LEO weekly interview (2006)

Jim James at KCRW 2005

On November 21st LEO weekly published an interview where Scott Carney of Wax Fang interviewed Jim James. The original interview can be found here.

Keywords: Beards and mustaches, The number 37

Somewhere in the vast state of Texas, Scott Carney and Jim “The Tornado” James sat down to discuss their likes, their dislikes and the superpowers they wish they had …

SC: It’s me, Scott Carney, here talking with Jimmy J. Alright, we’ve got some questions, Jim’s got some answers. You ready? You ready for this Beyonce? So Jim, what do you want to be when you grow up?

JJ: I want to be a producer of fake bologna.

SC: A producer of fake bologna? That’s awesome. Well that was my first question. Let’s go to No. 2: 2006 will go down in history as the year I went to Kentucky Kingdom not three times, but twice. If you were an amusement park ride, what kind of ride would you be?

JJ: I’d probably be like the Tornado at the Kingdom. Is that what it’s called, The Funnel?

SC: Yeah, yeah, we saw one of those on the drive here actually.

JJ: Another one?

SC: Yeah. I don’t know if it was called the Tornado, but … it was Tornado-ish.

JJ: You know the ones where … The Spider? Spins around with a bunch of different things? I rode one of those with my grandpa.

SC: Alright, here we go: Yes or no?

JJ: Yes

SC: Why?

JJ: ’Cause it’s positive

SC: Positive is good. OK question No. 4: We’ve lost many things on the road this tour: wallets, shoes, friends, pets; tell me what is the one thing that you’ve lost that you would give anything to get back?

JJ: Tears …

SC: Tears? Sweet.

JJ: Crocodile tears …

SC: On the subject of loss, where do you suppose one’s virginity goes when you lose it?

JJ: It goes up your ass.

SC: OK, here we go, question number … something: Someone recently told me a tr…

JJ: Up your ass.

SC: Up my ass?

JJ: Not just anybody’s ass.

SC: OK, sweet.

JJ: It all goes up your ass.

SC: So, virginity, when lost, goes up Scott Carney’s ass.

JJ: Everybody’s.

SC: Yes. Everyone’s virginity is in my ass, as we speak. How does it feel? That will be for the next interview. Someone recently told me a true story about a person diagnosed with schizophrenia, who believed he had the superhuman abilities to both stare at the sun for an extended period of time without going blind, and also, while doing so, to see the wind. Do either of these superpowers appeal to you?

JJ: They really do appeal to me. We were just watching … have you seen “What the Bleep Do (We) Know?” Have you read that book or seen the movie? It’s just talking about quantum physics, and it’s about how you can do anything that you believe if you believe in it enough, but they were talking about…

SC: Strength of will…

JJ: Exactly, like trying to walk on water or stare at the sun without going blind. And if you can believe in it enough — nobody can, except for Jesus — but if you believe it enough, then anything is possible. But we’ve got so much negativity in our brains, that if you just say to yourself, ‘I can walk on water’ and you try walking out, that’s just a little swath of positivity over all the negativity that’s already there. So both those superpowers really appeal to me.

SC: Good answer. Well-rounded. Quick, what number am I thinking of?

JJ: 37.

SC: That was good. You were right on. You were recently overheard saying that every man looks his best in his God-given beard. What if that man was a woman?

JJ : I think it can apply to women, too. Sometimes, dudes that are real svelte and good-looking kind of look like women anyway. So I think they look more attractive, too. Most women can’t grow the beard that they wish they could.

SC: I’ve known some, too. That really had a better beard than most of my friends.

JJ: You bringing yours out?

SC: I am currently working on my My Morning Jacket memorial beard. Hopefully it will be ready by Thanksgiving. We’ll see. (Pauses) Here we go … I’m going to skip that question … Scientists have concluded that zombies will walk the earth. How do you intend to survive?

JJ: I won’t survive.

SC: You won’t survive.

JJ: I won’t survive. I’ll be among the first dead.

SC: You don’t have a zombie survival plan?

JJ: Nope I’ll be one of the first to be killed.

SC: That’s a shame.

JJ: Although I did practice at the 2005 zombie attack.

SC: I miss those every year.

JJ: I’ll definitely be one of the first killed; zombies are really attracted to me.

SC: I have zombie dreams a lot, so I’m prepared.

JJ: What are you gonna do?

SC: I’m gonna fuckin’ run. Like a motherfucker. It’s funny because pre-remake “Dawn of the Dead,” I had a surefire plan. I was living in Pittsburgh and my Pittsburgh friend …

JJ: Pittsburgh’s scary.

SC: It is scary. Well it’s the coincidental home of zombies with George Romero and the first “Night of the Living Dead” being made there. “Dawn of the Dead,” the original, was filmed at the Monroeville Mall outside Pittsburgh.

JJ: Weird.

SC: So Pittsburgh has a lot of zombie heritage.

JJ: That’s a weird coincidence.

SC: Yeah.

JJ: I never knew that.

