Interview New Tricks: Jimmy Eat World

Jim Adkins (vocals/guitar): Something just came to mind - this artist named Mitski. Her new record’s great - that’s the first one that jumps into my head. I’d never heard of her before this record, too, but that ‘Your Best American Girl’ song is getting played on satellite radio in the States, and I was like, ‘What’s this, man?!’
I just found out she has a bunch of records, too, so that’s cool.

Zach Lind (drums): Last year I started learning how to play the bass a little bit, and I’m just starting to learn how to play guitar. That’s been kinda fun.
Jim: Look out, Grohl - Zach’s coming for your ass!
Zach: [laughs] No, I think Dave Grohl is safe… I don’t think a lot of people know this, but the drummer who’s a really good guitar player is Pat from Weezer. Arguably maybe the best guitar player in that band! He’s really, really good.

Rick Burch (bass): They’re not new musicians - they’ve been making music on large stages for a long time - but the Iggy Pop ‘Post Pop Depression’ band was just an incredible live gig. So much energy, and the amount of fun being had on that stage is awesome.

Jim: The producer that we worked with - his name is Justin Meldal-Johnson - bass is his main instrument, but he’s also a really good keyboard player and he’s really enthusiastic about synthesisers, and the world of synthesisers. While we’ve incorporated that on some albums before, that’s not how we think. If I wanna hear this kind of a sound, or this kind of mood, I’ll reach for a guitar and put a bunch of pedals on it to get that mood. Justin thinks more in terms of synthesisers. Texturally, building up the foundation of things, there’s a lot of keyboard sounds happening.
Analog and modular synthesisers can be routed and modified and programmed, and there’s really no limit. We picked up some things - it’s kinda like trying to follow along in an Advanced Masters class which you’re a 101 student! [laughs] There are some things we picked up, but other things were just kinda witchcraft.

Zach: A band like Royal Blood comes to mind, where they have that rock, Led Zeppelin, White Stripes sorta thing - that’s really cool. I could see them doing that, for sure.
Jim: He’s already pretty big, but I could see Father John Misty taking a step up - I don’t know about festival headliner, but I could see him definitely taking a step up.

Jim: Two words - leather chaps.
Rick: The definition of ‘making it’ - what is ‘making it’? Lasting fifteen minute or lasting fifteen years?
Tom Linton (guitar): Don’t rely on others.
Zach: Try to pick up the things that you can learn to make your band independent - like Tom’s saying, the more you can learn and absorb and pick up… whether it’s writing your own songs, or recording your own music, or becoming a student of knowledge when it comes to playing your instrument… all those things that you can actually participate in and do, you’re more educated.
Jim: You’ve gotta have the direction. If the idea comes from you, you’re much more likely to get what you want out of the process. Even if what you want to get out of the process is exploration, you define the parameters of the exploration. If that happens, then you’ll be continually in control.

Jim: It’s tough to say. When we were starting out, our peer group felt really small. Yeah, it was kind of a niche, but it wasn’t defined by a particular sound - it was more about like-minded individuals. We’d do gigs that Zach would book, all around the country, and we’d show up and it’d be like five hardcore bands and us. Or seven ska bands and us! It was just people that were coming together to support each other and connect.
Now, it seems like it’s very easy to find your niche and live in it, and not have to break out of it ever. That’s fine, but it seems like a lot of small niches all over the place and less of a shared experience; less of a shared kind of scene. I’m sure there’s a tonne of that happening, but I never see it.

Rick: Pixies, ‘Doolittle’.
Jim: Fugazi’s ‘13 Songs’ would be a good one. Like, ‘Hey 14 year old boy, who’s trying to experiment with parenting themselves and independence - direct your aggression this way!’ [laughs] Leave mom and dad alone! Direct your angst in a more intelligent way. [laughs]

Jim: It seems like it’s getting easier and easier to collaborate with people. Things like Dropbox are making it very easy to be anywhere and access large bits of information. They’ve been trying streaming collaboration for a while, and I don’t think anyone’s really nailed it, but I think that’s the next thing. If we could collaborate with anyone, in real-time, anywhere… I think it’s gonna get close soon.

Jim: Shakira… but for that I wanna be in the same room.

Jim: Yoga pants… Not for me!
Zach: It just aired in the U.S., on HBO, a series called The Night Of. It’s about a kid who gets wrongly accused of the murder of some girl. It’s sort of a look into the criminal justice system - it’s really interesting.
Tom: It’s an American remake of Criminal Justice.
Rick: Yeah, we don’t have any original ideas anymore…
Jim: ‘Right, let’s do Sherlock Holmes again!’

Jimmy Eat World’s new album ‘Integrity Blues’ is out 21st October via Dine Alone / RCA.

Tags: Jimmy Eat World, New Tricks, Features