Josh Ritter Interview

This man is fabulous. A Canadian song machine he is a real life Mister Singer. One Who Knows.

On a yellow day Luis and I brought some gifts along for Josh in a bid to encourage him to expose his cogs of songwriting genius. With the help of Kathleen the strawberry plant and some lovely Norfolk cider, we managed to discover what makes him tick.

(NB. Josh is now very happily married to Dawn Landes...a super bird for his nest.Yipee)

A: If you were a bird, which one would you be?
I would be… a bird of paradise.
A: Mmmmm, good choice. With your wings, where would you travel to?
I would stick pretty close to home. But I would, um that’s a good question, where would I go? I’ve been everywhere, so I don’t know. I would probably go and spend a little time in Spain, I’d probably go to Hawaii for a couple of weeks (chortles)
A: Well I suppose if you were a bird of paradise you’d be born out somewhere nice wouldn’t you.
Yeah I’d probably go somewhere snowy for vacation. Be a snowbird.
A: You might freeze though and all your feathers would drop out. It would be difficult.
It would be hard. The life of a bird of paradise isn’t as easy as they make it sound.
L: And you’d have to try not to get poached.
A: Or stuffed. What would you most like to experience in your life as a bird?
I’d probably like to raise a family. I’d have a nest and a nice mother bird there. A chick (hahahaa)
A: Where would you base your nest?
In a cave.
A: A dark cave, or a beautiful cave in the mountains?
Probably a crystal cave of some kind.
A: Oh that would be good! Kind of along the lines of your lady bird friend- which historical heroin would you go and sing for to pass your days?
Oh wow. As a bird, or just me?
A: Both?
I’m a big fan of Joan of Arc. She’s the one. She’s the one for me. Someday we’ll meet.
A: Whilst she’s burning away you could sing songs of woe to her.
Yeah, yeah. And before that we’d sing love songs together. It would be great. (Looks highly impressed at self). I like the hard to get historical heroines.
A: I bet she was a lesbian.
You think so?
A:I dunno. I was just saying it to disappoint you really. (hah) If you were a bird, you could only sing, so would you still express yourself through songs if you couldn’t have words?
Yeah, I think that’s right. If you couldn’t fall in love why would you have any music, what would you need it for? I mean love or dying, those are the things you need music for the most.
A:What about everyday living, or would you say that’s aspiring to love?
I think music is like a pill, like a medicine. You need it at certain times and other times you don’t. And when you need it, you really need it. That’s why a song is so great because it’s like a little pill that you can take for a time when you really need it. I always listen to a Leonard Cohen song called The Future whenever I drive into New York, I always need that right then- it’s the perfect song for that moment.
A:Are you going to go see him on his tour?
I would love to.
A:I’m seeing him twice
Are you really! Is he playing here?
A:At the o2 Arena. But he’s also playing at the Big Chill festival.
Oh my god.
A:You should try and go along.
I think he’s probably playing a lot in Canada. I would love to see him. That’s awesome. What’s your favourite song by Leonard Cohen? You’ll love him when you see him, he’s amazing.
A: In so many ways I love his older, gentler songs. But when he hits it with albums like I’m Your Man it’s just fantastic. I couldn’t choose a favourite.
L: If you did go to a festival, do you recon you’d be recognised?
Oh yeah, definitely. I’ve been to festivals where that’s happened but it might just be the big hair…
L: Because you’ve performed at Oxygen haven’t you?
Yeah, yeah
L: That’s a major Irish festival. I’ve read that you see Dublin as a second home? Because you have quite a huge fan base there.
Yeah, the Irish thing is kind of where I started you know, I started with the Frames, Damien Rice and those guys, and kind of got my introduction through them. So yeah, it’s definitely a second home. I’ve got lots of great friends there- really cool, happy people. Do you guys go there ever?
A: I went there once, two years ago. We had booked a hostel but we ended up only staying there a few nights, all the others we stayed with new friends. It’s quite expensive…but brilliant. I’d love to go back.
Kind of back on track to Leonard Cohen…say on your flights as a bird you found the bone of song, which songs do you think would be on it for you personally?
I think that all songs ever written would be on it. It’s kind of like religion or anything else; there was an original thing and then it kind of grew up and grew out. All songs are connected to each other.
A: It’s the same with stories
Yeah, just different combinations. It’s like the Rosetta Stone, there’s a key to unlocking all the language in the world, right there. And you can go from that to anything. It’s the same with song. Leonard Cohen said if he’d lived three hundred years ago he’d be the same person, just singing in a different language. You’d sing about love, god and war. What else is there, really. All the songs in the world have that.I think it’s odd that a lot of the pop songs now are just about love, and it’s love without any God and without any war…it’s empty in the middle. Not that it’s bad, it’s just that there’s a lot of stuff that you could sing about in pop songs, a lot of things that don’t get sung about.
A: Kind of relating to stories…if you could be any character out of any book, who would you be?
I’d be Huck Fin out of Huckleberry Fin.
A: Any particular reason for that?
