“I play a lot of golf”

Tonight they’re playing at Debaser in Stockholm. We managed to get a few questions in with the Nashville band before they hit the stage. If you’re in the mood for some good old-fashioned mayhem, go check them out tonight.

Q: I’ve read that a lot of your records were recorded entirely in GarageBand. Is that still how you work today? What is it about that way of working that made you choose it in the first place?

A: I still demo and work on songs on GarageBand (well, now I use Logic, which is similar). Now we just take the demos and go to a studio to record them properly. I like it a lot because it’s very simple and easy to figure out, so you can work quickly before the idea escapes.

Q: How did you guys first meet? Have you played, or do you currently play, in any other projects at the same time?

A: Well, my brother is in the band, so I’ve known him for quite a while. We met Ian, our drummer, in our hometown around college age. I’ve never really had any other projects, but the other guys have and do play in a bunch of other projects. Jim’s solo project is called Swear Tapes.

Q: How many times have you been to Stockholm before? And what do you think is the worst thing about Stockholm?

A: I think I’ve played Stockholm at least twice, maybe three times. I don’t know about the worst thing, but it is pretty gnarly in the winter when it’s dark all the time. The summer seems to make up for it, though!

Q: You’re from Nashville, if I’ve got that right. How would you explain to a Swede who knows nothing about it how coming from Nashville shapes a band? Do you feel that it has influenced you?

A: I’ve only lived in Nashville for three years, and we all live in separate cities, so it’s difficult to say. It is a very cool place to live for music, though. Almost everyone in town can play multiple instruments extremely well. There are a lot of very talented musicians in Nashville.

Q: Is there any other art form besides music where you feel you get to express yourselves?

A: Not really. I play a lot of golf, but that’s not an art form, I don’t think.

Q: Does it really make a difference these days whether you buy a Squier or an Epiphone instead of a Fender or a Gibson?

A: Depends on what you value in a guitar, but personally, if you’re going to buy it for life, I’d go with the brand name.

Q: What do you think about the whole custom-pedal hype?

A: It’s cool, I guess, but it was surprising to me how much of a “scene” it is. It kinda seems less focused on the actual tone and more on the scarcity, etc. There are definitely some people making some really cool shit, though.

Q: What does the Bass Drum of Death drum actually look like?

A: It’s an old red Tama kick drum with a crazy ghost-type figure painted on the head. No idea where it is now.