ACL Interviews: Wild Nothing
Today officially marks the beginning of the 2nd weekend at ACL festival here in Austin. I’m sure many of you rocked out last weekend and will be nursing your wounds this weekend at home. For those of you heading out to Zilker, good luck in the rain! For those of you staying indoors, check out this fancy interview we put together this week with Jack Tatum of Wild Nothing. It’s pretty rad. Click read more for interview.
ATH: What do you feel like is your greatest finished product, musically? Empty Estate seems like it encompasses your early sounds, as well as your latest stuff. Is that the best thing so far, or do you have a favorite piece from the earlier work you’ve completed?
Jack: Depends on how I’m looking at it, I guess. Nocturne feels the most consistent to me. I tend to like whatever I’ve done recently the best though. Empty Estate was the most fun for me in a lot of ways. It was less pressurized. I wasn’t really thinking about what other people would think of it. That’s something that usually comes into play whether you want it to or not but I definitely felt like I stopped caring for that one. Probably why it got mixed reactions.
ATH: Along those lines, your earlier stuff was known for having this bedroom quality to that sound. As you’ve continued to grow, do you feel like your sound will be ready to blow people away at an open-air festival?
Jack: Probably not on purpose. Any success I’ve had so far has been only marginally strategic and mostly accidental. I’m happy with how things are for Wild Nothing right now. I don’t have much of a desire to be a big festival headliner. If that ever happens it will happen naturally. I could care less about engineering my sound to fit what a “festival band” should sound like. I’m not a festival guy.
ATH: We’re kind of bummed, but do you feel slighted in any way that you’ve got such an early time slot? Just to let you know, we’re trying to spread the good word?
Jack: Only because I feel like it will keep people who would otherwise be interested in seeing us at the festival from being able to. I probably wouldn’t come to a festival before noon myself so it’s totally understandable. The billing at festivals is like this weird social hierarchy for bands. It’s tempting to let yourself get all whiny about having to play first but whatever. If anything it kind of rules because then you just get to chill out for the rest of the day.
ATH: Also, you have a night after show during the weekend. Are you more of a festival performer or a venue type guy?
Jack: Venue guy. Festivals give me anxiety.
ATH: At a festival, you are obviously competing against a lot of other bands. If you had to come up with a catch phrase as to why someone should come see you…. what would it be?
Jack: “You get to accomplish something before noon and feel good about yourself”
ATH: Best band around right now?
Jack: Tame Impala. They’re the only band I’ve consistently watched while doing the festival circuit this year.
Many thanks again to you Jack. If you are reading this, you have missed Wild Nothing at ACL, but I’m sure he’ll be back in town soon enough!