Louis XIV Prepare New Album
Interview: Jason Hill Discusses Follow-Up to Slick Dogs and Ponies
Singer Jason Hill from San Diego rock band Louis XIV talks about writing with old friends, working on new material and keeping things spontaneous.
Trying to keep Jason Hill, singer with San Diego post-punk/neo-glam rockers Louis XIV, away from writing and recording is like trying to put a hand up to stop a hurricane. It can't be done. In an exclusive interview with Suite101, Hill follows up his thoughts on touring, the band's DIY ethos, constant productivity and their latest album Slick Dogs and Ponies, by the discussing how he does what he does, and how the band's new material seems to be shaping up.
Writing with Bandmate Brian Karscig
"Brian and I have known each other since we were kids and we’re very different. Brian firmly believes in the fundamental concept of luck whereas I believe more in the idea more of you doing everything right and things will come to you, like Manifest Destiny. When I get something in my head, I’ll just do it, you can’t tell me not to, and I’ll bowl my way through. I’ll have a portion of it recorded when nobody was around and then I'll try to get Brian’s instant take on it. He has really neat perspectives and a great sense of melody that’s different from mine. It’s like 'here’s 90% of a song, what’s your first initial thought?' and Brian's initial thought is great."
Prepping for a New Album and Finding "Magic Moments"
What about Hill's own initial thoughts on their recent dabblings? Despite having just wrapped up a four-month tour, Karscig and Hill are already guitar-neck deep in shiny new tunes.
“Most of what will make the [new] record will probably be done when we get home, but I write every day when I’m on the road. The best things are always the stuff that float off the top of your head. On songs like “Paper Doll”, “Pledge of Allegiance” and even “Finding out True Love is Blind” to a certain extent, were all just press record and me just rambling. What came out is what you get. In those takes there are really some magic moments. If I tried to write it all out it would have felt forced.”
“The new album’s probably going to be quite a bit more scaled down, more specific. Lyrically, not really a big change, but who knows because we write so much more now. A song will usually come forward and everything else will fit around it - for Slick Dogs, it was “Guilt by Association” and once we had that one, it helped define the record.
Unlikely Influences
“I’ve been listening to a lot of Flaming Lips lately - our tour manager used to work with them in the 90s and he's been turning me on to all sorts of demos and stuff that I fell in love with. There's also this record by Serge Gainsbourg, from 1972, L’Histoire de Melody Nelson. I love that, it’s the one I keep coming back to over and over again and that will surely have an influence.”
Brace yourself. There's another Louis XIV storm brewing. When will it touch down? That's hard to say. But if Jason Hill has anything to do with it - yesterday.
Read more exclusive interviews with Jason Hill and Louis XIV or Louis XIV Live at the Vancouver Commodore with Editors and Hot Hot Heat.
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