. Banjos, guitars, basses, keyboards, accordions, mandolins, horns, drums, and varying noise making objects take up the rest of the space. While I don’t necessarily “practice” in the traditional sense, I am constantly there when I’m not gigging. Always writing and recording and experimenting. I am truly blessed to have a space like this, and it allows a level of freedom that is extremely precious to me.

RRX: Let’s talk about your next project, your next few. Just not the ones you’re working on now. The ones you have your eyes on for the future. What’s coming to us?

JS: I always have way too many projects in the works for my own good. At this moment, I have a new record in the mixing process. 10 songs I am quite proud of. Very much in that “Americana” realm. I’m almost done recording Vol. 1 of a series I want to continue with. Both new and old songs recorded live, just me, with one guitar and one vocal, maybe a little harmonica. Strip the songs down to the bare bones. The first volume of “The Genessee St. Sessions” contains some of my more political and social commentary songs. It being an election year, I thought that appropriate. My band BikeLane, which is a completely separate project from my solo work, is finishing up an album as well. More in the psychedelic/prog rock realm. A lot of odd time signatures, layered guitars, shifting dynamics.

I’m also hoping to finish a project this year that’s been a few years in the making. I had a whole bunch of songs I really liked, but they didn’t feel like “J. Schnitt” songs for some reason. Having always wanted to write for other artists, I decided to re-write some of these tunes with some of my musician friends in mind, for them to sing and play. So ideally, my voice wont appear on the album.
Other than that, it’s just write-write-write, sing-sing-sing. Folk It “Til You Make It!

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