I just really like him; I think he’s the quintessential American character. He wants to do good- sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn’t. He tries hard. And he knows that there’s no answer to any problem, or any ethical problem, or anything that doesn’t come out of from what you tell yourself you believe in. He doesn’t look to God, or any figures in authority, he just kind of looks inside himself and sees what he believes. And he’s also really funny. I really love Huck Finn.
L: Do you think he reflects yourself at all?
I’d hope so. Most of the times I’ve gone to religion or authority figures for answers, I haven’t gotten the ones I thought were right, you know.
A: That might be if you haven’t thought it through as well. Often if you just go over something again and again you find the answers anyway. Especially if you are writing music…the answers will just come out.
Yeah, when someone gives you a definite answer it’s like somebody’s offering you a shortcut to something. And it’s like, you could take the shortcut and it would be really easy, but it doesn’t necessarily take you to the place you want to go. Though a lot of people are like that.
A: I suppose that’s how society has to work. People have to have easy answers and easy ways to do things and then they just live and then they die, then it all goes round in a cycle again.
Yeah, I think there are a lot of people that that’s true for, definitely.
A: Well, it’s great if you’re happy to do that.
Huckleberry Fin, he braced the law over and over again, it’s a story of a guy helping a slave to escape. If you listen to what people had told him he wouldn’t have helped the guy escape.
A: Sometimes things have to be broken. Well, a lot of the time actually.
L: I was listening to your album, The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter today. In ‘wait for love’, is it about a person who is kind of with somebody as a quick replacement for someone else they’re too impatient to wait for? What’s it about?
Well I was thinking about when you’re in love with somebody, and the things you do can be very similar to each other, just like the way you kiss, or the way you hold each other. But it’s not about that, it’s about being generous. It’s about someone being generous and not trying to make you into someone that you’re not and withholding their love from you. I wanted to pick out how sometimes you just have to wait for the right person, and that’s the hardest part. It’s easy to find somebody who’ll just hold it, but to hold it right is the hard part.
A: It’s like the answers to the questions, you’ve just got to wait for it to work out and fall into place.
Yeah, definitely, yeah.
L: Does that come from your own experience?
Definitely.(chortles) My on-going experience. Definitely for sure.
L: In ‘The Temptation of Adam’, two people are in a missile solo. I like the line about the oak tree…
Oh yeah, thanks! I was proud of that.
L: If you were in a missile silo, who would you most want to be in there with?
I think with that song, I dunno, there’s that moment of being in love where everything is perfect, and it’s not about real life or anything, it’s just about total stars in your eyes, and that can only exist for one, tiny little stretch of time.
L: Is that what you meant by saying it wouldn’t work out?
Yeah. It’s like the Garden of Eden or something. You could take all the religion out of the Garden of Eden story and say this is like two people who are falling in love, and for just a little stretch of time, it’s perfect. And then they start to discover things about each other, and things can never be the same. Being in the Garden of Eden is like being in a missile silo, where everything is in a climate controlled, sealed paradise. A little concrete cylinder way underneath the ground, and for a little while it’s perfect, but you know that it couldn’t last up above where there’s other forms of boredom- standing in line to get a ticket, or paying your bills, waiting to connect to the internet…
L: Everyday stuff just gets in the way. The stuff that makes up everyday life.
It is, yeah. When you think about some of these people that manage to do these amazing, huge things in their lives, and you ask them if you watch TV. They don’t have time. Its’ kind of amazing.
A: There are some good things on TV though.
Oh yeah, for sure.
L: I like documentaries.
I grew up without TV so I watch it when it’s around…
L: It’s kind of the same with me, I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch something, unless it was really really good. Was the idea of being underground in a bunker inspired by any fears of nuclear war, or anything like that…is that why you put those people in that situation?
Yeah, I was just loving this writer called Meryll Spark, she writes these great books where there’s a very definite ‘something is coming’; there’s a timeline, there’s a mountain that’s about to explode, you know someone’s going to die. She tells you at the beginning of the book that this guy’s going to die but you don’t know how or when, and that’s cool, because it gives you a certain space of time where something could happen. And you know when something happens that the story’s going to be over, but I really like that kind of feeling- just end it with a bang you know. But I mean, I’ve never been that worried about it, but where I grew up there’s definitely some spots where you don’t know what’s buried under the ground.
L: Does the earth upset you at all, what’s around you…how do you feel about the way human’s are?
I don’t think that humans are any different now to what they will ever be. I’m no socialist, I just think that people are people, you know. You can’t look at a grizzly bear eating a deer and not think that we are pretty much the same. People do what’s most convenient to them, and then they repent. In the words of somebody better than me. You’re going to do what you’re going to do. We’re in a very lucky place here in the first world to be able to make all sorts of moral pronouncements, but when you’ve got nothing to eat or nowhere to go, decisions are based on that, not anything else. That’s how I feel and I think things could go bad, or they could stay the same. But I don’t believe in a ‘golden age’, I don’t believe in people having an enlightening period or anything.
