NWMB Interview with Brooklyn’s John Biz

NWMB interviewed Brooklyn’s John Biz, who just collaborated with NYC cult heroes Higgins to record “Vida”, which includes a Hot Snakes cover with the personal blessing of John Reis, with legendary engineer Steve Albini.

Biz was recently showcased (officially) at CMJ and (unofficially) at SxSW. Check out johnbiz.com  for West Coast tour dates this August.

How do you approach songwriting?
I feel like it’s more like “what do you do when you’re approached by a song?”. I guess I’m always writing new material, but it’s almost like a schizophrenia. I’m kind of possessed by music - it’s in control, not me. New songs are always going through my head each day. I have full ensembles working at sometimes, which has it’s ups and downs. I try and document each fragment I come across, and I guess I end up catching about 10% of it. Sometimes full songs appear out of nowhere, like “Medicine Mind” - it was written before I touched a pen. Other times I just record my stream of consciousness the best I can, and I hold onto fragments. There are thousands of them. I leave them incomplete on purpose for the period of time that I’m writing the album as a bigger picture. Then I put all the fragments together and sit with them, listening to each one. They’re like puzzle pieces for a picture I haven’t seen yet. Sometimes I remember what I was thinking and link some of them up. Some of them fall together like it was meant that way from the start. In the end, writing an album is as much a discovery process for me as it is for the listener, so it stays fun for me. It’s always new and it always changes. Same way I work with musicians. We all keep moving and the music is just a picture that happens naturally.

Sweet Tooth

Plenty For All (Hot Snakes)

How did you end up recording this album with Steve Albini?
I worked with Steve Albini in 2005 when I recorded an album called The Happiest Days Of My Life with The Rolling Stallones, and it was a tremendously inspiring experience. I couldn’t possibly say enough good things about him. I think we really see eye to eye. He’s such an inspiring person, and it’s such an honor to know him. It’s like a every few years I get overwhelmed with ideas about life and music, so I make a pilgrimage to Electrical to sort out my ideas onto tape and get some perspective. It has always been so hard for me to make it happen because I don’t have much of anything, but I wouldn’t trade these experiences with anything. There’s such a great feeling there, and the way everything works is so intuitive. Nothing is forced, that’s the best way to sum it up. I knew after working with Steve the first time that I would be back soon, and booked it before I even had that band put together. I can’t wait to go back. I absolutely love that place and everyone there.

When did you start working with Higgins?
I had been developing ideas over time to bring to the right musicians, knowing I had something that I had to write. I had been working with Brian Kantor, who plays drums in Higgins and just generally brings waves of awesomeness everywhere he goes. We had a tremendous amount of material to work with. In the summer of 2006, I had recorded a collection of Woody Guthrie songs in a loft in Bushwick with a great band that was put together in what seemed like no time and vanished just as fast. One of the dudes in that band (National Seashore) was Jesse Gallagher from Apollo Sunshine. We worked real well together and I asked him if he would record this upcoming record with me at Albini’s studio, and he was into it. We were gonna record in January but I ended up pushing up the recording date to November, and he was mixing the new Apollo Sunshine record, so he couldn’t make it. That was a pretty huge monkey wrench, and for awhile me and Brian weren’t sure who we were gonna choose to work with. Brian suggested working with Kevin Fish from Higgins, and I was kind of shocked. I have so much respect for Kevin and wasn’t sure if he would be into it, but things worked out. First rehearsal was amazing. We got to know each other and realized that we all had so much in common and struck a really great balance. We all come from a vintage aesthetic, but push and pull differently. It was perfect. I’m so glad I had the chance to work with those guys and with Steve Albini. I consider all of them very dear friends.

I brought a tremendous amount of puzzle pieces to the guys and we worked together to sort them out into a piece of art. The songs came out one by one. It wished it would never be finished so I could keep riding that amazing wave with those dudes.

How did you wind up working with Wilco and Cursive’s horn & woodwind section?
Kevin connected with a dude named Kevin Jr. from Chamber Strings, and he connected us with a great horn & woodwind section that he had worked with. He put us in touch with Nick Broste (Trombone) who was working with some Chicago dudes who record and tour with Wilco and Cursive. We discussed the recording with Nick before heading to Chicago, met up with him when we got there and worked out horn and woodwind arrangements. I can’t say enough great stuff about those guys either. They’re just great people, great players… I really have to say, Chicago is such a great city. the people there are incredibly friently. Also the food - Hot Doug’s (hotdougs.com) changed my life. I’m a burger guy though, and Kuma’s Corner (myspace.com/kumascorner) has the Led Zepplin burger, which is the best goddamn burger I’ve ever had, hands down. In the words of Albini, “Those other burgers are good, but the Kuma burger is a world class burger.” I can’t order them like I used to because it’s just not the same. I became good frients with the owner, Alex too. Great dude. First class motherfucker.

Who are some bands you were listening to at the time?
The Wipers, Neil Young (especially 1970’s Neil), Nirvana, Ween, Lilys, Hank Williams, Johnny cash, Woody Guthrie, Kevin Ayers, The Bees, The High Llamas, Earthless, The Hot Snakes, Of Montreal, Glass Trees, Benji Cossa, Dylan, Bones of Davey Jones, Rocketship Park, Jim O’Rourke, Zeppelin, Super Monster, The El Michaels Affair, Budos Band, John Lennon, Chuck Mangione, man I could go on for a long, long time and I’m sure I’m leaving way too much out. Way too much.

What’s your beef with myspace?
Oh man, well, I don’t have beef with it, I just don’t use it. On top of the spam and the mess that has become myspace, I’m uncomfortable with the responsibility of managing this digital projection of myself, and maintaining that. You know, keeping your page hits up, your song plays up, staying in touch with whoever reaches out to you but without the control that I have through regular email. I don’t know, it seems like a scam to keep the site active. I have my own site, and I focus more on actually doing things with people rather than hanging out on a 3rd party website. It’s weird, the way people need to make their myspace page seem awesome. I’m not awesome enough for myspace.

How would you describe Vida in terms of style?
Style, um hmm… I’m bad with style. I don’t pay enough attention to what’s going on around me. There’s too much in my head. I guess American popular culture this century really amazes me. I really identify with the style of the times as it spanned from the 1920’s to the 1970’s. I was a child of the 90’s, but I was born in ‘77. I think this new album, Vida kind of says that, if that makes any sense. I love all things vintage, all things analog, and the spirit that comes along with that stuff. I see parallels between punk and folk, folk and country, country and classic rock, and I guess I regurgitate that with a psychedelic thing that sort of naturally occurs, like toast. I have a real aggressive side that runs through my music, but it’s like the aggressiveness of an old muscle car engine… Vida is like a Hemi to me. It’s an old engine that me and my frients took apart, machined, and brought back to life with a master mechanic (Albini). We dropped it into a classic car and threw some surfboards on the roof, then cruised through the mountains all the way to the beach. Then we crashed the shit. I know that sounds weird, but it’s how I see it. That’s how it feels to me.

So what happens now?
We’re living life, trying to survive and keep things in perspective. Fortunately i’ve been keeping to a strict drug regiment to keep my mind limber…  We’re going to release the record on my home grown label, Industrial Park Records. We’re printing CDs and Vinyls, and the vinyl comes with a 6 song bonus EP called Aloha - also recorded by Steve Albini during the Vida sessions, featuring the horns and woodwinds as well. We’re booking a West Coast tour for this August, and will be announcing the lineup shortly. Keep an eye on johnbiz.com for details. There’s a ton of music streaming there for free too - like, all of it. And zombies.

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