Our spotlight interview series returns with an in depth look at Arguably, the latest album by Philadelphia-based musician Marc Schuster.

Argubaly hits streaming services on May 1st (pre-save it here!). Take a listen to the recent single Paul Giamatti (Is Everywhere Tonight) and read on for the interview below.

CF: This album has one of the most fun introduction tracks I’ve heard in a while. I’m obsessed with the fast keys and horns that kick it all off. It’s euphoric and exciting and full of well crafted anticipation so it’s fitting that you called it “The Best Day”. I feel like I want this to be my morning alarm so that I start every day in a good mood.

Can you tell us about one of the best days you’ve ever had? What made it special and who was there?

MS: Thanks for the kind words! I feel like the best times hide in the most mundane moments, and that when we try to turn a day into “the best day,” it just puts way too much pressure on everyone involved, which is kind of why I wrote the song—just to say that any day can be the best day of your life as long as you’re open to it.

To answer your question, though, all of the best days I’ve ever had have involved my wife, Kerri. When I look back, there’s nothing particularly epic about them. It’s not like we were climbing mountains or anything. It’s more about the two of us just being together. We recently visited Charleston, South Carolina, and it was very low-key. We did a walking tour, visited some historical sites, and met some friends for dinner on a couple of nights. Some of the best moments of the trip were just incredibly private moments the two of us shared in public spaces—glancing at each other as a bad song came over the PA system at the airport or just talking about whatever came to mind over lunch.

CF: There is this really cool horn sample that floats throughout The Best Day that seems to carry through into One Cup of Coffee, but you’ve slowed it down and it’s more present in this track. Did you set out to do this intentionally or was it sort of a happy accident?

MS: I’m glad you noticed that! It was an instance of falling in love with a sound and wanting to weave it through a couple of songs to suggest that they go together. One of my original ideas regarding the album was to try to depict a day in someone’s life, which is why the song about waking up is followed by a song about drinking a cup of coffee to get the day going. That original plan fell by the wayside as I worked on the album, but I loved the way those two songs complemented each other, so I kept them together.

CF: One Cup of Coffee sees you enter a very cool-jazz vibe that I don’t think I’ve heard from you before. By design I’m sure, it’s the perfect temperament for a local arts-driven coffee shop; I’m really impressed with the way you’ve captured this type of scene. You’re clearly a bit of a coffee-nut (or would it be more appropriate to say coffee bean?) so let’s talk shop. How do you take your coffee? What’s your preferred blend? Local coffee shop that you frequent and what makes it so attractive?

MS: To quote Special Agent Dale Cooper, I take my coffee black as midnight on a moonless night. I prefer dark Italian roast. At least that’s what the bag of coffee grounds says. Any place that doesn’t feel too rushed or too trendy is nice. I totally get why people might bring their laptops to a coffee shop, but it’s not my thing. If I’m out for coffee, I like to sit down with someone and just chat for a bit. And, of course, enjoy the coffee!

CF: I know you play quite a few different instruments and you seem reasonably proficient in all of them, but I particularly always really enjoy your drumming and this track is a great example of that. When you’re looking for drumming inspiration, who do you listen to?

MS: I listen to a decent amount of jazz, so jazz drummers tend to inspire me. Art Blakey is high on the list. And I recently saw Rudy Royston play with Bill Frisell. That was back in February. He’s an incredible drummer. Understated, which I like, but completely in command of the kit, the kind of drummer who makes every stroke matter. I went to that show with my friend Tim Simmons, who’s also a great drummer. He gave me a few lessons when I first started playing. Tim, that is, not Rudy.

The funny things about the drums on “One Cup of Coffee” is that I originally recorded them for someone else’s project. He asked me to come up with something similar to a Ben Folds tune. I forget what it was called, but was incredibly frenetic. So I recorded it, but then the artist I was working with decided he wanted a more basic rock sound. But I liked that drum track, so I decided to use it for one of my own songs.

CF: You actually broke your shoulder when you first started recording this album which changed the way you ended up approaching it as a whole, but you’ve said that you think this might have been for the betterment of the album. What was it about this limitation that you think helped shape this album in a new way?

