The place to be tomorrow night is at Club Garibaldi in Bay View. We’ll be hosting a double bill with our friends at 91.7 WMSE that we’re extremely proud of. The double dose of rock and roll includes These United States and Eau Claire natives The Daredevil Christopher Wright. I caught These United States for the first time at SXSW this year and they put on my favorite set of the entire week. Since then I’ve been regularly including their jams on our weekly podcast.
In preparation for their arrival tomorrow I got in touch with front man Jesse Elliott who facilitated the lovely interview below discussing the groups current reading interests and their inability to choose a favorite Dylan record. Who can, really? Tickets are still available for the show tomorrow night. They are only $10 and you can pick them up online here.
You have a new album called Everything Touches Everything coming out on September 1st. Could you lend some information on the recording process of it? What did you do differently this time around?
We’ve got a permanent line-up now, which we didn’t on the first album and we’re still kinda getting to on the second. Five of us, changes how we do pretty much everything – how I write the songs, how we beef em up as a band, how we play em live. It’s a bigger, badder, more exuberant affair, lots of guitars, explosions, choreographed dolphins, etc.
What’s on your bookshelf at the moment and/or what have you read recently?
I’m workin on Fragile Things
by Neil Gaiman, Justin’s on Tales of Ordinary Madness
by Bukowski, Colin’s flipping through a big beautiful atlas of the United States of America plus Mexico and Canada on the seat next to me, Tom’s keeping it extremely real with The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe
. Robby doesn’t read, but he’s re-writing Beowulf, backwards.
You recently covered Bob Dylan’s “To Ramona” for Viva La Dylan. Did you get to choose the song? What records in Dylan’s cannon are held in highest regard by you?
Yeah, they told us to do a Dylan song, but we got to choose which – always been a favorite of mine. Once again, we’ll go down the line – we never agree on anything. Robby’s thinking Under the Red Sky, I just can’t get Street Legal outta my brain, specially “No Time to Think,” Justin chimes in with Blood on the Tracks, Colin goes Highway 61 again and again, Tom is Love and Theft. We all love Love and Theft. Just put Love and Theft. Maybe Modern Times. But only me, and only sometimes. Robby wants to change his to Shot Of Love, now that he thinks about it. Oh, yeah, Desire. Does this answer your question?
What are you listening to these days?
Tegan and Sara. The Dead Weather. Doug Sahm. Moneytrees River. Chico Fellini. Chronicles Volume 1, audiobook – see previous question.
Are you still calling Washington D.C. home? You’re on the road a lot, when you get home what places in your city are you most excited to frequent again.
Yeah, for two of us, it’s home. Wahtta city. The 3 others live in Lexington, Kentucky. DC, I just spend days and nights walking around parks and public places – it’s just the perfect constellation of people for that kinda thing. Lexington, I picture the guys just fighting their way through the nights – you know, Rolling Stones 1968 and all that. Can’t be sure, though – we don’t talk much when we’re not touring. Just too much time together everywhere, need a breath every now and again. Now we’re back together, tho. And in Chicago, no less! Life is a perfect perfect mess.
Pre-Order: These United States – Everything Touches Everything
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Myspace: These United States
MP3: These United States – “I Want You to Keep Everything”
MP3: These United States – “West Won”
MP3: These United States – “First Sight”
, please do so ASAP. For long-time fans, prepare yourself for their upcoming release, Everything Touches Everything (due September 1st) by downloading the track “I Want You To Keep Everything” below.