Certain locations are synonymous with local music scenes across the country. In the San Francisco Bay Area, 924 Gilman Street reigns supreme. For the East Village of Manhattan, it’s CBGB. An hour north of Detroit, that honor belongs to Flint Local 432. The city’s independent music scene has been vibrant for decades, and The Local has existed in some capacity since the mid-’90s. Lead singer of the Singing Lungs, Jason Kotarski is one of those people who cut his teeth during the early days of the treasured venue.
For his debut solo full-length as Jay Alan Kay, Kotarski wants to showcase his eclectic range as a singer-songwriter. Songs Before Work is an album that encourages you to follow your inspiration. His muse turned out to be seeing Guided By Voices live on a pilgrimage of sorts.
He recorded the songs predominantly in the short window between waking up and getting to work. This process helps emphasize how important it is to never silence your inner artist. The result is a 13-track lo-fi album that weaves together folk, Americana, and punk rock.
Bearded Gentlemen Music is excited to premiere the next single from Songs Before Work. “Keep Me Busy” paints a picture about distracting yourself to avoid dealing with life’s difficulties. It’s a highly relatable track that everyone should check out!
Have a listen to “Keep My Busy” while you read our interview with Jay Alan Kay below.
You cut your teeth with the band South Bay Bessie back in the Flint Local days. What was it like to be part of such a vibrant scene back then? How did it shape you as a person and an artist today?
I had been involved in the Flint scene for almost ten years at the time that South Bay Bessie came around. That was my first band that put in the work outside of town and released proper albums and toured a little. Growing up in the Flint area and being a part of that scene was so important to me as an artist and as a human. It was a very unpretentious, diverse scene. On any given night, the music kids would be the only people downtown. You’d have metal bands playing alongside artsy indie bands. It was amazing.
The first time me and my friends went to a show, we told Joel Rash, the guy who started the Flint Local 432, about our band, and we immediately had a show on the calendar for the following month. The second or third time I showed up, Joel handed me a wad of cash and asked me to work the door.
I was 14 years old. Not only was I made to feel like I was a part of something, but I felt valued. Flint Local gave me a chance to figure out who I was as a musician.
Those experiences have definitely followed me throughout my life. All of my work has either been entrepreneurial or service-oriented. I root for the underdog, and I’m always exploring new ideas and new ways of expressing myself through music. I can’t really separate myself from who that scene has helped me become.
With Flint being your old stomping grounds, what bands there excite you these days?
There is a ton of great stuff still happening in Flint. Lots of friends doing awesome stuff. Cult Therapy is doing vulnerable alternative rock. Cold Joys combines members of Kid Brother Collective and Silence the Wake, and they play heavy post-rock stuff! Fernanda Silverio Solis y el Sueño is an indie-folk/alt-country group that’s a lot of fun.
Last year saw the release of a Singing Lungs album. Tell me more about that release and that band.
Yeah, Singing Lungs has been my band for like 10 years. I started it in Flint with a couple friends and did a show a year. But when I moved to Grand Rapids in 2016, I was working at home and feeling lonely, so I reached out to some friends to make a record with me.
Ben Graham plays drums. Sean Murphy plays bass. Jack Robidoux plays guitar. I sing and also play guitar. Our most recent record, Coming Around, came out in February of 2023 on Count Your Lucky Stars Records, Sell The Heart Records, Waterslide Records in Japan, and Engineer Records in the UK.
The songs were all demoed remotely with our iPhones during Covid lockdown. We then recorded them in the studio with Rick Johnson after figuring out how we wanted them to sound. We bring together our favorite stuff from ’90s punk and alternative. Big hooks, loud guitars. It’s sort of a mix between Lookout! Records kinda stuff, Lemonheads, and Husker Du. Poppy but with an edge.
We’re all dads and don’t live in the same city. So, we play as much as we can, but that ends up being less than I’d like. But it’s so easy to be in a band with those guys. I love it.
Your latest project is a bit of a departure from what you’re most known for musically. How did Jay Alan Kay come out and what can fans of your other musical endeavors expect?
The idea for Jay Alan Kay started when I was getting into home recording. It started with a Tascam 8-track recorder I bought off Facebook Marketplace from a guy in Lowell, MI. That’s where Anthony Kiedis from the Red Hot Chili Peppers grew up, and the tape machine was rumored to come from his father’s collection.
I started out with the idea that I was going to record demos for a third Singing Lungs album just to get used to the machine. I played all the instruments and finished a lot of the songs as I was recording them. Some of them I made up as I was recording, just playing a guitar part and building on that.
I was listening to a lot of Wilco and Drive-By Truckers and had just seen Guided By Voices for the first time. The indie rock meets roots rock and country vibe just came out more naturally as I built a lot of the songs around acoustic guitar.
I was really stoked with how the recordings were coming out. I also thought a lot about how Guided By Voices puts out three albums a year and how I’m always writing songs. So I decided to make it a solo album and just put it out instead of making it a band album. I figured I’ll have another dozen songs by the time Singing Lungs is ready to record again. These songs could easily have be Singing Lungs songs, but I just kept taking them in a more stripped-down direction.
Is it more challenging to create a solo album than it is working with Singing Lungs?
You really have to trust yourself when making a solo album. With a band recording, I can look at the rest of the band and get immediate feedback about whether something is working or not. Not having others to add their own flavor really can limit the possibilities to my own abilities. That’s kind of a feature as much as a limitation.
I tried not to overthink the songs though. I recorded most of the songs on weekday morning between the time my kids left for school and I had to leave for work. So I’d have maybe an hour to get some stuff recorded. The time crunch was cool because it forced me to get a part done and move on. That added urgency made it special.
The next track to release is called “Keep Me Busy.” What’s the story with that one?
I had just read Jeff Tweedy’s awesome book about songwriting called How To Write One Song. He shared some simple exercises he uses to help him create lyrics. Even though I’ve been writing songs for years, I thought I’d try one of his exercises just to try a new approach.
The idea was to make a list of words related to a subject and another list of words related to random things you see around the room. You then look for connections between the two lists. So what started off feeling pretty random turned into “Keep Me Busy,” which is about distracting yourself from dealing with difficult things in your life. It ended up being one of my favorite songs on the record.
Based upon your experience making Songs Before Work, how important is it to carve out time for personal enrichment?
For me, it’s essential to make time to create. It’s one of the things that make me feel most alive. Birthing a song or idea from nothing and sharing it with people represents this cycle of creation and connection. The responsibilities of family and work make it a lot more difficult to find the time and space. So I’m just always looking for moments I can steal away to be creative because it’s so good for my soul.
Are you going to take this act on the road anytime soon?
I’m working on putting together some solo gigs and lining up a rotating cast of players to join me for some full band shows. It will most likely be local to Michigan, but we’ll see where it goes. I have a show at The DAAC in Grand Rapids with Fernando Silverio Soli y el Sueño on March 16th, a week after the album comes out. So that should be a fun way to celebrate!
What’s something fun and unexpected about you that fans of your music might not expect?
I used to be a pastor, a board game designer, and publisher. My grandfather used to chop cars for the Purple Gang in Detroit.
Any last words?
Start a band. Make a record. Listen to GBV.
Jay Alan Kay Online:
Bandcamp, Instagram
Editor’s Note: This interview was lightly edited for length and clarity.