Counting Crows

0:00Adam. Hey man, how you doing? I'm good. How are you? I'm all right. You getting ready for the tour? You your how's your voice doing? Fine. Yeah, no the guys from foreign field drove up to Nashville yesterday and they got in last night You may just head it down to the rehearsals and I'm heading down there in a little while What what are you rehearsing for the tours? You're not going through the whole catalog are you? I Know others you know it's a I wanted a couple days for the opening dance because there's three of them It's more than usual So I'm not sure how time is gonna work every day for every band So I wanted to make sure also became two important examples for I really wanted them to get the stage in the first day with great Sound great monitors so that they can play comfortably and with audiences can also

0:46Hear how good they are right away and I'll spend a lot of time You know a lot of gigs getting their sound up to where it should be so foreign field and Good old war human are coming in two years early today and still a graduate Geeks next looking in tomorrow and we're you know, we're just we've got the venue and we're doing lighting stuff in there anyway So we're going through everything and I'm gonna go and supervise I try to make sure all those sounds It's up and running and they sound great and all the harmings and things they do are being picked up for the audience to hear it Today I had a time so that on day one there sounding great. That's amazing. I mean I'm worried about it Yeah, I love what you do for all these young bands I mean I was down in south by the other road show was cool It was amazing and what you do it now and I like what you did with Augustana last summer where you guys were all playing on stage at a time

1:35So it was so where did this idea come for for this tour? This really kind of grew out of the allerotra. I mean, it's just really It's and everything Ryan's father, you know from Ryan's national life everything he and I had been doing for the last few years He's doing it for longer, but You know just sort of the showcase we've been putting on Big part of our sort of lives and what's interesting us, you know, I'll sort of Walk it in but you know passion for sort of working with all these bands I think we just Into talking about like, you know, just friend conversations about what I was gonna do You know with that though it shows over I'm kind of making all that they're doing it I really love all the interaction all the bands and how great it was to be around so much great music Oh, there's a lot of bands are friends right now

2:22And I know it's just you know, I'm talking to one of my managers For Nana, you know, she was really saying look you're curating all this Material with the band you work with on their label and you're you're you know, you're kind of curating your Outlaw Rocio with Ryan and it's just a big part of your life, you know, why aren't you curating Why are you integrating this more with County Croats? And you're in the past no one had really thought It kind of was a step I guess in the past but we got kind of discouraged From work taking out a lot of bands like this because what were the people thought we had different audiences And therefore looking at it too much but But I was more enthusiastic about it and Ryan had been talking about how much we like doing it and

3:07It was gonna be sort of the bummer because I was too busy over the next year to do a lot of this kind of stuff together And I don't know it just sort of seemed like well, why not? Take a cat in crosstor and turn it into a you know a You know like a Top X off left in motion, you know, why not take what we were doing with the outlet road show and just take some of those bands out on the road This and how do you know, I started thinking of the band yeah, um You know, it's just kind of a mixture people suggest and stuff um I Somebody the bands are on the road show that are there bands that have been on show the past their bands that are On the record that we covered they're coming out with us

3:55And keep it play the road show this year like we're already riding on the road turn I think the third leg while he was almost certain come out with us on that leg Casey Anderson had both played a Robbie right never played the road show before but I know those guys and Love band around we're recording the record Casey Anderson had played Multiple road shows and my team's gravity is on the record. So he's coming We were obviously I just Completely love that band. They're brilliant and they were amazing. I saw them down this year We were hanging out down off and I just realized I'm much I'm gonna go to work with them and see them every night because it was so great to see them most of their than Foreign fields will flights of the band that Sean Mueller from Dave Trotter send me

4:43An email and they have said dude you've got check on this record It's called anywhere, but where I am by the spent flights they're out of this world will blow your mind and I Went on band camp and got the record and flipped out And it immediately to Ryan said we got a call these guys up for the road show the one's up a couple left so he flipped out when he got it and You did and they came down there and They're a charter session. I was one of the best things I've ever seen it was so fucking good And at the first time when they were doing the first time I walked over to Brian Hall You've been corresponding since I bought the record and we definitely got them to come out top by Southwest They were playing the day charter down I was just great because Sean had been I've been you got a sense of music to me And I'm just sitting in the house down in Austin watching me play we finished the first song I go to Brian Hall and I said man

5:30that was so fucking good it was amazing because it really was and It was so cool to see them do it live so that hurt it, you know, but and you can go oh Kind of our first gig ever and we were a little worried about it But what do you mean? Which was just a pretty funny point of song you know, you know, this is our first gig ever Right now Oh, well, you're off to a pretty good start. All right, so Saturday you go after second gig Okay, you actually sit in a ball TV session in the middle By timing I thought it was better and but I mean they're coming out but they're they play the festival and their friends to now and

6:16No, no more was honest. I guess you go ahead with me good award for the honor suggested to me and I got the record And thought they were stuck. I got one other I got the first checker first one I was putting out on it and loved it and now I looked at all of them. You know, I think I called it the active listening to come out I don't see still it there is a their band that's been on Two or three different roadshow shows Ryan has been booking them for different After life concert for ages and they're a great man from Chicago. I love them They're really do like we played it when they played CMJ last year for us They were one of the last bands on the day because they're Pretty rock and stand But we also like to make sure that shows start off really well. It was really important at the road show in you know

7:04Austin this year to like Three stages running and we needed them all the off to get started in the outdoor ones It would be easier for such a nice place to be but the big stage the main stage indoors It needed some really good to open Ryan to just a putting failure open and show for these jobs Number one you want to start off really well on every stage, but you also Which I don't always think of opening is opening I think it's like starting to show But you also like me to ban they can handle doing it It's a great lesson for bands to learn if you want grab a rotating issue But like it's a lot of responsibility starting off the show and you can get down because aren't many people there There's a lot of bands that can't handle doing it. We put silver on first on the main stage The first up a couple of new fine doing things that I think but At the end of the first time I've been trying to do that our poetry art for us turn to me and said holy crap

