Interview: Introducing A Bird & His Debut Single, “Polluto”

Hailing from the thriving musical incubator that is New Jersey, artist Adam Bird has been a fixture in the various statewide scenes for years now. His former role as the frontman of Those Mockingbirds saw him dabbling in anthemic alt-rock styles, but once that band came to an end last year, Bird turned towards a new guiding light.

His debut single as A Bird, “Polluto,” finds the artist storming out of the gate with a strong message of self assurance amidst an arena/radio ready pop-rock construction.

To go along with a stream of the single, we sent some questions over to Bird. Check it all out below and keep up with all things A Bird here.

Hi, A Bird! Congrats on your new single. Can you tell us a little more on who you are and how you first started the project?

Hi GroundSounds! thanks! My name is Adam Bird and I perform as A Bird these days. I used to play in a rock band, but I listened to so much Massive Attack and Air that my guitar turned into a laptop and I started writing songs on that thing instead (No, before you ask there were no drugs involved, shapeshifting doesn’t HAVE to be brought on by hallucinogens people cmon!).

What’s your songwriting process like? Who are some of your biggest influences?

I write music first always…usually with a melody coming into my head and then working out a good chord pattern under it…a lot of times I will get a phonetic phrase going while I’m singing this melody and sometimes that becomes the title. Other times, I will consult my lyric book where I jot down essays, lines and titles and see what fits into the song I’m working on.

What are some of the larger themes at play on the single? What sort of headspace where you in when writing it?

‘Polluto’ is about confronting self doubt and to some extent your own ego. I really worked myself up into caring about what people thought of me to a very unhealthy level in my short adult life. I can look back and clearly see decisions I’ve made, but knew I shouldn’t have, because its what I thought someone else wanted me to do.

Frankly, this comes down to the idea of wanting everyone to like you, which is one of those problems I think you get when you’ve got the desire to make art. With very few exceptions, people make art to express themselves and connect with others…feed that into the culture America has where celebrity and money are literally above all else, and you’re gonna fuck up peoples heads and disconnect them from the simple pleasures in life.

I’m working very hard to break myself out of that cycle of thinking, and ‘Polluto’ is part of me documenting the journey.

If money were no object, what would your dream live performance look like?

Like the last battle with Kefka in Final Fantasy 6. After you’ve taken down the statues on the floating island. I would have people dressed up as Terra, Locke, Celes, Mog and Edgar on one side of the stage, and then have them cast spells on this beautiful blonde man on the other side, while we stood in the middle and performed the soundtrack.

Any new artists/venues/purveyors of the arts in your local scenes you could turn our readers onto?

Quality Living, Jett Brando, LKFFCT, Fairmont, Young Legs, NGHTCRWLRS, Ruby Bones, Dollys, Bern & The Brights, Echolab, Joe West and Reese Van Riper are my favorite bands in NJ right now. Go ahead and write their logos on your trapper keeper NOW.

Also a quick aside where I wanna bring attention to the labels Mint 400 and Sniffling Indie Kids, they are quite literally holding the entire North NJ music scene on their shoulders at the moment and it’s truly a sight to behold.

Where can we follow you and any shows coming up?

Im starting to run a regular blog on here but I’m also fairly active on instagram @abirdmusic and facebook.com/adambirdmusic. But my website is where you’ll get the raw meat.

Upcoming shows:

6/21/17 – Groove on the Grove – Jersey City NJ
7/8/17 – HansilsFest @ Hansils – Oakland NJ

Any parting thoughts? Open platform!

I just want to thank you guys for having me. You’ve been staring into my eyes this entire time and it’s making me feel safe and warm. Also, this cat you brought into the interview is truly a darling.