Interviews

Posts in Rock

Chris Shiflett, Foo Fighters

Chris Shiflett doesn't get to write as the guitarist in his other band, so his side project Chris Shiflett and the Dead Peasants allows him to showcase his songwriting and love of honky tonk. It's a good thing, because Shiflett knows what it takes to be a good writer: he writes every day, and he reads every day. He knows that you can't improve as a writer unless you practice, and you won't be a good writer unless you know what good writing looks like. "You write all the time so that even if you write shitty songs, you'll be in good shape when the good ones come along," he told me.

Now that Shiflett has a family (three young sons), he doesn't have much free time, driving the kids to school and taking them to afternoon sports practices. So to maintain his skill as a writer (not just a songwriter), he often gets up at 5am before the kids are awake and writes. As for the reading, Shiflett has dedicated his remaining free time to immersing himself in the classics, having recently torn through F. Scott Fitzgerald's catalog. I came away from our conversation impressed with his dedication to the craft: Shiflett is a tireless student of the writing process.

Americana, Country, RockBen OpipariSeptember 9, 2013chris shiflett, dave grohl, dead peasants, foo fighters, Americana, countryComment

Paul Sprangers, Free Energy (redux)

When I interviewed Paul Sprangers of Free Energy in 2010, he mentioned his affinity for psychologist Carl Jung. It's the only time I've ever heard a songwriter namecheck the father of the collective unconscious. Knowing this, then, you can read some context into our discussion about his creative process when you see words like subconscious, urge, tension, and ego. According to Sprangers, lyrics come from a place unknown even to him; his body is just a conduit for the words and ideas. "It's all my subconscious barfing lines onto the page," he told me.

Indie Pop, Power Pop, Rock, DFA RecordsBen OpipariApril 25, 2013free energy, love sign, paul sprangers Comments

Hamilton Leithauser, The Walkmen

It wasn't easy to talk at first with Hamilton Leithauser of The Walkmen about his creative process. There was something else on our minds: we spoke on the phone the same day that RGIII, the quarterback of the Washington Redskins, had his reconstructive knee surgery. And since Leithauser and I are both Washington DC natives (I still live here while he now lives in New York), we are Redskins fans. So what you won't read here are the first ten minutes of our interview, which reads like an ESPN amateur hour.

Much has been made of the growing maturity of the the members of The Walkmen, friends since childhood who now have families and who are settling into a bit of domesticity. Leithauser has a 21 month old daughter, whom he had just put down for a nap before we talked. He gets his best writing done early in the morning. Early, as in after he gets up at 6am, not early as in 1am or 2am before many songwriters go to bed.

Indie, Indie Rock, Rock, Post Punk, Fat Possum RecordsBen OpipariJanuary 19, 2013hamilton leithauser, heaven, lisbon, the rat, the walkmen Comments

Chuck Ragan

Man would I love to take a look inside Chuck Ragan's piano bench. Songwriting for Ragan is an intensely personal act, a type of therapy. It's something he has to do, and he really doesn't care whether anyone sees or hears what he writes. The last thing he's thinking of is turning a piece of writing into a song. That's why, according to his estimate, probably three quarters of the stuff he's written you'll never see.

And this is where the piano bench comes into play. Ragan is always writing down ideas and thoughts everywhere he goes, usually on a notepad he stuffs in his back pocket. Then when he gets home, he opens up the bench and adds those scraps of paper to the growing pile already there. Some of those scraps have been there for over five years. And that's where a lot of his song ideas originate.

Folk Rock, Punk, Rock, SideOneDummy RecordsBen OpipariOctober 19, 2011chuck ragan, covering ground, nomad by fate, sideonedummy Comment

Jimmy Chamberlin, Smashing Pumpkins

Ah, the life of the rock star: adoring fans, packed gigs, fame, global travel, and . . . Montessori schools? Such is the happy life of Jimmy Chamberlin. He's been involved in music for 38 years, most famously as the drummer for the Smashing Pumpkins and most recently with his new band Skysaw. His time as a musician has given him a unique perspective on the role of the songwriter in society, a role that transcends merely traveling from city to city playing music. For Chamberlin, it's much bigger than that.

According to him, the songwriter, like any other writer, has a duty to "put the sophistication back in society." Chamberlin does his part: he reads constantly, often three or four books at a time, and makes sure that his young children see him reading so that they follow suit. As a result, they've become bookworms (his 8 year-old has read The Hobbit). And this brings us to his children's Montessori school, where he sits on the board of directors and champions the importance of reading. Chamberlin's love of the written word is not surprising, given that his favorite writer is Emily Dickinson.

Alternative, RockBen OpipariJune 28, 2011jimmy chamberlin, no one can tell, skysaw Comment

Paul Banks, Interpol

Matador Records, Post Punk, Rock, Indie Rock, InfluencersBen OpipariJune 23, 2011 Comments

Jenn Wasner, Wye Oak

There's no doubt in my mind that Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak would be lost without her phone. It's the key to her songwriting. That phone is where she documents all her observations for the day. She's constantly in touch with her surroundings, and all of her lyrical and melodic ideas that come from this connection go into the phone's voice recorder for later, when she actually writes a song. Wasner says her "switch is on all the time . . . if you're always looking around and noticing your environment, it's a big help."

