Q&A with Golden Donna’s
Joel Shanahan

Snake on the Lake Music Festival is tonight at The Sett at Union South. Thrown by eclectic student-run radio station WSUM, the event has featured All Tiny Creatures and Collections of Colonies of Bees in the past and this year Frankie Teardrop, White Mystery, Julian Lynch, Deastro, and Saint Pepsi will all take the stage. We recently spoke with Golden Donna, a.k.a. Joel Shanahan, who will also be performing tonight.

You just wrapped up your tour with Sweet William. Can you tell us about it?
“It was a lot of fun and mildly exhausting at the same time. Shows themselves ranged from dismal to amazing, but it’s really all about the amazing, overarching experience. l may be bummed on a show I played somewhere—but if I still get to hang out with great people all night and eat crabcakes the next day, all is right in the world.

“Touring with Sweet William was great. He’s a really good friend of mine and has an amazing energy and vibe, which thankfully made it really hard for me to get too upset or bummed about anything at all—not that I really had anything to be upset about in the first place. In his minimal music, you can hear traces of Italian Disco, minimal wave, and primal house in there, but the outcome is very much a product of Willie’s imagination. I was really proud to bring this guy on the road with me.

“It was also great to do a few shows with my friend Dania, who performs out of Milwaukee as Stacian. She’s an amazing synth shredder and was touring with another super-talented jammer called Magic Key. We just kind of ended up on a few of the same shows and it was great hanging out and getting to see them perform night after night.

“The most interesting sort of non-show-related, cultural sort of thing I did was I went ‘penny logging’ at a bath house in Buffalo with a friend who I met at the show. It’s a waterless skin cleanse treatment that they’re starting to do in these crazy, DIY spa houses. Basically, I laid in a bathtub and they put this long breathing tube in my mouth, they buried me in several pounds of nutritional yeast and pennies, and then they take a wooden rolling log and roll it over the yeast and pennies and something about the copper interacting with the yeast opened up my pores as they were pressed deeper into my skin. I honestly felt like 10 years younger afterward. If you find yourself performing in Buffalo, definitely ask someone about ‘penny Logging.’ Not a lot of people know about it and it was seriously amazing.”

Are you currently contributing to the live performances of any musicians in Madison? We know you have helped Julian Lynch and Trin Tran out before.
“Right before I got caught up between booking these tours and working two jobs, I was playing the Chelsea Roll—this strange MIDI instrument my friend Bill invented—and musical fish in a band called The Crease with a couple friends from work, but we’ve kind of put that on hold. With my touring schedule being kind of crazy, I just don’t have a lot of time right now to do that. I love it though. I definitely miss The Crease; hoping to do some shows early next year.”

What is it like to be a solo act? Do you ever seek out input from other people prior to, during, or after the creative process?
“Being a solo act is different from being in a band, because in a band it’s like I’m collaborating with other people. You know what I mean? Like, there might be a guy playing tuba and a guy playing drums or whatever, and then we’d have to kind of work together to write a song or maybe even just jam together. When I’m working as a solo artist, I tend to do everything on my own, though I may still bring in a friend to play the tuba on something as needed. I’m definitely open to collaborating with others, but I like the idea of always having a solo thing going on so that I don’t need to rely on anyone but myself. I heard someone quote Randy Owen of the band Alabama as once saying ‘You can put the mouse in the cage, but there’d better be a wheel.’”

What are your favorite bands in Madison? What your favorite bands in the country?
“For Madison music, I’ve been really into Nick Luebke’s carefree, fratboy summer jams. Check out the song ‘Darty’ here for a taste. Would definitely be into collaborating. Also, I’ve been really into the John Masino Band. He’s just an endless fountain of killer licks and showmanship. Always a lot of great music here on the isthmus, though. On the national tip, I’ve been enjoying Chase Smith’s Stay 12-inch, Samantha Glass’ Surface Water Perception, and Daughters of the Sun’s Ride to Die lately. Also feelin’ that new Jeremih single that alludes to Snap’s ‘Rhythm is a Dancer.’ I’ve also been jamming a lot of Bruce Hornsby and ZZ Top.”

You recently left your job to pursue music full-time. How do you like it as a profession so far?
“It feels good. I’m sure it won’t last forever, but I really wanted to have this experience before I turned 40 or something. I’ve been working hard to make sure that I work a little extra Sett Sauce into my set at The Sett at Snake on the Lake. Have you tried the Sett Sauce? It’s sick. It’s like a step above Arby’s Sauce and a step below Stadium Sauce. It’s been hard to work on too much music lately, though, as I’ve been spending most of my time in a car. Got lots of projects in the works, though. I just won’t have time to finish a lot of stuff until I get done with tour.”