Michael Rudd creates emotional landscapes in his songs. Perhaps the actual rugged landscape of his home base in New Mexico factors in somehow, into the topography of his songs, but it’s more likely that Rudd’s deep quest for answers and understanding provides the inspiration. However he gets there, Rudd’s latest album, “Going to the Mountain,” is a gem, full of grit and longing, insight and inquiry into the things that make us human, providing a glimpse into stories that anyone can relate to. The music that he uses to further tell the stories is rich and full. Rudd sat down to chat with us recently about this terrific collection of songs.
Hi, Michael! You have an amazing new album that just came out called “Going to the Mountain.” How did these songs come together and what broad strokes can you tell us about the collection?
Most of the songs I included on the album were written in the first few months after finishing my first album. I didn’t write them with an album in mind, but when it came time to choose, the songs came together in a natural way. In general, the vibe is different from “Long Way from Paradise”: more electric guitar, a few louder and faster songs, cello on a couple, lots of Hammond organ and piano. But the focus hasn’t changed: I’m still drawn to writing about people I love and people I know who are struggling in one way or another, or looking for something more – love, acceptance, forgiveness.
One of the songs on your new album, “Before the Demon Came,” is really great and stood out to me. What can you tell us about that song? What inspired you to record this song?
Thank you. When I was young, I listened to a lot of blues and rockabilly and loved how a few chords or a few notes could say so much. I was also mesmerized by the personalities that came out in the singers’ voices. It wasn’t a conscious decision at the time, but I’m pretty sure that was the inspiration for the musical side of the song. But the words come straight from the lives of family and friends who live with the “demon” of mental illness.
What was it like recording this album? What was the vibe in the studio overall, and how did this song, in particular, come together?
The vibe was just what I was hoping for: peaceful, warm, collaborative. All about the songs. It helps to play with friends and gifted musicians. They were with me on my first album, and they’ll be with me on the next. The recording of “Before the Demon Came” was one of the highlights of the sessions. It was the first song we did, and we did it live, which is not so common anymore. We were all in the big room at Frogville Studios in Santa Fe, NM. We played it once or twice to get warmed up and then decided to record it, and that’s what we did. I think it was the second take that made the album. It captured all of the raw energy and emotion that the song required. I was way beyond happy when I listened to it a few minutes later.
What do you hope this album conveys to those who listen to it?
That we’re all connected. That being human transcends politics. That we all share basic human emotions and desires and the need to live meaningful lives and to feel like our lives matter.
The album title is interesting. What do you think the phrase means and how did you decide what to name the album?
The title of the album comes from my song by the same name. That phrase was the first line that came to me when I started writing the song, and, months later when I began thinking about these songs as an album, it was the only phrase that made sense for a title. Most of my songs, including those on the new album, are about people “going to the mountain.” To me, the mountain represents spiritual longing or a need for redemption or a quest for love or whatever it is that weighs on a person to the point where they can’t think of anything else but the mountaintop. Getting there is another story. But maybe the willingness to step out onto the path is all that we can ask for.
If you look back over your career, you probably feel like quite a different performer now than when you began for a number of reasons – life experience, industry experience, studio and performing experience all factoring into that. Where do you tend to get your biggest inspiration from these days?
I’m getting older by the minute, but I’m not getting any wiser. There’s so much I don’t know. Writing songs feels like the only way that I can at least try to understand something at a deeper level or to look at it from another angle. It lifts me out of my head and, when I’m lucky, into someone else’s. It’s like a rush of empathy that doesn’t always come naturally to me. I also write to feel something, and sometimes just singing or humming sounds as a song starts to form in my mind releases emotions and thoughts that I didn’t know were there. It’s like having sudden access into who and what I am way below the surface. That alone is enough motivation to keep writing. And then sometimes the motivation doesn’t go too deep at all: words or melodies or the song itself starts playing in my mind, and before it goes away, I put it all down on paper and into the voice memo on my phone or computer, and then days or weeks or months later I try to figure out what it’s all about.
Songwriting and recording music can be a really personal endeavor, yet when you release a song or an album or an EP, you share the music with so many people. How does this make you feel, and is it difficult to share songs widely like that? Have you gotten feedback from anyone who has connected with your music or had a song impact them in a deep and meaningful way?
I appreciate the question. It’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. I definitely find it difficult to share songs. I’m a very private person, both by nature and design, but when I write songs, the guarded, skeptical person that I usually am goes away. All that stuff that I mostly keep to myself is suddenly in the ears of a listener. That’s a big leap of faith for me. But I’ve had very powerful experiences because of it. Based on responses, songs like “Say Goodbye” from my first album and now “Before the Demon Came” seem to hit home for some people. Whether or not those two songs and others that I’ve written are any good doesn’t matter – that’s a matter of opinion and a listener has the only vote. Either way, the words remind me when I sing them and let a listener know when they hear them that there are things we all go through and thoughts that we all have in one form or another, and somehow that knowledge brings a sense of peace, even if it’s temporary.
Website:https://www.michaelrudd.com/
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