SC: So a roommate of mine who I was living with at the time had an arsenal of guns, so my dream was that the zombies would come back to life, and we’d just sit on the roof and pick ’em off and drink and it would be awesome. But the “Dawn of the Dead” remake came out, and the zombies run after you, and it freaked me out, and now my plans are really scattered. I think the thing to do is run. You try to stay quiet, move only at night. Get upstairs, block all…

JJ: Right, all doors.

SC: … entrances. Really if zombies run, we’re fucked.

JJ: I know.

SC: If zombies walk, it’ll be pretty awesome.

JJ: Unless you can become one of them, then it’s sweet.

SC: Yeah.

JJ: If you don’t lose your head.

SC: It’s true.

JJ: Pittsburgh is scary.

SC: Pittsburgh is indeed scary. I know we’re not supposed to talk about music, but isn’t it just like the media to try to restrict our freedom of speech. So, on that, if you were a Led Zeppelin album, which one would you be?

JJ: I’d definitely be Physical Graffiti, Disc 2.

SC: Amen.

JJ: Or Led Zeppelin III, but probably … it’s tough, definitely Led Zeppelin III or Physical Graffiti disc 2.

SC: Physical Graffiti’s my personal pick. The University of Louisville basketball team is gearing up for a new season. What are your feelings about this year’s team?

JJ: I enjoy watching University of Louisville basketball with friends at bars, cuz it’s a good community activity. Other than that, I really don’t usually get too into sports. But I like the community of laughing and yelling. What are your feelings?

SC: I’m excited about it as always. There’s always that promise of freshman recruits that are gonna …

JJ: … take us to the top …

SC: … be awesome, but at the same time, they’re freshmen, and they’ll probably gonna pee their pants or something.

JJ: You never know though, sometimes freshmen have the best ability, to go for it because they want it.

SC: If not this year, then maybe next year.

JJ: Are you a big fan? Do you keep track?

SC: I don’t really keep track as much as I should, but I hear things from my friends, and it makes me happy to hear positive things.

JJ: Lots of people are big fans. When I was a kid, I didn’t realize that people who were into music could also be into sports.

SC: Me too. I was the same way.

JJ: Why is that? Why is it that we don’t think that’s possible?

SC: I think it’s because when you’re a teenager, being in high school — especially a high school that we went to that’s so geared toward one thing or the other — you can’t be both. I played football for a while and played music. Then I had an injury and couldn’t play football anymore. Not that I really wanted to continue playing because it was pretty stupid.

JJ: (laughs)

SC: Well the game isn’t very stupid, I guess, I had fun playing the game, but the competitiveness.

JJ: Yes. But everything’s competitive in a way, though. Everything’s kind of like football.

SC: It is, only if you make it.

JJ: Yeah, exactly. You have more control.

SC: What don’t you want for Christmas?

JJ: I’m usually pretty much into anything, but…

SC: Well, gifts are gifts. There’s something to be said about gift giving.

JJ: I don’t want anything that I can’t get rid of.

SC: Like an elephant?

JJ: Or herpes.

SC: Herpes you can … well, no you can’t. Athlete’s foot?

JJ: You can get rid of athlete’s foot.

SC: But it comes back.

JJ: That’s true.

SC: Unless you pee on your feet. A lot.

JJ: I pee a lot in the shower so that’ll probably take care of it.

SC: It works actually, it really does. Every time I’ve had athlete’s foot, you pee on your feet, it goes away.

JJ: You probably got that a lot playing football.

SC: It comes back but, you know … Chris Rock made a good point one year on one of his shows where he said, how are they going to find a cure for AIDS when they can’t cure athlete’s foot?

JJ: Wow. You just pour ’Tussin on it. Did you see that, when he was talking about ’Tussin? His daddy used to try and cure everything with ’Tussin. He’s like, “Daddy I cut my foot!” “Just pour some ’Tussin on it.” “Daddy I’m sick.” “Take some ’Tussin!” You probably got athlete’s foot a lot in the locker rooms playing football.

SC: I just have had it for a long time.

JJ: You still have it?

SC: My feet are the one part of my body I don’t get to wash very often. I’m just too lazy to get down there.

JJ: Everybody’s that way.

SC: I just don’t get to them. Alright, lightning round. Ready?

JJ: Yeah.

SC: These are pretty quick questions. So we’ll try to go at ’em like (snaps fingers). Puppies or kittens?

JJ: Kittens

SC: Gandalf, grey or white?

JJ: White

SC: Boxers or briefs?

JJ: Boxers

SC: Pilgrims or Indians?

JJ: Indians

SC: Yeah. Turkey: friend or foe?

JJ: Turkey’s been a friend for a long time.

SC: The dirty bird. Pitino or Petrino?

JJ: I forget who Petrino is.

SC: He’s the football coach.

JJ: Pitino, I guess.

SC: Yeah, Pitino. People who didn’t vote for Jerry Abramson: Taxpayers, or naysayers?

JJ: That’s a tough thing. I have neither a love nor a hate relationship for Jerry Abramson, so I’ll post a no comment on that one.

SC: Amen.

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (2006)

Sunset at Coachella 2006

The festival (commonly known as Coachella or Coachella Festival) is an annual music and arts festival, organized by Goldenvoice and held at the Empire Polo Fields in Indio, California, in the Inland Empire's Coachella Valley.