MS: One major effect of the accident was that it gave me a chance to sit down and develop a different approach to writing lyrics. I initially set out to keep the lyrics fairly minimal. If you look at a song like “The Best Day,” there’s a lot of repetition, almost like a chant. Even “One Cup of Coffee” keeps things pretty simple. That approach changed after I broke my shoulder. I couldn’t play any music at all, but I still wanted to keep pushing forward with the album, so I concentrated on writing lyrics. Songs like “Sell Me the Snake” and “Blue Light” came from that period.

CF: Stylistically where do you think the album would have gone if this hadn’t happened?

MS: I originally set out to record something like Brian Eno and Karl Hyde’s Someday World and High Life albums. Or something more along the lines of the two albums I recorded with Tim Simmons as Simmons and Schuster, but with lyrics. If you listen to “The Best Day” next to “Cat Wrangling” from our second album, Dos, you can probably hear some similarities. The basic idea was to record some long, sweeping, cinematic tracks and then to write lyrics for them. I still have a couple of those pieces. They’ll probably end up as bonus-tracks for anyone who buys the album on Bandcamp.

CF: What part of the album was the most challenging with the injury?

MS: The hardest thing was actually sitting in my music room with all of my instruments and knowing that I couldn’t play them! Beyond that, it was the little things—I mean really little things I normally wouldn’t give any thought to, like trying to put headphones on. With my right arm immobilized, I had to put them on using only my left hand, which took a lot of trial and error. Along similar lines, using only my left hand on the trackpad when I was mixing the album was a challenge. I also tend to use a lot of keyboard shortcuts when I’m recording, which is a lot easier with two hands. Generally, it was a lot of the nuts-and-bolts aspects of recording that I found especially challenging.

CF: The samples you use throughout have such a unique timbre to me while also having a shared quality that allows the album to flow seamlessly from track to track. Were you scouring libraries into the wee hours to find the right fit or did you find that you were able to decide on sounds quickly?

MS: Sometimes a song will start to develop because I hear a sample and like it so much that I’ll build a song around it. That saxophone sample we were talking about earlier is a case in point. I used it on two tracks, and I had to stop myself from using it on all of the other tracks as well. Of course, I also had to find some samples that blended nicely with that sax riff, but I’ve been playing with brass samples for a few years now, so I have a decent sense of where to find the sounds I’m looking for.

I also like creating my own samples. Usually, it’s a matter of goofing around until I hear something I like, then isolating it and exporting it as a WAV file. Usually it’s just noise—clicks, scratches, static, feedback—that I run through effects and filters. Circling back to your question about my broken shoulder, that’s another way I adapted. The injury forced me to go back to all of my folders of weird noises and try to figure out how work them into my music.

CF: If you’re willing to divulge, what did you use to find and shape these sounds?

MS: Oh, I could divulge for hours! The DAW I use is Reason, which makes me a little bit of an outlier among my music friends, but it’s a great platform for playing with samples and has a few built-in instruments that lend themselves nicely to sample manipulation.

Reason’s Grain Sample Manipulator lets you load a sound file, isolate the part you want to use, and choose how to play it back—e.g., long grain, spectral grain, or tape simulation, forward, backward, looping—and then you can play with the amp envelope and effects like reverb, delay, and distortion. Reason’s Mimic Creative Sampler is similar to the Grain Sample Manipulator, but it lets you slice up a sample and play the slices separately and adjust other parameters. I also used a couple of Arturia synths: Augmented Strings and Augmented Brass.

As far as effects go, I love Reason’s Synchronous Effect Modulator. It applies various envelopes to the sounds, so you can get cool side-chain-sounding effects and other wobbly, echoey, rubbery sounds out of samples. iZotope’s Trash 2 makes everything sound good, despite what its name might imply, and somehow I got the Native Instruments Raum for free, probably through Plugin Alliance. It’s an incredibly versatile echo/delay plugin. They were my go-to plugins for most of the tracks on Arguably.

CF: The production on this album is so clean but you seem to favor adding a fair amount of dirt to your vocals. The result is a really cool contrast that keeps each track aesthetically interesting. You’ve mentioned some of your influences as Elvis Costello, The Talking Heads and Brian Eno and I hear that, but in a way that it doesn’t at all feel like you’re intentionally driving from their approach to production. Which is to say this album is the most uniquely Schuster to my own ears. I guess what I’m wondering is where has this Marc Schuster been hiding?

