2019-07-01_Uncut_UK

new albums

jULY 2019 • UNCUT• 21

“Wehavethese

storiesinour

headseverynight–

somethingis trying

to tell us something”

Sixyearshaspassedsince

DreamRiver; whathappened?

I gotmarriedandhada kid,andthat

wastwobrand-newthingsthatI hadto

learnhowtodobeforeI couldresume

myrelationshipwithmusic.Musicwas

alwaysthenumber-onethinginmy

lifeandthena coupleofthingscame

alongthatknockedit downa coupleof

notches.It tooka lotofgettingusedto;I

havea shedbehindmyhousethatI work

inbutit’sbasicallya partofthehouse

• 30feetaway.Somepeoplehavean
  officeandthey’relike,“Sorry,honey,the
  bossneedsme”– andtheygettoleave
  thecryingbabyandcomebacknine
  hourslater,butI don’treallyhavethat
  situation.I hadtolearnhowtojuggle
  everythingandhowtoputprioritieson
  thingsandstillhavemycreativespace.
  It tooka longtimetofigureallthatout.

On“SonOfTheSea”yousing

“givingbirthnearlykilledme”;

didyouconsiderquittingmusic?

I didthinkfora whilethatmaybeI

wouldbea full-timedad,butI only

thoughtthatformaybethreedaysand

thenI realisedthat,no,you’redoing

a disservicetoyourselfandtoyour

offspring.Thereis waytojustbea

parent,andthat’sfine,butI neededto

bethatguywhomakesrecords – he

neededtostayalivetoo.

Youdoa lotofthingsonthis

record;wouldyouideally

workentirelyalone?

WhenI firststartedout,I dideverything

myself. I started to wonder where that

talk Is sheep:

bill Callahan explains his new record

guyhadgonewhodidplaya lotof

instrumentsona singlerecord,soI

allowedmyselfthattimetodothat.It

waskindofa luxury.ToddRundgren

ownshisownstudio,sohecantakehis

time;formeI’mpayingbytheday,so

it’salwaysa concern,butbecauseit’s

beensolongsinceI’vemadea record,

I saidI mightaswelltakemytimewith

thisoneandlookatit asthisis goingto

bemyrecordingexpense for five years

insteadoftwoyears.

Therearelotsofshepherds

andfishermenontheLP;are

theya hunkyarchetypeof

manhoodforyou?

Hunky?I don’tknow– shepherdsand

fishermanarearchetypeswehave

thataresoflexible.WhenI thinkof

a shepherd,it’skindofmonk-like:a

veryskinnykindoffrailguywho

spendsa lotoftimealonewithhis

animalswanderingthehills.Am

I interestedinJungiandream

analysis?It justmakessense

tome.Veryfewpeopletake

dreamsseriously.Wehave

thesestoriesinourheadsevery

night– somethingis tryingtotell

ussomething.It’snotjust a goofy

thing that happens.

“BalladOfTheHulk”is about

repressingemotion;are

youbetteratexpressing

yourselfnow?

Yeah– it wasa hardlessontolearnand

it tookmea longtime.I’mnotsayingI’m

perfectatit.It’sveryeasytonotwantto

saywhatyou’rethinking.There’sthat

feelingofregret– likewouldmylife

havebeendifferentif I’dlearnedthis

lesson 20 yearsearlier.Buteveryone

movesattheirownpace.

“TugboatsAndTumbleweeds”:

is thatadvicetoyourson,Bass?

It is – yeah.I satdownwiththatidea.

Also,I wishsomeonehadtoldmethis

stuffwhenI wasa kidtoo.It’salso

talkingtobabyBill.Tomysonorto other

sonsanddaughtersoutthere.

Is“TheBeast”ontheclosing

tracka realbeastorsomething

fromtheid?

Hmm.What’sthedifferencebetween

thosetwothings?Youhavethesame

reactiontoboth.That’stheoneI kind

ofwanttoleaveopentointerpretation

becauseit’sthelastsongontherecord.

Thebeastcanbewhatever makes sense

tothelistener.

Thesesongsareverypersonal;

areyouworriedaboutsharing

themwiththeworld?

Thethingsthatareinterestingto

humansarerealthings,soI just

wantedtomakeit asrealasI could.I

hadthisgreatquote;HaroldBrodkey,

whois thisgreatpoetfromthe’70s,

said:“Idon’tunderstandprivacy.”And

it reallychangedmywayoflookingat

privacy;I’mnotlookingatFacebook

sellingyourinfo– I don’tcondone

that– butasfarasbeingguarded,

we’renotgoingtogetanywhereif we

areguardedwithourselves.Sobeing

moreopenmakesmoresensetome

thesedays.

It’sa longrecord– it’sa lotofsongs

atleast– andI trytohavea lotof

perspectives,viewsofthesame

thingviewedfromseveraldifferent

perspectives.SomethinglikeJay-Z’s

4:44record– I foundthattobea very

unfetteredrecord.It’sveryplain,almost.

I hearthatrecordblackandwhite,like

a newspaperarticleora book– nothing

sparklyorcinematicaboutit.

Yourmumdiedrecently;is it

a comfortthatshegottosee

youhappy?

MymomdiedinMay 2018 andmysister’s

manfrienddiedlikea yearorsobefore

that.It’ssomethingthat’sstartingto

happen– I’mgettingtothatagewhen

peoplestartdying.Myparentssawme

settledownandgetmarriedfinallyand

havea kid.I guesssheenjoyedseeing

that– I don’tknow.Shewasnot the most

vocalperson,mymother.

INTERVIEW: JIM WIRTH

Q&a

Callahantodayand

(below)in 2011:

“Beingmoreopen

makesmoresense

to me these days”