Universal Buzz Interview with The Decemberists' Nate Query
The title of your latest album is The Crane Wife, which is an old Japanese folk tale. Could you explain how much of a role this story had on the writing of your new record?
The Japanese folk tale of the crane wife was the inspiration for three songs on the record. It seemed like a good song cycle to name the record after, but none of the rest of the songs are based on the story.
The album was co-produced by Tucker Martine, who has worked with a diverse group of artists like Mudhoney and Bill Frisell. What was it that drew you to working with him?
It was Chris Walla's idea to work with Tucker Martine. All of us had heard Tucker's work and loved it, so when Chris mentioned co-producing and co-engineering the record with Tucker, it seemed like a fine idea. I am a big fan of Tucker's, especially his stuff with Wayne Horvitz and with Eyvind Kang.
The Crane Wife was also produced by Death Cab For Cutie guitarist Chris Walla. What is does he bring to the table that makes it so you want to keep working with him?
Chris is a great engineer and really creative and exciting person to work with. Working with Chris, things are always moving at the speed of creativity and he fits in really well with the band. It's like have an extra band member who's in charge of the recording gear. He works fast and lots of good and sometimes kinda crazy idea, so it's easy to be spontaneous and have fun while recording.
The track Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then) is a duet between Colin and songwriter Laura Veirs. How did you connect with her?
We've known Laura for years. She opened a couple Decemberists shows and opened a whole tour for Colin. Tucker has also worked with her. She seemed like a good fit, and she really nailed the part when she came into the studio.
Two of the Decemberists new tracks are over ten minutes long with multiple parts in it. It seems like with each record, the band is getting a little more grandiose in its approach. Is something that you have planned out before making an album or did it just sort of play out that way in the studio?
We have always been a band with a lot of ideas and a lot of instruments at our fingertips. In some ways, this album is less grandiose than Picaresque, but it does have more involved arrangements and instrumentation. More of the instruments were played by us rather than guests this time, though. We also used only 24 tracks whereas some songs on Picaresque involved upwards or 40 or 50. We set up in the studio with every instrument we own and even sort of know how to play. By the time the record was done, we had used most of it. Not necessarily for the point of doing so, but because it just sort of worked out that way. The longer song cycles were intentional, as this was something we had experimented with in the past and wanted to try again.
In terms of execution, was there any new equipment or instruments that you used on this record that you havent used before that you are glad you used here? Was there anything you used here that you were really surprised with how it came out sounding?
I started playing cello, which is really fun to have as part of our sound now. Colin now plays a bouzouki, which is an important sound on this record. Jenny has a pump organ now. Chris has always played lots of instruments. Perhaps he's been our inspiration to branch out.
As the years have progressed, the Decemberists have been playing larger venues for more people. Does it become tougher to present your music to people when you loose some intimacy?
There are many aspects of playing larger venues that make it infinitely easier to present our music to people. We can bring more instruments, the venues sound better, we can afford to have our own crew, and the stage is less crowded. It's true you have to make an effort to connect with the audience, but that's always been an important part of our show.
Is there any venue that you really enjoy performing at more then any other?
I love the Fillmore in San Francisco, though we only played it twice and then moved on to the Warfield. I also think the 9:30 in Washington D.C. is a fantastic venue. The Gorge Ampitheatre is pretty amazing, too.
The Decemberists are heading out for a US tour this fall. Will the setlists feature mostly material off your last two albums or will they be a healthy mix of your entire back catalog?
Our set list draws heavily from the new record, and the rest of the list is a mix of all of the back catalog. I think sometimes our fans can get grumbly about not hearing their favorite songs, but the new material seems to be going over well.
The last time you toured, the stage show had a great deal of crowd participation on songs like The Mariners Revenge Song. When did you come up with this idea? Do you see yourself doing anything like this with your latest material when you present it live?
The crowd participation in the Mariner's Revenge Song came about over time fairly naturally. We are always looking for ways to involve the audience, and this tour has new ways to draw people in. Colin is always trying out new ways to draw people in, so the show continually evolves.
In terms of influence, would you say you are more influenced by artists of the past or more contemporary artists trying new things?
I would say artists of the past. Colin, John, and Chris spend a lot of time listening to older British Folk, and most of what we listen to on the road isn't very current. There are a lot of exciting things happening in music right now, but I'm not sure if they have much influence directly on the music we're doing.
Over the past few years with the breakthrough of Itunes and the internet, the traditional album seems to be fading away. Do you worry about this?
Certainly in some ways, it's sad to me that people load an album on their ipod and then shuffle all 10,000 songs or whatever. You create a record as something that should stand on its own rather than being chopped up and shuffled. But at the same time, the easy accessibility of music these days has helped us reach people who would otherwise never have heard us. I think there will always be a place for records, even as people seem to listen to mp3's more and more. But maybe I'm just old and optimistic.
A number of artists like Yo La Tengo, Devotchka, and Spoon have been getting involved in working on film scores. Is this something that the Decemberists would be interested in doing?
I think it would be really fun, but we tour a lot, so finding time could be a challenge. Sounds like a great idea, though. Touring gets hard after a while, it would be nice to have more reason to be home. We have a lot of fun working out instrumental arrangements, too.
If you could put on a concert in which you could have one band from the 1970s, one from the 1980s, one from the 1990s, and one from this decade, who would they be (living or dead, together or broken up)?
Led Zeppelin, the Pogues, Soundgarden, Radiohead.
posted by BrendanLorbach at 5:07 PM
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