Chad VanGaalen Credits Criticism for New Recordings

In an industry known for diva musicians who live for unadulterated praise, Chad VanGaalen is an anomaly. It's not as though the Calgarian took pleasure in hearing his inner circle rebuff recent attempts at making a new album, but VanGaalen definitely took the feedback in stride.

"There's been like four records in between 'Soft Airplane' and now that have kind of been rejected by either me, or Flemish Eye or Sub Pop," he tells Spinner. "It was just them kind of coming back and saying, 'Really? You want to put out a super s----- four-track record?' And me being, 'Ah, maybe not.'

"It was never that anyone was saying flat-out no," VanGaalen continues. "It was like, 'We will do it, but really? We think you can probably do something that's more interesting.' At the end of the day, I'm super excited about this new record, whereas before I was just kind of, 'I want to put out a record because I feel like people want me to put out a record.'

So there's a new record on the way -- but is that one under VanGaalen's own namesake or the Black Mold moniker behind 2009's 'Snow Blindness is Crystal Antz'?

"I have a solo record that is coming out and an instrumental record -- but I don't know if that will be a Black Mold record again," he says. "I finished the instrumental record last summer and I'm really excited about it. It's supposed to be like, you know, when you're on your bicycle you listen to it while you're riding around.

"As for [what inspired] the solo record, I have another kid now so I'm like full-on dad, so I think my life has changed quite a bit, so maybe it's dealing with a compression of time; I'm definitely looking at time in a different way than I used to."

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Though VanGaalen's earlier efforts in the studio didn't quite hit the marker, thankfully, fans will still have the opportunity to hear what he's been tinkering on over the past few years.

"There's going to be a ton of bonus material," he says. "Just for the solo record, we're picking from close to 100 songs, so there will probably be some EPs that come out."

And according to the musician, ukulele will feature heavily in the special extras.

"Before this record, there was a full ukulele record," says VanGaalen. "So I think it will come out as a download or will come out as an EP, or just on vinyl as bonus tracks. Then, there's one with drones, just like modular drones, and that one has no home right now, so I might just put that one up on the internet as a free internet thing."

While criticism, even the constructive type, is never easy to swallow, VanGaalen proves that sometimes it can be a blessing -- especially if it means a nice boost to your catalouge ultimately.

"I'm actually really grateful that people will give me their honest opinion."