7:53That's why rocks were noon Jesus It's like very eye-opening have them like blow up roof off it's new so there was your band you know this like form field cylinder and more the next thing is your obviously and Oh field report field report another band like my friend gave it out to you played several rote he works with Like feel the port down runs up here and he He said he called me out of it, but I don't have any music. I'd like a song still in Unmixed form, but the June Ryan consider looking these guys for the road show they haven't played in Gigi Had some guy used to be a bandwidth, you know Justin Vernon and they're really good And since then to me, you know a couple songs and they were really good

8:42It's hard to tell because they were unmic they were very early like rough from this first album They've made they were pretty great and right before we went down to Stop by Southwest They dropped off the whole record for me So I think about when I'm next it was really cool and then Maybe was mixed that he was mixed that point I had she wasn't much and when we saw them play at our show down and stop by Southwest it was I mean as an epic spoke to those guys that will I think between them and foreign fields the flights via Wisconsin owned The Alco Road to this year It's all advanced with consonants are particularly good and They were made the feel of record when I finally got the full thing Which I don't make the release yet, but it is the most incredible record. It's just

9:32Epic and scope the song is amazing. The melody is beautiful and very it's a big And yes, it's not an un-vigorous record but there is a lot of dope to it and Songs are these big sprawling ethics. They're really something I mean I sat there in the show before I really heard them very well and so you know them and it's one of the people Every line he said I'm gonna fuck a little dad. I was a little bad. So that's a great line You know it really kind of knocked me out that way just on clever lyric stuff. Yeah This is a comedy ride Tender mercy you're probably gonna do a few shows so they're like in guys from our band but also on the record and also a lot LaRocia And I think the increase gonna come back out For part or all of it. I'm not sure about the last form

10:20I've been really hoping to have them buffalo who were we played the road to the chair and one of my favorite bands in America right now I don't know if they can do it They may not be able to do it, which is too bad in which official times of me also But it's kind of that It's really a lot of people that we know and a lot of people that but I mean we know them because we love the band Right and we've become friends over the years and they've done our showcases or Record I mean it's a community of friends But the community friends that form in the first place because a lot of people love music and a lot of them are out playing it We're really good Really good. He said a lot in there that I want to touch on but but maybe I'll start with With south by because I'm writing a piece on north by northeast next week Which you're in town for not need not a part of it

11:06But it's still going on in the city and I'm wondering how festivals like that Help young bands like what have what have you noticed besides the El La Road show that you do obviously What else do these festivals do for a lot of young bands? Well, I don't know it's hard for me to say I mean I don't have a lot of experience of them because we didn't get to play even You know when our record came out it was just a long time of year and Right after CMJ and we'd missed our first check. I mean right you just help us up left with six months and I Time they rolled around the next year. We were kind huge So we never had the point of them in America where they made a huge difference for us was in Europe because There's a real thing going on with European festival the big festival not the at the club of like CMJ or not

11:56I don't see sir or something thought less but the European festival have this wild thing and that the audiences are very Open musically and they're also really into being there. So they'll get there at At noon, you know, they'll be there. They'll be 60,000 people at work there something at noon when the show starts with day off fall So, you know a new now that day will do like a soul Periodic Okay, for somebody else British pop band Like cardigan blow slow-bose Check the feel Yes, cold variety Yeah, then cold play us REM the glass and I remember us cold play Ariana can't remember

12:43I mean that's it's a live way to white bright So the could be people who just said the Ariana cold play or Ariana kind of grows and they wouldn't we make something to be there at noon for You know, so but they were I know that I went out early to say I was determined to be there to go up So Amy and I were on the side of the stage. I got pictures of myself looking out over a crowd of a massive crowd of people who are already there at noon and I can't I didn't know that was gonna happen because that's how we got big in Europe We had no success record companies and radio in Europe We went over there over there over the bottom of the bill and we played the vegetables and the thing is like If you're good and you can pull it off You're gonna be able to go on stage in front of 50,000 people at noon or two or three And you can do yourself more good playing as an opening down and you can as a headliner

13:31I mean you want to get to the headline spot But the truth is by the time you're the headliner most of the people there wants to you when you're the third on the bill When you're like third from the bottom of the bill you have got 60,000 people you get to coach. I mean it's just like enormously positive thing those European festivals for bands are massive for breaking yourself in Europe because The audience is there because unlike a lot of Americanes and later they come out in droves at noon and they're listening So if you can kill it you can build yourself and this We're extremely American festivals until the last two years sort of being at the and even more the indie festivals like Shop at Top West or G&J

14:18But I really blew me away with like How indie they still are You know there are big people playing and stuff like Shop West, but I Mean the first time I went a couple years ago. I Don't think I saw any band I'd ever heard of before except you buy new It was all indie bands You know all sort of unknown and All playing little clubs and all with audiences every single club had an audience in it Maybe not packed but there were people there watching everybody all day long and that blew my mind I couldn't believe after all these years and with how mainstream everything aren't spotty things to go How there was an attentive audience there for this independent band? now what it does for the band I'm not enough to share because

15:05part of that has to do with really figuring out what you want it to do for you because You can build buzz But you have to know what to do with that buzz and your question is what you want you want to Get people to go to your band camp site and by your record you want to get people to go to Victoria Give it away or do you want to get signed by a major label? I don't know whether that's the best thing for you or not You know and so like I think one of the problems a lot of bands are faced with nowadays is figuring out what they want to happen So because it's very uncertain right now everyone trying to figure out If there's a business model for being a record business and what that business model is That gives it about getting signed to a major or is it about building a you know a medium sized career for yourself Is there a way to build that up something more?

