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[ Actualités ] - Posté le 09/02/2009 à 11h19 - [Permalien]

French version (+photos), here.

By Mickaël, Joseffeen and Amenina

MuzzArt: You released Carried To Dust a few months ago. Could  you tell us how you recorded it and how long it took you?

Joey Burns: It took about a year I think to focus ourselves in the studio. There are lots of other projects that kinda circle around what we do. We usually ask our record company for a deadline and then we ask for a second deadline so we give ourselves plenty of time.We started it off making songs in the studio, John Convertino and I, writing and recording them at the same time. Those grew into ideas to invite other musicians in the band, some are from Europe, some are from America, to join in. And one by one, we started making songs very organically.

MuzzArt: Do you always work in the same place?

Joey: Pretty much. Wavelab Studios (Tucson).

MuzzArt: Did you write some of the songs during your previous tour?

Joey: Not really. It's hard for me to write songs on tour because there's so much to do with the soundchecks. Our French promoter just said to us: "Wow, it's a long soundcheck!". I guess we take a while, we like to enjoy the soundcheck and sometimes we come up with little ideas and sometimes we make up songs on tour but I never remember them.

MuzzArt: It's because of the wine, you know... (pointing at the glass of wine in Joey's hand)

Joey: (laughing) Yeah, it's in the moment for the moment. Wine and good cheese always help! Then we usually have an off time to collect our thoughts, collect our bottles and we start distilling our ideas. It's a slow process.

MuzzArt: Carried To Dust is darker than Garden Ruin, is it something you planned?

Joey: I don't know what's dark, what's light, what's comical, what's not. Sometimes our comical moments are when we're trying to be too serious. That's why you need friends and family to tell you when you're really funny. As for the themes, I always tend to write about dark themes with a music that contrasts with the heaviness and the seriousness. It's hard for me to compare with Garden Ruin's themes or tone. Maybe I should listen to it again and compare them side by side. Every country interprets the music differently, that's what's great about touring all over not just Europe and America, Asia, Australia, South America. Everyone reacts differently and I like that.

MuzzArt: I thought the main theme of this album was travelling...

Joey: It is. I think it is but I also write a lot about nature, preservation of the environment and maybe there's also a spiritual aspect but there are lots of other things too like last night we played "Gift exchange" in honor of Obama, it's got a meditative theme to it and it's more positive in some ways than some of the other songs.

MuzzArt: I like one song on Carried to Dust, it's "Contention city" which is really different from what you usually do, it sounds like Sigur Ròs a little bit.

Joey: It's funny you say that because our sound guy sometimes works for Sigur Ròs. This song is very atmospheric and about the spatial element which for me is universal. Maybe if we lived in Iceland we would make the same music. It's really about space, Iceland and Arizona are not that different. And lyrically, I thought "What about writing something about the water supply that flows up through Mexicali (North of Mexico) into Calexico, California". It is very polluted and it's one of those things which are symbolic for me because it's also the river that immigration is concerned about with people crossing over from the South into the North. Maybe it's a question of how we are connected and what we can do about the situation. It reminds me of another song from Feast of Wire (2003), "No  Doze" which has that similar spacy feel that I can play all day and never get tired of.

MuzzArt: You have a special link with France, you've worked with Jean-Louis Murat...

Joey: And Dominque A, we've played together live. I would love to work with Lhasa who lives in Montreal. I just sent her an email saying: "if you need someone for any kind of music, I'm here!".

MuzzArt: You've recorded an ep with Iron and Wine, you've played bass on the album of Shannon Wright, do you sleep sometimes??

Joey: Yeah, I do! You know it's all music, it's fun, it's soul food, it nurtures the heart.

MuzzArt: Can you tell us more about Depedro?

Joey: Sure. (Looking around him) He's not here so I can tell you everything! (Looking at the window upstairs and seeing Depedro) He's not watching. (Depedro looks down and sees us) Oh oh, he is watching! (laughing).
We met in Brussels through our friend Amparo Sanchez. She had a group called Amparanoia and we recorded some songs together and she brought this character up there, he had long dreads at the time. He's a great guitar player, really amazing. We've become really close friends from playing more and more together over the years. Same with Amparo and you've mentioned Sam Beam from Iron and Wine. That's  the good thing about music, it brings people together. Everybody brings something unique like Jairo has a way of playing that noone I know in America has. He's spent time in Europe, in Peru, he's lived in France, there are lots of African influences in his music too. He knows about different rhythms, he knows how to clap his hands in like 10 different ways. And he's a lot of fun too.



MuzzArt Quizz:

MuzzArt: According to you, what's the best place to play music?

Joey: Inside a circle of friends.

MuzzArt: And what's the best place to listen to music?

Joey: Outside the circle or inside the circle of friends or both and then they call it stereo.(laughing)

MuzzArt: What's the whole point of making music? Money, Fame? Going out with your friends? Travelling?

Joey: It's something about the travel of the soul.

MuzzArt: You've toured in a lot of countries now, is there a country where you'd like to go?

Joey: We've played in Chile and Argentina but I'd really like to play in Mexico, Brazil, Cuba, all those places like Venezuela or Colombia.

MuzzArt: Who is your favourite member of The Beatles?

Joey: Stu Sutcliff. He was the bass player at the beginning. I think he had a lot of style.