PLAYBACK
The Underlying Overtones
of Jay Farrar
October 2002
by
Annie OBrien
OKAY,
I admit it. I was never
really an Uncle Tupelo fan
in the heyday of the alt-country
pioneers. In some St. Louis
circles, my confession would
be considered blasphemy;
however, I save face by
professing an interest in
both Son Volt and Wilco.
The spinoffs resulting from
the 1994 split of founders
Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy
produced sounds that, while
remaining true to Uncle
Tupelos roots, capitalize
on the strengths and visions
of each of the artists individually.
Tweedy took Wilco in more
of a pop direction while
Farrars Son Volt continued
down the road of a country-folk-rock-punk
blend. Both released moderately
successful albums, with
Wilco achieving more commercial
success and Son Volt receiving
critical acclaim, particularly
for their first release,
Trace, which made Rolling
Stones top 10 list
for 1995.
Son
Volt followed up Trace with
Straightaways in 1997 and
Wide Swing Tremolo in 1998.
After a rigorous recording
and touring schedule for
over 10 years, Farrar finally
took a break, announcing
intentions to take an indefinite
hiatus from Son Volt and
produce solo material. Farrars
greatly anticipated return
to the scene culminated
in Sebastopol. Released
in 2001, Sebastopol allowed
us a side of Jay Farrar
we had not really heard
before. Take his usual baritone,
earthy vocals, and acoustic
guitar-laden melodies and
add a myriad of underlying
overtones in the form
of piano, pedal reed organ,
and a variety of percussion
instruments.
Farrars
recent release is Thirdshiftgrottoslack,
a five-song EP featuring
previously unreleased songs
recorded during the Sebastopol
sessions and a Tom Rothrock
remix of Sebastopols
main single, Damn
Shame. Rothrock, who
is best known for his work
with Beck and R.L. Burnside,
takes a great song, downplays
the main guitar hook, and
beefs up the drum line,
resulting in a subtle change
with a soulful, funky sound
that grabs you and wont
let go.
I
had the pleasure of talking
with Jay Farrar on a sunny
Thursday morning. I was
nervous, as he has a reputation
for being a bit restrained.
I felt like a teenager again
as I waited eagerly by the
phone, and actually uttered
the words, I hope
he calls me! After
I prefaced the interview
with apologies for my tendency
toward idiotic phone conversations,
Farrar contradicted his
reputation by talking candidly
about his writing style,
his top five influences,
the future of Son Volt,
and Farrah Fawcett. Heres
what he had to say:
Are
you in St. Louis now?
Couldnt
stay away long.
Why
an EP? Why not just include
these songs with the next
album?
The
songs on the EP were originally
recorded at the same time
as the songs on Sebastopol.
So
you just felt like you wanted
to keep a consistency?
Yeah,
yeah, I wanted to break
it up. Basically, I felt
that there were too many
songs to put out on one.
I felt like someone would
get lost in the middle there.
So I broke it up so that
some songs wound up on Sebastopol
and these songs were on
the EP.
I
know you grew up in a musical
family. When did you start
playing, and what was your
first instrument?
I
guess the first instrument
I gravitated to was the
guitar. I think, like most
people, I probably started
out with formal piano lessons
but, yeah, the guitar was
the instrument that would
allow you to start a band.
So, thats the instrument
I took up.
Was
starting a band pretty much
the goal to begin with?
Yeah,
I suppose it was. It was
just sort of part of the
environment that I lived
in. I have three older brothers
and they all were either
in bands or talking about
forming bands, so from an
early age it was something
that I was exposed to. It
just seemed like the natural
thing to do.
What
would you say are your biggest
musical influences past
or present?
Past
or present? (Laughs.)
What
are you listening to now?
I
sort of like to search for
sounds of music that Im
not normally exposed to;
currently, Indian music.
I've been listening to a
lot of ethnic music, in
general.
Do
you check out the KDHX shows?
Yeah,
I do actually. That eastern
European show I like a lot.
Who
would you say are your past
influences?
I
think, in a rock n
roll context, probably The
Rolling Stones were a pretty
fundamental influence. I
started out with a lot of
the big names like The Beatles
and the Rolling Stones and
the like.
I
dont know if you ever
saw the movie High Fidelity
with John Cusack, but one
of my favorite things from
that is the Top Five. I
like to ask people what
they consider to be their
top five influences.
