WE TALKED with Britt Daniel of Spoon, who’s playing a solo set on
Thursday, October 29, as part of a PDX Pop Now! benefit. He told us
about his interaction with the festival, about living in Portland, and
a few shadowy details about the upcoming Spoon record.
MERCURY: First off, what made you want to get
involved with PDX Pop Now! and do the fundraiser?
BRITT DANIEL: Well, they asked me to do the [Make it Pop! fundraiser
in April 2009]. They might have asked me before, but they definitely
asked me this last year, and I couldn’t do it ’cause Spoon was
recording and I wasn’t gonna be in town, but I said I would have loved
to… I said I couldn’t, but let’s do something later in the fall.
PDX Pop Now! is in its sixth year, and you’ve lived in Portland
for some time. What was your first encounter with it?
I haven’t actually been to one because every time it’s happened I’ve
been out of town. But I know what it is, I’ve had a lot of friends that
have gone to it, I know some of the bands who’ve played. I mean I know
what it is, and just thought it was a great thing. So I was
disappointed I couldn’t play it.
Have you encountered anything like it in other cities?
No, not that I know of. A free festival where it’s all ages? No.
It’s a good cause.
What approach are you taking for this solo show? At a solo show
at the Wonder Ballroom for MusicfestNW 2008, and another at Dante’s
[August 2006], you played some Spoon songs and some others…. And you
had a CD player going with some drumbeats.
Yeah, I haven’t figured out how I’m gonna do the CD player. I mean,
it helps because sometimes just playing an acoustic guitar for a whole
whatever—40 minutes or an hour—it can be monotonous if
you’re not John Lennon or something. So I use it for that, but I feel
like it’s kind of an old trick at this point. I don’t know, I haven’t
figured it out. I do have a lot of new songs. I just finished a record,
so I guess it could be a chance to play those, you know, for the first
time.
Are these new Spoon songs?
Mm-hmm.
And the record’s done?
It’s done.
Wow, cool… can you tell me a little bit about that?
Sure, I can tell you what I know.
Does it have a name yet?
No, we haven’t really settled on anything.
Do you know when it’s going to be out?
No. No, I’ll tell you what I know.
Where was it recorded?
We recorded a lot of the basic tracks in New York and a lot of it in
Portland at my house.
Is this the first time Spoon has recorded in Portland?
Yes.
Are you trying to get them to move here?
Well, yeah, I’m succeeding one by one. Rob [Pope, bassist] is moving
up there, and I know Jim [Eno, drummer/producer] would like to, I don’t
know if he can, ’cause he’s got a studio in Austin, but he actually did
look for houses or studio space in Portland once, last year.
Where are you now?
I’m in New Orleans.
What are you doing there?
We’re gonna be doing some publicity photos for the record, and we
like New Orleans, so we’ve gotta all get together somewhere.
Are there new songs in particular you’re looking forward to
showing off for the first time?
Yeah, there’s a new song called “Before Destruction” that I don’t
think I’ve ever played solo—or, I’ve never played it live at all,
and it’s gonna be the first song on the record. And you know, that’ll
be cool… I mean, some of the Spoon songs we have played as a band,
some of the new songs for the record we have played as a band, but
it’ll be the first time to play them alone.
Are you tempted to bring any guests with you onstage? I remember
Janet Weiss drummed at one of your solo shows?
I’m tempted, I’ve gotta see if I can make it happen. I get back in
town about five or six days before the show, so if I can pull something
together, I’ll try.
PDX Pop has that local sense of community, and you’re at a more
national or international level. Are you able to keep a connection with
the Portland scene on a local level?
Well, I mean, I go to a lot of shows in Portland. I know a few
things about the Portland music scene just from going to a lot of
shows, I’ve played a lot of shows in Portland—maybe not as many
as, I don’t know, the Shins—but throughout the years we have, and
then I certainly have played a few since I moved here. But I mean to me
the connection that I have is I think it’s cool, it’s a great concept,
you know? There certainly was nothing even remotely like that when I
was underage, where a lot of kids could get together and do something
for free. Especially something of such high quality, to see so many
high-quality bands. And you know, you just kind of forget, once you get
over 18 and then over 21, that whole issue of actually getting in and
being allowed in was a big deal, you know?
