Colin, I’m one of those weird fans who absolutely loves and adores the music and lyrics and how the music makes me feel but I have no questions as I almost don’t want to ruin any personal relationship I’ve made up about the songs and how I relate to them. I only have feelings of gratitude for making such wonderful songs. Perhaps my question should actually be how do you process what your music does for fans and how do you feel about that? I mean your initial goal isn’t to form super fans but to release a creative inner drive so how do you even begin to contemplate on music that has probably saved lives, travelled the world with people and shapes lives for 20 years! It’s a powerful thing my friend!
Thank you! I'm nothing without the people who care about my work, who engage in it and make it a part of their lives. I'm forever humbled by the support -- honestly. I came to music as a music fan myself, as someone who lived and breathed the bands and singers and songwriters that I loved, so I know what it is to feel that kind of connection to an artist. I still feel it!
For those who don't know, this refers to The Apology Song, which was a song written to sing over the phone to my friend Steven (aka Stiv). I was using his bike while he was in England and it got stolen. On a phone call, I said, Stiv, I have something to tell you. And I picked up the guitar and sang the first verse/chorus to him. There was a very long pause after I'd finished, but I couldn't tell if that pause was because of the news or the way the news was delivered to him. All this to say: he took it as gracefully as a guy could hope.
What is the person shouting at the end of "Hazards of Love 1 (prettiest whistles)"? I have spent hours in audacity backmasking, unbackmasking, speeding up, slowing down, applying filters, and can not figure this out.
That's Chris and he's shouting SENSEI PARKO GETDOWN, which was the name of a pizza from the cafe next door to the studio. After a first attempt, we realized that if we wanted it to build backwards, as it does on the recording, your scream has to backwards-resolve i.e. he had to scream SENSEI PARko getdown.
That was one of a suite of songs (maybe 5 altogether) that I wrote for Carson in 2002ish when we were on the outs and she drove to Vancouver to get out of town. Bandit Queen was another one -- that first line was initially "She's in Canada, and boy am I so bluuuue."
NO!!! My favorite song of yours, asked you (thanks) to sing it a couple weeks ago at new Reser Center. Although, obviously it all worked out, so phew! Sue P
My kids love HoL, particularly The Rake's Song, which has led to countless incidents of my wife saying "You know, (insert any song I roll my eyes at them listening to, WAP being a recent example) is nowhere near as graphic as The Rake's Song". Fair point. Where do you go from there?
Technically I remain the reigning world Illimat champion, crowned thus in the most recent (and only) fully sanctioned Worldwide Illimat Rumble in 2016. No one has yet unseated me, though no one's really had a chance to. There's talk of another one getting organized, but I'm suspicious. I like being the champ.
We made real inroads trying to release the 2 channel stereo recording of our Hollywood Bowl show with the LA Philharmonic, but between the LA Phil's union & the license from the Bowl, it was way too expensive to contemplate. I have the recordings, though, and they're pretty awesome! They're a little wild, mix-wise, but pretty cool. There are probably bootlegs out there?
That was my first “I will travel for the Decemberists” show. I traveled from NYC to LA to see the show with my then living in LA college best friend. But that day of the show she and her boyfriend broke up. It was a rough night. I’ve never seen her so drunk. As magical as that show was, I didn’t get to give my full attention due to the consoling of my dear friend. Happily, I have a bootleg of it, but thx recording is missing a huge chunk of The Crane Wife for some reason.
Hi! I was so exited to see the news that Wildwood is being adapted by LAIKA. I’m curious, what does the process of book-to-film adaptation look like from your end? Are you involved in the decisions the studio is making?
It's a bit scattered, a bit stream-of-consciousness, but it definitely came out of having just read Jerzy Kosinski's The Painted Bird, and feeling moved by the images he made there, of the unfathomable horrors of the Holocaust and how that part of europe was so laid waste as to create these scenes that felt almost fairytale-like in their improbability.
could you be persuaded to play “shiny” in philadelphia this august? i’ve been attending decemberists shows for ~20 years now and have yet to hear it live (but would sure like to!).
Where did you learn how to tell stories? The Decemberists have been my favorite band for a pretty long while now, and that has all been because of the stories that are told. I love all the lyrics, and so many times while listening to a song, have I thought that it could be made into a pretty great short story film or music video (but in my head it is always starring muppets, with a few people here and there).
Muppets! I can dig it. I loved telling stories from an early, early age. I wrote plays in elementary school that I made my friends act in; I wrote short stories on my grandma's typewriter. I didn't start writing songs till I was in my teens, but then it felt right to lean in to the narrative aspect of songs. Of course, I followed in the footsteps of the more narrative songwriters I loved: Robyn Hitchcock, Shane MacGowan, Morrissey, Paul Westerberg...
I have often seen you sipping on a little wine during a set. Do you have a favorite varietal or style? I feel like you're a dry peppery kinda guy, but who am I to assume?
