A Minute With J Tillman

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mp3 – J Tillman – First Born

“After dropping out of college in New York, Josh Tillman (b. 1981) moved to Seattle and spent a year paying rent by freelance writing and donating plasma. Befriending Eric Fisher (Damien Jurado, Rosie Thomas) while on tour in the fall on 2004, Tillman coerced him into recording what would become ” I Will Return,” a full-length reminiscent of the southern-gothic writings of Flannery O’Conner and the music of Nick Drake and Pete Seeger. The CD-R would be distributed and promoted word-of-mouth in paper sleeves while on the road (with acts such as Damien Jurado, Dolorean and Saxon Shore) for over a year until spring 2005 when KEEP Recordings offered to release a limited, special edition run of the record. Tillman continues to record constantly, finshing a full-length with Fisher entitled ” Long May You Run, J. Tillman.”

Aside from his role as a prolific singer-songwriter, also plays drums for Seattle WA based band Fleet Foxes. Tilman’s fifth solo album Vacilando Territory Blues featuring his mournful vocals, backed by sparse and doleful acoustic guitar with occasionally understated piano, bells and violin was well received critically in 2008 before release and earned him comparisons to Nick Drake.” (Via Last FM)

SC: You have a new album set to release on September 22nd, titled Year in
the Kingdom. Can you tell us a bit about the album?

JT: It contains nine songs, all of which feature me singing and playing instruments, it will inevitably be reviewed, and, most likely, boxes and boxes of it will end up sitting in my apartment, slowly getting covered food wrappers, magazines, coffee cups and other boxes of J. Tillman records.

SC: How do you usually write? Do you prefer writing on an acoustic? on the road?

JT: I wrote most of the songs on this record using musical typing, and
then had to transpose it to the guitar.

SC: You play drums for the Fleet Foxes and I read that you play most of the instruments on your records . Do you have a primary instrument?

JT: I have become pretty proficient in musical typing.

SC: First born is an absolutely beautiful track. I can hear some similarities from the music you’ve made with the Fleet Foxes, mainly in the rhythm section and vocal harmonies. Has touring and recording with the Fleet Foxes changed some of the ways you go about writing?

JT: Well, I haven’t recorded with the Fleet Foxes.  I suppose the multi-tracked vocals on some songs might remind people of FF.  The rhythm section to me is more of a Low/Simon and Garfunkel thing.

SC: How did playing with the Fleet Foxes come about?

Robin: “Do you want to play drums in this band?”
Josh: “Sure, sounds like fun!”

SC: What are some bands or music that you have been listening to?

JT: Neil Young and Dungen.