Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Amidst the pending long haul up to Ithaca for Big Day In and their forthcoming new album, Young Widows guitarist Evan Patterson spares a few moments to share a few answers with IU's Bubba Crumrine.
IU: I heard you guys spent much of the summer laying down new tracks. Can you give us the lowdown on the new material and upcoming release?
Evan: You heard correct. We have recorded our new album and it's the most pleased I have ever been. Our old friend Kevin Ratterman worked with us on the recording here in Louisville. The studio experience was extremely relaxed, yet focused. It really allowed us to do more experimenting and get the best takes possible. A total of 17 songs were recorded in the session, but 9 will be on the album. I'm waiting to announce the title and release date, but there will be a single coming out before the album that I am personally going to screen print here at my shop.
IU: How will the new album differ sonically that Old Wounds and Settle Down City?
Evan: The new album is more focused on mood and less on just being a rock band. Vocally it is a huge accomplishment for me and the songs have dipped more into untouched territory. It's definitely the darkest and heaviest album I have written.
IU: You and Nick have been involved with the DIY scene in Louisville for quite some time. Most folks are familiar with your work in Breather Resist but it goes back much farther than that, correct?
Evan: The National Acrobat was a band I did ages 16 -18 and we did some really enjoyable tours will I was in High School, played a ton of local and regional shows, got to play CBGB's when I was 17 and it flat out altered my life. Breather Resist toured the DIY circuit to it's fullest and still some of my favorite memories are shows in garages and basements in the middle of america. We started Young Widows after touring ourselves to death and being frustrated about our differences with artistic direction.
A couple years ago my brother, a couple friends, and I were setting up local shows at a VFW style hall on a regular basis. Eventually we decide to start putting on a monthly event called Last Saturday Show Series. We had the honor to have events with Shellac, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Envy, A Minor Forest, Shipping News, Municipal Waste, and many more. Eventually turn outs went sour. I still set up shows for time to time for friends, but nothing with high risk of me losing money/sleep over.
I don't think about ourselves as being involved in a DIY scene. It's just what you do as a musician to survive. Setting around waiting for someone to notice you or take you on tour or book your local shows or whatever lazy self absorbed non-action it might be... you have to work your ass off and then some and then expect nothing in return. This isn't a career or a job, this is a piece of mind. Without art we are animals.
IU: Any final words for those coming out to Big Day In?
Evan: Looking forward to it.
IU: How did your fall tour and Fest 9 go this year?
Pat: Well we actually flew down this year. Honestly i feel like it took a little bit of the fest experience away for me. I think because it was such a quick trip, we were just there and back so soon.
IU: Cool. Any good stories from this latest batch of road dates?
Pat: On our last tour we actually stayed at Ron Artest's house. He had an NBA compound in Indiana where his family lived. He was in California i think, but we hung out with his mother-in-law and shot hoops at 2am.
IU: Whoa! That's pretty great. I heard Rachel broke her hand recently... is all that on the mend and OK?
Pat: Umm yeah, hopefully it should be good to go pretty soon. I know she is super stoked to play guitar again!
IU: Good to hear! This is your first time back in Ithaca since playing No Radio Records back in Summer '08 with Attica! Attica!, correct?
Pat: Yup, that was a fun time. Me and Jeff played a couple songs with Aaron on that tour. Jeff wore a bandana. It ruled.
IU: Looking in the rear-view for a bit, what year did you guys start playing together and what brought you together?
Pat: We started playing in 2006. Me and Jeff had played in a few other bands together since we were about 18 years old and my old band had just broken up so we decided to get a new one going. We knew Rachel from the music scene on Long Island and I have known Tia since 3rd grade so it all kinda fell together.
IU: Give us the skinny on the new 10" "Indoor Voices"!
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