L: It’s a constant struggle for everyone really, all the time. Nature.
A: We’re always going to be looking for the same things. Looking to survive. Experiencing love and death. Bringing love and death back into it, ha.ha.
Yeah, somebody who has everything could have just as many existential dilemmas as somebody who has nothing. But that doesn’t mean they have to be running away.
A: Sort of along those lines, I’ve kind of noticed a recurring theme in your songs about modes of transport coming in and ruining something for the protagonist of the song
Yeah, yeah yeah.
A: Obviously, industrialisation changed the landscape of the world; do you think it would be possible, well I think it would be possible eventually, but do you think we’ll ever come round to living back like…
Agrarian…
A: Yep, do you think humans would submit to that?
I don’t think it’s a matter of submit. I think there’s a time when the world will obviously be limited. I don’t believe that we’re going to change our ways with fossil fuels until we run out of them. Then I think we’ll change. That’s the way I think it’s going to happen, as a cynic or…I’m not a naturally cynical person, I just think that’s how it’s going to be, because that’s how things seem to be riding. But I do think that the great thing is that things happen, we’re adaptable. We’re not necessarily adaptable from moment to moment, willingly, but we do learn to adapt, in the same way that a coyote would. We’ll figure it out as time goes on, and you know, maybe not all of us will, but…
A: You started your degree in Scotland, in folk and old roots music; do you think with the way the music trends are going that it’s circling back to music like that? Obviously there’s always going to be an undercurrent, but I’ve certainly noticed that in more popular music that people are exposed to, do you think it’s circling back to people finding those older roots?
I think that there’s so much music that’s just available now at the click of a button, that those people who are interested and are so inclined to find it in their own room without even going to a record store. It still passes on by word of mouth, I mean I don’t think it circles back, I think it’s always evolving in a direction. There’s no core to return to.
A: What about the use of it, as inspiration?
Perhaps, that’s true. I think every ten years or so that happens and there’s a revival. I don’t think it ever goes there to return and stay, it kind of circles.
A: Always evolving, like humans.
It’s not getting better, or worse, it’s just kind of returning over and over again, which is cool. It’s good for careers too, because if you have a long career of like forty years, you can come back every ten years or so (laughy laugh)
A: Do you think that’s what will happen to you in ten years?
I hope so! I think that’s the key. George Washington said that the secret to success is survival. And that’s getting harder and harder these days because of bands that come up and go. You even see it on myspace. They play some shows to like 20,000 people, then they’re gone, they just disappear. And if you can survive, if you don’t have to play to large groups of people, you can just play…
A: Just keep consistent.
Yeah, I hope.
A: This is a bit unrelated, but if you ran your own radio show, who would you have as your weekly slot to play?
Oh, I would have Tom Waits. (with much resolution.) I’d bring him in every week. I would love to be cohorts with him. I would say something, and then he would say something really funny. I’d be the normal guy, he’d be the crazy one. Because you always have one crazy guy.
A: Have you ever thought of doing a radio show?
No, I never have.
L:You obviously are a big fan of radio though.
I love doing notes from the road, I love writing stuff about everything. But I’d never thought about radio though.
A: You should do a show from the road.
It would be cool
L: A rodeo.
A: It would save you writing it…more environmental…no paper?
That’s great!
L: Do you do anything environmental, to change your impact?
Yeah, actually, I’ve just started this thing called 1% to the planet with some folks I know. Basically every year my company, which is a touring company, we give 1% of everything we make to this thing called 1% to the planet. They basically help me research environmental charities that I then give money to. 1% doesn’t sound like a lot, but it is. Especially with the organisation we have, a lot of money goes in, and a lot goes out, and there’s a little bit of money on the top that you can live on, but we give it everything we make. And that’s good. I love it. It’s the beginning for me.
A: We often ask bands about whether you can really do anything touring, like Radiohead who stopped effectively stopped touring to save emissions, but I think really that it’s for the greater good if you’re touring around and playing music…
It’s interesting, there are ways you can do it- but someone like me, I can’t afford to not tour. I have to tour to feed myself, you know, records don’t sell, nobody buys records. So you’ve got to go tour, and if you don’t tour, then you can’t support a band.
A: Have you thought of doing an un-venued tour? Nina Violet played at my house this year as part of a house party tour, and Willy Mason has done a house party tour too…
I started doing that, but I like to play in a venue when I know what the sound’s going to be like, and more than a few people can come. Willy’s a cool guy, and I think that might work better for him. And especially like… If I was playing at your house, that would be great, but there’s some people where it’s a different story…(chortle)

