“My songs mostly come out of experience or someone’s experience that’s close to me. A lot of my songs are stories or they bear some weight that comes from my life. I’m not that creative of a person, so I have to take it from real life, and I know a lot of weird characters from living all over the world and being around a bunch of them.”
SHAKEY GRAVES: “YOU NEVER KNOW WHERE YOU’RE REALLY GOING SOMETIMES”
“People started dancing, and when I play like that I try to change stuff up because you can overuse the drum but it’s a really handy tool. It fills a space that I can’t fill by myself and a guitar.”
COLD WAR KIDS: ON LABELS, LINEUPS, AND NEW AGE NORMS
Willett and I spoke ahead of the show about finding his voice through a film, the band starting its own label, learning how to handle a lot of responsibilities, and keeping the music fresh.
J RODDY WALSTON: “I’M ACTUALLY CREATING A LIMITED SUPPLY OF THAT EXPERIENCE”
“There will be some way for people to hear what I’m doing, maybe I’ll put it on the internet or something, but I just want to make art and not necessarily a bunch of products.”
DAUGHTERS: GUITARIST NICK SADLER ON TOURING, MATURING, AND LINKING WITH MIKE PATTON
“There are many moments on the record that are inspired by people who either play in the city or have come through on tour that I discovered. It comes from a lot of local stuff, believe it or not.”
TWIN PEAKS: CHICAGO GARAGE ROCKERS ON LESSONS LEARNED FROM OLD DAYS GIGGING IN DIRTY DIY JOINTS
“I feel very humbled by it. It’s crazy … starting when we did and now I’m 25 doing this.”
