Something special
Will Sheff plots solo course as artist
It shouldn’t be a big deal that Will Sheff, from the beloved indie band Okkervil River, has now officially gone solo. After all, that band always revolved around his voice and vision.
But for Sheff, retiring the band name reflects bigger changes in his life and music. “It feels like I can free myself a little by distancing myself from those two words,” he said. He’ll play the new solo material along with some Okkervil favorites at the Crystal Ballroom Sunday, Nov. 20.
“I come from the background of feeling emotionally turbulent and feeling like my closest friends were dead writers,” he said. “When punk rock happened, I kind of missed out — I was a rural New Hampshire kid with no cool older brother to show me the ropes. So when I got into discovering the potential of rock and roll, it became all-consuming — me and my bandmates had a great time ripping it up across the world. We had this vision of what rock is supposed to be, from Iggy Pop to the Replacements. And maybe bringing Rimbaud
and Byron into that — The visionary man fighting his way against the world. Which sounds great until you realize how culturally constructed that thing is. I always say that Led Zeppelin trashing the hotel room is fun to think about, until you think about the mother of three who has to clean it up.”
The new solo album “Nothing Special” came out of a turbulent period in his life, during which he lost a friend (former Okkervil drummer Travis Nelsen) and moved his home from New York to California. Though the songs aren’t usually upbeat, the disc sports a warm and comforting sound. “Between the one-two punch of COVID and losing my friend, it felt the whole world was changing just as I was allowing myself to change. But I didn’t have the idea of making a concept album about that, and my only goal was really an antigoal: I wanted not to push too hard and ruin everything with this all devouring ambition I’d had in the past.”
A couple of the new songs address the precarious state of being an indie artist in the post-COVID world; something Sheff’s talked frankly about in a couple of interviews that have gone viral. “I certainly don’t want to be seen as a bellyacher; I’m a pretty happy camper and I don’t feel that the universe owes me anything. But I did talk to one interviewer and told him how much money I’m losing on these tours. And that ended up somewhat viral which is no coincidence, because everyone is going through this now. In a larger context, we’re starting to separate from what Spotify and other digital platforms do to artists — which I feel is actively hateful (on Spotify’s part). Touring right now is complicated because everyone is desperately trying to make money, and to express themselves as well. But the system for paying artists seemed jerry rigged to me even before Spotify came along, so you’re seeing the collapse of another faulty system.
“The hilarious part to me is in rap where you hear everyone talking like they’re a billionaire, and I’m thinking ‘No, you’re not’. But even in indie rock you’re supposed to project success, and it usually doesn’t work that way.”