Interview by Rachel Antonoff
Photography by Robin Laananen
While it’s been said often, I’m going to say it again; Ben Bridwell is a truly modest guy. About as modest as they come, actually. Which is a real rarity in his business. During our phone interview – which takes place over the never-ending chorus of my barking dogs – he is so humble, he seems almost embarrassed about his success. Anyone who has had the pleasure of hearing Band of Horses’ debut full-length, Everything All the Time, would surely know that it’s nothing to be modest about; the record is rife with a bittersweet and haunting melancholia deserving of first kisses or private crying jags (or, if you’re super fun, both at the same time), this record is a veritable treasure chest of lovely melodies, with Bridwell’s vocals venturing somewhere between Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Brian Wilson and Wayne Coyne (which, as far as the clichéd comparisons go, isn’t too shabby).
Filling the beloved big shoes of the now-defunct Carissa’s Weird (in which Bridewell played drums and Mat Brooke was the vocalist), Band of Horses proves to be a worthy sequel, something of the Terminator 2 of bands. I caught up with Bridwell at home in Seattle, and just to make your reading a little easier, I took the liberty of transcribing the interview sans dog barking. You’re welcome.
So you guys are home for a little while?
Yeah, I’m just kind of relaxing. I got back a couple of weeks ago and then we had some CD release shows and stuff to do, so we were still kind of busy, but now it’s kick-back time for a little bit.
What does kick-back time entail?
Well, just kind of playing softball… and, the guitarist in our band, Matt, owns this bar so I’m gonna work there also.
What’s it called?
It’s called Redwood, and it’s really nice. It opened about three months ago and it’s kind of a lodge-y kind of feeling; they actually tore down this old barn up north of here and it had all this awesome old redwood. Anyway, it used to be this crack-dealing laundromat that we gutted and completely renovated. It was a lot of work.
Must be hard juggling the bar and the band.
(Laughs) Man, he’s having a real time of it. It’s so funny, ’cause he was the kind of guy that it would be impossible to talk to him on the phone, and now he’s just total business owner, walkin’ the walk and talkin’ the talk. It’s cool.
The next time I’m in Seattle I’ll definitely go there. I read in your bio that you and Matt met because your label was putting out the Carissa’s Weird album. Is this true?
Actually, we met when I was 17. I had moved to Tucson and we met by chance and just became best bros. He was friends with Jim, who was the other songwriter in Carissa’s Weird, and the three of us just started traveling around the country together and we finally landed back in Seattle. That’s when I started the label and released their record.
Were you in the band at that point?
Not at that point; I didn’t join ’til a couple years after that. Their drummer ended up joining Modest Mouse as a second guitarist, so they needed a drummer. It was like, really minimalist drumming and they were like, ‘Will you just do it?’ So I just did it.
So you weren’t already a drummer?
No, not at all, never. It was pretty easy, though; pretty minimalist drum kit. Just kind of the less-is-more approach to drumming, I suppose, for the lack of my talent, really (laughs).
Was it a natural progression, going from Carissa’s Weird to Band of Horses?
Not at all, no. I had never been a songwriter before. But there was nothing else to do. We weren’t going on tour and there were four of us living in a two-bedroom apartment because we had been on tour so much. So it was like, ‘What the fuck do we do now?’
And you’re self-taught on the guitar, right?
Yeah, I just kind of messed around, trying to find stuff that worked. I still haven’t really learned, so I wouldn’t say ‘taught’ yet.
You brought Sam Beam to Sub Pop. How did that come about?
Me and Sam grew up in the same town, and he was a good friend of my older brother in high school. One Christmas vacation I came home from Tucson and Sam was staying with my brother for a little while and recording some of his first songs. I heard ‘em, and naturally just started trying to get him into everyone’s hands I could. I just happened to know Sub Pop people, and they liked it.
What influenced you on this record?
A lot of it was just coming from childhood experiences. Being a teenager, really into music… I just kind of wanted to show my piece of where I come from and the stuff that I liked as a kid.
What kind of music were you really into as a teenager?
Well, my parents were real into music so we heard everything from like, all the good R&B stuff from the ’60s and ’70s to a lot of rock ‘n roll. And then, when I got into high school, I was real into the experimental indie rock stuff ’cause of my older brother. He was four years older then me – he still is – and he was just pumping me full of good music from college.
Where did your name come from? Are you really into horses?
(Laughs) Well, of course, they’re awesome. To begin with, we were just called ‘Horses’ and then we found out there was another band in the ’60s called Horses who had just reissued their record. I tried for Horses.com when I was [looking] to get us a website, but of course that wasn’t working, so I tried ‘Band of Horses’ and that worked, so I was like, ‘Fuck it man, it’s already on the damn site!’