Yeah, there was one place in my hometown when I was growing up.
And when you’re that age, sometimes the place you have to go to is the place you hate the most. And this
is totally hypothetical, but do you think kids in Portland are
relatively spoiled? When you pursue something, it becomes that much
more important to you, and here it’s much easier for kids to see a show
than when I was underage.
No, I think the connection people have with the music is probably
just as strong. I think that connection is pure and if you’re that kind
of person, it’s either there or it isn’t there.
It seems like teenage years are when music starts becoming really
important. You think that has to do with hormones or something?
I don’t know, I think it has to do with them getting more in touch
with themselves and seeing how things affect them and allowing for
things to affect them. I think there’s a somewhat spiritual connection
you can make with music, and you start to figure that out around that
age.
Do you remember having one of those moments growing up?
Yeah, I mean, I definitely know that putting on a record and sitting
in front of one of the speakers was a place where I could feel, like I
could get lost in it, and I could not be bored and I could be wrapped
up in that feeling. That wasn’t something you could get from watching
Scooby-Doo.
Was there a record in particular?
No. Well, there were a lot of records. I mean, I think my very first
favorite band that I decided on my own that “this is my favorite band”
was the Bee Gees. The first record I remember telling my dad to play a
lot was the theme to 2001. And I also liked “You Can’t Always
Get What You Want” because it had that boys choir at the beginning. I
don’t know why the boys choir just pulled me.
Are you gonna put one of those on a Spoon record?
I don’t know, I don’t know if I could top the way that was done. It
seems kind of over the top to use a boys choir, right? But for some
reason if you’re the first rock ‘n’ roll band to do it, it’s kinda
cool.
Yeah, I don’t know why that song works so well—it
shouldn’t. Are there any other tricks on the new album? Anything
unusual that you haven’t done before?
There’s not a lot of tricks. I think it’s kind of a… I don’t know,
I really don’t wanna say, because my impression of it is bound to be
different from other people’s. But I think it’s the anti-tricks
record.
Was a lot of it done live in the studio?
A little bit, some of it started out as just demos and then we just
recorded on top of the demos and then there were definitely some songs
we did live. There’s a song we recorded, where the best version we ever
did was when we were recording at Lola’s Room at the Crystal Ballroom,
and we never topped it, so we just used that.
Have you ever been tempted to join another band, or start
another?
Why, are you starting one? Yeah, I mean, I do, I think about that
stuff a lot, I just get wrapped up in projects. I just gotta decide
that’s what I wanna do because, I don’t know, I took on this other
band’s record this last year and that kind of took me out of the Spoon
world for like four months and then I felt really compelled to get my
act together.
Was that the White Rabbits record?
Yeah. I felt quite behind. So yeah, it’s a matter of getting
time.
Would you ever produce another band’s album again?
Yeah, if they’re as good as the White Rabbits.
Any Portland bands you’d love to produce?
Uh, well, I’d love to produce Quasi. Maybe most of all, just because
I love them. It’d be a fun hang. And they’re a great band… I’ve been
listening to them for years. I don’t think they need me as a producer,
though. Have you heard of this band called Waiting to Fuck?
No.
It’s this band that I saw their name and I knew they were playing a
couple shows and I was so intrigued by the name I’ve been trying to see
them ever since. But I haven’t seen the name come up again. We actually
tried to book them to open a Spoon show, but nobody could find them.
Simply based on the name.
Yeah, that sounds like a dangerous Google. And this show, it’s
not only a great way to raise money for PDX Pop Now!, but also keep it
in people’s minds during the off-season. It happens in the summer and
then goes away for a while…
Yeah, it is a good little reminder isn’t it?
But when are things gonna start happening with Spoon
again?
Well, I think we’re gonna play… I would guess we’re gonna play a
show in Portland before the end of the year. And once the record comes
out, which is gonna be sometime early next year, then things will start
getting wild again.
Will you be laying low in Portland until then?
I don’t know, maybe I’ll start another band… what do you
think?
Sounds good! It could play PDX Pop Now! next year.
Yeah! I like it.