Do you listen to the advice of your band mates? What would you do if they said a song was shit but you liked it?
I’m usually the one that says that the song is shit and it’s them being like, ‘No, you gotta do that!’ So I’m like the perpetual drag-downer guy in the band; I’m like, ‘No, that song’s stupid’. But luckily they just kinda force me to keep at it.
How do you think this album differs from the last one?
Oh man. Well, I think sonically it’s a big step from anything that we’ve done, just because the musicianship in the band is at the peak that we’ve ever been. So, there’s that, and then you have the songwriting elements of other people, where the second record didn’t have that. The first record did - we had a guy Matt that was in the band; he had written two songs on that record. So this is also harking back to that, where there’s some other influence - finally - back in there. It’s not so much my solo record with some people playing on it, it’s actually a real band. To me, that’s why it feels like a rebirth.
The press release quoted you saying it felt like the first real Band Of Horses album.
Yeah, and that’s probably stupid to say. But for what we’ve become, this is really our coming out party, I guess I what I was leaning to. Because now everyone that needs to be in this band, that has to be in this band, is contributing and is a real force.
Has the increasing popularity of the band affected the way that you write songs or think about how you’re making them?
Only, if anything, to get weirder, you know what I mean? Right now, because the album’s done, now I can be stupid and write the weirdest crap ever that no-one should ever hear. But with the songs on this record, I didn’t think about it much. I was more liberated by the fact that I could finally record myself, and actually experiment finally, instead of practising with the guys and being really shy about it - now I can actually really go bonkers and give them demos and they can help me refine it.
How about playing live - you’re playing bigger venues now, has that affected the new songs?
It’s hard to tell right now with the new stuff. The old stuff, I feel like we’ve really gotten to be good at playing it. This new stuff is at that awkward phase where... We just started playing some of these all together in a room - some of these songs were recorded where I didn’t even play guitar, I didn’t even know how to play it, so we’re just still figuring it out. So it’s a little bit awkward right now. You really want to be into the moment, but you’re concentrating so hard and you also get the vibe that you don’t want to lose the room, you know? So it’s just a weird awkward time right now. Hopefully once the record comes out, if people like it then we can really sink our teeth into it.
This summer you’re heading out to play with some big names. Is it weird to go out with big bands? Is there pressure to fill that support slot well?
Oh, it’s only exciting. Maybe once it gets a little closer I might start getting nervous, but right now it’s just so exciting. And especially to get to practice playing venues like that, to get a chance to play those shows with Snow Patrol and those massive stadiums - and then the arenas that Pearl Jam are playing. To get that kind of experience under your belt, you can’t put a price tag on that. So we’re just so lucky and feel really, really excited.
Do you embrace fame? Is it something you feel comfortable with?
Just because I never really thought of myself as being in this job or playing music for a living, I’m always a bit awkward about it. But the fact that we’re doing so well and I get to travel around with my best friends at the same time, no matter how popular we get, it’s keeping everybody working. We’re just having fun. I don’t think about it as like a fame thing; the more people that get to hear the music, that’s the best thing in the world. I don’t know about fame, but I know that we’re having a blast.
What’s the best thing that the rock and roll life has afforded you that never would have happened if you weren’t in a band?
My God, we’ve gotten to meet some legends, some serious heroes. We got to sing back-up with Ray Davies at Carnegie Hall, we got to meet Bruce Springsteen, we got to play with Roger McGuinn on ‘Turn, Turn, Turn’ at Madison Square Garden...we’ve just gotten to meet these heroes, these people that you really look up to. That’s the biggest thing, when you get that moment. Or Willie Nelson - we got to play with Willie Nelson and go to his house! That’s the best thing in the world!
Did your listening habits change with this album? Do you change what you listen to, and does it affect what you write?
Yeah... God, I wish I had a better answer for this... Besides the fact I mentioned being in Minneapolis and listening to The Replacements and stuff like that, and just being in that area... God, I wish I was better at this! I always end up listening to the same stuff, man; I really do. I try to listen to new bands all the time as well... I don’t know, I don’t think they change that much, honestly, unless I’m in a certain area; I try to soak up what the local sounds are.
Which artist’s career path do you most admire?
The first thing that pops into my mind is obviously Bruce Springsteen right now, just because I just mentioned him and I got to meet him this year. How insane that moment was just had me mining his whole catalogue and thinking how cool that his path has been - he always put out great records, and is still putting out really quality stuff, and is a touring machine! He was touring so much last year, and was looking great: healthy, happy and so into the moment. That’s not a bad person to follow, right there. And Willie Nelson also. Dude, putting out so many records! He’s putting out three records this year, and tours his ass off, and still puts on a great show - and happens to be one of the coolest dudes you could possibly meet probably in the world. If we actually nominated someone to be God, just because we could never find a person, I think we should nominate Willie, because he’s just the nicest person in the world and the coolest dude. There are so many people that do it right - it’s not hard to find them.
Do you think there’s a perfect time or place to listen to ‘Infinite Arms’? Does it lend itself to a particular listening experience?
