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A Conversation with Swan Dive (continued)
BD: I wish I could have Brad's brain for a day--because as in awe of him as I am as a musician, I bet it would be even more amazing to just be able to experience making music as him.
MF: [laughs]
BD: He understands and feels so much more about music than I can ever hope to. I mean, it's just really remarkable what he can do and what he knows. He sees the big picture in a way that is unique. Maybe Jim Hoke [Nashville multi-instrumentalist] might be another guy I've met that's like that, where he's somehow able to filter so much information. Brad has such great taste and great ideas. He's so patient. He's so positive, which I think is the key for a producer, aside from musical talent. Everything that's brought up, everything that gets suggested gets tried--or at least entertained. And even if he knows it's an idea that won't work, he'll still let us try it.
MF: "Oh, I don't know, but we'll try it. We'll try it."
BD: Yeah.
PM: [laughs]
MF: "All right, okay."
BD: No, he always says, "Could be good."
PM: "Could be good." [laughs]
BD: I love the guy.
MF: Yeah, he's just brilliant.
BD: And I think he brings out the best in us.
MF: I think it's that way with everybody he works with. I mean, I think he uses almost the same musicians on every project--like Hoke, Mickey [Grimm, a great drummer and husband to Molly], and Chris Carmichael. Those guys are so amazing. But Brad is able to make each record sound so different. Even though he's using the same people, every record sounds different because of what he's bringing out of the musicians.
PM: Right. And Pat Buchanan--
MF: Yeah, all those guys. We're so fortunate that we're here.
PM: Because you've been locked into this band, as you infer, almost as long as you have been with Brad.
MF: Yeah.
PM: And [pedal steel wizard] Tommy Hannum. I've yet to meet this person, but his music has contributed greatly to my life. His pedal steel on your records is uncanny.
MF: He's a sweet guy. It's fun to watch him. He's really a cool guy.
PM: Now, does he do all kinds of music, and you're his pop client, or--
BD: I think he does mostly country.
MF: He's on the road with Ricky Van Shelton, he's Van Shelton's band leader.
MF: And Chris Carmichael is out with--
BD: David Ball.
MF: All those guys are incredible. And Brad is so good at articulating what we want. And even if they--I mean, like Hoke can put some tracks down, and we can't decide which one to use because they're all great. But Brad's able to piece it together and tell those guys what we want.
BD: Yeah, that's another remarkable thing, the way Brad's able to speak so many different kinds of languages to musicians. If they need to get technical, he can be listening and say, "I think the G would be better than the G sharp." Or if it's somebody who doesn't want to speak that language, he can say, "I think we need something with a little more frosting on it."
PM: Right.
BD: He's got such a command of studio diplomacy, and just how to get the very best out of musicians.
MF: He's a great arranger, too, for strings. He has really cool different ideas.
PM: So it's not just Carmichael--
BD: No, it's Brad, too.
MF: It's both of them. It's fun to watch them working together, because Brad will say, "How about doing the"--oh, he's got all these string technical words I didn't know--and Chris would go, "Hey, yeah, all right. That's a good idea."
PM: Not to mention that Brad's own playing just seems to get better every record. I mean, his playing is frightening.
MF: Oh, jeez.
PM: Now it's not just bass, but all kinds of great keyboard parts.
MF: Yeah.
BD: He played vibes all over this record.
MF: And he's the one who started the whole Japanese thing rolling for us, so we've got a lot to thank Brad for.
PM: Let's recall how that was true: how did he get the Japanese ball rolling?
BD: Brad was on tour with Marshall Crenshaw at the end of '96. And we had just finished making our first record and pressing it and putting it out ourselves. [There are a couple of clips from that record on our first Listen page.] It's called You're Beautiful. He brought a few copies with him on tour. And as he was traveling the country, he just handed them out to people he thought might enjoy it. One of those CDs fell into the hands of the journalist named Izumi Ito, who's fairly prominent. She wrote a positive review of it that was seen by record companies. A month later, the record companies were calling my house. And really, Brad was the catalyst. If he hadn't brought those CDs over, we wouldn't be sitting here.
PM: That's amazing. So yeah, so it's especially fitting that he's still the producer in the loop and that you're all still so close.
BD: Did you ever hear Amy Rigby's song "Brad Jones"?
PM: No!
MF: For his birthday!
BD: Yeah. She wrote a great song--and I've only heard her play it that once.
MF: "Who built the pyramid? Brad Jones."
PM: [laughs]
MF: It was really great. Do you remember any of the other lines?
BD: No. That was the line that just made me laugh. But yeah, it was all this just hyperbole, but not.
PM: Oh, that's great.
BD: It's like of course Brad could've built the pyramids if he'd been around then.
PM: She's so funny. [see our Amy Rigby interview]
MF: Will she be here tonight?
BD: No, she's playing in Chicago tonight.
PM: So many of your favorite co-writers are represented on the new record. Let me tax your creativity by pressing you for a single word description for each, be it noun or adjective. Jill Sobule?
BD: Firecracker.
PM: Boo Hewerdine.
BD: Dry as sherry.
PM: Bill Lloyd.
BD: Pop.
PM: Amy Rigby.
BD: Comedienne.
PM: Marshall Crenshaw.
BD: Buddy Holly.
PM: Brad Jones.
BD: Genius.
PM: Gary Clark.
BD: Super genius.
[laughter]
PM: Robin Eaton.
BD: Mad professor.
[laughter]
PM: And Jenifer Jackson.
BD: Smooth. continue
