Cover music long enough, and you come to accept that there are plenty of artists that will never make the big time – they’re too harsh, too niche, too goofy, too intense. But every once and a while you come across someone you’re amazed hasn’t broken through in a serious way, which is the exact reaction I had when I first heard Parent Teacher’s “Murderahh.” The centerpiece of Parent Teacher’s 2024 full length album Ethereal Collapse (available on Bandcamp), “Murderahh” is the kind of hazy, downcast rock track that carries a lot of the 90s influence and Alex G/Car Seat Headrest virtuosity that seems tailor-made for modern indie fame. The rest of Ethereal Collapse is similarly well-crafted, boasting a level of production value and layered dynamics that make it hard to believe it was all (mostly) recorded by one guy.

But as I picked up the phone way back in early December 2024 to talk to that one guy behind Parent Teacher – who requested to remain anonymous – I became less and less surprised by how timely and well-constructed the album sounded. In my brief 40-ish minute conversation with him, he revealed himself to be someone who doesn’t do things halfway. He is someone who takes as much care of the pigeons on his rooftop (he briefly interrupted our call to blast an air horn to ward away a circling hawk) as he does his musical career, which has spanned the self-described “doom pop” of Parent Teacher and earlier electronic projects. I spoke with the native New Yorker about this commitment, their creative process, and, of course, pigeons. The following conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

I’d love to just get started by asking how you got into music and ended up putting out this record.

I’ve been doing music since I was a teenager. My mom was a piano teacher in Cuba and she taught me, not music, but how to be musical and just to enjoy life through music. I’ve been pretty much doing it nonstop and have taken many turns and twists of genre and style through the years. When the pandemic hit and there were no more shows, no more gigs, and also society itself just completely reached, like a new era, it led me to this project, Parent Teacher. It kind of harnesses a lot of my troublesome, rebellious energy that I had as a kid. I had too much energy and was quite mischievous and problematic as a small child, and I kind of injected that into the songwriting process and created a kind of platform for myself, and I’ve just been doing it nonstop. I don’t see an end in sight. I’ve been recording this whole week on new material, just feeling energized.

What’s it like revisiting that childhood mindset?

It’s quite a leap. It’s not like I’m a kid, so childhood wasn’t just yesterday. Like, I’ve lived, I’ve had a long life — I mean, I’m not literally geriatric, but musically, I’ve had a long life, and I feel like in order to keep it going, you have to kind of keep yourself new, and you have to keep yourself energized and for me that requires switching up projects and switching up genres.

How did you land on the particular sound of Parent Teacher?

I’m primarily a keyboard player. That’s what I’m technically most proficient at. I’m very bad at guitar, so that forces me to be simple with my song structures and chords, you know, very bare bones, and that helps me write simple songs, whereas I tend to have done more ambient, electronic, glitchy stuff on synthesizer. So, I kind of fused making electronic productions with just simple songs and with how things are in the world, it just seems to fit the moment for me. I felt that writing songs with simple song structures could allow me to tap into current events, rather than dance music where things are more ambiguous.

What kind of artists or albums or songs were you listening to as you were kind putting together this parent teacher identity and album?

It’s kind of binaural, I guess. I would say I was simultaneously listening to punk music, you know, Wipers, Descendants, The Stranglers, and then I was listening to lots of kind of glitchy IDM like Squarepusher. I was even listening to Gregorian chants. I like the candle burning at both ends.That’s where I get my ideas, kind of lost in the ether. Rather than just obsessed with one thing, I’d rather get influenced by little bits of everything.

If somebody came up to you and said, “Hey, man, I heard you have this project called Parent Teacher. What does it sound like?” How would you describe your sound to them?

I mean, I’ve been saying it’s kind of like doom pop with like 90s indie or grunge influences.

That sounds pretty accurate.  You mentioned that you’re primarily a keyboardist, but that you also play guitar on this record. Are you playing all the instruments too?

Yeah, I play all the parts. I have a lot of drum beats and samples that my friend played, who goes by Cru Drums. We’re long-time collaborators since college. We studied music together at SUNY Purchase, and he’s a tremendous drummer, so I’ve been lucky to have an archive of his beat playing and drum sounds, so I’m always able to kind of channel his vibes and bring it into the production. I mean, the songs are one thing, but it doesn’t really mean anything if it’s not pumping with the beats.

Not to invoke a cliché, but the drums are the backbone of any song.

Yeah, I kind of record it in two parts, I’ll record the song as, like, an acoustic fireside medley, and then I’ll kind of take it into a production zone where I could really flip it upside down and then bring in elements that are bringing more energy and keep me interested in it. I guess that’s really what it comes down to. I’m just trying to constantly keep myself interested with new elements.

