The Whiskey Priest

Following the success of Wave and Cloud, the recently released album, Lost Wages, sweeps in like a cold, clear, desert night with starry skies and a roaring campfire. It’s dreamy Americana folk; it’s The Whiskey Priest.

The journey continues in the heat and gravel vocals of front man, Seth Woods (also from Sad Accordions). Like a warm breeze, the seven tracks guide you from innocence to mature awareness, with lonely instrumentals intertwining heartache lyrics torn from a whiskey soaked hymnal. His bio describes it as, “…once again exorcising his demons through song, channelling alienation and bewilderment…” (www.rainboot.co.uk/thewhiskeypriest).

Thanks to the power of technology I, Kris of GrapeVine, was able to catch up with The Whiskey Priest and ask a few questions about New Mexico, the new album, whiskey, and the UK tour; enjoy.

 

GV: What has been the reaction to Lost Wages so far?

Seth: My reaction has been overwhelmingly positive! As far as everyone else… I

don’t know. That seems like a difficult thing to judge. A lot of the

reviews I’ve seen seem to be pretty favourable. Not everyone likes the

instrumental pieces, which I get, especially on a seven-song album. We

played a lot of “The Ballad of the Whiskey Priest” on tour this fall, and

it seemed to be met with some pretty good response. There’s a video taken

at our York House Concerts show, and there’s this girl in the corner of the

video who’s listening but kind of looking down and away. And when James and

Ben drop in with the beat and the guitar lick, she sort of smiles to

herself in this shy-but-can’t-help-smiling sort of way. That’s my favourite

reaction to anything from the record so far, and also one of my proudest

musical moments.

 

GV: What was it that drew you to New Mexico?

And how, if at all, did it alter the musical direction of Lost Wages?

Seth: Well, the answers to both of those question are sort of chicken or the egg

kind of things.

I’ve been drawn to New Mexico since I was a small boy. My family visited

for a week every summer from the time I was 3 or 4 till I was out of high

school, and periodically after that. I also had been coming up here about

once a year on my own to stay at a monastery north of Santa Fe called

Christ in the Desert Benedictine Monastery. So I’ve really had a love and

affinity for the land my whole life. The actual catalyst for the move,

however, was for a girl – either the best or worst reason to move anywhere!

As far as affecting Lost Wages, that’s also a matter of perspective. The

record was mixed and done well before I moved, but I think the things that

draw me to New Mexico in the first place are in the music already,

especially in songs like “The Sparrow,” “The Wages of Sin,” and the two

instrumentals.

 

GV: What is one thing you have learned about New Mexico, since living there,

that you would now consider to be a general misconception by most?

Seth: I’ve learned there are lots of black widow spiders here! Geez! I guess

that’s not a misconception, more like something I didn’t know about until I

got here.

 

GV: Are there any particular people, musicians or other, with whom you

accredit having influenced the songs and song writing of The Whiskey

Priest?

Seth: Oh man, tons. It gets tricky with musicians, because listing the folks who

I love and have internalized over the years is hard to sort out from the

smaller list of folks who really have pushed my own creative hand.

 

I was really struck a few years ago when my friend Chris turned me onto

these two records from a band called Talk, Talk. They were a British pop

group in the 80s, and they had this big hit, but then didn’t put out a

record for three or four years. And when they did it was this hushed,

strange, dark masterpiece of understated, subtle beauty. Not a marketable

single on the whole thing. The record was called Spirit of Eden. They

followed it up with Laughing Stock, which went even further in the same

direction, and then they broke up. I really wanted a lot of the first

recordings to sound like them. Not sure we pulled it off, but I think you

can hear the influence in a few songs, like “A Seafarer’s Lament, ” “Love

Me Like a Holy War,” and “Uncalled.”

 

I think I like to write in pictures or ideas. I’m influenced by pictures

and ideas. I love great titles because of the ideas they can carry with

them. So in my writing I think I tend to be influenced by things I’ve read

or heard that really strike me, visually. I love all that stuff about U2

and Eno and Lanois making The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree,

thinking about music in terms of cinema – cinematic music. Music that

conjures up a place, a scene, an image, an idea. I like poetry that tells a

story by giving you a sketch, vague, or even super focused in on one or two

details, and the space they leave for you to fill in is part of the art,

part of the narrative, as much as the details you are given.

