Alec Ounsworth

Everyone wants the scoop. So yes, Alec Ounsworth does give us the latest news on Clap Your Hands Say Yeah in this interview. Yet to only be concerned with whether or not the Brooklyn act will ever give us their third album is to miss the (Mo) beauty of Ounsworth’s solo material and side projects, if they can even be called that. In reality, Ounsworth creates what’s in front of him, with little thought of strategically building a name for himself (or CYHSY). If it happens, in other words, it happens.

That’s the story behind his recent solo “debut,” Mo Beauty, a beauty birthed in New Orleans that expands and contracts in all the right places. It’s a stunning album, simply put, and deserves attention on its own merit, without worrying about a particular band’s status. So we kept Ounsworth talking about the album as long as we could before finally caving in. For those who’ve missed these new ventures, it’s never too late to find out for yourself.

SSv: One prominent review I found interesting for Mo Beauty took note of the kitchen sink approach and noted there’s no restraint on the album. I’m curious about that to a larger degree for your music and wondered about the role of restraint and your music.

Alec Ounsworth: Honestly, my own approach to any record would be that there shouldn’t be any restraint. I don’t quite know what that means. For one thing, we had 10 days to make this record. I don’t think there is any consideration of the absolute particulars of everything. We had to make sure we got it done in a true spare format, which is what we did. To approach any record with restraint going into it seems ridiculous to me, though. That’s not what I’m in this for.

On the other hand, I don’t precisely know what that means, so I can’t really speak to it, I guess.

SSv: The reason I ask is because a lot of artists talk about being their own worst enemy and being fearful of putting everything out there. Yet others really seem to be okay with feeling that sense of freedom.

Alec: Well, it depends on the record, really. On the New Orleans one, to a large degree, I think it was a matter of having this opportunity to go to New Orleans and see what it’s like to make a record with musicians in New Orleans. We had a certain amount of time to do it, so I looked at it as an exercise of sorts more than anything. The Flashy Python record was different, but I think for that, we looked at it as an exercise and didn’t leave any room for any grand artistic statements. We just took this collection of songs and tried to see how we could take them.

SSv: The songs on Mo Beauty were older, is that right?

Alec: I’d say about half of them. I’m not sure, but maybe a little less. But yes, there were several older songs on that record.

SSv: Does that make it hard to form something cohesive out of songs spanning such a length of time?

Alec: I don’t think so. It’s not about a certain week in my life or anything like that. It wasn’t that kind of a record. It all followed a certain theme, whatever that might be. I think the songwriter doesn’t know what he’s writing about all of the time, but when it comes out, it comes out in the songwriter’s words and it is the person representing the song. For example, on Clap Your Hands first record, or really anything I’ve worked on, it should all come out holding together to some degree just from the fact that it came from the same source.

SSv: You mentioned the New Orleans record, but there’s only one song attributed to the city. Why is that the dominant way to describe it? It is just the easy way to say it?

Alec: Yeah, maybe it’s just the easiest way to describe it. I’m reluctant to call it the Alec Ounsworth record. I think my choice for calling it that and everyone calling it my debut really doesn’t make too much sense for me, because it’s the same process I’ve used before. I just happened to run out of names to call it something, so I just keep calling it that. [Laughs]

SSv: Why do you say you’re hesitant to call it that?

Alec: Well, to be honest, any of these records could have been called Alec Ounsworth records. Any of the Clap Your Hands records, this one, any of these records go through pretty much the same process. So to call that one, I don’t know why. I think we got to the end of the record and the guys were saying, ‘What are you going to call it?’ I just said, ‘Well, I guess we haven’t any of them by my own name yet, so I guess I’ll do it for this one. Why not?’

I guess I had to distinguish. I couldn’t call it a Clap Your Hands album and I couldn’t call it a Flashy Python album, so I had to distinguish it to a degree. At the same time, I had to harness it in such a way that it was part of the catalog. I didn’t want to make another name like New Orleans All-Stars didn’t make any sense to me. [Laughs]

SSv: You were pushed toward the project because Steve came along and asked you about it?

Alec: Yeah, Steve who produced it. I was kind of close to finishing the Flashy Python record and I’d met Steve and he suggested that we work on something together. At first I said no because it took me forever to do the Flashy Python and I didn’t know if I had anything. Then it turned out that I had more than enough to work with. I didn’t know if it was right to try to work on it. I was holding on to all of this material and he just wanted to see what could happen. I didn’t know if I really wanted to make that kind of a record. It all changed after I gave Steve some of the songs and he was very positive. We did see what happened then.

