Interview w/ Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers

 

I recently had the opportunity to interview Patterson Hood and asked about the upcoming DBT release as well as some other in depth personal questions… 

FS: First off Madison Music Review welcomes you back to Madison. It must be really exciting and an honor to have the legendary Spooner Oldham recording with you on the upcoming release and touring during THE DIRT UNDERNEATH TOUR. Can you explain how this dynamic has added to the band and how he had decided to sit in on the tour?

PH: First a sad disclaimer, that Spooner won’t actually be with us in Madison. Due to prior commitments on his end, he wont be joining us until a couple of days later.

That said, playing with Spooner has been incredible on every level. Besides his resume, which is beyond incredible, he’s about as sweet a guy to hang out with as anyone on earth. He’s not a fancy player and often what he’s doing is so understated that you don’t even realize what he’s adding until you take it out and realize there’s a hole where his part should be. He’s also constantly writing, like all the time he’ll be sitting there with a tiny notepad jotting something down. that in itself is inspiring as it reminds you not to be distracted from your art. His openness to new ideas, no matter how bizarre is also inspiring and played a definite role in the creation of the new album.

He’s an old friend. He’s played with my Dad on and off for 40 years and his daughter has been Shonna’s best friend since childhood.

FS: I am sure you are getting this question all the time, but can you fill us in with any information on the upcoming release?

PH: It’s called BRIGHTER THAN CREATION’S DARK. 19 songs. Everyone came in with a ton of songs and ideas and we just started rolling tape and it happened totally organically and naturally. No fights, not really even any discussion, everyone just kind of knew what needed doing and where to take it. Before we knew it we had a little over 20 songs in their basic form. then we weeded out a couple and finished the rest. We didn’t initially plan to put everything on the album, but there wasn’t any kind of filler at all and every song seemed to be a part of a bigger piece. It flows together really well and cohesively even though stylistically it is all over the map and more eclectic than anything we’ve ever done. If it can be that divergent and still flow so well it must be OK. It’s definitely all of our favorite we’ve ever done.

FS: How do you think this new release differs from A Blessing and A Curse?

PH: It could be called it’s polar opposite. If that album was an attempt to boil down all the things we do into one thing, this one is EVERYTHING we do, done as well as we can do it. It’s flows more like a movie than an album, with a definite arc, climaxes and ending. There’s even an implied story, although it’s certainly not intentional or literal.

FS: With the departure of Jason, what can we expect from DBT next time around and do you see the band taking on any new directions with songwriting duties.

PH: By the time we made Blessing, there was a definite case of Jason pulling one way and the rest of us pulling in another direction. Blessing was our attempt at finding that middle ground we could all work within. There was a lot of compromise and some of them felt a little compromised in the end. This time there were no compromises in any form. I don’t mean that as a negative towards Jason or even for the directions he was pursuing, as an artist has to follow that voice in their head, but… it’s really nice when all the voices are saying compatible things.

FS: I know you had mentioned (in a previous interview) that Shonna might be on board with some writing this time around as well.

PH: She has written and recorded 3 incredible songs on this album. Her singing is great too. She is a major player on this album, as she sings a lot of harmony vocals on mine and Cooley’s songs too. Watching her blossom artistically was in itself very inspiring to us while making this album. She came in with two songs she had written the week before we began recording and stayed at the studio on a dinner break and wrote the third one there and then. We recorded that one the night she wrote it.

FS: DBT sold 10,000 copies of Southern Rock Opera independently without distribution when it was first self-released, do you have or Cooley have plans to release and live show, solo projects and/or any other material (for example Alabama Ass Whuppin)?

PH: This was supposed to be the year for a lot of that stuff, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be (for now). This album happened like a pregnancy and we chose to keep it. I’ve always preached that solo stuff came second and this time I had to put my money where my mouth was. We’re committed to working this album to our fullest ability but after that… I would love to put out a definitive live album as well as a reissue of the old one. (Want to put a new one out first) maybe something from different eras, as I’m really proud of all our various incarnations, although the newest one is my favorite. I also plan to definitely release MURDERING OSCAR (and other love songs) which is my second solo album. It’s been finished for some time and I’m really proud of it. Fortunately, it’s not very trendy or anything, so it’s aging really well. It might be more timely by the time it comes out than it was when I made it.

FS: Where do you find your inspiration for your lyrics?

PH: The best ones find me. Sometimes it’s something on the news, but it’s usually involves some personal connection (however vague). After Decoration Day, I went through a real slow down in my writing. I had always been really prolific and all of a sudden they started coming really slowly. At first I was OK with it, as the quality was still there and Lord knows I’d written a lifetime’s worth of song anyway so I didn’t sweat it. But after a few years, I noticed that writing a song was really draining me and I started going a little crazy. I still can’t explain it, except maybe I was just so burned out and worn out that my brain was exhausted, we’ve really pushed ourselves hard for a lot of years now and it adds up after a while. this album broke that in a big way though, as all of a sudden I was writing tons of new songs and the more I wrote, the easier it became to get them out. Cooley on the other hand had never been prolific, he was more of a 1-2 song a year guy, but he came into this album with about 9 new songs and 7 got recorded and made the album. He is writing, playing and singing better than I’ve ever seen in 22 years of playing together.

A family from Madison actually inspired one of the new songs. They were the family of an Iraqi War vet who was killed the week he was supposed to return home. He had been a big fan and his family reached out to us a couple of years ago when we were about to play in Milwaukee. The song isn’t literal or anything, but meeting his family definitely moved all of us and led to me writing that song (The Home Front).

FS: What is on Patterson Hood’s reading /music list lately?

PH: Been reading Robert Caro’s multi volume Lyndon Johnson bio series (thousands of pages and exhausting but brilliant). Been reading a lot of Philip Roth, although I still haven’t started the new one. Finally read Robert Gordon’s “It Came From Memphis” and read a Big Star bio. Right now I’m finally getting around to reading 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Listening to Art in Manila’s new album, the Sonic Youth Daydream Nation reissue (on vinyl) and loving the new Bruce Springsteen, best in 25 years.

FS: As and artist and an exceptional song writer, you will typically find some crossover into other forms of media, do you possess any interests in film, painting, etc??

PH: I love photography, although I’m mediocre at it. I’m an aspiring filmmaker but that’s still a few years away due to how busy I am. I’m writing a couple of screenplays and plan to eventually make them. I’m afraid I can’t paint at all.

FS: What are your expectations of the audience after they walk away from a DBT show this time around?
PH: That they will be as exhausted as us after the show.

FS: Patterson, Thank you for your time. I look forward to the show and having you back back in Madison, please don’t make us wait so long next time.

PH: DEAL!