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Richard Swift makes music better
suited for your great-grandfather’s Victrola that your iPod. With flourishes of ragtime
and baroque and strokes reminiscent of pop songwriting’s pantheon, Swift’s tales often
acknowledge he is a man out of time, both as an artist trying to find a seam in the
music industry and as a husband and father trying to sidestep the cracks in
society.
His sophomore album, "Dressed Up for the Letdown" (due Feb. 20 on
Indiana-based indie label Secretly Canadian), includes material he wrote during his
three or so years living in Southern California, a period of professional frustration
for the multi-instrumentalist. Now safely ensconced in a small town (Cottage Springs,
Ore., pop. 9,016) more in step with his rural Midwestern upbringing, Swift is putting
the finishing touches on the album. We asked him a couple quick questions while he and
his band prepared for a show tonight at Spaceland.
Los Angeles was tough on you and your family. Do you miss it
much?
Swift: I miss certain aspects … the people.
I don’t miss the city, but only because I don’t miss any city.
I could never get my mind around the clutter of the city. My wife and three daughters
love it up here — we have everything we need.
The song "Artist & Repertoire" — "Sorry, Mr. Swift, but
there’s no radio / that likes to play the songs of your lover’s sorrow" — tackles
everything head on. But you had me scared; I mean, in the last line, the narrator has a
gun to his head …
Swift: A lot of this took place in the two years I spent driving
around the city from record company to record company. We know a lot of people who could
have written that song. "I know it’s not funny / so I’ll try not to smile …"
I just had the blues, and I had to let it out somehow.
It’s a going-for-broke and growing-up kind of record. My time in Los Angeles … you
have to go away and cut your teeth, pay your dues. The whole concept of death is
addressed too, but I talk about life just as much. It might seem to be a bummer of a
record, but there’s a lot about it that’s hopeful.
"A&R" is about 2 minutes long and it took me a minute to write. It’s
not just about the music industry’s A&R, it’s about everyone’s evaluation of you and
who you are — it’s about everyone’s repertoire for your life."
||| Download "Kisses for the
Misses."
||| Watch the video for "Beautiful Heart."
||| Richard Swift opens for the Broken
West tonight at Spaceland. Free.
Photo: Richard Swift, by Lance Alton Troxel.
◊ ◊ ◊
Tonight’s touts: Mondays mean no cover charge at the Echo (for the Submarines residency, with Nick
Castro supporting) and the Silverlake
Lounge (for the Pity Party). … It’s a free night at the Troubadour, too, with Long Beach’s the Secret 6 headlining and Silent
Treatment, Polus and the Happy Hollows supporting. … And at Safari Sam’s, the Outline are playing with Lo Mass Republic and
Wired All Wrong. … Oliver Future and
Bloodcat Love anchor the Indie 103.1-sponsored lineup at the Viper Room. … The Delta Spirit and the Colour continue
their Monday residencies at the Detroit Bar.
For your downloading pleasure, Cold War Kids’ "Hang Me Up to Dry" is the iTunes
freebie this week.
Richard Swift is one of the most original, intriguing songwriters of this generation.
I’ve been a big fan for years.
wayne is one of the most original, intriguing songwriters of this generation. i’ve been
a big fan for years.
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