Interview- Ali Hewson & Luis Forte; Words- Ali Hewson

Nina Violet Interview

Clubs are fun, we all know that. From debate to dancing, swimming to s&m, we all like to be a part of something. Over on Martha’s Vineyard they’ve pretty much got it going on; with hats, badges and t-shirts, quietly buzzing away it is one of the most exciting clubs I’ve seen in a long time.

I first had the pleasure of hearing Nina play with Willy Mason on his last tour in the UK. All growing up on the island together, it was home to a thriving arts community who as Nina says “have all been playing together for what seems like forever in different incarnations”. . When I ask Nina to draw a picture of herself at her happiest, the result is a big bunch of people sitting smiling on a huge sofa, surrounded by books and instruments- a picture paints a thousand words.

Nina’s first record, “Lose Strife” is the first release from Willy Mason’s new music label, ‘Grandma’s Basement’. The very name in essence reflects the spirit of the island- my Grandma’s record collection is non-existent, save Katherine Jenkins and the CDs you get free in the Daily Telegraph. Nina hails from a very musical family; with her mum and sister playing on the new record; Nina started out playing the pianos her parents rebuilt, she moved onto viola and then guitar. Inspired by going along to her older brother’s band practices, Nina started writing songs and working hard on guitar.

Nina Violet and the Invisible Orchestra play beautifully. Obviously true to herself, Nina professes that lyrics are the most important part of her music. With songs like My Brother- “At the zoo, he tried to open cages and he cried the whole way home…I don’t know how to get you”, Yellow Flash- “Your love is like the yellow flash beneath the wings of flying birds”, and Tiny Seeds- “I will dream of you my dear, dream so loud that you can hear me longing, longing for you”, not only are the words exquisite, so is the rest. Using strings, banjo, mandolin, organ, harpsichord, sitar, synthesizers, electric and acoustic guitar, perfect and sweet harmonies and haunting melodies, it is clear that each member of the Invisible Orchestra are brilliant in their own right. In my opinion, Nina Violet and the Invisible Orchestra hits a beautiful potential from so much talent in a group of friends. On this tour the band was made up of Nina Violet, Colin William Ruel, Matthew Cullen and Sam Mason. Colin’s music is superb, with a new band name “Chorus of Arrows”, whose record is equally as impressive and also brilliantly presented- each CD coming in a grocery bag with a hand drawn cover by Sam Mason (mine is a naked woman atop an elephant).

