popwreckoning

To many in the music scene, Conor Oberst is a hero. Love him or hate him, the guy does have a way with words. And despite the frequent comparisons to Bob Dylan, Oberst is versatile and more than a rehash of Dylan. I guess you could say that with projects that have ranged from Desaparecidos to Bright Eyes to the Mystic Valley Band, he is a man of many hats…or at least one very large, Amish looking one.

Oberst recently played the Beaumont Club in Kansas City in support of his sophomore release with the Mystic Valley band, and despite some less than toneful or interesting openers, the crowd was excited for their music god. However, depending on what you came to the Beaumont Club for that night, you either loved or hated that show.

If you were strictly a fan of Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, than you probably enjoyed the show. Backed by some amazing musicians such as Nik Freitas and Nate Wolcott, it was hard to be disappointed by the tight musicianship. They faithfully played through MVB hits with record quality.

However, if you were there as a Bright Eyes fan or even a fan of Oberst’s legendary stage antics, you more than likely bailed early. Or perhaps, you stuck around for the encore, still desperate for a Bright Eyes song before you left disappointed. Oberst made it more than clear that the projects are separate, so stay away from this tour if you were hoping for some Wide Awake or Digital Ash to make its way into the encore.

As for his antics, Oberst’s stage personality was lacking this show. I’ve seen videos where he drunkenly gave away guitars or other shows where he gave mini guitar lessons. For this performance, he hid behind his large, Amish-looking hat that kept his face in shadows the entire show (and makes it downright impossible to get a decent picture of the guy, hence the lack of photos). At the most, he would mumble a dedication in between songs to some random group: “This one goes out to all the pathological liars tonight.”

I would like to think this was just an off night or because this was the first time I had seen an Oberst performance outside of his hometown of Omaha, and I would hate to think that Oberst is one of those musicians that can’t be enjoyed sober, but there was just something dull about this whole evening.

Set List:
Sausalito
Nikkorette
Ten Women
Slowly, Oh So Slowly
Air Mattress
Eagle on A Post
Moab
Spoiled
Lenders in the Temple
Big Black Nothing
One of My Kind
Worldwide
Cape Canaveral
NYC — Gone, Gone
Souled Out!!!
I Got The Reason
//
White Shoes
Danny Callahan
I Don’t Wanna Die (In a Hospital)

Conor Oberst: website | myspace

What if there was a library where you never had to worry that somebody had already checked out what you wanted and there were no late fees? Now what if that library was filled with something like the catalog of indie label Team Love? Sounds like a dream, but guess what?! It exists.

Tuesday, Team Love Records launched their online library. Basically, they’re letting you download artists for free and letting you keep them with no hidden deletion dates or anything sneaky like that. All you have to do to start downloading is essentially get your (free) library card on their website.

This is what the label has to say about the free downloads:

When Team Love started we had the simple and possibly self-defeating notion that posting all our albums on the website as free downloads would be a good detour around the wreckage of the music industry and a way to avoid getting bogged down in the number one topic of discussion and distraction: piracy, illegal downloads, P2P networks and so on.

Five years later and the debate still drones in the background, and while some bands have adopted a mutated version of the “free download” (pay what you wish, etc), we’ve decided to reshape out policy in a different direction and introduce the Team Love Library. Each month (or so) we’ll be rotating the Library’s selections, featuring different Team Love albums as well as exclusive content such as unreleased songs, live or remixed versions of TL favorites.

The library will be open to the public 24/7, and as we have an endless abundance of MP3’s (we fucked up and made too many of them), anything you take from the library is yours to keep. You will not be notified if you fail to return something on time, and you will not lose your library privileges if you share selections with friends.

Team Love Records was founded by songwriter Conor Oberst. Its roster includes the following artists: Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins, The Felice Brothers, Simon Joyner, Tilly and the Wall, A Weather, The Berg Sans Nipple, Mars Black, Capgun Coup, David Dondero, El Madmo, Flowers Forever, Nik Freitas, Joker’s Daughter, McCarthy Trenching, Gruff Rhys, Rig 1 and Craig Wedren.

