WEBVTT - Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses) 0:00:15.476 --> 0:00:22.836 Pushkin. Ben Bridwell is a frontman of Band of Horses, 0:00:22.996 --> 0:00:26.036 a group whose sound he describes as y'all alternative, a 0:00:26.116 --> 0:00:28.836 genre that tips its hat to Southern rock's deep myriad 0:00:28.996 --> 0:00:33.036 of musical influences. Next month, the group is celebrating the 0:00:33.076 --> 0:00:36.276 twentieth anniversary of their debut album Everything All the Time, 0:00:36.436 --> 0:00:40.316 with an expanded reissue featuring previously unreleased demos and live recordings. 0:00:40.596 --> 0:00:42.476 The album was recorded in two thousand and five with 0:00:42.556 --> 0:00:45.756 producer of Phil Eck, who's known for producing albums by Built, 0:00:45.756 --> 0:00:49.236 The Spill, Modest Mouse, and The Shins. When Band of 0:00:49.236 --> 0:00:51.596 Horses started working on the project with Phil, Ben had 0:00:51.636 --> 0:00:53.916 only been writing songs for a couple of years. He 0:00:53.996 --> 0:00:56.916 was also new to Seattle, where he relocated from Tucson, 0:00:57.316 --> 0:00:59.876 a city he'd moved to at sixteen after dropping out 0:00:59.876 --> 0:01:03.236 of high school in his native Irmo, South Carolina. On 0:01:03.236 --> 0:01:06.156 today's episode, Lea Rose talks to Ben Bridwell about recording 0:01:06.196 --> 0:01:08.476 Everything All the Time. He opens up about hitting rock 0:01:08.476 --> 0:01:12.076 bottom in South Carolina before moving to Seattle, including sitting 0:01:12.076 --> 0:01:14.196 in his mattress on fire, getting hit by a car, 0:01:14.276 --> 0:01:17.076 and getting arrested, all within the span of one week. 0:01:17.556 --> 0:01:19.996 He also talks about recently breaking the generational curse of 0:01:20.036 --> 0:01:23.076 alcoholism and his family, getting his life together post divorce, 0:01:23.476 --> 0:01:26.076 and explains why the upcoming Band of Horses album may 0:01:26.156 --> 0:01:28.596 sound aggressive despite the fact that it's in such a 0:01:28.636 --> 0:01:38.396 happy place. This is broken record, real musicians, real conversations. 0:01:41.516 --> 0:01:44.156 Here's Lea Rose with Ben Bridwell. Head over to YouTube 0:01:44.196 --> 0:01:46.596 dot com slash Broken Record podcast to see the video 0:01:46.676 --> 0:01:47.676 version of this interview. 0:01:49.436 --> 0:01:50.716 What were you like in high school? 0:01:50.756 --> 0:01:50.876 Like? 0:01:51.116 --> 0:01:52.596 What were you up to in high school? 0:01:52.876 --> 0:01:56.276 Bad? Pretty bad? 0:01:57.116 --> 0:01:57.196 No? 0:01:57.316 --> 0:01:59.876 I I was all right. I only lasted I think 0:02:00.276 --> 0:02:04.516 my tenth grade year. I think I think I went. 0:02:05.876 --> 0:02:07.596 I'm not sure if I'm still a sophomore or what 0:02:07.636 --> 0:02:11.076 I am, But yeah, I didn't. I wasn't there very long. 0:02:11.396 --> 0:02:14.316 I was missing too many days, and they're kind of 0:02:14.316 --> 0:02:16.796 like you don't really want to be here, not at all, 0:02:16.956 --> 0:02:20.276 you know, So like, off you go. So I moved 0:02:20.276 --> 0:02:25.156 out west and started the chant, like the whole thing 0:02:25.156 --> 0:02:27.796 that would kind of cascade into Band of Horses and 0:02:27.796 --> 0:02:32.196 all that. By searching for a place where there was 0:02:32.796 --> 0:02:36.156 like a punk rock scene and an engine rock scene 0:02:36.196 --> 0:02:38.116 and you could go. You didn't have to drive three 0:02:38.196 --> 0:02:39.556 hundred miles to go see a show. 0:02:40.796 --> 0:02:43.116 So there was no like punk rock scene in South Carolina. 