MS: That’s probably the most flattering thing you could say to me—and it’s a good question! With Arguably, I really wanted to do something different, both different from what I’d done before and different from other music that I like. In some ways, the most Elvis Costello or Brian Eno thing a musician can do is defy expectations and take off in an unexpected direction. That’s what I love about both of them: they don’t necessarily have a set “sound.”

Sure, there’s a kind of core Elvis Costello rock sound that he often returns to, but then he takes off and does a classical album with the Brodsky Quartet or Anne Sofie Von Otter, or a jazz performance with Bill Frisell. The guy’s all over the place in the best possible way, like he has a restless musical soul that’s allowed him to explore so much musical territory, which is what I want to do as well. Different territories than he explores, I guess, but that itch to always do something new and different is what drives me.

That said, I’m not sure where this particular Marc Schuster has been hiding. One of the reasons I called the album the album “Arguably” was for the play on words, just to be able to say, “Well, this arguably Marc Schuster, even if it sounds different from some of his earlier music.” As if to acknowledge what you’re pointing out, so, again, I appreciate your kind words!

CF: “Paul Giamatti is everywhere tonight” – we have to ask. Where’d these lyrics come from and what’s your favourite Paul Giamatti role?

MS: A few months ago, the thought occurred to me that it would be funny if Paul Giamatti had played George Costanza on Seinfeld. I really have no idea where the idea came from, but I teased it out a bit and started wondering what the world would be like today if he actually had played George, or how I’d feel if I woke up in a world where Paul Giamatti played George but I was the only one who remembered Jason Alexander. It was kind of a Mandela-effect thought experiment that didn’t really go anywhere, though the basic premise did make me start thinking of that scene in one of the Matrix movies where Agent Smith multiplies. What if that had been Paul Giamatti?

Around the same time, Paul Giamatti actually did start showing up everywhere because The Holdovers had just come out. I heard him on WTF with Marc Maron and then, I think, on Fresh Air. So I wrote a song about someone who literally sees him everywhere. An earlier version of the song included my Seinfeld scenario: “He’s playing George Costanza and Kramer on TV/And in the men’s room mirror, he’s looking back at me.” But that felt a little forced and the song was running long, so I cut it.

My favorite Paul Giamatti Role is Harvey Pekar in American Splendor.

CF: Speaking to your lyrics, I love the chorus of Hell in Hello. It’s one of those very funny literary things that seems too simple; to make the comparison or acknowledge the funny way “Hell” sits in Hello and “Good” in Goodbye, but you’re the first to phrase it in song like this and it’s one of those moments that reminds me how clever of a writer you are. The production of the album took me so by surprise by this point of the record that I was actually not paying close attention to the lyrics and so I’ve had to go back in to see what other gems are hidden throughout. There’s no question here I just wanted to make this comment.

MS: Thanks! I had that line in mind for a while. It’s the kind of thing that strikes me as a bit of an old-fashioned approach to songwriting—kind of like something Hank Williams or an old country-and-western crooner would do, or something along the lines of Elvis Presley singing “I Forgot to Remember to Forget.” Initially I thought it would be a line in a scathing tune about being annoyed whenever a particular person shows up, like “Positively Fourth Street” when Bob Dylan sings, “I wish that for just one time, you could stand inside my shoes, then you’d know what a drag it is to see you.” But then I thought about other ways there might be hell in hello, like seeing someone you wish you could be with but know you can’t. There’s more vulnerability in that kind of stance.

CF: I want to shift gears for just a quick second and talk about what inspired “May the Algorithm Smile Upon You”. I’m pretty vocal about my own disdain for the new wave of music consumption culture where artists are clambering to be seen by ‘the algorithm’ and how utterly obnoxious it is to talk about with any sort of regularity. Frankly the whole thing seems deranged to me. Where does Marc Schuster sit on this topic? Do you find yourself making decisions to please the ever-changing algorithm? Did you call that song Paul Giamatti for SEO purposes? Let’s be real about it for a second because a lot of artists are doing this type of thing and there’s a certain expectation for new artists that they should follow suit. Do you think this type of thinking helps or hinders artistic growth? You can take these questions any which direction, I just wanted to pick your brain about it for a second cause you’re a smart, well adjusted fella.

