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Kurt Vile is a 35-year-old father of two, with a handful of solo work under his belt. After leaving his first band The War on Drugs, Vile, who is often compared to the likes of Neil Young, has significantly conquered his own sound in previous albums like Smoke Ring For My Halo and his acclaimed Walkin On A Pretty daze. Now returning with a sixth album, the laidback Philadelphian rocker is ready with his new release b’lieve I’m goin down which is released on Matador.
Glass caught up with him in an East London pub to talk about his new album.
How did you come up with the title for your album?
I wrote so many lyrics down in the notes in my phone – I write really fast that way and I guess I wrote ‘b’lieve’ with the apostrophe somewhere. It’s like a blues delivery thing, like, Townes van Zant says it in that song Loretta, he’s like “tells me lies I love to b’lieve”.
He just makes it one syllable or like the Prodigal Son by Robert Wilkins and the Rolling Stones covered it and he says “blieve im going home”. Anyway in that song All in a Daze Work, there’s a refrain in there while I was recording that song, I started singing “belive im going down” and then I did record a refrain of that which was gonna be on the end of the record but its too long so it’s gonna be on the bonus thing where I just say that line over and over again so it sort of fits the vibe of the record – like mortality or just feeling a downer or like an opiate downer.
It just fit the vibe and it stuck. I think the title track which I said wasn’t on the record had such a good vibe and I was like “man this has gotta be the title track or else how can I put it on the record” but then it didn’t make it on the record anyway.
What’s changed since your first record?
For me, life changes all the time like rewards, triumphs and there are also sad things. You know I’m 35 years old. I’ve learnt that directly in your life you have all these relationships and you lose people, but the world is beautiful, but it’s fucked up too.
You play the banjo on your song I’m an Outlaw. When did you learn to play?
I started with banjo. I got a banjo for my 14th birthday, and I think by the time I was 15 a neighbour across the street would hear me playing it all the time and gave me a guitar along with all the necessary accessories .
When you’re not touring or in the studio, what’s does a regular day look like to you?
When I’m home I like to chill out as much as possible with the family. I’ll listen to records, read books, go on vacation, go down the shore – just regular things.
You recorded your album in the east and west coast but where did you feel most inspired?
If I had to pick one I’d say west coast, but east coast has a certain edge to it. As fun as the sessions were in Athens at Kyle’s studio there was still a slight darkness as we’d be pushing ourselves, staying up later and later – and when I say “we” it’s me, and they’re all keeping up with me.
I remember after Athens, I went to Joshua Tree which was really inspiring. I remember I coming home with all this material and I was like, “Rob, I’m going to come up to you in New York City and we’re gonna work on this material.” When I heard it back, I was just so exhausted by it and I ended up recording a new song, which was All in a Daze Work.
Those were probably the hardest sessions. I was pretty burnt out. So yeah, if I had to pick one I’d say west coast. It was vibey as hell.
What have you been listening to recently?
I’m listening to stuff all the time, I always space out when somebody asks. I got a bunch of records from a really big record store in Philly that I grew up going to – aka music – it recently closed and my friend Mary works there. They had a clearance “everything must go” sale so I bought a stack of things. I’ve made a mix CD from vinyl that I listened to on the plane ride over here.
There’s five Pogues songs that I really love – Dirty Old Town, Thousands Are Sailing, Fairytale Of New York, I’m a Man You Don’t Meet Every Day and I forget the other one, but I was listening to them over and over again. Especially Thousands Are Sailing, that song is such an emotional journey – it’s so good. Shane MacGowan is such an interesting guy.
How is b’lieve different to your other albums?
Every album is y’know like me, where I am right now in my life so they’re always a bit different, so they don’t seem that different to me. It’s not like a crazy departure, because obviously I know my whole career and I have close friends that know my whole career. My closest friends have been recording me since I was a kid, they would say “there’s Kurt, he’s a grown up adult now”, and they’re so proud of me and they’ve seen me growing into a man.
What’s your favourite track on the album?
Wheelhouse, then Life Like This. Putting those two together, then three more or less pop jams. Obviously Outlaw is not exactly pop but it’s pretty upbeat, so you got Pimpin’ into Outlaw into Dustbunnies. Then I take them down with That’s Life, though.
That song’s so powerful, especially the middle section with the keyboards that come in, but Wheelhouse is definitely mellow too, but it’s my favourite so it doesn’t matter. When I finally figured out the sequence to ramp it up with Life Like This I was like “ah man it’s all over”.
Do you prefer playing festivals or concerts?
I’ve played festivals that are so fun like Primevera, but I feel like we’ve never 100 per cent slayed a festival. Maybe if we had the right slot, like a sunset slot and it was in the middle of a tour when are well oiled – maybe one day we’ll be able to do it. I mean, I remember the first time I played Primevera, the crowd was so awesome.
It was the first time I’d built up some fans around the Smoke Ring record, and people were screaming for me – they were like “c’mon Kurt, make me cry”, and then when I finished playing they just kept screaming and screaming. It was really nice. But at the end of the day I think we’ve played better club shows than festival shows. You have your gear, and you know what you’re dealing with. I’m not good with adapting quick to backline gear.
Who are your biggest musical influences?
The big dogs are John Fahey, Neil Young and Bob Dylan. I’ve gotten deep into so many bands. Suicide was my favourite band for a while. Suicide’s second record was the best it’s got it all, it’s funny, it’s groovy and it’s fucked up.
Newer influences are Randy Newman, I love John Coltrane. I mention him a lot lately, because I think the jazz does something to the brain. It’s so natural and real. I mention the later spiritual jazz but I like to listen to earlier jazz too.
What is the main theme of the album?
Going down.
What are your plans for the next year?
There’s going to be more touring honestly. I’m going to go to Australia in January, and my family is going to meet me out there and stay out there for a while. I’ll probably also go into making my next record in Philly casually. I’ve been building up my space a lot and I just got a piano and all this recording equipment in there. I’m not going to build up this record as much until I lose my mind. I’m just going to live my life the way I have been.
by Katrina Mirpuri