“I don’t listen to my records, so my opinion [of Gon’ Boogaloo] is the same as the first time I heard it,” he says. “It has strong points, it has weak points. I think the weak point is some of the tempos might have been a bit quick here and there owing to the excitement in the room. I usually like to tinker with my recordings and flesh out all the little secret parts, which I didn’t really do on this. I didn’t want to do it, but at the same time there’s a part of me that wishes somebody would have did it. Preferably me, but without having to actually do any effort.”
Talking with Stoneking is a form of entertainment in itself. His speech is old-fashioned and the timbre of his voice utterly unique; it often seems as though his sentences are collapsing out of his mouth. The transition of this speech into music seems quite seamless, and although speaking about writing and recording is a task he takes to grudgingly, he is engaging nonetheless.
“Most things have a skeleton. I think that’s probably the same with makin’ anything, I suppose. You stuff around with whatever it is, and you might hear some lil’ thing that might set a flash in some part of your brain, some split-second glimpse of something that might could be. And then you sort of have to use lyrics or whatever it is to build that thing to remember that inspiration. It kind of depends where the flash of inspiration happens, I guess. Sometimes it’ll be in some words or something, sometimes in music. I don’t really have a set thing. I usually tend to have a bit of music, melody, something like that. I’ve written a couple of songs where I’ll just write out the lyric if there’s an inkling.”
The idea of inklings is something that emerges several times throughout our conversation. While Stoneking seems foremost a practical musician, that sense of something indefinable existing in his songs is strong. Gon’ Boogaloo may have taken six years to write, but it was recorded in just two days, live to tape. Prior to this, Stoneking had hoped to build the album as a field recording.
“I had an inkling of some simpler way of doing things. Jungle Blues had its own problems in the mixing stage. It could be unwieldy, there’s a lot to it, track-wise. It was sort of a nightmare. I wanted to record it outside, but the weather was bad. It’s definitely something I would like to do. It’s tricky. I’m outside right now in the country and there’s no way you could make a record here. There’s a million birds going, a few other things too. Ribbon mics, you can’t have any breeze going at all. It’s not possible. It takes some doin’. It’s no, ‘Let’s go in the field and make a record’. There’s more to it then that. But it is a sound that I really like. It just goes out into the world.”
There are some busy times ahead for Stoneking. In addition to headlining Chopped, he’ll be playing the inaugural Fairgrounds Festival alongside the likes of Father John Misty, and has a string of solo shows in between. Chopped is of particular note given it’s as much a hot rod carnival as a music festival. While Stoneking fully intends to enjoy the variety of the weekend, festivals aren’t his ideal environment.
“Well, I’ll probably take a walk around and take a look at ’em all. I like hot rods, but I don’t own ’em and wouldn’t know anything to do to a car to turn it into that. Even if someone gave one to me for my birthday. But I like ’em. I’ve never really considered myself much of a festival act. I think I’m better equipped for it now then I was before, just in terms of repertoire. I wouldn’t go to one myself, if I wasn’t working there. They kind of seem to me they’re all, ‘Hey, let’s go party’. That’s the shit that goes down. Well, I’m usually preferring to play my own show in an enclosed space where there’s a bit more focus. I think festivals, I think it’s more partying, something like that. I’ll put in the more lively stuff. That’s about as far as it goes. I guess if you’re playing somewhere that’s more laid back, where you can stretch out a bit and go down sideroads, yeah. But in general, I’ll just try and do my thing.”
BY ADAM NORRIS