0:02:43.636 --> 0:02:45.396 There was. There was a lot of straight edge kids 0:02:45.436 --> 0:02:47.836 and a lot of skateboard scene was kind of intertwined, 0:02:47.996 --> 0:02:50.356 and and there was some There was a couple of 0:02:50.396 --> 0:02:53.636 good punk bands out of Columbia, South Carolina. But again 0:02:53.676 --> 0:02:55.876 I had to get like my a mother's note to 0:02:55.916 --> 0:02:57.716 go to the club, you know what I mean. I 0:02:57.756 --> 0:02:59.636 was still like sixteen, you know, and I'm like, I 0:02:59.676 --> 0:03:01.156 want to go for I want to go, you know. 0:03:01.276 --> 0:03:05.436 And we drived like Charlotte or Chapel Hill or Atlanta 0:03:05.596 --> 0:03:08.756 or something Athens to go see yeah, you know, like 0:03:08.796 --> 0:03:12.556 you are a loaf or Sebado's playing there and Pavement 0:03:12.636 --> 0:03:15.556 was coming around, and uh so we or the Ramones, 0:03:15.596 --> 0:03:18.116 you know, we'd drive, We'd have to drive, and I 0:03:18.156 --> 0:03:19.716 was like, man, I want to go someplace where that 0:03:19.756 --> 0:03:22.916 stuff is, like people are like in bands that are 0:03:22.956 --> 0:03:25.596 playing big places, you know, like there's like a real 0:03:25.716 --> 0:03:27.556 scene going on. I wanted to be near that. So 0:03:27.596 --> 0:03:28.996 I went to Tucson, Arizona. 0:03:29.476 --> 0:03:32.996 Oh and wich was going on in Tucson at that time. 0:03:32.996 --> 0:03:37.396 A thriving punk and goth and weirdo scene. Oh my god, 0:03:37.236 --> 0:03:40.716 I'd never lived out west and or been out West, 0:03:41.676 --> 0:03:43.676 and it was it was different. You know, kids were 0:03:43.716 --> 0:03:49.716 like doing speed and like they're nails, you know, and 0:03:49.796 --> 0:03:53.556 going to the club and stuff. So it was it 0:03:53.636 --> 0:03:56.356 was cool. It was very different. There's like raves and 0:03:56.356 --> 0:03:58.876 stuff like that. Didn't know nothing about dance music or nothing, 0:03:58.916 --> 0:04:03.516 and uh, and I became kind of entrenched in that 0:04:03.556 --> 0:04:08.716 scene by working, uh, delivering pizzas and working in cafes 0:04:08.756 --> 0:04:13.356 and stuff like that. And yeah, it was pretty freaky, honestly. 0:04:13.396 --> 0:04:15.756 Like these kids, they weren't much older than me, but 0:04:15.796 --> 0:04:17.476 they were out of high school, you know, they were 0:04:17.476 --> 0:04:21.236 like pioneering twenty years old. They were like grown ups 0:04:21.396 --> 0:04:22.956 and they were making a go of it. 0:04:23.996 --> 0:04:25.956 So you were already playing music at that point. 0:04:26.436 --> 0:04:28.196 No, no, no, no, I didn't. 0:04:27.996 --> 0:04:29.556 Just kind of like a fan, like want to be 0:04:29.556 --> 0:04:31.596 in the scene and kind of yeah, party type. 0:04:31.996 --> 0:04:35.516 Yeah. I just wanted to be around it and yeah 0:04:35.756 --> 0:04:38.236 and be friends with people that were in bands and 0:04:38.796 --> 0:04:41.156 I didn't and I was. I was really always into 0:04:41.316 --> 0:04:44.476 making like mixtapes. I was always about trying to spread 0:04:44.636 --> 0:04:47.436 other people's music to others. That was always what I 0:04:47.436 --> 0:04:51.756 thought would be more my calling. Maybe working in radio 0:04:51.876 --> 0:04:56.436 or something like that, or with a label even so yeah, 0:04:56.796 --> 0:05:00.436 like an A totally that would have been amazing. Hey 0:05:00.876 --> 0:05:06.676 they're still young, I'm available, you know. I ended up 0:05:06.716 --> 0:05:10.556 starting a label. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's plentny how that 0:05:10.596 --> 0:05:14.036 worked out. But yeah, I didn't end up playing music 0:05:14.836 --> 0:05:17.316 until like my mid twenties or something like that. 0:05:17.316 --> 0:05:18.156 That's crazy. 