How did this onetime studio space of yours, which we're sitting in, first become known as “Harry's House”?
I don't think Harry Smith's health was great in New York, so there was this opportunity, like, "Hey, we have this cottage on the campus." Allen [Ginsberg], I would assume, told Harry that he could live there and they'd keep him on as this resident wizard or something. [laughter] That's sort of how I thought of him as a child. Everyone knew his Anthology of American Folk Music, and that compilation approach informed me later on.
What's it like working with your mother [Anne Waldman], both recording-wise as well as touring as her keyboardist?
For me, she is both the easiest person and the most difficult person for me to work with. Sometimes it's one, sometimes it's the other. She's a forceful person, and, thanks to her, I've gotten to go to a lot of really cool places and meet a lot of cool people.
What's your musical background?
I had always played music, and I would make little recordings of myself at home. In my twenties, I did an audio engineering program at a school called Pyramind in San Francisco, and I had good mentors. I was just tired of making mistakes recording or learning the hard way. Although I still learn the hard way, I have a good foundation. I finished that program and I started collaborating with my mom a bit. She would send me something she recorded, and I would layer music onto it. Other poets saw me doing that and said, “Oh, I'll send you some files and you can play around with them.”
Describe some of your “Harry's House” recordings.
