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For the second year, Asbury Lanes is battening down its hatches in preparation to serve as the Atlantic Coast rendezvous for the band of rogue troubadours aboard the annual Revival Tour -- a sweaty, surly rebel-rock jamboree uniting some of the most tried-and-true voices in punk in a raucous roadshow of punk ethos stripped to its enginery.
Headlined by Chuck Ragan (ex Hot Water Music) and Tim Barry, (Avail), this year's event also features new additions Jim Ward (Sparta, Sleepercar) and Jenny Owen Youngs.
Singer-songwriter-guitarist and Revival founder Ragan says he stoked on the recent release of his latest full-length, "Gold Country'' but takes equal pride in the paths he's forged beyond his musical career, which include the obligations of husband and full-time carpenter and contractor.
Ragan recently shared with Metromix his thoughts on life, love and the art of deconstruction.
One of the most unifying themes throughout your musical career, from HWM to Rumbleseat to now, seems to be the importance of simply keeping on, weathering hard lessons and growing through the storm. How has the art, the challenge, of conveying that changed since stripping down your vehicle to essentially a howl and a guitar? Is it purer in a sense?
I wouldn't say purer, but more so clearer -- or more controlled -- a little more precise or at least coming out of my head rather than four different directions, which has pros and cons. I love the freedom of expression with it, but there's also more pressure that I put on myself not having a few buddies policing each others ideas all the time. I play music first and foremost for the love of it and for the therapy of it all. It's not even something that I want to do all the time but more so something that I feel drawn to or need to do.
How has having a supportive life back home, where you're given time to pursue and balance other responsibilities -- wife, day job -- with touring part time, affected you both creatively and personally?
I believe you have to work hard to play hard and vice versa. I love to look at life and see that work and play can be the same, or should be the same to an extent. I'm not talking about not taking work seriously or not relaxing enough to let yourself go and have some fun, but more so just plain enjoying how we live, and finding that joy in different ways. The fact of the matter is that it doesn't matter how much you love doing something, if you don't carry diversity in your life, whether you're working or you're playing, anything can get old and anyone can become stagnant.
Making it has a different meaning for everyone. I've been just as on top of the world without a dime to my name, eating crackers and ketchup as I've been with a full belly and a pocket full of money. Just as well I've been in a miserable pit both ways. I'm not going to spout off about how money doesn't matter because it does. It's certainly not the most important thing in my life. But it certainly matters to me for me to have the life for my family and myself that I feel is up to a decent standard. It matters to be able to do the things I care to do, make the music I care to make and take it to where I care to take it.
I've come to realize that making it to me is doing what I love -- making sure that my love, my family and myself are safe and on track, fed and comfortable. I'll be a carpenter as long as I'm a musician, husband, fisherman, skateboarding, dog-owning guy who enjoys whiskey by the fire until I'm dead and gone.
Where as "Feast or Famine'' was a much more stark, streamlined effort, "Gold Country'' seems to heading back in the direction of "Bristle Ridge'' -- adding a little more sprawl and stomp in the mix. Going in, was that a conscious turn on your part? Given how custom-fit these tunes seem to be for Revival's aesthetic, were the songs of the new album conceived with the tour in mind?
What I wanted to do with this record was to let the songs come out, stack 'em up and pick the ones that moved me at the time and made the most sense to me at the time as a collection of songs. After that, I wanted to bring in my friends, point 'em in the direction I felt and put in my input and then turn em loose to do what they do best. Then just try to capture their moments, their energy and their parts that felt the most right for the piece we were working on.
There was definitely a good energy in the studio with us all and we certainly had times around that fire. I wanted it to be more raw, more loose and just all around more relaxed, and just what it was … just a bunch of friends having a good time in a studio up in the mountains in the thick of it. I live up in Northern California in the foothills of the Sierras and we're off the beaten path a bit but live in a thriving community of music and good folks. This area is known as "Gold County'' for being built and run around different gold mines through the rush era. There's a lot of that energy still here and a lot of folks who carry the hard work ethics of those days. So it's a
big influence, up where this southern boy has been made to feel at home. Damn good fishing as well.
When you're up on stage, particularly at Revival dates, is the charge still the same as it was at the old punk shows? To some fans, you will always be a representative of punk rock, just with a different filter. Is that a badge you still wear with pride, or do you hope people will look at the solo material as an animal separate and evolved from anything in the Hot Water Music canon?
Sure. The charge for me, and I can speak for a lot of us, it's not much different than what it is or what it was with a band. It's more clear, less noise. At times to me if it's at all any different, it's that it's a bit more intense. When you strip yourself down and lay it out on the table there's not a whole lot to hide behind. It can be scary as all hell sometimes, but that's part of the rush and part of the accomplishment. I'm proud of what I've accomplished for myself at this point as well as over the years with all my friends. I wouldn't be the person that I am if it wasn't for the sacrifices we've made. So since I'm comfortable and content in my own boots, I can't complain at all my friend. Life is good.
