What it takes to run a prolific music website is Helen writing all night and me writing all morning every day forever. Plus a lot of friends all writing like maniacs.
The reward? Joe Steinhardt sends me some songs in demo form. And for me? Worth all the effort just for that.
Look: in the 21st century there are a handful of great songwriters, songwriters that are simply as good as the best: Taylor Swift, Oberst, Kanye West, Patrick Stickles and Joe.
It doesn’t matter that that list is all over the place as far as fame and finance is concerned: I listen to music and I am telling you the truth.
Joe writes the most personal songs imaginably with tunes to die for and wit by the handfuls. He does it so often, almost habitually, I though it was easy for him to do what is difficult for other writers: that it just springs forward. But it doesn’t. Joe is an agonizingly slow writer. It takes a lot of hard work to write a song like “Colorado” or “Heart”. The melodies always carry him, the hooks have hooks, but they have to worked on. It is a form of genius though i don’t know if he realizes it.He is so good, genre is completely irrelevant.
Joe laid down four demo songs -just him and guitar and sent them to me and, needless to add, he has lost nothing. With 8 songs plus a rejiggered “Headaches” in pocket, Steinhardt plans to hit the lab this Christmas season with Chris Pierce to record the first Modern Hut album. Chris is essentially Don Giovanni Records house producer, as well as drummer for the Measure and lead singer for the Groucho Marxists.
Chris also produced all of For Science’s recordings and played drums on the Way Out Of Control EP.
So OK. Some of the headaches that inflicts Joe, like a recording contract, don’t exist when you co-own your own record label. The only question for college kid Steinhardt is, does he wanna do it?
My guess? Expect a new album in 1st quarter 2011.