It’s hard to believe that it’s been 8 months since I released my first solo album, and I can’t say I was planning a follow up so quickly, but as the pieces began to fall into place over the past several weeks, I realized it was time. So here we are, the second album from Mickey D’s is entitled, “Sophomoric Slop.”
There are all kinds of double entendres in a name like that, but ultimately, my decision to go that route with the title is to remind my audience that the purpose of the project is not perfection but rather to embrace the incredible freedom that comes with exploring creativity in sloppier ways and as we gain more experience. When it comes to most artforms, a person can spend years perfecting something and often times the difference in quality is negligible. Ultimately, the artist’s experience in turn becomes more and more uninspired as it grows over-polished. Perhaps, that’s why even the finest bands start to burn out creatively. It becomes something you do because it’s expected, not something that just happens.
When we look at the origin of the word, “Sophomore”, it’s not just the second year high school or college student we’re referring to. The root word in the Greek is “sophos” which means “clever or wise”. However, the second half of that, is the word “moros” which indirectly translates to “foolish” or as we often hear it in English, “moron.” So, from the “wise fool” comes a pile of sloppy songs.
For many of us, creativity in the spontaneous moment is where our finest ideas are born. I’d contend that when we allow that little spark to drive our efforts, the excitement that goes along with it is contagious, allowing an incredible amount of output to occur in rapid fire bursts— which is, in fact, how most of my work seems to happen. Maybe lightning only strikes in the bottle once or twice with each project, but that’s the beauty of it. To quote the late David Lynch, the creator of Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet, “Ideas are like fish in the sea. You have a million options you could catch, but it’s the ones you actually hook that matter.” It’s not a matter of if you’ve hooked a fish that fifty-thousand others already have, but rather, the way you “weave” the fish you catch into what you’re doing to make it distinctly your very own.
So, as we delve into the Sophomoric Slop that goes along with a rushed and hurried second album from an unknown artist, I ask not for validation or for praise, but rather, that you see the potential you can unleash with even the simplest of ideas— be it, in writing, in music, in film, in painting, in drawing, in cooking, in organizing, you hold the key to your success in your own pocket. You’ve just got to pick it up and hold on tight!
The paragraph that follows might make you cringe, but you can’t blame a guy for trying.
If I were a Betting Man, I’d say there was a Gold Rush on the horizon—you might have to feast on Canned Meats a while before you get there, buy an SUV from a Greaseball Car Salesman, and quickly retreat to your Hiding Place before you can get to New Things in your life. You might feast on a Bag of Candy Corns on a Saturday shortly after running into the Neighborly Knuckleheads next to you— ‘Til they serve you a tasty meal when you go to confront them and end up with Barbecue Breath. You Get the Point yet? You’ve got two options, to Stop it Now While You Can or Take a Journey With Me. One thing’s for certain, I’m just Another Weirdo.
And so it begins!
Watch for Sophomoric Slop to drop in music outlets like Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Music later this week.
-Dan McDowell
Mickey D’s - Sophomoric Slop
1) Betting Man-3:01
2) Gold Rush-3:06
3) Canned Meats-3:01
4) Greaseball Car Salesman-2:58
5) Hiding Place-2:49
6) New Things-3:18
7) Bag of Candy Corns-3:17
8) Saturday-3:30
9) Neighborly Knuckleheads-3:06
10) Barbecue Breath-3:22
11) Get the Point-1:58
12) Stop It Now While You Can- 3:16
13) Take a Journey With Me- 3:55
14) Another Weirdo-4:14
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