WEBVTT - St. Vincent 0:00:15.476 --> 0:00:23.156 Pushkin. These days, Saint Vincent is on a whole new level, 0:00:23.516 --> 0:00:26.276 which is hard to believe, considering if, for being honest, 0:00:26.356 --> 0:00:28.916 she's always been pretty damn in credible. But let's take 0:00:28.916 --> 0:00:30.876 an account that not only are the reviews of her 0:00:30.876 --> 0:00:34.916 current tour the World Tour rave reviews, but she's torn 0:00:34.956 --> 0:00:37.836 behind the first album of hers that she ever produced, 0:00:37.876 --> 0:00:41.716 all on her own. That's called All Born Screaming and 0:00:41.956 --> 0:00:45.356 in a case of overachieving. She also just recently released 0:00:45.396 --> 0:00:48.796 a Spanish language version of the album Totos nasen Gritando, 0:00:49.636 --> 0:00:52.036 which in many ways doesn't serve to replace the English 0:00:52.116 --> 0:00:57.276 language version, but supplements it brilliantly, providing a renewed listening experience. 0:00:58.516 --> 0:01:00.716 Of all the Saint Vincent projects dating back to her 0:01:00.716 --> 0:01:02.916 debut album in two thousand and seven, this is the 0:01:02.956 --> 0:01:05.436 one that feels the most steeped in a singular vision, 0:01:05.756 --> 0:01:08.476 like an offering from an a tour. But as Saint 0:01:08.556 --> 0:01:11.596 Vincent tells you in today's episode, the production process behind 0:01:11.596 --> 0:01:14.796 this album was far from easy and likely isn't one 0:01:14.836 --> 0:01:17.076 she'd replicate again, or at least not on the next 0:01:17.076 --> 0:01:20.316 project that she's already busy writing. We talk a bit 0:01:20.356 --> 0:01:22.276 about what it was like to tour this album, a 0:01:22.316 --> 0:01:24.796 tour which continues well into the new year, with some 0:01:24.916 --> 0:01:28.916 dates featuring Olivia Rodrigo others Nick Cave and we talk 0:01:28.956 --> 0:01:32.036 about how she developed her high level taste my words, 0:01:32.076 --> 0:01:34.436 not hers, despite growing up in the middle of the 0:01:34.436 --> 0:01:40.756 country pre internet. This is Broken Record liner notes for 0:01:40.836 --> 0:01:48.636 the digital age. I'm justin Ritchman. Here's my conversation with 0:01:48.676 --> 0:01:52.276 Saint Vincent from Amazon Music Studio one twenty six and 0:01:52.316 --> 0:01:54.476 to see the full video version of this episode, visit 0:01:54.516 --> 0:01:57.636 YouTube dot com slash Broken Record Podcast or click on 0:01:57.636 --> 0:02:01.596 the link in the episode notes. I just saw the 0:02:01.636 --> 0:02:04.076 Bob Dylan movie. Oh how is it? You know? I 0:02:04.076 --> 0:02:05.556 had two thoughts while I was watching it, and we 0:02:05.636 --> 0:02:07.596 wanted it was just great to hear the music. Yeah, 0:02:07.796 --> 0:02:10.596 I thought the performances own biased performance, that that was 0:02:10.676 --> 0:02:15.716 particularly incredible. But I thought the framing was a little 0:02:16.636 --> 0:02:18.556 I don't know if in twenty twenty four, I'm so 0:02:19.156 --> 0:02:23.276 excited by like the folk music acoustic versus electric. 0:02:24.836 --> 0:02:26.076 Yeah, but it was good. 0:02:26.196 --> 0:02:28.116 I was. I was happy to see it, and. 0:02:27.996 --> 0:02:30.916 I think that that mythology about like people were so 0:02:31.196 --> 0:02:36.036 mad that it was you know that that Dylan went electric. 0:02:36.156 --> 0:02:39.636 I think that that mythology is similar to like the 0:02:39.716 --> 0:02:41.636 Stravinsky right of string mythology. 