Mike Doughty

 
 
 

“I do a dream journal in the morning on an old IBM Selectric typewriter, then an evening journal on a 1983 Apple IIe computer. ”

Mike Doughty believes that old-school discipline is a necessary component of the songwriting process.

 

Mike Doughty made his name as the founder of Soul Coughing, but since ending the band in 2000 he's had a prolific career as a solo singer/songwriter. He's published two memoirs. He has a Patreon page in which subscribers get one new song a week—and he’s got a backlog of 35 songs in the pipeline. “I believe in discipline and the idea of working every day. I do work hard, but I don’t want to fetishize it,” he told me. “I do like to look back at the end of the day with a sense of accomplishment, though.”

That feeling of accomplishment comes after some consistent journaling each morning and evening. It’s decidedly vintage: he uses a typewriter in the morning (“The blank white page is filled with light and hope) and a 38 year-old Apple computer at night (“The glowing green has a definite night vibe.”). And he saves those evening journal entries on a five inch floppy disk.

Doughty has a new album out called Ghost of Vroom 1 with Andrew “Scrap” Livingston. Watch my interview with him below!

 
 
 
 
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Alternative, Singer/SongwriterBen OpipariComment