After my interview with Kevin Devine, he asked me if I had one set up with Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra and Right Away, Great Captain! I did not so he asked me if I’d like to. I told him that’d be great so after they exchanged a few text messages he was down in the coffee shop and our interview began as well.
First off, how’s the tour going?
The tour’s going awesome. The tour’s going very awesome. Yep.
How’d the Right Away, Great Captain! Project start?
I had an idea to just write a three record concept about a 1600′s sailor who was betrayed and then was seeking revenge and then will all be answered when the third one comes out. It really was a writing exercise. It was a very interesting thing to do.
Where did the concept of betrayal come from? Was it any sort of personal experience that led to the writing of these records?
No. The first record was just super girl, high school, bummed out. I was taken with those emotions and just tried to make it sound indie only as a 1600′s sailor, but those were the emotions I was using which is a pure bummed to be 16 and in love with someone who doesn’t love you because that’s heavy pain when you’re someone like me who needs so much verbal affirmation.
The first record was recorded in a cabin, correct?
Yes.
Why, for the second record, did you decide to go for a more produced, sleek feel?
Because it sounded awesome. It was just the next, I wanted to do it with a guy that I trusted in Dan Hammond and Fisher and I also didn’t want to take away from it being stripped down. The first record we did in three days and the second one we did in five so whatever you want to say about that. It was also more focused I’d say than on the first record since I knew exactly what it was going to be and on this one I went into it pretty interested in what it was going to turn out to be
Kevin Devine: Did you not know where the second part of the story was going?
I knew at the end of the first record, the last song would be the last song of the whole trilogy. So in a way, it’s foreshadowing.
KD: So the third record will end with that song?
Yeah, but as I kind of continue to grow up and go through different stuff, the second record became so far from being about betrayal and into how odd is to be away from home and how strange that is and especially how strange that is if you’re a person that is neurotic like me or like Kevin and your brain just doesn’t stop ever thinking. You just never stop thinking about stuff and it turned into a record about loneliness and betrayal. But really, it’s a story. It’s a fictional story so it’s fascinating to me that this guy was going home to kill her.
The second record seemed a lot more vague in terms of the story itself while the first record was filled with references to the ocean and drowning. Was that intentional?
Yeah.
Because he’s off the sea now?
Yes, midway through he is. The song ‘Anna No, Or Memories From A Shore’ is the first song where he is on the land. He talks about getting a drink and walking around and he gets drunk and he punches a wall. But for the first six songs, he’s still on the boat. For ‘Cutting Off The Blood To Ten’, it’s talking about holding a rope and he’s going down saying “I didn’t think it would end like this.” and the ship starts to go down and he gets addicted to opium so all he’d want to do is chew this opium. I did research too so it may be vague, but it’s also accurate. On the first record, I said something about matchsticks, but matches weren’t invented in the 1600′s. So this one I’d say is much more accurate.
Do you view Right Away, Great Captain! As a three and done type of thing?
Yeah, it’s over after the next one.
Do you plan to keep making acoustic music under your own name?
I’m not sure. I’ve got to make the third one and then think about Manchester too.
The new record with Manchester, how does it expand upon, or differ, from I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child?
What do you think? From the songs you’ve heard?
KD: I learned about them as a live band before I became familiar with the record. So I thought their first record was great, but it was tame compared to their show so for this record they harnessed the ferocity of their live show. The songs I’ve hear are still very tuneful and the arrangements have grown. It’s heavy, but it’s still Manchester songs. They’re not heavy for heaviness’ sake.
Yeah, and it’s all tuned very low because of a conversation you and I had about Brand New.
KD: Everything just sounds cooler when it’s that low.
We were talking about it when we were on tour together and you said how Brand New tunes their guitars to E flat and that got me thinking because I’d never thought about that and you said you thought it just made everything sound thicker. Then I was like, “Wow, we’re almost achieving being as thick as them.” And I thought we were, at least live, at the time, not when we were on tour with them, but I felt we achieved a chunkier sound without having to drop the tuning so we decided to get really retarded and tune the songs to C sharp which is what’s reserved for Underoath songs, but they’re still poppy. That’s what Weezer was so great at.
