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Interview with
Joe Stillwell of Needtobreathe
Since it’s been less than a week since
it was released; do you guys know how the new CD is selling so far?
I’ve heard a few numbers, and
I’ve seen that it’s in the top ten on iTunes so far, but that’s about all I’ve heard. But it’s
encouraging, man – it’s looking really good right now.
What sort of changes has the band gone
through since “The Heat” came out in 2007?
I think it’s more so we’re becoming
more comfortable with the way that we make music naturally. On the last couple records; like on “Daylight”
and a little bit less on “The Heat”, we were outthinking ourselves a lot of the times when we were writing songs
– trying to think about where the song was going to work on the radio and how does it fit in what we’re trying
to do. On this record we just try to trust our instincts and go in with some producers who are really going to facilitate
that process and help make it happen.
What does the name of the new CD, “The Outsiders”, mean
to you guys as a band?
That’s coming from a place of being comfortable with the notch that we’ve
kind of carved out for ourselves in the music industry – or the one that we’ve found ourselves in more so.
Coming from a small town in South Carolina where there’s not a whole lot of music industry, and definitely not a whole
lot of music scene – kind of having a little bit of a chip on our shoulders about that; the fact that we’ve
been doing this for ten years and we’ve kind of had to work up through the ranks of a really long time and still not
really feeling we’re a hundred percent. We’re kind of on the outside looking in a little bit, and we’re
comfortable with that – that’s kind of where we’d like to be at this point; because that means we can do
our own thing. We can make the music that we love and think about it without bringing other peoples opinions into it
too much, and I think that’s where the whole outsiders thing came from.
What are some of the main
topics we’re going to hear on “The Outsiders”?
It’s all over the board honestly
[laughs], it’s everything from breakups, to love… to just writing from a place by putting yourself in somebody
else’s shoes. Bear and Bo are the main songwriters; they like to write a lot from personal experience, but there’s
also a few tracks on this record that are a little bit more thought provoking as far as thinking outside of yourself and putting
yourself in someone else’s shoes. We did a little bit of that on one of the tracks on the last record…
on “Streets of Gold”, but on this one I think there’s a little bit more of that. And it’s really
encouraging to see how they’re progressing as songwriters; I think it’s amazing… the steps they’re
taking to improve themselves. The overall songwriting on this record is way better.
How long have
you guys been working on some of the new material?
Probably since the last one came out. [laughs]
They write pretty much constantly; so once we finish a record we’re out on the road all the time – they’re
writing in green rooms and on the bus… and just wherever we are. We’ll throw something into sound check that
they’ve been tossing around and work a little bit of it out… there’s a few on this record that started
in sound check; songs like “Prisoner” was one that Bear was messing around with a little bit… we all folded
in during sound check one time and that’s where the bare bones of that one came together.
What’s
your favorite song on the new CD?
Oh, gosh… I’ve got a couple favorites. On this one,
one of my favorites is definitely “Stones Under Rushing Water”; that duet with Sarah Watkins [Nickel Creek], just
because it’s a gorgeous song and the fact that we were able to get her to come in and sing some vocals on it…
just took it to the next level for me. I get a little teary eyed when I hear that song; it’s an achy song…
I really like that. I’m a big fan of “Prisoner” as well, it’s just a down and dirty bluesy rock
song – which we haven’t really gotten a chance to get on the records in the past, but that’s always been
a part of what we do – especially in our live shows… it just never quite made its way onto the records.
What are you guys looking forward to this year?
Touring; I’m looking forward to getting
into some clubs and playing our old school rock show like we used to. There’s been so much spot dates like festivals…
not that festivals are horrible, but I’d much prefer getting into these clubs and really being up close with the fans
and getting our nice hour and a half set in… so we can really get into what we do. As opposed to your thirty-minute
festival set. That’s what I’m looking forward to, man… just getting back into that. We’re
on the road now; a co-headlining thing with Griffin House and Green River Ordinance. We’re out basically until
Thanksgiving; finishing up these shows and then we’re going to be doing our headlining shows coming up in the next couple
of months.
What else do you guys have planned for this year?
Fantasy Football, man.
[laughs] We’re all about Fantasy Football – our draft is coming up in just a few days now; so we’re all
getting prepared for that.
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