Sydney's VIVID Live program is set to host an exploration into the heart of American folk and blues music, courtesy of Megafaun and Fight the Big Bull. The Durham-based band, along with the Matthew E. White led jazz collective, will be presenting a reinterpretation of Alan Lomax's Sounds of the South collection of recordings from 1961. With Justin Vernon and Frazey Ford on vocal duties, these are set to be special shows and highlights of the VIVID Live program for sure.
Phil Cook, keyboardist for Megafaun, takes some time out to tell me about the show, how Lomax's work influenced his work and what the Australians can expect from the 'Sounds of the South' show.
Thanks so much for your time Phil, what are you up to at the moment?
Well, I just got home, I’ve been working in a soup kitchen with my family. We were just hanging out so yeah, I just got home, had some dinner and had a beer and now I’m talking to you!
Awesome stuff. Now, of course, the music production that Megafaun and so many other awesome musicians are set to be involved in for Vivid Live this year is certainly stirring up much hype. How many times has this been done previously?
Originally, we did three nights in a row and that was three years ago. Then two years ago, we did one night in Cincinnati, so it’s been performed four times total.
Can you tell me a bit about how the show is set to be structured? Do you think there will be much room for improvisations, like crowds who know your work may be already expecting?
Well, I would say that it’s all written in to the pieces, there are elements of chance. There are some elements in each song and each structure that are loose enough that it’s just different every time, no matter what. What people can expect is that we looked at the entire Sounds of the South field recordings boxset that came out on Atlantic Records in the 50s; we went through that entire boxset and we selected 13 songs that really spoke to us the most at the time that we wrote the material. We basically took some elements…because those songs are just either three or four people singing or a guy with a banjo, or a woman just singing by herself, it’s really sparse stuff. Basically we had a field day, going through all of this and being like, ‘Let’s keep that, spread everything out and start over and build it from scratch again’.
How hard was it to whittle all those songs down the number you finally came down to?
Oh it took a year! [Laughs] Joe and Brad and I from Megafaun and then Matt White…it took the four of us a year to get all of the material set and basically arranged for the stage.
How difficult has it been to pull together rehearsals with Fight the Big Bull, Justin and Frazey – did all of your schedules align easily?
Yeah, I mean, we’ve got recordings from the original that we’re all referencing and scores that we’re all referencing. The rehearsal has been…we haven’t gotten to rehearse! We’ve basically done this with two days’ rehearsal before each performance we’ve done, the musicianship is pretty high. Matt’s in Europe and all the Fight the Big Bull, all those guys are in Europe playing as Matt White’s band. Justin and I have been out doing our band thing and Joe’s in Los Angeles and Brad’s been here in North Carolina, producing records. We’re all just super busy!
That’s why we need to do ‘Sounds of the South’, that’s one of the reasons; it’s how touring musicians see each other! We can’t do communication and we can’t get together somewhere or whatever, we have to plan a show together to be in the same room together! That’s how it works – that’s the reality of our lifestyle; it’s also about the fact that we wrote music for a programme that has brought 14 people that are really good friends together. Fourteen in the one room at the same time; not only that, but usually for about four or five days, which is super cool.
Oh definitely. You’re very lucky there! With Megafaun, how influential would you say the work of Alan Lomax has been on your work?
Oh man, all that stuff is just incredible; the material that Alan recorded…he needs to be given credit as a gatherer, you know? He needs to be seen more as a beacon than a source. What I love about him is that yes, the days of field recording are narrowing down it feels like, because the information is at an infinite, momentary notice. The fact is that it’s not over and done with; there are still people who are doing really specific interviews and all. Yes, it’s less, but what is great about him is that music itself, oh man, that’s just my wheelhouse. I’ve loved that since I was a little kid and I wish I could tell you why; I don’t know why I love black gospel music, it’s just the thing that’s made my hairs stand up.
As an American musician, is his work something that you’d generally know about, whether you are in that genre or not?
No – he’s not a household name enough; you basically get into him through some sort of academic structure or you’d have to be that into tracing the roots of what he does and actually going back. I don’t know, I found him through artists after him; he wasn’t where I found out from, I just couldn’t get over this song…I was trying to find all these versions of this song and I found one by this woman called Vera Hall from Alabama and I just totally loved everything I found of hers. I was like, ‘Oh man, she’s got my favourite voice’ and then all the stuff I found of hers was all recorded by Alan Lomax! So I went through and that was my door, not through him, but through one of the singers that he recorded so much of.
So, thinking about the collective of musicians gathered for this project; you’ve got some amazingly talented musos involved in reinterpreting Lomax’s sounds, but what do you think it is about Justin and Frazey in particular that made them the best vocalists for something like this?
I mean, growing up with Justin, he’s always been able to just basically…he’s always been able to shut up an entire room or auditorium or whatever the hell happens when he’s singing. He’s had that gift since he was 14, man, that hasn’t changed! That’s always been the same. He just had an opportunity to be out there. Frazey Ford is flat out, my favourite female voice out there right now. She just has her own language in this way that Ricki Lee Jones kind of has…30 years ago, Ricki Lee Jones had this voice that took something beautiful and twisted it in their own way and it’s like her own vocabulary almost, how she sang. I feel like that is such a cool thing to hear; I love her, she’s a soul singer through and through.
Wicked. I know there is a lot of excited conversation about the shows in Sydney – do you have any plans to take the show elsewhere once this stint wraps up?
Hey man, if people want to book us for a show…! Again, like I said, this is an excuse for us to see each other! It’s like, ‘Hell yeah, let’s do this!’, wherever we have to do it, we’ll do it. I think the more we do it, the more I think people become aware of it and so hopefully…I mean, touring it in Australia is great because we resolved that finding funding for flights and meals and lodging for 14 people to do something, usually lies in academics and universities in America. We were kind of resolved to perform this at universities for schools at Harvard Law, but this is like opening up a new door. Who knows?
Exactly! Well best of luck for the trip down here and hopefully we see this show take off elsewhere!
Well thank you, I’m very much looking forward to it; I can’t wait to get there and I can’t wait to be at the Sydney Opera House for God’s sake! [Laughs]
Definitely, that’ll be one to tick of the list for sure. Have a good night and we’ll see you soon!
Cool man, take care!
Megafaun & Fight The Big Bull Presents 'Sounds of the South' ft. Justin Vernon and Frazey Ford will be performed at the Sydney Opera House on June 1 & 2. Visit sydneyoperahouse.com/vividlive for more information.