Following 2015’s Pearls, Katie Kuffel is back with a brand new full-length album, Take it Up. Despite appearing a solo release, the record is actually a lesson in collaboration, drawing on the talents of Arthur James (guitar), Jonathan Robinson (bass), Jordan Wiegert (drums), Kale Lotton (sax), Lana McMullen and David Kelly (singers/songwriters) to achieve its rich style. The fact is pertinent beyond the musical sound too, the album itself concerned with finding true connection in a world that values the superficial, and using such links as a kind of balm against the pain and suffering one might face. As Kuffel explains:

Take it Up is what came out of the last few years of transition, where I found new ways to connect with myself and my community. How I move through the world as a woman, owning my sexuality, my mental health, and embracing my truth. I’m proud of how authentic this album is, and how I’ve melded different styles, and moods, to create a landscape shaped by my relationship to love, pain, recovery, and connection.

It is fitting then that opener ‘Offering’ is something of a devotional hymn, Kuffel’s vocals and those of the backing singers operating in an almost a cappella style, the negative space of the song adding a near spiritual dimension. As such the vibe is somewhere between adoration, self-assurance and penance, or perhaps all three at once, a sound that comes to represent a sense of sincere belief.

“I’ve got a longer way to go than some
I spare no parts to part the seas that come
Sum me up steep and cup me
I’ve run through hands that tried to love me
I saw the cracks as words and sung each one”

‘Come Home’ is the first example of a more traditionally joyous style, the piano bright and finger clicks infectious, before ‘Arete’ switches up the mood again, a sultry musing driven by piano and deep drums. ‘RCBIF’ is rosier and more considered, the romantic melody building into an insistent drive and finally something of a dazzling crescendo, and the bluesy ‘Canteloupe’ emerges with the mischievous confidence of someone fully inhabiting their own skin.

With their variation and diversity, these first five tracks set the mood of the record—one not interested in classifying itself, with conforming and fitting into neat boxes. Rather, the sound functions in complete opposition to this, Katie Kuffel represented in all of her idiosyncrasy, a persona not mappable into any neat character or temperament for the very reason that it is too fully realised and human. Too alive for boxes and pigeonholes. Too truthful.

‘Vices’ is playfully brash, the self-assured sound at first appearing to belie the confessional lyrics, though soon the mood comes to make perfect sense, a complete ownership of every facet of character, no matter how dysfunctional or revealing. ‘Reinvent Her’ is a brooding slow burn that eventually becomes a blaze, growing with each lick and flicker, while the title track is equally patient yet at the languid end of the spectrum. Here Kuffel’s vocals highlight their ability to rise and fall in natural cadence, the leisurely feel lending an almost improvisational edge, the gradual build into full-bodied emotion having an organic sense of sincerity.

With its breathy vocals and gentle piano, ‘Fault Lines’ is a stripped-back ballad, relatively unadorned saved from the odd lines of skating sax and shuffling percussion. Instead, Kuffel’s vocals provide the sole focus, the patient unfolding of the lyrics building momentum with each cycle, and the eventual payoff is all the more vivid for it. Perhaps the closest thing to a folk song on the record, ‘As the Crow Flies’ is tender and finespun, possessing a kind of natural intricacy within its flow that unfurls as though directly from the heart.

“And I hear you’re supposed to clear
Muddy water by leaving it alone
But I’m the carrion kind
All maw and mind
I always seem to pick things to the bone

And I’ve been thinking ‘bout the rows
of trees and creosote
What a burden New World fruit has to bear
Anchor me in moving through the silt I buff my roots in
And test all the truth that I hold there.”

Take It Up is an album of complete authenticity. All pretences have been dropped, all half-truths abandoned, every wrinkle of self-doubt examined and ironed out. Such a process requires a great degree of vulnerability, though Kuffel leans into this notion and as a result presents just the opposite. Every quirk and weakness owned and held aloft, and as such form not chinks in the armour but a key component of the Katie Kuffel tapestry, threads that weave into a confident, assured whole, and one that is as beautiful examined up close as it is from a distance.

