STACK NZ Apr #61

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with POKEY LaFARGE

“The slang sometimes people don’t

STACK : Your music is a timeless brand of rootsy Americana; why does this style continue to connect with audiences? POKEY LAFAGE: It’s always been alive: it’s never died. It’s music that got its birth, and its evolution, via the underground – it’s never been ‘popular music.’ The Grand Ole Opry has always been a ‘thing’ but only a small percentage of artists make it to the Grand Ole Opry. But blues, jazz – very few genres had an outlet like Grand Ole Opry. It’s always been music of the people, created by the people and preserved by the people. What is intrinsically American about your music that even Americans don’t understand? Some Americans take culture for granted. Music, architecture – things that people through blood, sweat and tears worked to create and preserve. The slang sometimes people don’t

Go back to rock’n’roll in the ’50s: you have 1,000 screaming fans, there’s one PA speaker about them, the bass isn’t miked, the drums aren’t miked, the only thing that’s miked is Chuck Berry or Elvis’s voice, and the guitar is just blaring. Go back before that: they were having dances with 3,000 people with bands that weren’t even miked. Preservation Hall was like that, but it only fits 50 people! You don’t need a PA, you don’t need electricity. But, for every Preservation Hall, there are 100 other places people don’t know. Tell me about the video for Something in theWater , with the girl chasing you up the street with a baseball bat. We were trying to have fun, trying to accentuate the absurdity of the conflict that often arises in a relationship. No matter how tough things are, people still love each other. That’s my partner in the clip; she’s the one I wrote the song about.

Germans, in America and in Mexico, was huge. A lot of the early brass band culture comes from Germany and that influenced the early parts of jazz. the context. It’s a huge part of the music.” understand: they might understand the words I’m saying, but not

Preservation Hall is seen in the New Orleans episode of Foo

Fighters’ Sonic Highways series. It’s tiny, there’s no PA, it’s just a room. Have you played in there? Oh yeah! I have. That’s the great thing about early music. People’s ears must have been totally different.

understand: they might understand

the word I’m saying, but not the context. It’s a huge part of the music. A lot of people don’t understand that the influence of the

• Something in the Water by Pokey LaFarge is out now