![]() ![]() Was music a large part of your childhood? What was your first instrument? They were from when I was 16, 17, 18…just thinking about it makes me so grossed out. My mom said, “What is this?” It was the old four-track and then I listened to them. Oh, I found a bunch of them in my parents’ basement. If you listened to those very early songs now, do you think you would still feel the same way? I was really thankful that I didn’t put out the first things that I did, like the home recordings. I’m embarrassed of that. I remember thinking, just keep on writing. I told myself that if I don’t hate it after a year, maybe I’d be onto something. I remember writing a lot of songs then and six months later thinking, uhh, that’s the worst song ever. It’s hard to go back into that head space. I don’t know what I was thinking, but it made sense. I chose philosophy because I liked it and I knew I’d end up doing music somehow and I didn’t want to do it right away. I would have rather gone to McGill University but they said it would be $1,000, (laughs) like nothing (laughs), but I was like “Fuck you McGill! You don’t want me bad enough to pay for all of it!” (laughs) It turns out that I should have gone to McGill (laughs) because I moved to Montreal eventually and that’s where all the musicians I fell in love with are. I was studying philosophy in Ottawa because they said it would be free if I went there. What were you doing right before you committed to pursuing a career in music above most other things? Leif Vollebekk: That’s probably right (laughs). Lauren Jahoda: You released your first album, Inland, four years ago, right? “F… yeah! This is Leif Vollbekk’s interview!” Leif and I discussed a variety of things including his degree in philosophy, Newport Folk Festival, the Montreal music scene, his collection of musical instruments, how to cook, and… a stolen journal. It was the day after Lief had just heard the news, that he (as well as Nathaniel Rateliff), will be touring with Gregory Alan Isakov, come January 2015. As we talked, one of the Barr Brothers was showering in the next room. Leif Vollebekk and I met in New York on Friday afternoon, just prior to his opening performance for The Barr Brothers show at The Bowery Ballroom. Posted on NovemUpdated on NovemLeif Vollebekk at Newport Folk Festival 2014, PC: Feathertree Photography Now, the wider world is ready for Nathaniel Rateliff.“F’ Yeah!”: This is Leif Vollebekk’s Interview This persistent troubadour has struggled and persevered to this point. His voice is so confident that you can occasionally imagine the music dropping out entirely, a song propelled solely by Rateliff’s a capella strengths – equal parts church spiritual and TV On The Radio riffing on The Pixies. These thirteen tracks, with their soulful minimalism, hint of the music he grew up on – Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, The Beatles – yet Rateliff is also at home in what may be called, for lack of a better term, the neo-folk revival. It’s both fresh and classic, imbued with a melancholy nostalgia, the rough candor of rock ‘n roll’s past and the warmth and earnestness of folk storytellers. Rateliff’s debut album is rooted in a bygone era. In Memory of Loss is a stunning, heartbreaking sonic document from a singer-songwriter who’s made his way from a childhood in Bay, Missouri (pop. The space comes courtesy of producer Brian Deck (Califone, Iron & Wine, Modest Mouse), who helped transform 8-track bedroom demos into miniature epics of contrast, beauty, and yearning. That voice belongs to Nathaniel Rateliff, a man who’s earned the twang and hard-knock weariness that shines through on his Rounder debut. The first things you notice are the voice and the space. ![]()
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