An Interview with Joel Thetford: Broken Things
I met Joel Thetford last year at a Ballroom Thieves show up in Maine. He sent me his last record, The Outer Bank, and I was immediately struck by his voice and emotional quality of the songs. He’s back with another EP this year and he continues to bring authenticity and depth to his music. We got to catch up about the new album, Broken Things, which comes out on March 27. We also are excited to premiere his song, “Like You,” from the new record. Check it out!
RLR: You recently performed at the Sunaana Festival. And as part of that, you played on the Amtrak Downeaster, so I have to ask what that was like!
JT: Yeah. On the Friday, they rented a private car [on the Downeaster train]. And a lot of folks flew in from all over for the event. So they were specifically going to the festival for two days. So I played that Friday, and that was fun. The only challenge was the microphone kept moving. I ended up having to use my feet to keep it from moving around.
RLR: And you can’t just go Garth Brooks headset microphone can you?
JT: [Laughs]…No. It was a little intimidating, but it was really intimate. I got to interact with a lot of folks that were right in front of me. It was almost like playing Blue. Then I played the main stage Saturday, which was really fun. It was a great event, good people.
RLR: Turning to your new album, there seems to be a throughline of searching for connection and understanding, especially on songs like, “Broken Things,” and, “Like You.: Can you talk about these songs in conversation with each other?
JT: Both of those songs, from a relationship standpoint with a partner, you come from different backgrounds, and for me, my experience has been with someone who thinks that they’re broken. But they’re not broken; or, we’re all broken in some ways. We all have similarities and that was kind of the thought process for those songs.
I was dating a girl, but we split up, and we’re still friends. So I get a call from her and she’s crying about this guy she was dating who told her she was broken and didn’t want anything to do with her. My response to her was, “No, he’s broken, forget him.” That was my idea for the song. Obviously we’re all broken, but my point to her was: you don’t need him.
“Broken Things” was on my first album and reason for doing that song over is I’ve always felt like it’s one of the best songs for me personally, and I felt like with my band now, it could so much better. It’s the only song I’ve written on an electric guitar. So when we did it with the acoustic guitar, I wasn’t hearing it how I wrote it.
RLR: Sometimes when people hear songs like that, they assume that everything is autobiographical, when it isn’t necessarily, but how do you think about putting out music that is vulnerable like those songs?
JT: My first album, I was really nervous about it. It was really scary. But this being the third, I’m very comfortable sharing my dark secrets or experiences. When I listen to music, that’s what I really enjoy listening to. I want to hear honesty in the lyrics. I can’t listen to the country stations these days with that crap. Sharon Van Etten, I’m a huge fan of hers. From a writing perspective, I’m always going to challenge myself with what I’m going to write about. The song, “A Better Life,” I woke up one morning and wrote that song. Within an hour, I had wrote that song.
RLR: So you woke up with that song in your head? Talk to me about what that was like–where did it start?
JT: Well, just reflecting on folks that are, like a lot of my friends who are my age, who have kids, families–I don’t have that. It got me thinking, would it be a better life if things were different? I think everyone can relate to that–not just in relationships, or family, but also in work, or other things.
RLR: What does that process look like? Are you playing with different melodies or chords, or do you have lyrics that you’re trying to develop first?
JT: I’m really into creating the melody to songs. My phone is full of little clips of melodies. So I’ll go back and try to find something that just really sticks with me, and once I get that, I’ll incorporate the lyrics.
But I’m a big fan of sitting down with the guitar, and I like to change up with different tunings, putting the capo at different frets, and it challenges me as an artist to create something different than what you hear all the time.
RLR: Speaking of that idea of challenging yourself, I’ve heard of different artists putting constraints on themselves to spark creativity–like Nickel Creek used to write a song a day while on tour, or a challenge to write a song with only two chords.
JT: As far as challenges for me, it’s cowriting with folks. It’s kind of scary, and I’ll give you a good example. I sat down with Dave Mallett to try to write songs with him, and I was just so intimidated. I would just freeze up. I feel more comfortable writing songs alone, and I always have, so when I cowrite with someone, it’s a huge challenge.
There is a cowrite on this album, with Nate Soule, and he’s considered one of the best guitar players around. He’s doing most of the back up vocals on the record and the one we cowrote is, “Like You.” He came up with the melodies, and the guitar riffs, and it was much slower than what you hear now. He said, “This idea of “she said,” sticks in my head.” So I took it home and I sped it up and came up with those lyrics: “Wounded woman, I am a wounded man.” Nate and I sat down and were trying to figure out lyrics, and it really didn’t come to me until I was back home, by myself, able to come up with most of those lyrics.
JT: John Wyman produced the album and he was just unbelievable. We did a lot of pre-production with Ian Riley and Dan Capaldi and that was a key, just making sure that we’re tight with transitions, as far as bass and drums. When we go into record with Wyman, all it is for the first two days is bass, drums, and acoustic guitar. I like not everyone being prepared before they go into the studio. The past two albums that I did with John, that’s what it looked like: the lead guitar player, the pedal steel players, Ben Cosgrove on piano, it’s all about them coming in and creating their art based on what we have, because they’re the artists as well.
RLR: Let’s talk a little bit about process as an independent musician. There is so much to juggle, so can you talk about how you balance the need to create new music with also the need to book shows, recruit players for the band and studio, stay in touch with fans, etc?
JT: For me, I have fun with it. Right now, I’m really excited to share our album that we created. Doing that, there are some late nights where I’m up making posters–which I can’t believe I’m doing; it’s a miracle [laughs]. But I’m able to do that, and manage my own band. We’re not a touring band, and if we were, like The Malletts or Ghost of Paul Revere, I certainly would not be able to handle it, working a full-time job during the day. But it’s fun for me, sharing songs and playing in front of folks. Like the Sunaana Festival – I feel very fortunate that I have folks that will show up and follow my music. It makes the work worth it.
You can pre-order Broken Things here and learn more about Joel and his music at his website.