Team Love: website | myspace

Pierre de Reeder is best known for his role as a multi-instrumentalist in the band Rilo Kiley, but like the other members of the band, de Reeder occupies his down time with his own songwriting and recording.

Technical Editor Nick caught up with Pierre on the phone to discuss his new album, The Way That it Was. They talked about the album, songwriting, influences, and Pierre’s support for Barack Obama.

Nick, PopWreckoning: How are you doing?
Pierre de Reeder: Doing good, I’m good. How are you?
PW: Great, it’s starting to be fall here in Kansas City so it’s a good time here.
PdR: Oh yeah, what’s the weather like?
PW: It’s cloudy today and maybe about 70, but the leaves are starting to fall and change colors and there’s a lot of energy this time of year.
PdR: Great, great.
PW: So, do you live in Southern California?
PdR: Yeah, I live in LA.
PW: In LA, so you get to travel a lot so do you enjoy the seasons or do you enjoy keeping it the same all year?
PdR: Well yeah, I like the seasons. We do get some semblance of the seasons here. It’s not like anywhere else but, it gets cold and it gets fuggin’ hot. But, yeah we don’t get any good snow but it’s awesome when we get rain which is so infrequent.
PW: But, you get the best of both worlds because you’re only a couple hours from good snow.
PdR: True, true. I’ve been guilty of skiing during the day and going to the beach in the evening.
PW: Yeah that’s not fair. We can do neither.

PW: I’m really interested in knowing what your song writing process is. Do you start with lyrics or melody or chords or does it just vary with the song?
PdR: It’s very song dependent. It does vary, but I don’t know if its any one strategy I have. The songs come to me in different ways. Sometimes they come as just a melody popping into my head and I’ll start there and I’ll write some music around it. But I think more often it will start either with me practicing on the guitar or piano and something musical first happens, and then a melody comes along. But sometimes it all comes at once, you know? I’ll just pick up a guitar and something pops out twenty minutes later. It just depends on the song, but that’s more rare. But yeah, it’s everything. It’s all of the above. There is no one formula for me.

PW: How many times do you come up with something great and then someone else tells you it’s something else you’ve already heard?
PdR: I think I’m more guilty of saying that to other people. It’s always described to me as my job in Rilo Kiley to point out how similar some riff or something was from some other song. I try to avoid that. I’m pretty keenly aware of that. Though I’m guilty of it, I’m sure. There’s nothing new under the sun, as they say. So, yeah. I don’t know. It doesn’t really happen to me that often though maybe I’m littered with it. I don’t know.

PW: This album, your first solo release, is very polished and mature and has some great song writing in there without being overly layered and overly complex. Who has been your greatest song writing mentor?
PdR: Certainly some of the greats for me are the some of the greats for so many people. Like the Beatles, Neil Young and definitely my peers are mentors to me, just the people I’m surrounded with. Great musicians and song writers I’m associated with. So yeah, it’s a lot of outward kind of associated things and the things that I love through out my life and people I’m surrounded with, I guess.
That wasn’t a really specific answer, very broad I know but I think it’s true because everything I think we all are influenced by all of those things. I mean there is no way to pick. I guess you could say you’re totally into one band and you love the sound and you really try to emulate them, but we’re so influenced by so many things over such a long time span, you know, that it all kind of filters into the music you make.

PW: If those are your kind of long term influences, who do you like right now? Who are you listening to now that you think is great?
PdR: Right now, I’m actually back on a lot of the classics. I’ve been spinning a lot of vinyl around the house. I found this old Wings record. There’s certainly some contemporary things that are awesome like Benji Hughes who just went out with us- he’s awesome.
I get flustered being on point with these questions, about what record I’m buying or what I’m listening to. But again, peers. I’m a sucker for my friends’ bands. I’m a sucker for the stuff my friend Michael Runion does, or Whisper Town, or Jonathan Rice. Nik Freitas, another rad dude who we were touring with and he has a lot of records out.

