The Mixtape Project: 52 Songs in 52 Weeks

Jared Mahone has big plans for 2010. The local musician decided that he was going to write, record, and release a new song every week this year and publish them to subscribers on his website. Jared describes the project as a creative journey, but the end result will also provide his listeners with the creative process of selecting favorite songs to compile into their own hand-picked album. We recently sat down with Jared to learn more about The Mixtape Project.

Walker Evans: Tell us a little bit about your background in music, and what got you started.

Jared Mahone: I am a third generation independent musician. My grandfather had a huge passion for music and had his kids out singing, winning radio contests and cutting records all through the bible belt of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. He was a baptist preacher and understood how music can really connect with people. I grew up in that culture of music being life and took to it pretty early, singing from the age of 2. I didn’t pick up any instruments until teaching myself guitar when I was 19. My songwriting partner had always been my uncle who was more than proficient on piano. He could listen to my melodies and construct the chord progression (and most times, the full song arrangement) in real time as if he was listening to the band in my head. He moved away to California leaving me with no way to get my songs out, so I picked up guitar as a writing tool in the year that I took off school between high school graduation and college. By the time I finally went to college, I could play well enough to sing and play at the same time and that new instrument combined with my upbringing on artists like Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind and Fire, Bill Withers, Chicago, Hall and Oats, Michael Jackson, and various pop and hip hop radio through the 80′s and 90′s, immediately inspired new songs. When I got home from college, I had an arsenal of songs and began playing in open mics around Columbus where I met the players of what would be my first band.

WE: You’ve started up something called “The Mixtape Project” which means a new song released every week in 2010. At first glance it almost sounds like a New Years Resolution. How did the idea come about?

JM: It’s not a new idea. I read about someone doing a song a week idea some years ago. There have been plenty of artists since who have taken that kind of challenge, although, I’m not sure how many of them actually finished. I was also inspired by a friend of mine who’s wife is an author and, like me, has chosen to construct and manipulate her life within a creative arch. To inspire herself to write, she force fits what might otherwise be a mundane, midwest city life into these interesting adventures so as to deprogram her brain that is so conditioned by conformity. For instance, last year, her family went to 52 zoos in 52 weeks. This was a reminder to me of the creative musicians who had taken a similar challenge with songwriting and although I never thought it would be something I would try, here I am headfirst into it and out in the open. There were some other important catalysts. For instance, I had been approached by a couple of different publishing companies in Nashville who were offering staff writing positions. Although the salary looked enticing, the idea of sitting in an office for 9 hours a day attempting to conjure up inspiration for someone else’s deadlines and agendas sounded terribly constraining in a creative sense. I knew there could be some good things to come out of that experience. I was excited about what I knew would be long term writing development but I didn’t think it would be development in the right direction. After all, trying to come up with contrived hits for various artists to sing didn’t sound worth it to me. So, instead of being commissioned by executives in suits and ties at a publishing company, I decided to be a self-commissioned “staff writer”, welcoming the development but being held accountable by people that care about what I’m doing as an artist. This way, I have all of the short term and long term creative development without the pressures of industry dictating the results.

WE: Going back to the The Mixtape Project for a second… the terminology of “mixtape” is still fairly common in the musical vernacular. Do you find the term ironic since most people will probably stick to digital formats and playlists when listening to your new work, and never touch a cassette tape?

JM: The name, The Mixtape Project, was inspired less by the throwback terminology and more by the name of a song I wrote called “Mixtape”. This song talks about the tensions that exist of conforming my life into a creative arch instead of conforming creative elements (more like a hobby) into my life arch. Specifically the tensions that this lifestyle creates with my wife. My passion for music prevents me from having a “normal life” and what some people might call a “happy marriage”. Those two terms are yuppy phrases that don’t have anything to do with a life inspired. (that is a huge tangent that would take another interview for me to express myself about.) People still make mix tapes today, probably more than people ever did in the past. They are just called “playlists” now. Jump on iTunes and drag and drop. It’s no different then when I was 10 taping my favorite tunes off of the radio. Another catalyst for this project was the fact that I have never come out with a full length album. I thought, instead of me deciding for people what album to listen to, I could just release a huge catalog of songs and have people create their own album or “mixtape” from that catalog. Also, I think it would be fun to eventually release a full-length, professionally produced album from the favorite songs that arise out of this catalog. That way, people really did choose the album.

WE: Well, with January already coming to a close, how has the first few songs reception been so far?

JM: We are “one month in” creatively as I posted the first song on Jan. 1st, but we really didn’t go officially live until just a couple of days ago. The buzz that happened before then brought in a list of subscriptions that we definitely didn’t anticipate which has been very exciting. The one song that has been commented on more than others is a song called “From: Joe To: Betsy”. It’s funny because that’s the song that is stylistically the farthest from what I have been creating for the past 5 years. I wrote it about my wife’s grandmother who passed away this past year, leaving behind her husband of 57 years in the hills of West Virginia.

WE: It takes a very dedicated person to stick with a project like this for a full year. Are you worried that after it’s complete you’ll never want to make music ever again?

JM: I’m not worried as much about not wanting to make music anymore. I can’t imagine that scenario. I’m more worried about whether or not I will see this project through. As you said, it takes a very dedicated person to stick with a project like this. I have never been a very dedicated person, which is why I shrugged off this idea for so long. I thought, it was a great idea but definitely for someone else. But, there came a point when I decided that I was up to the challenge and the fact that I didn’t believe in myself to finish this was one of the very reasons to do it. I want to be a different person than the person I am now. I want to be more committed, more inspired, more creative, a better writer, a bigger thinking, more adventurous, more insane, less mundane, and most definitely anywhere but inside a box. I’m not the kind of guy who goes tandem skydiving first to get the feeling of it all. I’m more of the kind of guy who throws the parachute out of the plane first and then jumps out after it hoping I catch it on the way down. I am not only excited about the real time inspiration that comes during the actual plummet to earth, but I’m also excited about the lifetime of new ideas that comes after landing successfully from that kind of risky jump. Ok, so maybe I’ll miss the chute all together and bounce six times on the pavement, but at least I’m not still sitting on the plane waiting for it to land.

WE: Got any upcoming live shows where people can check you out?

JM: We are doing the first live show to promote The Mixtape Project this Friday Jan. 29th at Skully’s Music Diner in Columbus’ Short North. It’s called Local Live Mixtape with two other great bands from our local scene. Andy Shaw Band and The Wet Darlings. We will be giving away sampler cards of The Mixtape Project with the current four songs included to the first 100 people to ask for them at our merch table. Just a little encouragement to get people to sign on to the whole project. Other than that, I will be touring a lot this year as well as promoting other local shows. A local film crew called Palestra Music will be doing quarterly videos to document my progress and I welcome anything else that comes as this experiment gains it’s own momentum and becomes self-perpetuating. The more people that sign up, the more creative direction and input I will have from people who are the most valuable to me. It’s a $20 dollar subscription for people to gain access to the premium content including the songs and a behind the scenes look at the creative process. Although some people area saying “$20 is a great price for 52 songs” I want people to consider more that the fee is like a ticket into the creative environment and the content is actually free once you are in.

More information can be found at www.jaredmahone.com.