0:05:18.396 --> 0:05:20.836 Yeah. I didn't think that would be something in the 0:05:20.916 --> 0:05:21.636 cards for sure. 0:05:22.676 --> 0:05:24.636 That's so crazy. So how did that happen? Was it 0:05:24.716 --> 0:05:27.676 just kind of like messing around with friends, instruments around 0:05:27.716 --> 0:05:29.796 and you just took a go at it or how 0:05:29.796 --> 0:05:31.756 did you even make that transition? 0:05:32.756 --> 0:05:38.396 Well? I was releasing bands on my label, and mostly 0:05:38.436 --> 0:05:40.836 as a stepping stone kind of label just to get like, hey, 0:05:40.916 --> 0:05:42.836 y'all can have some CDs to sell the show, you 0:05:42.876 --> 0:05:44.036 know what I mean, and then maybe like a big 0:05:44.076 --> 0:05:46.716 label be like yoink and you know, we're going to 0:05:46.716 --> 0:05:51.636 superstardom or something. But I ended up joining the main 0:05:52.756 --> 0:05:56.196 group that I was like just entrenched with. I met 0:05:56.236 --> 0:06:01.436 out in Tucson called Chris is Weird and and it 0:06:01.476 --> 0:06:05.836 was a male and female songwriter and they picked up 0:06:05.876 --> 0:06:08.316 some good steam. Once once we all kind of relocate, 0:06:08.356 --> 0:06:10.516 we met in twosons, and we all ended up living 0:06:10.556 --> 0:06:15.556 in Seattle, and they started to really get their act 0:06:15.636 --> 0:06:18.916 together and put out a couple of records with them, 0:06:19.356 --> 0:06:22.076 and then they're one of their drummer had to leave 0:06:22.116 --> 0:06:24.436 to go be in modest mouse for a second as 0:06:24.476 --> 0:06:27.876 like a utility dude, and they needed someone to play 0:06:27.956 --> 0:06:31.876 kind of like slow core drums, and uh, I hate 0:06:31.916 --> 0:06:33.516 that term, but still that's what we kind of wore. 0:06:33.636 --> 0:06:36.036 It was. It was very slow and easy to play drums. 0:06:36.116 --> 0:06:38.476 I was like, because I had a car basically, and 0:06:38.476 --> 0:06:40.996 they trusted my driving skills and they needed to go 0:06:41.036 --> 0:06:42.716 on tour, I think they're like, then will you do it? 0:06:44.356 --> 0:06:46.436 Learned to play some drums, and so I started to 0:06:47.836 --> 0:06:52.236 do that, and a little bit later I picked up 0:06:52.396 --> 0:06:54.596 a bass a little bit for like a song or two, 0:06:54.636 --> 0:06:56.036 you know, And then the band broke up and it 0:06:56.116 --> 0:06:59.796 was like, what are we going to do? I now 0:06:59.876 --> 0:07:02.076 got kind of used to that lifestyle of like staring 0:07:02.116 --> 0:07:05.036 out the window all day and meeting new people at night. 0:07:07.236 --> 0:07:10.796 So I just started falling around with the gear that 0:07:10.916 --> 0:07:14.076 was kind of left in the ashes of that band. 0:07:14.116 --> 0:07:16.396 It was just we still were paying for a rehearsal space. 0:07:16.436 --> 0:07:19.196 I was like, I'm just gonna go down there every 0:07:19.276 --> 0:07:22.636 day that I can and spend as much time as 0:07:22.676 --> 0:07:25.276 I can figuring it out. And that's what I did. 0:07:25.356 --> 0:07:29.516 I just put in the honestly, the hours. I think 0:07:29.516 --> 0:07:32.276 that's what really got me to where I am now 0:07:32.436 --> 0:07:35.156 is just I just I didn't know what I was doing, 0:07:35.796 --> 0:07:39.236 but I just tinkered long enough to find some melody 0:07:39.276 --> 0:07:42.476 and then it it just kind of took its own course. 