Last week Withered Hand's new album New Gods was released, which is another great collection of songs by the Edinburgh-based singer-songwriter Dan Willson. After reviewing New Gods (see here), Kevin Scott now asked Dan a couple of questions about the new album and Withered Hand.
(((o))): It's been almost five years since Good News - is that stretch of time down to the demands of touring, or did you take a hiatus before working on new material?
Dan: I have been busy, but certainly not on hiatus. I couldn't afford to be. I quietly released two EPs on limited edition vinyl in that time and toured and played one-offs all over the UK and in Europe. The songs for the new album were gestating for a while, until I could work out a new band and how to record the album I wanted to make.
(((o))): How have you changed as a songwriter in that time?
Dan: Well, I suppose I am more comfortable with the idea of being a songwriter, for one thing. I have learned a lot about how songs work. My approach to writing is the same, I don't force it.
(((o))): How did you recruit Tony Doogan, and what did he bring to the album?
Dan: I wrote to his agent and met him for a coffee. I knew he was into recording bands 'live' in the studio, which appeals to me and obviously I am a fan of his earlier work already. Once we started looking at the material I had played him, he brought a belief that we were working on an album of great songs and he applied himself to get the best out of everyone involved. I think the main thing is Tony is very experienced, perceptive, and impervious to fashion.
(((o))): Your address book clearly has some impressive names in - what was it like having members of bands like Belle and Sebastian and Frightened Rabbit on the album?
Dan: Weird. But good weird! I knew Scott and Eugene and obviously Kenny (Anderson) a bit already but I had not met Chris or Stevie before. I think there was one moment when I went to Belle and Sebastian's practice space to borrow a Nashville tuned guitar and I knew a younger part of me was just wanting to flip out with excitement.
(((o))): What artists were an influence during the writing and recording of the album?
Dan: I wrote those songs over such a long time it would be impossible to say.
(((o))): Given the prolific nature of folk musicians, how many songs did you write for the album, and how did you decide the final selection?
Dan: I am about as far from prolific as you could get! We recorded 12 songs and I picked 11 for the album and one B Side. The selection wasn't too hard. The sequence was a little trickier as some of the travelling songs had to be in a certain order and I knew I wanted ‘Horseshoe’ first and ‘Not Alone’ last. It was a bit of a jigsaw puzzle but I feel I cracked it.
(((o))): The sound of New Gods is familiar but there are new themes explored throughout, particularly life on the road; do you feel this record more closely represents your physical world?
Dan: I feel every song I have written has represented the physical world I inhabited at the time as well as my own inner world. I try to ground the songs in my actual lived experience. I suppose it is inevitable that, having suddenly become a travelling musician now for five or so years, some of the insights that peculiar life affords will seep into some songs. It's not an album about trashing hotel rooms.
(((o))): While Good News isn't a concept album, there's a link between several tracks on side one - documenting a trip from Las Vegas to L.A., and then what sounds like quite a night out; how did you come to write these songs, and how do you feel they differ from the rest of your material.
Dan: There are three songs in sequence on the album that refer to my experience of USA in 2011. I have noticed it takes me a while to process experiences and notice them cropping up in my songwriting. There's usually a disconnect of about a year and a half. I don't think they differ from the rest of the material. It was my way of addressing what I experienced there, good and bad.
(((o))): In L.A., were you really as hungover as 'California' sounds?
Dan: I was tripping on strong cough medicine. It took me quite a while to realize. So it was bad, but no not a hungover as such. I rarely booze it up on tour. I don't have the constitution for it.
(((o))): And did you win on the puggies at Las Vegas airport?
Dan: Nobody ever really wins on the puggies.
(((o))): What have you planned for live shows to support the release - full band or solo? Or both?
Dan: Well obviously I am in USA in March for SXSW and a headline show in NYC on 20th March with the band. I have booked a few UK band shows in April to take these new songs on the road but I expect to do a longer UK tour and maybe some more European dates later in the year. I expect to book some solo shows later in the year.
(((o))): As a well-kent face in Scotland's folk scene, and an important part of the Fence Collective, how did you feel about the demise of Fence Records - and can Lost Map Records maintain the influence of its predecessor?
Dan: Personally I think Lost Map is carrying on what the label side of Fence was doing, in terms of running an indie label and putting on interesting events, developing a great roster etc and Fence as an ideal and a broader collective is still alive and well over in the East Neuk of Fife and is as intriguing, homespun and brilliant as ever.
(((o))): Finally, you've mentored young musicians as part of the The Fruit Tree Foundation. Echoes and Dust is a huge believer in the power of music to develop and maintain positive mental health; what were your experiences with this initiative, and how important do you believe music to be for people with mental health issues?
Dan: I found it very positive, working with younger people who make music. I mentored Marie Collins, a young songwriter from Paisley. I personally have found music and art very important for my own mental health, as many have before me. So it was nice to give something back.