PW: It’s nice to hear PopWreckoning favorite Morgan Nagler (of Whispertown2000) on your album as well.
PdR: Yeah, I got her and some friends together and sang up a chorus or two.
PW: How does that work, you just put out a phone call and tell a bunch of people to show up and they lay down some tracks?
PdR: I guess so, that just had happened to be one day where I had this vision for a whole bunch of people singing and different parts of a few different songs and so I asked my good friends and people that happened to be around.
Jake Bellows [of Neva Dinova] was in town so it was like, “That’s awesome!” So just some friends and I was like “Hey! What about Saturday?” and he was like “Yeah, alright!” So everyone came by. Not that I know it was a Saturday.

PW: It looks like you were able to bring your daughter into that process. Was that the first time she’s taken part in your music officially?
PdR: Yeah, yeah.
PW: Did she enjoy that process?
PdR: (laughing) Yeah, she really does.
PW: Are you trying to get her down the road? I have two girls so I have one about the same age as your daughter and I find it fun to get her involved. We did a little Garage Band project a few months ago. Do you try to encourage that with your daughter?
PdR: I definitely encourage it. She’s self-encouraged, though. She just loves “it,” whatever “it” is. She’s just like a little performer, you know?
PW: Yeah, I have one of those too.
PdR: She just loves doing that kind of stuff. I definitely don’t want to be a stage mom or dad pushing her to do anything but she does finds it on her own and things come up like this for her, like people ask her to be in a video or some song. She did a record for a kid’s band and all of this stuff just keeps coming to her and she just loves it.
PW: Well that’s great, my daughter, we did a Garage Band project and ended up shooting a video and she realized quickly that it’s not as fun as it all looks. There’s a lot of work involved.
PdR: A lot of it is just waiting, just waiting around.

PW: So I’ve read an essay you wrote about Obama and I see you’re a big Obama supporter. What are you doing over the next month to help out?
PdR: Well, coincidentally enough I get to participate in this really awesome commercial tomorrow that Shepard Fairy, the guy who did the Obama posters and also did obey Jock the Giant, is doing. It’s an official Obama campaign commercial that’s shooting tomorrow and I get to go in and do a sixty second speech on what I think and why, and blah blah blah. Tons of people are going to show up and do this tomorrow and just getting to be a part of that and who knows if a snippet of me will be in there or not, but just being able to get on the pulpit a little bit tomorrow for that experience is exciting.
PW: It seems like these days that artists are completely past the worry that they are going to offend any of the fans and they are wearing everything pretty blatantly on their sleeves.
PdR: Yeah, thankfully.
PW: I think maybe the Dixie Chicks led the way and took a little heat on it with their crowd but it seems like now it’s pretty acceptable. We were at ACL last week and it seemed pretty much every show made a mention of change and Obama.
PdR: The more the better, you know? It’s a crazy time everyone’s got to wear it on their sleeve. It’s the most patriotic thing they can do. It’s cliché to say but it is.

PW: Any back up plans if it doesn’t go our way?
PdR: I truly was one of those people when Bush got elected the very first time – before he got elected I didn’t know what I’d do. I thought there was something crazy about this dude and I didn’t know what was going to happen to us if he got elected. I heard some people like Alec Baldwin were going to leave the country, and I was the same way and this was all before Bush’s first term, so I had those similar pangs. But I’m not going to leave the country, I’m not going to do anything. What am I going to do? Just hang in there like everyone else and hope for the best.

PW: Yeah, I know. I read that you designed the Rilo Kiley t-shirt for the Yellow Bird Project. Is that true?
PdR: Yeah.
PW: So you paint or do other visual arts as well?
PdR: Yeah, I paint to some extent. A kind of amateur, for-love-of-painting kind of way. I have always dabbled in the arts. But, yeah I do a lot of design.
I have done most of the Rilo Kiley album covers, and I painted my record cover and all of the artwork, and Jenny Lewis’ record cover and yeah I do that. I do everyone’s record covers and photo retouching and all of that kind of junk. And artwork and advertising so yeah, I definitely do that.
It’s kind of been a sideline of mine forever. I used to teach graphic design. I just dabble in painting. I don’t really do it, but I did get to do it on my record cover which was fun.
PW: My wife has that Yellow Bird shirt, by the way, and just loves it. It’s a beautiful shirt.
PdR: It was great doing the Yellow Bird Project.
PW: And the Elliot Smith Memorial Fund is another cool thing to see on the back of that shirt.
PdR: Yeah, for sure.

