Accidental Harmony: An Interview with Greg Gallagher

I had the privilege of sharing a stage with Greg Gallagher a few weeks back when we played at the Nail in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, in support of Scoopski. As soon as he stepped onto the stage, I was pretty sure I’d met a kindred spirit, particular given Greg’s apparent fondness for offset electric guitars and big glasses. Goth and moody, his set consisted of original tunes and covers that he brought to life with self-deprecating wit, plaintive vocals, and a mint-green Jazzmaster guitar—the perfect opening to a great night of music.

You did a haunting cover of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game” when you played at the Nail, and I was definitely impressed when you hit all the high notes. What drew you to that song, and do you have any plans to release a recording of your version?

Thanks so much for the kind words first of all. Singing is one of the last things I learned how to do so getting any kind of praise for it is always a nice surprise.

I always liked the brooding nature of the song.  As a teen, I became drawn to more dark, gothic sounds and discovered a band from Finland called “HIM” They do a wonderfully faithful, yet musically much heavier cover and that drew me to the song. My wife also happens to love the original so I like to play songs she enjoys.

Your Bandcamp bio mentions that you played in a number of bands before taking a break from music. What are some highlights from that period of your life, and what led to the break?

I would say one of my fondest memories from playing in a number of local bands was getting to record a full-length album at the Creep House studio with Arik Victor, and that album’s record release show on my 20th birthday in a parking lot behind the Exton mall. I was in called “Drop Out Academy.” Cringeworthy name? Yes, but we had so much fun in that band. We ended up splitting up by the end of that year, but we reformed three years later under moniker of “Atom Outcome,” not that much better of a name but it was another band that wrote material that I look back fondly on.

The break from music happened in December 2013 when I found out that I was going to be a father—to twins! So, I had to put music on the back burner for a while.

Then you returned to music as a solo artist. What brought you back?

Well, once my kids started creeping up on five years old, they were no longer consuming ALL of my time outside of work, hahaha.

In the five years off, I still wrote songs. No one besides me would hear them. I also had a handful of songs I had written for my last band and I really liked them. I thought it was a shame that some of the tunes I was most proud of would seemingly never see the light of day. So I decided to say “fuck it” and just do it myself. I’m really glad I did too!

Your latest album, 667, includes a track called “Cynically Derivative.” Is it a comment on the music industry?

That’s interesting, because you could definitely interpret it that way and I guess it partially is that. It’s also a bit of a jab at myself, the song is very similar musically to a Bad Religion song “True North,” so it’s kind of poking fun at myself as well as commenting on the pronounced lack of originality in popular music.

It’s a great album, by the way. I know you played pretty much all of the instruments on that one. What’s your approach to recording?

Thanks so much! My usual approach is to start with the drums. I know if I have a good, solid drum track then I have a strong foundation for the song. Even if I just record the drums with 1-2 room mics (like I did on Burst) getting a good drum track for a rock song is crucial. Burst was done entirely in a basement and and upstairs rehearsal space and I did everything by myself. Which, in retrospect, may not have been the best idea. Hence why I decided to hire my friend Ian Shiela to do 667 since he very much knows what he’s doing, hahaha.

How do you translate that to your live set? I’m thinking in particular of the challenge of taking songs that you’ve arranged and recorded with multiple instruments and adapting them to just an electric guitar and vocal.

Even with the faster or more punk-inspired songs, I always start writing stuff on acoustic guitar. I do that because I kind of always have and also, to make sure that I can pull these songs off live when it’s just me and a guitar.

That’s a good strategy–very smart! Speaking of writing, you recorded Burst in 2020, but it consisted of songs you had written in 2010. What was it like to revisit those songs—and, I imagine, the headspace of who you were ten years earlier?

It was really fun and something I needed to do because I often find myself doubting my abilities, going back, revisiting those songs and not only seeing the growth as a person and musician was helpful and inspiring. I also was surprised that not all of the songs were terrible! Some of it was painful as I remember certain songs that were written during tumultuous times, but overall it was a really good and fun experience. I recommend it if you’ve been making music for ten or more years.

I might try that! You mention in the notes for that EP that you hadn’t yet learned all the techniques for proper recording. What are some things you’ve learned about recording since then? Would you change anything?