MS: You and I are definitely on the same page—and if I was being vulnerable with “Hell in Hello,” I was going in the opposite direction with “May the Algorithm Smile Upon You.” To me, the song offers an incredibly dystopian vision. Of course, I tried to throw listeners off the scent by framing it like a church hymn and layering in some syrupy strings and choir voices to give it an over-the-top Phil Spectorish “Let It Be” gravitas, but that was just me trying to be funny.

The idea for the chorus came to me back when everyone on Threads was posting stuff along the lines of “Dear algorithm, connect me with people who love music and pancakes.” My reaction at the time was exactly what you’re describing: it struck me as completely deranged. But it also struck me as being akin to a prayer, of pinning one’s hopes and dreams to a higher power, which, in this case, was a bunch of computer code.

From there, it was a matter of filling in the verses with some of my own anxieties about technology: the idea that we’re being watched and that as a result of trying to be what the algorithm “wants,” we become watered down versions of ourselves. It’s oblique, but that’s what I was getting at with “syphoning off your mystique.” As a side note, that line about a “sticky beak” came from All Creatures Great and Small. It’s Yorkshire slang for being nosey.

In terms of artistry, trying to give the algorithm what it “wants” makes no sense to me at all. Trying to make music that will meet the criteria of a particular algorithm means following a strict formula to make music, which, by definition, generates formulaic music. It’s making cookie-cutter music that will be exactly like all of the other “algorithm-friendly” music that everyone else is making.

More insidiously, we live in a world where algorithms can generate music, but rather than distinguishing themselves from machines, artists who chase algorithms are essentially trying to make music that follows the same formula that AI algorithms use to generate music. If that’s the game you’re playing, AI is going to eviscerate you.

Along those lines, one of my goals in recording Arguably, especially in the early stages, was to write an album that went in the opposite direction of algorithmic demands. As much fun as I think “The Best Day” is, for example, it’s over five minutes long, and the introduction probably takes up about half of the song. Rather than writing songs for the algorithm or a mass audience, I was writing and recording the music with a very small handful of fellow artists—yourself included—as the people I wanted to impress. I could name names, but I think they all know who they are.

CF: I get sort of used to hearing your voice with distortion of vocal processing effects that when your natural voice pokes through in a song like Blue Light it gives me pause. I haven’t been able to quite pinpoint who it reminds me of yet, but what I love is how natural and genuine the words come through when you allow the lyrics to be showcased in this way. Blue Light also beautifully resolves the album and leaves me feeling relaxed in almost a meditative way. What’s the overall message of this song to you; what is the Blue Light?

MS: The song is my own take on the Beatles’ “I’m So Tired” set to a beat that’s reminiscent of Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side.” I was thinking about how sleep experts tell people to avoid looking at their phones for an hour or so before going to bed because they emit blue light, which can disrupt circadian rhythms and prevent sleep. So the song is pretty literal in that it’s about looking at screens late into the night while going down various information rabbit holes. Of course, in this instance, it’s the kind of thing I’d personally stay up all night doing: trying to find a song based on a melody I only half remember.

CF: We noted the Brian Eno influence earlier, so it seems like a good time to ask: if you could work with any one producer on a future Marc Schuster record, who would you choose?

MS: In another era, my answer would definitely have been George Martin. His ability to work with the Beatles to bring out the best in them can’t be overstated. I’d love to work with someone in that kind of capacity as opposed to the more authoritarian Phil Spector approach. In terms of living producers, I’m thinking someone like Butch Vig or Scott Litt would be interesting to work with. Their work with Nirvana and REM respectively is amazing. Beck or Kim Deal would be cool, too. In terms of more local producers I could realistically work with, Jesse Gimbel has produced music for a lot of bands that I like.

CF: Before we go and as I often like to do, what’s one music recommendation you can make for our readers today?

I’m loving the latest single from Bottlecap Mountain, “I’ve Got Loving for You.” It’s a great song for kicking off the summer!

CF: I feel like you really took a leap artistically with this album and I’m really excited to hear what the future holds for you musically. Thanks very much for your time and I’m excited for the album to officially arrive on May 1st!

MS: Thanks for your excellent questions, Jaimee! And the feeling is mutual: I’m always excited to hear your latest music as well!

Be sure to follow Marc Schuster on their website and social channels to keep up with their upcoming releases.

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Marc also interviews indie musicians at http://marcschuster.wordpress.com and hosts the Tweetcore Radio Hour on music on @audiomiragepdx.