home, it never really sticks.
WB: So you went from waiting tables to breaking into the
Portland music scene, meeting people, and then you started
writing songs. How did Fluff and Gravy come together? Did
you have this album before you connected with the label?
AT: Kind of. I met Jeffrey Martin, who was living at John
[Shepski’s] place from Fluff and Gravy, two years ago I
think, and started playing fiddle with him and singing;
then we did some touring together. He knew John, and was
playing the Wildwood Festival out in Willamina. I went
out there and met them. It’s the most wonderful family of
people, musical people. They get together and have fires
and jam all the time, and all their kids hang out.
I haven’t been doing music in this way for very long. It’s
just a search to find how to make it feel right. When you’re
making an album, you’re starting out as a musician, it’s a lot
of self-promotion. I’m never sure
whether that’s alright with me,
or how to put that in a box. Fluff
and Gravy just feels right to me,
the way they go about stuff. John
wants to do only vinyl, ever. He
never listens to CD’s or anything.
He’s all about the integrity of
things. He writes beautiful songs,
their band [Vacilando] is one of
my favorite bands in Portland.
It’s just a good family. I’m really
glad that I met them.
WB: Obviously, from what it
sounds like, they just let you do
whatever you wanted to do on
this album. There was no real
direction or editorial oversight, is
that right?
AT: Yeah, I just kind of brought it to them. I really wanted
to do it live, because I was touring a lot right then, so I was
by myself and I don’t usually have a band. I had a couple
of friends I wanted to chord with. Sam Howard on bass,
Taylor Kingman played electric guitar, David Strackany
played drums, and then Jeffrey Martin did harmonies.
I just had this idea that it would feel really great to get
together with them a couple times and just have a couple
crash practices and record it live, all together in the room
so we could feed off of each other’s energy. I respect them
as players. They care a lot. I kind of wanted that feeling of
a performance where you’re in the moment and everybody
is watching each other for cues and the song takes on its
own feeling from that. I brought that to John and in this
tiny room in the studio they just made it work. They had
never done that before. They just crammed us all into this
room and rearranged things.
WB: That was my next question: It was a very interesting
decision on your part to do a rougher, less practiced album.
Are you happy with the end product?
AT: I’m really happy with it. I kind of want it to always
feel like a real thing. Like right now, I’m learning so much
and I’m sort of new to performing and songwriting and all
that. It feels like a really rough thing to me. Everything that
comes out is sort of raw and I have to work on it, shape it,
and it’s not polished. That’s the best part of that feeling to
me, is being able to write and not judge yourself or polish
it too much. The way you feel playing with people when
you don’t know the song, you just really connect with each
other. I wanted to make that. You can’t separate the words
from the song, because we do it all live. So I couldn’t sell it
to commercials if they wanted; there’s all this businessey
stuff. It’s not very clean, but it just feels good that way to
me, I guess.
WB: Is that something that’s possibly temporary just for
this album or is that something that you think will permeate
your style as a person and performer, not putting on any
airs for your performances?
AT: Yeah, I hope so. I’m
definitely not a performer. I don’t
say the right thing or dress the
right way or anything. That’s one
thing about this kind of music
that I really like, or the musicians
that I really respect. Their songs
can stand alone, and I’d like to
be able to get there someday.
Where you could just be wearing
what you’re wearing and you can
stand up on a stage and really
make people feel something.
That’s what I’ll try to go for.
WB: So you’ve been performing
in the Portland area and the
Northwest, and you said you’ve
been on tour. Do you still get stage
fright? Also, what do you hear
from fans or first time listeners
that really does it for you, gets your heart aflutter?
AT: I guess if someone comes up and says, “This line
made me think of this in my own life.” That’s like gold to
me. It makes me feel like a million bucks for weeks. That
they could take something that came out of my guts and
it spoke to theirs.
I still get terrified. I’m no good at giving speeches, and
being in front of people has never been what I’m good at.
It’s funny, there’s this tiny pocket of this way that I can
share something with people. When you can explain it in
an artistic way, the way your lyrics are, you don’t have
to make sense, necessarily. Everybody takes from it what
they hear in their own life, and I like that about it.
WB: So you’re a bit of a shy person in general?
AT: Yeah.
WB: But you’re at the folk festival in Texas right now and
you get up on stage in front of God knows how many people.
Sounds like a little bit of stage fright.
AT: Yeah, I guess. I’m playing some fiddle with Jeffrey
Martin here and we’re not performing too much, but
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