0:07:43.396 --> 0:07:46.356 That's so cool. Did it feel good to be on stage, 0:07:46.436 --> 0:07:48.396 like the first time you were up there playing drums? Like, 0:07:48.436 --> 0:07:50.796 as someone who was such a fan of music, did 0:07:50.836 --> 0:07:52.396 it feel cool to be in a band? 0:07:53.396 --> 0:07:53.476 Like? 0:07:53.516 --> 0:07:55.076 What was that experience like for you? 0:07:57.236 --> 0:08:00.996 I'm sure the tightrope act of it was was a thrill, right, 0:08:01.156 --> 0:08:04.476 But I've always i mean, more than imposter syndrome like 0:08:04.516 --> 0:08:06.596 this just isn't where I'm supposed to be, you know, 0:08:07.316 --> 0:08:11.396 So that was always I mean, I liked I think 0:08:11.676 --> 0:08:15.196 I'm more like the camaraderie of being in a band 0:08:15.996 --> 0:08:19.996 more than I did like trying to grow my craft 0:08:20.156 --> 0:08:22.156 in a band, you know what I mean. I just 0:08:22.236 --> 0:08:26.076 liked the whole I liked I liked the whole party 0:08:26.076 --> 0:08:29.716 of it all, and the whole experience of traveling and 0:08:29.796 --> 0:08:35.476 that wanderlust that's totally been impossible to really satisfy my 0:08:35.516 --> 0:08:38.796 whole life. So I think that was more the thing. 0:08:39.476 --> 0:08:42.796 So the playing was out of necessity, just to earn 0:08:42.836 --> 0:08:46.636 my keep. I think on the road you still am 0:08:46.636 --> 0:08:48.956 still trying. Yeah. Yeah. 0:08:49.476 --> 0:08:52.676 I was reading an old article in Rolling Stone. It 0:08:52.716 --> 0:08:58.556 was in a section called hot bandy. Oh my god, 0:08:58.756 --> 0:09:01.116 I think it was from two thousand and seven, and 0:09:01.156 --> 0:09:06.276 it said, one of the reasons you left Charleston was 0:09:06.356 --> 0:09:09.516 because you lit your mattress on fire with a handle. 0:09:10.316 --> 0:09:10.636 True? 0:09:10.836 --> 0:09:13.196 What what is that story? What happened? 0:09:13.516 --> 0:09:17.436 Good lord? It was the first year that I'd ever 0:09:17.476 --> 0:09:19.916 heard the term el nino. Okay, I was like, what 0:09:20.036 --> 0:09:26.076 is el Nina? What is y'all? But so one night 0:09:26.236 --> 0:09:29.036 I was well, my roommate was woken up by the 0:09:29.636 --> 0:09:33.036 ceiling dripping on him because this crazy el Nino pushed 0:09:33.036 --> 0:09:36.596 this storm through and uh, and so he woke up 0:09:36.596 --> 0:09:40.116 to find that my room was on fire. He could 0:09:40.116 --> 0:09:43.636 like see it under the door, like the flames or whatever, 0:09:43.916 --> 0:09:47.316 and he came in and kicked me awake. My bed 0:09:47.356 --> 0:09:50.156 had caught fire thanks to because I was making mixtapes 0:09:50.836 --> 0:09:53.516 before I was going to bed and drinking and sitting 0:09:53.516 --> 0:09:58.756 there in bed making mixtape, drinking pass out, and the 0:09:58.796 --> 0:10:03.396 candle ended up catching this, you know, fifteen dollars mattress 0:10:03.556 --> 0:10:07.716 from the seventies, probably on fire, which was the opposite 0:10:07.956 --> 0:10:10.556 of flame retardant. It was only like it just it 0:10:10.596 --> 0:10:12.756 would not go out. So even like I had to 0:10:12.836 --> 0:10:16.556 run with this I got once we realized dumping water 0:10:16.596 --> 0:10:20.276 on it wouldn't work. I had to drag it through 0:10:20.276 --> 0:10:23.196 the house and throw it outside where it was dumping rain. Right, 0:10:23.596 --> 0:10:26.356 throw it outside, it lands on like the steps the 0:10:26.396 --> 0:10:28.556 stairs going up to the house. It lands on this 0:10:28.956 --> 0:10:31.916 and still wouldn't go out in the rainstorm. The flames 0:10:31.956 --> 0:10:33.356 just got even more and more. 0:10:33.596 --> 0:10:34.236 Oh my god. 0:10:34.676 --> 0:10:39.596 Yeah, and so so that and I had gotten thrown 0:10:39.636 --> 0:10:43.436 in jail also for some thing, No, for something different, 0:10:43.756 --> 0:10:46.556 but I had this. I had this like round round 0:10:46.596 --> 0:10:49.996 trip ticket to go visit my friends from Chris is Weird, 0:10:50.076 --> 0:10:52.756 who I met out in Tucson. They were living out 0:10:52.756 --> 0:10:55.356 