Richard X. Heyman still believes in the power of the album
As Richard Heyman’s 11th full-length solo album, Incognito, hits the streets, it’s business as usual when it comes to the top-notch quality of the veteran singer-songwriter’s musical output. But things have changed in the business since 1988’s Living Room!! was released, so the New Jersey native’s expectations are quite different than they were back then.
“In today’s world, you have to kind of temper your expectations,” he chuckles. “It’s a whole different scene now. It used to be the dream that maybe it would be a big breakthrough million seller. But nobody’s selling millions of records anymore. So it’s really all about quality control for me. I just want to do my best and feel good about it.”
If there is a positive to this changed world, it’s that for artists like Heyman, freedom is still the operative word, so don’t expect any four-song EPs out of him anytime soon. In his world, the album is king and always will be.
“I always put out albums and I always have,” he said. “I grew up with albums and I use the metaphor of an author writing a novel as opposed to a short story. If somebody sets out to write a novel, they should write it and put it out there. They shouldn’t be told that the novel’s too long, that people don’t have that kind of time. And I feel the same way about albums.”
That means every night at dinner with his wife, Nancy, an album is playing.
“It’s a really nice experience to hear what they had to say,” said Heyman, who will be playing tracks from the 14-song Incognito collection this Sunday at Arlene’s Grocery in NYC. You can expect that the Heyman faithful, many of whom helped get the album off the ground through a Kickstarter campaign, will be in attendance to support the artist and the idea that albums are still alive.
“I know for myself, I’m a human being, I have certain feelings about things, so there must be other people that feel the same way as I do,” Heyman said. “So I do things the way I feel they should be done and I hope there’s a group of other humans out there that are gonna appreciate that one of them is putting out an album with 14 songs on it.”
Oh, we do. And thankfully, the muse is running strong for Heyman, who still finds magic in the music.
“I’ll sit down and pick up my guitar or I’ll sit down at a piano, and it feels good to put your fingers down on the instrument and see what comes out,” he said. “Sometimes you surprise yourself and you’ll hit some chord that leads to another chord that you never did before, and that makes you feel a certain way. The hard part for me after that is then you gotta start thinking about words to put to that. And you try to write a story that goes with the feeling you’re getting from the chord changes and the melody that you came up with. It’s an outlet and it’s an emotional release.”
Richard X. Heyman & The Owls play Arlene’s Grocery in NYC on Sunday, June 25. For more information, click here
For more information on Richard X. Heyman, click here
