Q&A: The Broken West

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Photography: Michael A Goldberg

January of this year saw LA based The Broken West release their debut album I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On. Its irrestible blend of power pop hooks and classic songsmithery has won the hearts of fans on both sides of the Atlantic. Taking a quick break from an exhausting touring schedule supporting the likes of The Walkmen and most recently The Long Winters, Rich Thane caught up with singer Ross Flournoy to discuss the bands history, life on the road and his love of cheesburgers.

Tell me a little about the history of the band. How you met etc. I read that you had to change your name literally months before the album came out.
We formed during the summer of 2004. Basically, we came together through a web of mutual friends. I had known drummer Rob for several years, and he was living in LA then. I was moving from Austin to LA in May of 2004, so I called him to see if he wanted to start a band. We met Dan through a mutual friend named Manny Medina–Manny used to live in LA and, before I left Austin, told me that I had to contact this guy Dan, who he said was a great guitar player and also played the pedal steel, which I found very exciting. So, I got in touch with Dan and he and I really hit it off. Brian, who plays bass, came into the picture about a year later–we saw him playing with some other bands and thought he was great, so we basically poached him.

We did, in fact, have to change the name in October, I believe. Another band with a similar name threatened to sue us, so to avoid a prolonged legal struggle and still get the record our in January on schedule, we switched names. It was painful at first but I think it all worked out for the best.

What was it like growing up in LA, which has often been described as the loneliest city in the world?
Well, none of us actually grew up in LA; we’re all transplants. I’m the closest to having grown up here—my family moved from Memphis, TN (where I was born) when I was 11 to Santa Barbara, CA, which is about 90 miles northwest of LA. Brian who plays bass is from San Jose, which is in Northern California. Rob, drummer, is from Florida, and Dan who plays guitar is from Connecticut, so basically, like everyone else who lives in LA, we moved here from somewhere else.

Which artists did you look up to when you first started playing music?
It started with classic rock—Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Clapton. Then a wonderful teacher of mine named Chas Prior turned me on to the Flying Burrito Brothers when I was about 12 or 13. Also I went through a heavy, militant blues period in my early teens—Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Albert King, Robert Johnson.

It must be a great feeling to be sharing a label with The Arcade Fire, M. Ward and Dinosaur Jr. to name just a few. Just how did the deal with Merge come about?
Well, Dan worked at a restaurant here in Los Angeles with a girl named Ryan Templeman. Ryan’s mom is a realtor in the Chapel Hill area, and she has done a lot of work with the Merge folks—acting as their realtor when buying their homes, I believe she also negotiated the purchase of Merge’s office building, etc. After we self-released our EP The Dutchman’s Gold in May 2005, Ryan’s mom gave a copy to someone at Merge. We heard they liked it but didn’t hear anything from them, but then a few months later we opened for Portastic—Merge co-owner Mac McCaughan’s band—here in Los Angeles. We gave him another copy of the EP, then he and I started casually emailing over the course of the next 6 to 8 months. During this time we were making I Can’t Go On, and we would mail him rough mixes occasionally, so he was kind of hearing the record as we were making it. He was very supportive but never specifically said, “hey, we want to sign you.” Finally, in July of 2006, we finished the record, mailed it to him, then about 2 weeks later he called me and said that Merge wanted to put it out.

Merge, from the word go, was our dream label, so that day that Mac called was one of the most exciting days of our lives. We couldn’t be more thrilled to be on such an amazing label with such a collection of undeniable artists.

You are not the first band to take your cues from Teenage Fanclub, Big Star and co and you certainly won’t be the last. So many bands go down the power pop route and and fail miserably. However you’ve not only managed to pull out a great debut album, you’ve succeded in impressing critics and fans alike. Whats your secret?
Well, I wouldn’t say we’ve made it into the clear just yet. Everyone calls us power-pop, and while I understand why they do that, I don’t feel like that’s what we are. For me, power-pop has a very clear-cut set of connotations—I think of the Knack and guys with skinny ties playing Rickenbackers. And that is most definitely not us. There’s really no secret to what we do—I think we just write songs to please ourselves and then record them the way we want them to sound. We don’t necessarily adhere to any pre-determined set of aesthetic guidelines.

There is an awful lot of hype surrounding you guys. Especially in the blogger community. Do you pay attention to such things?
Somewhat—this being our first album, I think all of us were curious, anxious, and excited to see how it would be received, so we have definitely seen the blog posts and articles…it’s been very flattering—the attention. But at the end of the day, you have to take that kind of thing with a grain of salt, because if you believe the good things others say about you then you would have to believe the bad things they say too, and who wants to do that?

I first found out about you guys via myspace. How important do you think the site has been for bands starting out?
I think its importance is overstated. There seems to be this notion—mostly perpetuated by the media and pundits, and to such a degree that now it’s become cliché—that all one needs to do now is record some demos, put them on MySpace, and watch the buzz explode. It’s not at as easy as that, though all musicians wish it were. However, there’s no question that MySpace allows bands a LOT more access to potential fans…so while I think MySpace provides a great opportunity for bands that obviously didn’t exist before its creation, it’s not the sure-fire ticket to stardom that some make it out to be.