in Olympia, Washington. Now, I was gonna go visit Northwest 0:10:55.396 --> 0:10:58.156 and then come back. But after all this happened within 0:10:58.156 --> 0:11:00.156 a week, I mean I got hit by a car. 0:11:00.276 --> 0:11:02.996 Also right after that, with all my bandage. My hands 0:11:02.996 --> 0:11:05.796 were all bandaged up, like fingers were touching this far apart, 0:11:06.036 --> 0:11:09.476 and I hit by a car delivering a Brita and 0:11:09.516 --> 0:11:13.436 pizzas to the hospital and all my bandages like blew up. 0:11:13.796 --> 0:11:17.396 So I'm like, oh my god. So I changed I 0:11:17.476 --> 0:11:21.476 changed the ticket to one way a sign yeah, and 0:11:21.516 --> 0:11:23.876 moved out to the Northwest. And that's what also kind 0:11:23.916 --> 0:11:28.196 of started this whole push for U for the music thing. 0:11:28.676 --> 0:11:32.716 You hit rock bottom, I reckon, I reckon, I did yeah, 0:11:32.716 --> 0:11:37.956 and I didn't. My prospects were very, very low, and 0:11:38.196 --> 0:11:40.156 you know, but then I was homeless out there. I 0:11:40.196 --> 0:11:44.036 was living on the streets of Seattle, living outside before 0:11:44.156 --> 0:11:46.796 and and got hired by a rock club, the Crocodile, 0:11:46.996 --> 0:11:48.556 owned by one Peter Buck from r E. 0:11:48.716 --> 0:11:49.596 M uh. 0:11:49.996 --> 0:11:52.116 They hired me with my sleeping bag on my back 0:11:52.196 --> 0:11:53.156 and gave me a chance. 0:11:53.636 --> 0:11:53.756 Uh. 0:11:53.996 --> 0:11:56.316 So I was able to start saving up money and 0:11:56.356 --> 0:11:58.236 getting living inside. 0:11:58.836 --> 0:12:00.956 What do you think, Like, what perspective does that give you, 0:12:00.996 --> 0:12:03.636 having once been sleeping on the street, Like are you 0:12:03.716 --> 0:12:04.436 grateful for that? 0:12:05.196 --> 0:12:08.196 I don't like to go camping? And tell you that 0:12:08.636 --> 0:12:11.436 I don't to go camping, I'm like, no, I've done, 0:12:11.876 --> 0:12:12.476 why would I do? 0:12:12.556 --> 0:12:13.716 I don't need that experience? 0:12:15.636 --> 0:12:21.276 Yeah right, yeah, it's yeah, I definitely don't like to 0:12:21.276 --> 0:12:27.596 go camping. But you know, I'm just I'm eternally also 0:12:27.716 --> 0:12:32.876 like a bit of a like feeling a bit like 0:12:33.316 --> 0:12:35.596 I don't belong wherever I'm supposed to be, Like I'm 0:12:35.636 --> 0:12:37.756 not supposed to be allowed in this place, you know. 0:12:38.596 --> 0:12:40.636 You know, I always feel like someone would be like, 0:12:41.156 --> 0:12:42.196 who let the freak in? 0:12:42.996 --> 0:12:48.556 You know, well, it seems like you were a go getter. 0:12:48.596 --> 0:12:50.676 I mean if you're sitting there starting a label, like, 0:12:50.756 --> 0:12:52.836 how did you how did you even come up with 0:12:52.876 --> 0:12:53.396 that idea? 0:12:54.596 --> 0:12:58.836 Yeah? Well, I was working at this club in Seattle. God, 0:12:58.996 --> 0:13:00.476 now my dream has come true. I get to work 0:13:00.476 --> 0:13:02.556 at a rock club and like the bands that I 0:13:02.756 --> 0:13:04.796 like are playing, you know, every month you get a calendar. 0:13:04.836 --> 0:13:07.196 It's like, oh, oh I'm getting off that night. 