PW: Let’s go to the new album. What is your favorite track now that you have had some time to let it sit and roll around, what do you go back to as your favorite?
PdR: I don’t know, that’s such a hard thing to answer. I’m so close and personal to each one of them. Its really hard to pick a favorite. There are different ones that are with me for different reasons.
There’s a slower one on the record called “A Long Conversation”. I don’t know why, it just has a mood about it that I really enjoy playing live and how it came across on the record. “The Way That It Was”, the title track, is another favorite. They are all obviously incredibly personal and I have a different relationship with each one, it’s like different children. I don’t which one I love best.

PW: How many songs do you write that don’t make an album? Are you prolific and just take the best ones, or do you take one and work on it for a long time?
PdR: I mean it’s kind of a mixed bag there, too. There are certainly a number of songs that didn’t make it on this record so there are a lot of finished or unfinished or whatever songs floating around out there. So I don’t know how prolific I am. More than some, much less than others.
I definitely can whittle away at a song for a long time or I could finish it quickly. I guess I’m more of a whittler with songs, especially with recording so much of this record myself. It lent itself to whittling where I’d have to do the drums and the bass and the guitar, and then experiment, and do whatever. It’s a long whittling process, and through that sometimes a song comes out much different than I started or sort of intended.

PW: I really like “Not How I Believe” at the end of the album and I really like the message of it: have a little bit of modesty and honesty. Does that hurt in trying to do a lot of self promotion around your album? Is it difficult for you to go out and sell this thing?
PdR: It is. I’m terrible about wanting to do that stuff but I am pragmatic about having to do it. I started a record company to release this record and so at least I can hide behind that and kind of use any promotion through the record company doing it (even though it’s me). I have to do tons of other stuff: be kind of business savvy, and getting all the ducks in a row and that kind of stuff, but yeah I try to remain modest with it all, too. It’s a hard thing to do, but, yeah those are tenets of me in general, like being honest and modest, and humble and sincere and confident, all at the same time.
PW: I think it definitely comes through in your work and I see a lot of, even with these troubled times, some optimism in here, quite a bit of it actually.
PdR: Yeah, I am optimistic. I always have been optimistic. Realistic, but optimistic.
PW: Yeah I think that’s great, it does come through. I really enjoyed the album.
PdR: Thanks.

PW: It’s definitely grown on me. I have listened to it quite a bit in the last few weeks. Is there anyone you really want to collaborate with or maybe even, since you have a label now, get a project going with someone else in the future?
PdR: I guess there would be so many people I would love to, I don’t know. Again I mean I love working with all of my friends and I love doing that and I would love to continue to do that with just about every one but I’ve encountered musically and I would love to have them all play with me in some sense on some recording or whatever.
From [Michael] Runion to Benji [Hughes], to Conor [Oberst], and everyone who is associated with everyone, I would love to play with them all. With everyone I have played music with and I’d love to have them involved with my stuff. And then it expands out to the greater big world of I don’t know. Yeah, I would love to play with anybody and everybody.
PW: Those tracks that have the chorus on them, it just seems like your having a lot of fun in there, and that does come through. I think that’s all I have for you.
PdR: Cool, that’s awesome.
PW: Thank you very much! It was great talking to you I wish you the best of luck.

Tour Dates:
Oct 24 – Rio Theatre / Santa Cruz, CA (w/ Jenny Lewis)
Oct 28 – Herbst Theatre / San Francisco, CA (w/ Jenny Lewis)
Oct 29 – Herbst Theatre / San Francisco, CA (w/ Jenny Lewis)
Oct 30 – Orpheum Theatre / Los Angeles, CA (w/ Jenny Lewis)
Nov 01 – UCSD Price Center Ballroom / San Diego, CA (w/ Jenny Lewis)

Pierre de Reeder: website | myspace

Having slept for more than 3 hours, Editor in Chief Jessica and I found ourselves out the door and headed to the park in a somewhat timely manner. Pausing for only a moment at a local McDonald’s (ew, right?) [Ed. Note: fruit and yogurt parfait is delish!] for breakfast, we pointed our bodies toward the dust pit that was Zilker Park.

