Father John Misty

0:00Things going well. Yeah. Yeah, that's like the way we're gonna do this interview. Just give me one word. Yes things are good Yeah, yeah What do I got here? So almost like you're gonna the day you left sleep Sure, I don't want to talk about it too much But it's yeah, I just I saw the date on the Wikipedia page was like oh this crazy. It was like this week a year ago. Oh Yeah, it's what it says. Yeah, yeah, I guess so yeah So were you writing this record while you were with them or did it happen like from January? I guess April because it came out. No, I was writing the album the quite quite a bit before then I think it started in almost like March March of the previous year. So I mean it's it was a long time. So that mushroom trip was a couple of years ago

0:54Okay, so so you see and that's in the middle of playing with these guys with the other guys Yeah, I mean and you just took a trip away or was it a downtime on tour? I guess kind of thing that that was Did I have no idea? I know I know it's in like March March before I went to bear to Woodstock to work on the album with them in April. I think we started working on that album in April And then I moved to LA started working on the album months after that was working on the fleet fight. Yeah

1:45Seattle okay, so still on the coast so that the trip down Did it was that the trip that made you want to move to California? Yeah, yeah the coast will drive. Yeah, what about it? Maybe we'll focus on that a little bit What about the drive? Well, I mean I've done the drive. I know it's yeah I know big sir is the greatest place in the world. Yeah, you know, I Mean there there was just kind of a convergence of factors involved in it's just Just a lot of personal factors Relationship just a lot of things Yeah, I don't know I just really wanted to move and and I just it wasn't like I did a cost benefit analysis

2:32And and that was like the right end I wanted to do something reckless and something stupid and Moving to Los Angeles kind of fit the bill and it seems like an informed the record a lot You're singing about Los Angeles in California a lot. No, I'm not thinking about it. Well, I mean I'm hearing the lyrics about Yeah, I mean I'm singing about myself and in order to sing about myself You know with any kind of context or anything I have to make mention of the place where I am, you know But I have to that's interesting. Yeah, I think well, that's the way that I write Locations are a big thing Yeah, I mean it's part, you know, it's part it doesn't it doesn't magically make anything better or more personal or anything

3:19But you know I did think it was kind of funny that I was there and I thought it was like a funny kind of unexpected detail You know I'm writing a novel is what I what I hear kicked off the writing process for the record. Mm-hmm. Yeah, how come? And how realistic is that story? well Is it important how yeah, how realistic it how realistic Canadian shaman. Yes, okay. There was a French Canadian shaman And Yeah, I went and did it. I mean it's it's a it's a period of time all kind of obviously condensed down

4:05But there was like a ayahuasca experience There was a French Canadian shaman Well here, let's break it down. Okay, first one. I ran down the road Pants down to my knees there. I my pants were not actually down Screaming no, no, no screaming. Please come out I didn't actually scream that but I thought it would be funny to but I do remember thinking of the suspecting that he'd given more to me Then to other people because I kind of went into it with a bad attitude and I suspected that he was Looking to teach me a lesson. Are we talking mushrooms? ayahuasca what's that it is a Organic derivative

4:52DMT it's a Peruvian drug that they use in the Amazon to induce pretty intense vomiting and psychedelic hallucinations That's interesting. Yeah, so I went and did this ceremony and then First house that I saw I wrote house up on the door. I didn't do that. I didn't kick anyone out of their house My reality is realer than yours that is kind of true I do suspect that my reality is realer than other people's that's an interesting long because You have to and because whether you like it or not everyone kind of does And then third verse I Went I didn't burn all my clothes There was no black dog my friend did have a black dog around that time, but the black dog was more of a metaphor

5:46for my own like depression or whatever and that that's been a But that's like a very old concept in blues music or black dog Didn't drown me a lien I did write a novel I didn't drown me a lien but I did suspect that I had that I was tired of thinking about songwriting in terms of Idealizing other people and more or less like attempting to be an approximation of what other people have done Oh Hollywood everywhere I go and that verse is true Everywhere in Hollywood