These are evidently a group of artists continually inspiring each other. The band agrees that the combination of Willy Mason’s successful house party tour and the experience of touring with him in the UK inspired them to do the same. I asked them the secret to setting up a successful house party tour. “The key to doing it is that you don’t cover all your costs.” Joked Matthew. Colin added, “The key to doing it is that it’s a losing situation, mostly. It could potentially be a winning situation for everyone in the future, because if you get like 20 people, and they each throw down £10, or £5, then that would cover gas...” Clearly not a financial winner, the touring format may also not be suited to a band with lots of gear. “If you were an acoustic guitarist you could do it in a car, which would be a lot easier. Willy rented a Nissan Micra and just showed up.” Nina points out.

So they’re not making much money, but they’re definitely having fun, shoehorning the drum kit into living rooms, sleeping head to toe all in the same room, and all with no CDs in the tour van. The house party tour is definitely a way to win fans for life however, “It’s great” Nina enthuses, “you get to meet people who listen to your music, meet their families…” she pauses… “Although you never quite know what you’re going to get.” Laughter ensues from the band. Evidently, playing small country towns like Reepham to a bizarre mix of children, teens and the elderly is an odd experience. The band seems ready for anything however, with Colin laughing “it’s just interesting to see what happens. I mean, we have no idea where we are going, apart from an address on a piece of paper that we put into the GPS. And see what we get when we get there”.

So what did they get? As well as a roast dinner and some dodgy whiskey, hopefully a brilliant time. I know I danced all night. And next time round, I’ll be ready with my own hat and badges.

Elvis Perkins in Dearland Interview

All I have to say, quite frankly, is that these guys are awesome.
Their music conjures tears, fears, gipsies, and other worlds that we could never dream of….Elvis’s lyrics are not to be rivalled- beautifully formed and heart-wrenching. They really hit home, yet the songs still have the ability for really good listening, live and on recording- the musical talents behind this sound are huge. In their own words, they are influenced by “the sun, wind, rain, fire, the sea, gravity, stars, death, the night, Time, the planets, their moons and ours”. And aren’t we all.

Alas, a sizeable chunk of the interview was lost in the vaults of time, due to my disgraceful technophobia. It was really good stuff too. Never mind ey, just make sure you check these guys out!


(Elvis was sadly ill during the interview- he popped in for a bit…unfortunately that was the bit that got lost. But it’s not so much of a calamity, as he had lost his voice. And these three are LOVELY. So, B= Brigham Brough W= Wyndham Boylan-Garnett, N=Nicholas Kinsey)


What’s your favourite song to play? You all looked pretty happy during ‘Without Love’

B: It’s different everyday
N: I’d go the same way, depends on the night
B: Without love is a good song to do.

Yeah, I did notice you all looked PARTICULARLY enthused during that.

W: I love playing ‘Hey’, just because it’s a song we all play on the same level on the stage, and I can look around at these guys and connect them on the same eye level, its an even spreading of our energy which makes it a cult force. Without Love has a whole different vibe

It’s just so full.

W: It’s full, and a lot more reliant on the actual music as a pose to the energy.
N: ‘Without Love’ is more like a composition that relies on the music and the form of it, whereas ‘Hey’ is a parade of energy or something.

I think there’s pretty much a lot of energy in all of it!

W: ‘Shampoo’ is a good song to play too, because it’s one of the first songs that as an ensemble we sort of stepped into ourselves.
B: It’s one of the first songs that I think we fully realised as a band

You all play a lot of instruments, what are your favourite ones?

N: For me I like the fact that you don’t necessarily have to play the same instrument all the time. I love playing the drums.

What’s the name of that instrument you were playing, with the islandy, coconutty sound…

It’s used in lots of cultures and probably has many different names, a guiro.

That looked fun.

N: Double bass is a fun instrument to play.
W: I love playing the guitar. I think when I’m on stage there’s something about the harmonium, I love playing it because it’s just got a really unique sound, I always feel that when it enters one of the songs its special every time.

How was your tour with Willy Mason?

N: It was great. It was really good to tour with people that are close to us in age and experience in a way.

