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| Rocky Votolato - 01.25.12 | Thank you Rocky for all the amazing tunes and for always working with AP.net; thank you Ever Kipp for being one of the nicest (and best!) publicists out there, and thank you Eva for being a trooper and transcribing this in record time.
You have been around for quite sometime now, andTelevision of Saints is your seventh album in thirteen years. How do you think you've grown as a musician during the course of your career?
That’s crazy when you put it that way. Seven albums in thirteen years. I didn’t realize that I’ve been doing this for that long. At this point, I feel really grateful to have been able to keep making records for this long. My music has definitely changed and grown over that time. Surprisingly, the feeling and intention behind it has been the same. That hasn’t changed. That consistency is what’s allowed me to continue to do this for as long as I have and still enjoy what I’m doing and still feel like I have something to contribute.
This new album was actually funded through Kickstarter, which is a hot topic on Absolute Punk lately. Could you tell us about your experience with it? What made you choose that route instead of releasing the record on Barsuk?
I think Kickstarter is pretty amazing. It’s a really innovative idea and a great platform for new artists and artists who maybe don’t have a record deal to self-release an album. It’s a great way to get your core fan base involved in what you’re creating. It was so much fun. Doing it was a really cool experience. Working with Kickstarter was great. They made everything really straightforward and easy to understand. I did it in conjunction with my management team and they helped me out with how we were going to do it, but it’s a really direct connection to your fans. That’s what I like about it.
I was finished with my contract with Barsuk Records when True Devotion came out. I was in negotiations with them to sign a new deal and we couldn’t get a deal together that made sense. It’s nothing against Barsuk. I love those guys and we have a really great relationship. I’ll be working with them on back catalog stuff. With where I am in my career, it just made more sense for me to do it myself.
It worked out extremely well. We almost doubled the goal on Kickstarter. We raised around $38,000 in thirty days. My mind was blown. My goal was for $20,000. I figured that was a modest amount. I knew it would cost me more than that to get the album out with manufacturing and publicity and all the things that go into basically becoming your own record label. It’s really allowed me to be in a much stronger position to go ahead and get this album out and get ready to go out and start touring.
You have one of the most dedicated fanbases out there, which I imagine is constantly growing. Given that so many people adore your music and hold you to a certain standard, do you ever feel pressure having to meet certain expectations?
That’s an internal game. I don’t see it that way. If anything, I feel like it takes all the pressure away. All the records I’ve released are stylistically different and people have stuck with me throughout that. I feel like the more people that listen, the more pressure is taken off. It’s good to know that there are people there. I don’t think of it as trying to work harder to impress people or keep older fans on board.
I’m my greatest critic. I have to find a way to make an album that I love. I’ve always tried to make something that I’ll love not only now, but also ten years from now. I’m not trying to be a fad or an overnight success. I’m trying to make connections with people. I want to make music that’s real. I want it to speak to people about their lives. I want it to be meaningful in a way that doesn’t disappear the minute someone new pops up. I may not reach as many people as quickly, but they payoff in the long run is that people have a more meaningful experience.
Back in 2010 we ran a contest for a "Rocky Living Room Show" that had many of our readers ecstatic. You have actually done many similar shows since, which is not only a great way to connect with fans, but a clever business strategy too. Is that something you kept in mind when you started doing them?
It’s about quality over quantity. I want to have a really personal and intimate connection with each person that digs my music and is into my albums and who come to see me play. I want them to feel that it’s a meaningful experience. I want to do whatever I can to make every fan of my music feel special and like I care. It’s not an act. I really appreciated it when the bands that I listened to made me feel that way. That’s how I got involved in music in the first place. Relating to music on that level had a huge impact on my life. It gave me a reason to keep going and get out of bed in the morning. It’s all about that for me. I keep approaching it that way and people really respond to that.
I don’t think much about the economy and business strategy behind this. I feel lucky because I already have myself figured out and have my career going. My manager and I work really hard. We talk about what we’re doing every day. It’s fun now though. We don’t sit around and talk about how the music industry is falling apart. I don’t even think about it. I think you can get overwhelmed and fearful pretty quickly if you started thinking about all the negatives. There’s always innovation and there’s always someone succeeding, even in a bad economy. I try not to worry about the things I can’t control. I’d rather focus on having fun and hopefully making good albums.
Meeting your wife, who was absolutely lovely, made your show feel all that more intimate. And everyone we have talked to has nothing but great things to say about her too. So now we're curious -- does she plan to keep touring with you?
We actually just celebrated our twelve-year anniversary! In this world, I feel like it’s such an accomplishment to keep a relationship together. The last few years we’ve toured together a lot. We’ve been trying to figure out how we’re going to make it work. We haven’t figured out if she’ll be on the next U.S. tour. She won’t be coming on the European tour though. We have kids so it’s necessary for someone to be home with them. I’m really grateful when it works out that she can come though. I definitely value my family above and beyond my music career. That keeps me grounded. It helps to make a foundation for the music I’m making and the connections I’m trying to make.
