Interview: Catching Up With Rudy Stone + Stream “Act Like Nothing is Wrong” + “Death of a Friend”

With a sound that is purely of a singular mind, NY-based artist Andy Plovnick brings you into his mind’s eye with each of his new psychedelic-rock visions. The artist, who records as Rudy Stone, recently released a new split, “Act Like Nothing is Wrong” / “Death of a Friend,” which act as journal entries on days spent at the Isamu Noguchi sculpture garden or at Mardi Gras in New Orleans presented through the warped lens all of our memories project from.

To celebrate the release of “Act Like Nothing is Wrong” / “Death of a Friend,” we sent Rudy Stone some interview questions. Check it all out below and head to Rudy Stone’s site for more.

Hi, Rudy Stone! Congrats on your new singles. Can you tell us a little more on who you are and how you first got into making music?

I’ve been obsessed with music for my entire life. One of my earliest memories is of strutting around in the basement with a plastic guitar pretending I was John Cougar Mellencamp singing Little Pink Houses. When I was old enough to start learning an instrument in school I chose the saxophone because I wanted to be Clarence Clemons. In junior high I discovered punk and hardcore and once I learned about DIY and started doing bands and writing songs I knew that I was always going to do that, even if my taste in music changed.

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

I’ve always been interested in recording and when I was a teenager I was always the kid with the 4 track recording mine and my friend’s bands. Recording is an important songwriting tool for me because I can put something down and then put something else on top of it and if it sounds cool I’ll go from there and if it doesn’t work I can hear it and try something else.

My taste is constantly evolving and expanding but I think the sound I was chasing on this last record was musically pretty heavily influenced by the atmosphere and vibe of early Spiritualized (specifically Lazer Guided Melodies). Lyrically it’s probably a little closer to someone like Kevin Ayers or Michael Nesmith — sort of straight-forward and honest but delivered with a degree of detachment.

How did the concepts for the singles come together?

Just from living my life, really. These songs were written years apart but they both came together pretty quickly when I had some time to myself to reflect on where my life was at. I was in my early 30s when I wrote Act Like Nothing is Wrong and my late 30s when I wrote Death of a Friend but I think they’re of a piece with each other. I recorded Death of a Friend at home in New Orleans — I could afford to have a decent recording situation in my house there. I moved back to New York to manage a recording studio full time and I recorded and mixed Act Like Nothing is Wrong after hours when nobody was using it.

Any new NYC-based artists/venues/purveyors of the arts you could turn our readers onto?

I play drums in another band called Hanford Reach and we’ve played some cool shows at places like Our Wicked Lady and El Cortez. I saw a band called RYAL a couple weeks ago that just sounded like NYC to me, I don’t know another way to describe them. There’s also a great vegan taco joint and disco in Williamsburg called Black Flamingo — I don’t think they’re doing live music but maybe if I hang out there enough they’ll let me book some low key, low volume showcases.

Where can we follow you and where can our readers catch you live next?

I’m not really on social media but I try to keep http://www.rudystoned.com up to date with music and shows. No gigs booked at the moment but I’m down to play anywhere people will have me. I’m always happy to correspond with friends and fans too, drop me a line at info@rudystoned.com!

Any parting thoughts? Open platform!

I hope the songs and the sentiments connect with other people, I really appreciate anybody and everybody who listens! Express yourself freely but be mindful of other people’s feelings too. And I’m generally not concerned with how other people live but I always like to gently encourage a vegetarian lifestyle.