THE AVETT BROTHERS Stage-To-Stage
The Avett Brothers’ album, I And Love And You, is one of the year’s most affecting releases. BOB GORDON speaks with Scott Avett.
Sally Seltmann
SALLY SELTMANN Feisty Buffalo
Formerly recording under the name New Buffalo, Sally Seltmann is releasing her new album under the name that God gave her. CHRIS HAVERCROFT talks to the humble Seltmann about Heart That’s Pounding and being friends with Feist.
The Avett Brothers formed in 2001 but of course to the wide world they are something of a brand new act. Scott and Seth Avett teamed with bass player, Bob Crawford, after some years of playing in various bands in North Carolina, to focus on something more acoustically cooked, an enticing folk/rock/pop blend. Over four albums – plus live release and EPs – they grew in popularity as a touring entity and labels came calling as a result. They signed with American Recordings and teamed with highly-esteemed producer Rick Rubin, for their acclaimed current album, I And Love And You. This is now very much stage two in the band’s evolution. “It’s surprising that you say that,” Scott Avett begins,“because it is like stage two of the life of this band. And we intend to be lengthier than a couple albums. With this album we learnt a lot
doing it, working with Rick and we’re just eager to continue it in stage two. This is the first step into it. “The first seven or eight years were us really campaigning and learning why we were doing this, what we were doing it for, better ways of doing it. We feel like now we’re building on that. Like you said, it’s stage two and it’s education on different levels.” It seems in the early, organic days, the Avett Brothers played more simply because it enabled them to play more. At this point they can be more ambitious and are comfortable with the lines between art and commerce. “I think at this point, that the first stage, our maturing process, gave us tools to go into this and not feel at all put off by what anybody thinks of us because we’re very content with what we are (laughs). Commodity or not, we just do what we do – people will bounce off or they will hang on and come along.” Courted by a succession of labels a few years back, Scott says the Avett Brothers were quite clear about what they needed and what they simply didn’t want. “What we had going on was a very lean and mobile business plan anyway and what they usually offered was the potential of a better business plan. “What we did not need was a better business plan. What we were in search of was, ‘how do we make the art better? How do we advance what we do? Which is make songs’.That was never clear in anything that anybody approached us with, until Rick came”. Following a warm first encounter at Rubin’s home, Scott says a mutual respect was developed that led directly into the recording
The Avett Brothers
process.
“What we do with our songs, he told me point blank, he had no interest in changing that,” Scott recalls. “That is the way we looked at it and approached it and he was really very un-intrusive about most of the record. “He didn’t do anything but enhance some possibilities we hadn’t explored because we just didn’t take the time to. The key there was not to say no to something until we tried it.That’s okay, it doesn’t change our take on things or our sound, it just makes it better.”
In late 2008, Seltmann and her husband (Darren Seltmann from The Avalanches) had a baby daughter. Seltmann has described motherhood as a dream come true, and there is no doubt this peace of mind has translated onto her new record. The real question is how has this new type of sleep deprivation influenced Seltmann’s songwriting? “The main thing that I have noticed is the time issue and I have learnt to be really focused when I have time to work on things,” Seltmann says of juggling the new addition with her rock’n’roll duties. “It is quite a massive and great thing to experience in life and it has certainly given me a new way of looking at the world and a new way of experiencing things.” Part of the new world is for Seltmann to record and release material under her own name. It is something that her American label (Arts & Crafts) have been encouraging and Seltmann admits it has been on her mind for some time. She always felt there was some confusion with being called New Buffalo when it was a solo venture, so when the songs for Heart That’s Pounding were so personal in nature the decision was made. In spite of her comfort in the decision, Seltmann concedes it does feel different playing under her own name. “We just played at South By Southwest and I really feel now that being Sally Seltmann people treat you differently,” she quips. “When I am playing on stage it feels like it is me and some people playing with me, whereas I really love to feel that the whole band has a lot of input in playing the music together – and not be just about me. I think that when you go by your own name as a singer songwriter you can’t help but have people think that it is all about the one person.” Seltmann is responsible for penning 1234, the song that became an über-hit for Feist. Seltmann keeps in touch with the Canadian singer and reports that Feist’s manager still asks her if there are “any more hit songs”. “It doesn’t feel like the right thing for me to do right now,” The song writer says of singing or recording 1234, “but I don’t know how I will feel about it in ten years or so. I think that it is Feist’s song to sing.”
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