RD: This goes along with that first question, but to me the record almost feels vacation-like with a quasi-Hawaiian vibe. Does that reflect the fact that you worked on it for over five years as more of a downtime project?
CB: Yeah, it’s definitely an “in-between” thing that was outside of the hard work the band going full-force in that zone and then coming off tour or from recording with everybody to being alone.
I met a couple of key people in Nashville when I moved here in 2005, this guy Teddy Morgan, a producer, and a drummer named Richard Medek, and they helped me figure out how to make the songs work. They could have probably been recorded more upbeat or sprightly, but when the three of us were working on how to make them sound right, that’s just what we came up with was the moody, mellow thing. So, we just went with it.
RD: Were they involved with the writing process?
CB: No, I’d have songs pretty much done and we’d just start recording, but they definitely had huge impact on the way everything sounds.
RD: How did you meet those guys?
CB: It was pretty funny. I had just moved to Nashville in 2005 and I rented a house in East Nashville. I literally walked over to the Radio Cafe, which is now closed, with a CD-R of like four songs and gave it to the bartender and he gave me a show. I met Teddy and Richard a couple weeks later at that show. Pretty cool, two of the first five or ten people I met became some of my closest friends and we started working on all kinds of stuff together right away.
RD: I read that you got to work with your father on the album. Was he pretty inspirational in your decision to become a musician?
CB: Definitely, he was always very supportive. He spent his career playing the bassoon in the Indianapolis Symphony mainly, so I was exposed to music growing up. He had a separate studio where he’d work on reeds and music. So, if I where with him that day, we’d be at the studio and he’d be practicing. I was definitely exposed to that, and he encouraged me to play violin and piano. And even when I was kind of revolted and said, “I don’t want to play violin anymore,” he would say,”OK, what do you want to play?” Of course, I was like, “I wanna play drums and guitar!” He’d be thinking, “Oh no,” but he went with it.
It was cool to work with dad, especially now that he’s retired. He came to Nashville for a visit and we just had him come over to Teddy’s garage and play. The fun thing about it was that he’s very used to reading written music and I’m very used to just improvising or grabbing something out of the air and saying, “That’s it, let’s use that.” So, we had to combine our techniques. He did some improvising and I did some music writing.
RD: How did you like being the top dog on this project as opposed to the more diplomatic approach in MMJ?
CB: I don’t know if I like it that much. I really enjoy having people around to advise and work together on music. I’m just used to that back and forth, and I got a lot of that from Teddy and Richard. Bo [Koster] from the band also played keyboards on the record and everybody from the band gave me some feedback. If I was ever confused about something, I could bring it up to them.
I’m really not that used to it though. I’m used to being on stage with everybody else and I love that wholeheartedly. Doing this was a little more of an experiment and a little more frightening, but it’s getting easier as I do it more.
RD: Are you going to be with those guys when you do the short run of solo shows?
CB: I’m doing the Indy show and the Chicago show and then going straight to New York to do the five nights with My Morning Jacket at Terminal 5. On the night off, I’m gonna play my own show at Joe’s Pub.
I talked to Bo about playing some, but I haven’t talked to the other guys. We’ll see how tired everybody is and if they are up for it. It’ll probably be mostly me, hopefully Bo, and maybe some of the other guys on a song or two.
RD: In terms of songs on the album, do you have any that are particularly meaningful?
CB: I think it’s pretty typical for people to like the newest song, so I really like the song called On the Case. That’s one of the most recent songs that I’ve written. I recorded it thinking it would be a B-Side, but then I decided it would go on the record. I like that song a lot; it’s fresh in my brain.
You know, I think the special moments are when you’re just having fun in the studio with your friends. Working with Bo and and Teddy, that’s the cool part about it. When I hear the record, I remember hanging out, drinking wine and doing whatever, recording some music, and just having fun with it. For me, the whole record was just kind of done for the fun of it. And, it is what it is now…
[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Carl-segment-2.mp3]RD: Have you talked about playing any of the solo material with the band?
CB: We’ve played Carried Away a couple of times in the past couple months on tour. So, that’s been really awesome. It’s a totally different beast with all the guys I’m used to playing with all the time. I was pretty thrilled that they wanted to do that. It was fun, it made the show a little scarier. We didn’t really know what was going to happen, because we didn’t practice it, we just just did it. We’ve been recently trying to do a lot of songs on tour that we don’t normally do to keep ourselves on our toes. There’s a little bit of danger when you’re saying to yourself, “Do I remember this song” or “What’s gonna happen next?” I think that’s a good state of mind to be in.
RD: Did you have fun with the Tom Petty shows?
CB: Those were awesome! What a thrill to see them and to have been asked.
RD: Did you get a chance to spend much time with them?
CB: I got to meet most everybody in the band and we got to thank Tom on the last night for the invite. He was really genuine and awesome. You can just tell when you walk into an opening slot, if the groove is cool, you know the boss is cool too. [laughs] It’s a trickle down thing, and it was the same way with Pearl Jam and Neil Young too.
RD: OK, one last question: Is there anything outside of music, say a movie, a film director, writer, etc., that you point to as a favorite that you’ve found inspiring?
CB: I love the movie The Graduate and I love how the music is used in that. It’s kind of like a meditation, because the songs keep returning over and over and over again. They just keep hammering the same three songs. I thought that was really awesome and confident.
I’ve been having trouble reading lately, I don’t know why. I think it’s a sign of the times. There’s too much going on and so many screens. There’s so much taking your attention from the time to read. I try to read the New Yorker and keep up on the world as much as possible, but I don’t think I’ve finished a book in a really long time [laughs]. I started about eight of them.
RD: Sounds like you need an iPad.
CB: Oh my god, I don’t know if I need it or not [laughs]. I think I’d rather throw my iPhone in the forest.
