Outside Lands Mix Part 7: The Decemberists [Interview] on Metrojolt

Outside Lands Mix Part 7: The Decemberists [Interview]

// by DJ / Aug 07, 2011 / Posted in: All Music, Indie, Interviews

the decemberists interview on metrojolt.com

From Outside Lands Mix Part 1 (see all Outside Lands Mix posts here):

I recently bought my ticket to Outside Lands, the premier Northern-California music event which is hosted in Berkeley’s enchanting People’s Park…wait…I meant to say San Francisco’s gorgeous Golden Gate Park. The festival is cheaper than Coachella, the weather’s going to be nicer, and even though Kanye West isn’t performing it’s well worth it. To get myself, those Metrojolt fans who are also going, and those still thinking about getting a ticket super stoked about this special experience, I’m starting an exploration into the artists performing at the festival. I’ll be choosing big names, unknowns, and in-betweens to expose naked (in the musical, non-figurative sense) for our readers.

The Decemberists, an indie band out of Oregon, are revitalizing the genre of folk and its intersection with pop and rock. The band has released six full length albums and several other compilations since its inception in 2000/2001. During that decade of recording, tours, and side projects, their sound has evolved tremendously– moving from more pop and progressive-folk to a purer form of folk in their most recent full length release The King Is Dead. The emphasis on lead man Colin Meloy’s lyrical genius has recently shifted towards more heightened and balanced instrumentals, and less emphasis on Meloy.

Metrojolt had the pleasure of sitting in on an interview with The Decemberists’ bassist Nate Query. The interview is in anticipation of their performance at Golden Gate Park this Sunday (the 14th) at the Outside Lands Music Festival. Here’s what Nate had to say about San Francisco, the festival, band member Jenny Conlee’s medical situation (she was diagnosed with cancer), and the role of The Decemberists in the popularization of folk music among younger generations.

On San Francisco:

Nate: I am most looking forward to the fact that it’s San Francisco, and especially the food. I lived in San Francisco for like five years kind of recently and I’m real excited to be down there. I’ve been to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in Golden Gate Park and it’s just amazing… (Golden Gate Park) is an amazing place for a festival. Such a good vibe. And then the fact that it’s, you know, foody nerd heaven. So I’m excited.

On possible collaborations during Outside Lands:

Nate: Well those things are hard to make happen. So I’m not really sure what kind of collaborations we’ll end up doing. But we could very well do something with Mavis again. She’s always up for it. And then we’re playing right before Arcade Fire. You know, maybe we’ll have a few extra drummers on a song or something. I don’t know. But there’s not a ton of people on our day that we know personally. But you never know what can happen while everybody’s hanging out, goofing around before the show.

On band member Jenny Conlee’s health:

Nate: You know, Jenny’s doing all right. She’s right in the middle of months and months of chemo treatment, which really sucks. But she has good weeks and bad weeks. And she is going to be joining us in Texas for ACL – both a ACL live show at Stubb’s and then a ACL TV taping. And then she’s going to play our Portland shows with us. So when she’s feeling good, she can do shows and she stays busy. But she’s certainly spending a fair amount of time just kind of dealing.

On the resurgence of folk music among younger people:

Nate: Well you know I think that there actually have been times when folk music– especially in the ‘60s when folk music really was as popular as anything else practically– was being listened to by young people. We sort of incorporate folk and sometimes have stuff that’s really folky, but we primarily use it as a jumping off place. It does seem like right now there are a lot of people getting really excited about folk music, like at Newport Folk Festival. I mean there were two other Portland bands (at Newport’s festival) including Typhoon. Typhoon is one that’s taking the genre of folk to a whole ‘nother level because they have like 13 people on stage, including three horns and three strings. I think that yes (folk is being popularized among young people) but I don’t know how much of it is us or just that it’s in the air right now. You know over the last bunch of years it has become more acceptable to play lots of weird folky instruments and then dabble in these sort of more traditional genres, but turn them into pop music.