Was it organised through someone else or did you all decide you were going to play together?

B: It’s all done by agents

They chose it well then.

N: We’ve played with Willy before, in the States, so we knew what we were getting into. The people that choose, you know the people that work for us; our booking agent over here is the same, so they thought it would be a good pair.

Are there any shows that really stand out for you?

N: Shepard’s Bush was really fun

Norwich…?

(General guffawing and chortles)

N: That was a good show

You had good Japanese food!...Wagamamas…

W: Wag-aahhh-ma- MA, yeah!

In America, what do you hear about in England as being the best places to play?

B: You don’t hear that much…I mean, what festivals do you hear about in the states?

All I know is about that big festival where Rage played…

B: We know about Glastonbury…

And I know that venue in Detroit where all the punk bands used to play, and the rainbow…

W: We’d heard about the paradise before, in Amsterdam.
I’d heard before we played there last tour that we were in Europe that that was a special place to play and it certainly is. I look forward to playing there again

Did you see the flower market?

W: Here?

No, Amsterdam.

No? Oh wait! Is it right on the canal?

It’s quite big, with lots of flowers…

Would it be there January/February?

No idea.

We’ve got a running theme of the environment…anything you want to say?

W: I think we all have a guilt complex about touring...we all wish that we didn’t have to consume so much gas being on the road. But it’s part of what we do.

I think its different for bands though, because its not just like you’re driving round a lot of places, there’s so many positive externalities to it…its not a selfish thing.

W: I mean we are 5 people that travel in one vehicle instead of 5 people in their own vehicles. And I think as individuals we are all very aware of what’s happening in the environment, and we would all like to help out in what ways that we can.

The one thing that could be said about your country as a pose to ours is that I’m hearing from other people, not as much form experience, that public transportation is a lot more efficient.

Where we live it’s awful. We live in a little village like 10 miles out of Norwich, and the only way we can get into the city at night has been cancelled. So if you’re in the city at night you’re stuck there. I think in London it’s a lot better though, in all the main cities. The Parisian metro is brilliant though.

W: In New York you can take the subway at pretty much any hour.
B: We’d like to do a train tour.

You could play in the food carriage.


(Here, sadly, lies the premature end.
Fertig. Acabados. Finito.)



Website: www.elvisperkins.net
Myspace: www.myspace.com/elvisperkinsindearland

Interview- Ali Hewson & Polly O'Shea; Words- Ali Hewson

Willy Mason Interview

American singer-songwriter whose lyrical talents have captured hearts and souls. Willy’s newest album, ‘When the Ocean gets Rough’ is available from www.grandmas-basement.com, as is his first, critically acclaimed ‘Where the Humans Eat’, and various fantastic EPs from across the ages. We caught up with Willy for a chat about life.


If the ocean gets rough…what would you rather be: a sea dwelling plant that’s spent it’s whole life attached to a rock, but has security; or a fish that could spend its life roaming free- but in a rough ocean would risk it’s life?

(Laughs) That’s deep. I don’t know, depends on the day. I guess I‘d be down to be a plant

Any reason?

I dunno, it’s like… no that’s a lie really. I gotta be a fish, that’s like...woaah.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be a fish; it could be any kind of sea animal, if you’re generally opposed to fish…

One of those floaty things…anemone?

Jellyfish?

I don’t know about a jellyfish, they have no backbone, no spine.

And they don’t taste very nice.

Taste? You’ve tried jellyfish?

Yeah, we went to China recently, Polly’s a vegetarian so she escaped it all, but I didn’t want to cause offence…so ate some weird stuff…ducks head, pig’s ear…

Mmmmm….! Yeah I think a fish, just a little fish maybe.

Swim around, see things.

You could just kind of get to know your neighbourhood.

The sea’s a pretty big neighbourhood

Yeh but I imagine they congregate around

You could have a shoal. Safety in numbers.

Know what’s good to eat…what’s good to not get eaten by. Have you seen Finding Nemo?

Yeh of course

It’s awesome.

I suppose it just comes down to whether a plant has feelings.

Also if the ocean’s getting rough, if you’re a fish you can swim away

Yeh, swim away to a calm part or hide in the rocks. All of the ocean can’t be rough at the same time. Did you ever see that programme the Deep Blue…they sent down a little robot camera to the deepest parts.