15:51I think we're all trying to figure that out right now. And so that affects my What I think the really affects what the thing can do for you is you know the need to figure out what you want to meet before you because You know they can definitely build a lot of buzz and people come out really hot I don't know what that means. It's certainly not hot for the general public It's not like it's gonna sell you a billion records. No cuz I mean But it is it is in the in the surrounding industry to be a big deal You know two questions Just want to use that yourself sign or is that a good way to reach out to all the blogs now because now they know you are the all right about you Do you like jump on a festival like ours? I think there are people who probably would have said that maybe this isn't the thing you do if you're we are 16 because you should be playing something bigger. I don't know but they're going to do it

16:38And I'm glad they are because they're a great man I think our fans will flip out over the the the passion when ocean in a village and their songs I mean they're they're like I Someone told me a lot of time that we were They reminded them of us. I didn't quite understand what they meant cuz didn't sound like it to me I mean I love their records, but and I love his writing But I didn't get what they meant until I was a show When I was at the show I saw how much of a stake on stage when they play like the The heartbreak the passionate how much is like involved in all the blood and sweat and every song Then I get what it is like right there on stage. There's a lot of stake we are on the scene. That's probably what we do too I mean I think that we get pretty locked emotionally and Billy gets gone seriously gone Yeah, so I mean, but I mean I think you know that I'm not sure that like I

17:28I would even have a great answer for what then or whether this is the deal and all things for them to do or not I don't know where this is the right to work for them. I know that I wanted them to come on it I'm glad they're here. I don't think it hurt them Maybe someone would tell them what say I said it'll certainly help at least Yeah, I mean I tried to tell sometimes American audiences can be very Blogg's day about opening dance It's what we're trying to really portray this as a festival That's why we changed what we did when we did traveling circus. We went out there and played first If everybody playing it once but there wasn't opening dance at all son of like Big all this music. Yeah, I feel like you were there on time you flip off when Michael fronkin you flip out for all the care Oh, no, Tarzan next year. All right, I think people did Um, but it kind of we have to like remove the opening band thing you do that

18:17And we've kind of tried to do that on this poor team because we're gonna rotate Like nobody plays first every night if you play first one night you play second next night and play third Then after that and then get back to me first including you guys are just the opening acts We're in a headline. Okay, let me get a lot of trouble if we did it again. Yeah, um, we wouldn't Be playing it play because we're playing along with that too, right? I've been playing now in half two hours at the beginning of the night Wouldn't work as well, but I mean, but they're gonna look at every night all three of the bands are rotating spots And it's just you know, I tried to set it up so that they could be At the top of it when they're in their hometown Um without drawing it around a lot. I'm totally ready. I do that for them. So basically um Now just kind of have it rotating with a couple bounces here and there to make uh

19:02To get a band that the spot in their hometown, but basically I was not I didn't really do anything to try and set it up from the beginning The right way and have it rotate What about like me that's everyone's only great bands And they and they should all learn to play first and they should all learn to play in front of more people And also they should all be seen by different kinds of films That's the career. It's been so important to people You know, it really is important uh, especially at this point and I just think Well, I just want to get in that thing of who's worked more than who You know, I mean, I know we have the headline but I'd be happy to have like search us forever We'll be all played together. How does the greatest most most I've ever had? But you know, I understand you know, I want to do something different this summer and also I think I don't want to uh Want you to see these bands and how great they are not all of us playing together

19:50We can do some of that too. Maybe but the main thing is I wanted people to see How much great music there is out there right now that's like Independent and that you have to like look different places to find it. You gotta go on the blog you have to go on the Daytron or you have to go to ryan smash of life. You have to go to uh, maybe dive your recommend And that's where you can find this guy or underwater Yeah, unfortunately not existing right? Oh, you can find them on a record right on the record Um, yeah, I mean the thing is like I kind of want you to hear how great these bands are because the thing is they're also not Outside the real house people like to it should be real myth that All music is really good that you haven't heard of it probably hard for you to understand or it's too As a character you're not gonna talk much fun. It's the music you like I don't think that's true

20:35The music generally really great and the better the music is The more fun it is. Look and these guys are great Do you think it's also do you think it's also there's just too much out there for people to hear like that is we're just inundated with with music Well, I also thought that there's only a couple Only two delivery systems that people are used to use it Period there was MTV and there's radio I don't think I think people are just getting into looking for different places. There's only a few more I think it needs to buy you know, they need to buy them their own some Um, and but I mean the truth is you really do want to read about me. That there's way I don't think better. There's more way more, you know, um and and at that given that You'll find stuff you love and these people Are really passionate about it and it's just a matter of kind of I think for this whole thing to work in the future

21:24We have to sort of natural people's taste because that's first of all not a business to do it But we do have to change uh Where they go to find it and just take a little you got a mixture of more effort This is a different effort because you have to go to store it by only stone You can go to roll over in bed and you know type in the rf rfl blog and you're right special That's the you can go to absolute pumpkin. It's really simple and all these people are delivering free music to you in a way that your man You didn't quite honestly because it's online so you can listen you can watch videos You can click and get tickets and you know it's all available to you It's actually easier. It's just that people aren't used to doing it and kind of what we need to all do is sort of Educating that sense just to look there's a lot people it's really good to think that music sucks nowadays or there's not much of it Or it's a dying business. It's really not it's just a very different business

22:11Trying to be a great time to be on a record company It is a great time to be a fan. Yeah, tell you there's so much music that It didn't really hurt anybody there being so much It just took a nice thing about that is almost anywhere you look like any of these blogs you choose to go to They're going to be talking about some great music Also because they don't waste a lot of time talking about shit. Hey There's a lot of the main shenanigans. There's a lot of Column space on Clegory and ironic be talking about what sucks up and up The blogs are people who love music and they spend a lot more time writing about music And you're a lot more likely to find something that you like When someone else is writing about something to pay like I think that is Is that why you made this record to expose bands or tunes that you like or were you just tapping writers block and said hey

23:01Here's some songs we did playing. Let's let's do it Yeah, neither. I wasn't having ready block. I wrote a lot of songs. Oh, so do you have a background? No, no, I was working on a flight Oh, the work writing work went there. I just didn't want to write about I didn't want to write for two different things at once Gosh, I was just really confusing because how did I decide where this long ago? It was much easier to get in a different mindset of writing to play where I was writing stuff Also, I was in a space where I really wanted to write stuff that I wasn't gonna sing I've never done that before in my life But I just like I got kind of burned out in some ways. I didn't want to I didn't put my head within the space to sing stuff But I wanted to write and I got going on that and it went really well and it just turned out really cool I think that's what we've actually finished that project. It's gonna be really awesome But uh, no, it's not the other reason either because it wasn't really done to expose bands

