interview_allen_stone
An interview with Allen Stone

If you follow Apes on Tape closely, you might know that I used to work on a farm in Northeastern Washington. One of the craziest moments of my past year was discovering an artist who grew up in a small, former mining town just minutes away from that farm. That artist, Allen Stone, has had a dream of a past year. Without any record label, he’s been selling out major venues across the nation, appeared on Conan O’Brien and has received all sorts of attention. Before his two sold out shows at Seattle’s Neptune Theater this weekend, Allen took some time to discuss that aforementioned small town (Chewelah,WA), his falsetto, NBA Jam and the wild experience of his past year.

Apes on Tape: So I’ll start this off with something you probably don’t hear too often: before I was living in Seattle, I worked on a farm about 10 minutes south of Chewelah.

Allen Stone: Ohh no way, brother! Who were you working for, which farmer?

Just a family farm, near Waitts lake.

Oh yeah, my parent’s have a place on Waitts lake.

Small world, man.

That’s so funny…

Definitely. I remember the day you guys went on Conan, I was running barbed wire fence that day. I remember thinking, “wait if he’s from Chewelah and now he’s on Conan, why am I still out here…”

(Laughs) Ahh, no. Chewelah, I tell what, I would die to be back in Chewelah. I love that place. It’s home, you know? I mean I can’t be there very long. But the first two days that I’m there are always the best of my life. But about the third day I’m like, “allllright, I’m getting antsy”

 (Laughs) Right, right. I won’t drag out the Chewelah thing, because everyone has already loved that angle to death. But what kind of mind warp is it trying to reconcile what you’re doing on the road, the national touring, with friends & family back there?

You know, actually, I don’t have a ton of friends still in Chewelah. I have a really close friend who still lives there and I see him when I go back there. But my family actually moved to a little community called El Mira, kind of south of Spokane, on Hwy 2. So I don’t have a ton of family in Chewelah. But yeah, it really is. People don’t really understand it. Because when you’re in it, it doesn’t really feel like people think it is. You’re the one bustin you’re ass, driving 8 hours a day. And everybody thinks it’s glamorous, like you’re doing cocaine off some hooker’s tits, hanging out with Danny DeVito and shit. They really don’t comprehend how hard the work is.

The day to day…

The day to day…

So this weekend, you’ve got the Neptune shows. That’s with Seattle Rock Orchestra, right? Are you pretty excited about that?

Oh my god, brother, you don’t even know. I was a little apprehensive at first because there are just so many people and so many elements involved. But we had our first rehearsal on Sunday and I tell you what, I couldn’t have felt better coming out of that rehearsal. Everything sounded beautiful, it was so much fun.

That’s good news, man. Congrats. And I’ve got to imagine it’s a bit strange playing here in Seattle now. Because you used to play here weekly and were involved with the community and now you get to play, what, every 3 or 4 months here because of touring clauses?

Yeah, I don’t know when we’ll play Seattle next. I think it’s in the fall, because we’re gonna hit the festivals. So we probably won’t play til August.

That’s crazy. But at the same time, that’s definitely good news.

Yeah it’s definitely good. You kind of have to hold out and make people want to come to a show. If you’re playing three nights a week in Seattle, it’s not as urgent for people to come out and buy tickets.

Absolutely. And both shows sold out too, you added that second date and it sold out too. Impressive…

It’s just….it’s just weird and overwhelming to me at this point. The last five months of my life, I don’t how it’s happened. I don’t know how I got here. I mean I don’t have a label. I’ve got a manager and a booking agent, and that’s it. But somehow, people are taking notice and I feel so blessed. But I’m just perplexed as to how the hell I’ve sold out two nights in a row at a 1,000 capacity theater, you know, two weeks before the shows even happen. It’s just…

Oh yeah. I mean from someone who’s also spent a few years making music “independently” myself, I’m just utterly amazed at how far you’ve gone without any label. I know things are different now and that’s not completely uncommon. But at this point are you still searching for a label? Is that a priority or are you just seeing where things take you?

You know, I’m going to go as far as I can without a label.

I feel you.

Me personally, I have a sneaking suspicion that I’ll potentially hit this roadblock and then I’ll probably go to a label to get past the total roadblock.  But shit if I never have to sign to a label, I would not be upset about that (laughs).

I don’t blame you. I imagine probably the biggest hurdle would be getting on radio. Seems like labels have the most muscle there. But has there been anything in particular that’s been really tough without a label?

Getting on good support tours is tough without a label. I’ve got a support run with Jack’s Mannequin coming up and their following is incredible. But radio is definitely the only reason nowadays, for me personally, to sign to a label. I’ve got the booking down, my booking agent is killing it. I’m touring probably 300 days out of the year next year. My manager’s killing it. We’ve got online distribution no problem. We can get physical distribution no problem. But it’s radio that really does it.

Switching back to a Seattle note, you’re obviously a Sonics fan, sporting the jersey and what not. I heard your favorite Sonic is, or was, Detlef Schrempf. Have you listen to the Band of Horses’ song of the same name before?

No, I never have! It’s called “Detlef Schrempf”?