We’re honoured to be able to share the album in full, so turn your volume up and spend your day with this:

08 Oct w/ Heather Mae, Sarah Clanton and Shaleigh, @ Uncommon Ground Chicago, IL
10 Oct w/ Heather Mae and Sarah Clanton @ 20 Front Street Orion Charter Township, MI
11 Oct w/ Heather Mae and Sarah Clanton @ The Range Ithaca, NY
12 Oct w/ seatbelt and The Benji’s @ News Cafe Pawtucket, RI
14 Oct @ Rockwood Music Hall Stage 3 New York, NY
15 Oct @ The Saint Asbury Park, NJ
16 Oct w/ Heather Mae and Sarah Clanton @ Pie Shop Washington, DC
06 Nov @ McMenamins White Eagle Saloon & Hotel Portland, OR
08 Nov @ Bootleg Music Productions’ Tiki Lounge Sacramento, CA
09 Nov @ Neck Of the Woods San Francisco, CA
10 Nov @ The Study Los Angeles, CA
15 Nov w/ DATENITE and Arthur James @ The Tavern Seattle, WA

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Luckily, 2016 has changed all that with the announcement of their debut full-length album, Kinda Like Electricity. So far we only have one song to go by, but it’s enough to suggest that the brooding blend of dream pop and indie rock remains. ‘E.V.I.L.’ emerges with a dark energy, like some bluesy shoegaze track played on half-speed, the lyrics emerging like words from a forbidden love letter or the images of a late night fever dream (e.g. “I shaped the weather for my love / ’cause I know she likes to dance out in the thunder / I shaped the weather for my love / Well I guess that she was stuck in under cover”). It seems apt then that they posted a quote from Milan Kundera alongside the song on Facebook.

“Looking out over the courtyard at the dirty walls, he realized he had no idea whether it was hysteria or love”

The song comes complete with a video. Directed by Mark Leonard, we find a suitably atmospheric dive-bar scene, complete with low lighting, smoky ambience, etc. Without wishing to spoil anything, the film develops to include a mysterious priest, a lot of hard staring, snake-handling, and an epiphanic/death-cultish conclusion. Check it out below:

Kinda Like Electricity is due out on the 15th August, but in the meantime you can grab ‘E.V.I.L.’ from the Medicine Boy Bandcamp page.

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You have probably heard that Rateliff is back, not least because of his rather explosive performance of Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show, and this time he has company. It’s fair to say that Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats are not finger-picking folkers, but the raw energy of his solo work remains, as highlighted by album opener ‘I Need Never Get Old’. A good indicator of the shambling, soulful rock that The Night Sweats have brought to the table, the track is still recognisably Rateliff but with a showy, jubilant flourish. The track also serves as an introduction to the main theme of the record, a marriage of celebration and introspection, needles of regret poking through the haze of adrenaline and alcohol.

“I know that some will say it matters but little babe
Come on and mean it to me I need it so bad
Mean it to me I need it so bad.

I needed to try
Needed to fall
I needed your love I’m burning away
I need never get old”

‘Howling At Nothing’ sees the dial swing further toward soul, an impassioned, swaying tune for good times amongst bad days, where sincere, starlit promises spark into brilliant existence before fading with the dawn. As with much of the record the sense of embracing the moment is palpable, as if everyone involved understands that despite what might happen later, while sober and tired and desperate, every word he sings is heartfelt and genuine:

“Some were playing in a round
Some were dipping so low
It never seemed to matter as the night slipped away
Cause there was soul in the air”

That’s not to say, however, a party can drown out all of the darker thoughts. ‘Trying So Hard Not To Know’ speaks of the struggle to sell the idea of goodtimes-as-an-answer, Rateliff labouring to convince himself let alone anyone else (“You never stand up long enough to pull it together/ Well who gives a damn and very few can / When they’re trying so hard not to know”). ‘I’ve Been Failing’, with it’s finger-clicking and tinkling piano, sounds like the midnight confessions of a liquor-loosened tongue. “I’ve been failing you”, wails Rateliff, “but I can’t stop trying”, and you get the impression the trying and failing will continue for a good while yet.

