“My background is in film so I’m particularly drawn to storytelling in my songwriting. I like to set a scene for the listener. The music is like the setting and scenery while the lyrics can be a dialogue, monologue, inner thoughts, narrator, etc.
Sometimes the story is complete and sometimes it’s a brief moment. Sometimes the lyrics are literal while sometimes they exist in the abstract. Some are autobiographical while others are definitely embellished. I prefer the listener to draw their own interpretations and hopefully place themselves in the narrator’s shoes. I’m hoping for the listener to empathize rather than sympathize.”
“With a ’50s pop swing and reverb drenched guitar, James Moritz’s “Happy Dude” fits as easily into the Sun archives as it does in modern indie. As superb instrumentation is, though, Moritz’s self-deprecating charm and Roy Orbison meets Gene Pitney croon is the real attraction as he remembers better days, when he was “such a happy dude.” Who can’t relate to that in this, the worst of years?”
