Built to Spill returns to The Urban Lounge on Wednesday, July 23, at 7 p.m. In advance of the show, we spoke to Built to Spill frontman Doug Martsch. We caught up to him before a gig in
Minnesota.
He was in a good mood, as well he should be: he’s doing what he loves to do and has done since the band formed over 30 years ago in 1992. The Boise-based rock trio was playing a string of summer dates with Yo La Tengo (another trio keen on making a lot of noise) when we spoke. Even though both bands played Salt Lake’s Kilby Block Party earlier this year, it’s the first time they’ve toured together, and he says it’s been fun.
And when you’re in a band that tours nearly half the year — about 150 shows, give or take — having a good time doing it is likely one of those constants, a goal to always reach for.
“If you’re having a good night, it feels good. It’s not work at all,” Martsch says about playing live versus being holed up in a studio. While making albums always has felt like starting over from scratch, he says, stepping onto a stage for a few hours always feels easy.
Part of that is about stripping songs down to their most key elements. While he grew up trying to emulate the sounds of his heroes at the time (including Dinosaur, Jr., Butthole Surfers, Camper Van Beethoven), now he spends his time absorbing old soul and reggae records. All are filled with sounds that never feel overly complex.
There’s a utilitarian nature about the albums created 50 years ago, and those artists delivered their music without adding anything fancy on top, Martsch says, and that’s a draw.
“When I was younger, I was trying to be clever and find chords that were different from what others were doing, finding new melodies. But as I grow older, that no longer matters to me,” Martsch says. “It’s more about who the real person is [for me], a chance to glimpse into someone’s soul. Musically, things are simpler. Now it’s about trying to emote better.”
Playing live always allows for that.
“Just plugging my shit in and playing is much more satisfying. I’ve become more comfortable figuring out ways to play that make sense for me to do, my personal strengths. When you’re young, you’re figuring out what you can do and what limits to push, who you want to sound like. At my age, I know what my limitations are and what I sound like. I can try and do my best within that. Every night I’m up there, I can try to sing and play songs better than I ever have before, and there’s still room to fuck around and make it different from night to night.”
“Most wouldn’t pick up on that, and you would have to see a bunch of our shows to pick up on that happening. But for me, it feels like freedom.”
See for yourself what freedom can sound like this Wednesday. Buy your ticket before the show HERE.
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