Emerging from the recording studio with a follow-up to 2005’s PREFECTION, Cass McCombs calls forth a statement of open-mic guitar sessions on his album “Dropping the Wit.”
With a blend of Donovan and Doug Yule sounds, you get a relaxed folk singer that throws the occasional electric guitar at the listener. It’s what you’d expect from an artist that has a conversational flow to his lyrics and an expressive tone that drops in an instance. We threw a few questions at Cass and got this back.
* What's your writing process like? Do you write in a notebook you carry around, or do you have a photogenic memory?
They say Jay-Z doesn't write his lyrics down, that it's all from memory. I go through lots of drafts of the lyrics, making changes as I go or not... each song is just a different job to do, grunt work.
* Lionkiller starts off the album with a fairly quick pace, but the rest of the album seems to favor the ballad. Without defining labels, what was the inspiration for Lionkiller and why the change in tempo?
Every song is approached in its own unique way, but it's how you look at it. There are several more songs on the album that have a faster bpm rate than that song. It just appears fast. The songs were chosen for their lyrical themes, but not so much based on music. I don't even think about what I'm doing as music 100% or what anybody is doing anymore, recording music is pretty empty in general.
* Who would you like to collaborate with?
I like to collaborate with my friends. Check out 'dog lover' on Youtube, if you're interested. There's also 'Aaron's brother'. They're silent videos I made with my friend Aaron brown in Sonoma, California and Auburn, Washington. I have a book coming out called 'rats' with another friend.
* Hot Pie Studios in Pasadena?! I live in the area. Any stories about the area or the recording process?
I got to ride my bike to the studio every day, which put me in a good mood for the day.
* If you had to write a song about your favorite television show, what would it be called?
Looney tunes, maybe? or leave it to beaver...
* What would you rather be? A cowboy, a pirate or an "other"? (Other can mean anything!)
At this moment I could eat something.