I’ve learned that levels are very important, haha. The biggest thing is that guitars, especially these days, are so easy to record and get a decent sound. Drums are so different, and much more challenging to record and get a good sound. Especially since drum sounds change from room to room. I’ve also learned that lead vocal tracks always sound better when doubled. Lennon used to do it, that’s how Butch Vig convinced Kurt Cobain to do it on Nevermind. It’s a basic technique I use on basically all my recordings.

Also, working with my good friend Ian who co-produced and did all the mixing and mastering on my last two releases taught me so much about capturing the best performance. Another partner in crime, Andres Natalino, does all the mixing for my covers on YouTube. He’s taught me a lot of cool tricks for at-home recording on a budget.

Alternately, is there anything you’re glad you technically did “wrong” because it turned out sounding interesting in some way?

Oh god, I’ve done so many things that are technically wrong—haha! There’s a song on Burst that was recorded terribly, it’s the first real song after the intro track. However, the way the guitars are layered at the end. I didn’t know what I was doing at the time and the timing is all over the place (and I played one track on the wrong string!) but it created a really cool sound and even an accidental harmony, so I’m glad I had no goddamn clue what I was doing!

What’s next?

Oh boy. Quite a bit actually! I have a covers EP coming out next month. It will be on Spotify, Bandcamp, etc. It’ll consist of what I believe to be my strongest covers to date. Thanks to you, I think I may record and include “Wicked Game” on it! I’m also writing songs for a follow up to 667 I hope to start demoing those soon and get back in with Ian sometime next year.

 I’m trying to be more active on my YouTube Channel, where I post my covers and originals. I also do interviews. Late last year I had the privilege of interviewing one of my all-time favorite singers and songwriters, Joe Wood formerly of T.S.O.L. I got to perform with him this summer with his new band Change Today. That was amazing. My next guest is a goth rock/horror punk icon, Myke Hideous. He’s the mastermind behind the criminally underrated band “the Empire Hideous” but he’s perhaps best known for briefly fronting the Misfits in the late 1990s. So there’s a ton of cool shit happening very soon!

Thanks for taking the time to talk to me!

Thanks so much for talking to me!

It’s been a pleasure.

For me as well!

Just Kind of the Way I Write: An Interview with Scoopski

I’ve been meaning to interview the artist known as Scoopski for a while now. Recording with his wife (Mrs. Scoopski) in their eponymous band, his music strikes a delicate balance between poignance and humor. Take, for example, their latest album, See You Soon, whose cover depicts a fetus making a set of devil horns with his fingers and whose lyrics raise a wide range of existential questions like how did we get here, where are we going, and what exactly does one wear when it’s too warm for a hoodie yet too cold for a tee shirt? Though we didn’t get to tackle these questions when I caught up with Scoopski recently, we did get a chance to talk a bit about the peculiarities of our hometown as well has the latest endeavor that he and Mrs. Scoopski have embarked upon…

What part of Philadelphia are you from? Do you find that it influences the way you look at life in general and songwriting in particular?

Hey Marc! Thanks so much for taking the time to interview me! I’m from the Northeast part of Philadelphia. I actually grew up in the Philly suburbs, but I’ve been a Philly resident for 6+ years now.

That’s funny! I grew up in Northeast Philly and live in the suburbs now.

I think the place you live definitely influences your songwriting in some way or form. Anything and everything that inspires me is in-bounds for a song topic, and Philly/PA is directly mentioned in a number of Scoopski songs, most notably “Emergency Joyride,” “The Philly Monk,” and most recently, “Pennsylvania.” If I didn’t live where I lived, I could’ve never written those songs. Maybe I’m secretly trying to become to PA what the Chili Peppers are to Cali… Who knows!

Well, we do have plenty of bridges you can write about being under! The title of your 2020 album Bad Things Happen in Philadelphia echoes a certain politician’s comment about the City of Brotherly Love. What were your thoughts when you heard that comment? 

The funny thing about that is that the first time I heard that phrase, all I could think was “Man, that’s an excellent album title!” and almost immediately, that album cover of our cats shooting lasers out of their eyes towards the Philly skyline popped in my head. I’m aware that people flipped that phrase around and claimed it as a Philly pride thing, and that’s cool, too, but my interpretation of it was quite literal and just silly!

