Tom Lynch

Over the course of his career, Bill Callahan has, perhaps like no other, found the demon's heart inside the world's humanity. Ugliness, ambition and heartbreak--all in a day's work for the man behind Smog, a band that's released nearly a dozen records since 1990, almost all on Drag City. His dark, deep and dooming baritone voice is his trademark--the simplistic instrumentation and songwriting and poetic, cut-to-the-bone lyricism come later. You know his voice. You know it's Bill.

It's curious that, after all this time, he's decided to retire (put on hiatus?) the Smog name, and "Woke on a Whaleheart," Callahan's latest offering, has been released under, simply, Bill Callahan. The song-crafting is a departure of sorts as well--a bit more hopeful, and bit more assured, Callahan incorporates gospel elements, string arrangements and a more celebratory attitude. I caught up with the far-too-modest Callahan over email to ask him a few questions about his new record.

Why did you decide to retire the Smog moniker and release this record under your own name?

Moniker! How I hate that word. I wanted to approach the record from the get-go from the point of view of someone who has left some old and long-standing thing behind. A graduation, a marriage, a brise. So, I dropped it and then the songs came. It was something that is probably in the Stanislavski method. It added an edge of reality to the dreamlike proceedings of making a record.

Woke on a Whaleheart seems like the most instrumentally expansive record you've made in a long time. Was it a conscious decision to incorporate so many elements, or did it just kind of happen?

That was down to Neil [Michael Haggerty], who arranged it. I only wanted to be the songwriter and the acoustic guitarist. He could have done anything he wanted with it. He said he was making the Bill Callahan record he'd always wanted to hear me make.

Did you have a set plan for this record? Did you know what you wanted it to sound like going in, or did it develop organically? How does this process work for you?

The plan was for someone else to have a plan and I would follow it. I thought it would be a walk in the park but it wasn't. Letting someone else take over is kind of like painting a chessboard on your body and having monkeys play chess on you with paintball guns. There are all sorts of new rules being made up on the spot, or making themselves known on the spot.

The gospel-like female backing vocals and song structures are interesting ("The Wheel" is nice). What brought you to Deani? Why did you decide to include them?

I wanted a vocal contrast to my voice. The arrangements are not mine. But I did suggest we use Deani. The human voice is the best instrument, so why not use more than one on a record was my thinking.

Do you feel you've changed as a songwriter over the course of your career? Do you approach writing differently now compared to when you were younger?

It's the same now as day one. I still don't know where anything comes from. There is the memory of some effort made, but it's kind of a blur. The real stuff just happens on its own. Most of the time when a song is finished, I feel like I must've stolen someone else's notebook.

Do you enjoy touring? What do you like about it? What do you hate about it?

It turns life into a cartoon. Everything is simpler and outlined in thick lines. There are jokes and funny mishaps. It satisfies a need for motion while being able to keep a foundation at home.

What musicians are you listening to currently?

Just got back from tour and no one really played much music in the van. There was just a box of awful indie rock that the driver had accrued, most of them still sealed in shrinkwrap, and one Nina Simone box set. We listened to the Nina Simone. I think that's all. I'm really only interested in listening to piano concertos lately. No orchestral backing.

How do feel about so many music writers, or fans, thinking you're on the top of a long list of songwriters of your generation? Does it add pressure to produce? Or, better said, effectively write?

I don't feel that people put me on the tops of any such list. Feels like I'm down at the bottom, just above Bob Denver's calypso album. Maybe if I had had a lot of success it would have skewed me. As it is now, I feel like I'm just getting started.

(2007-05-18)

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