Interview: Bartees Strange
In 2020, Bartees Strange launched his solo career with the stunning one-two punch of Goodbye Pretty Boy, an EP of eclectic The National covers, and the LP Live Forever, a collection of originals featuring a synthesis of genres, tempos, inspirations, and soundscapes that truly earn the label “unique.”
On his way South to The Orange Peel, where he’ll open for Car Seat Headrest on Tuesday, April 5, the Washington, D.C.-based artist spoke with Asheville Stages about the different vibe at recent shows, choosing which songs to cover from his favorite band, and the joys of being ambitious in front of a crowd.
Edwin Arnaudin: How’s your week going?
Bartees Strange: You know, hanging in there. We just had a couple of shows in Toronto and now we're in Massachusetts. So, everything's going well.
EA: Excellent. Yeah, and working your way down to Asheville. We're excited to have you here. Have you been here before?
BS: I’ve been to Asheville before, but I've never played a show there. My family lives in Charlotte and Raleigh, so every time I'd go to North Carolina, we would stay in Asheville for a day and check stuff out and, you know, get some expensive coffee. Party a little. [laughs]
EA: [laughs] Yeah, that's what we're known for.
BS: Hell yeah! [laughs] It's beautiful there. I love Asheville.
EA: Well, thank you for taking time out today. I've been enjoying your music the last couple of years and when I saw you and Car Seat [Headrest] had teamed up, I got really excited. So, really glad that's coming together.
BS: Yeah, it's been fun to play with Car Seat. It's just cool to watch a band that good everyday. They're awesome.
EA: I was looking at your tour itinerary for the last year, and it seems like you got back into playing live pretty quickly. From the performance side, does it feel like things are back to "normal" or has there been a noticeable shift compared with pre-pandemic times?
BS: Definitely a noticeable shift. It's hard. "Normal" is weird. Normally I'd be able to talk to people after the show and jump into the crowd. It's been really interesting to learn how to be engaging and not get close, you know? But I do everything I can, and I feel like one thing that's different is I feel like people are just so excited to be at shows. It's this energy of just everyone wants to have a good time. It's not as critical. People are just like, "Yo, turn it up! Let's go!” And that's pretty cool. It's fun to be playing when that is the energy of the room. Everyone just feels grateful to be there and I am, too. So, it's been really fun.
EA: And one thing I've been asking artists, too, as we're kind of emerging from this is what new skills do you feel like you gained during the pandemic that maybe you might not have gained otherwise?
BS: Well, I'm really good at livestreams now. Really good. [laughs] I can do a livestream. But no, the cool thing about playing shows and writing new music is you get to try the songs out on people before you release them. I'll be like, "This is a new song I'm working on," and play it and see how people react, and then you go work on it some more. But the last few years, that hasn't really been possible. I've just been writing and then just being like, "OK, I like this."
And that's kind of cool because you get out of this thing of, like, "What will people think when they hear this?" You just go, "Do I like this?" That's kind of the only metric, and that's new for me and I really enjoyed that. Just getting a song to a point where I love it and just pressing "send" on it. Just being like, "That's good! Move on." it's nice. Trusting your gut even more has been a big thing for me in the last couple of years.
EA: And, like myself, a lot of people got an introduction to you and your music through the Goodbye Pretty Boy EP, which I'm a big fan of. And I'm a big National fan too. And it made me wonder why you picked those particular songs for this collection and maybe not some other ones.
BS: Well, The National is my favorite band and I wanted to play the songs that kind of impacted me the most. Because I think with The National, most people who like them probably didn't like them the first time they heard them. It probably took some time. I remember just waiting on them, and before you knew it, it was the only thing we cared about. [laughs]
But those songs — particularly on Cherry Tree, Alligator, Boxer — those records changed my life. I wanted to do stuff to honor some of those albums, and just as a reminder of, you know... it's so sick seeing where they are right now at this stage of their career, and we still remember, "Yeah, they started like this." Like, these songs..., you look at Sleep Well Beast and you're like, "How the hell can anyone make this?" But when you listen to Boxer, it's like "Oh, these are friends.They're just these guys. They're normal people." That's kind of where I'm coming from with my music. I have high aspirations, but right now I'm just a person, just trying to do my thing. But those records make me feel like things are possible.
EA: And are you thinking about doing any more covers by them, or is this kind of a one-and-done thing and you've moved on from it?
BS: I don't know. I would never say “never.” But, you know, I did the thing. I'm very proud of it and I'm fine to move on to the next thing for now. But who knows? Maybe one day I'll be like, "You know, I really want to do 'Murder Me Rachael.'" [laughs]. And I'll just do it. Or maybe I'll just do it live. We're playing a show with The National this summer and I kind of want to play the covers. [laughs] Like, is that allowed? I'll have to ask to see if that's allowed.
EA: And now that you have…I don't know how strong that bond is or that communication with The National, but have you had any feedback from anyone in the band on your covers?
