Milford Musician Jack Golden on Lyrics & Life

How did you first get involved in the arts?

I went to Catholic school as a kid and they had the folk mass. I thought that was so cool and I wanted to get in on some of that action, so I got a guitar for Christmas when I was about 7. I plucked around that for a while but didn't really learn anything. Then I played trumpet in the school band from 5th to 8th grade.

When I was about 14, I heard this song by Kiss called "Hotter Than Hell"--my friend had a little cassette player with a car radio speaker hooked up--the first heavy guitar song I had heard and I was hooked.  

I begged my parents to get me an electric guitar--which they did--a $30.00 blue clunker at Children's Palace and that was it. That's when it all started.  

What is your latest project?  

I've been on this kick of helping friends produce their songs. Believe me, this is not a mass production deal. But it's great fun to take a song that somebody (a friend) has written and think about it for a while, and figure out a way to make it a really good song.  

To help the song to flourish, to come into it's own.  Like a Rick Rubin approach. It is very rewarding because people are so shocked that their own stuff can sound so good. 

Here's one that I've recently finished: http://soundcloud.com/jackgld3/retrovirus

 
What advice do you wish you'd received when you first got started?  

Practice, and learn to write.  If you read about any successful musician (except for the "American Idol"-type people), their long term success always comes from writing--and that is ultimately the most satisfying because you're taxed on so many levels.  

You have to say something in the lyric, combine it with something appropriate musically ... It's not so easy.  To make something good requires being proficient at so many things.  Understanding the effect of the basic rhythm of a song, where to use a nice melody fill, back up vocals--no back vocals.  It's endless.  

Then there's entire recording engineering process, this takes years to figure out, which is why it is so fun and interesting.

Who are some local artists people should check out?  

Besides Me? Actually, I wish I knew local artist, but I don't. Andrew Hogan, great photographer in New Haven. http://ahoganphotography.com/index.html