23:50But we just wanted to make a cover album for a long time because there's music we really love And we felt like we had some great takes on it. You know, we were making really good covers that were like More counting croz songs, but we really put a lot of work into the interpretation And then we you know when we started to do it, you know, we all talked about what songs to do um We came up with more, you know, like any brought in a demo that you've been working on with coleba I think we were bringing everything we wanted, you know, when I brought in a bunch of stuff too And I didn't get a bunch of songs because of all the flaps viewers of so much involvement and so much music I had a bunch of stuff. That's how it's good. Um, you know, and I so I had the romney ride song Like I love song I had Casey so I had a bunch of songs like Casey, but that was the one I wanted to do and chose me and Even got a Canadian body hospital. Oh, yeah, I said you even got a Canadian in there opening the record

24:43It's a Canadian Looping master. Oh, yeah Loop Canadian Loose Canadian. Oh, that's not a skank on it. If you get played on the radio up here, it'll it'll count as Canadian I don't know I mean I knew he was gonna lie when I met him. He lived in a lie. So I mean he was friends of Taylor uh Taylor Goldpink's nest so I thought you I thought they were like they grew up here so I knew that when I did some friends with people who knew them a couple years ago and They knew him and they knew those guys in uh I can't hold them calls before Death markets. I can't know what they're called and you know and they kind of hooked them up together because they needed to say here And he knew the band and that's how the robin year. I got formed. I knew that but I knew came from like Taylor and I thought some of the guys in dr. Spirit. Um, but uh, I thought he'd come from you

25:30He's losing an alley afterwards too and now Yeah, well he had a successful pop band here in the 90s And I guess he probably made some coin to move down there after that and you know, he's successful songwriter on the side too And I'm sure there's more business down there Well, how was it looking really young? I don't like yeah, he must have been 18 when he had that hit because that would have been like 98 97 something like that Oh, wow, which three 23 years old I mean, no, I was really young I mean, let's do are two luke mcmasters there there could very well be two songwriting luke. I don't know maybe I have a feel I don't know Really trying to think we got to know a lot of people and those guys all introduced him because But maybe maybe I would think he had a career before they would have had more connections than me feeling for that

26:21But you know what? Yeah, any of them is really nice guy I think that they shut up. They were in town for one day when we were making working on a record the second session And they came by and the day they came by was being working on a title. Well, yeah, just our timing really That's great. Um, it's like uh, we should talk about You were to say something about hospital. Oh, you know, like it's more like, you know But we only brought in a demo that he and coby brown were working on because I didn't realize I'd known coby for years for his brother I didn't know coby worked with him and then he called up and said he had or came in with just giving it like a mp3 of this demo he and coby worked on and it was just like I want to just coby on guitar and he playing bass and he loves flipping on bass every time Um, but uh, he did a very serious debate. They played actually Um, but I mean we recorded that for our record before they recorded it for their record

27:10Oh, no, it's a funny thing. It's like our version hospital got done and it's coming out and their version got done after ours And I don't think they're gonna die. It's coming out very soon. So like so that's what we're like We're just like, you know, really with just a matter of What songs we just wanted to make it and we picked songs we wanted to play that we've been playing or something that we came up with You know, we obviously hadn't been playing casey songs around me right song or You know, when I brought in songs that we've never touched before That kind of came from all over two. I thought brought in Uh coming around the traffic song Uh, and uh, joe jackson song It's different for girls. We didn't work in the end uh And we tried girls talk by alice cello and mcmicholice and i'm sure i'm really good uh, and uh

27:57We also try and then we then the romney ryles is newer in case he's almost as newer and then kobe brown song hospital all of which are newer songs Um So the kind of came from all over but it really just something we wanted to do And you know, it's just typical luck. So once we get anything I cover job. We're not necessarily We're just looking for stuff. We want to play it. There's definitely no allegiance to like Play the famous song which is there are some on justice. We didn't intentionally make the most secure covers out in the world either Kind of like We're a little unadentional. It kind of happens. I mean Well, the work all is going to be a third bonic time if you do finish local boy and photograph Which were the hit in England as well as the traffic song so those songs aren't even secure over there They're just obscure over here kind of right um, but if you're working intentionally this and the two jackson's on one

28:42You should get everywhere but a long kind of go right um, but you know it's not like Those if had they made the album would have you know I don't know if we'll change much. It's still really secure covers out But the truth is it's just like as long as we like that we wanted to play that turned out well And that's why they're on there. I mean it's not so much that we have a lot of these stop processes and strategies About doing certain kinds of things that we don't have the ones that stop us from doing it There's nothing in there that stops us and you can say we shouldn't do this because it's too obscure And that's more what happens. I don't think we have any attempt to make it experience just that There's no waiting value to once from over another other than Either the good song and the trend has to make a do make a conversion of it. And really so like Talk about making good versions here the arrangements like it's it's almost

29:31You know people like to compare records all the time it almost sounds like this desert life in in terms of like the the country twang that this record has Was was that um, did you know that going into it? Is that it was that just how the arrangements came out when you guys started jamming? Um, well, I think for how it came out um, because it feels so fun was not I'd be interested from some of the songs that I mean to pin to mercy songs are Sentry doppelg

30:19No, uh, you know, I come from a really loving Especially that 70s positive dead boys and that period. Yeah, that's really being old big for me And 82 I'm sure so we got pretty wide taste So that's what and there's no bands bigger for me than big star Which is probably why I love young buff looks so much Um, have you heard that record by the way? No, I've heard the name a lot though and I need to I need to it's on my list. I got a we've got north by north east coming Five fun. You piece. That's really quick. Okay, but I gotta tell you it's so fucking good And the whole time I've loved this band they were like our first choice to get on the same day show and they couldn't do it for one We're another and when Ryan and I need to lift up the shop the top left A first band both the set of the king general who do you want to get to the show? Both my young buffalo