I
can take a stab at it...Beatles,
Revolver; Rolling Stones,
Exile on Main Street; Nick
Drake, Pink Moon; Neil Young,
Tonights the Night...are
we up to five?
Nope,
one more
(Laughs.)
Maybe The Clash, London
Calling. Most of that represents
formative influences. I
dont always listen
to all those right now.
Im
kind of surprised there
arent any country
artists in there.
I
didnt really get into
the country right away.
I was exposed to it and
just sort of had a mild
acceptance of it but it
wasnt until later,
probably when I was in my
20s, when I started to discover
bands like The Flying Burrito
Brothers and more of the
country-rock albums of The
Byrds. Things like that
all sort of came together
to become a true interest.
Youre
doing some soundtrack work;
how did you get involved
in that?
I
did some score music for
a movie called The Slaughter
Rule. The song is called
Gather; its
the one song I did with
vocals on the soundtrack.
Alex and Andrew Smith just
contacted me and we hit
it off.
Do
you write differently for
a soundtrack than you would
for your own album?
I
think so, yeah. I felt a
little freer to do more
experimental things. Especially
with guitar playing. I rarely
do any fingerpicking style,
but I did some of that on
the soundtrack. I think
writing for a soundtrack
takes you out of your normal
mode, so it allows for a
different form of expression.
Did
you write differently for
your solo project than you
have for your previous bands?
To
a small degree, yeah. Because
when youre writing
for a band, you are always
conscious of the people
that are going to be playing
the parts and the fact that
youre going to be
playing it with them on
the road a lot.
You
have a lot of great musicians
working with you on [the
solo project]. Do you write
songs with musicians in
mind, or do you kind of
get musicians together and
see what comes out of it?
I
just wrote the songs, and
after they were written,
I started thinking about
what musicians would fit
in with each song.
Your
solo work is kind of a departure
from the style that youve
worked with in the bands
before. These songs are
fairly different in their
addition of a lot more instruments
and a bit of a funky feel
for you. What inspired you
to do a little bit more
experimenting?
Basically,
I had some oddball instruments
laying around that I finally
had some time to try out
and add that type of instrumentation
to the music. I knew that
I could at least learn a
little bit of it and try
it out.
Had
you worked with John Agnello
before?
Yeah,
I met him when he mixed
some of the songs on Wide
Swing Tremolo and we sort
of hit it off, as they say.
Are
you pretty involved in the
mixing and producing, or
do you have more of a hands-off
approach?
I
think its always best
for the songwriter to be
as involved as they can
in both recording and mixing.
So
that way you can get the
outcome that you were hoping
for?
(Laughs.)
In the spirit of Orson Welles,
yeah.
How
did you decide to work with
Tom Rothrock on the remix
of Damn Shame?
I
had spoken with Tom before
we recorded the Sebastopol
stuff about possibly doing
something. But we just sort
of wound up working with
John [Agnello], and then
later on, when it came time
to add an extra song to
the EP, the idea of having
Tom do it appealed to me.
Do
you like the outcome of
it? Does it feel like a
refreshing version of it
for you?
Yeah,
I think he did a good job.
The whole idea was for him
to basically take it in
his direction, take it to
a more funky extreme than
the version John Agnello
and I did.
No
Depression radio reported
that Son Volt is a done
deal. Is that true, or whats
next for you?
Its
difficult to say with certainty
whats going to happen
and whats not going
to happen. The option is
there for us to do something
more; its just a matter
of circumstances allowing
it. But I wouldnt
say that its a done
deal, no.
Any
plans for any more touring?
Currently,
I have plans to go back
to Europe and do a couple
weeks in October and November,
and then continue a tour
in the southeast United
States, as well. I think
theres a St. Louis
date coming up in November.
Did
you know that you are somehow
connected with Farrah Fawcett?
Lay
it on me.
A
Web site I stumbled upon
while doing research for
the interview, worldofcelebrities.com,
has a link for Farrah Fawcett
and Thirdshiftgrottoslack
appears in preferred music,
so she must be a fan.
(Laughing.)
I didnt know. Thats
something Ill have
to mull over.
The
requisite question...any
chance of doing anything
more with Uncle Tupelo?
Is that something that you
feel would pretty much be
out of the question?
No,
its not out of the
question. Its just
something that time and
circumstances would have
to allow for.
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