Multidisciplinary artist, poet and singer/songwriter David Aaron Greenberg admits that his work as a musician is more fully realized in a give-and-take setting.
“Writing poems and making paintings is a much more solitary thing,” says the decades-long fixture on Manhattan’s cultural scene. “While I often start a song on my own, I usually feel writing music with a collaborator is much more rewarding.”
A late-period protégé of Allen Ginsberg, Greenberg kicked off his career on an auspicious note, performing alongside the iconic Beat poet in the 1990s. During that same decade, Greenberg cofounded the hyperliterate indie-rock outfit Pen Pal, which released an LP on Evil Teen in 1996.
“Allen Ginsberg instilled in me a sense of dedication to the muse,” says Greenberg. “He always said, ‘When the muse calls, answer—even if you have to get up at 4 a.m.’”
Greenberg’s working relationship with songwriter/producer David Sisko began at the tail-end of the ’90s when the two formed Disco Pusher. For the new Trap Poems, the duo has hatched a forward-thinking fusion of words and sound—or, “a fresh approach to lyrical poetry,” as Greenberg describes it.
“Hip hop has helped to redefine poetry and language in general over the last 40 years,” says Greenberg. “For me, Trap Poems creates a dialogue with that linguistic richness. The line between poems and songs has always been blurry to me. With these types of poems, I’m able to embrace that ambiguity and hopefully create something that has an original spirit and voice.”
We’re proud to celebrate the April 3 release of Trap Poems with the premiere of “Snap Shot.”
—Hobart Rowland
