John Doe – Wolf at the door
“But the worst thing about it is that musicians, singers, etc., are getting really lazy,” he continues. “They expect the engineer or the producer to fix stuff for them. The running joke in studios now is, ‘That sounds pretty terrible. Come on in. I’ll fix it.’ And some friends of mine who work in studios say that musicians get really huffy if you ask them play stuff again. There’s bad notes in this record. Out of tune notes that are sung, crucial things. But at least they’re real.”
Having enjoyed the collaborative approach on his last record, 2002’s Dim Stars, Bright Sky, Doe opted to draw on his considerable roster of musician pals to appear on his new album. “All the guest appearances are just people that I’ve toured with recently, that I love and I’m lucky enough to have friendships with,” he says.
Grant Lee Phillips chimes in on “Twin Brother”, a poignant ballad that stands out starkly amidst the album’s bluesy base. The travelogue of “Hwy 5”, with its dreamy chorus begging “Take me away” as guitar and piano swirl together in a heady stew, was naturally suited for Neko Case, “because her last record was all about the highway, all about distance and long reverbs,” Doe says. “Ready”, a blunt memorial to those who throw away their talents — and their lives — with drugs, benefits from the short sharp shocks of Kristin Hersh’s vocals. “Kristin really understands the world of suicide and punk rock and stuff. She’s been there,” Doe says.
And then there’s the appealing swing of “Mama Don’t”, the recording debut of Doe’s daughter Veronica Jane, who had no previous experience other than singing in school. “I knew I wanted to have a female singer [on the track], and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to explain why someone was singing ‘Let’s run away together’ with me,” says Doe. “So I figured my daughter would be a safe choice! And she has an incredibly pure and high voice, and I wanted to have her singing in unison with me, an octave up. And I knew she could do it.
“And she did. She was the fastest of them all! It was so funny. She gets in there and does one take and it’s perfect. And I say, ‘Can you do that again?’ And she said, ‘Sure.’ And she does it again! And I’m like, ‘OK. You just did that in two takes, straight through.’ And she’s like any teenager would be: ‘Yeah. Sure. I can do that. No big deal.’ And I’m like ‘Oh, my God…’
“She’s just got a great voice. But I’m hoping I can demystify the business enough for her so that she won’t be interested in going into music — ‘Don’t do this. You know how hard it is for me to pay the bills sometimes?'”
With each of his solo records having come out on a different label, Doe hopes he’s found a more permanent home on Yep Roc. “Half of the battle has been finding a label, one that I think gets it,” he concedes. “And that process is way easier than it was three years ago, in my opinion. I don’t have the opportunity to be on a major label. A major label couldn’t give two shits about John Doe. And I’m relieved. I wouldn’t want to have to deal with a bunch of twentysomething assholes telling me how to make my music. Talk about hell on earth! Too often you’re dealing with people who aren’t really music people, who don’t understand what it takes to make a record, who don’t understand the elements that make a good song, that just have a cursory knowledge of music, and they’re telling you what they think you need. And usually the suggestions are so inane!
“Whereas I think with independent labels, as long as they’re motivated and ambitious, and they don’t fall apart as you’re releasing a record — which is what happened with my last record — then they can sell records. Because the major labels have taken such a hard fall recently, the independents now have much more credibility. That’s been building over the last ten to fifteen years, but now they really have some juice. If something falls, something will naturally rise to take its place. Most of the people that I like are on independent labels.”
The year ahead will be a busy one for Doe. A tour to promote Forever Hasn’t Happened Yet begins right before South By Southwest (where Doe will also put in an appearance); the Knitters record will follow, possibly in June. (Among the songs recorded during the Forever sessions that will appear on the Knitters record is a version of X’s “Burning House Of Love”). Along the way, Doe hopes to create a few of those elusive “moments” for himself and for his audiences.
He found some unexpected inspiration in the first show he saw in 2005. “Talking about moments, I saw Merle Haggard at Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace in Bakersfield,” he says. “It was New Year’s Day — not New Year’s Eve, but New Year’s Day. And the very first thing he says is, ‘Buck called me up and said do I want to play New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, and I said sure. But then he got Dwight for cheaper on New Year’s Eve — so here I am!’ He was so incredibly charming. He did the song ‘Kern River’ and it was chilling. It was one of those moments when it was just like, ‘Oh, my God…’ Because you know that everyone in that audience lost somebody or knew somebody that got swept down the Kern River, because it’s like a rite of passage. As the snow melts you have to swim across this river and it’s just like hauling ass, raging. It was beautiful.
“So that’s what I aspire to. Having a few of those moments now and then. As you sing more, I find that you’re able to appreciate it more, and you’re able to put yourself in a totally open space so you’re not mentally trying to do something. You’re just letting it happen, which is great. Then you can find those moments, when it’s just happening. It’s not something you can do easily or by will. You just get into it.”
Seattle writer Gillian G. Gaar is the author of She’s A Rebel.