Quick-fire Questions: 10 minutes with Josh Ritter
For some people, creativity seems like a purpose as ingrained as going to the bathroom in the morning. Josh Ritter is one of those people who simply oozes artistry as though he’s amassed it overnight. Aside from being a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumental musician, he’s also a best-selling author, and I’ll be damned if his paintings aren’t right up there too.
When you have this creative urge in abundance, the muse is free to roam to pastures that go beyond pop platitudes, as Ritter says of his new single, ‘Horse No Rider’: “The appaloosa horses that are from my corner of the world are the ones I think of. They’re wandering the Camas Prairie, the Palouse. They’re chomping at the base of Steptoe Butte. A wild horse has no rider and is free to gallop. A riderless horse lives life at a careen.”
This lofty songwriting space runs throughout Ritter’s forthcoming record, Spectral Lines. Once again, he has collaborated with Sam Kissirer on the album, and this brings a level of familiarity to his wandering lyrical scope. In this regard, he seamlessly pairs melodious pop with the peculiarities of awe like Walt Whitman, Carl Sagan and George Harrison welded together to make a singular creative force.
With the new record due for release on April 28th, we caught up with Ritter to get to know the man as quickly as we possibly could. After all, if you don’t have long to get to know someone, then it’s best to pick their brain on big issues and trifling insignificance in rapid succession. Enjoy…
Quick-fire Questions: 10 minutes with Josh Ritter:
1. What song would you want played at your funeral?
“Something funny. Leave ‘em laughing.”
2. What movie scene always makes you laugh?
“I’ll watch Buster Keaton in anything. Man had the most soulful face I’ve ever seen on film. And he was a genius across the wide medium of film.”
3. What is the best gig you’ve played so far?
“Luckily for me, I’ve never had a best gig! I’ve played some weird ones, though. Playing in a Slovakian border city on the day before a death-metal festival in 2000 comes to mind.”
4. Name one artist you would love to see and where you’d love to see them?
“I would love to hang out with that Chopin fella. Seems a bit high-strung, barely contained by music. Every piece feels like a space-walk above the earth.”
5. What is your go-to hungover takeaway order?
“That has changed over time. I used to pray it away. Now, I chastise myself inwardly and then go for chicken soup.”
6. Who the fuck is Mark E. Smith?
“Never met the guy, but then, there are several people I’ve never gotten the pleasure of meeting.”
7. What was the last book you read and what school grade would you give it?
“Passport to Magonia by Jacques Vallee. This book defies gravity and, therefore, any academic grade that I could offer.”
8. What is your most controversial cultural opinion?
“I’ve been a weirdo for so long that I couldn’t begin to offer a single one. These days, though, it seems that there are far too many people who believe in the limiting of human expression, rather than its blossoming. I wasn’t expecting such a scary cultural contraction.”
9. If you had to get a lyric tattooed, what would it be?
“I’m here for a peek, but I’ll be here all week.” – By me, from a country song about getting a tattoo during Florida spring break that I have yet to write. Also, I have no tattoos.
10. Who made you want to be a musician?
“Mississippi John Hurt.”
11. Which record has your favourite album artwork of all time?
“The Smithsonian Anthology of Folk Music, hands down.”
12. Can you recommend us an album we might never have heard?
“Please, please, check out Jeri Southern.”
13. Can you tell us your favourite joke?
“Hahahaha. I’m laughing recalling it, but you couldn’t possibly print it.”
14. Which song in your back catalogue are you most proud of and why?
“I’m most proud of the ones that brought me into new creative territory. ‘Thin Blue Flame’, ‘Dreams’, ‘The Temptation of Adam’, but to be honest, I love them all.”
15. Are The Beatles overrated?
“How could anyone overrate them? Their music is woven through Reality now like an element. And we are so fortunate.”
