Today I’m thrilled to bring everyone the latest video from Psych-folk artist, Vanderwolf, called “The 6.09.” The track is the second single off of Vanderwolf’s new album, The Great Bewilderment, out everywhere music is sold on March 13th. If you’re enjoying the latest single, please consider visiting the artist’s Bandcamp page here. I was also able to catch up with this talented songwriter for a brief interview below.
You have had an extensive career managing live events, how has your career experience impacted your approach to music?
My career as a musician precedes my producing live concerts and festival — and my life as a music-lover started straight out of the womb, so producing events is a comparatively brief but significant window. But there are many things I observed and learned. Lessons that are stories and vice-versa. For instance, I had asked Jeff Beck to perform a 3-night career retrospective at the Royal Festival Hall in 2002. Initially, enthused about the idea, it all came to a crashing halt when I raised the possibility — if fact, the necessity– of Jeff performing the music he made with the Yardbirds. I was a massive fan and I knew what it would mean to London music fans were it to happen. Jeff was not happy, and as politely as possible, he explained why it couldn’t happen — and how the original remaining members were simply not up for the viscerality of that body of music. I already had a plan. I asked- Jeff, what if I were to get the White Stripes to be your White Stripes?” His eyes lit up and he said if you can make that happen I’ll do it. I knew Jack a little bit– and I knew him enough to know he’d love to do it. So months later, and two days before the show, we blocked out two days of rehearsal in the Queen Elizabeth Hall. Anticipation was huge. And the vibe was great when Jack, Meg and bassist Jack Lawrence showed up. They immediately launched into Heart of Stone, Better Man Than I, I Aint Done Wrong. It was thrilling. I think they played everything one time. And almost simultaneously Jeff and Jack said, ”I think that’s good”. And that was it…they’d decided that being under-rehearsed was going to enable the most live and visceral performance possible — and they were absolutely correct. The set they performed that night was some of the most incredible live music I’ve ever heard….it was on the verge of falling apart and it was beautiful. They were listening intensely. Their eye contact was vital. They perfectly captured the essence and energy of the Yardbirds’ youthful recklessness. I learned something very valuable that night. There were lots of lessons like that I learned watching Ornette Coleman or Patti Smith or whoever.
Where did the idea for “The 6.09” come from, and what did it look and sound like as it came together in the studio?
Well there’s The 6.09 song, and there’s the 6.09 video — and I think they address 2 very different but overlapping subjects. The song began as most of my songs do, through things I was learning on the guitar. I can’t remember what it was at the time but as soon as that picking pattern and that chord sequence arose– I knew there was a story told. Story-songs are really hard to write. I was not happy. But there was no escaping it. The tune was begging for a narrative. I was still smarting after quite a few difficult years in my working life. I’d been banging my head against the wall and my bitterness was not a secret. SO my revenge was this story which is about work and what work does to us. It’s about how the workplace sets up political divides in its quest for self-perpetuation and validation. It’s about how quickly we become victims of our ambitions.But the video, conceived and directed by Alden Volney, addresses how social media and specifically, those relaxation videos, sedate us and distract us from an increasingly self-destructing world. Strangely, it’s a lot of fun.
What does your songwriting process look like?
It happens two ways. Typically, there’s something I’m trying to figure out on guitar– it could be theory-related, it could be technique. And I stumble across something — probably something above my level of expertise — and I burrow into it until I understand it, until I can play it…and then I begin to build upon it. Sometimes it leads me into unexpected changes and surprises that don’t necessarily make sense — I’m typically drawn to things that don’t make musical sense but rely on their own logic. But sometimes I just pick up the guitar and play something spontaneous quickly — without a conscious idea – just kind of surprising myself–and occasionally something really weird and wonderful comes from this. Ultimately I have to listen to what story or message the music wants to tell. And then the long arduous fight for lyrics begins.