0:13:07.236 --> 0:13:07.436 You know. 0:13:07.556 --> 0:13:11.116 It's like watching sound and watching how bands interact, and 0:13:11.956 --> 0:13:14.556 oh my god. It was a dream come true. But 0:13:14.756 --> 0:13:17.716 I was also not making very much money and I 0:13:17.836 --> 0:13:21.436 was I'm just always ornery too, and I'm like, man, 0:13:21.476 --> 0:13:23.116 I want to do what those guys are doing, Like, 0:13:23.356 --> 0:13:26.516 you know, they're tipping me nothing, you know, my tip 0:13:26.516 --> 0:13:29.476 out and I'm getting like eleven bucks you know, for 0:13:29.596 --> 0:13:32.116 like the busiest shift ever, and I'm like, there's got 0:13:32.116 --> 0:13:34.996 to be a better way. So I just started saving 0:13:35.236 --> 0:13:40.116 every tip. I was almost like in defiance of my 0:13:40.236 --> 0:13:46.356 own my own prospects as as a as a growing person, 0:13:46.476 --> 0:13:48.716 or I'm like, I don't have an education. I don't 0:13:49.556 --> 0:13:52.876 I don't have a whole lot going for me as 0:13:52.956 --> 0:13:57.156 skill wise. I'm going to just I'm how good at 0:13:57.196 --> 0:13:59.316 cooking on the line. I'm just gonna save every dollar 0:13:59.556 --> 0:14:03.476 and I'm gonna hide it for myself, and I'm gonna 0:14:03.476 --> 0:14:05.916 put out my friend's record that those friends I met 0:14:06.076 --> 0:14:08.916 in Tucson. I'm gonna put out their record. They're finally 0:14:08.916 --> 0:14:13.196 gonna have a CD, and everything will just kind of start, 0:14:13.596 --> 0:14:19.196 you know, snowballing. And it it did. So you know, 0:14:19.276 --> 0:14:22.716 it had enough to put out one record, and it 0:14:22.756 --> 0:14:24.476 had enough to repress it, and all of a sudden, 0:14:24.476 --> 0:14:26.476 it's like Jesus, we got like a thing going on 0:14:26.596 --> 0:14:30.356 here now and growing up with like I mean, even 0:14:30.396 --> 0:14:34.676 in Irmo, South Carolina, I had stenciled Subpop on my backpack, 0:14:34.716 --> 0:14:36.756 you know, in white out, you know, so there was 0:14:36.836 --> 0:14:39.996 already like this like indie rock kind of like the 0:14:40.036 --> 0:14:42.916 branding of indie rock was was working on me, you 0:14:42.916 --> 0:14:45.796 know what I'm saying. Yeah, moving up to Seattle and stuff. 0:14:45.796 --> 0:14:51.476 There's so many record labels. This is like peak indie sleeves, 0:14:51.556 --> 0:14:55.556 whatever era this was. But there were so many great 0:14:55.916 --> 0:15:00.596 labels and and everyone was cool and intermixing with one another. 0:15:00.676 --> 0:15:05.156 And my idea to help other people dream their dreams 0:15:05.156 --> 0:15:10.236 bigger was more than business savvy, because I had always said, like, 0:15:10.316 --> 0:15:12.196 this is like a stepping stone. I'm not trying to 0:15:12.236 --> 0:15:14.476 like put you on a contract. I'm not trying to 0:15:14.516 --> 0:15:17.756 do nothing but get us on k XP, you know, 0:15:17.876 --> 0:15:20.796 and like and put our shops or our CDs and 0:15:20.836 --> 0:15:23.036 all these shops. There were so many great record stores 0:15:23.036 --> 0:15:25.076 in Seattle too, so you could put them on consignment. 0:15:25.356 --> 0:15:27.076 And if you can sell those, they want to get more. 0:15:27.116 --> 0:15:29.516 And all of a sudden, well, now we got something going, 0:15:29.516 --> 0:15:32.636 and I was able to at least harness that dream 0:15:32.676 --> 0:15:34.316 and help some people believe along with me. 0:15:36.356 --> 0:15:38.876 We'll be back with more from Ben Bridwell after the break. 0:15:43.276 --> 0:15:47.556 So, when you started Band of Horses, making the jump 0:15:47.556 --> 0:15:50.356 from being the guy in the back who's supporting everybody, 0:15:50.436 --> 0:15:54.836 and you know, helping other people get a foothold in 0:15:54.916 --> 0:15:57.636 the scene and get you know, the band to grow 0:15:57.676 --> 0:15:59.356 and stuff like that. When all of a sudden it 0:15:59.436 --> 0:16:02.196 becomes you and it's your work and you're out there, 0:16:02.236 --> 0:16:04.556 you're the front person. Was that a big transition for 0:16:04.636 --> 0:16:07.516 you or did that happen seem to happen more naturally. 