0:02:41.876 --> 0:02:42.996 I don't know, can you tell me that? 0:02:43.116 --> 0:02:47.116 Well, so there was the the Stravinsky right of string mythology, 0:02:47.596 --> 0:02:52.116 right of spring mythologies. His piece at in that he 0:02:52.236 --> 0:02:54.636 debuted the writer of spring. The debut in Paris was 0:02:54.716 --> 0:03:00.036 so so the music was so new that people revolted 0:03:01.036 --> 0:03:04.876 in the case of the case, which was like, actually, no, 0:03:04.996 --> 0:03:06.676 that was kind of it was kind of a typical 0:03:06.716 --> 0:03:08.916 reaction because that was just popular music back. 0:03:08.796 --> 0:03:12.396 Then, so people typically revolted. They didn't. Yeah, I mean 0:03:12.396 --> 0:03:13.556 they were exciting. 0:03:13.556 --> 0:03:17.796 People were extra, but they weren't like it wasn't necessarily 0:03:18.956 --> 0:03:22.636 how the mythology is, they're like ecstatic, yes, but I 0:03:22.676 --> 0:03:25.196 heard that the reason that people were so mad wasn't 0:03:25.236 --> 0:03:27.476 that he went electric, was that the sound was so 0:03:27.516 --> 0:03:29.396 bad and it was like feeding back and it was 0:03:29.596 --> 0:03:30.436 sounded really bad. 0:03:30.516 --> 0:03:32.516 They hint at that a bit in the movie. Likes 0:03:32.516 --> 0:03:36.036 Pete Secrets, like the sound is there? Who it's Ed 0:03:36.116 --> 0:03:38.236 Norton's Pete Secret. He does a pretty good shot too, 0:03:38.596 --> 0:03:40.156 but he's like this, the sound is muddled, you know 0:03:40.196 --> 0:03:42.596 what I'm saying. But the kind of the rest of 0:03:42.636 --> 0:03:44.956 the film makes it kind of feel like this drawn 0:03:44.996 --> 0:03:47.876 out tension between acoustic and electric, which is fine. I mean, 0:03:48.036 --> 0:03:50.396 I guess that's the mythology, but it did feel like 0:03:50.796 --> 0:03:54.876 I feel a little quaint and yeah, but but yeah, 0:03:55.196 --> 0:03:57.036 I don't know, but but no. But my point was, 0:03:57.196 --> 0:03:59.316 there was so much cigarette smoking that movie. 0:03:59.556 --> 0:04:02.756 I really wanted to smoke, man, like I. 0:04:02.756 --> 0:04:04.556 Would love to. I don't want to die, you know, 0:04:04.596 --> 0:04:06.716 I'm scared of death, but I really want to smoke cigarettes. 0:04:06.756 --> 0:04:07.796 And I don't know what to do about that. 0:04:07.996 --> 0:04:11.436 I feel you there. I've recently rewatched this. I never smoked, 0:04:11.476 --> 0:04:14.276 but I've recently rewatched the Sopranos, and you know, they're 0:04:14.356 --> 0:04:19.716 just like drinking brown liquor at like noon. Yeah, and 0:04:19.796 --> 0:04:21.836 you're really like, yeah, it seems like a good you know, 0:04:21.956 --> 0:04:22.876 you really have Why not. 0:04:23.076 --> 0:04:25.796 If you watch that's like your whole idea for the 0:04:25.796 --> 0:04:27.396 whole day. You're like, oh my god, I want to 0:04:27.436 --> 0:04:27.756 be an out. 0:04:29.196 --> 0:04:31.236 That's what I wonder did. I mean, you have to 0:04:31.276 --> 0:04:34.476 figure not the Sopranos, but the TCM and like the 0:04:34.596 --> 0:04:38.756 Madmens of the world, like they were post war. Those 0:04:38.796 --> 0:04:41.116 people had been through hell and so they're just like 0:04:41.956 --> 0:04:46.476 fuck it. But you get like when you see, you know, 0:04:46.676 --> 0:04:51.196 anybody in the fifties, just like drinking and smoking midday, 0:04:51.236 --> 0:04:52.196 you're like, yeah, I get it. 0:04:52.436 --> 0:04:55.996 Yeah, you went through hell yeah. But then somehow they're 0:04:55.996 --> 0:04:57.956 all apparently going to live longer than us. 0:04:58.476 --> 0:04:59.076 No, they aren't. 0:04:59.236 --> 0:05:01.516 Wasn't that. This isn't just saying like the life expectancy 0:05:01.556 --> 0:05:02.396 is dropping or something. 0:05:02.516 --> 0:05:05.116 Oh, I've you mistake me for a person who's looked 0:05:05.156 --> 0:05:09.036 for the news since November sixth, Okay, I haven't. 0:05:09.636 --> 0:05:12.156 Okay, Well I'm gonna avoid the news as well. I 0:05:12.236 --> 0:05:15.276 think that's my You know what, it's nice up here, 0:05:16.076 --> 0:05:20.276 it is. It's the best protest that man only wants attention. 