Last week Pete Yorn performed and signed merchandise at New World Record prior to his show on Saturday night. Due to a death in the family, he could not do any interviews until now. I just spoke to Pete yesterday about his all acoustic tour, the Boss, and more.
Buffalo Rising: What made you decide to do an acoustic tour?
Pete Yorn: “Well, it’s something I wanted to do for a long time. At the end of my last tour, there was a lot of production. I wanted to reconnect with my fan base; it’s kind of like an unplugged thing. There are no electric guitars and a band member will play piano with me.”
BRO: How did you enjoy Buffalo, NY?
PY: “I never played there before. I was there once years ago when I was in college. I didn’t know what to expect. I found the people really nice and the crowd was really enthusiastic. I had an in store at New World that went really well. I was very impressed over all with the people and the fans and I have to make sure that I come back there.”
BRO: How did you end up hooking up with Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters?
PY: “I toured with the Foo Fighters for a while when I was touring with the Day I Forgot record and we became friends after that. There was a drum part I heard in my head that is in my song, “For Us” and I knew he could nail it. I asked him to come down and he was all for it.”
BRO: You were quoted saying that you wanted to record like it was your last days - kind of like Tupac recorded before he died. Is this true?
PY: I wanted to capture everything. You can take periods of inspiration for granted. The last three years I had all these song ideas pouring out and I kept recording and recording and you never know when it goes away when you’re not inspired to write anymore. I just wanted to capture it all and whether the recordings are bad or good or what matters in years to come, I just wanted to get as much down as I can, especially when I am on tour for a while, it takes a lot out of me.
BRO: You list your influences as David Bowie and Bruce Springsteen for your new record, Nightcrawler. Is this pretty accurate?
PY: There are a lot of influences on the new album, but instead of each song sounding like something you heard of, they meld into each other making it its own thing. That’s important to me. When you hear classical music, for example, whether you are a fan or not, hundreds of years of that music were very important and very vital. It’s like a movie score. You draw music and lyrics from your daily life. I have melodies in my head and then I put them down and whatever I am feeling at that moment, the music dictates or pulls the lyrics out of me.
Pete Yorn’s Nightcrawler is in stores now.