For the artist formerly known as M. Doughty, one is not the loneliest number. Five years after the breakup of the funky, spoken-word groove band Soul Coughing, 35-year-old singer Mike Doughty is actually, you know, singing–and he couldn’t be happier.
En route to kicking off the tour for his latest album, “Haughty Melodic,” Doughty talked to metromix about lying in the street, Starbucks and, of course, flying solo.
How does it feel to have the “ike” back in “Mike”?
I just felt like, at some point, I wanted to have a first name like everybody else does.
How do you differ as a solo artist than as Soul Coughing’s frontman?
I think the songs are a little bit more emotional . . . more paired down. It’s a little more sung, rather than spoken. The lyrics are more direct and narrative.
What do you get out of having more personal, honest lyrics?
It’s just a change. … I just got to a point where I really wanted to be a singer-songwriter. At the end of the life of Soul Coughing, I wanted to split and just be an acoustic guy. Everyone pretty much thought I was out of my mind because we were really successful. I quit the band, got dropped by Warner Brothers and then hit the road in a rental car, and I haven’t looked back.
Did you ever second guess that?
No. I was just seized by the desire to do it. It never really occurred to me that it might not work, which I guess was just blind foolhardiness.
How do you respond to critics who say the new album is conventional?
I think, coming out of Soul Coughing, it’s hard not to sound more conventional. . . . If this is what conventional sounds like, apparently I’ve been deluded and perhaps I should buy more music at Wal-Mart.
It really blows my mind that people find it more commercial. There’s so much weird stuff in there. There’s layer upon layer upon layer of strangeness and uniqueness just lurking beneath the surface.
Have you heard any feedback from Starbucks about your song “Busting up a Starbucks”?
No, they’ve been really cool about it. The thing is, it’s not an anti-Starbucks song. It’s making fun of a kid who would channel his rage into busting up a Starbucks. I think they get it. I don’t think you’re going to hear the song in the stores anytime soon, but I think they get it.
How long did you lie in the street for your video “Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well”?
Too damn long, man. I dig Danny Clinch, the director, so I just was like, “Look, I’m just going to show up; tell me what to do.” He was like, ‘Lay on that pavement!”
Was it easy to stay prone for the entire shoot?
Well, no, there was some standing up, sadly. I hoped for it to be the most relaxing video shoot of my life but, sadly, there was some standing up and walking around.
What do you like about the upright bass?
Unless you get a really, really amazing dude–of which there have been, like, two in history–electric bass just sort of fills the music with this weird kind of foam. Upright bass has all these weird overtones on it. It’s got more breadth to it; it’s more human. I’ve just always preferred it. I’d also like a tuba player, to be honest; that’s a hip, low-end instrument.
Do you think you’ll have a tuba player on your next album?
Well, I’m loving my bass player right now. But give me five or 10 years; there may well be a tuba player.
Mike Doughty
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: Park West, 322 W. Armitage Ave.
Tickets: $18-$20, 312-559-1212
— and —
When: 3 p.m. Saturday
Where: Borders Books & Music, 830 N. Michigan Ave.
Tickets: Free, 312-573-0564