How did you know? I *am* a peppery kinda guy. I like a good, dry Rhone valley wine, b/c I'm a bit of a francophile. Gigondas, Vacqueryas, Beaumes De Venise. But mostly all red. I can dig a good Rose on a summer day, but otherwise I'm all red.
I must have missed that live. The $10-15 range have a lot of hidden gems. I drink a Rioja called El Coto, and its the best I have found. $10.99 and it makes me feel fancy.
That's a good question. It's not like a have a fear of drowning, or swimming, or water. I have a particular fascination with the ocean and maritime life, and I guess that drowning is a very common way to go in that milieu. (shrug emoji)
No new album plans as yet. I'll keep you all posted. As for new(ish) artists: I love Jake Xerxes Fussell, Brigid Mae Power, Joan Shelley, Kacy and Clayton, Nora Brown, Grouper, Hiss Golden Messenger...
chiming in here to say that Lucius is a fav band of mine thanks to them opening for the Decemberists at the Ommegang Brewery several years back *(had never heard them before then). Looking forward to catching both them (next week!) and the Decemberists this Spring/Summer again!
Have you ever considered writing a non-YA novel? I think the themes and narrative subject matter you explore as a part of the Decemberists would translate well!
Post of gratitude for your support of the Infinite Jest group read a few years ago. Shameless request for a full concept album based on the book. One DFW song reference is grossly insufficient. :)
not a question, just a comment, i'm a fellow pdx'er who loves the record year for rainfall song, it feels like it haunts my own home here on these rainy days <3
Haha -- trying to think if there was one. I've mostly not censored myself much. If it was too much for a song, it's probably too much to admit to it here.
No research regimen at all, actually. Or very little. I think the "historical" songs I've written take a pretty cursory look at history and are meant to be mostly impressionistic. A lot of it comes from the book I was reading at the time, at some idea inside it that felt like a kernel of a song.
No socks! In fact (and this is a weird thing that both myself and my son, Milo, share) I like to have *cold* feet when I'm falling asleep. It's somehow comforting. I've gone so far as to make putting on a pair of icy slippers part of my bedtime ritual.
Hey Colin! First, a little fun fact: I work at the Canadian branch of HarperCollins in Toronto, and I'm going to be responsible for handling the Canadian marketing for The Stars Did Wander Darkling! Can't wait to work on the book. I have a couple questions: First, how closely, if at all, are you working with Laika for the Wildwood movie? And secondly, do you plan on writing any "adult" books, whether fiction or non-fiction?
Cool! Thanks for working on the book! As re: the Wildwood movie, we were involved in the early phases -- now several years ago -- interviewing directors, looking at concept art, reading screenplay drafts, but they greenlighted the movie at the beginning of the pandemic, so we haven't really seen what they're doing since then. And yes: I do want to write fiction for adults and am just starting to kick around in that zone.
Hello! Loved your Bluebird Festival set! Any plans to record your autobiographical Return to Lonesome Dove song? Because I'm pretty sure I need it on vinyl. Also, thank you for Dracula's Daughter!
That song is about my friend Molly -- actually Steven's (from Apology Song) then-girlfriend (later wife, later ex-wife, life is long). I don't think she minds me telling this -- but when her dad was dying, back home in Illinois, she flew back there to spend time with him and her mother. I think we talked on the phone, or we were talking when she'd got back to Portland, but she said that a very heavy phenomena during his last days of illness was that he perceived there to be water everywhere, filling the room, and he was hallucinating visitors sitting in the chair opposite the bed. That image stuck with me, and it became the genesis of this song, Sleepless. Incidentally, the first section of the song, the "cup of wine / all salt and brine" bit, was written for a show, one of the Decemberists' first, in which musicians scored silent films. I'd initially picked this Russian silent film and this was the song this peasant character sings to his wife who he thinks has died. They're only tangentially connected; not sure why I decided to glue the two together.
Thomas Francis Meagher! I'll leave you to google his story. + the fact that his statue was erected outside the state capitol building with his horse's ass pointed toward the senate windows, out of spite by the folks who were pissed that Helena was picked as the state capitol.
Paradiso in Amsterdam, the only place we've ever played in Amsterdam -- though we've played that city as many times as any other place. Red Rocks, of course, is amazing, same with the Greeks in LA & Berkeley. The Gorge! These are spectacular places, but I also love American Music Hall in SF and The Tabernacle in Atlanta.
Saw you guys for your Hazards tour at The Tabernacle (and met you afterwards!). GREAT show! (I vaguely remember some of you guys parading through the audience for one epic tune near the end - I think it was Mariner’s)
Oh thanks! It's a little random & not super fancy. I have a 1966 Martin D-28 that I really love; it's my go-to for writing at home. It does not go on the road. I also have a '52 Gibson J200 that's so beautiful and I think I did all of the acoustic bits on I'll Be Your Girl on that. I have a bouzouki that was made for me by Andrew Mowry, a luthier from Bend, OR; Carson did the design for the inlay on the headstock, so that's really special.