KD: Nirvana too.
Rivers said he’s never written a song or a record in standard. He just said it’s better when it’s lower. And also, I remember watching someone play in Houston and it was capoed up one more fret and they were talking about in an interview. It was David Bazan actually, and he talked about how he would put his capo up one more than he really should.
KD: That’s interesting. To me, I like it because I like the way my voice sounds when it has to get pushed a little higher so I’ll play something in C sharp, but it’s not my interview. I already did that.
But it is your interview. We’re artists.
What are your favourite records to come out this year?
I just made a list yesterday, but what came out this year?
KD: Band of Horses, Radiohead. Wait, those totally came out last year. I just said those were my two favourite records to come out this year and they both came out last year.
When was this?
KD: He asked what were your two favourite records this year and I said Band of Horses and Radiohead so apparently I didn’t listen to music in 2008. What even came out this year.
Well, my favourite album to come out was a re-release.
What is it?
Bon Iver
KD: That’s a good record? I’ve seen that guy’s name.
Bon Iver?
KD: Yeah. They call him Bon Iver.
It’s French.
To me, it just sounds like boner.
KD:I don’t know enough about the record to say anything.
Coldplay was great.
KD: I didn’t hear the whole thing, but I liked that song I heard. When I Ruled the World?
Brian Eno did that record you know and he had several hits with U2!
KD: Did they play on it?
*All Get Out begins to play in the other room*
These guys, All Get Out, they’re really great. Actually, what I’m really excited about is my label. We get to put out Kevin’s new record.
Favorite Gentlemen?
Yeah, and getting to put out records like All Get Out and being able to work with people like Kevin who I respect. He’s someone whose live show I saw before I was familiar with his records and I think that’s how it should be. Like Dead Confederate, I’m much more familiar with their live show and that’s awesome. Let me tell you something, all my friends that are making records are making records that are changing and that are progressing. Brand New, Kevin, us.
When’s the new Brand New record coming out?
2015, I think.
KD: No, I don’t know when. Sometime.
Are they even recording?
We don’t talk about it.
KD: I think they’re recording, but I don’t know.
I just like to add to the mystery.
They seem to like being mysterious just to piss people off that way.
Yeah, I would agree with that. They absolutely do stuff to piss people off and everybody buys it and it just keeps selling tickets. But they make good music and they do treat their fans well. You know what they could charge you for a ticket? It’s insane. That band charges 15-20 dollars for a ticket and when Kings of Leon toured it was 35-55 dollars a ticket and they were playing the same room. I have nothing but respect for every member of that band and they’ve done nothing but help both of our careers out and they don’t do anything to offend other people. They do things to amuse themselves and hopefully not go crazy which is exactly what I do too, but not enough people fucking whack off about me… yet.
KD: Wow. Great line.
What hopes do you have for the new record?
My hope is that I can be in a place to support my family and support my friends who play in this band with me and I hope people enjoy it just like anything else, it’s our job, but it’s not that big of a deal. If this one sucks, I may not try really hard for the next one not to. I’m not really worried about it. If everything went away tomorrow I’d still be here and I’d just sell Kevin’s merch. Honestly, I don’t hope much. I don’t think I’m in control of it. I don’t feel like anybody is so I can’t do anything about it. I just have to sit back and be grateful for what I have. What I hope for is a prosperous marriage and life and friendships. That’s why this tour’s great. I can be with any of these guys and have a blast. I could go on a walk with any of these guys and enjoy myself for at least a little bit. So hopes for the record, I don’t know. What are your hopes for the record?
That it’s good.
KD: That’s a basic and a good hope.
I hope it improves and expands on the last record. Is it the same sound at all?
