Peddlers of panoramic and sweetly melancholic Americana/alt.countryrock Band Of Horses are loved by legions –including The Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen. Following the release of latest single ‘Dilly’, we spoke to frontman Ben Bridwell to find out a bit more about the band.
When he joined BOH, Bridwell couldn’t play guitar.
‘I couldn’t play anything, initially. I was more into getting my friends in Seattle on to the musical map. There was this band, Carissa’s Wierd, and I thought they were very talented, so I made enough money to produce their first record and it took off from there. When their drummer quit and they needed someone they could get along with on tour, they asked me if I would learn. It was very minimalistic playing – no kick drum and very primal. I kind of came in the back door of the whole band thing, but it worked out good, I think.’
He’s still uncomfortable being the frontman of the band.
‘I accept it now and can enjoy it, but there are still times when I’m ill at ease. Cameras make me the most uncomfortable; even as a kid I never wanted to be in photographs. It’s my stupid head and my Southern teeth, on show to the whole world. TV appearances make me die inside.’
He doesn’t like listening to his own songs.
‘It’s funny, but the only time I can listen to a song I’ve written is when someone else covers it. If a 12 year old on YouTube covers a song of ours, I can finally hear it with perspective. I truly do cringe to hear my whiney girl voice, but aside from that, it gives me validity, in a way. I feel like I made a difference in someone’s life, so they were compelled to learn the song.’
He regrets having loaned Wal-Mart a song for an online commercial.
‘In hindsight, there’s no way I’d be associated with a company that represents the demise of the mom-and-pop stores. I did it mostly because my first kid was on the way, and I’ve always felt like the music thing was going to crash at any second, so it was like, why not cash in now, because I’ll be irrelevant next year anyway? I finally had an opportunity to make some money and support my family. But it was a complete loss of self-confidence, really. I ended up pulling out of the TV commercial, and thank God I did.’
He’s heavily tattooed.
‘I’m a victim of the ’90s. I was bartending in Seattle, and the place was frequented by a lot of tattoo artists, so we would slyly slip them free drinks, and they would slyly slip us free tattoos. My least favourite tattoo is from when I was slightly engaged to a woman and we decided to get tattoos on our ring fingers. I have a heart on my ring finger, but now I’m married to my beautiful wife and the ring barely covers the tattoo. I keep thinking one day I’ll get it removed, but it’s a lengthy process.’
