6. Toots & The MaytalsFunky Kingston
This was something I was listening to a lot during the making of The Key. There’s a snare roll on ‘Funky Kingston’ that I could nerd out about for days, or his voice. The Key is a record that I was doing in the pandemic era. And it took me so long to actually get the record together. A bunch of stuff was going on in everyone’s life, mine included. Some of it was sad, losing people. And coming out of it, I was talking to a friend about the worth of something that makes people happy. I don’t want to paint with too broad a brush here, but if you’re a quote unquote, experimental musician, maybe you’re supposed to be serious, or feeling good is somehow too basic. But we all went through some shit for a few years there, and when it’s done on the transcendent level Toots & The Maytals can do it, then it’s back to high art. I mean, hopefully we’re all old and smart enough to not get too tripped up by high art, low art. Either it’s good, or it ain’t. But it’s definitely a challenge to make a song. This record is my stab at that. It’s not like I’m trying to play like Toots & The Maytals but my dream would be to elicit some sort of emotional response out of people. All these records on the list, the audio turns into some sort of chemical in me that engenders a feeling. It’s kind of magic. That’s what I’m shooting for when I’m trying to make records.
