There’s a lot to like about Scott Bartenhagen. When I first saw his performance of “Delta Fog” (see video below), I was struck by his haunting voice and dextrous guitar playing. It was immediately apparent that he’s a talented musician, as further as evidenced by the fact that the NorCal native has already scored a spot on the Rawkblog and TwentyFourBit unofficial South by Southwest showcase in Austin next month. But what’s interesting about Scott is not the steady build of buzz around him, but the fact that he is completely unlike any other singer/songwriter you or I will probably ever meet. For starters, he eschews self-confessionals for evocative imagery and science fiction. He’s a meticulous lyricist, but he doesn’t consider himself to have that “particular songwriting fuel” because he’s a generally happy guy. When we spoke on the phone a few nights ago, I learned a host of other surprising things about him that have transformed me from a casual appreciator to a bonefied Scott Bartenhagen enthusiast, and I can’t wait to see him live in Austin in a few weeks. Read on to find out what else sets him apart from other singer/songwriters of his ilk, and be sure to scroll down for a free download of “Delta Fog” at the bottom of this post.
Laurel Kathleen: One thing that struck me about your performance on “Delta Fog” was how well you play the guitar. Most singer/songwriters seem focused on utilizing the instrument as an accompaniment to their voice, not as an equally expressive part of their music.
Scott Bartenhagen: Thank you! Wow, thank you. I consider myself a guitar player, first and foremost. I love jazz, and many finger-picking styles. That’s something that I’m really interested in. An educator that I had at one point that was important in my development told me ‘No matter what you do, just try to be really good at it’. Guitar is very important to me, and because I’m so passionate about it I will improve. And hopefully that will become apparent…
Delta Fog-Scott Bartenhagen from Scott Bartenhagen on Vimeo.
LK: Is “Delta Fog” going to be on your upcoming album?
SB: I wrote and finished “Delta Fog” awhile ago, and as far as the new album is concerned, I have everything ready for a new album. I know how it’s going to sound, how everything is going to be. But I’m trying to get an EP out, because I don’t have very many songs that are recorded well. So I want to do an EP that potentially has “Delta Fog” on it. Hopefully, I’ll have my album out by June; I just need to record it.
LK: Is it tough to write good quality lyrics at this point in our collective musical evolution? Do you ever get frustrated trying to create something completely new?
SB: Oh my God. The lyric writing process is the bane of my existence. I can’t even describe how frustrated I get with lyrics! I love wordplay and words, but I’m so scared of saying…I don’t want to say anything pretentious or lame. I don’t know, it freaks me out. Which is why a lot of the lyrics I write are very personal, because I think that’s important to powerful songwriting. A lot of what I write is sci-fi based and stuff that I haven’t done yet but I want to do. Lyrics are the hardest part of music for me, far and away.
LK: Are there any topics that you would consider “off limits”? Or any that you tend to avoid?
SB: I mean this seems so obvious. But I don’t like to write about things that I don’t know about. As politcally charged as I am, I would never write a political song. Every time I’ve ever written a love song for someobody it’s always turned out really badly for me. My whole songwriting approach is all about imagery: it’s all about what I can evoke in the listeners, not about me expressing myself. I feel bad saying this, but I don’t have that particular songwriting fuel in me. I’m not particularly heartbroken ever; I’m pretty much happy all the time. I don’t have crazy stuff to write about. So the things I write about are more like stories about things I like to write about. That’s why a lot of stuff that I write is sci-fi based. I wouldn’t write anything too blatantly confused with my real life. I’m not even sure how I feel about my lyric-writing method yet. Maybe as I get older and learn and go through more stuff, my music will be more genuine. That’s really all I can hope for.
LK: Is there a particular artist you admire or whose success you aspire to?
SB: It’s kind of strange, my influences are all over the place. I listen to a lot of soundtrack music. I play tuba and stuff too, and a lot of my melody lines come from classical and jazz, and dorky stuff like anime. Other than that, I love Joni Mitchell. She has kind of like, a lock on the guitar and playing what she hears in her head. That’s my biggest thing: to be able to play what I hear. A lot of guitar players have such a hard time with that, so that’s one of my goals.
LK: What made you decide to offer your music to fans for free?
SB: Mostly because I’d rather have sombody have it than not have it, which is the simplest way to say it. I’d also rather have somebody get it from my website. Not that I’m big enough for someone to upload a torrent for. But I’d rather give someone something from me and treat them like a fan. That way, they might come to my shows and not feel like I’m treating them like a thief. That’s my whole philosophy on free music. I make decent money from my Bandcamp just because I’m not going to guilt-trip them into buying my stuff. If they think my stuff is worth it, they’ll pay for it.
LK: How did you react to the news that you would be playing in Austin during South by Southwest?
SB: There had been talk. But I didn’t belive it was going to happen. But not in a bad way! Then four or five days ago I got a text saying that it was going to happen. I threw a fit and ran around in circles. I’m so excited, it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
LK: Is there anyone in particular that you’d like to see perform at the festival or connect with as a musician?
SB: Well, the band that I just found out that I was playing with on the same stage is a band called Arms. They’re playing, and I’m freaking excited to play with them, at least on the same stage. They’re pretty neat-o, I like them a lot. My favorite band almost in the world is Birds & Batteries. They’re from San Francisco. I very rarely like…I’m not a huge fan of local bands.
LK: What do you mean?
SB: My favorite bands are moderately stereotypical. I mean, I love Radiohead. I can listen to other stuff too, but when I think of my favorite stuff that I would listen to on a regular basis, it’s not something local or underground.
LK: Well now I have to ask you about their new album The King of Limbs. What did you think?
SB: I think it’s great. I don’t think it’s ground-breaking or anything. They haven’t pulled an OK Computer or anything, but I’ve been listenening to it every night since it came out and I like it more and more. My biggest hope would be that this album is just them finally expresing all the stuff they’ve been working on, so that they can then release something really groundbreaking. Hopefully. I mean, I’ve been hearing “Lotus Flower” for the last year and a half, and “Good Morning Mr. Magpie” has been around forever. I’ve heard all these songs, and I just hope that they can go even crazier. I feel they have it in them. There’s way more for people to talk about on each of their albums, and much more to discuss than the newest…any other album.
Scott Bartenhagen will be performing at an unofficial South by Southwest showcase at The Liberty in Austin, Texas on Thursday, March 17th. He also has plans to play another showcase on the 16th with set times and location yet to be announced. His EP Chimpo Demo is available for free download on his Bandcamp page here, as is his full-length 2009 debut Ten Songs Ten Men. For more specific information about his upcoming tour dates in Austin and other news, please visit his Facebook page here. For a free listen and download of “Delta Fog“, please click the link below.
Delta Fog-Scott Bartenhagen by Laurel Kathleen
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