Joey Burns from Calexico seems slightly confused when we first start talking. It is
early in the morning, after all, and a complete stranger who sounds like Darth Vader (I
have a brutal cold), is asking him personal questions, so I can't blame him. Luckily,
ten minutes into the interview the caffeine kicks in and Calexico's front man starts
talking.
Calexico's latest release, "In The Reins" is a collaborative effort with Sam Beam, the
Floridian songwriter who performs as "Iron and Wine".
"Sam had 6 or so songs that were unreleased demos, and we just brought them into the
studio and fleshed them out."
Notorious for writing on the spot during recording, the two hooked up at Calexico's
usual studio, Wave Lab, in Tucson, Arizona. "It's a great studio, a big huge room with high ceilings that you walk into and just
feel like playing. It's both analogue AND digital, so you can do both."
Listening to a Calexico record is like listening to a movie soundtrack, I remark, the
music slowly builds into a plot-line and lyrics appear and disappear.
"Yeah, it's chaotic", laughs Joey. "We basically come in with sketches and carve away
at the song in the studio. I write the lyrics as we go. It might take longer, but it's
more about the actual process this way."
I ask him about "Feast Of Wire", perhaps their most critically acclaimed record, and the
vague theme that runs through the recording, of lives disrupted and relocated, the
political and social ramifications of crossing the border between Mexico and California.
"There's a lot of things that inspired that. Definitely living in Arizona, and the drug
trade, cultures coming together... Just making the transition from absolute poverty to a
richer country and all the bureaucratic actions towards immigrants. There's this guy
Luis Alberto Urrea who wrote this book "Across the Wire; Life and Hard Times on the
Mexican Border" who inspired that recording a lot. Also "Crystal Frontier" by Carlos
Fuentes."
I can't resist, and proceed to ask him the question journalists love to ask but
musicians hate to answer. The dreaded "influences" question. But Joey starts excitedly
tossing off names faster than I can write them down.
"Eric Dolphi. (Thelonious) Monk, for sure. Tom Waits, Dylan, all the usual suspects. I
love Puertogese music from the 20's, and a band called the Nortec collective who blend
traditional Mexican music with modern electronic music. Gram Parsons, The Soul of Black
Peru, Mouse on Mars. I love "Clandestino - Esperando La Ultima" by Manu Chao, that's one
of my favorite records, it has an immediate sense of social consciousness to it. And
even in indie rock, there's darker subtleties in music we listen to."
Yeah, I tell him, it seems like there's a darker kernel of truth underneath all these
sweeping soundtracks you create.
"Like that song "Not Even Stevie Nicks." That was penned in the studio as well. It's
not even about Stevie Nicks. Maybe the protagonist was just listening to Stevie Nicks in
the car. It's also about that whole myth personality she's got going."
I press him for information about future projects.
"Well, I'm sure Giant Sand and OP8 will record in the future. And John Convertino (the
other core member of Calexico) and I just wrote a song for Max Cannon, the cartoonist for
Red Meat, who's got a show now on Comedy Central. That's pretty exciting. I hope that
the Iron And Wine series will continue. It's an interesting concept. There's challenges
to collaborating, but it's a good challenge."
Calexico plays the Warfield, Wednesday, October 19th. "In The Reins" with Iron and Wine
is out now.
By Tuula Ala
