[From the Ithaca Times] Mike Doughty, best known as the lead singer of the cult 90s alternative rock band Soul Coughing, has been recording as a solo artist for the past decade. In the mid-90s, the NYC-based band was noted for incorporating a strong urban-beatnik influence into their songs - their stand-up string bass player was unusual for a pop band, and their drummer later went on to pursue a successful mainstream career in drum ‘n’ bass - and their predilection for jazz and funk grooves, sampling, repetition and a poetic, free-association approach to lyrics set them apart from the deluge of post-Nirvana grunge bands.
After Doughty left Soul Coughing in 2000, he surprised everyone with a successful turn as a solo artist. With just a rental car, acoustic guitar, and a haphazardly-planned tour across the United States, Doughty eventually signed to ATO Records, Dave Matthews’ music label. With his official solo debut, Haughty Melodic (ATO, 2005), Doughty came to be recognized by a wider alt-rock and adult rock base. His most recent album, the catchy Golden Delicious (2008), has an organic, loose feel, characteristic of Doughty’s Soul Coughing-era songwriting sensibilities.
Soul Coughing derived much of its acclaim for the display of dance and urban influences, including the use of samples, break beats, spoken word, syncopation and funky drumming. But they were, at their core, a pop band. “I don’t think we were really all that avant, all things considered. We were essentially a pop band with a diversity of tonalities. I’m into weird sounds, but we’re not fundamentally John Zorn, you know?” Doughty laughs. “We were by no means the apex of weirdness.”
More recently, Doughty has been performing with cellist and long-time collaborator Andrew “Scrap” Livingston. “We’ve been playing as a duo for a couple years now, and now it’s my main thing. I tend to get really enamored with one thing for a while,” says Doughty. “I’m continually pushing myself, trying to reinvent what I’m doing.”
The pair has also incorporated a ‘question jar’ into their live set-up. “It can get funny and weird. We put a jar on stage and answer questions in between songs. It’s not some fancy ‘interview the artist’ type thing - we don’t answer questions about income taxes or sexual preferences, for example,” Doughty laughs. “But I’ve always been interested in communicating directly with an audience.”
Despite a shift from band member to solo artist, Doughty has kept writing songs that interest him. “In a sense, when I was in Soul Coughing, there were two things: it was ‘me,’ and there was ‘us.’ I would come up with lyrics and the overall conceptual idea of what was going on, and then there was what happened when we got into a room. My bandmates [from Soul Coughing] got more and more closed off to the idea of my leadership, so ideas would get shut down before they were given a chance,” Doughty laughs. “The 90s, it seems, was one big missed opportunity… for me, specifically.”
After the demise of Soul Coughing in 2000, Doughty’s transition to a solo musician wasn’t easy. “It was very difficult leaving Soul Coughing and suddenly being out there as a troubadour - and completely confounding two-thirds of my audience,” Doughty laughs. “At the beginning, I was touring without a major release, and people were really expecting to see something ‘Soul Coughing-esque.’ There was definitely a little bit of anger there. But after years of struggle, now it seems that I have an audience that expects to hear my songs.”
These days, Doughty’s audience is an even-keeled blend of longtime Soul Coughing fans as well as newer listeners. “I found it really hard to not simply be ‘The Soul Coughing Guy,’” Doughty reflects. “I want to make art that’s vital, that wasn’t simply a punctuation mark of what I did in Soul Coughing. And not a lot of people have faith that people can leave a band and still make something relevant. It was an incredible struggle to get people to take me seriously, to get to that point. You’re always competing with people’s memories. You’ll never be able to recreate someone’s memory of your voice, you know?”
The culture and spirit of New York City was always fundamental to the character of Soul Coughing’s music, and Doughty, who now resides in Brooklyn, has watched his city dramatically change over the past two decades. “Manhattan is now impossible - it’s a land of rich people. It’s strange to grow up somewhere and see it change so much. I’m praying that the collapse of the financial industry in New York will lead to less people buying $2,000,000 lofts in Bushwick,” Doughty laughs.
Doughty is currently working on his next record, tentatively described as an acoustic-based album, as well as a side dance music project titled Dubious Luxury. Despite the considerable ups and downs throughout his career, Doughty’s current optimistic outlook reflects well in his upbeat, reflective music. “The Soul Coughing years were really tough, and rough. But I wouldn’t be where I am now if I wasn’t there then - and I love my life,” Doughty says.
Mike Doughty will perform at Castaways this Friday, Jan. 23. For more information, visit Dan Smalls Presents.