Artist: Michael Rudd
Hometown: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Latest Album: Midnight at Dawn
Personal Nicknames: I haven’t had a nickname since high school, and it’s probably best that I don’t drudge up the old days.
What’s the toughest time you ever had writing a song?
When songs started coming to me a few years ago, one of the first was based on the lives of my paternal grandparents, who I was close to. The initial song had hundreds of words – if I recorded it as it was, I might have been the first artist to use “Stanislawa,” which was the town outside Warsaw where my grandfather lived until he came to Elizabeth, New Jersey, more than 100 years ago. There was a lot of insider information in the verses, as well as one line in the chorus, that would have kept all but my family from making a connection. I still wanted to keep the chorus as is, so I made at least a dozen attempts to write verses that fit musically and lyrically, all of which were complete failures. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I got very lucky and wrote something that feels like it works. I plan to record it when we go back to the studio in October.
What has been the best advice you’ve received in your career so far?
I indirectly received very wise advice from my engineer that continues to work as a challenge to think and write deeper and broader and differently: Don’t write the same song twice. I try my best to adhere to it, which makes it increasingly difficult to write anything worth bringing to the studio. I’ve scrapped lots of songs that were duplicates in one way or the other. I’ve learned that it’s just a matter of keeping your mind and ears open long enough to experience the process from different angles. There are infinite ways to write a song, so there’s no reason to do the same one again.
What is the most random interview question you’ve ever been asked?
On live radio, the DJ asked me a question that was completely unrelated to what we were talking about a second ago: “What would you say is the meaning of life?” I’m sure my answer, which he actually wanted, made no sense at all.
What is a genre, album, artist, musician, or song that you adore that would surprise people?
I love many classical composers, and I’m especially drawn to Bach. I often think about Glenn Gould’s take on The Goldberg Variations. A listener probably wouldn’t know it, but Bach has had a direct influence on a couple of my songs. If I was stranded on a desert island in the middle of the ocean and could only choose the work of one artist, it would be Bach.
Which elements of nature do you spend the most time with and how do those impact your work?
Desert and mountains. New Mexico has more than its share of both. I’ve written about 150 songs over the last few years, and only one or two were written elsewhere. It’s not a coincidence. The landscape here influences so many of my lyrical and musical choices. Even my approach to producing comes straight out of the stark, edge-of-the-world vistas. I need to hear not just every instrument, but also the spaces between.
Photo Credit: David Rosenfield