With its blend of self-deprecation, defiance and cathartic yelling, ‘S.O.B’ is central to the album, the creed to the Night Sweats faith. Rising out of handclaps and wordless hums, the song finds Rateliff possessed with zeal, a pacing preacher electrified by the communal energy of his congregation:

“I’m gonna need someone to help me
I’m gonna need somebody’s hand
I’m gonna need someone to hold me down
I’m gonna need someone to care
I’m gonna writhe and shake my body
I’ll start pulling out my hair
I’m going to cover myself with the ashes of you and nobody’s gonna give a damn”

It’s as if his life depends on getting these words out, be it as a warning for others, a last plea for help or just a clearing of his head and mouth before the next big drink. Here Rateliff is caught between the very human (male?) solipsism, the star-of-a-movie-called-Me attitude of grand statements and gestures and (imaginary?) heroines waiting for rescue, and the depressive notion that the buck stops with him, that no-one else cares all that much, probably because they are all too busy in a spotlight of their own imagining. What’s more, Rateliff seems to understand his position without fully submitting to either side. Instead, he whips himself into a frenzy, rebuking himself while all the while hoping for an epiphany. Every so often he is tipped over the threshold, though whether into ecstasy or anguish it’s never quite clear.

“Son of a bitch
Give me a drink
Won’t more night
This can’t be me
Son of a bitch
If I can’t get clean
I’m gonna drink my life away”

A return to the regret-filled confessional style, ‘Wasting Time’ finds Rateliff musing on all the hours he has wasted “falling down” and “hiding under”, as well as the time lost “in constant reflection”. ‘Thank You’ is an apology to his loved one for this outlook (“Spend your years / Spend your time / With all these tears”), while ‘Look it Here’ is an attempted explanation, a cathartic admission of guilt which builds into frustrated yelling of simple truths: “I got a love so hard I can’t stand it / And with a heart so weak and abandoned”.

If this seems like the turning point before a Happy-Ever-After then don’t be fooled. ‘Shake’ is hot and humid, snaking like a low mist, the fever-dreams of a man pinning hope of reprieve on some erotic encounter, while ‘I’ll Be Waiting’ is based in reality, Rateliff alone and weary and still gripped by the need for love (“I’m tired and worn / But I’m still standing / I’ll be waiting ah baby just to dance with you”). Closing track ‘Mellow Out’ finds him pocketing advice you feel he could never follow, and, be it his honesty or bravado or both, you can’t help but not hold it against him.

“Someone came in rushing dragging feet and nails and I could pretend
Wanting more of nothing, feel it wearing on me
Just keep it hid

Mellow out, and find a better way you’re feeling it shut down
Take it easy baby, maybe find some time to just calm down
Keep on telling me”

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats could be your favourite anti-heroes of the sixties, the forgotten friend of Otis Redding and Sam & Dave, or maybe from even further back, a band of villains rolling into nameless pre-war towns to cause shitstorms in cowboy brawl-bars and put smiles faces for one night only. That there is a serious side is less a surprise than a foregone conclusion, because no man has conjured this kind of bone-level fervour out of a pleasant existence. No, here are people staring down the barrel, people stranded in a sea of beer, locked inside some breakneck motion in which a grin and a grimace are practically indistinguishable. Whether this is a defiant two fingers or last hurrah seems unclear even to Rateliff, himself too caught up in a compulsion to dance and scream and shout. Whatever you take from this record, one thing is clear: They can’t put you in the ground if you’re still moving. 

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats is out on the 21st of August via Stax / Caroline, and you can buy it here.

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However, beneath this energy is an edge of menace, some sense of distrust or paranoia that refuses to leave even in the most catchy, upbeat songs. It’s as if they are having a good time but always expect someone to tell them to stop, and their lyrics and delivery have that adolescent ‘fuck you’ sort of posturing, a pre-emptive show of contempt to anybody watching. You get the impression that ScotDrakula can feel the good times being pulled away by various forces, be it the police (as on ‘Pig Eyes’ or pressures to “grow up” and earn money/get a job (‘Booth at the Mall’) and are willing to protect what they have from these outsiders. 

