Interview: Drew Smith and Matt Russell

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Austin musicians Drew Smith and Matt Russell in the Miller Beer tent at the 2008 Voodoo Music Experience, after watching their set. We enjoyed a cold one and a chat about the state of the musical union.

(Note: I forgot to turn on the tape recorder at the start of the interview. Drew and Matt are so awesome and chill, and our conversation just kind of began without formality. We started with how much we love Dr. Dog. Let’s begin there.)

Noel Nocciolo: Your vocals kind of remind me a little bit of one of the guys in Dr. Dog’s and Neil Young. Actually, Dr. Dog’s collective vocals sometimes remind me of Neil Young, so it makes sense. It sucks, one of the singers has terrible vocal nodules.

Drew Smith: No shit? Did you get to interview them?

NN: I didn’t. I reviewed their record, though, for the site.

DS: Which one?

NN: The new record, Fate.

DS: I haven’t bought it yet, but I have heard some of the songs. Their last two records, were SO good, We All Belong the one before that, Easy Beat.

NN: So great. This new record is like a souped-up version of We All Belong. They tracked strings and horns, it is sooo good, it’s still all of the things we love about them. When I saw them perform back in April, I could almost hear one of their singer’s nodes forming on his cords. I felt bad to have called it, but right as the record was coming out over the summer, they were doing press, and he had to go on vocal rest, and they ended up canceling or postponing a bunch of shows.

DS: The last time I saw them, they were so fucking tired, you could just see how many shows they had played. Still so good, though.

NN: Back to you. I’m a huge Randy Newman/Harry Nilsson fan and that was the draw for me to want to interview you. When I went to your MySpace page, and saw that you had a song up called “Nilsson Sings Newman,” I initially thought it was some sort of playlist, because of the record with that same name, and then when I realized that you actually had written a song about that record, I was so psyched. I mean, ‘Cowboy’ still kills me every time I hear it.

DS: Oh I know!  

NN: How were you introduced to Harry Nilsson and Randy Newman’s music?

DS: My father-in-law. I was dating my, now, wife, and he played it for me. And my wife always listened to them growing up, and was surprised I hadn’t heard him (Nilsson). He played ‘Jump Into The Fire,’ and I thought “this guy has got it going on, he is really, really great.”

NN: One of your songs, and of course I don’t know names yet, I know by track numbers and vibes, but one of them reminded me of a plugged-in Harry Nilsson.

DS: So cool.

NN: I’m sure that was what you were after, subconsciously?

DS: This record, specifically, came about when I was getting into Nilsson. It’s not what it is all about; I really like Van Morrison, love all the greats, but he moved me more than anyone else had moved me in a long time. I’m actually kind of afraid that I won’t be that moved again, that I won’t find anyone else that does that to me.

NN: It’s really hard for me to listen to a lot of modern music, because I hold songwriters like Nilsson, Newman, Tom Waits, Frank Zappa in such high regard, that a lot of modern music is lost on me. Of course, everyone is borrowing from everyone else, and that’s fine but it’s kind of like, where is the next great songwriter? Is that ever going to be again because that road has already been blazed?

DS: We feel the same way. That’s kind of how we came about, Matt and I. I’ll let Matt take over.

NN: Yeah, how did you guys meet?

Matt Russell: Bands like Dr. Dog are great, because they harken back to all of that stuff that we love, like The Beatles, but it’s not like it’s totally original, because they’re borrowing from everything.

DS: They’ve got roots.

MR: Yeah, the lineage is there. Totally. I kind of get upset with R&B – that artists don’t quite follow that was laid out for them. Same with country, but with few exceptions. In a way, it’s hard to be original, because we keep wanting to harken back to what we’ve heard, so as far as something coming along that is totally new and different, I think it would be more subtle. Maybe years later you’d realize it and see a shift with bands. But your question was how we met?

DS: (laughs)

NN: (laughs) Yeah. You met geeking-out over Nilsson Schmilsson?

DS: (laughs)

MR: We met under professional circumstances. I’m a professional musician, I play for a living and so does everyone else in our band, actually, we make money, making music. I was in grad school, and I got a call from a drummer-friend of mine who I was in school with, about a songwriter who was putting together a band for a private party in Corpus Christi. We had to learn a bunch of cover songs, and he promised everyone $600. We get together, learn cover songs, play this gig, get paid, and then he bamboozles us into doing some of his original stuff.

DS: Bamboozle is a good word.

NN: It is! It’s an SAT word that you don’t hear too often.