0:05:20.516 --> 0:05:20.676 You know. 0:05:21.276 --> 0:05:23.836 Yeah, I gave him. I gave him almost a decade 0:05:23.876 --> 0:05:26.436 of my life. He doesn't get a single another moment. 0:05:26.596 --> 0:05:30.076 That's great, that's great. Well, I want to talk about 0:05:30.156 --> 0:05:33.596 both the English language version of All Born Screaming in Spanish, 0:05:33.676 --> 0:05:35.636 but I get I think maybe we should start with 0:05:35.676 --> 0:05:38.596 the English language versions, as it came out first. So 0:05:39.636 --> 0:05:42.236 this is the this is the first album you produced 0:05:42.276 --> 0:05:46.516 completely yourself. You also, I read called the production of 0:05:46.556 --> 0:05:54.716 the album in Abbats across to Bear, and I don't know, 0:05:54.956 --> 0:05:58.716 just want do you care to explain that anymore? 0:06:00.076 --> 0:06:07.476 I mean, the production of the album was a lot 0:06:07.556 --> 0:06:09.276 of It was a lot of me sitting in a 0:06:09.356 --> 0:06:13.276 room right by myself because part of part of the 0:06:13.876 --> 0:06:16.836 the beginning, the genesis of making of the record was 0:06:16.996 --> 0:06:22.596 like I'm going to figure out new ways to create, 0:06:22.876 --> 0:06:25.516 and I'm going to figure out new ways to create 0:06:25.716 --> 0:06:29.036 using machines that I don't know how to use, so 0:06:29.316 --> 0:06:33.756 like modular synthse and a lot of like random old 0:06:34.116 --> 0:06:38.636 drum machines and just crusty stuff, right, And I'm going 0:06:38.716 --> 0:06:41.276 to figure out how to be a better engineer and 0:06:41.436 --> 0:06:46.916 producer at the same time, learning my studio, routing, patch base, 0:06:47.476 --> 0:06:50.196 thinking about music I don't know, like a like a 0:06:50.316 --> 0:06:53.196 Rubic's cube a little bit more. So I started with 0:06:53.316 --> 0:06:59.356 that and I started with complexity. And so the process 0:06:59.476 --> 0:07:03.916 a lot of times was doing these extended like instrumental 0:07:07.836 --> 0:07:12.436 post industrial and instrum mental jams for hours and hours, 0:07:12.956 --> 0:07:14.356 which was the totally easy. 0:07:14.156 --> 0:07:18.036 Fun part kind of like Can style, Kroud Rocky Can. 0:07:17.956 --> 0:07:25.076 Style, except like with drum machines, so Kroud Rocky uh industrial, 0:07:25.596 --> 0:07:33.556 like you know, like making blowing up circuits and some 0:07:33.716 --> 0:07:37.916 distortion and stuff like that, and then coming back through 0:07:38.076 --> 0:07:42.956 those long ass jams and being like, Okay, this four 0:07:43.076 --> 0:07:45.796 seconds or this four bar loop is like something I 0:07:45.916 --> 0:07:48.556 want to build an entire world around. So that was 0:07:48.596 --> 0:07:51.596 the process for like Sweetest Fruit, that was the process 0:07:51.676 --> 0:07:55.636 for Broken Man, that was the process for Violent Times. 0:07:57.076 --> 0:08:00.196 That's interest sweetest Fruit and Violent Times. Sweetest Fruit kind 0:08:00.196 --> 0:08:02.956 of has a different groove than anything else. I feel 0:08:02.996 --> 0:08:04.716 like I've heard from your songs. 0:08:05.116 --> 0:08:09.396 It's a little bit reggaeton, little reggaetz, little like Nigerian pop. 0:08:09.676 --> 0:08:12.596 Yeah it is. Did you like, did you program the 0:08:13.676 --> 0:08:14.996 the drums that way or did they did it just 0:08:15.036 --> 0:08:16.116 turn into that eventually? 