November 11th, 2009
Kurt Vile “Writes Hits, Takes Shit”
Our pal Maggie Serota down at A.V. Club D.C. did a nice lil’ interview with our pal Kurt Vile the other day, in which he gave a shout-out to the defunct Clockcleaner, talked about comparisons to My Bloody Valentine, acknowledged the shit-talkers, and more. Couple excerpts:
The A.V. Club: What are the advantages to having Philadelphia as a home base?
Kurt Vile: Maybe I’m biased because I’m from there. It’s close enough to New York but it’s not swallowed up by New York’s hustle and bustle. Philly’s busy enough. There are tons of record stores and record-head friends and plenty of D.I.Y. shows. It’s a place where people pass through and bands don’t usually skip on tour. There are lots of music resources but it’s not too over the top. I also have the support of lots of cool friends. I’m friends with lots of bands like Clockcleaner, which is now defunct. Richie Charles [Jr.], the drummer from Clockcleaner, has his label Richie Records and he’s a big supporter. There are other bands like Espers, Birds Of Maya, and Jack Rose. It’s not too big so everybody knows everybody and it is really fun.
AVC: How are things different now that you are on Matador?
KV: It’s not that different yet. Obviously there’s more touring, more press and more hype which I won’t say is not deserved. There’s like a faction of people, too, who like to talk shit, which is kind of new. When I was more independent, there were people who got really excited and there still are but once I got more press people started to comment on blogs. People like to talk shit.
AVC: Were there any comments that particularly affected you?
KV: I don’t even know. Not that Matador is a major label, but its major enough for me. I’m sure when certain musicians get comfortable, they start sucking and maybe the shit talk is deserved. We’ve been on tour and there are tons of kinks that still need to be worked out and maybe night after night it starts to show. On one level we’re on Matador, but our amps still might explode on stage or they’ll be an echo in the mic. It’s like climbing a ladder. I like to climb it really slowly. I could probably get really professional right away, but I like to take baby steps and find my own way.