MR: I got it from Barack. I liked that word BEFORE he started using it. So then, that same band started rehearsing his original stuff. We liked it enough to stick with it, even though he could never again promise us $600 a gig. Ever.

NN: The love of the game.

MR: I’ve been with him the longest. We kind of mix and match the other musicians. We try to tap from the Austin music scene. There are some really great players.

DS: Matt does all of the arrangements on the record, the horn arrangements, the string arrangements…I go to him with an idea for a tune, just flushing it out. We wrote a song for the record together. It was the first time for me, because I’m not a good co-writer, I’m selfish, but we wrote it right there in the studio. It was kind of the magical song on the record. It’s called ‘New Year’s Day’. Hopefully, we’ll do more of that. For now, Matt’s doing the arrangements and I’m writing.

MR: We used to play with horns a lot, so my music school background enabled me to write charts. I think my role is more of as a liaison to the rest of the band, to be able to translate what he wants. I think any time you have a songwriter who comes from a not-music school background, you need that kind of liaison.

DS: He’s my musical director.

MR: Even at the beginning, he paid his band, even if he lost money, $50 out of his pocket, to ensure that the musicians kept coming back. They liked the music so much, that they would do it for free if they had to, but Drew would never let that happen. It was more of an incentive. Some of the guys in the band are pretty fickle about their paychecks, but if they were going to play for not much, it would HAVE to be good.

NN: As far as the record and buying it…I’m one of those people who has a hard time with iTunes. I mean, I get it, it goes to the masses and if I want one song off The B52’s Greatest Hits, I buy it, it’s done. But the joy of going to your local record store, seeing what’s come out that week, hearing what the owner recommends, buying vinyl, buying a CD. I mean, even my local store in New York City closed a couple of months ago, because the neighborhood is gentrifying and they can’t pay their rent. For me, to get your record, which I would have happily bought had it not been given to me in your press kit, to see it and to see the tender loving care put into the actual packaging of the record; I knew it was going to be special before I even put it on.

DS: That’s great. That is exactly what we were going for. Our whole idea was any time you could wrap art within art, you have your music, and present it wrapped in art, the packaging, and you wrap that with artistic posters promoting your band. People are going to appreciate that, or at least the right people, the people who get it, who care, appreciate that. I met Dave Schwab in Austin, through Fat Caddy Records. Fat Caddy has a sub-business, and they do stuff like that; they make t-shirts and art.

NN: One-stop shopping. More people are doing that.

DS: The role of the label has completely changed because it’s had to. And technology, obviously. I met Dave Schwab at a show, he came over, we had dinner at my house, and we clicked immediately. He showed me stuff that he had made. I made a poster for South By Southwest a few years back that was photographs of an Army marching band. He had seen that, and after he saw our show, we talked about all of the art. My only idea for the album’s art was that I wanted a lonely musical note, for the Lonely Choir, and he just took it from there. It was art wrapped in art.

MR: We had talked, too, that this might be the last tangible object that we make. Maybe our next record will be totally digital. I don’t know know if going to the record store will be as important to the kids that come after.

DS: Oh it will be, but just in smaller forms. There will always be the sub-cultures of people who love buying the artwork associated with bands…I hope!

NN: I think as long as people of our generation, and in the generation above us, have kids that are growing up to be discerning music-listeners, going to JazzFest in New Orleans, Austin City Limits; I saw a ton of people with kids at both of those events. It’s going to be smaller, but it’s not going to die. It can’t.

MR: People do care about art. People will always be expressing themselves. Others are interested in that, not just other artists.

DS: And having an album to have an album, not just a single, but an overall vibe to a project; that was important to us.

NN: To totally switch it up now, What exactly are the things that you two love, besides music? Where do you find your geek niche?

DS: Hahaha, we should answer that for each other! Matt geeks out on Denver, Colorado sports. He grew up a sports fan, and his Dad would always take him to games in Denver.

MR: I’m not a very good athlete…..but the swing of the bat is artistic, I think. It’s a great way to get away from music.

NN: What is Drew’s?

MR: The Kinks? Harry Nilsson? Right now he’s geeking out on his house. Fixing floors and cabinets.

DS: Yeah, we bought a house a couple of years ago. Let me see if there’s a little glue to show you.

NN: You mean you’ve actually, physically been putting down floors?

DS: Yeah. Redid the kitchen.

NN: I love it. Rock and roll domestic.

DS: Just learning as I go!

Drew Smith’s Lonely Choir’s debut record is out now, you can learn more at www.drewsmithmusic.com