BS: Yeah. I remember when I sent it in, Aaron [Dessner] and Matt [Berninger] were like, "Why does this guy care so much about our sad old songs?" And I was just like, "Because they're the best songs in the world!" [laughs] But Matt's been really cool on Instagram. He'll share stuff, and when the EP came out, he said some really nice things about it. It was a really nice moment for me. They're cool people.
EA: And you're talking about the live set-up, and I feel like on that EP and on Live Forever, your songs have so many appealing sonic layers to them. Not having heard them played live yet, I'm really curious how you go about adapting such complex sounds for the stage.
BS: I mean, honestly, in my mind, I just want to be Radiohead so bad. I'm just like, "Yo, fuck it. Bring the synths. Bring it…We'll bring it all." I just bought a trailer. We pull up, it looks like we're frickin' Megazoid. There's just tons of gear. There's tons of gear on stage and the band is just…we're all just nerds. We're finding ways to adapt the songs and make them sound even bigger than the record.
That's the thing I'm most excited about with these shows is that, over the last year, I've been able to learn so much about how to pull stuff off in front of people. Because when I'm making the record, I'm just making it. I'm not thinking about playing it live. I'm just like, "How do I make this thing sound like what's in my head?" And then after it's done, I'm like, "OK, now how does this work in real life?" And luckily, I've got people, like my guitar player Dan, and Graham my synth player, and John my bassist, we talk about this stuff all the time. We're just like, "How do we make this kick sound like the kick from [Radiohead’s] King of Limbs? How do we do it?" [laughs] And that's our whole thing. There's a lot of thought and a lot of planning, but it's so rewarding when you nail it. It's awesome.
EA: And I was reading some of your interviews, and I feel like you're always very grateful and generous and talking about other artists. And you've mentioned that there are a lot of other talented people who you want to see succeed as well. Are you going to be able to bring some of them on tour with you when you headline the UK and Europe later this year?
BS: I hope so! I'm talking to a few bands already, and it's so hard because I have so many friends who've been together for so many years, and you can only pick one band, it's like, "How?" [laughs] But hopefully I get to do this for a long time and I can bring more friends and show people more stuff because the thing that inspires me — I like a lot of stuff. I'd like to express that in more ways than just my music.
Something I think about a lot is that I love the blues, a lot. And I've always been like, "Dude, I want the moodiest fucking blues opener for 30 dates, just to force indie rock people to hear an amazing blues set.” You know? Just to be like, "That is the real shit." Things like that get me really excited. So, yes, I will have some people I love in Europe and I'll have more people I love as as time goes.
EA: When you say that, the first person who comes to mind is Buffalo Nichols. Are you a fan of him?
BS: Love Buffalo Nichols. That dude is an American treasure, for real.
EA: Yeah, he opened for Drive-by Truckers here at our big outdoor venue and just mesmerized the crowd with only his voice and guitar. It was special.
BS: I’m sure. I'm sure! Because he's the realest. You can't argue with it.
EA: So, you’ve gifted us recently with the single "Heavy Heart," and I can't help but wonder if there's more on the way — maybe a new album, or are you still feeling things out with the new label?
BS: Oh, man. I don't even know. I don't even like music. I just get these songs and I just put them online. [laughs] Nah, I've got a lot of stuff. I've been recording for the last two years. I've got a lot of music and I'm excited to start putting more of it out, and push things in a slightly different but still "me" direction. So, it'll come.
EA: Again, you’re so grateful on social media about getting selected by some of your favorite artists to open for them, like Courtney Barnett, Phoebe Bridgers, and now Car Seat Headrest. Are there lessons you’re learning from them, either about the music industry or as people?
BS: Yes. Every single one of them has taught me something new. I never knew how much...I mean, I'm a good planner. In my past life, I used to run campaigns, so I'm always thinking about long-term stuff and logistical elements of business. And it's been fascinating to learn from Phoebe and Lucy [Dacus] and Courtney and now [Car Seat Headrest frontman] Will [Toledo] about not just how they make their music, but also how they sustainably have built careers without running themselves into the ground. Because it's so easy to do that, especially when you're new and no one's ever really given you a shot and now you feel like you've got to say “yes” to everything.
I'm a 33-year-old guy, trying to do this for as long as I can and also be there for my family and my mom and my brother and my sister. So, making it sustainable and staying happy and sane is the number one priority, and I'm grateful for the lessons they've shown me in that space. Even the little stuff, like, "You've take care of yourself. That's what's going to make this last." So, that's been awesome and I'm really grateful to them for taking the time to talk to me about that. It's really cool.
IF YOU GO
Who: Car Seat Headrest with Bartees Strange
When: Tuesday, April 5, 9 p.m. ***CANCELED***
Where: The Orange Peel, 101 Biltmore Ave., theorangepeel.net
Tickets: $27 advance/$30 day of show
(Photos by Leon Piotrowski)