31:04That was their top of the list And there was you know for me they were for the summer when I saw them there And never got what was by love about them so much until I saw them live and now I think I get it Big star, I really know if they know that but I mean the the the The community it seemed like and they don't sound similar to big star. So there's something about them that is similar So I can't I wish I'd be proud. They're so melodic for one thing. They're praising melodic And they have a really raw edge which big star certainly would have seen the counting in 1972 73 You know big size music not to seem very raw at that point. I'll make you say like Open the motion No, down when it's done. We Desert life can be like it seems like our least country is record I always think of desert life. I always think of desert life as like our sponsor horse record

31:53Which I guess is kind of comfortable to meet desert life. It's like that's what we went into studio Throwed a lot of songs while we were in there. It's not almost all the songs and then Completely spent the whole time just experimenting studio with drum loops with feedback with like recording songs on baby monitors Now turning speakers inside out and turning them into microphones or reversing the polarity like That's what we just got around experimenting I'm sick. It feels like I don't think all records have country in them because we come from that we got like good night Elizabeth But you also have angels of silence as a catapults on the Oh, I have room lately on on that record and I'm but I'm like Funs ever like I'm

32:40It's funny. There's something something you've gone on with that record for us because That's the record. We spent his entire last tour adding songs to me desert life in the set and the end we're playing Hanging around this puzzle all my friends highlights come up blind. I wish I was a girl speedway All the time the only songs I didn't get in this set were four days any with the answer Oh really? I was thinking also things like and what was the girl and I like working for all of them tonight But we played one one there were hanging around and Potter. So you're not close I like Which thing you're not closing the shows with hanging around anymore That used to be the big jam for it Well, I guess last summer everyone was playing the whole time But I mean that used to be the thing where everyone would come on stage and sing together. Oh, yeah

33:29We do do it. It's just we don't always do it. Right. There's only something in that now like ranking is a great set ender And uh hanging around obviously great is come around from uh, Sunday morning. Yeah, um Just started being a great secose if it's on I don't think a lot of people know that the emotional reaction in the audience is So powerful. I mean be careful which ancestors you know or you're getting an encore but come around just like It just it works over and over again. It's starting to go crazy on camera I'm a deep very emotional at that point for some reason. I guess because what it says, but uh Yeah, this is why but there's something about it's funny that you identified that record though because that's coming out of making this record All everybody wanted to do is play songs from the city list

34:15We started adding them all back in the chat like I came around 12 really wanting to play which was a girl for some reason And that led into you know, we already played a bunch of those songs, but They were like top of that song too. I mean a typical opening set could be uh, we open a lot of shows around here into untitled love song into Uh, highlight or wish I was a girl interesting robinson into hospital hospital next and then Something else hospital was playing for I don't want to be happy about that. I mean it's just like you're getting like The front of the set was loaded with the schedule life and on the work sunshine How do you guys know that list it must change from night to night. I would think I Oh, yeah, I mean we make it up after So sometimes after sound check or after dinner

35:03I'll just text everybody or I'll go walking around and I'll say I'll just ask if this song is going to be wants to play um, you know, and then uh I'll I'll I mean I'll Depending on the four kind of like answers. I'm getting from the band or not. I'll go to opening bands I'll go to the new pre-shatching and ask them or I'll ask crew Because they'll we all live together out there. So it's like It's something that's on me really want here that night. Um, I don't necessarily follow the lifts. I get everybody but I do but it helps me to form an idea of what to make it that honest, right and then I'll just start making it that and uh we kind of we do you know getting sort of like structural patterns Like that thing I just make listen for you that that list line of songs, right? Um, that was pretty common structure not the exact songs like we often use those songs from uh new album at the front

35:52But uh, I could substitute any number of things into around here at the beginning Uh, I could substitute Highlights and and we show with the girl wearing a changeable camera. What was there's nothing with a great fit super For uh, saying Robinson, but we did so, you know using them out of that Uh, but you know, again more we get more patterns about like repetitive about so structural patterns The idea that sets can go up and down this this way now like more like the shape of the map than the actual things that make up the map Um, so then you find songs that work and because once you it's interesting to find different arcs Percets you can find it like the different kinds of arcs that work And uh, and then you find given me the side of now that I can make it work better or worse one nights better one nights worse and um We do repeat that but we make the set list up

36:39You know around dinner or after the sound check every day. So it's It changes every day. It's not completely um a lot If you find patterns that you like you feel like doing it again. It feels really good to keep Testing out different songs and different places with pattern and trying to get the best possible set list Are you guys rehearsed to play basically anything? You know at the drop of a pin if anyone's like, you know what? I feel like playing this one tonight. You guys are ready to go Well, you know, and if we're not that's what we'll be trying to talk to. Oh, okay Yeah, we don't know if I'm just so so so I know I would say you know everything but it's like that's what happened like on my last tour So like I said, I'll probably play everything right now except for Being imported. Let me get picked up. But we could probably play for days They're gonna go me held up for the past but you can't don't need me

37:27So take me back and learn how to do it. Right. Um, but uh, I can't really hope that we are in the Speaking of you playing. Yeah, you're not playing at all on this record. Are you on the new one? Nope, how come? No, I didn't play at all Oh No, I didn't work out that way because charlie's a much better piano player. So I will play on songs where There are certain kinds of fields that I do really well. Maybe even better than charlie like where i'm laying down the the real weight of the song and structuring it like like along december or I can do that very well. I'm not sure you can do that but or if it's something it really needs to Fall a certain way and where I want to be able to like really adjust dynamics of my voice like, uh,