 

GV: You’re going to be touring the UK next year, is that correct? Is there one

show/venue you’re really looking forward to playing in?

Seth: Well, I just went over there in October with my band. I’m really hoping to

get back sometime in 2012, though I’m not sure exactly how to do it just

yet. I’d really love to go back to the Chattery in Swansea, Wales. This

great cafe that puts on shows, run by this guy Nigel, his daughter Alex and

his wife Marge. Some of the kindest and warmest folks I’ve ever known – put

us up for the night, fed us, paid us. So kind. Also, I had an amazing time

at the Market Bar in Inverness, Scotland (the furthest north I’ve ever been

in my life). A tiny room full of drunken Scots cheering and yelling and

banging bottles in time with the beat. Sort of manic, actually, but a

fantastic time. And the York House Concerts folks were phenomenal as well,

Tony and Nicki.

 

GV: Lost Wages follows on the heels of your album Wave and Cloud, is it true

you recorded some of the songs for the Wave and Cloud album in the attic

of an old church? How did that come about?

Seth: Yeah, that’s a true story. The full story is that a bunch of us went to a

small church called Mosaic. It met in the unfinished rooms in the top floor

of Austin’s First Baptist church. There was no air conditioning or heat, no

finished walls or floors, something like two electrical outlets. It’s like

they had started to build it then ran out of money, so they just used them

for storage. When Mosaic started, we needed a home, and they let us have

the room to ourselves. It was pretty sweet, dark and dusty, with a view

over downtown. I had been talking to my friend Alex Dupree about recording

some songs with me. He had made his first record on a four-track cassette

tape machine, and it sounded pretty good. So we were going to try that.

 

We rounded up a group of musicians we were friends with, and set up the

mics and the four-track in the Mosaic room on a Saturday in March. We

recorded four songs that day – “Seafarers,” “If a Train,” “Careless,” and

“Holy War.” Then we packed up the tapes and didn’t listen to them again

till after Alex and I came back from a three-and-a-half month tour in

December. Alex and I worked on a couple of songs by ourselves at the house

I was living in at the time, but we didn’t get back together with a group

of musicians for a couple of years. By then Mosaic had moved to a building

of it’s own, and we didn’t have access to the attic anymore. But it was a

great place to begin. I will always remember that day – drummers playing

toy horns, guitar players playing bells and kazoos, and John Hoover running

barefoot around the edge of the room with a tambourine during “Seafarer’s

Lament.” We took a break for lunch and all ate at Starseed’s, which was our

defacto headquarters during those days.

 

GV: Now a tasty question, what is your whiskey of choice?

Seth: I have to say, these days I prefer single malt scotch over anything else.

The peatier the better. But I like the expensive kind, and I don’t have the

budget for it, so I settle for what’s on sale. Right now I have a bottle of

twelve-year Singleton of Glendullan that’s doing okay by me. It’s a little

sweet, but alright. I like Ardbeg and Tamdhu. But I’m also happy with Irish

whiskey – Jameson is more than fine. Our friend Matt in London graciously

treated us to his last few sips of Middleton, which is something like $130

a bottle! It was like having liquid alcoholic butter on my tongue. I’ve

never tasted anything like it before. Probably won’t ever get to again.

 

GV: Is there anything you would like to add? or say, to anyone who has not

yet listened to Lost Wages?

Seth: I don’t think so, other than “Hope you like it.” And maybe “Tell your

friends.”

 

GV: And, most importantly, when are you going to come play a show in Vancouver?!

Seth: I’d love to play in Vancouver! I was there for one night, a very quick

trip, filling-in on bass for my friend Booher’s band called Zykos. We

literally pulled in, unloaded, played, watched the headliner, checked into

a hotel, got up, drove to the border. Didn’t get to see a damn thing

(though the club was very nice)!

Not sure when it’ll happen, but I’ll put it on my to-do list!

 

GV: Seth, thanks again for taking the time to shine a little light on The Whiskey Priest and the album Lost Wages. All the best with your music in the new year and hope to hear your album live some day soon!

You can find Lost Wages, and other great albums on the  independent, UK, record label, Rainboot.