The album could be read as a manifesto, an advert for likeminded individuals and a defiant two-fingers to those who don’t like it. With this in mind, the titular refrain on ‘Kill What You Love’ sounds like a cult leader seeing through an initiation process, a demand that you throw away your preconceptions and have some god-damn fun!

You can buy the album from the ScotDrakula Bandcamp page.

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Paddy Neill – Widow’s Town

The debut EP from New Zealand’s Paddy Neill, Widow’s Town is a four-song blend of heartfelt folk and toe-tapping country, more suited to the Great Plains than the middle of the Pacific. You can download the EP via Neill’s Bandcamp page.

She Keeps Bees – Eight Houses

Jessica Larrabee and Andy LaPlant are back with a new She Keeps Bees album, Eight Houses. It may push the folky limits of Feet on the Ground, but the ten tracks of slow, sad music warrant inclusion. Our friend over at Slowcoustic described it as ‘gritty and fragile’ which, although rather paradoxical, is maybe the perfect way to capture the mood of this album. A glass hammer, a steel spider web, Eight Houses is no one thing, and to limit itself to fragile, or gritty or happy or sad, would be limit its ability to depict believable stories and emotions. The narrator is vulnerable, but knows everyone else is too. Eight Houses is out on Future Gods (US) and BB Island (EU) on the 16^th September.

Noah Young – Colorado

Noah Young is a folk artist from Boston. There isn’t all that much information about him on his Bandcamp, so I’ll spare you the details. What I do know is that he has recently released an EP called Colorado and I really like it. Fans of Bright Eyes or Blind Pilot will love this. Listen to the title track in the player. He also has three other releases from the past few years which are well worth checking out.

Kris Ellestad – ‘Surrender’

Next we have a brand new track from Calgary’s Kris Ellestad. ‘Surrender’ is really lovely, a sort of dreamy, ethereal folk song, backed up with Ellestad’s trademark croon. You can download the track for however much you like on the Kris Ellestad Bandcamp page. Also, in case you missed it, Ellestad released a wonderful album of covers earlier this year. Get it for nothing here.

Field Medic – P E G A S U S T H O T Z

Last but not least we have Field Medic, aka Kevin Patrick from San Francisco. He released his latest EP P E G A S U S T H O T Z back in June and it’s really good. My current favourite track is the imaginatively titled ‘i swallowed five silver dollars and was a prince painting flowers for an evening’, which sounds a little bit like Frontier Ruckus and has some pretty despondent lyrics which detail (another) break-up. Listen below and then head over to Bandcamp to buy the EP as a digital download or on cassette.

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While I’m far from an expert in London’s noir rock scene, and would be therefore could be oblivious to any number of similar groups or artists that adopt this simultaneously sensual and creepy style, I am going to embrace my potential ignorance and say that Shadow of a Dream is a delightfully different EP that is well worth your time.

‘Atmosphere’ is a word being bandied about to describe the EP and you can see why. There seems to be an element of showmanship in all aspects of the act, from the dramatic instrumentation and vocals to the sartorial state of the band and the associated artwork (see the poster below for an example). They seem intent on forming something more than a regular touring band, an image, something recognisable as theirs.

The Lynch reference is a good one. I can imagine Newman performing on a stage draped in red velvet while James and Donna fall out/make up, Bobby and Mike get in over their heads in some scheme and Agent Cooper communicates with the mysterious giant, the music climaxing and falling into lulls at odd moments while the audience either seem hypnotised by the song or else completely unaware there is anyone on stage at all.

For those of you that are into Halloween and that sort of thing, I’m sure you would find a song on Shadow of a Dream that would fit nicely onto a playlist.

The EP is to be launched at a Halloween show in London, with further details on the poster below.