Do you find that you’re writing for yourself, or do you have an audience in mind?

I’m totally writing for myself. I find myself listening to it all the time. I love it. It just fills a void, I guess. I love music as a whole, and this just kind of fills a little pocket somewhere, and I’m a firm believer that if you really love something – like, loving yourself is like loving everybody.

Exactly, yeah. Yeah – as long as you build something that you think is good and that you want to make as good as possible, hopefully somebody recognizes that and they’re attracted to it as well.

Yeah, it’s a very overbearing time for musicians, so I’m kind of seeking comfort in all this. Just, you know, retreating to my cave and cooking up what I have and not feeling any pressure, because the world is insane. At least insane with music. And everything else [laughs].

I don’t want to put words in your mouth, but as you describe moving away from electronic stuff into songs with simpler melodies, is it safe to say you’re trying to build something more human?

Yeah, oh my God. I mean, Ableton [a music software] has gotten out of hand, the plug-ins are out of hand. You could be 12-years-old right now and making the most sophisticated electronic music that ever existed. So, why try to join in that chorus when I could go the other way and do something a little bit more organic?

Do you ever see yourself going back to electronic stuff?

I mean, I’m a big fan of rave culture, acid house, Jersey club, Baltimore house, even Brazilian music, Dominican music. Club music forever, I love it. It’s endless. I wouldn’t be surprised if I go back to making electronic music. But for the first time in my life, I feel like I’ve found a creative groove here. But I would never say no – as long as I’m alive, I’m going to be looking for something new to do, or something old to do in a new way.

Is this project giving you something that your prior work wasn’t?

It allows me to channel into my kind of angstful, rebellious, really angry-at-the-state-of-things-in-general energy, which I think otherwise would be kind of toxic in the world if I was utilizing it socially. It allows me to channel it into something fun and positive. Some people might say my subject matter is dark, but I’m freaking hopeful. I mean, that’s why I do this.

Do you ever see yourself trying to perform this music live?

We actually did a show over the summer. Totally Real Records have a festival at a brewery in Long Island, and it’s called the MiniFest, and it was the so far one and only Parent Teacher performance. I have to say, I think it went better than I even imagined. It was a lot of fun to do. These songs were written organically on an instrument, so I guess that shouldn’t be a surprise, but that was a good time. It was a fond memory of the summer for me. I hope there’ll be more in future. It’s really up to the masses, whether they want it or not.

So I’ve been reading some older interviews with you, and It sounds like you’re – I don’t know the phrase – a pigeon keeper?

Yeah, I live in the East Village, and outside of my window is a a rooftop and there’s a family of pigeons that lives right around here, and since the pandemic they’ve been really social with us, and they’re friendly, they’re awesome, they’re insightful, they’re kind. Well, sometimes they’re not so kind, but, you know, so is everyone else. I’ve gotten really close with them, and I know them by name, their family lineage, and I look after them and feed them. I help them out if there’s any injuries, or I take them to the Wild Bird Fund, which is Uptown. It’s one of the best facilities we have for wild animals in New York City.

I also protect them from hawks. You’d be surprised how much of a wild natural environment downtown Manhattan is. It’s all out here. The streets are filled with crazy folks and there’s crazy birds and creatures running around here too. Gotta love New York.

How did the video for your song “Murderahh” come about?

That’s Andrew Strasser, another longtime friend and collaborator, just a visual genius. He produces under the name pixelmozart and he and I are just two peas in a creative pod. I’m just a lowly musician who’s secretive and hides away in his studio, but he’s a very visual person, and I guess we’ve had a lot of similar views of what’s going on in the world, and just the chaos and the dread that we’re fed, and how to put something out that’s not a casualty of said dread. It was perfect. I was like “here’s this song,” he told me his vision, and I was like “man, why didn’t I think of this sooner?”

How does it feel to see your music in a video like that?

I love it. It’s what it’s meant for. I don’t think that I make perfect licensing music – it doesn’t sound like a lot of popular genres – but I do think that it lends itself very well to visual elements. For some reason I always prefer that than it being me. I prefer some kind of interesting creative endeavor being used to show the music rather than me or my face.

You mentioned that you’re recording new stuff. What other future plans do you have for Parent Teacher?

I am trying to beat the buzzer on 2024 and have this secret album finished. So, I’m hoping through this December, which is usually like my month of doom, I could be really successful and productive, and just round this year out right. And [in 2025] hopefully that could birth some new possibilities. I’m looking forward to all of it, whether it’s more music or shows or meeting new people, new collaborations, new sounds. New feels. That’s what I’m looking for.