On the 29th of April 2006 My Morning Jacket performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

My Morning Jacket on Morning Becomes Eclectic (2006)

Jim James

On the 27th of October, 2006 Jim James and Carl Broemel performed on Morning Becomes Eclectic, audio of the performance can be found and downloaded at The Archive.

Setlist

1. Intro
   
2. Tonight I Want To Celebrate With You
3. Hopefully
4. It Beats For U
5. Old September Blues
6. Interview
   
7. What A Wonderful Man
8. Gideon
9. Bermuda Highway
10. Anytime
11. Outro
    

Carl Broemel

"I thought I'd be really neat to bring Carl along because he has such, y'know, beautiful wave of sound with the steel and his beautiful vocals, he's blushing over there, he's a beautiful man, he's a beauty."

- Jim James
(Morning Becomes Eclectic, October 2006)

Jim James

Opening for Pearl Jam (2006)

In 2006 Pear Jam invited My Morning Jacket to open for them on dates in Europe and the States.

"I was telling the guy how much they reminded me of the Band, whose music was a big influence on me. And as we were talking through the wall - I thought I was dreaming, but they were playing the Bands It Makes No Difference. So I looked at the cat and said 'Okay, interview over' and ran out and watched them play it."

- Eddie Vedder, about being interviewed backstage during one of My Morning Jacket's first sound checks
(Spin interview, May 2008)

Vedder sand the song with MMJ almost every night thereafter.

Exclaim! interview (2004)

Jim James at Roseland, New York 2006, photo by Mindy Bond

In October 2004 Exclaim! published an article featuring Jim James written by Lorraine Carpenter, the original article can be found here.

Keywords: politics

"We've always made it a point not to be a political band," says My Morning Jacket's Jim James. "I don't write political lyrics, I don't get up on stage and make speeches because I think music should be a beautiful escape for anybody, regardless of their politics."

Unlike Fat Mike of NOFX — who penned a song about Bush called "Idiot Son of an Asshole" — James refuses to bad-mouth the Republicans, preferring to let his band's inclusion in the Vote For Change tour do the talking. But that doesn't mean he's not critical of their imperialist endeavours and deficit-dilating policies, which My Morning Jacket's generation (and their kids) will pay for.

"If I can't afford health insurance and rent, I'm gonna be too busy thinking about that to meander on my couch all day, playing guitar and writing songs," says James. "I try to make my life and my music into as much of a fantasy as possible, but if I don't try and help the real world, I'm not gonna have a fantasy world to come back to."

Greenbelt festival (2006)

My Morning Jacket at Greenbelt festival 2006, photo by fidothe

Greenbelt festival is a festival of arts, faith and justice held annually in England since 1974. Greenbelt has grown from a Christian music festival with an audience of 1,500 young Christians to a more secular festival attended by around 21,000 largely non-Christians.

The 2006 Greenbelt festival was held at Cheltenham Racecourse between the 25th - 28th of August and the theme of the year was Redemption Songs.

My Morning Jacket performed at the festival on the 27th of August 2006.

Setlist, photo by markheybo

David Letterman (2006)

On June 8th 2006 My Morning Jacket performed Gideon with members of the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, conducted by Keith Lockhart, with whom they played two shows at Boston Symphony Hall later that month.

Okonokos (CD)

Something Glorious (2006)

On May 21st 2006 Something Glorious published an interview with Patrick Hallahan, done by Ari Bendersky. The original interview along with an audio stream of the interview can be found here.

Keywords: Genre, Audience, Z, Patrick Hallahan, Touring

Interviewer: You straddle two musical worlds – that of jam band and indie rock. How do you compete in the two places?
Patrick Hallahan: I think, I like to think we don't think about it. We've never tried to be indie or a jam band. I don't think we're either. I think it's incredible that any crowd takes us on as something they enjoy. Those two audiences – which are the two most separate or intense factions of music fans, I have no idea. It's a huge blessing.

Interviewer: Are you ever shocked at the mix in the audience?
PH: It never ceases to amaze us. In fact that's probably one of the most beneficial things we get from being a touring band. We look out there and it's really ageless and there are no division lines between the people – it's such a hodge-podge of everybody. By the end of the day we're just sitting back going 'wow this is exactly what we've always wanted to do – appeal to different people all over the place'. Because you only get so far when you appeal to one group of people and we don't want to make one sound. So just seeing the audience reflection of that, it's very rewarding.


Interviewer: But you're also touring with Pearl Jam, who has a heavier sound than MMJ.
PH: We were as shocked as most people were [they asked us]. They first approached us around the release of Z and it didn't really materialize and they asked us again. It was a huge honor and we've received so much support from the Pearl Jam fans emailing us that they're so excited we're playing together. If you can win over a Pearl Jam fan, you've done a good job. They're renowned for being music fanatics. They love what they love.

Interviewer: I hear you always play drums barefoot and sometimes blindfolded?
PH: [laughs] I always play barefoot. If we're in a really bad club there's no way I'm barefoot. Since I was a kid I've always played barefoot. It's like playing guitar with mittens.