11:45-12:30 // Langhorne Slim // Dell Stage
As we shifted through the somewhat modest morning crowd, making our way towards the Dell Dome to get Jessica’s hair teased into the finest of “America’s Next Top Model” mode, we managed to catch a few songs from Kemado Records’ Langhorne Slim. Their mellow yet manic songs seemed to set the perfect soundtrack for what appeared to be the makings of a pretty calm start to a festival that would eventually peak into a frenzy at the hands of Beck. Yet, listening to these boys, better suited for a dive bar than a giant showcase, they seemed determined to hold their own regardless of the makeup of their surroundings. Scene be damned, Langhorne Slim gave the day their all, coloring me impressed. I fully expect myself to make an effort to seek out this band again.

Langhorne Slim, Photo: epochshot

12:30-1:30 // Old 97s // AT&T Stage
Since 1996, I have loved the Old 97s, yet have never been blessed with the chance to see them play. Needless to say, there was no way in hell I was missing there set at this year’s ACL. I must say I was rather pleased to experience how fluently their mix of alt-country twang and standard pop riffs carried over into their live act. Furthermore, watching Jess shake her ass in time to one of my favorite bands, having just discovered them, was one of my most coveted ACL experiences.

1:30-2:00 // Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed (interview) // Dell Dome
While waiting in line for the aforementioned teased out mess of a faux hawk Jess had to have, we got to overhear one of the many artist interviews that took place in the Dell Dome over the weekend. Jess was excited that we happened to be there for 50′s style rocker Eli “Paperboy” Reed, whom she had seen at Download: Philadelphia.

Eli "Paperboy" Reed

Following an extended stay in the Dell Dome, checking out some rad art by Mike Ming and making new friends (sup Andrea!), we headed back to the media area for a couple interviews. I must admit, I went into my interview with MGMT with a bit of apprehension. It has been stated pretty heavily and bluntly that these boys were moody, pretentious pricks who would have little to no issue with tearing you down if you rubbed them the wrong way. Turns out, however, those rumors could not have been more false. Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser, simply sat and hung out with us, more or less, even opting to remain in conversation with us for nearly 20 minutes after the interview had ended. Sadly, the party had to be broken up in order for Jessica and I to hang with a different sent of boys, Electric Touch.

MGMT, Photo: Quiet Color

Local rockers Electric Touch were fabulous guys, who Jessica had seen play with The Airborne Toxic Event in Philadelphia not long before. She was excited to sit and chat while I wandered off to take full advantage at all the media tent had to offer. [Ed Note: Electric Touch are super sweet and fun guys.]

3:30-4:30 // Man Man // Dell Stage
Man Man easily had the set of the day, in my opinion. Honus Honus (nee Ryan Kattel) and company, decked out in white, shook their ass and won the hearts of all those in attendance. The crowd mirrored Honus on “Ballad of Butterbeans,” jiggling car keys and other noise makers in a manner that would make one think they were part of a Dr. Seuss book. Actually, Man Man’s set tends to remind me more of a trip to the circus than a day watching music. This is, however, not meant to take away from how musically talented and innovative this group is. It is nearly impossible to not get swept up into their infectious riffs, which hook you in, and keep you longing for more. Kudos to Man Man for being just catchy enough to become the only set on day two that we watched in it entirety.

Honus Honus of Man Man, Photo: Quiet Color

4:30-5:30 // Erykah Badu // AT&T Stage
On our way to catch dinner in the media area, Jess and I were lucky enough to catch a bit of the legendary Erykah Badu. I was really quite impressed by her abilities to belt out notes that I’m not positive most people could even reach. Her version of “Amazing Grace,” sung near the end of her set, was on of the most beautiful renditions I have ever heard in my life. It highlighted her abilities to speak to a crowd of people at Austin City Limits, who otherwise might never have had the desire to see her sing. I know I’m a convert.

Erykah Badu, Photo: Quiet Color

5:15-6:00 // Electric Touch // Austin Ventures
Known for their high energy act, Electric Touch did not disappoint. With guitars flying and bodies moving, these Austin boys burned their hometown to the ground, stealing the crowd from fan favorites, MGMT, who happened to be playing (loudly) directly to our left. And while, MGMT may be the critics pick, easily playing to 25,000 people, Electric Touch, with its crowd of 1,000 was easily your best buy.

