One of the first times I hung out with Dashan at the Anti-Hoot, he asked me to write a song with him.  I think I was struggling to contribute lyrics, and he gave me a quick lecture about songwriting.  I’ve always struggled with what he told me - that I should just write what comes to mind.  That the words don’t really matter.

I flirted with a nihilistic interpretation of our conversation for a long time.And I’ve always struggled with that, but every time I have a personal breakthrough with a piece of art, be it a song, composition, or photograph, I usually can tell because that ephemeral 

He recorded lots of people’s first (and later) albums and got people playing instruments that they weren’t sure how to work.  I wish that I could list all the new things he ushered into my life.  Maybe another time.


Originally posted to tumblr May 25th, 2012 10:46am

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