Interviewer: On Z, you guys dabble a little bit in reggae, some slight surf rock and a little soul.
PH: I believe that part of Z was a conscious effort and I believe that the majority of Z was a result of a lot of change and a lot of growth between the years of It Still Moves and Z. So much happened between those two albums. There couldn't be just a gradual step – it had to be like a big one. 'Cause we went through so much and still came out together and I think that this album celebrates that in a lot of ways.

Interviewer: What happened?
PH: There was so much touring going on in general. You get cramped together and get bogged up and thrown down and the end result was that it was amazing that we all still liked each other and wanted to make music together. This band has a certain force of its own that we don’t have a hand on. We just kind of follow that course and it keeps wanting to go forward. You just know when it's right and wrong and now it just feels so right. It's proven to us that it's something we should be doing. Just because we take off six months doesn't mean we're out of practice. It was surprising that we just picked up [where we left off].

Interviewer: How was it to leave the comfort of Louisville to record Z in Upstate New York?
PH: It fell right in line with all other changes going on and it was so welcome. It was very exciting recording because of all the changes. We had no idea what was going to happen. We had all these songs that were so different from our last album. And we had a producer, period. It was the first one out of the farm.

Interviewer: At the end of the day are you more country or more rock and roll?
PH: We're all rock and roll. And when I say rock and roll, we're every facet of rock and roll. I don't want to be a hard rock band either. The country elements seeped in because of where we are. You're a product of you're environment. Nothing off Z really sounds too country. We're maybe moving away from that.

Interviewer: What does it mean to you that some critics have called you America's Radiohead?
PH: It's a huge compliment from everyone that's ever said it. In terms of the next step, I can see that somewhat. I hope this isn't our OK Computer; I want to make more. It was the point they really honed their craft. They went from Pablo Honey to The Bends, but they were a really restrained. With OK, they were completely naked on that album. They had no boundaries. It represents Radiohead at Radiohead.

Interviewer: Do you feel like you still have some clothes on?
PH:Yeah, we let loose but I want to let loose more.

Interviewer: How?
PH: Just being together and becoming better musicians and growing spiritually and all the essential for growth.

Interviewer: Following the Pearl Jam tour, you're playing a couple of dates with the Boston Pops – is this creative collaboration made in heaven?
PH: It's an absolute dream – beyond dreams. To be able to work with not only a symphony but the Pops … it's out of this world. We were dumbfounded and excited about this whole thing. The collaboration is going to be incredible. I feel like we're all on the same page as far as how we want to approach things. We're both open to interpretation. They're playing for an hour each night and then we come out for the second hour and back us up. They're writing music to accompany our songs. Just to have them take that approach says a lot about them.

Interviewer: Would you try to record and tour with a symphony?
PH: That would be an absolute dream. I don't know if that's feasible but it would be a dream. Just to have multiple musicians to make this beautiful ball of music….

Interviewer: What happens the rest of the summer?
PH: We're doing more festivals and taking some time off. Our main thing from now on is to tour a little more sparsely and tour smarter. We're going to make more use of our time and take time off so we're not too worn out.

Interviewer: How do you spend days off when touring besides relax and sleep?
PH: We love local restaurants and want to explore the city. We ask locals where the good spots are to eat. For most people, a great pleasure is an excellent meal. We try to pick towns that we either know well or don't know at all and try to dissect them. We try to rest up and read and get mental peace from all the craziness that is touring.

Interviewer: You and Jim have known each other for like 20 years right? How has that helped or hurt your musical relationship?
PH: In the big picture, it's helped. We understand where each other are coming from. We never have to think about things. We have this unspoken thing that has helped in a lot of instances. We just kind of know and it's helped greatly. It's really there between the whole band.

Interviewer: Is there ever any jealousy because he general gets the spotlight and credit for the music?
PH: No. I was a friend and fan of the band before I was a member. I know it's his baby. I've seen it from his fledging state. I could never be jealous. I never realized I was going to be a part of it until he asked me. He has such a brilliant mind that it should be celebrated. Give credit where credit is due.

Chicago Tribune (2006)

On May 12th 2006 Chicago Tribune published an interview with Jim James and Tom Blankenship, done by Fauzia Arain. The original interview can be found here.

Keywords: Johnny Quaid and Danny Cash leave the band,

When pneumonia knocked down My Morning Jacket lead singer Jim James after Thanksgiving last year, what followed was a crash course in learning to say no.

It started with a particularly painful lesson--when his band turned down a gig opening for the Black Crowes on New Year's Eve at Madison Square Garden.

"[The pneumonia] totally wore me down and destroyed me," says James, from his hometown of Louisville. "This year we're trying to tour a little less and tour a little smarter, just trying to do things here and there."

One solid reality check later, the earnest Americana rockers with a stunning, expansive sound charged on with their plans to support last year's lauded "Z" (ATO). Their highest-profile achievement brings them to the United Center Tuesday and Wednesday--opening for Pearl Jam's current tour, an honor shared with icons Sonic Youth and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, who are opening different legs of the tour.

Clearly, slowing down isn't all that leisurely for this band, but the relentless drive is probably what landed the quintet in the heat-seeking seat they've occupied for at least the last four years. That growth spurt also triggered two original members to quit the band, on good terms, in favor of a stationary, home-focused life.

