Izaak Opatz
Izaak Opatz’s music has always been about longing, run through with nostalgia for the passed-by and out-of-reach. His first two albums, Mariachi Static and Extra Medium, were propelled by a longing for specific people and places, made relatable by wry humor, thoughtful simile and close observation.
More recently, he’s been writing songs that long for an alternative reality, for different possibilities than the short, doomed menu offered by our tech lords and the current kakistocracy failing to regulate them. Songs that push back against the coercive pressure to indulge in small conveniences at the expense of personal privacy, a 20th-century attention span and the steady drip of a monthly subscription:
I spend a lot of my time now, jumping through hoops / asking permission from a little screen convincing a robot that I’m not a robot / this future isn’t all it was cracked up to be
Joe Kaplow
My music comes from life’s moments — smelling 4 acres of freshly cut grass, watching the steam from a horse’s breath in the early morning, finally holding the neck of my guitar after holding bridles and worn wooden handles all day. 4000 acres of freshly burnt wildfire, watching the steam from the Pacific Ocean’s breath in the early morning, finally holding the neck of my guitar after clutching the worn steering wheel of the tour van all day.
Now my reality is in Bonny Doon, CA, where mountains meet the sea. I am in my recording studio, aptly named Hippie Cowboy, every day. Slow and steady; keep it fun, stay engaged. All for the moment when the song finally sounds right.