0:08:16.396 --> 0:08:19.236 Uh. The genesis of that song was the loop that 0:08:19.356 --> 0:08:20.916 was like do do do do Do Do Do Do 0:08:21.116 --> 0:08:23.436 Do Do Do Do Do Do do doo. That sounds 0:08:23.516 --> 0:08:27.516 like a you know, a cracked out ferris wheel. So 0:08:27.596 --> 0:08:29.916 it's like but but ooh, there's something in that that's 0:08:31.116 --> 0:08:33.196 evocative to me, I'm gonna build a whole song around it. 0:08:33.676 --> 0:08:36.716 So long story short is that I really did things 0:08:36.836 --> 0:08:42.316 ass backwards. Usually people write songs and then they deconstruct them. 0:08:42.876 --> 0:08:46.396 I like started with a bunch of lego pieces and 0:08:46.516 --> 0:08:53.836 then cold songs from them, and that is cool, but 0:08:53.916 --> 0:08:56.516 it also is I think more time consuming. There's a 0:08:56.556 --> 0:08:59.316 reason people don't like write songs that way. There's a 0:08:59.316 --> 0:09:02.676 reason why people said it a piano and feel their 0:09:02.716 --> 0:09:03.956 feelings over four chords. 0:09:05.316 --> 0:09:07.116 What do you think? What do you think that reason is? 0:09:07.516 --> 0:09:10.596 Because it's way easy You're to like, have a song 0:09:10.756 --> 0:09:13.476 and then take it apart, then to be like, there's 0:09:13.556 --> 0:09:20.196 a soul somehow within these pieces, and I need to 0:09:20.596 --> 0:09:25.316 find the soul and the story with all these disparate 0:09:25.396 --> 0:09:26.596 pieces at the same time. 0:09:26.876 --> 0:09:29.436 So that was like a maddening That was a maddening 0:09:29.516 --> 0:09:30.276 proposition for you. 0:09:30.556 --> 0:09:33.676 It was silly, Yeah, it was. It was the way 0:09:33.716 --> 0:09:36.756 I did it, and I'm very glad about it, and 0:09:36.836 --> 0:09:42.756 I didn't stop till it was complete. But like I said, 0:09:42.796 --> 0:09:45.156 there's a reason why people go, no no, no, no 0:09:45.236 --> 0:09:47.356 no no no no no no no no no, my 0:09:47.476 --> 0:09:50.436 feelings are this and I feel that, and then they 0:09:50.476 --> 0:09:50.956 can take. 0:09:50.796 --> 0:09:53.596 It apart, right, all right? Is that And that's typically 0:09:53.676 --> 0:09:57.036 how you've done it to this point too, Yeah, yeah, 0:09:57.476 --> 0:10:00.516 more or less, more or less? Yeah, why did you 0:10:00.556 --> 0:10:02.956 give yourself to charge this time to do it differently 0:10:03.196 --> 0:10:06.396 than and to constrain yourself. I mean to say, this 0:10:06.476 --> 0:10:07.436 is how it's all going to. 0:10:09.636 --> 0:10:11.636 Because I feel like if you do things the same 0:10:11.716 --> 0:10:13.596 way every time, you're going to get the same results. 0:10:13.676 --> 0:10:16.556 And I wanted to get a different kind of result. 0:10:16.676 --> 0:10:23.676 And what I like about machinery like modulars or various 0:10:23.876 --> 0:10:26.636 kinds of synthesis is that, like, I don't know exactly 0:10:26.676 --> 0:10:31.916 what's going to happen, and so I'm not relying on 0:10:32.036 --> 0:10:35.676 muscle memory, I'm not relying on like things that I 0:10:35.716 --> 0:10:39.556 already know. I'm relying on like instinct in the moment, 0:10:40.676 --> 0:10:45.396 and that felt like something powerful enough to follow that 0:10:45.476 --> 0:10:48.356 would eventually lead me to a song that would eventually 0:10:48.756 --> 0:10:50.556 kind of lead me to a full vision. But it 0:10:50.636 --> 0:10:52.996 was just a more like labor intensive way to do it. 0:10:53.236 --> 0:10:54.716 And you don't know what to expect because it's not 0:10:55.076 --> 0:10:57.196 an instrument that you've played your whole life and feel 0:10:57.316 --> 0:10:59.396 comfortable with absolutely. 0:10:59.636 --> 0:11:04.756 And to be fair, like with analog modulars and certain synths, 0:11:05.156 --> 0:11:08.916 there's no even if you set the parameters exactly the 0:11:08.956 --> 0:11:12.596 same way, like, it's still going to be a little 0:11:12.636 --> 0:11:15.636 bit different because it's unique circuitry. So you're you're dealing 0:11:15.716 --> 0:11:19.356 with real electricity, So everything had to start with with 0:11:19.636 --> 0:11:21.436 like a liveness. 