6:32There are actresses everywhere and everyone's trying to play it cool and pretend like they don't don't see them even though They do see them and the people that are The subject of pretending like they're not being seen do you really want to be seen? But they also want to be left alone and no one actually knows what they want. I wrote that line down so found I find that Theory fascinating. Yeah. Yeah, because you're you might be dealing with that now with it But I mean this band has become successful over the last year. Yeah Yeah, yeah, I'm sick. Yeah, definitely. I mean I definitely Like the language around this whole thing is like really really you know at some point and anything that's repetitive gets gets really Get gets exhausting especially if you're a creative person and you thrive on on

7:21noon and you thrive on Destroying things to create new things like to you know if I would probably be Right now my instinct is actually to just be is to be like, okay This is that's enough of this thing of living like you know I mean I understand why but you're asking me, you know being asked questions like about things that at this point now happened I Guess like two years ago or yeah, and just being like I don't I don't know like I don't I would just assume like Destroy that whole experience now in the same way that that experience was used to destroy a previous experience But you know with the but with the nature of this kind of thing. Yeah, you have to answer for these

8:13You know these things that you have to like Drag these corpses out into the public square and beat them again and again and again Do you feel that we were playing these songs live? sometimes yeah, I think I mean I Mean sometimes not But I mean I really you know I enjoy singing them But I what I enjoy more is like you know writing and and whatever but but there's You know there shouldn't be any mystery to that. I mean like there's a whole Pragmatic quotient to this that isn't really worth talking about but can't be ignored Which is just like making a livelihood or something like I'm playing and whatever and it's better than digging a ditch

9:02So yeah, but I guess the question are you getting used to the celebrity of it all I don't know is there any celebrity? I don't think so. I mean it's not like celebrity No, but people are coming to see you play right if you worked out after the venue people would probably happen to you People would come up and ask me where I played last night Oh, yeah, absolutely interesting people would come up to me and ask me Yeah, they would they would want to take a picture And then they and then they would ask me how I like Toronto and then they would ask me where I played last night And then they would ask me where I'm playing tomorrow night Then they would ask me how long I'm on tour And then they would ask me if I had a break after this tour And then they'd want to know how long that break was and then they would ask me

9:49Where we go on tour after that break? How long we're gonna be on tour and then the last question would be whether or not I'm working on a new record which is Kind of which is kind of no, it's not Seems like everyone asked you the same thing. Oh, yeah, what's fascinating? Oh, no, it is it is well But if you know anything about you know, but it I mean People walk around That's not limited to this kind of thing people walk around saying the same like banal bullshit to each other, you know Whether they're celebrity involved or not like how you doing? Oh, I'm good. I'm busy really busy, but it's good You know I'm busy, but it's good like that, you know that kind of shit You know saying I'm busy being a device wherein like you let people know that

10:41Think that everything is okay and that not like If you're busy, then you don't have to like belabor people Your internal world I read an article on that how we use the word busy now just even just to get out of things now Oh, yeah, because you want to seem totally important to your friends. Oh, I'm busy Really busy busy, but it's good. I mean it's good. It's good better being better to be busy than not No, it's hard, but it's hard, but it's good, you know, and it's just constant checks and balances of like You know placating one another but you know It's and it's not because people are stupid or whatever, but but

11:28Truly it's because They are there there's some novelty To me, it's weird that I'm standing there and that they're used to hearing me there You know, it's just like weird other dimension of me and they don't care Where you know if you quiz to them the moment after I talk to them and ask them where I played the night before where I was playing the next night How long I've been on tour you know all those questions they wouldn't know they couldn't tell you any of them because they're just they're like Putting a coin in a slot to like watch Mickey Mouse, and you know top, you know, do you think you like that? Oh, yeah, I should have interesting. I feel like Mickey Mouse for sure I should bring like Mickey Mouse gloves But that's the performance that be something else. Yeah, at least for the picture taking yeah

12:16But that's also another interesting development now that everyone has cameras on their phone Oh and another thing kind of on the same along the same line I shouldn't be talking about any of this to you actually because if you print any of this I will be seen It's like a total English. No, no, I'll keep where I'm I'll make it sound good. Don't worry where I'm you know I mean this is just the reality But I find the celebrity culture fine, you know, because I become a part of another another thing that's kind of nuts is this The preamble to every encounter with people after a show is always I hate to be this Person or I hate to be that person or I hate to be annoying or I hate to be that or I hate to be this But I have a picture Not in a long time