What impresses me most about Wasner is that she calls herself a writer, period. And she knows that being a writer takes hard work. Like any good writer, she knows that the time spent actually crafting her words is only a small part of the writing process. Wasner recognizes that writers are always writing, even when they aren't. That is, her writing process takes place when she's driving, walking, shopping, anything. During this time, she's inventing ideas, trying out lines, just doing everything except putting pen to paper. In fact, she approaching her writing process with this wonderfully simple mantra: "living is work."

Synth Pop, Rock, Indie, Indie Pop, Dream Pop, Merge RecordsBen OpipariMarch 25, 2011andy stack, baltimore, civilian, jen wasner, jenn wasner, merge records, wye oak Comments

Teri Suarez, Le Butcherettes

Sure, it might be hard to discuss Teri Suarez (aka Teri Gender Bender) and her band Le Butcherettes without a mention of her performance art: the fake blood, the pig's head, the flour, the apron, all that lipstick, and the broom. But what's onstage is a package, and you have to appreciate the innerconnectedness of it all to realize that this is part theater (and I mean that in a positive way). But once you understand the extent of her creative endeavors, her performance is not that surprising: she writes music, poetry, fiction, you name it. She's influenced by everyone from Henry Miller to bell hooks to Dostoevsky. In Suarez's life, art is everywhere, whether she's taking it in or dishing it out. And that manifests itself in both the visual and aural aspect of her music.

Sargent House Records, Rock, PunkBen OpipariFebruary 26, 2011henry don't got love, le butcherettes, sargent house, sin sin sin, teri gender bender, teri suarez Comments

Bryan Giles, Red Fang

This site is woefully short on metal, which surprises me given that I grew up listening to the likes of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. My tastes have expanded, but I still love to revisit my roots (and play "Hallowed Be Thy Name" at ear-splitting levels). Sadly, the only other metal interview on this site is with J.D. Cronise of The Sword.

A few weeks ago I was at the Red Palace here in DC. Above the din of the bar, I heard a killer riff (you can always hear metal over crowd noise). I was mesmerized. I asked the bartender who the band was. "Red Fang," she replied. "They're from Portland, and they're awesome." And she's right. So last week I talked with Bryan Giles, one of the songwriters and guitarists in the band. He's in the passenger seat in the video below. Their new album Murder the Mountains(Relapse Records) drops in April, so read my interview with Giles about his creative process, including how endless repetition is an integral part of his songwriting.

Sargent House Records, Relapse Records, Rock, Hard Rock, MetalBen OpipariFebruary 15, 2011bryan giles, murder the mountains, prehistoric dog, red fang, relapse records, metal Comment

Brian Fallon (2011)

The next time you come across a song by The Gaslight Anthem, see it. And I don't mean watch it on YouTube. When it hits your ears, don't just listen to it. See it. Because I have a feeling that's what Brian Fallon wants. He may be a songwriter, but he talks like a poet. He says that "imagery is more important than content" in his songs. Most all of his songs start with scenery, and his job as the songwriter is to describe what it looks like, to get you the listener to see the imagery that Fallon conveys with his words. It's no surprise he writes this way, once you know his favorite poet: Dylan Thomas. As you'll read, Fallon used lines from a Dylan Thomas short story to describe his new side project Horrible Crowes.

I'm assuming that the whole Gaslight Anthem thing will work out for Brian Fallon. He writes great songs and they put on a great live show. But there's a part of me that thinks he'd make one hell of a poet. Sure, this inteview is long. I even trimmed some. But every introspective answer is a window into a fascinating creative process.

Punk, Rock, Singer/Songwriter, SideOneDummy Records, Folk RockBen OpipariFebruary 3, 201159 sound, brian fallon, gaslight anthem, great expectations, horrible crowes, interview, sideonedummy, the gaslight anthem Comment

Alex Maas, The Black Angels

Peruse the interviews with songwriters on this site, and you'll find that many of them are also illustrators. There seems to be a connection between songwriting and visual artistry. And nowhere is this most evident in Alex Maas, the singer and songwriter for The Black Angels, whose latest album Phosphene Dream was released in September on Blue Horizon Records.

You see, music and images are inextricably linked for Maas. When he plays music, images race through his mind. Every time. It's the music that stimulates those images. And from these images come the lyrics. I have simplified the process here, but what makes this interview unique is the ephemeral quality of Maas's creative process: ultimately, we know not whence the inspiration comes. And it's not something Maas is interested in knowing, because he wants to retain that "magical quality" of the process. But he is always looking for new triggers, and he's found one in an unlikely place: cooking.

Rock, Psych RockBen OpipariDecember 22, 2010alex maas, black angels, christian bland, directions to see a ghost, passover, phosphene dream, telephone, the black angels Comments

J.D. Cronise, The Sword (2010)

When he was a little boy, J.D. Cronise wanted to be a comic book illustrator. To those familiar with The Sword's lyrics, this should come as little surprise. Their three albums are filled with images and narratives from ancient mythology and science fiction. And like a visual artist with an illustration, Cronise, the band's songwriter/vocalist and guitarist, starts his creative process with a single image. It's a process that he describes as "organic": he never forces himself to write, instead waiting until the ideas come to him. If Cronise writes because of extrinsic motivation, it's not true art.

The Sword is touring in support of their new release Warp Riders on Kemado Records. You can read my review of Warp Riders in the Washington Post here.

Hard Rock, Metal, RockBen OpipariDecember 15, 2010jd cronise, kemado records, lawless lands, sword, the sword, tres brujas, warp riders, wingo, winters wolves Comment

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