"[Drummer] Patrick [Hallahan], Jim and I were standing in the hallway of this hotel in London after those two quit, and Jim looked at me and he's like, `What do you think? What're you gonna do?' and I'm like, `I'll be around. I'm still here,'" relays bassist Two-Tone Tommy.

That's the kind of easy strength and quiet confidence that runs through the band's southern veins--relaxed yet far from lazy. "It's just in the nature of the band that we never depended on anything," Tommy adds. "If we were told, y'know, `You'll make a million dollars per show for the rest of your life,' we'd just never believe anything that we're ever told. I guess our philosophy was just to work as hard as we can and not expect too much in return."

That has led band members to seek out alternate creative outlets. Such collaborations have included a solo tour for James with Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst and singer-songwriter Matt Ward (a.k.a. M. Ward); guest spots on both of those artists' albums by James and the rest of the band; plus a short tour as M. Ward's backing band.

But the ambitions stretch far beyond there, as James notes. "I've got a lot of dreams in my head, but I'd really like to work with Kanye West or Andre or Big Boi from OutKast," James says. "I've always wanted to work with [Radiohead producer] Nigel Godrich, and I've been wanting to do something with Vic Chestnut lately. I've always really liked his music, and I've always had kind of a dream scenario of us being his backing band or studio band for one of his records."

There's a common, positive sentiment among those who cross paths with My Morning Jacket, a group that often picks up fans and friends on the road.

"Just from hearing [Jim's] voice I knew there was soul in the music. The melodies, too, but it was the voice that struck me," recalls Ward of his impression of My Morning Jacket's music before meeting them. "It's very wide-screen and epic, and it makes me feel good about life. He comes to music from a very humble perspective and it's from people like that I get a lot of inspiration. He sees himself as part of the bigger picture of music, and not as the big picture."

They've already got a head start on winning over Pearl Jam, a band both James and Two-Tone Tommy say they were "huge" fans of when "Ten" (Epic) was released in 1991.

The bands, it turns out, share some unique credits. In April, Esquire Magazine awarded James the best songwriter Esky Award, while Pearl Jam picked up the Esky for best live act. My Morning Jacket appeared in Cameron Crowe's "Elizabethtown" as the band Ruckus, covering Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" while Pearl Jam appeared as Citizen Dick in Crowe's '92 film "Singles."

James admits that his first band, in junior high, learned to play every song off of "Ten" and the "Singles" tracks in his buddy's garage. "I was insanely, crazily a fan. I'm still a big fan, but back then we were over the edge," he says. His first Pearl Jam live show was just last year.

"It was insane to see them play in a tiny record store for like 200 people," he recalls. "It just blew my mind, 'cause I didn't know whether I would still connect with them or not, and seeing them play in a tiny, tiny space ... there was a couple points where it was pretty emotional. Some of those songs I just really, really loved, and seeing them play just really transported me back to what made me love music in the first place."

Pitchfork interview (2006)

On the 2nd of April 2006 Pitchfork published an interview with the band (except Jim James) written by Dennis Cook, original interview can be found here.

Keywords: Elizabethtown, Reverb more to follow


At their best, My Morning Jacket, both on LP and in the flesh, make blue-collar music with a celestial bent. The Louisville quintet likes to mix up elements just to see the juxtapositions dance. For example, the tilted fairytale "Into the Woods" from their fourth album, Z, which pairs effervescent carnival music with lyrics like "A kitten on fire, a baby in a blender, both sound sweet as a night of surrender." One minute they're fuel-injected rock, the next they're as delicate and refined as Belle and Sebastian. Rather than settling into a predictable groove, MMJ have only grown more ambitious and strange with each outing since their 1999 debut.

Apparently folks like strange. Z was chosen as Harp's 2005 Album of the Year and made Rolling Stone's Top 10, PopMatters' Top 50, Spin's Top 40, and Pitchfork's own Top 50. Where it would have been easier to follow the full bore chug of 2003's It Still Moves with a straight rocker, MMJ teamed up with legendary producer John Leckie to create a complex long player that recalls the Pretty Things' S.F. Sorrow and Mercury Rev's See You on the Other Side, all lovely, fuzzy, oddly moving slabs. Newest additions Bo Koster and Carl Broemel, who joined after the surprising departures of longtime members Danny Cash and Johnny Quaid in late 2004, bring new color to MMJ's pallet.

Pitchfork spoke to everyone except main man Jim James, who was recovering from severe pneumonia, while the band was on brief respite from their marathon tour schedule.

Pitchfork: Z has been out for about 18 months now. What's the strangest take on it you've heard so far?

Two-Tone Tommy: Whenever I was talking about the title people would think it was our going to be our last record. I thought that was funny. Or someone said we were going to start going backwards. After Z we'd do Y and just keep going that way.

I don't pay too much attention to the album reviews. I like to read about the shows and takes on the band's history but I tend to stay away from what gets written about the albums. I don't really think about it too much when I'm in the middle of doing it, writing it or recording it, so it's strange to see it deconstructed through somebody else's eyes when I haven't even done that myself.

