Will Sheff is glad to be back. The Okkervil River singer/songwriter is just a couple of days arrived in his hometown of Austin, Texas after a three-month “writing holiday” in New York City. So now it is time for the serious stuff to start: like giving interviews to people on the other side of the world, and shopping for beer.
I catch Sheff five interviews down and in need of some refreshment. “I like interviews, I really do,” he just about manages convincingly. “It’s kind of like being on the psychiatrist’s chair – but 6 interviews, I mean, that’s a lot.”
“Sorry, you’ll have to excuse me I’m just walking through a grocery store to buy some beer,” he laughs.
The commotion of the mid-evening supermarket crowd is reflected in Sheff’s answers which alternate between the distracted and the intensely humourous and playful. As we turn towards the topic of Australia, which his band toured for the first time late last year, he let’s loose some light-hearted joking before getting serious.
“Oh I don’t really have any memories of Australia, I can’t even remember being there,” he preludes. “No, that’s not true at all. I remember now we’d just finished a really busy touring schedule – we’d just done 22 shows in 22 days in Europe plus then there was America. It was an ordeal and the thought of going to Australia after all that was just crazy, but sure enough we had a fantastic time. The Meredith Music Festival was a big, big highlight.”
In September, less than a year after their first visit, Okkervil River are to return to Australian shores for a string of shows. There is certainly something that endears us, the Australian music-buying population, to the band, just as there is something special about Sheff and the gang. Maybe it is their sense of humour; Australians traditionally like a good joke – no-one really knows, but Sheff has an idea.
“Maybe it’s because we put the ‘okker’ (sp. – ocker) back in Australia,” Sheff observes. “That’s only the second time I’ve used that line, I though of it during the last interview! Actually I have no idea,” he hits a mental block. “I promise I will be out of this grocery store soon! I wish I could give a more detailed answer but I guess we just got lucky.”
When it comes to Okkervil River’s music, though, there’s no luck about it. The band’s most recent album Black Sheep Boy showcased a unique brand of intelligent and literate Indie-rock and was widely acclaimed as one of the best of last year. Somewhat of a concept album, the songs, including radio favourites ‘For Real’ and ‘Black’, followed the experiences of an outcast, a true black sheep. But now Sheff has left behind his anti-hero and likes to think the band has also shed their image as outsiders who sing only of sorrow and other heavy topics.
“We are going to start working on a new album once we finish touring and I’m looking for something perhaps not quite as heavy, something fluffier than Black Sheep Boy,” Sheff laughingly states. “But you don’t have to take that seriously after some of things I’ve been saying.”
“I moved to New York for a writing holiday, because I wanted to see the effect living in a totally different place would have on my writing. The songs on the next album I think will mostly come from those I wrote while there.”
Indeed, the time between Australian tours hasn’t been spent idly – Sheff and other band members have had a lot going on. From signing a recording deal with Virgin/EMI in Europe to the release of a new album by Sheff and keyboardist Jonathon Meiberg’s (don’t call it a) side-project Shearwater, the River is still running at full-stream. Sheff gives me some further details.
“In January we had a big recording session, just playing for fun and without any thought of a release,” he begins. “It was kind of a reaction to what I viewed as the at times emotionally overwhelming nature of Black Sheep Boy. The idea was just to get back to basics, so to speak. Funnily enough some of the recordings have ended up forming part of our new Australian tour EP (Overboard and Down).”
With only one album and a follow-up EP freely available in stores for Australian audiences, the tour EP is a welcome addition to the Okkervil River canon. The recordings capture a looser band than fans would remember from Black Sheep Boy, but you would hardly call it freewheeling. That said, the band members seem to be having fun, something to which Sheff appears no stranger. The front-man obviously has some exciting plans for the forthcoming tour.
“I’ve never been impressed by the whole ‘rock-star’ mentality; I don’t agree with the idea of ignoring your audience. We’re all there to have a good time and what I’m ideally hoping for his some sort of special, shared moment,” he enthuses. “We’re also bringing a camera-man who will be making some sort of Okkervil River film. I saw this as a good opportunity to play games with the woman who deals with our promotions down under – because I’m kind of a jerk – so I told her it was going to be like Help! (the classic Beatles scripted theatrical film),” he lets out a laugh. “Which it may or may not be.”
While he’s glad to be back in the familiar surrounds of Austin, Sheff isn’t getting too comfortable. The life of a touring band doesn’t often stand still and so the interview ends in a particularly poignant moment. What beer did you end up buying?
“I got a local beer called Real Ale. I figured I haven’t been home for a while so it’s worth my money,” Sheff laughs. “But I do like the taste of Australian beer too.”
Swim in the subtle streams of Okkervil River in September:
3rd September – Schooner Tavern, Auckland – with Lawrence Arabia + guests
4th September – East Brunswick Club, Melbourne – with special guests
6th September - The Zoo, Brisbane - with Jack Ladder + guests
7th September – @Newtown RSL, Sydney with Jack Ladder + guests East Brunswick Club, Melbourne - with Jack Ladder + guests
8th September
9th September - Fowler’s Live, Adelaide - with Jack Ladder + guests
10th September – Rosemount Hotel, Perth - with Jack Ladder + guests
Exclusive Australian/New Zealand Tour EP Overboard and Down out soon.