I think it does ebb and flow pretty well - there’s a lot of upbeat stuff and a lot of slow stuff - and for me, those are always good for road trips. There’s really two sides to the record, I feel like: pretty quiet and maybe sad at times, and then a lot of upbeat stuff that can kick you in the balls a bit. So it’s easy to say it would be a good driving record. I hope it’s a good record for all occasions though, I don’t really know though - I can’t listen to the thing, I have no perspective.
If you could hope that your album inspired someone to do something, what would that thing be?
I swear, I keep getting - even today I got one - people that come up to me and telling me that they had their baby to our record. Or they had it on shuffle and all of a sudden this song came on when the moment actually happened. It’s happened to me three or four times in the past two weeks, and that is such a huge compliment. Some people do it on purpose, you know? That they would welcome a kid into the world and have the first sounds coming out be our band? It gives me chills even thinking about it. So, that or have sex - make a baby to it! (Laughs)
Where does the title come from? It’s obviously the name of one of the songs, but why did that title encapsulate the album?
It’s kind of a secret actually. All the record titles so far have been a little bit of an inside stupid joke, and this one is no different, except for that it just has a bit more of a broad sound to it - I think it does. It has a lot to do with the themes of what was going on during the writing process, and it’s a bit of a riddle, so I’m gonna let it steep for a little bit before we actually pull the mask off.
You like to put riddles in your music too, deliberately putting obscure lines in that don’t necessarily have meaning. But has anyone ever told you that they read something into your lyrics that you never thought was there?
Oh yeah, man. I mean, people get the meanings and the feel of a song sometimes the complete opposite of what my intention was, or what my stupid joke was even. But that’s the best part about it - the fact that it is a mystery. People get the lyrics wrong - I do that all the time with my favourite songs. You read the lyrics five years later, or hear it differently, and you’re like, ‘Oh, I always kinda sang something to that effect when I was singing along, but I didn’t really realise what they were talking about’, you know? In a way it’s like little hints come around and the mystery kinda reveals itself, but the fact that people don’t really know is my favourite part, because that’s what I appreciate about songs as well.
Do you labour over your lyrics? Is that something that comes easy?
It is not something that comes easy. Sometimes the odd song now and again will write itself really easily, but usually that’s the hardest thing for me.
Do you have a favourite song on this album? Are any shining through?
Yeah, I’m really proud of ‘Older’ and ‘Evening Kitchen’ - ‘Older’ was written by Ryan, and ‘Evening Kitchen’ by Tyler - because we fought really hard to make sure that those voices were being heard. I really love those songs so much. We really stayed strong about it and said, ‘No, this is a band and we’re gonna showcase it as a band’. So I’m really proud of sticking it to everybody on that one, because I really do love the songs - they’re probably the only two songs I can listen to, because it’s not my voice singing. But I really do like the song ‘Infinite Arms’, because it is about a really intense time personally, and the song ‘Dilly’, it’s like this poppy number that sounds like something we haven’t done before, so I’m just excited that we’re stretching our legs a bit. I’m proud of the whole record, but I guess my favourites would be ‘Evening Kitchen’ and ‘Older’.
‘Older’ was recorded live in the studio. Was that a good way to work? Could you record a whole album like that?
God, after the nuts time that we... It did take a long time to record this record, especially because we were kind of, in the beginning, trying to control every little thing to make it perfect, and the fact that once we started doing things ourselves and having fun with it, it was really liberating. So, since this has been such a long process of recording this album, it’s definitely easy to be like, ‘Next record, let’s just go balls-out, live, everything’. It’s easy to think that, but, hell, if this record does well, I’ll be back to being stressed about the next one. I’ll be like, ‘Shit, now it’s got to be a controlled environment...’ But two songs ended up being live on this record - ‘Older’ and ‘Compliments’ - and they have two of the best feels, I think, on the album, because of that. So who knows, maybe we can be a little loose on the next one.
‘Bartles And James’ is a great closing song on the album. Was that always going to be the finale?
You know, it became pretty apparent. Once we did that little outro thing - we did that live as well - we were like, ‘You know what? This kinda makes me want to start the record over’. So we’ve known that for a bit - we were hoping that it would be, at least.
Will the song go the same way when you play it live?
We cannot play that song live to save our lives. We’ve tried it, but the tempo of it is so weird because there’s no percussion at all going on, so we can’t really figure out how to sing it all together without some sort of meter to go by, so it always ends up coming out really awkward. So maybe, as the record comes out and if people start wanting to hear it, then maybe it will start giving us some reason to start trying harder or something.
There’s a line in that song about living by your own laws. If Band Of Horses could implement one law, what would it be?
I tell you, we’re doing it right now. The way that we’re taking control of our own destiny and retaining ownership, we’re basically doing that. I have no gripes about anything. It’s hard to think about changing a single thing, because everything is going so well right now. So I would just say we’ve done it; we’re living that right now and enjoying it.
source: Clashmusic |