5:30-6:30 // MGMT // AT&T Blue Room Stage
Due to their popularity, Jess and I were forced to watch MGMT from something like the 10,000th row away from the stage. So, while their sound seemed to be right on the money and the energy of the crowd appeared to be pushing toward a near frenzy, we hung around for “Time to Pretend,” before bailing to find a closer place to watch Conor [Oberst] (and fit in a tiny nap).

MGMT, Photo: Quiet Color

6:30-7:30 // Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band // AT&T Stage
While we had both already seen Bright Eyes, I had a feeling that Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band would be nothing like Oberst’s driving force of success. I was right. While I have always openly admitted that I find Conor to be a touch beyond emotional, bordering on manic and whining, I have also always credited him with being a genius. To me, the Mystic Valley Band not only confirms this, but solidifies it. With a bit of a Bob Dylan meets Ryan Adams sound to it, Oberst comes of a bit more aged and worn than in previous works. Furthermore, his live show remains tight and crammed with energy, making him a fairly difficult act to follow. Luckily for us, Beck was to follow him on the AT&T stage, and he’s not too shabby either.

8:30-10:00 // Beck // AT&T Stage
Opening with “Loser,” Beck straight up went for the kill from the very beginning. Follow that with “Devil’s Haircut” and “Timebomb,” and you’ve pretty much set the tone for a fairly kick ass set. Undoubtedly, the crowd, consisting of roughly 50,000 people agreed, as they gave their full attention to one slightly shy and awkward long-haired man. To my surprise, however, Beck was very crowd interactive, instead of offish and closed off, which I naturally assumed he would be.

Beck, Photo: Autumn DeWilde

However, torn between seeing a current legend in Beck, or a pair of established legends in Alison Krauss and Robert Plant, Jess and I took the high road, choosing to catch half of both.

8:15-9:30 //Robert Plant & Alison Krauss // AMD Stage
I can think of a lot of artists I would love to shove together on stage, just to see what the results would be. Yet, to be perfectly honest, I am not sure I would have ever thought to place Robert Plant, formerly of Led Zepplin, next to Alison Krauss, easily one of the biggest names in bluegrass. However, there is no questioning that this all-star combination just gels. Their blended vocals compliment one another like I have never experienced before. Their rather beautiful set felt to be a fairly flawless way to end and pretty well planned lineup. I couldn’t have asked for more.

The duo were a bit cheated by the overpowering volume of Beck’s set across the park, but it did little to detract from the lovely sounds Plant and Krauss produced. Clearly annoyed at the competition, but laughing it away, Plant referred to Beck and company as “The Village People.” Not cool — twas the sound guy’s fault. We peaced out of ACL dancing to Beck’s “Where It’s At” before happening upon a ridiculous disco dance party outside of a random juice bar on Barton Springs Road, not far from the park’s entrance. Preferring sleep to disco inferno, we continued on our way, stoked for the culmination of one of the greatest festivals of the summer.

Stay tuned for Day 3!

Austin City Limits: website | day 1

Following his and Jonathan Rice‘s set (which he played on), LA singer-songwriter Nik Freitas and I walked down Frankford Avenue and took advantage of the New Acropolis Restaurant’s hospitality to chat. PLanting ourselves in the back booth and sipping on some tap water, we got to talking about the new record, touring and cartoons.

