Tone Deaf (2012)
On March 7th 2012 Tone Deaf published an interview with Bo Koster, done by Neil Evans. The original interview can be found here.
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“Jim usually comes in with demos or an idea. We play around with these and improvise to see what works and what don’t. Sometimes Jim has a vision and focus and we elaborate and contribute, but there are other times when he doesn’t have as clear a sense of a song or idea. That is where the band really collaborates. With the last album, we went in to the studio not completely knowing the songs due to writing and recording at the same time. That style and approach really kept us fresh and focussed. We’re open to any process that helps to get us to where we want to be with recording”.
Koster has very fond memories of various tours of Australia. “We have absolutely loved playing there. We’ve felt some of our strongest connections on a live front with some of the audiences we’ve encountered in Australia. The entire band always looks forward to playing there. One of our favourites was the Big Day Out when we played alongside Neil Young and did a side show tour with him around the country. Australians really seem to ‘get’ us and really love what we do. I remember playing in Sydney when it was really hot and it seemed like we played forever that night and the crowd didn’t want to go home and, frankly, neither did we. It is really special when you experience that on a live front.”
As amazing as the audiences were, the opportunity to tour with the legendary Neil Young was quite obviously a coup. “Neil Young is truly a sense of inspiration to us. Watching him play is like watching a nuclear reactor go off every night. Even though he’s played a song a million times, he always has this uncanny ability to play it like it is the first time, especially how he plays a note. It truly was like a master class for us and getting to watch a genius at work.”
My Morning Jacket is known for the incendiary, immersive and truly astounding live shows. This is where the band has truly made their reputation across the world. “We simply try to approach playing live as organically as we can. Recording and playing live are two entirely different beasts. It’s hard to make every moment feel unique and fresh with live performance. We try to leave everything on the stage every night and not hold anything back. The band tries to look for that uniqueness of moment rather than playing a photocopy of the record on stage. We try to give as much as we can physically and emotionally to the crowd as we can. That is what makes the live experience rewarding for us.”
