{"id":10424,"date":"2012-07-21T14:12:58","date_gmt":"2012-07-21T04:12:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=10424"},"modified":"2012-08-22T07:49:19","modified_gmt":"2012-08-21T21:49:19","slug":"brendan-benson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2012\/07\/brendan-benson\/","title":{"rendered":"Brendan Benson"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n<\/a>\u201cI never set out to be a solo artist, I didn\u2019t, and I never wanted to be.\u00a0 I always wanted to be part of a group and I think this record felt like that, it felt like a group.\u201d<\/p>\n

You may know Brendan Benson from his work along Jack White in The Raconteurs aka The Saboteurs, but be aware that Brendan has been making music as a solo artist for the best part of fifteen years.\u00a0 Four solo albums in and now comes his fifth and finest to date with \u2018What Kind Of World\u2019 a great collection of songs written and created in Nashville where Brendan now resides.<\/p>\n

We were lucky enough to be able to talk to Brendan about the record, how Nashville has influenced it, and if a couple of grand is enough to give a jazz band to use their name\u2026<\/p>\n

Firstly, thank you for a great album; I\u2019ve really enjoyed listening to it.\u00a0<\/strong>
\nOh cheers, thank you.<\/p>\n

\u2018What Kind Of World\u2019 has been out for a while now in The US and UK, how has the reaction been to it so far?<\/strong>
\nI think it\u2019s been pretty good you know?\u00a0 Honestly and maybe shamefully to say, I don\u2019t keep track so much anymore.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how it charted and I don\u2019t know how many units it sold or anything like that ha ha.\u00a0 From what I can tell from what little touring I\u2019m doing, it seems to be going really well, it seems to be going OK.<\/p>\n

For those that may not have heard it yet as it hit stores in Australia just over a week ago, can you give us your sales pitch as to why it\u2019s something that people should check out?<\/strong>
\nHa ha ha oh no, you\u2019re asking the wrong guy\u2026 sales pitch\u2026 well, I think I\u2019ve never been to Australia in all my years of doing this which is very strange, and, I\u2019m kind of anxious to know what Australian feel about it.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have much of a relationship with you.\u00a0 That would be my sales pitch\u2026 check it out and listen to it, if you like it, I\u2019d love to come there and play for you and see how we get on ha ha ha.<\/p>\n

Was there specific inspiration behind the songs on this album?<\/strong>
\nYes and\u2026 it\u2019d be on a case by case basis.\u00a0 I think a lot of times with my songs there is something specific, a catalyst or whatever for it but I also like taking artistic license and just kind of making it open to interpretation and available to many people.\u00a0 Not to sound generic, but, I like songs that can kind of evolve, you know, mean something to you one day and then maybe years later mean something different to you.<\/p>\n

How would you say personally it differs from your other four solo releases?<\/strong>
\nWell\u2026 geez, I don\u2019t know, I\u2019m older ha ha ha.\u00a0 Hopefully I\u2019m a little wiser and I guess the main thing about this record, and the coolest thing about this record is the people that played on it.\u00a0 You know, it was Jon and Ken from \u2018The Posies\u2019, my friends Brad Pemberton and Mark Watrous, Sam Farrar, I kind of feel like I had this all-star cast playing on it which made it really fun for me, and really inspiring and kind of raised the bar a lot of times and instead of doing it on my own. In the past I\u2019ve done a lot of it on my own and this time I think there was just a lot more people involved and consequently a lot more personality and more colour I guess.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Did you in fact do anything on this release that you hadn\u2019t tackled on your previous releases?<\/strong>
\nYeah, I think a lot of times handed over the reins, I was playing with this amazing band, a bunch of great players, so it was almost like playing with \u2018The Raconteurs\u2019 which I love to do, and I never set out to be a solo artist, I didn\u2019t, I never wanted to be.\u00a0 I always wanted to be part of a group and I think this record felt like that, it felt like a group.\u00a0 We talked to each other about things, we said \u201cLet\u2019s try this\u201d, \u201cLet\u2019s try that\u201d, \u201cI think that sucks\u201d, \u201cNo, I like that\u201d and there was a lot of back and forth and brainstorming, and that\u2019s what I love about music, really, honestly, for me playing music, I don\u2019t always have fun doing it all myself ha ha.<\/p>\n

Taking on the producer role for the album, what is it about behind the scenes so to speak that you enjoy?<\/strong>
\nI mean I suppose the producer role in this case, was mostly logistical, just organising and coordinating with the people, the players and getting everyone in the same space at the same time and knowing what we were going to play.\u00a0 There was actually two bands, almost two formations, one with Ken and Jon and the other with Mark and Sam, so that was kind of fun and strange to think \u2018Well I think Ken and Jon might be better for this song\u2019 and \u2018maybe Mark and Sam would be better for this song\u2019.\u00a0 So that was kind of my producer role and that was behind the scenes, and that wasn\u2019t actually a whole lot of fun ha ha ha, the fun part came when we got in a room and just started jamming and a lot of times my ideas were out the window, it was like, \u2018Nah I think we should try this song, this is better.\u2019<\/p>\n