No, it is not. We’re still the same band though, but we’ve changed.
What’s the release date? I read March 31?
Maybe
KD: It keeps changing for the worse.
Is it on your label?
AH: Yeah, it’s on my label.
Who else is on Favorite Gentlemen?
Kevin Devine, Manchester Orchestra, All Get Out, Winston Audio, O Brother, I Married My Highschool Sweetheart, Gobotron, Alaska Him Nicely, Harrison Hudson, and Right Away, Great Captain!
How did starting your own label come about?
Well, when you have your own label, people can’t really prove you wrong. When a major label signed us, we asked for our own and they gave it to us.
Are you a subsidiary of another label?
In a way. If Kevin’s record sells 80,000 or whatever copies, it doesn’t matter. It’s the no worry clause. Don’t worry about it. It’s a beautiful thing and it’s a great situation to be in. And Kevin’s record is phenomenal. He’s never written like this before. It’s never been so concentrated before either. It’s just an amazing amazing record.
With the music industry failing, do you think smaller labels can help the industry?
To answer your earlier question, we are a subsidiary of Sony and Columbia and I don’t think there are any other labels like us right now. We’re giving our artists amazing deals and we’re not doing it for financial success, but to make good music where we can hopefully make back our money and keep growing it. That’s why I’m doing Manchester. It’s a long-term process. I’m 22 years old. We started Favorite Gentlemen because we were talking with major labels and we thought to ourselves, what would we want someone to say? Well, we’d want someone to say A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Let’s ask this label if they can give a label of our own with our own budget and distribution through that and then give people the deal they want and that’s what we’re doing with Kevin and All Get Out. We’re giving them their A’s, their B’s, their C’s, their D’s.
What does the record industry need to do revive itself?
The record industry doesn’t exist right now. People are just making music so it’s going to change, but the industry itself holds so little weight on a band’s career at the beginning that it will have to change and now labels are changing because they have to. There’s nothing the industry can do to break a band anymore. One thing we had to do that was really hard was to bring our band to non-drinkers, but once you do that, those people come back because they’re not coming back to get fucked up at your show, but they come back because your music left them in awe of something. Like Kevin, he’s a guy who’s writing like he’s never written before for this record and it’s amazing.
You said you’re 22 now so do you find yourself writing differently than you did when you were 19 or 20?
It changes every time you write a song.
How so?
Not in any specific ways, but what do you do the most?
I read and listen to and try to examine music.
Those are very valid things to love, but I love writing music so I do that as much as you try to examine and explore music. That’s just what I do whether I’m sad or happy. No matter what, I pick up a guitar. That’s just what I do. That’s what I feel I was put on this earth to do so I just do it.
What musicians or songwriters do you listen to?
AH: Weakerthans, Grandaddy, The Mountain Goats. My favourite record of this year was Dr. Dog. It’s genius. It sounds like something our parents should like. My Morning Jacket and Kings Of Leon, those were another two of my favourite records this year.
What else inspires you besides music?
Woody Allen inspires me. God. That’s my biggest influence. I’m fascinated and fully enthralled with God.
You’re a preacher’s child aren’t you?
A child formerly known as a preacher’s child. My dad’s not a pastor anymore, but he was for a long time. It’s an interesting place to be.
How so? I’m a preacher’s kid myself so I was wondering how you viewed it.
Well, I haven’t been since I was 14, but I got everything out of it that was so important.
How did it differ from your dad being just a Christian?
There’s things in you that are instilled inside of you and you should thank God for that. That’s a good thing because you have a life foundation planted in you. Not that you are, but stop feeling sorry for yourself and be grateful that you were raised in a family that supported truth, honesty, forgiveness, love. Those are all very important things that I would not be here without. That’s how I look at it. As a good thing, a really good thing. There are a lot of weird things that come with it, but who are we to be angry with God?
Interview conducted by Micah. You can check out both Manchester Orchestra and Right Away, Great Captain! on myspace.