I spoke with Greg Mendez outside of the Aggie Theater, before he took the stage to open for Lomelda. Fort Collins was one of the last stops on this tour so I sat down with him after sound check for a quick Q&A.

This is your first time traveling to this half of the country, how is that different? How does your setlist evolve over the weeks?

It feels good to be here, it’s kind of just been a blur of places. I feel like the set lists I try to do something a little bit different every night, it’s just the two of us and it’s pretty easy to do different stuff. At this point, it’s almost the end of the tour and it’s kind of streamlined into what feels good.

Do you have any favorites that you can’t end the show without?

I always play “Maria” just cause the people want to hear it.

You had a broken wrist creating “First Time/Alone” and then decided to stick with the stripped-back sound from its inception? Was there a difference between how it sounded in your head and how it ended up being released?

No, not really. I went into it without anything in my head, particularly. I usually do that, just go with it until it feels good.

How do you make more stripped-back tracks like “Alone”, how did you choose to enhance certain parts with harmonies?

I just thought it felt good. I woke up and did those first thing in the morning, the bass and the harmonies. It was like a spur-of-the-moment thing, felt like the song needed something

How does the creation of a more instrumentally expansive work, like your self-titled, compare to something more straightforward.

I think it kind of just felt like that when it needed that. I definitely think I was in a different space with it. I always kind of keep going with the songs until I feel like they’re ready, drums are usually the last thing that I add if it still needs them at that point.

“Pain Meds” is your voice sped up, how did you decide to do that rather than use someone else’s voice?

Everything is sped up on it, it was slower and lower with the guitar too. It just didn’t feel right, it felt really murky and too slow. I was originally just gonna use a piece of it, the line about making coffee in the morning as a transition and speed it up. But then bouncing it from the tape it felt good to just let the song play at that speed and that was it.

You’ve recorded a lot of your work on tape, is there a reason for this?

Yeah, I really don’t like looking at computer screens. I also like the way it sounds and that it’s a physical thing. I feel a bit more connected to it, and the temptation to edit things on the computer is great. I think I do better without doing that and it’s nice to be in a room without a screen.

Does the process of creating your album artwork tie into the sound of the album, or are they more of a time-alignment thing?

They’re partially done by me, I usually don’t draw the lines but I have been coloring them in for the last few. I color them with different things, “Cherry Hell” was Crayola crayons, the self-titled was colored pencils, and the EP was oil pastels.

How has your sound changed from when you first started releasing music?

I’ve gotten better at it, and maybe a little more sure of what I want to do. Mostly just practice, I’ve become a little bit more skilled.

When you’re making a collaboration like “krillin” with They Are Gutting a Body of Water, how does the give and take change your process?

I never really did that in that way before, Doug had the first verse of that song and didn’t know where it should go so we kind of just finished it together. Then our friend Tim ended up adding a bunch of stuff too, we all ended up butting heads at some point, you know you have to make compromises, but it was interesting and a good experience.

In a Bandcamp listening party you mentioned some music you had been listening to, Make Your Maze, Judee Sill, Silver Jews – When you’re struggling with the creative process do you find yourself turning more towards old favorites or classics or newer stuff?

I like a lot of old music honestly. I mean I’m a very hedonistic music listener, I like a lot of pop music and I listen to music to feel good in either a happy way, or sad way, or angry way. I don’t listen to music in a studious way that often, if ever.

If you could put any song onto the Golden Record to be played into outer space, what would it be?

That’s a really hard question! I’d go with “After Hours” by The Velvet Underground.

Greg Mendez can be found