SETLIST: The Dandy Warhols 5.29.12
![Alt-rockers The Dandy Warhols are on tour promoting their eighth studio album “This Machine,” a mix of their power pop sound combined with mature, darker vibes. We caught up with lead singer Courtney Taylor-Taylor and talked to him about everything, from the album, to the Portland scene, to pot.
(9:30) Talk to me a little bit about the title of the album.
(CTT) It’s been a sticker on my guitar for about 10 years that said ‘This machine.’ Woody Guthrie [had] ‘This machine kills fascists’ on his guitar, and then Donovan had ‘This machine kills’, and so for a [music] video years and years and years ago, I put a sticker on my guitar that said ‘This machine.’ Then I just left it there. It just seemed like a strangely poignant pair of words to apply.
(9:30) It definitely has an epic feel to it.
(CTT) We decided that the more you think about it, it just really is — my head, our collective heads, our studio, the place we come from, the world that we travel and play music in — I mean, what really isn’t a fucking machine? I get asked that a lot, but the concept is just so massive that I can’t really talk about it without feeling like a goofball because it’s such a big, heavy concept…talking about it starts to sound very ‘Spinal Tap.’
(9:30) So does the heavy title tie in with the sound? Would you consider the album darker?
(CTT) I didn’t really think so while we were making it, but the first time we played rough mixes for our friends, we had a big dinner at the Odditorium (our studio) — we probably played half the record and the drummer for the Warlocks was the first one to say ‘Dude, this is a really dark record.’ And I was kind of surprised by that…and that was before I started mentioning that David J from Bauhaus wrote only one song on the record. But still, you mention that to somebody and immediately they start to hear the entire record differently.
(9:30) Bauhaus is definitely some darker stuff.
(CTT) Yeah. I guess it’s just a lack of sarcasm. I mean there’s usually something that I’m just being naughty about. Like, “Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth” was about a woman that I was in a relationship with for almost four years. I came home from our first tour and she was fully hooked on heroin, and just being really mean and snotty. So that song is me being mean and snotty back. I guess the way I deal with those kind of feelings has kind of changed.
(9:30) This album was more of a collaboration and you weren’t writing all the material, so how did that come about?
(CTT) I’ve never been a very prolific songwriter and a few records back, I just started having songwriters who I thought were fantastic start helping. On this one I got Miles Zuniga from Fastball on a couple, and then I got David J. Then Fathead (drummer Brent DeBoer), who’s getting really, really good at songwriting, he and I did a couple and then he and Zia (McCabe, keyboardist) did one.
(9:30) Do you have any favorite lyrics off of this one?
(CTT) Yeah, my favorite lyric I’ve ever written (from the track “Well They’re Gone”): ‘You said your weak and frail heart/so many times had belonged/To someone that wasn’t strong/Yeah, well they’re gone.’ It’s a fucking heavy one. It’s hopeful as hell.
(9:30) Whose idea was it to do a cover of “16 Tons”?
(CTT) I was just driving [and] the lyric ‘I was born one morning when the sun didn’t shine,’ was just in my head and it was just breathtaking. And so when I Googled the rest of the lyrics to it, I found that they’re just all varying degrees of amazing. Once I saw what this piece of work was, I thought ‘I have to sing this. We have to do this. This is something I’ll never be able to do myself.’ “
(9:30) The Portland scene is obviously a really important part of who you guys are as artists. Talk to me about the scene now and how it’s changed from what it was when you grew up.
(CTT) Growing up in Portland, it was a city of less than half a million people and now it’s right around two and a half million people and that happened in a little over 10 year period of time. It’s pretty much people with tattoos and piercings and maybe a couple years of college. They just want to hang out, ride a bicycle, work on their art, their filmmaking, and play in three or four different bands, and just lead a slacker lifestyle.
(9:30) Does it inspire you?
(CTT) I never know what inspires me. I just really like Portland because it’s like the city that I dreamt of finding when I was 14-years-old. I dreamt that London would be like this. I think I find it more comforting than inspiring.
(9:30) Do you guys have any traditions before a live show?
(CTT) [The others] do a shot of tequila.
(9:30) That seems to be a tried and true formula for most rock bands.
(CTT) Yeah. When I was in Europe I guess I would smoke some pot maybe an hour before we played, but you can’t carry pot around on a tour bus in America. There’s too many sicko shitbags in uniform with dogs. Our bus has been boarded a couple times already and we’ve only done six shows. So I’m weed-less. Fortunately, it doesn’t have any effect on me. I don’t give a shit. [When the] music is there it’s up to you. You’ve got to get your sound right, and you’ve got to conjure the demon every time.
- Yohana Desta](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4soyoga141qec814o1_500.jpg)
Alt-rockers The Dandy Warhols are on tour promoting their eighth studio album “This Machine,” a mix of their power pop sound combined with mature, darker vibes. We caught up with lead singer Courtney Taylor-Taylor and talked to him about everything, from the album, to the Portland scene, to pot.