0:16:08.396 --> 0:16:11.796 No, it's a transition. I still like I feel I 0:16:11.836 --> 0:16:13.636 still feel like I'm like reeling from it in a 0:16:13.636 --> 0:16:20.396 way where it's like I've come now twenty some years later, 0:16:20.836 --> 0:16:22.596 I do feel like, Okay, I know what I'm doing, 0:16:22.916 --> 0:16:24.756 but it took a while to get there where I'm 0:16:24.756 --> 0:16:26.996 like it could all just fall apart in front of 0:16:27.036 --> 0:16:30.156 everyone right here, you know, Like and even times where 0:16:30.156 --> 0:16:32.636 I've like lost my voice or something been sick on 0:16:32.676 --> 0:16:36.036 the road, I'm like, oh, there, it is, there, it 0:16:36.116 --> 0:16:37.356 is now, you can't do it. 0:16:37.396 --> 0:16:40.316 And then oh, like you're waiting for something, Yeah. 0:16:40.236 --> 0:16:42.836 Like waiting for like to either be exposed as a 0:16:42.876 --> 0:16:49.876 fraud or like or not meant to be there in 0:16:49.916 --> 0:16:52.476 that role. In some way, I kind of accepted that 0:16:52.516 --> 0:16:54.396 I was gonna feel that way and I just had 0:16:54.396 --> 0:16:57.556 to push through that. But somewhere along the line, I 0:16:57.556 --> 0:17:00.956 have like accepted that this is like my gig, you know, 0:17:01.436 --> 0:17:04.356 and I am good at it and I love and 0:17:05.116 --> 0:17:10.356 I've found a way to grow in that space and 0:17:10.876 --> 0:17:13.756 really and love it and cherish it and miss it 0:17:13.796 --> 0:17:14.716 when I'm not doing it. 0:17:15.236 --> 0:17:19.196 Oh yeah, that's yeah. So your two thousand and six 0:17:19.316 --> 0:17:24.476 album Everything All the Time, turns twenty this year. Man, 0:17:24.636 --> 0:17:27.036 So how long were you writing songs before that album 0:17:27.076 --> 0:17:27.516 came out? 0:17:28.596 --> 0:17:31.916 Ooh. I would say it took me a while to 0:17:33.076 --> 0:17:35.636 get those up to snuff, probably about two years. I 0:17:35.676 --> 0:17:39.796 think we started in two thousand and four. Yeah, okay, yeah, 0:17:39.836 --> 0:17:41.516 so I didn't know how to play guitar or anything, 0:17:41.516 --> 0:17:44.676 you know, I had like I was like dtuning the 0:17:44.756 --> 0:17:48.516 pegs to you know, my hand is comfortable here, I'll 0:17:48.556 --> 0:17:51.556 just work the strings around that. You know. I still 0:17:51.596 --> 0:17:54.116 got them tattooed on me, just in case I forget. 0:17:54.516 --> 0:17:55.356 What songs are those? 0:17:55.996 --> 0:17:58.836 Uh, No, One's gonna Love You in the Funeral. Okay, 0:17:58.956 --> 0:18:01.516 it's two different tunings, and I swear it makes no sense. 0:18:01.756 --> 0:18:04.276 Every guitar check we've ever had is like it's kind 0:18:04.316 --> 0:18:07.636 of a nightmare trying to line check those guitars. In 0:18:07.636 --> 0:18:09.836 front of like a crowd, like, I don't know how 0:18:09.876 --> 0:18:13.836 to what do you do with this? These strings? They 0:18:13.876 --> 0:18:16.396 make no sense to another guitar player, But they're also 0:18:16.476 --> 0:18:19.836 part of the sauce that I discovered down there writing 0:18:19.876 --> 0:18:23.556 those first songs, not having any idea what to do. 0:18:24.716 --> 0:18:26.756 So it took a while to get them to the 0:18:26.796 --> 0:18:31.076 point of even I think playing live or sharing them 0:18:31.636 --> 0:18:35.036 with any demos with like Phil k or somebody who 0:18:35.076 --> 0:18:35.876 produced the record. 0:18:36.476 --> 0:18:39.316 Yeah, do you remember the first time you played on stage, 0:18:39.396 --> 0:18:41.476 like you sang your own songs on stage? 