<\/p>\n
When I asked Milwaukee singer-songwriter and new dad Brett Newski if he now calls himself \u201cDadski\u201d and didn\u2019t immediately get a resounding \u201cyes,\u201d I was reflexively surprised by his reticence to fully embody the new identity. Then again, the guy has been busy rolling out a new album and probably not prepared to make drastic creative changes.<\/p>\n
As a relatively new parent, Newski is still adjusting to the full-time musician lifestyle while still finding plenty of room for his son. I checked in with him about eight months after that arrival and right before another one: his newest record (and companion pocket book).<\/p>\n
Have a Thing, Miss Your Moment, Wait for the Revival<\/i><\/a> (due out May 1) is the latest bunch of songs and stories from Newski, who\u2019s perfected the folk-grunge \/ alt-country \/ garage Americana sound. What makes it stick out above the rest is vulnerable, comedic storytelling paired with a unique penchant for globetrot-touring for years and years at a time.<\/p>\n His current band iteration, Brett Newski & The Bad Inventions<\/a>, delightfully blend \u201960s-era Bob Dylan-style freewheeling lyricism with the crunch, grit and melodic bite of \u201990s alternative rock, showcasing Newski\u2019s production style he describes as \u201ca lost Velvet Underground tape.\u201d<\/p>\n As he professed during the interview, \u201cI\u2019m just obsessed with the tape machine right now\u201d and creating what he calls \u201cdamaged-sounding\u201d songs. The album truly leans into those intentional imperfections of analog, which feels appropriate to Newski\u2019s new life as a Dadski. He\u2019s meeting the messiness with open arms, because sometimes the messed-up stuff is where you find the most beautiful silver linings.<\/p>\n Brett Newski & The Bad Inventions new album, <\/i>Have a Thing, Miss Your Moment, Wait for the Revival<\/u><\/i><\/a> gets its release to <\/i>Nomad Union Music<\/u><\/i><\/a> on May 1. Find the band celebrating the next day with <\/i>a show at the Argo<\/u><\/i><\/a> that includes openers Max & The Fellow Travelers.<\/i><\/p>\n On becoming a Dadski:<\/b><\/p>\n Baby boy was born Aug. 5. It was like a day after we played Mile of Music in Appleton. I had my phone on in case I got a call \u2026 while we were up there playing, and I would start as just a straight-up bad father playing a festival two hours outta town.<\/p>\n But I got back in time and made the birth, watched the whole thing. My friend Traister\u2019s like, \u201cYou gotta watch the birth. It\u2019s psychedelic. It hits harder than any psychedelic drug you’ve ever tried. You gotta watch it.\u201d And it was crazy. The baby comes out, and you just start crying. Like, you just lose it. It’s so nuts.<\/p>\n On balancing fatherhood with music:<\/b><\/p>\n Yeah, the baby boy is really fun. \u2026 But I was just kinda writing relentlessly [up until he was born], just ’cause I didn’t know when I’d have time to write music again for a while. So I wrote a couple songs for the baby boy ahead of time when he was still in the, uh \u2026 \u201dbelly aquarium,\u201d and I sang them through like the barrier, you know?<\/p>\n I think he likes them, but since he’s been born I haven’t written anything. I got nothing. I think I’m just cozy. I’m in the comfort zone at home. I invested a bunch of money into a really cushy couch. I’ve never had a good couch. So, yeah, I just think when you’re in the comfort zone, it can be hard to write anything good.<\/p>\n I work from home, (and) you\u2019ve got that cute little kid there all the time, so I’m taking breaks every 14 minutes to wrestle the baby. It’s hard to get into a rhythm of getting stuff done, but it’s working out. I’ve spent enough years being a sad, lonely bastard on the road. I can take some fam time and sit in the comfort zone for a second. I think it’s good for morale, and it’s a good recharge.<\/p>\n On putting out an album during this transformative time:<\/b><\/p>\n I used all my juice the year before and the two years prior, so this is kinda like a best-of record in a sense \u2014 at least all my favorite songs of the past three or four years that I recorded on my tape machine at home.<\/p>\n I’ve talked about this too much, but I\u2019m just obsessed with the tape machine right now. It\u2019s kind of the only way to get around the perfect-sounding AI \u201cfake\u201d music \u2026 created on really good technology that sounds too perfect to me. I think it’s nice to have some damaged-sounding songs sometimes.<\/p>\n On the new album\u2019s title:<\/b><\/p>\n A buddy gifted [it] to me. I just related to that ’cause I feel we’ve always been able to stay in business as a band, which is really cool. Like, we’re still playing, but I never feel like we’re cool or I never feel like we’re trending, you know? I think probably 98% of bands relate to this. You always kind of feel like, \u201cOh man, if we could just get on Pitchfork.com, everything would be better.\u201d But that\u2019s not how it goes.<\/p>\n On having a new fan in the audience for live shows:<\/b><\/p>\n We got some headphones for him, and the baby crowd surfs; we pass him around. If we believe in you, we like to share the baby.<\/p>\n But, yeah, it’ll be cool. It’s good to keep doing it. Initially, you feel guilty, going out and playing any shows or touring ’cause you’re like, \u201cOh, I should be at home.\u201d But that’s not what the kid wants. The kid wants you to do what you like, whether he knows it or not. So I still love it and I’m gonna keep doing it. I’m a lifer \u2026 so there’s not really a second option for me. I’m just running on desperation, and I just love it too much.<\/p>\n On what he\u2019d tell any creative trying to balance art and parenting:<\/b><\/p>\n You can totally make it work. I think we kind of go our whole lives getting complaints from other parents about all the things that are hard about having a kid. They don’t usually share the highlights, so it’s not as hard as you think it’s gonna be. It’s tough, but you can do it. If that’s what you love to do, your kid is gonna want you to do it as well; we wanna see our parents do stuff that gets them pumped and vice versa.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nInterview highlights<\/h2>\n