PLAY MISTY FOR US
Father John playing folk fest Friday
Spotlight Father John Misty performs Friday at the Calgary Folk Music Festival. Info: calgaryfolkfest.com
During the lazy, hazy days of summer, what passes as music news — or spreads like Internet wildfire — is often more dumbfounding than usual.
Stories such as Ariana Grande’s doughnut- licking adventures or Taylor Swift’s reaction to a photo on Miley Cyrus’s Instagram account.
Or, perhaps even more mundane, the fact Father John Misty has finished writing his next album. The folk- rock musician, also known as Josh Tillman, revealed to NME the tidbit, which was then repeated by the usual suspects — Pitchfork, Paste, DIY, Uproxx, Diffuser — much to his disdain.
As flattering as all this attention might be, it’s ridiculously premature. Father John Misty, who used to play drums for Fleet Foxes, is still touring his second album, I Love You, Honeybear, which only came out in February. It’s easily one of the best of 2015 — a sweeping, psychedelic, orchestral- western ode to his wife, Emma, the early days of their relationship, the not-soad-mirable man he used to be, and the old couple he hopes they become.
We talked to the Maryland native in the middle of a twoweek break between tour legs.
Q What do you do on your days off?
A I do a little writing. I do a lot of hating myself for not writing. I stare into the middle distance. I do some interviews. I write some poetry. I’m just always on some point of the working/ not working/ loathing/ not loathing continuum.
Q: From what I’ve read, you’ve already written the songs for your next album.
A: I wish I had a little more album to work on, to be honest with you. I actually got up this morning and started writing poetry, just out of sheer desperation.
This next album is a f--- in’ mammoth, lyrically, and I’ve never had one giant document where I find myself doing a lot of minute editing. Changing words, here and there. I can usually get 20 minutes of something to do out of that particular activity.
Q: So you actually haven’t started recording it?
A: No. I feel like in the last two weeks I’ve crossed into some threshold where I’m saying really mundane things and it’s becoming music news. So I don’t know if I want to talk about it too much, to be honest with you.
Q: But anything becomes music news these days ... including your cover of Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs, which was shared online by almost every news organization.
A: I know. It’s really bizarre. It was pretty funny with that Arcade Fire thing because it’s just promo. I thought it was ironic that I did this interview where they were like: “So what’s the deal with that? Why did you do that?” And I gave them the most mundane, banal answer possible because there’s only a mundane answer behind it. The headline might as well have said: “There’s No Good Reason For This Post To Exist.” Breaking news: Nothing happened!
Q: You have to admit, though, your version of The Suburbs is quite gorgeous. Are you expecting a lot of fans to start requesting it at your shows?
A: No. As good as it is, I’m not sure it will ever surpass the requests I get to perform I Believe I Can Fly by R. Kelly. Even that pales in comparison to the requests for Free Bird ( by Lynyrd Skynyrd), which is just part of ( being a musician).
Q: Have you ever actually performed Free Bird?
A: Yeah, in Toronto, one time. We played Free Bird for, like, 15 minutes. The audience was so bummed out. Nobody wins when you actually perform Free Bird, except the guy who requested it ...
Q: I love the fact you’re touring with a “No Photography” stage banner and selling “No Photography” tank tops.
A: Those are just my sensibilities. You HAVE to take a picture of that. So there’s really no love lost between me and the audience over the cellphone thing. I get it. I enjoy integrating the cellphone into the performance itself. I like grabbing people’s cellphones and singing directly into them and then recording a message for the people who are watching the YouTube video the next day. It’s fun. I’m not too precious about it.
Q: Have you noticed fewer fans taking photos?
A: No. I don’t think so. I think people who have signed up for the Josh Tillman Experience, by buying a ticket and coming to the show and being a fan, I think they get it. I think it’s tacit permission to use your phone in the ideological space that is one of my shows.
Q: Besides, you’ve got your own Instagram account.
A: I’m into the meme thing. That font is just so harsh. It’s like a joke in and of itself. Doesn’t Sufjan Stevens’ latest album, Carrie & Lowell, use meme font ( on the album cover)? I’ve been tempted to do a series where I just put “Sufjan Stevens Carrie & Lowell” on random photos, but I don’t know.
Q: Have you ever met Sufjan?
A: I’ve only met him a couple of times. He’s a genius and very pleasant in person. Maybe that’s just one I’ll keep to myself. ( Editor’s note: Since this interview, Father John Misty has posted one “Sufjan Stevens Carrie & Lowell” meme on Instagram.)