What was it like working with Casey Foubert again?
He’s great to work with. We’ve worked on my last four or five albums together, so we have our relationship figured out. I produced and engineered a lot of this record myself. He mixed it remotely. I sent him the tracks on a hard drive. He then mixed it and sent them to me. That was during the Matt Pond PA tour. I would get the mixes and listen to them before the show. It was pretty crazy.
I worked on this record for a really long time. I started recording back in early 2011 and finished at the end of the year. It’s a crazy process. With the last records, Casey and I would meet up at a studio and mix the songs together. I really enjoyed working with him this time though. He’s so talented. He played a lot of instruments on the album and did some overdubbing. It was great working with him again.
Your last album, True Devotion, was written after you had gone through a pretty dark period. How would you describe the mood of this album?
It’s a lot lighter. I still feel like there’s quite a bit of struggle in the songs and in the record. I think that you can definitely hear that. I’m so excited about this record though. I think it’s my favorite thing I’ve ever done. I’ve never said that about an album. I really believe it’s my favorite. It was able to communicate exactly what I wanted to. I had never been as involved with the engineering aspect as I was with this record. A lot of it was just me working on it by myself. I’m really happy with how it turned out. I feel like I was able to say what I wanted to say.
There are a lot of characters struggling to make it and make a better life for themselves. It’s got a real working class vibe. It’s not so dark though. I was in such a dark period when I made True Devotion. This one had a little more space around it. It has a better perspective of hope. I’m just really happy with the way it turned out.
I haven’t felt this excited about an album since Makers. That’s my other favorite. I love all the albums I’ve made, but there are definitely ones that didn’t completely hit the mark of what I was trying to make. You’re not going to hit it out of the park on every single album. Every once in a while, one comes out that’s exactly right and it feels like you got exactly what you wanted from it. I’m really grateful that I have that feeling right now.
Our Seattle readers are dying to know, so we might as well ask -- what are some of your favorite bands from Seattle?
I like Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground. They’re super good. Even though they’re not playing anymore, my brother’s band, The Blood Brothers. It’s so different from my music. They’re one of my favorite bands from Seattle. I’m hoping they’ll get back together at some point. I like a lot of older bands, like Red Stars Theory. They’re a little more obscure. Everyone knows Modest Mouse and Death Cab For Cutie. I’ve known those guys for years. It was fun playing shows with them before they were super huge and watching them grow up. Sunny Day Real Estate is also one of my favorites. Link and Murder City Devils are also great.
Reunions seem to be the latest trend, with beloved bands like Refused and At The Drive In reuniting. I asked you five years ago, and it seems fitting to ask you again now, especially since your brother Cody helped with recording this album: is there any chance of Waxwing making a comeback?
I think there’s a good chance of it. Cody moved back to Seattle, which helps out a lot. He was living in Portland. Now that he’s here, we get to hang out a lot more. He was really involved with Television of Saints, so of course we started talking about some reunion shows. We might do another album. I don’t know when it’ll happen, but I hope it does. I’m still really close with everyone in the band. We’d all love to do it. |
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Displaying posts 1 - 10 of 10. |
11:36 AM on 01/25/12 | One of the nicest (and best) musicians ever. | | |
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11:36 AM on 01/25/12 | Really great interview. Well done to all involved in this mass feature, particularly Eda. Great news. | | |
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11:53 AM on 01/25/12 | This is definitely one of my favorites. Rocky's the nicest guy ever | | |
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02:09 PM on 01/25/12 | I believe. Help my unbelief. Love this dude. He consistently puts out great music and is such a solid dude! Loved the interview and am really digging the new song. | | |
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02:16 PM on 01/25/12 | Love this dude. He consistently puts out great music and is such a solid dude! Loved the interview and am really digging the new song. |
Thanks for reading, glad you enjoyed it! | | |
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07:16 PM on 01/25/12 | Awesome interview. Seems like a great guy. | | |
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12:26 AM on 01/26/12 | I'm glad I built myself an igloo Such a good interview. One of the best that I've read anywhere recently. | | |
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12:02 AM on 02/22/12 | I met Rocky's brother last week, he was hanging out at the bar of the restaurant I work at, I guess he lives in the same area as me. It was amusing actually because he started talking to me about music and I found it odd at first because nobody ever wants to talk about music anymore, at least where I live. So we got to talking and he was interested in what artists I listen to so I gave him my iPod to check out and he saw Rocky on it and said, "you have my brother on here, that's cool."
Nothing exciting just a cool scenario that happened :) | | |
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