Pluralone (Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Josh Klinghoffer) chatted with #Powerjournalist Markos Papadatos about “Feels Like I’ve Done Wrong” and new music. It is featured on his latest album “A Drop in the Ocean.”
Several songs seem to wrestle with uncertainty and self-interrogation, particularly “Feels Like I’ve Done Wrong.” What is the recurring question or feeling that you find yourself returning to in your songwriting?
Isolation, doubt, and the multitude of perspectives. Those seem to be on the menu most often.
The album balances songs written recently with material that’s been developing for years—even decades in the case of “Give.” How do you decide when an older song is finally ready to be finished and released?
Give is the only one that’s older on this album. Everything else was written in the past few years. It’s really just timing. When a song lingers, always asking to be finished or at least not forgotten, and I hear it at the right time, it can wind up in the running for an album.
If it fits, or finds friends among the other songs. It’s wonderful to see this song finally see the light. It’s been a long road.
Loss appears throughout the record, from the grief reflected in “I Hope You Knew” to the anticipatory heartbreak of “I Don’t Want To Let You Go.” Did writing these songs change your relationship to those emotions in any way?
I’m not sure it changed my emotions or relationship to them, but writing, or just spending time thinking about these things is like a conversation with them.
An interaction with the emotions that I either don’t have in quite the same way or sometimes at all. It’s always about having a dialogue with the emotions. That’s a real win for me.
You’ve worked with countless artists and producers throughout your career, yet this is the first Pluralone album produced with Eric Palmquist. What did he bring to the project that helped shape its final identity?
He brings sanity, structure and care. I have the tendency to not care about certain things that Eric is always keeping a watchful eye on. He really helps me focus and not succumb to some of my horrible habits.
We’ve been working together for years so I have an enormous amount of trust in him. I’m so appreciative for everything he’s done with me and our continued working friendship.
The closing track, “Sadly,” preserves an iPhone voice memo rather than a polished studio performance. In an era where music can be endlessly refined, what made you decide that capturing the original moment was more important than perfection?
Precisely that. I wanted to preserve the tension you feel from listening to me think of the chords just before hitting them. I was writing it on the spot and I figured I’d never be able to recreate the timing in that initial recording.
More and more these days, I enjoy listening to those moments. To demos. To Ideas. To music that’s not quite yet become a product.
Between touring and recording with major artists like Pearl Jam, Elton John & Brandi Carlile, and Jane’s Addiction, where does Pluralone fit into your artistic life today? Does it serve a different purpose than the collaborative projects you’re known for?
It’s pretty front and centre these days for I haven’t toured at all in over a year now. This album is out today, and I’d say I’m maybe 2/3 done with another. So yeah, it’s rather in the forefront. I never know what life will throw at me so it’s best I get as much work done now before the next adventure begins.
I slowly learn to carve more space for myself. I love having loads of wonderful projects to work on and with a variety of incredible people, but I do need to improve my work habits so songs perhaps don’t linger on the vine as long as I let them this time. It’s a process. It’s all a process.
His new album “A Drop in the Ocean” is available on digital service providers by clicking here.
To learn more about Pluralone, check out the official website, Instagram, and Facebook page.
