band of horses

Yay! The lovely Band of Horses have just announced the dates for their little Australian tour in August, so in honour of the occasion I thought I’d wheel out a longer cut of the interview I did with their beautiful and bearded singer, Ben Bridwell, way back in issue 20. Hope you enjoy ...

How would you describe your sound? “I would say Cosmic-Southern-indie-sad-pop.” Are there many other bands in that category? “No, we’re holding that one down all by ourselves!” So HMV has a section just for you? “Absolutely. Like the one record in the record store! No, I don’t know. We definitely have the indie sound of guitars that sound like they’re from the mid-‘90s or whatever, and those kind of chord structures, with a few of the kind of twangier leanings as well. So somewhere in there – derivative Southern pop?” You’re from South Carolina and you’ve just moved back there. What’s it like? “South Carolina, where I live, is right where the American Civil War started and we have a lot of old architecture, well old architecture for us is like 300-something years, but we have a lot of the classic settlers’ buildings still in place so it’s a tourist destination for sightseeing and history buffs.” Do they do those historical re-enactments there at all? “I’m sure they do because the war started when Fort Sumner was fired on by Fort Maltrey which I live next to. That’s what started the war. I imagine that they have some commencement stuff, but I didn’t grow up in that part. I grew up in a small town outside the capital, which is Columbia. So I didn’t grow up around that stuff – I grew up around normal rednecks.” You seem to be very knowledgeable on history, though... “Yeah, I like it. It’s super-cool to have it in your backyard and just to understand my own heritage. And as you get older, history becomes more interesting because you realise you’re nothing but a small drop of water in the pond, you know.” You were the drummer for many years in Carissa’s Weird, now you’re frontman in Band of Horses. What was it like making that jump? “At first it was really weird because I used to get nervous anyways playing drums because I’m a terrible drummer, but also I’m a terrible guitar player and had never sung before, really. So it was kind of like that anyway, where I was like, ‘I don’t really know what I’m doing. I’ll just fake it till people believe me anyway.’ I don’t know. When I first started out doing this role, it was really nerve-wracking and kind of scary but now I’ve really settled into it, and I’m really enjoying the writing process part of it. I’m not afraid to write lyrics anymore and I’m not afraid to sing and try to squeeze every emotion into a song I can. So I don’t know. It’s a natural little progression I guess. Do you feel confident on stage now? Do you enjoy that sort of atmosphere? “Sometimes it’s the best feeling in the world and sometimes it’s really embarrassing and scary or just weird, you know. There’s definitely times when I’ve wanted the whole damn show to be over, but those times, thank God, are few and far between. Normally I enjoy playing for as many people as are in front of us, you know?” Your beard has become something of a trademark for you. Describe what sort of stage it’s at right now? “Man, right now, it’s in ‘needs to get chopped off’ stage. I considered doing it this morning, actually. I think it’s time to start again, like start a new one. I tend to fuck with it too much and then it tends to get gnarly. I mean I comb it and wash it and condition it every day so it won’t look ratty, but it gets to the point where I think it needs a whole new fresh start.” So you’d go clean shaven and then start again? “I don’t know if I could do that. Especially with the amount of photos we have to take, the amount of people who have to see my fucking weird face all the time, I like to keep it as hidden as possible. But I feel like if I cut it then I can grow back an even bigger, healthier one. I know – it’s a dilemma. I don’t know what to do, but the stage right now is definitely clean but ratty at the bottom.”

Band of Horses are playing August 2nd and 3rd at Byron Bay for Splendour in the Grass. Then August 3rd at Billboard in Melbourne – tickets from Billboard or Moshtix, and August 5th in Sydney’s Metro.