Chris Danforth talks about his cover of “Box Elder”

D’s Moog Werkstatt

The hardest part of this cover was figuring the herky-jerky, syncopated vocal delivery of Stephen Malkmus. I kept screwing up and forgetting words… so I just kept some of them out. I also I loved the bravado and COVID irony of the lines “I got a lot of things to do. A lot of places to go.” Not during quarantine, buddy! 

I kept it simple and just used my Moog Werkstatt, plus a homemade stethoscope mic and SM58 to record my vocal tracks. The stethoscope mic has a crispy, crunchy sound that helps give character to my dull, stupid voice. 

-Chris Danforth