When I hear a cover song, I prefer it when the artist changes things up a little, adding their own spin on the original song. mad/no/mad has certainly done that with his eerie folk version of Jingle Bells, just right for the Christmas season! If you haven’t checked it out yet, you can find a stream at the end of this interview!
By Jane Howkins
You recently released a single titled Jingle Bells. What can you tell us about the track?
It’s a very different reimagining of the traditional Christmas song, changing it to a minor key which makes it darker, quirkier, and, well, not so cheery. It would be more at home in a Tim Burton movie or on Breaking Bad than sitting around the Christmas tree singing with the family.
How has the reception to Jingle Bells been so far, and where can the song be purchased?
So far really good! It’s available for streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, and pretty much all the streaming services. It’s been added to a lot of Christmas playlists and interestingly a number of playlist curators wrote to say it didn’t fit their playlists which were based on happy, uplifting Christmas music, but they loved the song so much they added it to their personal Christmas playlist!
It’s also gotten some radio and podcast airplay and that should ramp up as we get closer to Christmas. It’s included on WOA Records’ Independent No. 1’s Christmas Special album which is available in record stores and on iTunes to buy or stream. Along with it, top British blues artist Oliver Sean is featuring it on his WOFM99 Christmas Special podcast (https://po…d669017370).
Why did you decide to reimagine a Christmas song, and is this something we can expect to hear more of in the future?
For the past two years I’ve been focusing on a series of radical reimaginings of classic rock songs, like a retro lounge grungy version of the Ramones’ I Wanna Be Sedated. I look at the songs lyrically and it often feels like it have a very different feel than the original. Like the Ramones classic is great, but to me it should sound sedated. Happy Together lyrically feels stalkerish to me, so I did a version that kind of is.
Jingle Bells hit me the same way. The lyrics aren’t very cheerful once you get past the first verse. A sleigh and horse drive into a snow bank. The narrator/singer slips on the ice, falls on his back, and some guy in another sleigh laughs and drives away without helping him. Not exactly Christmas cheer. So I wanted to make it sound more like the way I heard it in my head.
Do you have any more singles planned for release?
Kind of a sore subject at the moment. LOL. Over the past year I’ve gotten four songs to the 80% point of being recorded and when I hit the time to mix, point I start another song. Completion complex problems anyone? The latest is a song I wrote several months ago so of course I jumped to that. I’m determined to finish this one and then finish up the others soon. Seriously. I’m not kidding. Honestly.
You can hear them and find links to the streaming services and other info about the project (called Slapdown Deluxe) at the project website: https://ma…no-mad.com.
Do you plan to release an EP or an album anytime soon or is it too soon?
I have six songs out streaming now. I’ve been releasing them as I finish them, rather than wait to make it an official EP or album. Thanks to streaming, it really is very much a singles world these days. For better or for worse. Once I have a few more finished I will probably call it an album and package them into a CD and maybe vinyl for people who prefer that.
Did the pandemic hinder your work much?
Yes and no. Live performing died for everyone. Even getting together with other musicians just to play went away for a long time. I took to going out down the block and standing on the corner and playing to cars driving by. Like a lot of people, I started doing a series of quick live videos and posted them to social media. They were songs I’d been rearranging and were solo acoustic. Then I decided to try home recording since we were lacking so many musical outlets and recording studios were closed. Until then I’d always worked in studios with other musicians, both as a performer and producer (Good Humor Band, Suzy Saxon & the Anglos, Single Bullet Theory and others) so this was totally different. Not only the lack of good studio facilities, but having to suddenly be musician, producer and engineer too. And not having creative input from other musicians and engineers. So it’s been a whole new trip and learning experience. For better or worse. Though I hope the better.
The track has a quirky alt-folk sound. What/who influences you most as an artist? What have you been listening to recently?
I don’t think I have one or several main influences. I think a person’s influences come down to the sum total of all your musical experiences and tastes. I’ve always had a very wide spread and eclectic taste in music. I’ve played in rock, country-rock, bluegrass and punky noise bands. I’ve produced rock, punk, roots and older new wave. I listen to almost everything so it all creeps in at some point. And while I’m sure someone outside might objectively see a thread between the six songs I’ve released, to me they shift a lot stylistically depending on the song and what pops out when I’m working on it. I honestly don’t have a preconceived idea of where the songs are going past playing it on an acoustic guitar and liking the general idea and arrangement. Then I start recording it and I’m usually pretty surprised at where they go since it becomes very different from what I started out with. For example, my version of I Wanna Be Sedated was a very folky coffee house version of the song, which turned into a hipster retro lounge version. And no, I have no idea how that changes or happens!
Where are you based? What is the music scene like in your part of the world?
I’m very mobile but mostly based out of Oakland, California (USA). It’s right across the bay from San Francisco. The scene is tough right now since the pandemic shut everything down and it’s just barely getting back on its feet. But this area has long been home to a wide range of artists, from Green Day to Tupac Shakur to old school music like Tower of Power and Counting Crows.
Do you have any tour dates lined up for the UK?
I wish! And hope.
Any last words for the fans?
Just THANKS to everyone who listens to, plays, and supports my music! It can’t happen without you.