13:05Maybe that'll make it seem more More universal. Yeah, well one time I did walk up one time Nick Cave was playing a festival and Let's see so you've been on the opposite side of it though. Well, yeah, I mean once once your toys I mean, I don't even know I'm talking I mean you asked me you asked me how I'm dealing with like select, you know Celebrity culture which I don't think is you know necessarily the case like but I also think that it's totally relative I mean to like to the right person. Yeah, I'm like a bigger celebrity than you know whoever sure but But Yeah, Nasha, I don't I don't see it that way and so it's hard to say how I think about something that I don't

13:54Proceed to be the case But yeah, I mean I'm saying that For whatever reason there is like kind of a culture of group think around People who are you know, I think it's just a group think culture and I do it all the time, but I don't know There's just not there's not much interesting to say to anyone that you don't know Sure, you know and you don't really have like There's a really occasion to say Much to a stranger, you know as we're sitting here trying to have a conversation. Yeah, I mean I don't know how to do it Like I don't I don't have a rapport with much of anyone anymore. I thought we had a good talk last time

14:42Yeah, I recall I recall I recall I think you're lying right at that's fine. Yeah, no I mean, I don't really like interviews much. I don't think many people do it's a weird thing that you have to do to talk Where's it like you're saying well that right when it's finished when it's when it's like Yeah, when when you're just kind of You know, it takes me it takes I can I can talk at length and spin beautiful metaphors and deep insights into my you know about myself and my experience and that's like more kind of what I do in song But that is a very like That looks very different from like sitting down and like answering pointed questions or whatever

15:29But yeah, I mean I've become like probably Probably when we started touring in Mayo. I mean I spent a lot of energy talking to people like after the show and But you can only do that so long I mean like you know, I've lost like two octaves in my voice, you know really just from like Constantly talking constantly performing Traveling all you know that stuff but Yeah, I just the world is a boring place Well, you're not much to say the way you read about it makes it sound like a fun place. Well, that's good I Was watching interview with you talking about lost my so you'm watching big boy play has that changed your performance

16:17I want you watching something like that because you were talking in depth about how he was able to do it with the The audience. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, I don't think that I think that was more enough. I'll be permitted to to say it like that Yeah, I think sometimes sometimes I don't know that Inspired is really the right Thing but but sort of like seeing a threat of continuity where you're like, well, that's kind that's kind of what I do and here it is in like like maybe a more like extreme well oiled kind of manifestation, but just recognizing the the threat of continuity and and recognizing that there there's something in that

17:04It's like a very Abstract form of musicality Employ what do you mean by that? That's interesting. I just mean that there's something Not like all I mean by is that it's like non Traditionally, you know, he's not moving people with with a with an instrument or something like and I'm not doing that either but just you know thinking thinking more in terms of Or trans musical or something where you are a singer and And a performer, you know, like a performer as like trans musical experience or something You know, I just think you know think is interesting and something you don't really see a whole lot of these

17:54What are maybe you do? I don't know Well, how can you chose out the playing instrument? No, come on Because I found that interesting when I saw you play a blues fest that you weren't playing something because I know you play on the record Yeah, yeah Yeah, I just think that there's Something that can be accomplished. I don't know just some some other I don't know it's hard to dance hard to dance with Right angel you wanted to dance is what it was. Yeah Yeah Yeah, I don't know it was I mean these are like instincts. I mean they're instincts and then the Intellectual, you know the reasoning, you know is trying to keep up with the instincts But I really just fall kind of following my instincts, but they seem to have worked. Yeah. Yeah, I mean I trust my instincts very much

18:45I feel like the bands grown this year. I don't know. I don't know what it's been like on the inside But at least from here people talk about it. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's definitely I mean the shows have gotten You know all the ways in which you quality, you know Quantify success or whatever that you know those things have all fallen into place and you know and But and I think it's you know one thing I take I do take pride in this and I think that that's for like very honest Reasons like the show is good The players are good. The songs are good. The album's good like it isn't like It wasn't like a gap commercial or a blog post or You know like some like cheese dick