0:11:21.236 --> 0:11:23.636 Got it? Yeah, I mean I guess, to speak candidly, 0:11:23.756 --> 0:11:27.156 I like all of your albums, but this is my favorite. 0:11:27.916 --> 0:11:29.636 And that was the kind of I was trying to 0:11:29.676 --> 0:11:33.036 think about why. Just the feel of it. It felt 0:11:33.036 --> 0:11:35.796 like there was a real spirit in it and a 0:11:35.916 --> 0:11:41.196 liveness that wasn't necessarily present in everything that you've done. 0:11:41.596 --> 0:11:43.356 Not that that I mean some some sometimes I don't. 0:11:43.516 --> 0:11:45.396 I don't like that in these things. I'm not us 0:11:45.436 --> 0:11:47.316 should call for that, But this one was just it 0:11:47.396 --> 0:11:49.676 felt very much alive to me, you know, like there, 0:11:49.756 --> 0:11:51.036 it was like it felt like you were. It felt 0:11:51.076 --> 0:11:54.036 more like a documentary than like a big, big budget production. 0:11:54.316 --> 0:11:56.036 And I guess is how I felt about it. I 0:11:56.076 --> 0:11:56.996 don't know if that rings to to you. 0:11:57.116 --> 0:12:00.116 Well, it's d I. Why, it's like high level. 0:11:59.996 --> 0:12:05.356 D I Y always you know, all your all your stuff. Well, 0:12:05.396 --> 0:12:05.836 I mean. 0:12:07.356 --> 0:12:12.276 It's it's DIY with a certain level of like expertise 0:12:13.636 --> 0:12:16.356 be it. First of all, thank you, I'm so glad, 0:12:17.556 --> 0:12:21.396 But also I mean I think I made choices as 0:12:21.476 --> 0:12:27.636 a producer to keep that alive, you know, whether it's 0:12:29.316 --> 0:12:33.236 not recording guitars, direct putting a guitar through an amp, 0:12:34.356 --> 0:12:36.516 putting it in a room, and recording the sound of 0:12:36.556 --> 0:12:44.036 air moving through a speaker, there's something intrinsically more alive. 0:12:44.156 --> 0:12:48.676 You are pushing air, right, whether it's there's no soft 0:12:48.796 --> 0:12:52.716 sense on this. This is all. If something is played, 0:12:53.276 --> 0:12:56.476 if an effect is played, it's a manual, it's a 0:12:56.756 --> 0:12:59.636 manual tape delay, and it's performed. That you're getting a 0:12:59.716 --> 0:13:04.676 performance of of a drum machine through a piece of 0:13:05.396 --> 0:13:10.476 tape or a pedal, but it's performed, its tactile. So 0:13:10.596 --> 0:13:12.956 there's that. And then I think also just the the 0:13:13.076 --> 0:13:15.636 subject matter and a lot of the songs, it's like, 0:13:16.516 --> 0:13:19.676 don't be cute, don't be clever. Life is short. We're 0:13:19.676 --> 0:13:23.196 all gonna fucking die. Like, let's let's talk about it. 0:13:23.356 --> 0:13:29.036 Let's let's walk through the fire together. Because where all 0:13:29.076 --> 0:13:29.356 we got? 0:13:29.636 --> 0:13:34.356 Yeah? Yeah, Lyrically, was there any thing you were pulling 0:13:34.436 --> 0:13:38.556 from in particular, either reference material external to you or 0:13:39.036 --> 0:13:39.716 internal to you? 0:13:40.996 --> 0:13:45.236 I didn't really pull from anything external lyrically, and I 0:13:45.356 --> 0:13:48.476 usually do you know, usually, well, it'll be chock full 0:13:48.596 --> 0:13:54.396 of like references to my favorite writers or poets or whatever. 