DANNY
CLINCH,
ANDREW WHITTON
NEW ALBUMS
AlabamaShakes
in 2012:(l–r)
HeathFogg,
BrittanyHoward,
SteveJohnson
and Zac Cockrell
OCTOBER 2019 • UNCUT• 21
“Idon’thavetosolve
worldissues,because
I’mnotreallyput
hereforthat”
BRITTANY HOWARD
W
HYdidthis
feellikethe
righttimeto
doa solorecord?
Youknow,I justturned30,
andI washavinga kindof
momentwithmyselfwhere
I wassaying,‘WhatdoI want
withmycareer?WhydoI do
this?’I createbecauseI haveto,
becausethat’swhatI liketodo.Likeso
manymusiciansandartistssay,it’sa
truefeeling,youjusthavetodoit.
ComparedwiththeAlabama
Shakesalbums,whatwas
mostdifferentaboutmaking
thisrecord?
It wasreallydifferent.Weprobably
trackedthiswholerecordinmaybe
twoweeks.It happenedreally
quickly.I alreadyhadallthematerial
readytogo,allthesongswrittenand
thepartsandeverythinglikethat.
I guessthedifferenceis it wasa
newcastofcharacters,different
personalities,different ways that they
emotethemusic.
Youbroughtin RobertGlasper
andNateSmith,whobothcome
fromseriousjazzbackgrounds
- wasthatsomethingyou
wantedtoworkwith?
Honestly,I likeallmusic,andI’mreally
intojazzmusic.ButI likethewaythat
theyinterpretit.There’sa lotofcats
inthejazzworldthatarelike,“Ithas
tobeplayedlikethisorit’snotjazz.”
AndI reallyrespectRobandNatefor
being like, nah, I’m making music,
BrittanyHoward
onthepower
ofBlindMelon,
notestoselfand
beheaded goats
I’minspiredbyjazz,
I’minfluencedbyjazz,
butthisis howI make
music.Justkeeping
thatconnectionalive
betweenyoungpeople
andjazzmusic.Things
havetochange,things
havetoprogress,
andtheycanstillbe
consideredjazz,have
jazzroots.Sowhenit
cametoselectingthem,
it waslike,hereare
someguysI hear
doingtheirthing,
andI respectthat.
Youchosetorecordthealbum
withengineerShawnEverett
again– whatdoeshebringto
theprocessforyou?
Rememberbeinga littlekid,andyou
gotothatkid’shouseandplaybecause
they’rethebestatplaying,theygotthe
bestimagination,soyougothereand
playwiththem?That’showShawnis
forme.Shawn’sa livinglegend.
“13thCenturyMetal”stands
outbothmusicallyandlyrically.
RobertGlasperandNateSmith,they
justonthespotmadeupthemusic,and
thenI tookit laterandcutit upandputit
together. I was trying to figure out what
Iwasgoingtodooverit,becausethere’s
noroomfora melody,there’ssomany
melodieshappening.I decidedit hadto
besomethingspoken-word.I wasinmy
notesonmyphoneandI foundthisthing
I hadwrittena longtimeago,whenI was
inthisplacewhereI wassodevastated
bythestateoftheworld.AndI wrotethis
powerfulmessagetomyownself:you
bethebestyoucanbe,andthenthat’s
goingtoaffecttheworldthewayit’s
goingto.Youdon’thavetosolveworld
issues,becauseI’mnotreallyputhere
forthat.That’swhatthat’sabout.
Theoppositeofthattrack
is “GoatHead”,whichhas
verygentlemusicanda very
intenselyric.
ThewayI thinkofit is thejuxtaposition
is alwaysmoreinterestingwhen
songwritingtome.SoI hadthiscool
musicyouthinkis safe,thenI’mlike,
“Whocutoffa goatheadandputit inthe
backofmydad’scar?”YouknowwhatI
mean?It’sa verydarksong,it’sbased
ona truestory.Hard song to sing, I’m
notgoingtolie.
Asthesoleguitaristonthe
record,didyouapproach
theinstrumentin any
differentway?
I thinkI justletmyimaginationrun
wild– there’snolimit.If onthissongI
wanttohavesevenguitarpartscomein,
that’swhatI’mgoingtodo.Andit was
funtofinallybelike,“Don’tcare,make
it sevenparts.”Orononehalfofthe
song,I’mgoingtohavekeyboardbass,
butontheotherhalfI’mgoingtohave
a realbass.Justmakingdecisions like
that.Thesky’sthelimit.
Aresomesongsgoingfora
’90sR&Bfeel?
That’sthetimeI grewupin,sothat’s
whatfeelsmostnostalgictome.Inthe
’90s,somethingcouldcomeontheradio
andthesongactuallyhasa message,
youcouldgetawaywithsomuch.
Nowadaysthere’slike,talkaboutthe
car,talkaboutthewomen,talkabout
thebooties,yougota sure-firehit.Back
inthedaythough,anythingcouldbea
hit.SoI wasdefinitelyinspiredasmuch
byBlindMelon,byweirdsongsthatare
weirdtobehits,asmuch as Jodeci, you
knowwhatI mean?
Whatwouldyoursisterthinkif
sheheardthisalbumandsaw
whereyourcareerwasat?
She’dbelike,“I’mrealproudofyou,”
andthenshe’dbelike,“Whatareyou
goingtodoonthenextrecord?”She’d
beaskingmea lotofquestionsjustto
stressmeoutprobably.“Howareyou
goingtodothislive?”Makingmebetter
andbetterandbetter.That’sbasically
it.“Hey,youdidgoodhere,buthoware
yougoingtodobetter?”That’sprobably
what it’d be like.INTERVIEW: ROB MITCHUM
Q&A