I'll start with just one question ;) What was the inspiration and/or story behind I Was Meant For the Stage? To me, it seems to line up perfectly with the climax of Dead Poet Society. It really could really play in real-time as the soundtrack to those couple scenes as the melancholy morphs into some of the most unsettling turmoil I've heard in a song. One of my favorites!
Not a question but I want to just express my gratitude for sharing your Machine Shop. I'm in awe by the way you engage with fans and take the time to respond genuinely when you can. I was so disappointed to miss you at the Bluebird Festival last week. I was going to go in 2020, but... well, you know. I was disappointed I couldn't fly back for it this year as I am wrapping up my last semester of grad school... And these few weeks of Machine Shop goodies have given me such valuable respite and joy during a chaotic time. Thank you!
I wrote the hook of I Was Meant For The Stage on a drive to Corvallis to see my uncle, after having just agreed to sign to Kill Rock Stars. I was conflicted. I was 27, in this band, and if we signed to KRS, it meant taking a very different path than what I was expecting -- I had told myself that if nothing had happened with music by the time I was 28, I was going back to school for my MFA or MA or whatever. So it was a real split-in-the-road kind of moment. And that's the phrase, I was meant for the stage, that came to mind, as I resolved to follow this path...
On the recording, I play a bouzouki. In that video, I'm playing an archtop tenor guitar -- I confess I don't know the make/model -- that I grabbed off the studio wall at Flora, where we recorded those videos. It was the closest thing they had to a bouzouki, so I went with it.
I've got a bunch and they might all be out of left field.
I really loved the book tour you did for the Wildwood books. (Saw you at the Coolidge corner theater in Brookline Mass for that) are there more plans for speaking engagements outside of the Decemberists stuff?
I'm a former special Ed teacher and hearing you talk about your child's diagnosis in the past, and the work you did for the school was inspiring, have you thought about broader advocacy? (Also have you read Nuerotribes by Steve Silberman or in a different Let by Jerry Zucker? Both amazing stories of the journey the American mental health system and how autism mirrors that)
I remember during the Livestream when asked about favorite board games Jenny spoke about Flamme Rouge and I got stupid excited (it's also my favorite game) are you doing tabletop stuff now? What stands out to you?
No plans for speaking engagements, though I do have a book coming out in September and I'll be doing a tour behind that. I'll post those dates as I know them. I do broader advocacy when I can, though it's admittedly a bit slacktivist -- I have my hands full as it is and can only commit to so much. Neurotribes is amazing! Steve is a great guy and such a generous soul. I have not read the Jerry Zucker book, but I'll check it out! As re: tabletop, I'm forever collecting board games (to my wife's chagrin); my latest purchase was the revised Dungeon Degenerates (which has great art) and Unsettled, a space exploration game by some Portland game designers.
Awesome to hear! The Zucker book covers a lot of the same ground as Nuerotribes but dives a little bit deeper into Asperger's and the controversy behind it.
I'm working my way through Eric Michael Garcia's "we're not broken" which is great because it's written from a self advocate les position. (It just retreads so much info I'm having trouble finishing it)
As for games we had a Kickstarter problem, ran out of room in our tiny Boston apartment. Trying to call but it's like getting rid of kids....sure I haven't played clank in two years but I can't get rid of my only dungeon crawling deck builder!
Colin! Omg, hi! I have a singular and unfathomably important (to me) question. Is Sons & Daughters about a ragtag bunch of nuclear fallout survivors on a raft?
It is, kind of. It's about survival, about reemergence/rebirth. It's about hope in dark times and fostering the strength to move through those dark times. Dennis Miller once asked to license it for the outro of one of his "comedy" specials and I had the pleasure of declining!
Haha, I like your excitement. There are a lot more references to traveling by water though. I think Colin just really wanted to use the word dirigible, but who knows. I came to ask this question here because only he truly knows.
I saw you play in Tucson for the Crane Wife tour, and during A Perfect Crime you grabbed a phone from the audience and (apparently) called someone before singing the next chorus into the phone. Was this a regular thing you did? Did you ever talk or listen to the people you called?
Ha! I haven't done that in a while, but it was a *bit* for a time; I'd grab someone's phone (so many phones to grab these days) and look up "mom" and make the phone call. As soon as they answered, I'd start singing. I couldn't actually hear the person on the other line, I had my monitors in, I would just hope that this person's mom had answered the phone from their beloved son or daughter and hear all this noooooiiissse. Of course, there's always the possibility that making that connection would be fraught, that their relationship was fraught, but, oh, it's a good bit.