Where the pressures really high?

Yeah, where no human could go to.

Did they find creatures with like green eyes and big teeth and stuff?

It was amazing, like something out of a sci-fi.

The aforementioned album, ‘If the Ocean Gets Rough’, was recorded at Long View Farm, amongst pool games, horse riding and cooking. Do you think that kind of creative environment is better for making music than the conventional studio?

Not necessarily. It can be a distraction, especially if you’re paying for all of it. It causes anxiety. I think the best place to record is just somewhere you feel comfortable.

I’ve heard you recorded ‘Where the Humans Eat’ in a friend’s living room…

Yeah, in a home studio. That was very comfortable.

You hear about a lot of bands gong back to places they like, like Led Zeppelin- the Stones had this little recording truck, and Zeppelin used it once and liked it so much they went back pretty much all the time. Like you said it was somewhere they felt really comfortable.

Yeh that’s all it takes really.

I’ve always found you quite reminiscent of Johnny Cash, were you influenced by him at all?

Mhmmm. Especially the record ‘Live at Folsom Prison’. Just amazed me that he treated the audience so well, and he was so straight with them.

Like your house party tour, it’s so important to have that personal connection with the audience- I’m guessing you think so too- because there are so many commercial bands these days that are just really quite detached…

Yeh, I mean in the business of making music, if you don’t have a personal connection with people, then the only connection that’s left is the celebrity, idolisation, stuff like that. And some people really like that, but I think it makes most people go insane pretty quickly.

From the audience’s point of view, I think it’s a lot better. It makes you feel a lot more and part of it, rather than just seeing someone on TV occasionally.

Yeh it makes sense. I mean, it is down to the audience.

Was the home tour quite difficult to undertake?

Parts of it were tricky. The hardest things were trying it to book it with the label wanting me to do lots of press, so I had to figure out how to get back to London from like...Derry. And another thing was I was at a different house every night pretty much, and most of the house parties were pretty big parties…so I’d wake up with an awful hangover and drive for like five hours to go do press with the label then go do another show.

So is this tour a little less hectic then?

Yeh!

More coffee: less whiskey.

Exactly.

Who else has influenced you over the course of your life in making music and general creative stuff?

The biggest ones would be…Kurt Cobain, Mum and Dad, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, John Lee Hooker, Bob Dylan.

I know your mum wrote some of your songs… Were your parents musicians and was that infiltrated into your childhood?

Yeh, when I was younger and they were still together, they used to play a lot. I’d play shows with my mum. And when I was younger than that she’d have parties where everybody would sing. And when she’d play gigs she’d have party for all of the band and everyone after a recording session. So I was round a lot of musicians and music whilst growing up.

That must have been a really interesting childhood.

Yeh it was really cool. I mean I didn’t really appreciate it back then…

It was just your mum’s friends to you.

We moved in with my grandma into the town where I lived when I was about eight, from New York. So like even though everything my parents were doing was really cool they were still strangers in the town, so sometimes I just wished we could be normal. But that changed when I got older and grew to appreciate it.

It really stays with you, if people make comments about your family.

You can end up resenting them.

Or wanting to protect them even more… It shouldn’t matter what other people say but it’s difficult if you’re around them everyday, living in the same place. Your childhood sounds pretty good though.

Yep!

Brian Oberst released your first album on his own label, Team Love. Have you ever thought about collaborating with Bright Eyes in anyway?

Well we’ve played songs together…late at night, at parties. That’s always fun.

Is there anyone else on the music scene that you’d like to collaborate with?

Anybody. I mean you never know how you’re going to connect with someone.

You joined up with KT Tunstall right?

Yep, and also the Chemical Brothers.

The Magic Numbers did a song with them too. I think if you get the mix right, there’s no telling what can happen. Could you do a joint tour with Bright Eyes?

We did one in The States where I was supporting them.

You see us people from Norwich miss all of that. We’ve got a bit of a running theme on the environment, what’s your whole take on that issue?

Well, I mean, I think that human beings in general are being a very inefficient part of the eco system right now. It feels to me like maybe nature will have to stand up for itself pretty soon and start pushing us around a little bit.