Carl Broemel: I think the coolest take was when I played it for my dad. I told him, "Here's a saxophone part but it's a little bit out of tune." He was a classical musician and he said, "Sometimes that's better." Oh cool! He's on board! He kinda gets it more than I thought he would.

Patrick Hallahan: Somebody emailed me and said Z was the bible of the universe. That's pretty fucking weird [laughs].

Pitchfork: How does it feel to be an apostle?

Hallahan: I had no idea I was an apostle, so it might take some getting used to before I can answer that.

Pitchfork: How are the new songs developing as you tour them? I thought there were a lot of new corridors opening up in the newer tunes when I saw you in November.

Tommy: Only a handful of songs had been played live before the [fall tour]-- "What a Wonderful Man" and "Off the Record". A lot of them are just as short as they are on the record, like "Gideon" and "What a Wonderful Man", whereas in the past we'd have stretched out a lot longer. We'd have made the three- and four-minute songs six or seven minutes long. Part of it is the difference between this line-up and the last one. We always just played everything out as much as we could with John [Quaid] and Danny [Cash]. With Carl and Bo it seems a little more focused.

Bo Koster: They're taking on a life of their own. That's one of the cool things about this band. We're all open to things if they feel right. There's no rigidity to the way we approach things but we're also not completely out of control.

Hallahan: It's just like anything you keep doing. They just kind of grow by themselves. We always approach the live performances differently than we do the albums because we want them to exist in two different worlds. Live is a little more loose. I've noticed an incredible leap in everybody else in the band musicianship wise. Everyone's grown as a musician so I think we're able to take these new leaps and bounds on these songs.

Broemel: The stuff we didn't think would work live ended up being almost the most fun, like the end of "Off the Record". Before we rehearse we go back through all the old records and pick a few songs that haven't seen the light of day in a while. Like playing stuff off Tennessee Fire is fun because a lot of times those songs need to be reworked anyway, just 'cause they're not big rock songs. [With] this incarnation of the band, it becomes a totally different thing. That's fun to do, to rejuvenate a song that hasn't been out there in a while.

Koster: When I first joined the band there was obviously stuff [already] recorded, so it didn't feel like I totally had ownership over it. Now, when I play those songs it's a part of me, too.

Pitchfork: That kind of thing does affect the melody and feel. You bring your own life, your own experience, into the music in subtle ways. You made your movie debut this year in Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown. MMJ seemed to be having a ball during the funeral firestorm concert sequence but that could all be in the editing. I'm willing to allow for that.

Hallahan: It was a blast! It was exhausting, though maybe I say that because I was standing up [laughs]. Editing has nothing to do with it. I think on the DVD version Cameron is going to put more of the band scene in as an extra. You'll see we're that animated all the time. We were talking about incorporating [the fictitious band in the film] into our set but we didn't want to kill ourselves, so we'll just do it on the big screen.

Tommy: We didn't spend that much time-- three or four days in Kentucky outside Lexington and two weeks in L.A.-- which are all the scenes inside the ballroom. It was great.

Koster: I wasn't there the whole time because I wasn't in the movie. Patrick was the keyboard player 'cause [actor] Paul Schneider was the singer and drummer. There was no room for little old Bo [feigns crying].

Broemel: I was the acoustic guitar player. It was fun to be a part of it even for a few days, to be on the set and see how it all goes down. It was exciting to have a big flaming bird fly over my head. I felt the heat from it. It was kinda exhilarating. The first time it fell in the wrong spot so that was a little scary.

Pitchfork: Any trepidation about doing the archetypal anthem of southern rock? Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Freebird" is one of those songs with a lot of baggage.

Tommy: It started out with us giving each other looks like, "I can't believe we're going to do this, the band that everybody says we're like." [He adopts a cartoonish drawl]. Those longhaired hippies from Kentucky! In the end, we're doing it [for] Cameron Crowe and we believe in him, so why not?

Hallahan: We were definitely taken aback at first. Once we read the script and saw it in context it made perfect sense.

Broemel: If you think about it, people are gonna scream that at our shows anyway. I think we're all so sick of hearing about southern rock that we don't even care. Let's just go for it and do it. How can you say no? I have the utmost respect for Lynyrd Skynyrd and that song is an amazing song but we're trying hard to not get caught up in that stuff like the rebel association. That's the negative part of southern rock.

Koster: I read a lot of reviews that talk about southern rock and I get surprised how many times they mention Lynyrd Skynyrd. I just don't hear it. I understand when they hear "southern" in us but not Skynyrd.

Pitchfork: One of the things I love about MMJ is there seem to be no limitations to what kind of music you'll play. If you dig a dub beat then you'll play it, but you might join it to an ambient jam or a '60s pop tune arrangement. Given that range, what do you think are the defining characteristics of the band's sound?

Broemel: Jim's voice is a huge part. Patrick's right foot is a huge part of it. Everybody has their own little thing to contribute. As far musical ideas, the sky's the limit. There's things we probably don't think about that will always be there, but I have no idea what the next record will be like. We'll work and rework a song. "Into The Woods" had three or four incarnations that we thought were pretty cool before we finalized what we wanted to do with it. The same goes for "Off the Record" which wasn't a reggae-feeling song at first. All the songs are great as just acoustic songs, too.