38:18Good night l.a. Then Then i'll play it. I like played those on the record for the most part. Um, no, no records I'd say a little more in the past like I played this potter's on the record But I didn't but live it makes no sense for eight minutes to be out front I also played uh colorblind and black and blue and holiday in spay on the records But they make a lot more sense for me to be Out front. I'm just so like can you play a little dang Spain on the piano though? How about you did at some point? I've maybe done it somewhere when it was stripped down version of the answer something But it's not normally because at the end of the night it's a lot of songs if you're playing it's like very in the show right and not It's time to be actually upfront that one. Um, so I mean and also because mill is perfectly And mill is a good piano player. You know, and charlie does need to be more that song but still it would be a job when I think

39:05Like one of those I'm more likely to play on song if I wrote it and the performance of it is based around how I want to play it like those songs are names whereas uh These songs I didn't they're mostly Yeah, I didn't didn't even eat me on piano. It was better with charlie and it freed me up to just sing and I'll play piano but so I can express in something like necessary but not just gonna take a planet because charlie is So much better than I I mean I can barely play but charlie's great, you know, and I really can't better but I taught myself and I don't play like you're I can't just play along with anybody So I can play the things I write but not I play a lot of dynamic but but not with any sort of Clear or melody or any of the charlie to do in the sleep. I can't do it all

39:56Right Yeah, I can't blame you on very well, okay, but do you ever like I might say I can't play Very well, I can't play piano very well. I mean the other instruments are really bad I'm sorry, but she looks um, I can play where we're on exactly so obviously we can play I'm here. Oh, mama's chills perfect. You know, I'm Probably much everything honest On Slight alike we could play cataphones with sciences. Yeah, it's eating We haven't played on that sleeping off. We couldn't play that today. Elizabeth. You can play children bloom and see me lately We probably have to rehearse more things. We haven't been that in a while. We haven't done whole streams blues, but I bet we could Satellites we could do monkey mercury December walkways to play all those Desert life. I told you everything to those two candy hard candy to play hard candy

40:47We would probably rehearse one American girls. We probably stumbled through it, but it wouldn't be injured Um, good time with the play which Emmanuel is bad. Good time that played a shitload Good. So, I love that too. I love that song. That was like Like I really wanted that to be like I the kid that was my idea for which is kind of like Like really kind of like slow songs like hot buttered soul songs Food of that base that cuts off and stops. You know, it's like it's really based and then guitar that rips through What seems like a song doesn't belong in Yeah, exactly it it comes off you because I Think about It's so intended to be hot buttered soul. Oh, but people don't think really they're just not thinking hot but it's so in the heroes Um, you can play Christian manual said I think probably good night. I love butterfly in the verse. We need to check

41:37Um, Miami and you sent to your carriage black and blue rice to come well black and you could play all those rice to come on I call It's just hard to play it without the extra slivers Because everybody else is playing on it and everybody does some lots of parts and just something at the power It was great on the traveling surface because of all the different singers, right? You can make those walls of harmonies that song is it's just it's really hard to This way we could do up on night, but I have to have seen it again That's as long as better with more harmonies So we did on this tour if we got to become play with us because it worked really well on the circuit because everyone could sing that big harmony Yeah, um, how they're saying what to do every night. Um, so that's like, you know, it's better in Sunday mornings. We can play Pro chain two hanging tree rough and rough sundaes and significant Kind of like russian square since any morning put a moment. I'm thinking one as well. I'm sorry Uh, my dream that glandro we could play everything on the selected except for

42:27Anyone to do that. We haven't ever ever gotten that way to get it You mentioned Richard manual in there and i'm just thinking just not even the song just as a dude and the band and and how It's it kind of went the band and then and then a couple of bands after that probably and then you guys kind of took over that sound And now it's kind of does does kind of has that that sound and and they're kind of They're the band for for the people that want to hear that and you cover them on the record. Yeah, and I saw you at the show at South by and i'm wondering how did you stumble upon them? How did you get to me taylor? um I don't think it's true ryan I think that we were down there last year

43:14um middle brother was playing and uh everyone was talking about it and I had to really listen to the band then I don't think But right after that, I really didn't start. I really didn't see what was going on and Ryan was telling us how all three of those bands were off and he's middle brother at uh Newport folk They were all reading about sub spirit and jeer kick and uh, and they either are all on daytrotter. So I was at that point like inhabiting daytrotter You know just for music all day long. Okay Um, but you know I was I went on daytrotter and started listening to gods which probably why the first thing we The thing we recorded from dogs was not exactly from daytrotter session They're all my brothers and you know on a record. Um, but uh, I think it was there and then

44:00We'd have a ton of mutual friends. So I might have been talking about it on twitter or something and I heard back from taylor Um, and you know back on to the from taylor because he's a big fan too to be a little mutual admiration society That's almost funny because like it's you know It's kind of running joke at all this noise. There's a weird social media nowadays Just be like twitter and being musically involved in twitter like whether you're a blogger or a musician There's just a lot of chatter a lot of interaction a lot of Kind of talk online Between people who are you see yourself up there? You're like, oh that guy like my dad. I love him fan Or you go discover it then so Taylor and I mean the mother and i said Ryan and i had been friends for Three years i want to say before we were we before we actually were in the same place Um, yeah, there he's saying they have my friend chris fernes and he's like electric pencils on twitter

44:50We did all corresponding and talking rights for Ryan's not in life now But it wasn't until we were hanging out one day in Austin last year And we suddenly realized we never hung out together before And a parent I had had talked and Corresponded and texted and phoned each other and talked about stuff going on with our records and why is it for a good year probably and I had just never been able to make it out when They were around in a weird LA and maybe they were on a tour or they were playing a gig in New York I was either out of town or in one of my not leaving the house stages. Um, and then uh I know I remember before but uh, baby asked me last year when they were coming in the wrong tour with a

45:37belbergade and a band called the ducree band uh, uh, uh, the trapper um listen to rober listen trapper, uh And uh, they were all on tour together and they came to Webster hall and he like texted me the night before and said hey I'm a challenge. I've got here uh, mattley bar We paid the asking if you want to come Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no Actually, I said Yeah, okay. I got up and went down there and then to connect all I think Hey, I'm a tailor man char mower from a dee charter called me or texting me that dancin I heard you're down. I'm like, no fucking wait, I can stop down. I'm like they're running dope. They would all know he's there so long without ever hanging out. You know, I think uh

