DJ: Sharp as a knife.
MD: And the part when he pulls out the falsetto voice‚ I love that. But in terms of what is a song‚ I mean‚ that's… pretty much every song I write is just stuff I can't get out in talking. You know‚ stuff I can't wrap my head around emotionally‚ whether it's from a work situation‚ or a home situation‚ or just anything in particular. "Horse to Folly‚" was about when my lung collapsed‚ actually‚ last year. We were supposed to go down to the city to play. So the lung collapsed like two days before we left‚ and Mikey went ahead and went down and played the show anyway‚ so I wrote that song while those guys were gone. The weekend it was pissing rain in Albany‚ you know? I was just sitting out on the porch by myself doing nothing. So‚ my stuff is very personal to me. It's not always very clear to other people‚ but it's very dear to me.
MP: I think mine is less personal oftentimes‚ just in portraying a situation‚ about stories. Maybe trying to get a certain feeling‚ or you had mentioned tone poems. Just capturing a moment and trying to bring that across through song and story. I don't know what is personal for me about tunes. "Drunk" is a personal tune. "Again by Your Window" is a personal tune.
MD: I think it's important to note that‚ though those are personal songs‚ I don't think that makes them any less honest as songs or any less heartfelt‚ definitely. I think we try pretty hard not to do stuff that we're not feeling. Like if something's not working out for either one of us‚ we can kind of tell that it's not going anywhere.
MP: One of the things we don't like doing is going through the motions. When we're practicing‚ sometimes we just have to move on.
MD: In terms of songwriting‚ we don't really do any writing together right now. We pitch in a little bit‚ if we need to‚ like with a lyric idea‚ with a melody line. That kind of stuff. I have a real tough time doing that‚ writing with other people. I always have like a real rough go with that.
MP: Kill your babies.
DJ: Is that one of your new hits?
MP: That's one of his old hits.
DJ: Old hits?
MP: That's a writer's tool.
DJ: As in "edit"?
MP: Yeah.
DJ: It's hard to do sometimes. You think you're gonna get left behind. I can't think of any other questions. Got any questions for me?
MP: Want another coffee? Oh‚ you're drinking tea.
DJ: I was drinking tea. Maybe I will have a coffee.
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Palayypus' EP is available at www.indianledgerecords.com