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I listen to (and write about) quite a lot of what I would describe as folk music and I got to thinking that maybe I could put together a second volume of ‘Lost And Found’ which covered artists that could fit into the category of folk and roots music. Here’s where I enter a disclaimer: I am not an expert in this area, more an interested amateur. This collection of songs does not reflect a definitive collection of any one genre or historical period of music. Instead I have chosen a collection of old songs that I feel have huge influences on the folk music that followed, from Dylan and Cohen to the host of new artists we have covered here at Wake The Deaf.

It features country and bluegrass, gospel and Appalachian mountain music. There’s something here for everyone, from Roscoe Holcomb’s easygoing rambling song ‘Roll On Buddy’ to ‘Down In The Willow Garden’, a murder ballad by Texas Hadden and her brother Hobart Smith. ‘Shine On Me’ is an impassioned and foot-stomping chorus by Ernest Phipps and His Holiness Singers, while ‘I Wish My Baby Was Born’ by Dillard Chandler is as sorrowful an a cappella recording as you’re ever likely to hear. ‘I Am A Poor Pilgrim Of Sorrow’ by The Old Regular Baptists is perhaps my favourite track of all. It’s an incredibly intense congregational hymnody from deep within Appalachian coal mining country. The song has an insistent, almost ominous, drive and continues to build in burning fervour. Mumford and Sons this ain’t.

I urge you to give this mix a listen. I’ve really enjoyed putting it together and constantly found myself amazed at the quality of the songs, some of which were written well over a hundred years ago (although some were recorded much later). If you’re a fan of modern folk music, of the legends of the sixties revival, of the Coen’s “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”, or even works of Southern Gothic literature by authors such as Faulkner and O’Connor, I’m willing to bet you’ll like this mixtape.

TRACKLIST:

1. Roll On Buddy – Roscoe Holcomb
2. Oh Death Where Is Thy Sting – Rev. J.M. Gates
3. I’ll Be Washed – The Carolina Tar Heels
4. East Virgina – Buell Kazee
5. I Wish I Was A Mole In The Ground – Bascom Lamar Lunsford
6. Big Rock Candy Mountain – Harry McClintock
7.  In The Shadow Of Clinch Mountain – The Carter Family
8. Big Eyed Rabbit – Matokie Slaughter
9. Drunkard’s Special – Coley Jones
10. Shine On Me – Ernest Phipps & His Holiness Singers
11. Down In The Willow Garden – Texas Gladden & Hobart Smith
12. I Wish My Baby Was Born – Dillard Chandler
13. Jonah In The Wilderness – Henry Thomas
14. Amazing Grace – Horton Barker
15. I Am A Poor Pilgrim Of Sorrow – Old Regular Baptists

The links embedded in the artist names do not link to webpages or Facebook accounts like in our regular mixes, instead I have linked to a picture of the artist in question, just to give you a better idea of who you are listening to as you play the mix.

If this collection of songs piques your interest, then Smithsonian Folkways is a great resource, a nonprofit record label that strives to ensure the conservation of musical history and cultural diversity. Several of the songs featured above can be found on compilations put out by the label, so I would encourage you to purchase if you like what you hear.

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Rocks & Gravel sees a continuation of Klar’s brand of folk music, although he’s stepped it up a bit in terms of volume and dynamism. ‘Devil’s Bread’ is more blues-rock than folk, the gravelly vocals growling with a barely-restrained force. The title track is another bluesy rock affair, a bar room brawl compared to some of Klar’s more reserved moments, “Somebody tell my woman!” he yells during the chorus.

Speaking of reserved moments, the next track, ‘Can’t Help Thinkin It Was Easy’ is reminiscent of the self-titled EP, a quintessential folk song, with shades of Dylan, van Zandt et al. It’s a matter of personal preference but I prefer Klar in this mode. The lyrics are the ramblings of of a wandering man:

“Now I’m watching the road running under the wheels
And I’ll daydream the next hundred miles

Rolling down with the night
the hills and these eastern pines”

‘Ride On’ is another lovely folk song, with a strong The Tallest Man On Earth vibe, and closer ‘Ham & Eggs’ is as bluesy as they come, a foot-tapping shuffle backed by Klar’s signature whiskey-soaked vocals.