Hello sir. What’s the story about Stateside. You have so many wonderful songs but for some reason Stateside has a low fi sound and feel that continues to satisfy. Have you ever considered a full album of electric low fi work?
I recorded that one at home; it's basically a home demo that we never did anything with and Tucker Martine mixed it at Flora for the EP. It's an older song that I dusted off for these sessions; it was always kicking around, raising it's hand here and there. I think I wrote it initially in 1998, when my girlfriend at my time was overseas and I was waiting for her to come back. I might've changed a few things here and there, but it's mostly intact. The idea of doing a record of all simple arrangements and songs is super appealing though!
Your albums always seem to be so well-sequenced. How do you think about song order? Does the band spend a lot of time playing around with different orders or does it come together naturally? For example, Crane Wife 3 is such a perfect opener - I'll never forget the first time I heard it.
Hi Colin! Any chance we’ll be getting another volume of the “Colin Meloy Sings…” EPs in the future? All 4 are constantly on rotation at my house! I think they’re some of the best cover projects out there…And they introduced me to the glory of Shirley Collins!
Have you ever seen the 2017 film from Estonia called NOVEMBER? It has major Decemberists (Novemberists?) folk-tale vibes, including drowning, deals with the devil, shape-shifting forest creatures, and romantic poetry lessons from melting snowmen. It's awesome.
There was some talk about getting a podcast going instead, but now that things have opened up and peoples' lives are getting back to a shade of what they were before the pandemic -- who knows.
At the risk of getting too inside-baseball on you, I'll say there was a kind of promoter sea-change in Missoula and we're working with a new one now, so maybe in the future? But not too near future. It was super fun to throw, but man it was a lot of work (mostly shouldered by people other than myself) so it would take some doing.
Seeing the ways in which O Valencia drew upon Romeo and Juliet… are there any other Shakespearean themes/characters/intertextuality alluded to in your songs?
I'm gonna get to as many as I can, folks! Just give me time...
Colin, I’m one of those weird fans who absolutely loves and adores the music and lyrics and how the music makes me feel but I have no questions as I almost don’t want to ruin any personal relationship I’ve made up about the songs and how I relate to them. I only have feelings of gratitude for making such wonderful songs. Perhaps my question should actually be how do you process what your music does for fans and how do you feel about that? I mean your initial goal isn’t to form super fans but to release a creative inner drive so how do you even begin to contemplate on music that has probably saved lives, travelled the world with people and shapes lives for 20 years! It’s a powerful thing my friend!
Thank you! I'm nothing without the people who care about my work, who engage in it and make it a part of their lives. I'm forever humbled by the support -- honestly. I came to music as a music fan myself, as someone who lived and breathed the bands and singers and songwriters that I loved, so I know what it is to feel that kind of connection to an artist. I still feel it!
What a great sentiment...one I am sure we all share. Thank you for this!
Did Steven take the news gracefully?
For those who don't know, this refers to The Apology Song, which was a song written to sing over the phone to my friend Steven (aka Stiv). I was using his bike while he was in England and it got stolen. On a phone call, I said, Stiv, I have something to tell you. And I picked up the guitar and sang the first verse/chorus to him. There was a very long pause after I'd finished, but I couldn't tell if that pause was because of the news or the way the news was delivered to him. All this to say: he took it as gracefully as a guy could hope.
"For those who don't know" what a joker haha ;)
What is the person shouting at the end of "Hazards of Love 1 (prettiest whistles)"? I have spent hours in audacity backmasking, unbackmasking, speeding up, slowing down, applying filters, and can not figure this out.
That's Chris and he's shouting SENSEI PARKO GETDOWN, which was the name of a pizza from the cafe next door to the studio. After a first attempt, we realized that if we wanted it to build backwards, as it does on the recording, your scream has to backwards-resolve i.e. he had to scream SENSEI PARko getdown.
This is such an out of left field response, thank you so much
This was gonna be my question. Please answer this one Colin
Hi Colin! What's the story behind Red Right Ankle?
That was one of a suite of songs (maybe 5 altogether) that I wrote for Carson in 2002ish when we were on the outs and she drove to Vancouver to get out of town. Bandit Queen was another one -- that first line was initially "She's in Canada, and boy am I so bluuuue."
Release the Carson suite!!
NO!!! My favorite song of yours, asked you (thanks) to sing it a couple weeks ago at new Reser Center. Although, obviously it all worked out, so phew! Sue P
What were the other 3? Was one "Everything I Try to Do..."?
Do you think the band will do more streamed shows (WITH AUDIENCE) going forward?
I am thinking of the Palace Theatre in St. Paul. from 2018. Such a great show and experience for people who cannot travel to the shows.
We'd talked about it, not sure if there are plans in place for this summer. I'll ask!
this is such a mom question, i’m almost too embarrassed to ask but here goes! do your kids like the decemberists?
