A Conversation with Robert Fisher of WGC (continued)

RF: So it went slow, and it just took its own time, and everybody went out and reacted to what was there. And it was great. I mean, like Nathan Logus, who plays the percussion stuff on the record, he and I talked about it ahead of time, and we wanted to take a nontraditional approach to the drums and not use a full kit. So he took out an array of drums, and just sat there and reacted. And I don't think he did more than one take on anything.

PM: Wow.

RF: So it's got that kind of feel to it, and I really love that feel anyway, that sound of musicians learning and reacting at the same time.

PM: Over and over again I hear this from my favorite bands, that it's about take two. One, okay, maybe you get it on one, but before you get to three, make sure you record two, because that's the one.

RF: Yep, you're absolutely right. That sound that we all love--it's like the sound of The Band. That's really it. If you listen to The Basement Tapes, part of the joy in that is listening to all those guys putting their synapses connected together and taking off.

PM: It's funny, there's a resurgence of The Basement Tapes going on.

RF: Is there really?

PM: Yeah. More of us are talking about The Basement Tapes again.

RF: Oh, it's always been one of my favorite things.

PM: What a wonderful record.

RF: Yeah.

PM: I thought the background vocals on Regard the End were really beautiful. Jess and Kristin have such different timbres in their voices, and both are really focused singers.

RF: Well, I was incredibly lucky to get Kristin involved. [Kristin Hersh, of Throwing Muses fame] She'd been hearing the record as it was in progress for the whole year. And at one point I asked her to play drums on it, and she was like, "No, but I'll sing on it." I was like, "Ahh, okay."

PM: [laughs]

RF: It took a while, and I think she was the last thing we did in terms of overdubs. But she inhabits that song ["The Ghost of the Girl in the Well"] so beautifully. And to me, that song is kind of the spine of the record in a lot of ways, so it's very, very special. And I'm really, honestly, honored to have her involved in it.

PM: Truly. Let's have a word on the trumpet player, Dennis Cronin. He brings a lot of atmosphere to the record.

RF: Well, he lived in Nashville for long time.

PM: In fact, his uncle, Peter Cronin, happens to be my writing and duo partner, a very talented person.

RF: [laughs] Well, there you go. Yeah, Dennis was in Lambchop, and he's living in New York right now. He's doing well. And he's got his own band that he's been making a record with. I just love his playing so much. I wish it was possible economically to take everybody out all the time, because I just think his playing style is so perfect for what we do. It's got that quality--I've said this before, but it kind of reminds of Chet Baker, that real simple melodic style, no overplaying at all, really soft tone, just very beautiful. I really love his work on this record a lot.

PM: Who will go to Europe with you this time?

RF: Well, actually it's a mixture of people. Right now it's going to be a six-piece band, so it's Josh Hillman, who played violin on the record; Simon Alpin playing guitar and mandolin; Yuko Murata, who plays keyboards on the record; Tom King, who's a drummer that I've worked with for about twenty years now, on and off, he's playing drums; and Eric Van Loo, who's a Dutch bass player who plays upright and electric bass.

PM: Better spell that one, if you'd be so kind.

RF: V-a-n, and then L-o-o.

PM: Oh, I expected double-E's, U's and a couple of W's.

RF: I know. Pretty straightforward for a Dutch name.

PM: We were talking a little about Paige La Grone. I favor the method of composition you guys used on a certain song there. Maybe you can share the story with our readers.

RF: Yeah, well, it was funny. One night we noticed we were online together at the same time, trading e-mails back and forth, how you will sometimes with your friends. I said, "Hey, do you want to play a game?" And Paige is always up for a game.

PM: [laughs]

RF: So I decided we would do a version of that old surrealist game--I said, "I'll send you two lines of lyrics, and then you write two lines, and we'll pass it back and forth, and by the time it's done, I'll try and come up with the music for it." So we did that, basically, over the internet. And then at the end of it, I spent about five minutes sort of squishing it all together, and added it to the music that I'd come up with. And I picked up the phone and called her and played it over the phone.

PM: Wow! What a fun game.

RF: Yeah, it was. Actually I thought to myself, "What a great way to do a whole record." It would be really a great theme for a compilation for a bunch of different artists. But we managed to get that one song out of it ["Rosalee"]. And yeah, it was great fun to do.  continue

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