19:33Triple a radio format song. I used to work in triple a word. Yeah, it's a cheese dick Yeah, or like pitchfork or you know, it wasn't any of those things that that like you know flash pan People it was it's really just been like constant Con you know constant torn and we're just go for me to stay on the road for all Here the questions that you're gonna Yeah, no, no, I'm gonna we're gonna be done at like on February 2nd and Then most of the springs off In which time I'm going to Just body paint or something a different form of art. Yeah, I've paint Paint quite a bit when I'm at home do that. I've got the next album written

20:25But really yeah, but I don't want to record because that just gets the That gets the the snowball In action and then all of a sudden the label wants to hear and then the label wants to know when you're gonna put it out And then you're back on tour again answering where you played last night and where you're playing tomorrow And you wake up one day and you're fucking 50 years old. You know throat cancer and yeah That's so yeah, I'm gonna paint for a little bit before that happens And so what do you write what are the songs about? Are you able to run on the road? I don't know like some people can't some people can't I can Yeah, I mean I can write that inspiration is is very Wily I mean like sometimes I can write on the road sometimes you know sometimes like right, you know writing isn't I

21:12Know some people who kind of like like I'm gonna take a retreat You know to this cabin and right, you know, and it's I don't write that way It's like I can be sitting in traffic and a lyric or a melody comes into my head Then I start kind of chewing on it But yeah, sometimes it happens on the road sometimes it doesn't but you know, it's not working on song isn't like working on a Car or something like you don't need you don't need like a designated physical space to do it You know, oh some people do some people do I don't understand that and yeah I mean I generally kind of don't like that. I find that attitude towards song writing really precious sort of annoying Need to get into my sense in a place

22:02Yeah, you don't think at the rhythm without me any distractions. Yeah, I mean if I get into like a beautiful Yeah, I mean there's yeah, I need a little bit of noise in order I can't so the record is about 45 minutes I mean this time time I saw you I think festival sets usually before the anyway Well these sets be longer like how are you drawing out a set to make it just talk to 90? I don't know what you guys are playing just endless banter. Yeah, I'm gonna quote about you talking about that hang on I'm Where the hell was it that you're better at audience interaction in the music part? Well, that was something That was something that I mean that's kind of that was kind of like a

22:48Galli of the thing that I said about the J-Tilman years You know, I do actually I do actually like that J-Tilman music very much understand why most people didn't have the attention span or vernacular or whatever to to appreciate it But I just saying that I noticed that when I was telling jokes and stories and whatever Just making like sarcastic quips and stuff in between songs that the people really enjoyed and they would kind of light up and then I would go back to

23:35Do the Dungeons and Dragons music It would glaze back over the part of this music has kind of been about reconciling that conversational humorous tone that I have with a songwriting thing, you know instead of like adopting my my writerly How dark is the night how white is the rose? Poeticism anytime I pick up an acoustic guitar Is that really right with a guitar? Yeah, yeah, I've been writing a lot on piano kind of lately for the for the new record but Yeah, yeah guitar, but I mean a lot of the writing just kind of goes on

24:22Up here, I feel like you'd be a pen and paper guy or is it a lot of I don't write down any lyrics really Yeah, I'm on this album. I have like once they're done I'll write them all down and then when I'm fine tuning them, but but as I'm but they are but I write them all You're able to remember your memory. Yeah. Yeah, I have God so many songs Yeah, that's good. Yeah, so how are you feeling of the sets? Oh, no, you said that I'm sorry with with banter and whatnot Feeling upset. Yeah, I mean we're playing it. We're playing like 11 songs Off the album and then like a couple covers. What are the covers? Where do you curate covers? That's interesting Well, we're doing on the road again by can't he right now That's that's like a cathartic like very literal song

25:13That's where you play like your life. Yeah And Yeah, we've done like mind games by John Lennon We're doing like an American song book standard called nepid alas Hmm. It seems like I realize oh, yeah. Yeah Yeah, I must be a fun one for you to sing. Yeah, I guess that goes really high. Yeah, it is it's a big and Cool. Well, let you go do five questions five quick questions one more answers rotor studio. No, let him know McCartney Lennon when you hear a song when usually hits you first lyrics melody or rhythm

