The Gummy Songs

I found a bag of Japanese sweets at a store in New York and bought them, mostly for the packaging. They were made by a company called Kasugai and described as “muscat gummy candy.” The metallic bag was overprinted with a graphic of vivid green grapes and on top of that, a text in English that was both beautiful and very odd. This text served as the lyrics to a short song that I spontaneously recorded later using my Tascam Ministudio PortaOne 4-track cassette recorder, which I had just gotten and was learning to use. Over-the-top multitracking was a good way to do that.

Several other “gummy songs” followed, all taking their cue from the text on the respective bag flavor. I played guitar and a variety of minor instruments, including a tiny Casio keyboard with some preset riffs I made enthusiastic use of. I sang all the vocal parts. The songs were written and recorded in New York, NY and Pörtö, Finland over a period of about two years. I performed them live only once (circa 2000 at The Knitting Factory in downtown Manhattan) with “The Gummy Choir,” three women friends (Clare Ellis, Ellen Santiniello, and Gina Kaufmann) who joined me for special arrangements of the songs that we worked out for the occasion.