Tommy: Obviously, the reverb-- especially on the vocals and drums. I think those sounds are kind of a signature. You always know it's My Morning Jacket when you hear the drums start. Songwriting-wise we'll always be all over the map but production wise there's always little hints of what came before, a My Morning Jacket vein that runs through everything.

Hallahan: If you don't have any prejudice in the music you listen to you shouldn't have any prejudice in the music you play.

Koster: There's a certain mysterious quality to everything. I always feel like I'm in another time or place when I play this music. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a movie or something. That's a testament to Jim and his imagination. His songwriting is very non-literal a lot of the time, and there's a fantasy element to some things.

Pitchfork: Well, you had a forest on stage at the Fillmore in San Francisco. And the band invited the audience to dress up like faeries, wizards, and goblins.

Koster: Yeah, that was pretty literal [laughs]. We just came up with the idea of letting the people who came to the show interpret this ambiguous paragraph we sent out. It's kind of the way we do a lot of things, ambiguously. It's not something we can deconstruct or control. It's more like a feeling.

Pitchfork: The band has been playing to larger audiences over the past couple of years. My sense, and I'm not alone in thinking this, is you'll eventually be playing coliseums and stadiums. How do you feel about the prospect of rocking massive spots like Red Rocks or Madison Square Garden?

Koster: That sounds great, I've heard people say that before. It's so weird to think about because it's just my life everyday. And the lifestyle can be so fast-paced, where you play so many shows and meet so many people that you forget a lot of moments that you have. So thinking about the future, or the past even, can bog you down.

Tommy: I'm not sure how to feel about it. We've done some hockey arenas on the Foo Fighters tour and we did Dave Matthews for a short one-week run and Wilco, too, which was an amphitheatre thing. So, we've had a taste of it. It's kind of cool in a way because it's this huge arena rock thing like Ted Nugent, Kiss or whoever. At the same time I love the really tiny venues, too. Like when we played Madison, at a sports bar where there was no barrier and the stage was two-feet high. So, you're right there in front of the crowd. I'd always prefer to play the smaller place over the bigger place anytime just for the crowd interaction. Also, when the space on stage is so tight that you're on top of each other then the energy just kind of flows between all of us because we're touching each other all the time.

Pitchfork: But bigger means massive props, dwarves and flashpots! I really liked the Squallis Puppeteers you had at Bonnaroo last summer-- freaky 10-foot tall cockroaches and Loony Tunes symphony conductors just wandering around you as you played. What can I say, My Morning Jacket does strange on a big scale and that's one aspect of the bigger venues it'd be cool to see you really explore. That and flashpots, of course.

Tommy: Yeah, that would be awesome to have a bunch of mini-tours that only lasted one or two weeks where there's always a different background and it's a different experience every time-- having a show tailored to different markets.

Koster: That's really the cool part of becoming more successful-- the ability to do a few things you couldn't do as a smaller band.

Pitchfork: Like hitting Iron Maiden's garage sale?

Koster: Stonehenge!

Pitchfork: Since Jim is the only one not joining this little roundtable, tell us one thing we should know about Jim James?

Hallahan: Want me to make fun of him? I'm just joking. To be perfectly honest, he's one of the most incredible people in existence on this planet. He never ceases to amaze me. He never stops making me laugh. I want to kiss and smack him all at the same time. He's been my best friend since fourth grade. He's a special person and a gift to this world.

Koster: When I think of Jim I always think of his ability to get everyone in a good mood. He has a real skill for getting a whole room in on a joke or a whole room focused on listening to a song. When I first met him that was my favorite thing to do with Jim. Late at night he'd get his iPod and just DJ for me for an hour. He has an amazing feel.

And he's hilarious. That's a big contradiction in him, where he can be completely sincere and serious and really take a lot of care in everything he does but at the same time he can be very carefree and childlike. One of the main things I learned from him was to stop compartmentalizing things and deconstructing moments and instead just feel them as if we were still children. 'Cause when you're six years old you're an artist. Those are the most creative moments of anyone's life. He still has that wide-eyed wonder through it all. There's no pretension at all to anything he does.

Broemel: Jim's a pretty damn good DJ. When we're on the bus it'll be late and we're pulling away and we'll have people on the bus and he'll find the perfect song for the moment. Everybody will have their eyes closed listening to whatever he puts on.

Pitchfork: That's beautiful. It's always great when somebody can capture a moment in song and kind of still everybody.

Broemel: I think that's what we're all searching for-- to try and create songs that are perfect for a lot of moments.

Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival (2006)

My Morning Jacket at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, 2006, photo by Jeremiah Garcia

The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an annual four day music festival. The 2006 festival ran from June 15-18, the 80,000 tickets available were sold out.

On June 16th My Morning Jacket played at That Tent on Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, this was the fourth time the band played the festival.

Lay Low, My Morning Jacket at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, 2006

Several recordings of the show is available at the Live Music Archive, this one for example.