My kids love HoL, particularly The Rake's Song, which has led to countless incidents of my wife saying "You know, (insert any song I roll my eyes at them listening to, WAP being a recent example) is nowhere near as graphic as The Rake's Song". Fair point. Where do you go from there?
I'm curious, too, as all 4 of mine have loved The Decemberists music since they were toddlers. They're now in their 20's, and all huge fans <3
Tell us a fun Ben Gibbard story. I love that you two are homies.
Who among you is the reigning Illimat champion?
Technically I remain the reigning world Illimat champion, crowned thus in the most recent (and only) fully sanctioned Worldwide Illimat Rumble in 2016. No one has yet unseated me, though no one's really had a chance to. There's talk of another one getting organized, but I'm suspicious. I like being the champ.
I like this question
Will the band ever release any of the live shows the Decemberists performed with a symphony orchestra?
We made real inroads trying to release the 2 channel stereo recording of our Hollywood Bowl show with the LA Philharmonic, but between the LA Phil's union & the license from the Bowl, it was way too expensive to contemplate. I have the recordings, though, and they're pretty awesome! They're a little wild, mix-wise, but pretty cool. There are probably bootlegs out there?
Ummm...Or there could be ;)
That was my first “I will travel for the Decemberists” show. I traveled from NYC to LA to see the show with my then living in LA college best friend. But that day of the show she and her boyfriend broke up. It was a rough night. I’ve never seen her so drunk. As magical as that show was, I didn’t get to give my full attention due to the consoling of my dear friend. Happily, I have a bootleg of it, but thx recording is missing a huge chunk of The Crane Wife for some reason.
Yes, need to know.
Hi! I was so exited to see the news that Wildwood is being adapted by LAIKA. I’m curious, what does the process of book-to-film adaptation look like from your end? Are you involved in the decisions the studio is making?
Where are the hymns to the other months? Will the other ten months ever get any love?
Summersong covers August. July, July covers July. And Anti-Summersong, by mathematical principal, covers the other months!
December seems to have received plenty of love
Ha! Good point
I've always wanted to know the meaning behind Odalisque. Especially the stanzas:
And what do we with ten baby shoes
A kit bag full of marbles
And a broken billiard cue? what do we do?
And what do we do with ten dirty Jews
A thirty-ought full of rock salt
And a warm afternoon? what do we do?
I've never been able to figure it out!
It's a bit scattered, a bit stream-of-consciousness, but it definitely came out of having just read Jerzy Kosinski's The Painted Bird, and feeling moved by the images he made there, of the unfathomable horrors of the Holocaust and how that part of europe was so laid waste as to create these scenes that felt almost fairytale-like in their improbability.
could you be persuaded to play “shiny” in philadelphia this august? i’ve been attending decemberists shows for ~20 years now and have yet to hear it live (but would sure like to!).
I’ve always wanted to hear that song in concert, too!
Where did you learn how to tell stories? The Decemberists have been my favorite band for a pretty long while now, and that has all been because of the stories that are told. I love all the lyrics, and so many times while listening to a song, have I thought that it could be made into a pretty great short story film or music video (but in my head it is always starring muppets, with a few people here and there).
Muppets! I can dig it. I loved telling stories from an early, early age. I wrote plays in elementary school that I made my friends act in; I wrote short stories on my grandma's typewriter. I didn't start writing songs till I was in my teens, but then it felt right to lean in to the narrative aspect of songs. Of course, I followed in the footsteps of the more narrative songwriters I loved: Robyn Hitchcock, Shane MacGowan, Morrissey, Paul Westerberg...
I have often seen you sipping on a little wine during a set. Do you have a favorite varietal or style? I feel like you're a dry peppery kinda guy, but who am I to assume?
How did you know? I *am* a peppery kinda guy. I like a good, dry Rhone valley wine, b/c I'm a bit of a francophile. Gigondas, Vacqueryas, Beaumes De Venise. But mostly all red. I can dig a good Rose on a summer day, but otherwise I'm all red.
Hoping you include a french wine word in one of your new songs! Surely something fun rhymes with Gigondas?
That's the way it should be!! Props.
I knew it. I always thought the drier the wine, the smarter the drinker. A chilled Lambrusco in the summer is my go to.
What? No Penner Ash pinots??? ;)
mmmm
He answered that in a livestream a while back, it was then, at least, a Côtes du Rhône of the $10-15 variety.
I must have missed that live. The $10-15 range have a lot of hidden gems. I drink a Rioja called El Coto, and its the best I have found. $10.99 and it makes me feel fancy.
This is what my wife most wondered during the 20th Anniversary streams. I have a loser palate, so wine to me is one of either good or not good.
Hey, Colin! I've always wanted to know, is there a particular reason why drowning is such a common theme in your work?