SSv: It’s interesting to jump from one project to another. Did you think you needed a break from Flashy Python at the time?

Alec: Well, honestly, I think we had it pretty wrapped up by the time I went to New Orleans, so it wasn’t taking a break. It was just shifting from one project to another. I think we were done by the time we started tracking in New Orleans, so it was just a different project. I was told it would be a totally different thing where Steve would take the reins on the New Orleans record and I would be free to simply write the songs and direct how they went alongside Steve when I went down there.

In other words, it would be easier than any of my other projects was how it was presented. To a degree it was, I mean, it was only 10 days. It was 10 concentrated and relatively grueling days, but then again, it was only 10 days. We also tried to make it in a way that it wasn’t so cumbersome for me.

SSv: What was Steve’s perspective when he’s coming to you? Do you know what he’s seeing in your music and why he’s wanting to work together?

Alec: I think we looked at things in a similar way where we had an opportunity to play with some excellent musicians in New Orleans. I knew something good could come of this. If it doesn’t work, then we just blew a lot of somebody else’s money. [Laughs] I’m kind of joking. It’s like going into any record. We assemble a certain group of people and take our chances. Of course, it’s not as sure, I guess, as if a band is demoing songs for a couple of years and they really know what they’re doing. You’re definitely rolling the dice a bit more on this one. But on the strength on the material, in Steve’s mind, we could come up with something.

SSv: With Skin and Bones and Mo Beauty out there, do you feel the artistic backlog is cleansed?

Alec: Well, a lot of the songs on Skin and Bones were new songs. That one was almost completely new songs and Mo Beauty was half and half. It’s just the way that I work. I could go back to older material for years. A lot of the stuff I call older material is reshaped to almost be unrecognizable compared to what it was when I began. That’s just the way it works. But I have a feeling that it will be more… I will be going back to things I’m working on before I try demoing out with different line-ups for a while. But I always add to it and subtract from it and hopefully you end up with something that stands up.

SSv: Now that your own name has been out there as the name you’re performing behind, are you a bit more comfortable in that skin than what you described earlier?

Alec: I don’t know. It was something that the first Clap Your Hands record I know was considered and I didn’t really want that responsibility or something like that. Or maybe we didn’t even know what it meant to have a solo project versus a band. It didn’t make sense. So I guess time will tell. It’s a little weird going around and doing shows under my own name. To a large degree, the songs that I play are with a group of people. Then again, it’s starting to turn into ‘this is just a representation of a catalog of songs that I’ve worked on over the last six years or so.’ So for that, I’m pretty comfortable with it, because it’s true. [Laughs]

SSv: So the touring is just about those projects?

Alec: Well, this tour coming up, I’m trying just about everything. The guys have worked on Clap Your Hands material – the guys that are in this project now. It’s Mo Beauty and Skin and Bones and also some new material. It surprisingly holds together. I didn’t know how that would work. I try to approach each record in a different way. I try to figure it out by virtue of who I’m playing with – that seems to make sense to me.

It seems to make sense that if you’re working with different people, each project should come out differently. It’s amazing to hear people’s records from those who have several “projects” and yet they overlap to such a degree that you don’t know why they even called it a different name, you know? But for this, I do actually try to focus on making it be different so that you can’t call everything by the same name. Then again, they all hold together in a single show. [Pause] If you’re confused by that, I am doubly confused. [Laughs]

SSv: Of course, something we almost have to ask concerns the status of Clap Your Hands. Is that a closed door? Is that something on hold? What’s the status there?

Alec: I really don’t know. Everybody’s doing his own thing as far as I know. That’s all I can say about that. I don’t know exactly what everyone’s doing with his time, but I think everyone’s doing something. Your guess is as good as mine.

SSv: So there’s just no communication in terms of doing something together?

Alec: Not really. I’d be hesitant to say that it’s run its course, but on the other hand, maybe it has. I have no idea. All you should possibly put about this, I would imagine, is that everyone’s trying another angle to keep things fresh. That’s such an important thing to do.

No related posts.

Tagged as: Brooklyn

blog comments powered by Disqus