0:13:55.316 --> 0:14:00.396 This go round, it was pretty it was it was 0:14:00.516 --> 0:14:04.276 like a process of stripping back, you know, any anytime 0:14:04.716 --> 0:14:09.116 I had an instinct to like, I don't know, be cute, 0:14:09.476 --> 0:14:13.236 or like be clever, or or just like no, cut 0:14:13.276 --> 0:14:16.636 it out, strip it to the bone. What's underneath that, 0:14:16.796 --> 0:14:20.276 what's underneath that? What's underneath that? And same with the 0:14:20.396 --> 0:14:23.436 performances as well. I mean I sing, oh, I sang 0:14:23.436 --> 0:14:26.516 a lot of these songs a lot of times, and 0:14:26.636 --> 0:14:28.676 I would liken it. I would kind of liken it 0:14:28.796 --> 0:14:33.996 to like, I don't know. You hear about directors who 0:14:34.076 --> 0:14:38.436 do a gazillion takes like David Fincher, Right, he does 0:14:38.596 --> 0:14:42.356 like hundreds of takes until the actors are just like, oh, yeah, 0:14:42.956 --> 0:14:47.036 take on and thirty exactly exactly right. Isn't a social network, 0:14:47.156 --> 0:14:49.556 it's like whatever that seems to take one hundred and thirty. 0:14:49.556 --> 0:14:52.836 And you're like, but I think if I was producing 0:14:52.876 --> 0:14:54.796 someone else, that's not anything I would make them do. 0:14:55.396 --> 0:15:00.876 But when it's myself, I go, no, you you were lying? 0:15:01.116 --> 0:15:03.276 Just there sing it again. 0:15:04.916 --> 0:15:06.516 That's interesting because I was going to ask, how do 0:15:06.636 --> 0:15:09.196 you keep yourself accountable in that way? When you do 0:15:09.396 --> 0:15:11.596 yourself but in a way you know, it's much easier 0:15:11.956 --> 0:15:14.996 and yeah, it's east because you can ask more of 0:15:15.116 --> 0:15:17.876 yourself if you're self critical enough or if you're if 0:15:17.916 --> 0:15:20.116 you're honest enough and. 0:15:20.156 --> 0:15:21.876 Too I mean, you know, it's a fine balance. 0:15:22.036 --> 0:15:22.156 Right. 0:15:22.276 --> 0:15:26.676 There's there's the self criticism that is not helpful to 0:15:26.756 --> 0:15:28.916 you and it's not helpful to the work. And then 0:15:29.076 --> 0:15:32.116 there's the sort of you know, we're somewhere in the 0:15:32.436 --> 0:15:38.676 Dunning Krueger like, you know, we're people who are actually 0:15:38.716 --> 0:15:41.836 the dumbest think they're the smartest. You know, I'm paraphrasing 0:15:41.916 --> 0:15:45.796 that and vice versa. So there's you're somewhere in that 0:15:46.516 --> 0:15:50.916 spectrum always right, too much self criticism stops the art 0:15:51.036 --> 0:15:54.996 and stops the work, and but not enough and it's 0:15:55.036 --> 0:15:59.196 not good enough. Yeah, so that's but that's a that's 0:15:59.236 --> 0:16:03.116 a messy thing to deal with, like self self production. 0:16:03.236 --> 0:16:06.276 That's the hardest part about self production is that is 0:16:06.356 --> 0:16:13.116 that wading through that which is like real real, and 0:16:13.276 --> 0:16:15.436 that which is like, oh no, you're just kind of 0:16:16.556 --> 0:16:23.396 you're you're you're being you know, needlessly self punishing or 0:16:25.076 --> 0:16:26.036 that's that's that's the. 0:16:26.076 --> 0:16:30.756 Rub that was hard to figure out. Yeah, yeah, how 0:16:30.796 --> 0:16:33.396 did you how did and did that lead to prolonged 0:16:33.956 --> 0:16:44.716 periods of like punishing, I'm. 0:16:41.436 --> 0:16:43.196 Being too I'm probably being too dramatic. 0:16:43.716 --> 0:16:45.716 It's I don't think so. I mean, it's a lot 0:16:45.796 --> 0:16:47.076 to do it. I don't know, or maybe but you 0:16:47.116 --> 0:16:47.756 would know better. 0:16:48.316 --> 0:16:52.556 It's just a you know after you know, because this 0:16:52.716 --> 0:16:58.156 is my seventh solo record, eighth record, you know, counting 0:16:58.196 --> 0:17:01.356 the one I did with David Byrne. It's like, you 0:17:01.556 --> 0:17:06.676 know when it's done, and that's the that's the biggest thing. 