Band Of Horses interview
Creighton Barrett's world is all about balance. And not just the wheels to asphalt kind. Band Of Horses may be a collaborative group of bearded troubadours these days but it used to be a very different story. Lead singer Ben Bridwell formed the band in 2004 with various musicians drifting in and out of the lineup to tour and record. But something clicked a couple of years later when the current five came together and they haven’t looked back since.
The band felt so confident in fact, that they rejected all outside influences – including a producer – and left the musical mecca of Seattle to record and write a new album in rural locations like Muscle Shoals in Alabama, Asheville’s Blue Ridge Mountains and the Mojave Desert. And this time things came together horizontally with each band member bringing demos to the drawing board like “kids in a candy store.”
The result, Infinite Arms, is a tender document of place, time, love and identity, deeply influenced by country music of the South like Waylon Jennings but equally wrought with a sense of rebellion and outsiderness.
But don't take our word for it. Creighton is here to tell HUCK his side of the story.
HUCK: Can you tell us a bit about making the new record?
Creighton: Well, it was a pretty crazy process. We went into a bunch of different studios, it was the biggest collaboration that we’ve ever been involved in. We ended up not using a producer and producing it ourselves. So we were kind of like kids in a candy store, we went ape shit on every part of it. We were like, ‘does this sound retarded?' And if the answer was 'no' we kept doing it [...] It was really fun. It’s the first time we’ve ever produced ourselves and I think it came out well.
Did you want more creative control then?
Yeah, absolutely. Not that working with a producer was totally stifling but it just came to a point as a band that we wanted to make a record where we didn’t care if it sounded like Band Of Horses or not. It sounds fucking crazy you know. A lot of people would scrap it, but we didn’t want it to be that kind of record. We wanted to sound different We want people to be like ‘I’m not really sure if I like it’ [...] Those are my favourite records you know like, ‘oh this is not good’ and then, ‘holy shit, I’m a dumbass for thinking that!’
What were your inspirations for the record?
We just passed around music to each other like any other band. When you’re recording, you always want to do your best and delve into some crazy shit just to see if it rubs off on you. I was listening to a good bit of Turkish psychedelic music, which is pretty fucking crazy. It's radical. And then straight-up classic country like Waylon Jennings. He's somebody we’ve always listened to.
It’s always been Mark Gonzales, man, I just love him to fucking death
Is it a really collaborative process?
Yeah, especially this time because it’s the first time Tyler has been on the record [...] There was a shitload of demoing going on [...] Me being the caveman drummer, I haven’t gotten into Garageband quite yet, but the others are constantly writing so the first time we walked into the studio, we had like thirty songs. For the first time, everyone was really tracking their own stuff and we had a shitload of material.
Does the line up feel good right now?
Yeah it’s the best. It took a long time to fucking get there but once we realised we didn’t need anybody, that we have everything we fucking need.
How do the shoe and deck collaboration with Lakai come about?
Well, that’s fucking weird. We were on the road in Seattle at the time and one of my homies runs one of the main skateshops there. He was like ‘dude, congrats on the Lakai collaboration’ and I was like ‘what the fuck you talking about?’ We had no idea and then they sent me a copy to the next venue and I had fucking goosebumps. It’s not only my obsession with skateboarding but my obsession with Guy Mariano too. I mean the fucking Girl team, everyone is sick as shit, but it’s something else to have ‘the dude’ in my mind doing that. The weird thing is we were in Athens, Georgia, playing a show the other night and I was having a cigarette outside when three vans pulled up. The first person who gets out is fucking Jake Phelps and then fucking Spanky [Kevin Long] gets out and I’m like ‘what the fuck!?’ And then Ty Evans rolls out. Steven Jefferson. Andrew Reynolds. They were actually doing a show behind ours. So I walked up there and was gorging the fuck out. I got to meet Ty Evans who is like a super huge hero of mine. It was so crazy man.
What does skateboarding mean to you?
I’ve skated my entire life. I grew up in the '80s you know? I listened to The Cure and The Smiths but my other influence was skateboarding. I learnt all about punk rock and fucking metal and thrash and all that stuff through skateboarding. Into the '1990s, we had hip hop and shit so skateboarding is pretty much one of my, if not my main, influence.
Who are your favourite skaters?