That's a good question. It's not like a have a fear of drowning, or swimming, or water. I have a particular fascination with the ocean and maritime life, and I guess that drowning is a very common way to go in that milieu. (shrug emoji)
Thanks for the reply, Colin! That's about what I figured. Good to know though!
I have 2.
When is the new album coming out?
I found Big Thief and Alvvays from your recommendations on Twitter. What other modern bands/artists should I check out?
No new album plans as yet. I'll keep you all posted. As for new(ish) artists: I love Jake Xerxes Fussell, Brigid Mae Power, Joan Shelley, Kacy and Clayton, Nora Brown, Grouper, Hiss Golden Messenger...
Yes! to Hiss Golden Messenger. Great band!
chiming in here to say that Lucius is a fav band of mine thanks to them opening for the Decemberists at the Ommegang Brewery several years back *(had never heard them before then). Looking forward to catching both them (next week!) and the Decemberists this Spring/Summer again!
I saw them at Ommegang too! That was a really fun show.
Do you have a favorite Decemberists song?
I love and loathe them all in equal measure.
Like children?
Brilliant!! Made me laugh, thank you that was much needed this afternoon.
Have you ever considered writing a non-YA novel? I think the themes and narrative subject matter you explore as a part of the Decemberists would translate well!
I have! I've even started one!
Well that’s awesome news, I’m extremely excited to read it!
Post of gratitude for your support of the Infinite Jest group read a few years ago. Shameless request for a full concept album based on the book. One DFW song reference is grossly insufficient. :)
not a question, just a comment, i'm a fellow pdx'er who loves the record year for rainfall song, it feels like it haunts my own home here on these rainy days <3
Me too!! On those days in PDX I can’t get it out of my head.
Your lyrics often deal with sex, was there ever a line that was so risqué that you had to edit out?
Haha -- trying to think if there was one. I've mostly not censored myself much. If it was too much for a song, it's probably too much to admit to it here.
This is a safe space Colin, you can tell us anything. 😄
Philomena O_O
I have wondered that as well, especially now that your oldest is, well, older…
Could you share a bit about how you chose to write and record The Tain?
And will you please play it live again (Seattle this summer). Saw it in Dallas on Picaresque and was sublime.
I have only seen this "live" on the streamed show last spring and I lovvvvved it. Please play it again on tour (cough cough, Denver)!
What is your research regimen when writing songs from a historical perspective? They are always brimming with so many great details.
No research regimen at all, actually. Or very little. I think the "historical" songs I've written take a pretty cursory look at history and are meant to be mostly impressionistic. A lot of it comes from the book I was reading at the time, at some idea inside it that felt like a kernel of a song.
Apropos of your cozy chaise, do you have thoughts on Wet Leg?
I love them! I thought of making a Wet Leg reference, but thought maybe it was a bit niche...
Socks or no socks for sleeping?
No socks! In fact (and this is a weird thing that both myself and my son, Milo, share) I like to have *cold* feet when I'm falling asleep. It's somehow comforting. I've gone so far as to make putting on a pair of icy slippers part of my bedtime ritual.
Hey Colin! First, a little fun fact: I work at the Canadian branch of HarperCollins in Toronto, and I'm going to be responsible for handling the Canadian marketing for The Stars Did Wander Darkling! Can't wait to work on the book. I have a couple questions: First, how closely, if at all, are you working with Laika for the Wildwood movie? And secondly, do you plan on writing any "adult" books, whether fiction or non-fiction?
Cool! Thanks for working on the book! As re: the Wildwood movie, we were involved in the early phases -- now several years ago -- interviewing directors, looking at concept art, reading screenplay drafts, but they greenlighted the movie at the beginning of the pandemic, so we haven't really seen what they're doing since then. And yes: I do want to write fiction for adults and am just starting to kick around in that zone.
Hello! Loved your Bluebird Festival set! Any plans to record your autobiographical Return to Lonesome Dove song? Because I'm pretty sure I need it on vinyl. Also, thank you for Dracula's Daughter!
Hi Colin, I love your song Sleepless. Are there any stories behind the song's creation you'd care to share?
That song is about my friend Molly -- actually Steven's (from Apology Song) then-girlfriend (later wife, later ex-wife, life is long). I don't think she minds me telling this -- but when her dad was dying, back home in Illinois, she flew back there to spend time with him and her mother. I think we talked on the phone, or we were talking when she'd got back to Portland, but she said that a very heavy phenomena during his last days of illness was that he perceived there to be water everywhere, filling the room, and he was hallucinating visitors sitting in the chair opposite the bed. That image stuck with me, and it became the genesis of this song, Sleepless. Incidentally, the first section of the song, the "cup of wine / all salt and brine" bit, was written for a show, one of the Decemberists' first, in which musicians scored silent films. I'd initially picked this Russian silent film and this was the song this peasant character sings to his wife who he thinks has died. They're only tangentially connected; not sure why I decided to glue the two together.
