Neil Young News: Billy Talbot: The TVD Interview

Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Billy Talbot: The TVD Interview | 2013

Billy Talbot

From a 2013 interview with Crazy Horse's Billy Talbot on The TVD Interview | The TVD Storefront by Jennifer Carney:

TVD: You’re obviously a big proponent of high-definition recording, and I understand that you used vintage gear on the album as well. ["On the Road to Spearfish", Talbot’s second solo album] With the proliferation of all things digital, do you think people will once again appreciate high quality sound?

Billy Talbot: I don’t know. I know I do—I really do. I appreciate that.
We have really great instruments in the band—with Neil Young and Crazy Horse and The Billy Talbot Band—we have really great-sounding old amps, tube amps, and really great tube mics. They’re the kind of mics that people have been using for fifty, sixty years for recording and still are the best ones.

Between getting and recording a good sound, and not playing these songs more than once or twice ever, especially when we’re recording… they feel fresh and organic and real. It’s this real feel that makes me feel good as a writer; I can sing the song the way I want to. Everything being like that is what helps to create that thing that you hear. That’s what I was going for, except that not many people go for it as strongly as I was going for it—uncompromisingly going for it.

But I knew that was what I wanted to do, so I set it all up. It wasn’t something that was a hassle or hard to do or anything like that. It was just set up properly so we could just do it like that. “Cold Wind” was recorded at 2:40am; “Big Rain” was recorded at 1:00am. The mood of it, playing it for the first time at that time of the night, just being really quiet… all the guys had been having a really good time and we weren’t ready to record. And then, all of a sudden, it got to be that time we were ready to record, consequently, and then we did. The mood was right, the guys were ready to play it. It’s not perfect; there are some mistakes in there… but not really!
TVD: For my last question: It’s my birthday tomorrow. If you could go back in time and tell your younger self something, what would you tell him?
Relax, mainly. Don’t worry about it so much.
Take it easy, let it happen more. Pay more attention. Listen better.
Listen, listen, listen to what other people are saying before you say anything. Relax, slow down, not worry. It’s gonna happen—whatever it is, especially if you do due diligence and work on things without worrying. Try and keep perspective. Just relax and slow down and have patience and use your wisdom.
Now, that’s just for me. I don’t know how it works for you! [Laughs]