Song Exploder - Band of Horses - Solemn Oath

Episode Date: July 25, 2016

Band of Horses released their 5th album in June 2016. In this episode, the band’s frontman, Ben Bridwell breaks down the song Solemn Oath, and how in the process of writing it, he confronted writer’s block, and balancing his life in the band and at home as a husband and father.

You're listening to Song Exploder, where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made. I'm Rishi Kesh Hirwe. This episode contains explicit language. Band of Horses released their fifth album in June 2016. In this episode, the band's frontman, Ben Brudwell, breaks down the song's Solem Oath, and how in the process of writing it, he confronted writers' block and balancing his life in the band and at home as a husband and father. This interview was recorded on the road in Austin, Texas in a hotel room. I'm Ben Bridwell. I sing and play guitar and band of horses. With this song, I was beating myself up a bit about what I'm going to do for this record.

It's like, oh, I've used one of my weird tunings because I'm, that's how I learned to play guitars. I just detuned all the pegs. It makes no sense to anybody that plays guitar. There's no way to make a normal chord out of it. But I was like, well, my hands are comfortable here. This was around the time that I was starting to hone in on, okay, I am compiling demos now for an actual album. These aren't just little exercises I'm doing to pass the time. I was like, okay, I should make this a song and start telling a story.

So it started with some guitar stuff, and then I was like, what are you going to talk about? If I'm dissatisfied with some of the songs I've written, I thought it was, it was just something to talk about, like how tough it was for me to write a dang song. That kind of set it in motion. I think I was promising myself that I wouldn't complain about being in a band on a band recording. And that's what the song is. There's like the, right in the door, tire, I'm sore, Neri a high, no welcome home.

Right in the door, tire I'm sore, near you high, new welcome home. So after I got home from some long-ass tour, it was like, here's your kids, I'm going to take a nap, not you're home, you know, like from the wife. Like, it ain't special. dude, take care of these damn kids. Sorry that you had a transcendent experience, like, making people happy and providing for your family.

But real life happens the second you walk in that door, you're at home, and these kids need some drying of tears and some wiping a butt. So get to work, you know? It's griping. Oh, I have writer's block. Sorry. Like, wham, you know. But it's real shit.

It's like what I was really going through and, like, trying to get past. resolving the conflict of family and being stuck in a rut creatively. There's a lot of that permeates the lyrics throughout the whole album. Even though it's against my better judgment, you know. Don't complain out loud, dude. Try not to sound bitter to fondly remember the dark times of the past. It's like, don't bitch about your incredible profession that you're so lucky to have. in your life and you can do nothing else in this life.

Like, God don't deserve it or I'm not even worth it. I can't do this or that. Definitely it was having troubles, so it's the truth. At least I'm singing from the heart, I guess, and I believed it because it was real. I finally got out of my own way by being truthful. Even the first line is like, maybe I should go back. I'm going to think about that, a little bit more like I did before,

miserable and mad. Maybe I should go back. I'm going to think about that. A little bit more like I did before. Miserable in my eye. I'm such a happier person than I was. So I have followed the breadcrumbs back and it's like, okay, Ben, what did you do that was accessible to people

or just more popular songs? This is a dangerous thing to slip down, you know? Like, I've become a much happier person. I'm not as dissatisfied. as I used to be. It's just funny. Like, yeah, miserable and mad. You know, like, do I have to get back to that just to, like, write a decent song?

And no, I don't, you know? You can talk about it, but you can still make good songs while being happy. And I'm glad that I actually, like, express the sentiment and didn't, like, bury it under, like, metaphors to throw the listener off the subject. I'm proud that I was, I don't know, bared my soul for a second. Coming into this singing thing so late in life, I've never been that comfortable with that side of it. The revealing side, I guess, and just being vulnerable like that, especially lyrics. Oh, God, you know, like writing lyrics. It's a daunting prospect, like, check out my poetry dog, you know, like even to the wife or anybody.

