The Off Key stays on pace

Since the beginning of 2009, Milwaukee singer-songwriter Aaron Schleicher has been writing, recording, and posting a new song to his website on a weekly basis under the name The Off Key. Schleicher, who also plays guitar and sings for local band Juniper Tar, started the project based on a New Year’s resolution to be more disciplined with his creative process. And while most of us have already given up on our diets and quit-smoking plans, Schleicher is still writing a new song every week, nine months later. The A.V. Club recently talked to him about why such a demanding concept continues to hold so much appeal for him.

The A.V. Club: Has The Off Key project fulfilled your expectations? Has it made you more self-disciplined?

Aaron Schleicher: I guess getting into it and not really knowing what it was going to do led me to approach the project with pretty low expectations. But that’s a tough question. I guess so far it’s exceeded my expectations of what I wanted to do with this. There are definitely people that I know that follow along and nudge me when a song is not on time, which I didn’t expect. But the most unexpected response has come from my parents. My dad has always been a big music fan and my mom just likes to see what her kids are doing. I honestly didn’t think they would pay much attention to it, but I think my mom and dad are the people that follow the closest from week to week.

AVC: So your parents haven’t been close followers of your musical career up to this point?

AS: [Laughs] No. This is just a side project for me. My parents have never really gotten my full-time band Juniper Tar, so I was a bit hesitant about throwing my own, weirder stuff at them. But then my mom and dad started chiming in, saying things like, “Hey, I really love this one.” And even on some of the more obscure songs that I’ve done my mom would chime in and say, “I really like the different direction you’re going in.”

AVC: Has this experiment changed the way you approach songwriting and recording?

AS: Yeah, it kind of has. Within a relatively short period, I take a lot of time to put these songs down: I’ll start from scratch, get into the studio at 9, and work until 5. So the scope of how I write songs has become a bit different, as I’m now more aware of my attempt to capture a listener’s interest.

AVC: Starting at 9 and ending at 5. Do you see this project as a job?

AS: I definitely do. With the limited time I have I kind of have to. As the week progresses I become more conscious of the fact that I have to block out time. So I have started to treat it as a job. And I love it. I love having that obligation that something needs to get done in a week. It’s kind of like taking care of a pet, and it’s kind of like my pet. If I don’t take care of it there are repercussions.

AVC: Let’s pretend it's December 31. Would you consider extending this project, or is it something that has a purposefully finite lifespan?

AS: I guess I’ll see what happens when I reach that point. There are a few things that I’d have to re-evaluate if I were to continue. When you’re dealing with writing a song every week the quality of the songs suffers and the idea of the project becomes the focus, which I don’t know is the most important thing when you’re dealing with songs. I like this regimen, so on one level I’d really like to continue doing it. But I’m also starting to realize that I should take more time with individual songs. The songs shouldn’t suffer—and they have. So we’ll see what happens.