0:17:06.956 --> 0:17:09.596 That's the biggest lesson, is like knowing when something is 0:17:09.676 --> 0:17:17.516 done and knowing even if you you know, roll down 0:17:17.596 --> 0:17:20.116 the road on a song of like diminishing returns, being 0:17:20.156 --> 0:17:22.156 able to go back to an earlier version and gom, 0:17:22.516 --> 0:17:26.156 this was better. Okay, let's go, let's let's do this 0:17:26.876 --> 0:17:27.916 and then it's done. 0:17:28.236 --> 0:17:33.996 Yeah, yeah, so get just given how unique the process was, 0:17:34.036 --> 0:17:38.556 and and okay, maybe torture's to to too much calling 0:17:38.636 --> 0:17:42.156 it an albatross. Maybe, okay, maybe it's maybe it's hyperbole. 0:17:41.876 --> 0:17:44.076 But I mean I like, of course, at the end 0:17:44.116 --> 0:17:45.836 of the day, like I'm a musician, I get to 0:17:45.876 --> 0:17:49.076 do what I love. Yeah, it's the luckiest thing in 0:17:49.116 --> 0:17:49.396 the world. 0:17:49.556 --> 0:17:51.876 It's true, it's true. But if it's if it was 0:17:51.956 --> 0:17:54.316 even on the on the spectrum of whatever hyperbole, if 0:17:54.356 --> 0:17:57.756 it was even airing towards that way when you got 0:17:57.956 --> 0:18:00.716 done with it, does the album sit with you even 0:18:00.836 --> 0:18:02.516 it's new. Does it sit with you a little differently 0:18:02.956 --> 0:18:05.836 than other albums in your catalog so far, just given 0:18:06.036 --> 0:18:07.036 the process you went through. 0:18:07.516 --> 0:18:10.796 Well, I'm still really living this record because I'm out 0:18:10.876 --> 0:18:14.396 on tour doing it, doing the damn thing every night. 0:18:14.556 --> 0:18:21.076 So there is an aspect of like, these songs are 0:18:21.516 --> 0:18:24.396 these songs are just like I'm gonna use I'm gonna 0:18:24.396 --> 0:18:27.636 mix metaphors and also do a bad one great, but 0:18:27.796 --> 0:18:32.036 like you gotta making a record is like making a 0:18:32.076 --> 0:18:33.956 pair of shoes that you're gonna have to walk in 0:18:34.276 --> 0:18:37.276 for the next definitely for the next year and a 0:18:37.276 --> 0:18:41.876 half of your life and if it's good, like the 0:18:41.996 --> 0:18:46.756 whole rest of your career, so you remember, Like so 0:18:47.196 --> 0:18:50.676 putting wearing them on tour is like you're wearing them 0:18:50.716 --> 0:18:52.596 in You're like, okay, they're kind of they kind of 0:18:52.596 --> 0:18:55.636 give here, they kind of like, but they can carry me. 0:18:55.836 --> 0:18:58.476 I've never used this metaphor. I'm just workshopping it here. 0:18:58.636 --> 0:19:03.836 So really, uh, this is we're getting into dicey territory. 0:19:03.876 --> 0:19:09.196 But but it's like I'm still living in them, so 0:19:09.316 --> 0:19:11.836 that and that part is good. It's exciting. They are 0:19:12.396 --> 0:19:15.796 holding up and they're growing even more than every other 0:19:15.876 --> 0:19:19.716 record I've ever done. I know every inch of this thing, 0:19:20.236 --> 0:19:24.396 like I know every I know every track. I know 0:19:24.636 --> 0:19:27.436 every and when I say track, I mean like pro 0:19:27.596 --> 0:19:28.236 tools tracked. 0:19:28.636 --> 0:19:29.476 I know every. 0:19:30.276 --> 0:19:33.036 I know the Maltese, I know the ideas. I know 0:19:33.156 --> 0:19:37.436 the palimpsyst of ideas that didn't make it, you know 0:19:37.476 --> 0:19:42.716 what I mean. I try not to, but yeah, I know, Yeah, 0:19:42.716 --> 0:19:46.796 I know it. I know it so so intimately. But 0:19:46.956 --> 0:19:50.316 I think it's good that I do know it and 0:19:50.396 --> 0:19:53.636 I know it so intimately. But I also am so 0:19:53.876 --> 0:19:56.556 psyched to play it every night. So that's a good sign, 0:19:57.236 --> 0:19:57.396 you know. 0:19:57.636 --> 0:20:01.676 Sounds like it. Would you do it again? Pretty serious something? Yes? 0:20:01.756 --> 0:20:03.556 I absolutely would, but I would do it differently. 0:20:04.596 --> 0:20:05.556 How would you do it differently? 