25:58Dude we did these last time and I said I don't yeah, I don't I do everybody we do them every time So I'm like seeing if the answers change. Okay. I still stick by the fact that you cannot that you can't butcher up a song and Yeah, not applicable cool song you've written your most proud of The song called being a dog Some of the record is about or is that is it anywhere? It's a joke saw it's a joke country song But I wrote that I think is actually like pretty perfect cool. It's like a perfect song It's like a perfect like stupid campy country song That yeah, I would never put on an album. It's too perfect to put into the world

26:45It would it would be it would be the a global smash You should sell it so the publisher Like Toby Keith yeah, there you go In one word father John Misty what's going on with the Chihuahua movie actually I want to get that Oh the book or the book yes to get making a movie with your girlfriend and there's a chihuahua Yeah, there's a yeah the Chihuahua the post-apocalyptic Chihuahuas that it's it's it's it's in its That's had to take the back burner unfortunately I scored I scored my girlfriend's movie this past spring Winter there's only a couple minutes. Okay. I scored that and recorded it

27:36It's a like satanic family film Yeah, it's like a satanic family film and so that was fun and See yeah paint blood painting Story about So the steaming mother Name Steve. It's like a big series of paintings like 15 paintings And this demon goat mother named Steve gives birth to a cell phone and a vomiting dog and the it's kind of like a Jacob and he saw like birthright story and the cell phone is exiled

28:24Out to see and the dog takes favor In a pull way the cell phone That's been that's kind of where my where my head is at right now creatively interesting yourself Or do you yeah, I think that's the gallery or something weird. I'll show you Yeah, no, I definitely just do it for myself there. It looks like it. It looks like an alcoholic eight-year-old Is that where the lyrics for Something about loving the work here or something tells very well, but you're talking about oil for oil paintings. Oh Yeah, I mean that that's just that's just a Cheeky cheeky. Yeah. Yeah, I mean that song is also

29:13Me talking to myself, you know trying to reconcile how much use oil. Yeah, just be well now oil is just a metaphor for like Look, it's not all about your preciousness Like it's not all about like like the maybe there is a larger like all this emphasis and angst Drama distress and whatever that goes into this like am I making the great album? You know like whatever is Maybe there are other things that dwarf that and you should just shut the fuck up What time he is on Is it back in 14 co-headlines tour like how's that work?

30:04No, we're just we're The others there's a couple Oh, they're cool. So is that given their colorful? I like Yeah They're they're violent very fine What do you do you hang them up around the house or do you just like when they're done? You just kind of just kind of just all in my studio It's one arc for my I love to try what I've never done it dude. It's you know, I hear it's really cathartic It's fucking great And how long would one of those take you these spent hours like or not hours days? This one this one is not done yet, but that's on its way Now they generally like how do you know it's not done? How do you know when something like that's done?

30:55You just feel it? Yeah, I mean, that's that's a skill Knowing when something's done is like a very important skill that kind of takes a long time to develop, you know Well, even with a song actually yeah, how do you know especially with a song? How do you know when that's done? When something's cooked is that Jonathan Wilson saying I think we're done no, I mean, you know I don't like to ask other people like do you think it's done? Do you think it's like because I don't like Yeah, I mean it's It can't be it's it's an instinct. Yeah, I've been drawing on to make the cover of the next record

31:42You know what else to know. No, I'm not gonna sink into that level Nepitus Like that one on it. Yeah, I mean I do I do kind of like absorbing everything I do into the album form like the novel Yeah, right, etc. Like I think there is something fun about absorbing everything into like one The album is just such a great Medium for so many things to happen, you know, I mean there's There sheets of paper that you know the short stories can be and there's an album cover that a painting can be on It's like this One, you know, it's this format for everything you can't make a painting musical

32:29You know like but you can make a piece of music like more let you know I mean like that album cover The fear fun album cover is like I mean, that's like legitimate art. Yeah It's like And so that really treats me about the album is as a format Part of what it's like baffling to me is things go digital digital Such a missed opportunity Anyway, yeah, I'm gonna chill in my voice