Jessica, PopWreckoning: Hi, Nik. How are you?
Nik Freitas: I’m all right.
PW: The show was great. I’m sorry to hear you were stuck in traffic for six hours.
NF: Yeah, it was crazy.
PW: Has that happened anywhere else on the tour?
NF: Not yet, but you’re always bound to have one of those where you’re late and you show up and go right to the stage.
PW: Let’s talk about the new record, Sun Down. You write, play, engineer and produce everything on all of your records. What’s it like to have that kind of control when a lot of the industry outsources the tracking and mixing and all?
NF: It’s just really the only way to do it if you don’t have a budget. I wasn’t on a label, you know. I just kind of was doing it anyway. I just love doing it.
PW: How did you hook up with Team Love, which is putting out Sun Down?
NF: I was playing guitar for my friend’s band, All Smiles. We went through Omaha last summer and we were hanging out and I met Ian, Conor [Oberst]’s cousin, but I had no idea.
We’re playing guitar late night after the show and he’s like, ‘you got any CDs?’
I was like, ‘yeah!’ and I gave him a CD and he dug it and gave it to Conor. I got an email from Conor about a month later and he asked me to open up for Bright Eyes in the fall. That’s how it all started.
PW: How’d that tour go? That was your first big tour.
NF: It was fantastic! I’d never played in front of that many people in my life.
PW: So what was that like?
NF: It was great, it was great. I was very used to playing in front of five, ten people in L.A., especially.
PW: Since then you’ve toured this year with Dave Dondero, Rilo Kiley, currently Jonathan Rice and Maria Taylor. How have you been adjusting to touring pretty much non-stop?
NF: It’s been great. You kind of get into a groove. You just learn a lot about life because recording and playing live it totally different. You have to adjust to crowds and all. For Dondero’s crowd, I had older crowd, like drinking beer in a bar. Then I went out with Rilo Kiley and it was teenagers and then now with Maria and Rice it’s more my audience. The reception has been great at these shows.
You just learn a lot. Financially, this is the only way I can do it, just kind of going by myself. Rilo Kiley was my backing band on that tour so they backed me up. I got off that one and I sent Maria’s backing band my songs and then I learned them so when I got out on this one, I started. That’s the only way I could do it.
PW: That’s why you’re playing guitar for Rice?
NF: Yeah, same reason. Otherwise I can’t financially do it right now. So we all play with each other. It works out real good.
PW: Are you supposed to be playing with Maria right now?
NF: Nah.
PW: Are you touring again when you get down with these guys?
NF: I’m taking a break. I play guitar for Conor in his new band and we’re doing a world tour right when I get home from this. Like, literally the next day.
PW: You’re on the Mystic Valley Band record…
NF: Yeah, I play the guitar, mmhmm.
PW: You obviously wouldn’t have total control over that record, what was that like compared to your own thing?
NF: I’ve played guitar and other instruments for other people on records. You go into those situations and you just play your part. In the end, it’s up to that person whether they like it or not. If someone doesn’t like something, it’s fine with me. You have to understand the situation you’re in.
I guess when I record my own stuff, it’s just me and I get to do whatever I want. It’s pretty cool. Either way, it’s fine with me. As long as it’s a rad project, you know? So whatever I’m playing it’s fine with me.
PW: Do you, with touring so much and working with some many other people… you don’t have any other sort of job, do you?
NF: No, I don’t. I quit my job, actually.
PW: What did you do before you started playing?
NF: I hung plasma TVs in LA. I worked for an audio/video company for like three years. I worked full time and all the extra money I made, I just bought recording equipment with it. I made a record while I was doing that and this record was 75% done before I even met Conor.
I just make ‘em. I always do it.
PW: Have you been writing a lot while you’ve been on the road?
NF: Not really. Not really at all. Just kind of, I dunno, haven’t really thought about it. It’ll happen, it’s not something you can force. I’ve been pretty busy since last fall. Even before this, before I met Conor, I was doing music for a cartoon on Cartoon Network. Just at my house. I was always just playing music.
PW: Who are you listening to nowadays?
NF: Oh, man. Lil Wayne.
PW: Lil Wayne?
NF: Yeah, a lot. I’ve been working a lot with All Smiles on that new record, so I’ve been listening to those mixes that we did. Those are pretty good.
PW: When’s that record gonna drop?
NF: I dunno. Dan’s still working on it. Oh, Charlie Wadhams, it’s this guy out of LA. He’s really good.
PW: So you’ve got this world tour coming up when you’re done with Maria and Rice, but if you could put together your dream tour, in which you either headlined or opened, who would you want to play with?
NF: Geeez. I’d wanna play with The Band. I would love to play with The Band. It would’ve been great to play with The Beatles. Bowie.
PW: I think he’s touring, you should get on that.
NF: Aw, nah. I’d almost want to be a part of the jam. I’d almost want to play an instrument in the band; I wouldn’t even feel worthy. I’d rather just be in the jam. I’d play acoustic guitar, whatever man.
PW: What about the new record? It was mostly done before you met Conor, so was it recorded and then picked up by Team Love?
NF: Yeah. I was making it just ‘cause. I’d already made one; I have three or four records out. I was on a label that kind of…whatever. I just love making records.
Like I said, it was pretty much done and I did the first west coast leg of the Bright Eyes tour and then he’s like, “I wanna put out your record.”
I was like, “that would great.” I went home after touring and recorded three new songs and he asked me to open up the east coast a few weeks later. So I flew out there and I gave him the record and I got all the artwork ready and that was it. It happened so fast.
I just keep making music, man. Somebody will hear it and like it.
PW: Everyone inside liked it.
NF: Yeah it seemed cool. I don’t even remember playing, it was a blur.
PW: Who were your influences growing up that got you into music.
NF: The Beatles. I feel like I always say this: the Beatles; Bowie; Dylan; Neil Young. Just the ones you can’t really go wrong with. I like the Talking Heads a lot. Radiohead. Wilco. Just the ones you can’t go wrong.
PW: Totally. Well thank you very much.
NF: No problem. It was great.