(9:30) Talk to me a little bit about the title of the album.
(CTT) It’s been a sticker on my guitar for about 10 years that said ‘This machine.’ Woody Guthrie [had] ‘This machine kills fascists’ on his guitar, and then Donovan had ‘This machine kills’, and so for a [music] video years and years and years ago, I put a sticker on my guitar that said ‘This machine.’ Then I just left it there. It just seemed like a strangely poignant pair of words to apply.
(9:30) It definitely has an epic feel to it.
(CTT) We decided that the more you think about it, it just really is — my head, our collective heads, our studio, the place we come from, the world that we travel and play music in — I mean, what really isn’t a fucking machine? I get asked that a lot, but the concept is just so massive that I can’t really talk about it without feeling like a goofball because it’s such a big, heavy concept…talking about it starts to sound very ‘Spinal Tap.’
(9:30) So does the heavy title tie in with the sound? Would you consider the album darker?
(CTT) I didn’t really think so while we were making it, but the first time we played rough mixes for our friends, we had a big dinner at the Odditorium (our studio) — we probably played half the record and the drummer for the Warlocks was the first one to say ‘Dude, this is a really dark record.’ And I was kind of surprised by that…and that was before I started mentioning that David J from Bauhaus wrote only one song on the record. But still, you mention that to somebody and immediately they start to hear the entire record differently.
(9:30) Bauhaus is definitely some darker stuff.
(CTT) Yeah. I guess it’s just a lack of sarcasm. I mean there’s usually something that I’m just being naughty about. Like, “Not If You Were the Last Junkie on Earth” was about a woman that I was in a relationship with for almost four years. I came home from our first tour and she was fully hooked on heroin, and just being really mean and snotty. So that song is me being mean and snotty back. I guess the way I deal with those kind of feelings has kind of changed.
(9:30) This album was more of a collaboration and you weren’t writing all the material, so how did that come about?
(CTT) I’ve never been a very prolific songwriter and a few records back, I just started having songwriters who I thought were fantastic start helping. On this one I got Miles Zuniga from Fastball on a couple, and then I got David J. Then Fathead (drummer Brent DeBoer), who’s getting really, really good at songwriting, he and I did a couple and then he and Zia (McCabe, keyboardist) did one.
(9:30) Do you have any favorite lyrics off of this one?
(CTT) Yeah, my favorite lyric I’ve ever written (from the track “Well They’re Gone”): ‘You said your weak and frail heart/so many times had belonged/To someone that wasn’t strong/Yeah, well they’re gone.’ It’s a fucking heavy one. It’s hopeful as hell.
(9:30) Whose idea was it to do a cover of “16 Tons”?
(CTT) I was just driving [and] the lyric ‘I was born one morning when the sun didn’t shine,’ was just in my head and it was just breathtaking. And so when I Googled the rest of the lyrics to it, I found that they’re just all varying degrees of amazing. Once I saw what this piece of work was, I thought ‘I have to sing this. We have to do this. This is something I’ll never be able to do myself.’ “
(9:30) The Portland scene is obviously a really important part of who you guys are as artists. Talk to me about the scene now and how it’s changed from what it was when you grew up.
(CTT) Growing up in Portland, it was a city of less than half a million people and now it’s right around two and a half million people and that happened in a little over 10 year period of time. It’s pretty much people with tattoos and piercings and maybe a couple years of college. They just want to hang out, ride a bicycle, work on their art, their filmmaking, and play in three or four different bands, and just lead a slacker lifestyle.
(9:30) Does it inspire you?
(CTT) I never know what inspires me. I just really like Portland because it’s like the city that I dreamt of finding when I was 14-years-old. I dreamt that London would be like this. I think I find it more comforting than inspiring.
(9:30) Do you guys have any traditions before a live show?
(CTT) [The others] do a shot of tequila.
(9:30) That seems to be a tried and true formula for most rock bands.
(CTT) Yeah. When I was in Europe I guess I would smoke some pot maybe an hour before we played, but you can’t carry pot around on a tour bus in America. There’s too many sicko shitbags in uniform with dogs. Our bus has been boarded a couple times already and we’ve only done six shows. So I’m weed-less. Fortunately, it doesn’t have any effect on me. I don’t give a shit. [When the] music is there it’s up to you. You’ve got to get your sound right, and you’ve got to conjure the demon every time.
- Yohana Desta
Our weekly playlist! This week we remember the greats we lost this past week by getting down to their fun, funky tunes. Pour a little of your coffee out and let’s remember the good times, shall we?
M83 blew us all away this weekend with a tight live set and amazing light show. What better way to commemorate one of the best live shows of the year than with a limited edition poster from local artist Meg Vazquez!
Posters are for sale here, but we also have a few to give away!
Tweet @930Club or post on our Facebook wall with your favorite moment from the show to enter to win a poster! Winners will be picked by 5PM tomorrow!