0:18:42.156 --> 0:18:45.116 Yeah, I do. I do. There's this place called the 0:18:45.156 --> 0:18:48.356 Sit and Spin in Seattle, and I still had the 0:18:49.196 --> 0:18:53.756 poster actually a little flyer. We were first of four 0:18:54.276 --> 0:18:57.476 on like a Wednesday night or something like that, and uh, yeah, 0:18:57.476 --> 0:19:00.396 I had like a I was such I mean, I 0:19:00.476 --> 0:19:02.676 was such a Freddy cat about it too. I would 0:19:02.756 --> 0:19:06.076 sing with like a vocal processor thing that would just 0:19:06.116 --> 0:19:08.836 like delay it and echo it so deeply that I 0:19:08.876 --> 0:19:12.716 would it didn't really did not. Yeah, absolutely, Yeah, I 0:19:13.236 --> 0:19:15.796 wish they made him for the best Man speeches, you know. Oh, 0:19:18.676 --> 0:19:23.596 but any public speaking we need those delays. But but yeah, 0:19:23.676 --> 0:19:27.276 I was I was nervous, but I do remember feeling like, 0:19:29.356 --> 0:19:33.676 of course, like exhilarated, but relieved relieved that uh no 0:19:33.756 --> 0:19:35.036 one through tomatoes or whatever. 0:19:36.276 --> 0:19:38.836 You know, did you get any reaction, like real time 0:19:38.876 --> 0:19:41.116 reaction from the crowd, Like did people seem into it? 0:19:42.036 --> 0:19:44.956 Yeah? I think there was a sense already that this 0:19:45.276 --> 0:19:48.316 was going to be a thing, and and I knew, 0:19:49.116 --> 0:19:51.076 I mean it was you could see it quickly up there. 0:19:51.076 --> 0:19:55.676 We also had like dueling weekly magazines. You know, there's 0:19:55.716 --> 0:19:57.596 like who's got the better music coverage of the scene. 0:19:57.596 --> 0:19:59.876 You know, it was there's at least two, there's at 0:19:59.956 --> 0:20:02.676 least two and uh, you know someone's writing about it. 0:20:02.716 --> 0:20:04.516 In the first week you played a show, all of 0:20:04.556 --> 0:20:07.916 a sudden you're Seattle famous in the in the Gnarly 0:20:08.036 --> 0:20:12.676 Times or whatever. Uh for uh for starting a new 0:20:12.716 --> 0:20:14.236 band and generating buzz? 0:20:15.436 --> 0:20:17.516 Was your Was the sound of the band different than 0:20:17.556 --> 0:20:19.876 what else was going on locally? Like, did you guys 0:20:19.876 --> 0:20:22.196 stand out as as a new sound? 0:20:23.436 --> 0:20:26.276 Yeah? I guess we kind of did. Now thinking about it, 0:20:26.316 --> 0:20:32.636 because whether I like it or not, my my southernness, 0:20:32.676 --> 0:20:36.476 you know, my accent, my vibe, I mean, I'm very 0:20:36.716 --> 0:20:40.516 like just like I identify as y'all. You know what 0:20:40.596 --> 0:20:45.116 I mean, I am y'all. Y'all. It's just everything. I 0:20:45.156 --> 0:20:48.436 say it constantly, So I do. I do think I 0:20:48.516 --> 0:20:51.236 put some y'all in that alternative you know that y'a 0:20:51.236 --> 0:20:52.236 alternative was? Was? 0:20:53.276 --> 0:20:54.596 Is that a thing? Alternative? 0:20:54.916 --> 0:20:57.156 It was? We talked about it back in the day. 0:20:57.196 --> 0:20:59.716 I don't know if anyone's really uh stuck with it, 0:20:59.836 --> 0:21:03.356 but uh yeah, but it was because you had like 0:21:03.396 --> 0:21:06.756 people like let's say, the Supersuckers from Tucson. They ended 0:21:06.796 --> 0:21:08.836 up coming up to Seattle and living and they had 0:21:08.876 --> 0:21:11.716 like a kind of country punk thing going on. And 0:21:11.756 --> 0:21:14.516 you know, I grew up on the Stones, but like 0:21:14.596 --> 0:21:19.396 and Neil Young and and like the Almond Brothers and stuff. 0:21:19.436 --> 0:21:21.396 So I was I think I was bringing something that 0:21:21.516 --> 0:21:26.236 was that was a little bit different. Yeah, I don't know. 0:21:26.276 --> 0:21:27.836 I think it was mostly the fact that I was 0:21:27.916 --> 0:21:30.596 just like it was so echoey and a bit more 0:21:30.636 --> 0:21:33.196 psychedelic before it got kind of cleaned up in the 0:21:33.276 --> 0:21:37.876 process that I was probably leaning more towards Jan's addiction 0:21:38.556 --> 0:21:41.476