John Darnielle is the singer, guitarist, and songwriting force behind the Mountain Goats, a cult classic California band whose uplifting live shows and deeply personal, autobiographical lyrics have hit a chord and resonated with an ultra-loyal core base of fans. Never slinking away from the awkward or the tender, 2004’s We Shall All Be Healed dealt with drug addiction while 2005’s The Sunset Tree ultimately triumphs over an abusive stepfather.
Also notable is Darnielle’s prolific output. Since first starting to self-record and release his songs in 1991 on every format imaginable (cassette, vinyl, CD), Darnielle, through his various incarnations of the Mountain Goats, was hailed as a low-fi visionary and lyrical force. A thinker and a music obsessive, his disparate tastes are documented in his zine, Last Plane to Jakarta, where he’s apt to tackle anything from “cool metal bands like Ambient and Sadist” to the latest offering from Japanese violinist Midori.
On the 4AD label since 2002, the Mountain Goats—which include bassist Peter Hughes and drummer Jon Wurster (formerly of Superchunk, Robert Pollard)—have a new record, Heretic Pride, in the can due out this February. Holing up at Prairie Sun Studios outside San Francisco, the Mountain Goats recorded with a bevy of familiar guests and with producers, and kindred musical spirits, John Vanderslice and Scott Solter. Curiously named songs include “Lovecraft in Brooklyn” and “How to Embrace a Swamp Creature,” and one “love” song compares a human heart to an autoclave, while another track tackles Sax Rohmer (author of the classic 1930s Fu Manchu series).
Darnielle may not be self-releasing anymore, but he still likes to keep production to a minimum. “With only a couple of exceptions, I track guitar and vocals live, usually with the rhythm section playing in the next room at the same time,” he says. “That whole building-a-song-from-constituent-parts, multi-track magic thing? I don’t really care so much about that. I’m not a purist who wants to go back to one overhead mike in a room or anything―we do plenty of overdubbing once we’ve got the core track done―but for me to be happy with my vocal I need to be tracking live most of the time.”
In the studio this time around, Darnielle predominately recorded with his newly acquired ’56 Gibson LG-1. “Getting a new instrument always seems to kick start the writing,” he said. “I got that Gibson online at the end of last year, so I’ve only used it on the new record. It looks and sounds like a one- or two-owner model, and some really awesome spiderwebbing finish-crazing makes its Tobacco Sunburst look even cooler. The sound has lots of baritone in it—really rich—and it’s got a really huge sustain. You can listen for the decay on a note forever.”
Have a listen to that tone. Click here to download a free MP3 of the Mountain Goats’ “Woke Up New.”
Giving Dave Letterman a run for his money, John Darnielle presents two of his year-end Top 10 lists:
John Darnielle’s Top 10 Tonewoods for Today
1. Ancient Kauri: “Please God let me own an ancient Kauri guitar before I die."
2. Sitka Spruce: “Underrated by people who’re all into exotica.”
3. Brazilian Rosewood: “Some things are popular for a reason.”
4. Swamp Ash: “Sturdy; reliable; also, anywhere you see the word ‘swamp,’ you know you’re about to see something cool.”
5. Red Spruce: “On the comeback trail after years of overharvesting; common in pre-WWII guitars, which means that the new generation of artisan lonewolf cowboy luthiers should be itching to do awesome new things with it.”
6. Bubinga: “I don’t actually know anything about it, I just like sayin’ it.”
7. Koa: “Is it just me or are people not as excitable now about a koa top as they were five or 10 years ago? Whatever: anybody who doesn’t think a koa top looks awesome isn’t looking hard enough.”
8. Walnut: “Smoky dreamy resonant darkhorse wood.”
9. Quilted Maple: “I don’t play fingerstyle much so these brighter-sounding woods really aren’t for me (unless I hit the jackpot and can suddenly afford to buy a new guitar to use just for one or two songs per album) but I can look at quilted maple all day long, it’s like a prism of awesomeness.”
10. Cocobolo: “Bassy and big; has been known to attack luthiers with deadly allergens; why hasn’t this untold story been turned into a summer blockbuster yet?”
John Darnielle's Top Ten Albums of 2007
Bowerbirds - Songs for a Dark Horse (Burly Time)
CocoRosie - The Adventures of Ghosthorse & Stillborn (Touch and Go)
Bloody Panda - Pheromone (Level Plane)
Pig Destroyer - Phantom Limb (Relapse)
Bottomless Pit - Hammer of the Gods
Various Artists - The Kings of Reggae (compilation. Rapster)
Babyshambles - Shotters Nation (Astralwerks)
Foetopsy - In the Bathroom (Barbarian)
Mayhem - Ordo ad Chao (Season of Mist)
Om - Pilgrimage