46:23So, uh, thinking of me and song mower. So I didn't actually hang out with him ever until him jail last year when I went down to see who did that and hung out with me and I spent most of my time at self was Hanging around the day charter house this year. It's just so cool. And in awesome Um So, I mean, yeah, that's how I met Taylor really it's just sort of We've been sort of friends for her, you know acquaintances for a long time Before we actually got to hang out and then we uh hung out that night at the bar and then after the show the next time we all went out for a while Um, and they had to take off and then just you know wherever we could pick it up since then I was out mixing Or jobs. Let's clean up the record up and Be a break in town since an Alina and dogs and books and chapar came through on the latter part of their tour to the film So me and our engineer jumped in the car and drove down from nappa

47:12uh and looked at show and hung out down there for a while and uh I was pretty sudden night actually since I ran into my my thesis professors in Berkeley And I I didn't turn in my thesis. The only reason I didn't graduate in Berkeley. Huh. Oh, what did you do? It wasn't good I thought I got an extension on it and she told me at the time you need to turn it in, you know within the first six months Or you don't that's what happened. Okay, well, I will but I didn't and then a few years later when we got signed I got really caught up in writing songs right then and I just Well, I couldn't seem to write I think anymore. Sure. And then a few years later like when we got signed I wrote a letter and said uh I need to be before we got signed. I just didn't want my bands. I just wanted I said I left I thought I left your

47:59finger box at Berkeley But I thought later I might have left in the round box and just said look I know I never did it But I just want to thank you because I learned a lot and I don't think I'd be A writer if it wasn't for you know the education I got there But I don't want you to think it's nothing good for me with this but uh Just want you know what I'm like being I'm in bands and writing songs. It's going really well. I never did turn into this but I didn't want you to think that I didn't turn it in and give this in spite of it the truth is like really appreciated my education and I think you made me a really good writer But I think I left in the wrong box and so I always bothered me all these years like 20 years later They're really bugging me, you know that I've never been able to tell her that like You know because I want to her students actually turned out to be a writer So, you know, I wanted to tell her that I appreciated it because sometimes it's like you hear me going on and on and on

48:48I didn't get to agree and yeah, they'd do all this stuff. They didn't matter. They were writers. I didn't I don't want to feel that way. So like I'm a writer because a lot of a lot of this thing including my education, you know And but she came up to me at the fucking gosh show What she was doing dog show she had some friend of their families knew somebody in Taylor's family or thing or I don't know what exactly it was but she was a dog show and she walked up to me and introduced herself and They love me out. I'm like, wow, I've been waiting to have this conversation for about this morning years I want to say thank you and she was really cool. I don't think it's what you expected I want I mean, I've really been waiting to tell her thank you for a long time. So That's really cool, man. Thanks. Also. I wondered most of many students who actually fuck up and don't get their degree come back and thank you

49:35Anyways, right? I don't know Basically We'll be talking for like an hour. I don't know how much time you have I feel about I'm taking up your whole afternoon here I just gotta get on the car and we walk the farm fields I understand in my house because I just a lot of extra days in New York. So I told me to stay here Lacing up last night Hmm. I was gonna say then we'll wrap it up We do something called five questions just five quick questions one more to answer Yeah, they just went down to ask their part for the rehearsal. So I'm gonna fall down in a few minutes Okay, we got some and jump in the car with an answer the park. Okay, so let's do five questions then Um, road or studio? What was that? We prefer yeah I'm terrible. I'm only good at really long answers

50:26I think they're most really important. I think there's three aspects to being abandoned I think you write songs I want you to home. I think you uh The main thing is incredible thing where you take a song and turn it into You take a skeleton and turn it into a song and nothing you do the studio From the band get the hold of it and you make a song out of it not just like some chords and lyrics And that's really important and really fucking hard And I both appreciate and I'm proud of what we do and I hate it because it's just fighting with your friends all times I am we go on the road And you turn songs with something different every night I think it's really important too And they're all great and they're all nightmare Nightmare to home alone by yourself trying to write and it's a nightmare to like fight with your friends and make a record

51:13And be sure of each other and tonight might be waiting for a million years on the road It's also Great to do all three of them and to have a life where you accomplished all that stuff. It's pretty cool, but I don't have that really like I'm really bad at what flavor I should be correct. All right. Well, there's a good question. You never have an answer for it Like very let's mix that and it comes with you know, they're both they're all really important. I'm not falling straight We'll continue through and we'll see we'll see how these go That's why I guess you might get it. Yeah, uh, london or mccourtney And you know what said london or mccourtney I got an answer out. Okay McCartney When you hear a song cool when you hear a song what he's a little wide i'll tell you why though because You understand that all right because

51:59Because I think we're in the great especially great writer really but But Nality Is Unquantifiable. I mean you live you today. So you got shoots right about I don't know where people get melody from The ability to like write something that sticks in people's heads for Pan 2050 couple hundred years the ability to be Puccini or McCartney is I don't know where that comes from. I don't know how people do I don't know how one guy wrote so many pieces of music that I could hum 50 years later. Yeah I don't know how possible and that that to me is like such a rare thing that

52:45Could all the bark and perspective cool songs in the world are great, but the only reason we love music Because now it he gets the guy his book studio stuff So agreeing when he is the ability to write something that we're all humming It's not about them being done songs. It's just they're like You can't stop humming and that's all you remember the beat. I'm sorry It's all you remember the beat. I've been living in great great modus songs too, but but McCartney's ability there are like Picked without fear That's what kind of leads into the next one a little because the next question is um What hits you first when you usually hear a song lyrics melody or rhythm? I Was there seen melody that I could put in Oakland and funk the big part of life there and funk is a big part of my life