Supposedly we’re headed for another ice age, so that’s kind of coming our way…

Yeah, to me it’s kind of scary but its also kind of comforting. Because if we truly were the masters of the world right now, like at the level of sophistication that our minds have, it would be terrifying. Worse than the idea of an ice age, for me. Have you seen Children of Men?

Where humans become infertile?

Yeh, like there’s all these movies, I’ve been reading ‘V for Vendetta’ right now, all these things about super fascist, totalitarian governments, and it seems like that’s the predominant view of the future. But I think even if that does happen for a while, nature won’t let it carry on.

I think the feeling of oppression has pretty much always been there…books like 1984, feudal systems…right throughout history. I think we have the ability to sort it all out, just no one wants to because we don’t want to give up our consumer lives. No ones willing to make any changes.

I think at this point it’s hard to imagine anyone making any big changes.

It’s suddenly become the ‘in thing’ for governments to talk about…though I’m not sure about in America…

The other thing is that its just natural, in America that the majority of people wouldn’t buy a smaller car just to save the environment because that’s just not part of their culture, their way of thinking. But now, gas prices have got so expensive, it’s like we’ve gotta save money, buy a smaller car.

Do you think events like George Bush pulling out of Kyoto are a bad stereotype of the US way of thinking?

That particular incident of him not signing that, to be honest with you I don’t think a lot of American people even know what the Kyoto agreement is. I think if people were more aware of the global vibe of it, like how the nations are getting along right now. It’s hard to say, I mean it’s such a big country that you can’t sum it up. We’re all through one mouth.

My take on the pulling out was a real sense of reluctance to form any sort of unity, I mean America is a huge superpower, and an act like that does unite a lot of countries for a similar cause....I don’t think it’s a fair representation of everyone in the US. I mean you just can’t stereotype because everyone is so individual, but that’s what I got from that decision. But then it’s the governments ruling that matters in a country, to a point.

And we elected him, probably...So I mean it is our responsibility.

Do you think it would have been any different if Al Gore had got in, instead of George Bush- the perception here seems to be that it would be...?

In my view, having George Bush as president has sort of brought things to light…its almost like the final straw for a lot of people, that’s sort of shaken them out of complacency, or ignorance, or innocence. If Al Gore had been president it would have been a lot easier for everybody, better for the world. A lot less people would be dead right now. But you know it could have just been a more gradual thing, instead of now it feels like almost anything could happen.

What do you think can be done to take action, to do your part?

It just comes down to studying your own life and living deliberately. Usually it’s not that difficult to change elements of how you live and it can also be quite fun to be creative with your own life. I think some people become so extreme and so obsessed with it that they actually sacrifice a lot of what they have to offer because they’re being so strict with themselves.

Like plane travel- there’s this whole thing promoting local holidays- which is good in a way to reduce pointless trips. It does make a carbon footprint, but if you don’t travel then no ones going to learn anything at all. And if you preach to people they’re not going to listen either. You can’t just forbid people to travel.

I think things like flying in aeroplanes is kind of like almost beside the point, its easy to fixate on them, I mean it does make a huge difference, but I think people need examples of a way where they can actually live and be a part of the system.

Its really small things like not leaving your phone charger plugged in saves huge amounts of energy. I think people need to focus on small things like that rather than preaching to people who maybe can’t do anything about it, or something like going on a plane. If everyone in the world just cut back a bit, that difference would probably be enough.

It makes a big difference. I mean at my grandmas old house that we’re living in I’ve been researching alternate building methods, its just fun stuff really. If you’ve got your own garden you’re going to have nicer lawn, better food. It’s fun to do.

Grow your own vegetables. Especially if you have kids you can integrate it into the family life. And save money.

Yeh, I think it comes down to really enjoying yourself, like truly enjoying yourself. Not waking up with a hangover every morning.

Drinking’s too expensive too, and it tastes bad.

Yeah and it gets old after a while too.

Pretty much the only drink I like the actual taste of is Jack Daniels. Never found another one that actually tastes good.

I like Jack Daniels too.

Cups of tea, that’s the way forward. ▪


WEBSITE: www.willymason.com
MYSPACE: www.myspace.com/willymason

Interview- Ali Hewson & Polly O'Shea; Words- Ali Hewson