Young Folks
Hey friends. Bienvenidos a Substack.
You know what happens here. Songs, stories, and the odd demo. I’ve had some trouble with other platforms—too expensive, or they kick you out for uploading an old email list. So here we are.
In April 2007, the tour bus dropped Paz and me off in Carroll Gardens, in front of our expensive, unfurnished 2-bedroom apartment on Union and Henry. A new chapter. I’d never lived in New York before—coming from rural Nebraska, it felt like something I was supposed to try at least once.
We spent the first few months piecing the place together. Secondhand shops around the neighborhood for most of it, and then a proper couch and bed from IKEA. Everyone talked about bed bugs back then. Smith Street had a handful of restaurants—we went to all of them. And everywhere we went, that whistle song was playing.
“Young Folks.”
I’d put out Quiet Town the year before. It did alright—mostly in Europe. This was catchier. Multiple hooks. A duet. Light on its feet. I remember thinking: just let me have one of those, please. It’s never the big pop songs. It’s the ones that sound like you got there second.
A year and a half later, Paz was expecting. That tends to settle things.
New York started to feel less essential. I was touring quite a bit and had started working on the worldly El Turista with Brad. Spain had family and great health care.
So we left.
“Young Folks” was still playing everywhere on the way out. Felt about right.
Fast forward to 2023. I get a call from David at Yep Roc. Peter (singer of PBJ) will be in Nashville co-writing, which I usually don’t do. I said yes.
Here is a self-conducted interview between Peter and me (pretend).
PETER: In December 2023 I went to Nashville for a two-week writing stint. My first session the morning after I arrived was with Josh, set up through mutual friends.
JOSH: We’d never met before. He walked into my garage studio—the door was open—and after a little while I showed up.
PETER: There was an immediate connection.
JOSH: We sat down with guitars, and before lunch, we had written “Missed Opportunities.”
PETER: By the afternoon we were recording it.
JOSH: Right away, it reminded me of classic ’60s sunshine pop, which is a new direction for me. I’m usually more of a ’70s mellow guy.
PETER: It felt a shame not to continue, but I was busy with other booked sessions.
JOSH: Peter had a packed schedule that month, so we mostly crossed paths at shows and bars around town. On the day he was flying home, we squeezed in one more session—suitcase by the door.
PETER: We wrote “Running Away From It All,” recorded that, and Josh then kindly drove me to the airport.
JOSH: Later, my friend Marc Pisapia added some beautifully groovy drums and percussion. What started as demos began to sound like little records.
PETER: There was an unspoken feeling that there had to be a continuation of this.
JOSH: In 2024 we did four shows together in Norway and Sweden—again, a great rapport.
PETER: We’ll see what happens next.
JOSH: We’ve talked about doing more—maybe even starting a Dad Power Pop band. 2028, maybe.
“Missed Opportunities” and “Running Away From It All” finally made it off the hard drive and onto Bandcamp today.
Here’s a clip of Peter and I figuring out “Running Away From It All” behind the paywall.