Your allbum leaked on a number of illegal download sites a few weeks before its release and was downloaded by the thousands. Does it annoy you that people can get hold of you’re music for free or do you take it as a compliment that so many people want to listen to the album?
Is that true? That many folks downloaded it? Honestly, we as a band have never even thought about or discussed file-sharing or peer-to-peer or whatever it’s called these days—it’s really never entered our consciousness. Frankly, I’m flattered that people would want to hear it…of course, it would be nice if they would buy it or come to one of our shows as well!

In relation to this, some people would argue that one of the reasons why smaller indie bands are doing so well right now is the sheer fact that people can download and mass distribute the music and get the name out. Would you agree or disagree with that? And do you think its just the bigger named bands that kick up a fuss as they feel they are losing out on record sales?
I think I can speak for just about any indie band when I say that we are—in my view—not hurt at all by such downloading; if anything it helps us immensely to get the music to that many more people. At our level, and really for 99% of the bands out there, we’re not making money on record sales; we will live or die buy touring, merchandise, licensing, etc. So if someone downloads the album “illegally”, but loves it, then hopefully they will come to a show and maybe buy a t-shirt! Or even better, they will tell their friends and then those friends will maybe buy the record or come to a show…having said that, on a personal level, if I download something for free and like it, I make a point of buying it. I think you should support the “little guy”—that is, bands operating on a smaller level. So if you download one of these band’s records and you like it, you should buy it and go to a show!

You’re press release states that the songs on this album deal with ‘isolation, distance and the longing for a center – a sense of place’. Quite a deep sentiment for such a sunny sounding album don’t you think?
Yeah! I think Martin Hall—Merge’s ace publicity man who penned that release—might be giving us more credit than we deserve! But, nevertheless, when I listen to those songs now I do notice there are currents of darkness in the lyrics. I wouldn’t say that was necessarily a conscious decision—that is, placing dark lyrics in contrast to “happier” music—but it’s a contrast that I think we’re all fans of. Which is to say, you take an album like Summerteeth or any of Joe Pernice’s work and that’s what you find, that contrast, and I, for one, am a big fan of that strategy.

While there are so many indie bands nowadays trying to rip off the Arcade Fire or The Libertines it seems like you have thrown away the pretension to instead rely on solid songwriting and traditional methods instead. Was this a consious decision?
To some extent, I suppose it was conscious…well, never that deliberate, but what I mean to say is that I think all of us in the band ten to ignore super-hyped bands, and additionally, our tastes tend to be a bit anachronistic. For instance, you’re much more likely to find us listening to The Band than to Deerhoof, not that there’s anything wrong with Deerhoof. So I think there is some willful disregard on our part of what’s trendy and hot in indie rock these days. Having said that, the new Arcade Fire record is pretty damn great!

How’s life on the road treating you? Is it all rock n roll debauchery or tucked up in bed with a mug of coca?
Not a ton of debauchery—we definitely (or at least some of us) like to throw back a few drinks, but I would say we’re relatively tame!

You’ve just come off a tour with one of our favourtite bands The Long Winters. How was it? Any tales you’d like to share?
Not much to say other than that everyone in that band is a total sweetheart…what a great bunch of guys. John Roderick is a force of nature—so funny, so engaging, so smart. I feel like I—and all of us, really—learned so much from him about what it’s like to be in a band, what it’s like to be on an indie label, touring, guitars…everything.

What other band (current or defunct) would be your dream act to open for on a major tour?
I would have to say, in so particular order, Tom Petty, Wilco, or Teenage Fanclub.

You also played the legendary SXSW festival this year. How many shows did you cram into the week?
We crammed…8 shows in over 4 days. It was fun, but definitely kind of brutal and self-punishing. But, hey, you gotta play in front of as many people as you can.

Whats currently taking up space on your ipod?
Fujiya & Miyagi’s Transparent Things, the new Clientele record, the new Wilco record, and I’ve been listening to that Jamie Lidell song, “Multiply”, on repeat lately.

What song would you most like to cover?
Hmmm…”Walk a Thin Line” by Fleetwood Mac. I’ve covered it solo acoustic before, but I would love to give it the full band treatment.

When you’re not playing or writing music, how do you guys like to unwind?
Gosh…well, since we got home, I think we’ve all been going to a lot of local shows. Other than that, I like to watch Jeopary with my girlfriend and I’ve been watching a lot of Sopranos.

Like yourselves, I’m a huge fan of Teenage Fanclub. To me, Songs From Northern Britain is one of the most perfect indie pop albums ever made. Whats your favourite Fannies album and why?
I would have to agree with you on Songs from Northern Britain. I think that’s their best record—pretty much without exception, the songs are stellar, the production’s great, the performances are flawless. I am a big fan of Grand Prix and, to a lesser extent though I still like it, Man-Made. I like Bandwagonesque, but unlike a lot of folks it seems, I don’t think it’s their strongest record, though “Star Sign” is a great song!

Finally, tell me something about the band that we can’t already find on Google.
Hmmm…in this day and age that seems impossible! Dan is a great cook, Robbie has a great head for business, and Brian is a world-class mimic. Me, I like to eat cheeseburgers, pretty much all the time.

Listen

Links

The Broken West [myspace]

Merge Records [official site]