This is one of my favorites! I loved reading about its genesis!
What is your favorite piece of Montana lore? (A book, historical note, personal story, whatever...)
Thomas Francis Meagher! I'll leave you to google his story. + the fact that his statue was erected outside the state capitol building with his horse's ass pointed toward the senate windows, out of spite by the folks who were pissed that Helena was picked as the state capitol.
Ha! Another tale of drowning!
What's your favorite couple of venues?
Paradiso in Amsterdam, the only place we've ever played in Amsterdam -- though we've played that city as many times as any other place. Red Rocks, of course, is amazing, same with the Greeks in LA & Berkeley. The Gorge! These are spectacular places, but I also love American Music Hall in SF and The Tabernacle in Atlanta.
Always loved seeing you at the Greek in LA!
Saw you at the Greek in Berkeley and it was amazing! Such an imprinted memory!
Paradiso! 💜 So many good memories seeing you guys there.
Saw you guys for your Hazards tour at The Tabernacle (and met you afterwards!). GREAT show! (I vaguely remember some of you guys parading through the audience for one epic tune near the end - I think it was Mariner’s)
Hi Colin- I’m an admirer of your acoustic guitar collection. Which are your favorites and why?
Oh thanks! It's a little random & not super fancy. I have a 1966 Martin D-28 that I really love; it's my go-to for writing at home. It does not go on the road. I also have a '52 Gibson J200 that's so beautiful and I think I did all of the acoustic bits on I'll Be Your Girl on that. I have a bouzouki that was made for me by Andrew Mowry, a luthier from Bend, OR; Carson did the design for the inlay on the headstock, so that's really special.
You influenced me to make a late-night bouzouki purchase after last fall’s livestreams, and has kinda saved me. Thanks!
Awesome! Is the d28 the one you were using to busk in NYC around the WATWWABW promo time? Big crack in the top?
Your bouzouki is amazingly beautiful.
I'll start with just one question ;) What was the inspiration and/or story behind I Was Meant For the Stage? To me, it seems to line up perfectly with the climax of Dead Poet Society. It really could really play in real-time as the soundtrack to those couple scenes as the melancholy morphs into some of the most unsettling turmoil I've heard in a song. One of my favorites!
Not a question but I want to just express my gratitude for sharing your Machine Shop. I'm in awe by the way you engage with fans and take the time to respond genuinely when you can. I was so disappointed to miss you at the Bluebird Festival last week. I was going to go in 2020, but... well, you know. I was disappointed I couldn't fly back for it this year as I am wrapping up my last semester of grad school... And these few weeks of Machine Shop goodies have given me such valuable respite and joy during a chaotic time. Thank you!
I wrote the hook of I Was Meant For The Stage on a drive to Corvallis to see my uncle, after having just agreed to sign to Kill Rock Stars. I was conflicted. I was 27, in this band, and if we signed to KRS, it meant taking a very different path than what I was expecting -- I had told myself that if nothing had happened with music by the time I was 28, I was going back to school for my MFA or MA or whatever. So it was a real split-in-the-road kind of moment. And that's the phrase, I was meant for the stage, that came to mind, as I resolved to follow this path...
Are there any of your songs that make you emotional when you sing them?
What kind of guitar do you play in the video of "A Beginning Song"?
On the recording, I play a bouzouki. In that video, I'm playing an archtop tenor guitar -- I confess I don't know the make/model -- that I grabbed off the studio wall at Flora, where we recorded those videos. It was the closest thing they had to a bouzouki, so I went with it.
I've got a bunch and they might all be out of left field.
I really loved the book tour you did for the Wildwood books. (Saw you at the Coolidge corner theater in Brookline Mass for that) are there more plans for speaking engagements outside of the Decemberists stuff?
I'm a former special Ed teacher and hearing you talk about your child's diagnosis in the past, and the work you did for the school was inspiring, have you thought about broader advocacy? (Also have you read Nuerotribes by Steve Silberman or in a different Let by Jerry Zucker? Both amazing stories of the journey the American mental health system and how autism mirrors that)
I remember during the Livestream when asked about favorite board games Jenny spoke about Flamme Rouge and I got stupid excited (it's also my favorite game) are you doing tabletop stuff now? What stands out to you?
No plans for speaking engagements, though I do have a book coming out in September and I'll be doing a tour behind that. I'll post those dates as I know them. I do broader advocacy when I can, though it's admittedly a bit slacktivist -- I have my hands full as it is and can only commit to so much. Neurotribes is amazing! Steve is a great guy and such a generous soul. I have not read the Jerry Zucker book, but I'll check it out! As re: tabletop, I'm forever collecting board games (to my wife's chagrin); my latest purchase was the revised Dungeon Degenerates (which has great art) and Unsettled, a space exploration game by some Portland game designers.
