Editors Note: After their recent acoustic show at The Fineline Music Café, I had the opportunity to sit down with the lead singer, David Lowery of Cracker. The musician, best known for his sardonic, dry-witted lyrics, proved to be a charming, laid back figure in real life, with an unusual insight into characterization and the process of writing music. This interview has been modified for clarity.
Schwaz: You are touring an acoustic set nationwide, even going as far as Spain, what is the reason behind having an acoustic tour, in particular?
David Lowery: Having an acoustic show just kind of brings it down to its essence, you kind of really hear the songs stripped down, like skeletons. It’s less of an acoustic show as it is almost like making garage versions of the songs.
Schwaz: Your latest album, Sunrise In The Land Of Milk And Honey has been receiving praise by your fans, how do you feel about the album, personally?
DL: I enjoy the album, I don’t think we’ve ever released an album that I thought wasn’t all the way there…. In some ways it’s funny that this new album is the one that’s received the most critical acclaim in a way because it kind of has pretty simple songs. None of them are really all that deep. (laughs) They’re all kind of conversational songs, whereas I think the record before that was really pretty deep. I think there was really some complex stuff on that record. We have a better distributor this time, which probably plays in. This album is just more conversational, there really weren’t any specific topics on it.
[audio=http://borangutan.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Turn-On-Tune-In-Drop-Out-With-Me-Live.mp3]
“Turn On Tune In Drop Out With Me” (Live Version) by: Cracker
Schwaz: The members of Cracker; Johnny Hickman and yourself have been collaborating for over 20 years, and released (Camper Van Beethoven included) about 16 albums. What would you say keeps you “going” as a band for such an impressive amount of time?
DL: We just really like to make songs, get them recorded in the way we hear them in our heads. We just really like to make albums…. And everything kind of falls from that. We’ve always kind of played music for ourselves, and not always just for the audience. We kind of just think, “If we like it, then our audience will probably share our taste and like it too.” We just kind of work that way.
Schwaz: You’ve described your creative process of writing lyrics, as “creating characters” with a distinct voice and perspective. Which characters do you find yourself relating to the most, or coming back to during your process?
DL: On certain songs on certain records there are characters that are pretty close to being autobiographical, but largely it’s like I find a sentence, or hear somebody say something, or I find myself saying one single sentence, and I realize, “Ah, this implies a whole character,” and then you just think about the vibe, about the character and then you just kind of let the character talk…. And it kind of frees you up to do a lot more interesting songs. I think the character that is probably closest to me would be the character voice in Sunrise In The Land Of Milk And Honey… a kind of examination of self-destructive impulses, and I can see that as being closer to the way I am.
Schwaz: You have a degree in mathematics. Has there ever been a time in your career with Cracker, that this specific problem-solving aspect of your personality contributed to your creative work?
DL: The type of mathematics I studied was very abstract, a lot of times you’re not really trying to solve a particular problem, as much as a general problem, like a proof. There’s sort of a leap in logic from point A to the end that if you work backwards, is similar to when you’re writing a song. You know where you want to go with it, because you can hear it in your head, and then you just have to fill the steps in between. It’s a very, very intuitive process and that’s the same thing I knew in my mathematics studies, other mathematicians weren’t these people just crying out physics differential equations, but people who studied the more abstract processes. I don’t know if I’ve ever used my math in any way to further the band. (laughs) Aside from that I’m pretty good at keeping track of the money. (laughs)
Schwaz: Cracker, as well as Camper Van Beethoven has shared members, and you sometimes tour under different names, for example. “Ironic Mullet.” Are there any other bands or solo artists you would want Cracker to collaborate with in the future?
DL: We’ve collaborated with other bands in the past, but I think if I had the opportunity, an artist I’d like to collaborate with is Graham Coxon, who worked with Blur. I think his solo records are really, really great.
Schwaz: Last, but not least is the obligatory silly question- what kind of animal would you be and why?
DL: Some kind of a cat! Though not sure which kind of a cat…. (laughs) I’m pretty sure about that, although I don’t know why.
…I had a friend who always told me that I reminded her of an evil bird, usually when I was out smoking. (laughs) An evil bird. Never really knew that that meant! It was funny.
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posted March 2nd, 2010 at 1:09 pm
Interviews
Cracker, David Lowery
Whether fronting the industrial “concept” The Eighth, playing bass in Uber Cool Kung Fu or composing ambient soundscapes for multi-media projects; Shawn Phillips is a musician who always keeps things both interesting and edgy. I recently had the chance to catch up with Shawn and discover where the muse has been leading him.
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