Oh yeah, you’ve got to listen to it. It’s a great song, maybe a little different than you’d expect. But a great song.

Nice, I love it. I’m going to check it out.

Did you ever play NBA Jam, like on Super Nintendo?

Yeah, dude. I’ve got NBA Jam on my iPad actually.

(Laughs) Alright what Sonics combo do you use on the game? Which two players? Kemp-Payton?

Normally, I go Kemp-Schrempf.

Deadly Combo, plus you get the rhyme going.

Yeah, but that was like the old Super SNES. You can’t get those classics anymore.

Yeah, my roommate/cousin has it downstairs, so we rediscovered that. But I can never beat him because he always uses the Full Court Dunk cheat. It’s tough.

Oh, what a punk ass. (Laughs)

I know, right? I’m willing to use the cheat for Infinite Turbo, because it just increases the overall gameplay. But dunks, you can’t do anything about it.

No, you can’t do anything about it. It’s not fair. I mean, if you’re playing the computer, full court dunk it all you want.  But if there’s a human on the sticks, lay off the full court dunks.

Totally. Well, back to music, I wanted to ask you about your falsetto. Between your and the Antlers’ new albums, my friends, family, girlfriends have been assaulted by my practicing the high range. So I am wondering was that something you practiced to hone down or did it just arrive to you in the shower one day?

I don’t know. I sing all the time, throughout the day I’m always singing. When I first started getting into falsetto, I started listening to Robin Thicke. And he has one of the dopest falsettos ever. I think it was probably his first record, A Beautiful World, one of my favorite records of all time. His falsetto is just intense. I’m always about that. Learned and practiced it. You know that whole falsetto on Unaware, when we recorded that song I didn’t go that high. It was just that live video.

Yeah, I was just thinking about that when I watched it last night.

I wasn’t planning on going up there, but I was able to reach it. Then a lot of people commented on it and told me how much they liked it. “Wait for the 4 minute mark”, everyone was saying. So then I was like, “hey, I’m going to perform like that everytime now”. It was kind of like a chance thing, I guess…

Seems like it worked out for you. Hey, that’s encouraging then.

Keep workin on it! Keep workin on it, baby, you’ll find it.

(Laughs) Alright, I appreciate it. So I was talking to Galen (Disston of Pickwick) recently and we were talking about you a bit. I know you’ve been busy as hell lately, but do you guys still stay in touch? You follow them much these days?

I try my best. I have a gigantic man crush on Galen.

Don’t we all…

He’s one of the most fun, coolest, quirkiest, he just has mad swag. I dream to have Galen’s swag at some point in my life. We text back and forth, we don’t talk that much on the phone now. But as far as Seattle musicians, who I respect and endear incredibly, who are my community when I am out of town, he definitely falls in there. Him and Michael (from Pickwick), Ben Carson from Hot Bodies in Motion. There’s this really cool community in Seattle that I get to be a part of. Kris Orlowski. I talk to those guys, not as much as I like to, but I try to tap into that resource on the road because it really does center me. And allow me to remember what I’m doing this all for and who I’m representing when I play these shows in, you know, Maine and South Carolina and all these random places. And then, not all those bands get to get the chance to go out and tour and play their music for other cities. So it really helps better me to stay in contact with those guys. But Galen, I tell you what man, one of my favorite voices in town. Incredible, incredible vocalist. And songwriter. Beyond his abilities on the mic with his voice, he’s just a badass songwriter. He’s just got swag for days.

Yeah. And I think things are really coming around for them. They’ve got the debut album produced by Richard Swift coming up, a West Coast jaunt with a number of festival dates, NPR just put them on their “5 Bands to Watch in 2011” list.

Oh, dope. I hope at some point in my career we get to do a tour together, because that would be so much fun.

On the R&B note, I know a lot of people were pretty excited with different stuff that came out last year. I know you listen to Sharon Jones and Charles Bradley. But was there anything else you were listening to last year, maybe the Weeknd?

I’m not sure specifically on the release dates. But there have definitely been a couple artists I’m into. Obviously James Blake, he’s kind of on that R&B too. I love his stuff. There’s this guy from Sweden, I think. His name’s Tingsek. Incredible musician. It’s kind of jazzy R&B, but it’s so good. The Weeknd. Definitely some good R&B that’s come out in the last year for sure.

Collaboration wise, you’ve mentioned you’d be down to work with Mark Ronson or Jamie Lidell. But have any of those dream moments come closer recently as doors have opened up?

Yeah, I mean I got the chance to sing with one of my idols. I did a tour with Nikka Costa. She pulled me up on stage on our last night and I got to sing a song off one of her records. And it was totally a dream come true. She’s been an idol of mine for years.

Congratulations. I know that you’ve told the Conan story a number of times, but could you sum that experience up in 5 words or less?

The experience was…humbling. It was humbling because for me, getting the chance to showcase what I love to do on that large of a platform is such an incredible blessing that I don’t deserve. At the end of it, I’m thanking as many Gods and Deities and Universes as I can thank (laughs).  I’ll be thankful for the rest of my life, because what an honor, you know? For him to have me on instead of some other artist who may pull so many more viewers was just a huge blessing. It was very humbling but also an incredible experience.

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