The EP is available for $10 and comes in handmade, one of a kind packaging. You can also download it for however much you feel like paying. Get it via the Jake Klar Bandcamp. If you’re a fan of Klar’s previous work, or of folk/blues/rock then I’d highly suggest giving it a shot.

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First of all, how did Old Earth come into being? Was it something personal that developed into something bigger? Or did you always plan to have collaborators?

It started out personal by necessity… I’ve always been a collaborator for other people’s projects, but didn’t write full songs until I was about 26 (I’ve been playing guitar since I was 15, and I turn 34 tomorrow). In ‘05, I didn’t have a band, so I bought an acoustic guitar and started from the ground up.

I met most of my collaborators in ’06 doing open mics around Milwaukee. They focus on Field Report now, but back then, we regularly shared members and shows. I drummed for Conrad Plymouth, which became Field Report, and it was the most fun I’ve ever had as a collaborator. I think of Berg, Porterfield, and Whitty as my core team. They’re my go-to guys when I start recording, and my network grew through them. We’re friends first, though, because I’m hard to work with. I’m untrained. I use my own tuning, my own structures, and I don’t know a thing about theory. When people ask what key I’m in, they might as well be speaking another language.

The pool I’m able to draw from right now is incredible, and there’ll probably be about a dozen people on the next record.

What inspires your song writing process? Are you mostly influenced by other musical acts? Or do things like literature play a part too?

Rap has inspired me since I was 11. That genre is propelled by innovation, competition, and a sense of hustle that isn’t present in the indie rock scene. I’m equally motivated by acts that disgust me by their lack of ideas, energy, and hard work… Small Hours was very driven by things I don’t like. It’s what I’m NOT doing on that record that’s important to me.

Yes, other mediums play a huge part, and finding ways for it all to interweave makes for a rich experience. I have my hands in a lot of disciplines and my mind in even more. I like poetry (esp. the Beat poets) and short stories, visual art, and always have movies on (mainly for atmosphere).

For me, many Old Earth songs are cinematic, not in way that the word is often used (you know, big orchestral sounds and over-production) but in that they conjure imagery. This is very difficult to properly describe but the sounds have an underlying sense of action or violence that produces pictures or events without the need for words. Maybe it is because the music is so psychological, with abstract sounds and phrases rather than a traditional narrative.  Does film have any impact on your work? Or is this just a consequence of releasing your mind through your music?

Film has a huge impact on my work- movies are about pacing and dynamics, creating and changing a mood in an instant, and marrying words and images to sound. I’d say that has more to do with my work than any other medium. I even think of certain riffs or words as characters, because they recur and represent a time, place, or person to me. When I do recordings, I put myself in the role of director, composer, and most often, curator. I’m also doing more scoring for other people’s film work, and it feels very natural.

The process of writing music such as this is really interesting to me. I find the idea of sitting down with the intention of putting together a song that will eventually sound organic and fully intended overwhelming in the extreme. I can see how people sit and write traditional folk songs, with maybe a poem or a story set to guitar strumming, but when the instrumentation plays such an important, visceral role I find it hard to imagine someone sitting down and working it out. How do you assemble something so convincing from the basic units of notes and words? Do you focus equally on the lyrics and the music? Or are the words governed by the music (or vice versa)?

Well, you have to bear in mind that I’m never starting from scratch. I have riffs and words and half-formed songs that I’ve been playing on for years, and I don’t have rules about one element governing another. For me, the song is the basic unit, and the riffs and words arrange themselves around it. Patiently living with the songs will tease out what they want to be… Writing never happens the same way twice, and it’s best for me to think of it as magic and leave it at that.

I’ve found that working on a few songs at once is really useful because they innately speak to each other, and the motifs become inherent. And, sometimes, you have to write three (or more) to get the one you want. Sometimes a song will spring from practicing an older one, or trying to play someone else’s.