First and foremost Gonz. It’s always been Mark Gonzales, man, I just love him to fucking death. Uh, [Jason] Dill is another favourite skater of mine. There are just so fucking many! The Blueprint dudes, I’ve been watching them for forever, you know. Jensen and all those cats blow my mind.
Were you drawn to it because you were an outsider?
Yeah, absolutely. We dated goth girls in high school. We’re inbetweeners. There were the jocks and the metal kids and then there’s the skaters kind of somewhere inbetween. It’s a good place to be. It’s always been the creative outsider. It’s always about creativity. And that’s the most romantic part about skateboarding. You see the world completely different. Right now, I’m looking at a loading dock that a truck is on and I’m like ‘I wanna skate that!” And so many people would just walk past.
It's pretty rebellious too?
Abso-fucking-lutely. Fuck authority, you know! [...] When I met Ben, the main dude in this band, we were eighteen in Charleston and he was the punkest kid I ever met. He had fucking neck tats and we played in shitty punk bands together when we were kids and then we got taken aback by indie rock. 'Fuck the world' has always been a good thing to have behind you. Now, we just try to cover it up a little bit, make it a little bit prettier. But the sentiment is still the same, for sure.
What’s the music scene like in the Carolinas?
There isn’t one! Really it’s fucking hilarious. [...] It’s kind of a cheesy vibe for sure. It’s slowly getting there. There’s more places […] when I got into music and I wanted to make a career out of it, I had to move. I went to Seattle, which is a huge music city. If you do kind of well being an independent band in Carolina, you usually have to leave in order to come back. In the early '1990s, Athens had a great indie rock scene and it kind of dissipated by the time we got down there. Charleston and South Carolina is more known for Hootie and the Blowfish than anything else.
What made you go back and live there now?
Well, our families are all there and we’ve been touring so much [...] not really living in a certain place so we thought, ‘let’s get back to the beach man, fuck this rain and shit’. Seattle is a great place but after a while - it’s got a small incestuous music scene and people have a tendency to vibe you out once you have a little bit of respect and a little bit of admiration from the music world. Mainly it was like, ‘let’s go back to where it’s warm so we can surf and shit’.
What do you do when you’re not making music?
I surf a lot. I’ve got my girl and my dog at home. I’m trying to start a skate company but we’re just at the t-shirt level right now. It’s called Old Money. We kind of need a Southern skateboard company because we don’t really have one. My friend Jack who owns Continuum Skate Shop in Charleston was like ‘I have screenprinting stuff just sitting in my house’. So I’m turning the garage where we keep all [Band Of Horses'] gear into a dark room and printing studio. We’re taking the t-shirts on the road and hopefully we’ll get enough money to do the first deck.
Where do you want that to go?
I don’t know [...] I’m going to take my time with it. I’m lucky that I have some really good people inside the industry, which is cool. And it just gets radder with meeting people like Ty Evans. I’m just going to keep hounding people for information on how to do it right. I don't know, I think it’s going to work. But I think it’s going to be a while. The skate scene in Charleston is just blowing up there are kids that are really ripping and there’s no company for them. We’re about to get a really nice $2m skate park supposedly.
Do you think skateboarding and music go hand in hand?
Abso-fucking-lutely! One couldn’t exist without the other. Especially if you look at Streets On Fire and old Santa Cruz videos. When people started having video cameras and making those tapes back in the day, can you imagine how much fun it was? It was probably a pain in the ass with archaic editing machines. But think how much fun it would be to put your favourite fucking song to your favourite skate part. It’s rad. I don’t think they could exist without each other for sure.
Do you get to skate when you’re on tour?
Oh yeah. I have to! I don’t always get to hang out in skate parks anymore though. So it’s usually half cabs over guitar cases, but we’re trying to get to the point where I can take a little rail. Hopefully after this break, we can put a few little ledges or something on the truck. Our guitar tech skates and we try to get out as much as possible. That’s the funnest part. The best way to see Europe is on a fucking skateboard. Skating through the streets has got to be some of the most epic times ever.
How are your knees?
My knees are good, it’s my wrists and ankles. My right ankle is pretty much done. I’m like an old man. I wear two ankle braces and sometimes break out the wrist guards, '80s style. All I can do is try to promise {Band Of Horses] I won’t break anything. Knock on wood.
Infinite Arms is out now on Columbia Records.
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