Track List
Wordless Chorus
It Beats 4 U
What A Wonderful Man
One Big Holiday
Older Guys
Head Held High
Lowdown
The Way That He Sings
Masterplan
At Dawn
Golden
Gideon
Xmas Curtain
Dondante
Dancefloors
Anytime
Mahgeetah
A Quick One
Loving Cup
Attitude
Off The Record
Lay Low
The Dark
The Bear
I Will Sing You Songs
Heartbreakin' Man
Evelyn Is Not Real
It's About Twilight Now
It Makes No Difference
Phone Went West
Run Thru

Relix Magazine, My Page (2006)

 

Jim James at KCRW 2006

Relix Magazine gave Jim James his own page in the magazine's December/January issue, where he wrote the following:

Hello. This is my page, so the topic I want to talk about for this piece is food that is good and easy to keep frozen or preserved for long periods of time—like cavemen or dynosaurz—and perfect for when you come home after a long vacation, absence or tour. First things first: Before leaving on your trip, take a trip to your local grocer’s freezer section. You’re going to want to stock up on some fine frozen foods. 
 
Here are some things I enjoy seein’ in my deep freeze when I come on home:
Caveman lawyer (still frozen), Hamsters (gerbils), Bread , Veggie burgers, Cheese, Butter , Edamame, Stem Cells, Geese, Toilet Paper rolls, Beans, Veggies (corn and brocolli and mushrooms). 

It is also important to pick up some canned goods, such as:
Black beans, Refried beans, Pinto beans, Great Northern beans, Chili beans, Lima beans, Pig’s feet, Spinich, Herrings. 

It’s also a good idea to keep some non-perishable condiments in the fridge such as:
Mayonnaise, Mustard, Mayostard, Mustardayonnaise, Butter, Syrup, Chocolate Lucky Charms, A Wendy’s Frosty, Pig’s feet. 

First things second: When you get back to your apartment or home, after a long time away, dust off your copy of Young, Gifted and Black by Aretha Franklin and put “Day Dreaming” on repeat. Get out your virtual aquarium or virtual fireplace DVDs and put them on repeat. Take out your PlayStation Portable and plug it into the wall and turn on Virtual Fighter 4. Leave it on the men screen but turn it up. Thaw out caveman lawyer. Now he is “unfrozen caveman lawyer!” 

Wish Phil Hartman were still alive. Wish him back to life. Go in your bedroom and turn on your clock radio to your local classical station (it should have already been tuned to this station you asshole! What the fuck were you thinking waking up to the buzzer or 99.7 WDJX?) Take off all your clothes and put on your nightie, or your Fila velvet jogging suit—whichever you wear to bed— turn down all the lights and put on some Patti Labelle- flavored incense (available at the market on the corner or 2nd and Magnolia, right across from the Mag-bar). 

Now you are ready to cook with grease. Get out some olive oil and pour it down your backside. Have someone give you a massage, or if no one is there, give one to yourself. You will be hungry and tired and frustrated and sick of all humanity—pushed to the very limit of what you think is possible for a human being to tolerate or endure, as you will just have returned home from the airport or a very long van ride. Roll out a sheet or plastic or linoleum or garbage bags onto your bed and cover it with baby oil. Roll. 

Take off your nightie or Fila jogging suit and just roll around like a killer whale on the beach. Gasp for air and “root!!! root!!” like a seal with a plastic ball balanced on its nose. Feel the oils caressing your skin. Breathe. Just concentrate….. ahhhh….. And think how nice it will be to get all that oil off and put it back on later before you go to sleep. 

Smell the Labelle… Ahhhh… Listen to “Day Dreaming”... Holy shit what a great song…. Listen to the killer flute sound in that song and those killer fucked up background vocals and xylophone or harmoniums or bells or whatever the fuck they are that just trail off forever into nowhere…
Just chill the fuck out, man. Seriously, for once in your goddamn life, just chill the fuck out!

Okonokos (DVD)

Interviewer: I’m not sure how to say it—Okonokos?
Jim James: Oh-kuh-NO-kos, yeah. I’m not one of those guys that’s really into pronunciation. I’ve got such a weird last name, I’m used to hearing people pronounce it all different ways.

- Jim James
(Vanity fair interview, May 2009)

Cover photo of Okonokos

On the 31th of October 2006 My Morning Jacket released concert DVD Okonokos, which was recorded during the band's fall 2005 Z Tour, during two nights (November 11-12th) at The Fillmore in San Francisco, California. The DVD was released on ATO records and runs for 118 minutes.

Track List
1. The Party
2. Wordless Chorus
3. It Beats 4 U
4. Gideon
5. One Big Holiday
6. I Will Sing You Songs
7. Lowdown
8. The Way That He Sings
9. What A Wonderful Man
10. Off The Record
11. Golden
12. Lay Low
13. Dondante
14. Run Thru
15. Xmas Curtain
16. O Is The One That Is Real
17. Steam Engine
18. Anytime
19. Mahgeetah
20. The Attack

"Then I wanted to add some other aspect to the film where, when you got it and you popped it in, you almost thought, Did I get the wrong DVD from the factory?"

- Jim James, talking about Okonokos
(Vanity fair interview, May 2009)