Writing is constant, though. Singing with a guitar is only part of the process… As I’m doing a chore, running errands, or riding the bus, I’m working in my mind or on paper. I don’t think I can completely isolate the process from myself and describe it, it’s just what I do.

I once heard Damien Jurado speak on his writing process, something I’ve mentioned before on the blog, where he stated that songs always exist in some unknowable place within an artist, and that there is a spontaneous moment where each song is realised and takes form. Is this the case for you? Do songs tumble from your mind in something like a cohesive manner? Or is it more of an arduous process of trial and error, experimenting with different things?

Some seem to pop out fully-formed, but again, that’s only because I’ve played guitar basically every day for over half my life. You could argue that every song I make now has taken my entire life to write, rendering any spontenaity an illusion.

Trial and error plays a role, and it can be challenging at times, but I’m lucky if music is the most arduous part of my life. Cohesive moments are rare and can’t be counted on, so I just keep working. As for what Mr. Jurado is saying, I instead think of my songs as existing somewhere outside of myself, and I’m just witnessing and interpreting them.

For me there is a duality in your music, two aspects which combine to form a very convincing whole. The instrumentation represents the atavistic emotions and sensations, the instinctive things like fear and joy and unease, and the words are the complex thought, the reasoning that tries to bind the first category together into something that can be understood or shared. The music and lyrics together form something that is very human. Is this something you ever consider? Or is it a by-product of writing your mind?

I don’t think reason enters into it, especially with the lyrics. They’re intentionally vague, contradictory, and sometimes irrational. I like homonyms and multiple interpretations- sometimes the lines are a conversation, sometimes narration, and sometimes simply a human voice needed to be present and it felt good to sing there.

Music is inhuman if it isn’t saying “I love everything and it all makes sense” one moment and then “I’m confused and hateful” the next. The duality is more honest about the experience of being alive.

In our review of your album we included a quote where you essentially say that you take risks in order to make your art, and that pleasing people is not at the forefront of your thinking when trying to create something true to yourself. I read an interview with the Steinberg Principle where you go on to say that it is easy to pad yourself against criticism by being ironic. This remark brought to mind an essay by David Foster Wallace on TV and literature where he basically says that whole generations have grown up into superficial/empty people because they have been continually pumped full of ironic and clever TV characters who make fun of everything to appear ‘cool’. He pointed out that cynicism and irony can only ever be destructive, and truly brave art will stop poking fun at things and be itself, however hideously revealing that may be. Do you think this applies to music too, where it’s maybe not as clear as Family Guy or The Simpsons or a Mark Leyner novel? I’m thinking of artists such as yourself versus the current trend of ‘folk’ bands.

Overall, much of what’s popular is very sad and shallow to me, and I don’t need that kind of trash in my life. I’m not worried about any current trend because I’ve seen so many of them come and go. The joke’s on those bands, really. They’ll look back and feel foolish for dressing up and behaving that way. Fuck irony. I’m trying to make something to uplift myself, and it’s reassuring to me that other people can relate to it.

Finally, could you name 4-5 artists that you are currently listening too? They could be brand new or decades old, whatever you are enjoying at the moment.

My lady plays a lot of 60’s country and punk, I love Golden Oldies, I always have Gucci Mane in my headphones, and I couldn’t fairly list all my friends who are doing music that excites me. Milwaukee is an amazing place to be right now. The stuff that I’ve bought on bandcamp and shows up in the “collection” tab has a lot of good suggestions.

To better answer your question, though, the last month has been a lot of Drake’s Take Care, Fabolous’s The Soul Tape 2, J. Cole’s Truly Yours 2, and as for rock stuff, Ladyhawk’s No Can Do is ruling my world.

Jon: If you want to get some Old Earth music then head on over to his Bandcamp page. Mini50 Records have put out Small Hours, and a low place at The Old Place is now available on vinyl.

Also, in some strange twist of fate, Old Earth is playing with Small Sur and Peals, bands we featured just last Friday, this Tuesday (11th June ’13). If you are in the Milwaukee area then you would be silly to miss it. More information can be found here.

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