Obviously Nashville is called \u2018Music City\u2019 do you feel that you wouldn\u2019t have been able to make this album if you didn\u2019t make it there?<\/strong>
\nHmm\u2026 possibly, I\u2019ve never thought about it.\u00a0 Things lined up for me here, very well, I sort of became friendly I\u2019d suppose you say, or almost partners with a guy in town who owns a studio, which is \u2018Welcome to 1979\u2019 where I made the record, and that was a huge help for me, a great advantage.\u00a0 By the time I made this record, I knew the studio very well, I knew the people there, I guess I can\u2019t imagine making it anywhere else, I don\u2019t know what I\u2019d do? I might have gone to some studio somewhere with somebody where it was all very matter of course and that might not have been the best thing for me you know? \u00a0I feel at home in this studio.<\/p>\n

Tell us about your label \u2018Readymade Records\u2019 and how that came about?<\/strong>
\nI think it was out of necessity, a matter of survival.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been through the mill and I think it was finally, it took me meeting my present manager Emily White to give me the confidence and the tools to do it.\u00a0 I\u2019ve always thought about doing it, putting out my own records, but I had no idea how to do that.\u00a0 I\u2019m not like a business guy and she\u2019s really smart about that, she really knows a lot about the music business and business in general and especially the music business presently, which is so elusive for me ha ha, I don\u2019t understand it.\u00a0 So she suggested it I think, we just had a conversation I said \u201cWell where are we going to take this record?\u201d and she said \u201cWell why don\u2019t we just do it ourselves?\u201d\u00a0 I said \u201cWow, OK, cool, let\u2019s do it and while we\u2019re at it, can we put out some other records too that I like\u201d ha ha.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the status of that?\u00a0 Are you looking to work with any artists on it?<\/strong>
\nYeah, I\u2019ve done, I think I\u2019ve made about four or five records this year. \u2018Young Hines\u2019 is a guy whose record I made and it\u2019s out, so give me my change\u2026 I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s out in Australia?\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what the deal is.\u00a0 There\u2019s another band here in town called \u2018The Howling Brothers\u2019 who do cold of old time bluegrass almost sometimes and folk and whatever, and then \u2018Cory Chisel\u2019, I wonder if he\u2019s been to Australia?\u00a0 He\u2019d be a big hit there, but Cory Chisel record is really, really cool.\u00a0 They\u2019re all so great, I\u2019m super proud of them.<\/p>\n

Ha ha, I thought for a second you said Cold Chisel, which is a huge Australian band?<\/strong>
\nOh really?\u00a0 Cold Chisel? Ha ha, I\u2019ve got to tell him about that, that\u2019s great ha ha ha.<\/p>\n

You mentioned the band before, but did it ever annoy you that \u2018The Raconteurs\u2019 had to be called \u2018The Saboteurs\u2019 in Australia?<\/strong>
\nNo I think it kind of worked out for the best, I mean I was a little bit concerned about maybe just the confusion, but in the end I think it\u2019s pretty cool.\u00a0 I mean the artwork was different, I don\u2019t know ha ha, maybe there was some confusion?\u00a0 I liked that sort of stuff when I was a kid growing up, when I was collecting records like a maniac, that kind of stuff I\u2019d love that.\u00a0 I\u2019d be like \u2018I need the Australian import of The Saboteurs, I need that artwork.\u2019\u00a0 There was a band there already called The Raconteurs, we contacted them could we use the name, could we offer them some money and use the name?\u00a0 I think we offered them a couple of grand or something like that and they came back with a counter offer which was like ten grand or something ha ha ha, and we said forget it, we\u2019ll just go with \u2018The Saboteurs\u2019, as actually \u2018The Saboteurs\u2019, we had been kicking around that name so it was like one of the names we were actually considering in the first place.<\/p>\n

Is there any chance of another record from ‘The Raconteurs’ in the near future?<\/strong>
\nProbably not anytime soon, but it\u2019s not out of the questions.\u00a0 We all live within a mile radius of each other and we see each other a bunch, and my kids play with Jack\u2019s kids and it\u2019s just a matter of timing really, whenever the time is right, it may never be right, I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

What does the rest of 2012 have in store for you?<\/strong>
\nSo, let\u2019s see, I got to Europe I think in August, kind of a quick trip to do some festivals, geez I\u2019d have to check my calendar actually.\u00a0 It\u2019s been a very leisurely tour for me, I kind of requested that because I have a two year old and I didn\u2019t really want to be away from him for very long so it\u2019s been kind of here and there touring, which has proven to be not so great, I\u2019m not liking it so much.\u00a0 Just when we hit our strides it\u2019s over and I go home for a couple of weeks, the good thing is I get to hang out with my son, but I don\u2019t know, I think it\u2019s best to do it all in one go.<\/p>\n

Hopefully we\u2019ll see you down here one day\u2026<\/strong>
\nI would love that, I\u2019ve never been there.<\/p>\n

Essential Information<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong> USA<\/p>\n

Band members: <\/strong>Brendan Benson<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> http:\/\/www.brendanbenson.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Latest release:<\/strong> What Kind Of World (Readymade Records \/ Shock Records)<\/p>\n\n

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