McDaeth

*En mis vagancias por myspace he hallado gente muy interesante, que últimamente he decidido contactar, Como Michael McDaeth, a quien le hice una entrevista virtual, que también prefiero transcibir lo mas fielmente posible, a continuación y con sus palabras e idioma originales:

I was born in the 60’s in Blue Earth county which is located in the southern part of the state of Minnesota, USA. There was very little music in my home, my parents were not musically inclined. The few records in the house were mostly cowboy songs and big band music from the 30’s and 40’s which my dad would listen to on occasion. Other than that, I got my music from the radio like everyone else.

I moved to Seattle in the late 80’s and got a job. Within a year I was laid off and given small severance check. On a whim, I bought a cheap acoustic guitar at a pawn shop, took it home and was stunned when original songs started pouring out of me. Instantly, I realized, ah, this is what I am. It was a miracle and a total shock. A few days later I spent the rest of my severance money on a 4 track tape recorder and a microphone. I learned to play the guitar, write songs and run the 4 track all at the same time. I put out a record (100 copies at a time, dubbed on cassette tape) every six months. Through my girlfriend at the time, I met a drummer (Tony Houston) who was living in LA and we hit it off. Soon, I was sending songs through the mail to him in LA where he would record his percussion parts and send them back – this was 1990. In 1991 Tony moved to Seattle and we played around town as a two piece under the name, “Weeds Peterson”. In early 1993 we signed with a little indie record label called Knapsak Records. We recorded two CDs “Turn You Away” and “FAT” that were doing very well, when suddenly, the record label closed up shop and went out of business, essentially taking our two records out of circulation. Tony left town and soon thereafter I bought a Macintosh computer, some recording software and I’ve been recording and releasing my solo records ever since.

McDaeth is a variation of the original Irish surname, McDade, meaning “son of David”.

Someone once told me that the variation, McDaeth, really means “son of Death”. I think that fits me better.

Not much to say here (*about his on-the-road experience, concretely current activities). I have a son in grade school and I can’t bring myself to travel and tour, so I play my gigs nearly every night in my attic instead. Anyone is welcome to attend, seating is limited. I feel my more important job is being home with my family. I’m sure that will change when my son is older – he is already showing himself to be musically inclined so maybe he’ll come along and play with me as well.

Other than playing the average they-all-look-alike gigs over the years, I played the CMJ music fest in New York City in 1999 and a private showcase with Weeds Peterson at SXSW in 1995.

Currently, aside from playing and recording my music, I recently finished writing my first novel and I’m working on a second book.

It’s safe to say that I would not have an audience for my work without the internet, especially in recent years where my songs have become less and less structured and more and more of an inspirational nature. Frankly, I’m surprised at how many people have responded positively to my music given its slippery nature. Most importantly, because of the internet, I do not have to be subjected to the whims and expectations of the record industry. And because I write, produce and record everything myself, the cost for me to produce and distribute a record is minimal. It’s quite easy for me to offer most of my songs for free via the internet. So, I stay poor but remain happy.

Hopefully, I’ll finish this second book by the first of the year and then I plan on recording my next record with a full band – it’s been awhile since I’ve done that. I’m looking forward to it.

Y nada como el mismo para explicarse