Nik Freitas: website | myspace | download “All the Way Down” | download “Sun Down”

It’s not everyday you see a musician walk in the door of the venue for the first time and hop right up on stage to begin his set. Caught in summer weekend traffic on the evil stretch of Interstate 95 between Washington DC and Philadelphia, Nik Freitas had to do just that, arriving the very second he was to be on stage. “It [traffic] was worse than L.A.!” the California native later told me.

The late arrival didn’t seem to have an ill effect on Freitas’ performance, though. He opened a tight and fluid set with the title track off his fourth record, and debut for label Team Love, Sun Down. The slightly subdued tune showcased Freitas’ rich and handsome vocals atop minimalist instrumentation. He followed with the jaunty “All The Way Down,” a hugely dynamic and upbeat song bringing Freitas’ wonderful voice to the forefront.

The remainder of Freitas’ set distinguishes his great pop sensibilities through upbeat tunes instrumentally if not always lyrically upbeat. “Sophie” nods to Freitas’ Neil Young influence, to whom he later pays tribute by ending his set with a Young cover. He sings, “Sophie, you’re still bummin’ us all out / So goodbye / We hope you find some way to smile.” It’s a fairly depressing song but you can’t tell that from the upbeat nature of the Freitas’ energetic riffs and vibrant vocals.

Freitas rounded out an unfortunately short set with a Neil Young cover song, an [obvious] influence to Freitas’ own music. Despite his just-in-the-nick-of-time arrival, the crowd — whom Freitas says has been very receptive on this current tour — absolutely relished him. You can catch Freitas making his way to the West Coast with Taylor and Rice (dates below).

Set List:
01. Sun Down
02. All the Way Down
03. Sophie
04. It Ain’t Like That
05. Neil Young cover

Tour Dates:
Jun 24 – The Space / Hamden, Connecticut
Jun 26 – El Macambo Club / Toronto, Ontario
Jun 27 – Magic Stick / Detroit, Michigan
Jun 28 – Beat Kitchen / Chicago, Illinois
Jun 29 – Belmont Art & Music Fest / Chicago, Illinois
Jun 30 – 7th Street Entry / Minneapolis, Minnesota
Jul 01 – The Waiting Room / Omaha, Nebraska
Jul 02 – Hi Dive / Denver, Colorado
Jul 03 – Kilby Court / Salt Lake City, Utah
Jul 04 – Neurolux / Boise, Idaho
Jul 05 – Doug Fir / Portland, Oregon
Jul 06 – Tractor Tavern / Seattle, Washington
Jul 09 – Bottom Of The Hill / San Francisco, California
Jul 10 – The Cellar Door / Visalia, California
Jul 11 – Echoplex / Los Angeles, California
Jul 12 – Gundlach-Bundschu Winery / Sanoma, California

Nik Freitas: website | myspace

*Photo credit: Bill Ellison