“You’ve gotta hear this record!” That was the emphatic statement uttered by roots music legend Chuck Mead at an informal vinyl listening party in Nashville a couple of years ago. The album in Chuck’s hand was Signs & Signifiers by JD McPherson on Hi-Style Records from Chicago.
As he cued up the album’s first cut, “North Side Gal,” any skepticism held by the assembled vinyl hounds vanished instantly. JD’s voice, combined with a red-hot backing band, poured from the speakers in delicious analog splendor, combining the past and present in an intoxicating mix. We listened to several other cuts from the LP, and our initial impression was confirmed song after song. Driving home, I was left wondering, “Who is this guy?”
I didn’t have to wait long for an answer. Rounder Records re-released Signs & Signifiers to universal acclaim, and suddenly, JD was everywhere, on tour, on late-night television, and in heavy rotation on the BBC and other radio outlets. Raised in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, JD was first captivated by punk/alternative rock and came to vintage recordings courtesy of a free Buddy Holly double-LP collection given to him by a record store clerk.
When JD and I sat down in the offices of Florence, Alabama-based designer Billy Reid, prior to JD’s performance as part of Reid’s annual “Shindig” celebration, the conversation naturally revolved around records.
(After relating the Chuck Mead story) Wow, that blows my mind! I used to go see BR-549 at Cain’s Ballroom…jeez Louise, that’s crazy.
Signs & Signifiers has been out for a while now and I imagine you’re ready to start working on the follow-up. Do you have plans to record again soon?
Yes, we go back in the studio in two weeks.
Your debut album has a timeless sound, so much so that some people might imagine you grew up listening to a stack of blues and country 78s. Is that an accurate assessment?
No, among the first records I bought was Dinosaur, Jr.’s Fossils, which I remember was pressed on red vinyl. Actually, to hurt my feelings, a girl broke that album over her knee in front of me! She knew that was the worst thing she could do. [ED: Vinyl lovers everywhere shed a tear in sympathy.]
I also got (Dinosaur, Jr.’s) Living All Over Me and a bunch of Sub Pop and SST singles. Up until that point, I’d had CDs and tapes in high school, but I found a turntable at a garage sale, brought it home and began buying records. I started going around looking for them, but I didn’t know where to find them, really, because there were zero record stores within hours of me. I would buy them when I could find them, particularly anything that looked cool. I remember buying a Dave Brubeck album because I thought the cover art was interesting. I would also buy weird things, like bagpipes records and stuff. Eventually, when I figured out where I could get them, I would buy them on a more regular basis.
Also, my buddy’s grandmother, who was a very educated woman who enjoyed abstract art and was really influential in getting me to go to art school, gave me a cool stack of records: Cream’s Disraeli Gears was in there, Sgt. Pepper, some classical pieces…just a great stack of vinyl. Although I didn’t have a lot of money to buy records, I would call Sub Pop all the time, just to talk to them. They would send me stickers and things like that because they knew I was a poor bastard living in southeast Oklahoma who wanted to be a part of something and couldn’t (laughs).
You’d think that touring would give you a chance to buy records all the time, but we rarely get to go record hunting. With press in the morning, soundcheck in the afternoon, and a show at night, there usually isn’t enough time for that. But I really prefer vinyl. You can hug it!
Around this time, fellow Oklahomans The Flaming Lips were making a name for themselves.
Yes, I met a Mormon girl from Muldrow, OK, who gave me my first Flaming Lips tape, Hit to Death in the Future Head. And hey, I looked at the (TVD) website and saw the Wayne Coyne interview cover. I haven’t checked it out yet, but I will!
I think people might be surprised you weren’t home listening to old blues and jazz records.
No, but I was exposed to that music very early through my dad, who is a big blues and jazz fan. He would get me tapes for my birthday and Christmas and say, “Here, listen to this!” First, it was radio pop, and then the music my dad was into, and then what my older brothers liked, which was classic rock and Southern rock. As a teenager, I got into punk, hardcore and the burgeoning alternative scene, and later stumbled onto the early rock and roll stuff. After hearing that, I realized, “Man, I’ve got a lot of catching up to do!”