I've always hid behind layers of reverb or delays and things like that to try to mask the actual. sentiment hiding underneath. I shouldn't repeat it. It sounds ridiculous in the swore a soul of... Yeah, I guess it became part of our sound or whatever, but it was

to hide for fear of revealing myself to people. So the place that we record this, the Panorama House or Panorama studio in Stinson Beach, California. This fella, I believe he's an Austrian immigrant.

had moved to California, bought this piece of land, and basically built this castle with his hands, like a castle. And this is probably like the 30s or 40s, something like that. I could be wrong there, but there's a bomb shelter built in case nuclear fallout comes or whatever. So it never was completed. The house was, but the bomb shelter is not. But you do have this massive metal tube

that goes from the control room to basically a dirt hole in the ground. But the corridor itself or whatever was, long enough to create this beautiful natural reverb. There's mics in there now, and you shut the huge metal, like a bank vault door kind of thing. They got lines running through there now, and that's your reverb, man. We considered that reverb to really be our narrator throughout the album. A lot of people will never notice that that is the white zombie beat. So stupid.

So dumb, man. We wanted to have this band called Wine Zombie, taking white zombie songs, and changing the lyrics, all about wine or whatever. So we were like, Pinot Grigi, oh yeah, wow. And it's so stupid, right? That's like one of the many little awesome, fun things about making your own stuff is that you can put your jokes in stuff and it's because it was on our

because we were laughing about it probably night before. But I'm lucky as fuck. It still ain't enough. I'm sick to my gut having to say, you sit here to the coast is clear. And I'll sing for you one day. This will be the first time that I've said the word fuck in a band of horses song or whatever. But it's like, I guess the resolve of that whole verse is, you know, like, I'm lucky as fuck. But still isn't enough, basically.

And I'm sick to my gut having to leave you all. Like I'm so happy. I'm so lucky to do this job. And I'm basically telling myself, like, it kills me to have to leave. and to return and have it be so disjointed or something like that, you know, that I have to reacclimate to the process. I love what I do so much, but I love being at home so much. I love what I do being a dad and being a husband so much, you know.

I couldn't live without either one of them. There is a nice sentiment somewhere buried beneath the F words and the, you know, the little jokey things. There's a real emotion that I'm trying to convey a, have a real situation going on. It's like, I don't know how to balance these things when I love both of them so equally because they both make me who I am. And now here's Solem Oath by Band of Horses in its entirety. Maybe I should go back. Kicks like a mute plays breaks all the room. Visit songexploder.net

for more on Band of Horses. I have a new album of my own coming out on April 24th. It's been about 15 years since I last put out a full length. And this is the first one that'll out under my own name, Rishikesh Her Way. I started making Song Exploder when I was feeling lost in my own music career. And then for over a decade, I've gotten to have these incredible conversations about the process of making music, talking to other artists, and it made me completely rethink my relationship to music and my way of writing songs. And this album is the product of all of that. It features contributions from some of my favorite artists, including some folks that you may have heard on this podcast, like Iron and Wine, Kevin Morby, Vagabond,

Fenlily and the producer Phil Weinrobe. I'm going to be on tour playing in cities across the U.S. starting in April, and I'm trying to bring the spirit of the podcast with me. So every show that I'm playing will begin with a conversation about the album with a different amazing guest moderator in each city. Like Adam Scott, Samin Nasrat, Jason Manzuchas, Josh Molina, Minjin Lee, Ken Jennings, John Roderick, Austin Cleon, and more. They're all going to be my conversation partners on stage.

And then I'll play with my band. The album is called In the Last Hour of Light, and the first couple songs are out now. You can listen to the music and get tickets for the shows on my website, rishikash.co. Or just go to songexploder.net slash live. That's songexploder.net slash live. Thanks. You can find all the past and future episodes of SongExploder at songexploder.net or wherever you download podcasts. Song Exploder is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.

curated network of extraordinary story-driven shows. Learn more at Radiotopia.fm. My name is Rishi-Kesh Hirway. Thanks for listening. Radiotopia.