Wow. You have good taste in board games. Those two are excellent and just a little under the radar. I suspect you would like Trickerion
Awesome to hear! The Zucker book covers a lot of the same ground as Nuerotribes but dives a little bit deeper into Asperger's and the controversy behind it.
I'm working my way through Eric Michael Garcia's "we're not broken" which is great because it's written from a self advocate les position. (It just retreads so much info I'm having trouble finishing it)
As for games we had a Kickstarter problem, ran out of room in our tiny Boston apartment. Trying to call but it's like getting rid of kids....sure I haven't played clank in two years but I can't get rid of my only dungeon crawling deck builder!
Colin! Omg, hi! I have a singular and unfathomably important (to me) question. Is Sons & Daughters about a ragtag bunch of nuclear fallout survivors on a raft?
It is, kind of. It's about survival, about reemergence/rebirth. It's about hope in dark times and fostering the strength to move through those dark times. Dennis Miller once asked to license it for the outro of one of his "comedy" specials and I had the pleasure of declining!
BY DIRIGIBLE
Haha, I like your excitement. There are a lot more references to traveling by water though. I think Colin just really wanted to use the word dirigible, but who knows. I came to ask this question here because only he truly knows.
Right?! If I were genius enough to use the word “dirigible” in a song and make it work, I’d do it 100%.
Yeah it's just a good word and a good line, I agree that the storyline is probably more nautical :)
Or a blimp! I have 4 little kids, 2 boys and 2 girls, and they love when I play this song on road trips. “When we arrive, sons and daughters…”
That very image led me to write a probably-never-to-see-the-light-of-day ttrpg campaign based on the song ooops
Hi Colin! How’s your day going?
I saw you play in Tucson for the Crane Wife tour, and during A Perfect Crime you grabbed a phone from the audience and (apparently) called someone before singing the next chorus into the phone. Was this a regular thing you did? Did you ever talk or listen to the people you called?
Ha! I haven't done that in a while, but it was a *bit* for a time; I'd grab someone's phone (so many phones to grab these days) and look up "mom" and make the phone call. As soon as they answered, I'd start singing. I couldn't actually hear the person on the other line, I had my monitors in, I would just hope that this person's mom had answered the phone from their beloved son or daughter and hear all this noooooiiissse. Of course, there's always the possibility that making that connection would be fraught, that their relationship was fraught, but, oh, it's a good bit.
I’ll be in the first couple of rows at Wolf Trap in VA in August. I give you full permission to steal my phone and call my mother….
Hello sir. What’s the story about Stateside. You have so many wonderful songs but for some reason Stateside has a low fi sound and feel that continues to satisfy. Have you ever considered a full album of electric low fi work?
I recorded that one at home; it's basically a home demo that we never did anything with and Tucker Martine mixed it at Flora for the EP. It's an older song that I dusted off for these sessions; it was always kicking around, raising it's hand here and there. I think I wrote it initially in 1998, when my girlfriend at my time was overseas and I was waiting for her to come back. I might've changed a few things here and there, but it's mostly intact. The idea of doing a record of all simple arrangements and songs is super appealing though!
Your albums always seem to be so well-sequenced. How do you think about song order? Does the band spend a lot of time playing around with different orders or does it come together naturally? For example, Crane Wife 3 is such a perfect opener - I'll never forget the first time I heard it.
Crane Wife is a practically perfect album in every way.
What’s the worst kind of pastry? And what’s the single worst pastry you’ve every ingested?
Hi Colin! Any chance we’ll be getting another volume of the “Colin Meloy Sings…” EPs in the future? All 4 are constantly on rotation at my house! I think they’re some of the best cover projects out there…And they introduced me to the glory of Shirley Collins!
Have you ever seen the 2017 film from Estonia called NOVEMBER? It has major Decemberists (Novemberists?) folk-tale vibes, including drowning, deals with the devil, shape-shifting forest creatures, and romantic poetry lessons from melting snowmen. It's awesome.
Are you guys going to stream any more D&D? That was really fun to watch.
There was some talk about getting a podcast going instead, but now that things have opened up and peoples' lives are getting back to a shade of what they were before the pandemic -- who knows.
What’s with all the drowning? As a lifeguard, I’m concerned. Do you need swim lessons?
I really enjoyed the Traveler’s Rest Festivals in Missoula. Do you have plans to revive those efforts post-pandemic?
At the risk of getting too inside-baseball on you, I'll say there was a kind of promoter sea-change in Missoula and we're working with a new one now, so maybe in the future? But not too near future. It was super fun to throw, but man it was a lot of work (mostly shouldered by people other than myself) so it would take some doing.
What is your favorite song to perform live? Are there any songs you refuse to play?
I believe A Cautionary Song is retired because of the sexual assault.
Seeing the ways in which O Valencia drew upon Romeo and Juliet… are there any other Shakespearean themes/characters/intertextuality alluded to in your songs?