Was there any one record that really turned your head?
This girl who worked a CD store in McAlester (OK) gave me a two-disc set of Buddy Holly that had the early Decca material, the rockabilly stuff. I had heard Buddy before, but these songs didn’t sound like “That’ll Be the Day.” It had more of a Sonny Curtis sound with cool echo. I remember thinking that with what little punk rock cred I had, I could say “I like this” in open company. Then the collective unconscious tells you that if you like that, you’ll probably like early Elvis. Then you connect to Fats Domino and Little Richard, knowing you should check that out as well. That led to reading rock mags and books, trying to find out more. Whatever I could find at Hastings in the Fort Smith (AR) mall. That was really my connection to the outside world.
In those pre-internet days, print was one of the main ways…
It was the ONLY way to get information! I didn’t know anybody who knew about this music. I remember going with my Mom, who was a minister, to that store because I had called and ordered three tapes from them ahead of time. I got Iggy and the Stooges Raw Power, The Ramones Ramonesmania, and The Sex Pistols Never Mind The Bollocks. As we were driving home, she asked to listen to them so that she could hear what I was listening to! We played EVERY second of every album and, God bless her, she didn’t reprimand me at all. She did say, “I don’t like it very much…,” although she did like The Ramones. She wanted to do aerobics to The Ramones, actually.
Getting back to Signs & Signifiers, I was really knocked out by the sound of the record, particularly the snare. You really captured that Cosimo Mattassa/J&M studios vibe.
I will give all credit to the engineer, Alex Hall. He also played drums on the record, along with piano and a bunch of other things. He has such a knowledge of old equipment and new equipment and is a great drummer. We both know people who have worked with (legendary New Orleans drummer) Earl Palmer, so we know that if you gave him a ‘30s Slingerland kit, the first thing he’s going to do is baffle the heck out of all the (drum) heads and make it DEAD, dead, dead. In the end, it was all in the hands of Alex.
It’s such a delicate thing, like a soufflé, really. It’s so easy for it to go wrong.
That’s one thing I always had a proclivity for, picking things apart and finding out why I liked them. The first song we recorded was “Dimes For Nickels,” and I knew I wanted it to careen, like a flat-tire thing, I wanted it to be slow and groovy. Luckily, (Hi-Style Records owner and double bass player) Jimmy Sutton and Alex knew exactly what I meant.
Are there records you go back and listen to for a reference point?
Oh yeah, all the time. Lately, I’ve been listening to (doo wop pioneers) The Flamingos quite a bit. The production on those records is really exciting. Besides The Flamingos, I’ve been listening to Professor Longhair and picking out the weird things…for example, I love the sound of the drum and piano together on “Go to the Mardi Gras,” that “taka-taka-taka-taka-taka.” If you pull that off by itself, it’s so strange, like you could build an entire band off of that alone.
There’s a new band that I really, really love, an indie rock/punk band from Oklahoma City called Broncho. They’ve got a record called Can’t Get Past the Lips. We took them on tour last year, and that is one of my favorite records currently. There are at least two or three absolute anthems on there. Check them out; they’re really great.
Another band we’ve toured with and love is Lucius. They are amazing live, and I really think they’re going to do good things. They’re really good writers and singers and good people. And I like The Black Keys’ records a lot.
What about your guitars? Are you a vintage guy?
Well, I would be if I could afford it (laughs)! I have a guitar that I really love, which I built myself out of pieces, a real Frankenstein. It’s just a Tele that I don’t mind smashing around. The neck is from a guitar I had in high school, I found the body on eBay, I installed a Bigsby (tremolo bar) and a Charlie Christian and blade pickup on it. I love guitars, but I’m not much of a guitar player, man (big, self-deprecating laugh).
Ah, a good guitar player plays what the song needs.
That’s true. Some of my favorite guitar players are guys like Daniel Ash from Love & Rockets and Robert Smith from The Cure. And Johnny Marr! He’s a guitar whiz, but talk about serving the song…I love guitar and wish I was better. I wish I’d spent more time learning scales when I was in high school rather than just rattling off barre chords at top speed (heh-heh).
