JUNE 2011 ISSUE MMUSICMAG.COM JUNE 2011 ISSUE MMUSICMAG.COM Q&A

if anything our friendship is stronger and had a lot of things going on in my personal a space work that isn’t normally used for musically we’re stronger. life at the time, so I didn’t have the emotional recording bands. He saw that as a challenge real estate to pressure myself to deliver the instead of a limitation to the process. So it How does Jim bring in songs? most amazing bass track ever. That gave was really like seven people at a Boy Scout Sometimes they come fully formed, other me some freedom, in a strange kind of way. camp or a lock-in where you’re just there times there’s just the sketch of a song. But “The Day Is Coming” was the toughest to kick back. “Circuital” was like that, with just a few for Patrick and me, because there’s so parts intact. The fi ve of us hammered it out much space in the song. It’s mostly drums, What surprised you about the results from there. His process is all over the map. bass and vocal, and it was the only song of the whole process? It can be completed songs or sketches or that took multiple days. While it wasn’t evident when we were just a riff. If there are 12 to 20 new song sequencing the album, I found that the ideas, we’ll listen to them on our own for What basses did you use? journey, the musical story arc played out a few months, then get together and discuss It was all Fender Precision bass, except for in the songs, was one that I desperately which ones we’re really excited about “Wonderful,” where I used an upright. I used needed at the time. The songs began to and go from there. three different P-basses, but they were all take a different shape and meaning. I no pretty much identical. longer experienced them, lyrically, as How was recording in the gym? an outsider. Surprisingly, I found myself We’d always intended to make a record live What was your experience working with speaking through them about grief, pain like this, and had talked about it forever. We’d Tucker Martine? and ultimately relief—things I wasn’t sure I already done some of it to a large extent with The way he works is so effortless. It was had words for yet. rhythm tracks in the past—drums, bass and immediate, literally as soon as he came into maybe Jim’s guitar as well. But we’ve always the room. We’d been at the gymnasium for Do you have an ultimate goal? wanted to record everything live—with maybe one or two days setting up stuff and going I’d like to lie on the hood of my car, sipping a just some guitar overdubs and background vocals here and there—to have that spirit all the records we grew up listening to had. We wanted to capture that feeling of everybody playing at the same time and recording that moment. In a way it was one of the easiest records for us to make, because it was just Carl Broemel, Tom Blankenship, us playing. We’d literally say, “Hey, let’s work Jim James, Patrick Hallahan, Bo Koster Danny Clinch on ‘Circuital,’” run through the song twice to get a rough idea of where we were going, then press record. That’s pretty much how MY MORNING JACKET the whole record went. Was that enjoyable? One of rock’s leading bands hits the gym to reset its circuits Oh yeah. It was a kind of magic that came from us not concentrating solely on our own MY MORNING JACKET BASSIST TOM experimental Southern rockers well beyond up with Blankenship on a rare trip back parts and actually listening to each other, “Two-Tone Tommy” Blankenship is out of their devoted fan base. Formed in 1998 home to Kentucky. knowing nothing has to be perfect and breath, and there are a few possible reasons. by singer, guitarist and primary songwriter capturing the spirit of how exciting and new Most likely that he just completed a morning Jim James (Blankenship is the only other How has your relationship with Jim the song was. Not someone going after 30 workout at his Louisville, Ky., home. But it’s remaining original member), the group evolved over the years? takes, “Well, that one part’s still not working.” also possible he’s still collecting himself embraces sounds ranging from acoustic I was talking to a friend about this over the And a lot of that came from the Terminal 5 run after his band’s electrifying set from days balladry to Who-style rock on Circuital, weekend, and he asked, “How old were we did, where we learned about 99 songs earlier at this year’s Bonnaroo Music recorded live last summer in a Louisville you when you joined the band?” And I said over fi ve days. We became a tighter unit On The Tonight Show With Festival. Or he may just be reeling from the church gymnasium with producer Tucker it was right before my 21st birthday. We through that process, and learned to trust Jay Leno

Paul Drinkwater/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank , September 2008 excitement of seeing My Morning Jacket’s Martine. Blankenship attributes the newfound were laughing about how funny it is that the each other to a degree that we hadn’t been latest effort, Circuital, become the group’s sense of confi dence in part to a fi ve-night entirety of my adult life has been spent in forced to before. fi rst Top 5 debut. “That was a fun week,” stand at New York City’s Terminal 5 last this band. It’s pretty wild that Jim and I have over a few tunes, but there wasn’t Blankenship acknowledges. October when James, guitarist Carl Broemel, experienced all of the normal things that you How did you approach this album this weird adjustment period you ‘The musical story Mind you, selling records hasn’t been keyboardist Bo Koster and drummer Patrick go through from when you’re 20 till when differently from the last? sometimes have with people, even arc in the songs was an issue since the band’s third album, Hallahan and he played the band’s fi rst you’re 33 together. I think it’s remarkable I won’t say that it all came easy, but I put with someone you ultimately end 2003’s It Still Moves, catapulted the fi ve albums in their entirety. We caught that we’ve been doing this for this long, and less pressure on myself with this album. up liking and working well with. one that I desperately On the last one [2008’s Evil Urges] I did I don’t think we’ve ever had a lot of self-editing. I would come back to that instant connection with needed at the time.’ the control room and listen and say, “Well, I someone from outside. His ears ‘We wanted to capture that feeling of everybody just don’t like what I’m playing.” So with this are wonderful. More than anything milkshake in a dairy-bar parking lot, watching playing together at the same time.’ record I purposely dumbed down my stuff, else, he was as excited as we were to have the sunset. Seriously. out of fear of being too much in my head. I this strange opportunity to try and make –Jesse Thompson

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