0:20:05.636 --> 0:20:09.876 I'd write a bunch of songs and then I would take. 0:20:09.716 --> 0:20:11.916 Them apart too much to go through again doing it. 0:20:12.076 --> 0:20:14.116 I would write a bunch of songs, which is what 0:20:14.196 --> 0:20:15.156 I'm currently doing. 0:20:16.876 --> 0:20:18.956 Like while you're on the road or now that you've 0:20:18.996 --> 0:20:20.956 you've kind of you paused a bit for the holidays. 0:20:20.956 --> 0:20:23.156 I guess yeah. I mean when I'm whenever I'm in 0:20:23.236 --> 0:20:25.436 my studio, whenever i'm home, I'm writing. 0:20:25.596 --> 0:20:29.556 So we'll be right back with more from Saint Vincent 0:20:29.796 --> 0:20:37.716 after the break. Here's more from Saint Vincent. And you. 0:20:37.996 --> 0:20:39.996 You wrote this in your studio here in LA but 0:20:40.116 --> 0:20:42.236 recorded it in at Electric Lady. 0:20:42.636 --> 0:20:45.116 I did a lot of the vocals at Electric Lady, 0:20:45.196 --> 0:20:49.436 but I recorded the majority of this record at my 0:20:49.716 --> 0:20:54.236 studio Compound Fracture. I mean I did. I recorded Dave 0:20:54.356 --> 0:20:55.636 Grohl on drums there. 0:20:56.436 --> 0:20:57.636 Did you mike that yourself? No? 0:20:57.836 --> 0:21:00.356 No, I have an incredible engineer. Shout out to Kean 0:21:00.436 --> 0:21:07.716 Reardon who mixed this record, engineered the all the heavy lifting. 0:21:07.436 --> 0:21:10.116 Of this record, you know, to put on yourself to like. 0:21:11.956 --> 0:21:14.556 I can put a you know, I can make my 0:21:14.676 --> 0:21:18.436 way through a through through a vocal mic. But no 0:21:18.916 --> 0:21:22.396 past that. No, he he engineered the drums on the record. 0:21:22.516 --> 0:21:26.556 I bought a Neve console, like dang, yeah, it was 0:21:26.716 --> 0:21:30.356 like it was, it was pro. I you know, Josh 0:21:30.436 --> 0:21:36.876 Freeze played there, uh, Mark Giuliana played there, Sela Mazawa 0:21:36.916 --> 0:21:38.756 I recorded someplace else. 0:21:38.676 --> 0:21:41.756 But like, yeah, it was legit, that's cool. 0:21:41.876 --> 0:21:42.076 Legit. 0:21:42.396 --> 0:21:45.156 Josh Freese is his drumming on the first track, but 0:21:45.196 --> 0:21:49.596 thought was really awesome, soul, beautiful. Yeah, that was amazing. 0:21:50.156 --> 0:21:52.156 I don't know that I've heard him. I don't know 0:21:52.276 --> 0:21:54.076 his whole catalog, but I don't know if I've heard 0:21:54.116 --> 0:21:57.076 him play that way. It was like this anything that 0:21:57.316 --> 0:21:57.876 was it was. 0:21:58.076 --> 0:22:02.596 It's fun as a producer to invite people to play. 0:22:02.836 --> 0:22:04.756 Well one, I mean, it's nice to have like a 0:22:05.436 --> 0:22:09.956 stacked rolodex of like the craziest rippers, but beyond that, 0:22:10.236 --> 0:22:13.356 it's really it's nice to have people come in and 0:22:13.476 --> 0:22:19.636 sometimes you're like, I want you to play like your 0:22:19.796 --> 0:22:22.756 name's on the track, Like I want you to play 0:22:22.876 --> 0:22:24.916 like it's your you know. And then sometimes you're like, 0:22:25.236 --> 0:22:29.836 I I want to ask this incredible player to do 0:22:29.956 --> 0:22:32.756 something that they don't normally do, or do something they're 0:22:32.796 --> 0:22:36.316 not known for. And in that case, on Hell is Near, 0:22:36.716 --> 0:22:41.556 Josh just played the most almost like Buddhist like monastic 0:22:42.716 --> 0:22:47.276 beat and it's so beautiful. It's to be honest, it's 0:22:47.316 --> 0:22:50.836 one of my favorite drum performances on the whole record. 0:22:51.556 --> 0:22:53.196 And it's restraint. 0:22:53.916 --> 0:22:55.676 Yeah, yeah, it blew me. I was when I looked 0:22:55.676 --> 0:22:59.836 at whoah Freeze, whoa. I just just never would have 0:23:00.156 --> 0:23:02.716 occurred to me that that would be his take on. 0:23:02.796 --> 0:23:05.836 Something I know but that but he but you know, 0:23:05.956 --> 0:23:09.436