53:36um, and so I see the melody or rhythm. I would think Probably it's what I write first too. I write the melody and rhythm not lyrics Yeah, and I always write from music and melody and rhythm, which is very tight as to that Uh before lyrics. Maybe I might have a line that I always starts with a song that I'm melody that I want to think interesting cool song you've written you're most proud of well, I honestly Have a lot of trouble with this kind of question because I don't really tend to weigh the value of one song it's another because They're kind of like you like your elbow. You need better. I know that pretty big part to me um

54:22I don't know. Um if that really changes a lot uh, I would have said cowboys years ago but Just because it's got a lot of scope to it and also the orchestration we did for the band have like a punk song moving at that speed yeah with Seven foot all of the instruments playing we think I'm out of each other and have it work all that one does it's pretty uh A lot of people thought that should have been a piano. I was going to wrote it I heard people in piano. I thought it should have just broken me on piano But I always thought here I heard it the other way but it was so complicated. It didn't seem like it could be a big No, it sounds good. No, it could have been fun. I mean it was Which thing I said it sounds cool the way it came out. I like it as a rock. Yeah, I mean too I mean that's how I wanted I wanted to be like that. I never thought it should be a quiet song, but I think that uh

55:10Well, the most beautiful song I think is probably that we have recorded Is um Are we gonna get the answer? I think that's really really beautiful. So it's all our routine for like whole experience writing and the band's Composition arrangement performance, which is like a big part of the hard part doing it And he's so beautiful to me and so perfect as a recording and you have that weird gatherer life quirky beef shit going on, but it's also very very beautiful kind of wealth um If I can have all that weird stuff on it and so meant to be a wall, I really love that song. I think that uh Anything out of turn cowboy's for pure writing right now There's the last song I wrote for the play is called the shortest goodbye. There's the one's the concealer girl and so

56:01Trio's song. It's like three separate songs for these three women that becomes one Trio in the end like three little vignette songs is women's thing and it becomes one song. Yeah, that's my favorite thing i've written a huge gem land to do something that we did more more recently because For that sort of thing because that's really rough and emotional and that song the shortest goodbye is I told them my favorite long title. I've heard I don't write so I don't write titles like that generally but sure this could buy is a long to Your manuals a long title. I like the long title But she's not yours, but well, isn't there something in parentheses too? Yeah Okay, I'm not I'm not following that friends is bullshit. That's just something the one time I gave it to someone telling me I should change the channel Okay, I'll probably should have even call up all night. It was originally called printing like it's Hollywood right about how it's fun. You're

56:53I was really a lot of science and miller at the time and uh When recorded I saw I was like seemed like I was I'd act only channel science and miller uh and then it's really hard with it. I just can't call it science and I get stuck where I can't name a song and You get really stuck on that like Speedway I could not come with the names of that song Logic that I wrote it and I can't name right away and bend our drummers. I call it. I'm out of here you bitch It was a meeting is on it's called I'm out of here you bitch And that stuck in my head so badly to song that I never could go over the title for it And then one day I just turned we're kind of rolled over and said Speedway I have no idea what I'm saying. It's nothing about a speedway in this song I don't know why it's named it seems like the right name. I know that I'm not a very rich with the long name. No, yes

57:41Yeah, I guess my answer to that question asked when you actually asked there are There are any of the answers most beautiful. I love what we did with Cowboys although I tend to take 1492 because that's so visceral And But maybe as far as your writing for me is probably the first advice that's writing that's wrong Right Cool and the last of five questions in one word counting crows really quickly like that In time the guy that you really think you've done one more answer subject Um, I have no idea I want more to keep you from that. I got nothing that's something

58:33I'm the guy who's using this I don't know. How did you what do we even say for that? People some people say live and people say yeah Yes, they'll do that. Yeah, I've heard that before Uh, yeah, it's a range of stuff man And it all depends on people just think of the first word that comes to their head I've heard like brick and sidewalk before Um, you know which aren't the greatest answers, but it's funny and it works Um, a lot of things you think all shown together is one word Hyphenated nice louder than you think it's like a twitter handle app lot of anything Awesome man. Thank you so much. I'm really excited to see you guys play next week. It's gonna be awesome All right, man. Thank you. All right. Take it easy. I Okay, okay Five five five questions lame, but It's gonna look really nice written out though. I'm very excited All right, man. Awesome. Thank you. Thank you so much. I'll go try out young buffalo right now

59:21Oh, you know what else is the one other thing. Yeah, I gotta recognize everybody right now I'm not listening to it Have you heard that everybody's clean? Nothing to hear Say that again. I miss that. Do not ban No, this clean this is clean. It's B. I s B I s Q E again this clean. It's kind of like plastic wrap. I think but It says ban from Seattle. This this woman racial floor card. It's like a third trio If you so fucking good, it's like Some really good songwriter It's gonna come off long but like if a really good songwriter like We a little bit like it would be motion like creasing iron or or or uh, John Mitchell wrote a bunch of songs and sang them with a A voice that was like pappanigars or angry part of like joe jet

60:10but like not not as Maybe a little but more like emotionality like clicking my name that that her has and but but the melodies But she's fucking She played the car and they have a trio and the songs are like the greatest rock the world girl could be ever heard It's just like knocking out. It was just there's like There are these great like melody pop melodies like you get on a like I keep thinking about that. It's not really what I'm thinking. I thought it's wrong. Yes, I'm just but we just like this kind of depth through it but not as like Freer flowing is crispy. It's more like sticking those melodies and killing you with them and like song is so the album is so fucking good. It's just like I'm addicted to it. I listen to it. I wrote over and over and over and over again and it just never gets old

60:59And it's just so fucking good. There's gonna be one song on the album. I like the rest of it I could go over and over I did for weeks too And every time I've told someone about this like me, you know, you could come up Well, and they they write me back or end up in the article how they left it So I'm gonna say to you that the discord album is This It's just like the gender wave time song this queen farmers are short. It's like a Take one of those 35-minute records of 30 minutes. It's just awesome. Nice. Well, if you're gonna give me some bae I'm gonna give you one from Canada's name is Dan mangan. I don't know if you've heard of him yet, but He's I'm not named and then gi energy a