One thing I like about your music is that it’s funny without being jokey, if that distinction makes sense. Why is humor so essential to your music? 

Thank you! I like to think of it that way as well. I think the weirdest thing is I don’t usually write songs with the intention of being funny… It’s just kind of the way I write! I’ve always liked artists who use lots of pop culture references, and I think when a reference to a videogame or a movie is dropped in the middle of a somewhat serious song, it almost immediately brings some levity. I also think some of the songs may seem silly on their face, but are actually a little darker than they let off, such as “Clark Griswold,” which is a song about feeling like a total failure.

Definitely… Does the humorous nature of your songs ever influence your musical decisions, particularly with respect to arrangements, instrumentation, and style? 

I would say sometimes, for sure. For example, on the first album “Bad Things Happen in Philadelphia,” the track “Miles” which is about a character from Sonic the Hedgehog, starts off with one of the iconic sounds from the videogames.

Sometimes, on the flip side, the music can actually dictate the topic of the song. The track “Mr. Spyder” from that same album was a co-write between Mrs. Scoopski and I, but it started with that piano intro she came up with. All we could think of was that it sounded like a spider, so we came up with the lyrical content around that.

Visually, your album covers employ a lot of ironic juxtaposition. The cover of 2020’s Things Are Fine evokes the Jet Star rollercoaster that washed out to sea in 2012, and the cover of the “Joy to the World” single that your released this past November features a handful of goth kids seated around a fairly chipper Santa Claus. How does that sense of irony translate to your music? Or is it actually ambivalence?

In the case of the cover of “Things are Fine,” that cover was pretty intentional. There was a lot of really bad, negative things going on in our lives from the time that album was recorded (May 2020 to February 2021). I always loved that image of the Star Jet in the ocean, the two of us actually drove down to Seaside to see it ourselves in 2012, shortly after it occurred. When I was thinking of album covers for “Things are Fine,” that image really stood out to me. A rollercoaster that was separated from where it originally stood when the boardwalk beneath it collapsed, beaten and worn down by chaotic storms. Yet it still remained, and still stood tall. I think there’s an odd message of hope in that image. 

Absolutely! I was entranced by that image as well!

As for the “Joy To The World” cover art, that one is totally ambivalent. That image was an old internet meme, taken at a nearby mall in the Philly suburbs. Our cover is very poppy and not gothic or heavy in any way, so I suppose it’s more of an ironic cover!

And speaking of covers, you recently released a pop-punk cover of Credence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising.” What was behind that decision, and why that song? Also, just out of curiosity, what’s involved in getting permission to record someone else’s music?

10/10 segue there!

Thanks! I try!

As for that cover, I’ve always liked that song, and really enjoy a handful of CCR songs as a whole. One day Mrs Scoopski had that song playing while we were cleaning, and immediately the sound of a pop-punk cover of it popped in my head. The original really already has the tempo of a punk song, so it was actually a very natural transition. 

As for permissions, that song and the other covers we’ve done as Scoopski are only on YouTube, and not on any streaming services (aside from BandCamp, where I have payments disabled for that song). The reason being is I’m actually not quite sure how it works, myself! The only reason our cover of “Joy To The World” is on streaming services is because I do know that song is so old that it is part of public domain, so anyone can do their own version of it without worrying about copyrights. This is definitely a topic I need to learn more about, myself!

You and me both! Now, Scoopski, the band, is a family act. You play guitar and bass and handle production, while Mrs. Scoopski plays piano and synth. And you both sing and write songs. What’s that dynamic like? 

It’s really amazing to have a life partner who is as into music as I am, and I couldn’t imagine it any other way. We were bandmates first, we played together in a band where she played keys and I was the lead singer for about a year before we began dating. 

I think we both made each other better songwriters in a lot of ways, too. I knew virtually nothing about music theory before knowing her, and she says I helped her come out of her shell more with songwriting.

I’m very happy that recently Mrs. Scoopski has become more and more prominent in our songs, especially on the album “See You Soon,” where she wrote and sang lead on 3 of the tracks. (On “Things are Fine”, she played lots of piano/synth and sang lots of backup vocals, but only sang lead on the closing track).

I get just as psyched when she shows me a song she came up with as I do when I come up with a song. I remember when she first showed me the song “While We Wait” and how excited I was to record it, it’s still a favorite of mine.

Scoopski usually tends to have more songs where I’m the lead singer, just because I usually write songs really quickly and pump them out, and she usually is more measured and gets moments of inspiration. But I always go to her for input on my songs, especially during the editing process. There’s been lots of instances where a part of a song had a bad musical decision on my part, and she steered me in a much better direction.

Do you ever get to play live? If so, is it just the two of you, or do you fill out the band with additional musicians? Also, do you need a bass player? 

Unfortunately, there is yet to be a Scoopski live show!

We have played live before in the past, but not as Scoopski. As I mentioned previously, the two of us were in a band together, and we’ve also performed acoustically at open mic nights a couple times, but it’s been many years since we both played out together. 

This is something I’ve thought about a lot in the past year or so though, as you’re now on a growing list of people who have asked us about performing live!

The public demands it!

I really like the way my friend Modern Amusement (who can be heard featured on the song “RIDING THE WAVES” on our new album) performs live. His music is upbeat and energetic, sort of like how ours is, and he performs solo. But, instead of performing acoustic, he actually plays an electric guitar with distortion and all along to a backing track with the drums, synth, bass, etc. It sounds really great, and I’ve totally envisioned us playing live shows this way eventually! 

There’s something really magical about being in a full band, when everything clicks as a unit, you feel like a family. But, it’s also a lot of work and comes with a lot of emotional baggage… and at this point in time I’m not sure it’s something the two of us would be completely committed to, especially since we actually have our own little family now! So this is another reason why the option I mentioned previously may work best for us.

But hey, if we do decide to go the full band route, I will certainly hit you up for your bass skills! 😉

Nice! Your latest album is dedicated to your newborn son. How has becoming a father influenced your outlook or changed the way you think about making music? 

Absolutely! Becoming a father is very new to me, but it’s already the best thing that’s ever happened to me.

It’s extra special to us, given the journey we went on to bring our son into this world, which is documented and summed up in the YouTube video for the title track “See You Soon.”

The thing about this album is, to us the vibe of it feels very celebratory and triumphant. A lot of the songs feel like they’re sung with a big smile. It’s especially a stark contrast to us when compared to our last album, and hopefully those good vibes shine through to the listener as well.

 What’s on the horizon?

I feel this question goes hand in hand with the last, because with our baby boy being here now, we haven’t quite figured that out!

I’m a songwriter, so there is constantly new ideas kicking around in my head, I just can’t stop them. But when I record, edit, and mix the Scoopski tracks you hear, that is very time demanding. Especially in the editing process, I am almost in another world with my studio headphones on, and that doesn’t gel very well with having a newborn baby at home.

But with the nature of our project just being the two of us, as long as we’re both alive and kicking, I see no reason to think Scoopski won’t continue to exist and thrive to some extent.

The challenge will just be figuring out how music fits into our new lives as parents. But music has always been the thing that bonded us, and so for that reason I know the music will find a place, especially because we want music to be a huge part of our little guy’s upbringing!

Maybe a children’s album would be the next logical step for Scoopski? Might be!

Thanks for taking the time to chat with me, Scoopski! 

Why I Like the EP Format

I released an EP yesterday. It’s called There Is No Down.

I feel like the EP is the ideal kind of musical project for me both in terms of recording and what I’m asking of listeners.

For one thing, I lack the attention span to record a full-length album. Even if I start with a concept or style or approach to recording that I think sounds great, I’m often distracted by another idea shortly thereafter. With an EP, I can record a few songs that sound pretty decent together and then move on to a new project.

As far as the listener goes — and hopefully you’re one of them — I feel like four songs is a good number. It’s more than one, so if you like what you hear, there are a few more. But it’s less than ten or twelve, so it’s not like I’m asking you to sit down and listen to a half-hour to forty-five minutes of music I’ve recorded.

I mean, I love albums, but I rarely sit down and listen to one in its entirety. At best, I’ll have one on in the background or I’ll make a playlist based on my favorite songs from a particular artist, but — and again, it’s the attention span issue — I can’t sit through a whole album. It’s probably just me, but as a “do unto others” kind of guy, I know I can’t ask you to do something I’m not able to do myself.

Which doesn’t mean that I’ll never record an album. Just that I really like the EP format.