Many would know Jim Ward’s name from his stint with now-defunct influential post-hardcore outfit At the Drive-In. Since the band’s demise, Ward has been at the helm of alter-rockers Sparta. While the band is currently on hiatus, Ward has put together a alter-country project called Sleepercar to keep himself busy.
Sleepercar is about to release a full length album that is chock full of Americana rock and for many fans of Ward’s previous outings, will come as a pleasant surprise. Titled West Texas the album displays an amazing strength in the songwriting department and is underscored by an expansive, sprawling and beautiful sound. The sounds of the instruments - which include pedal steel, acoustic guitar, farfisa organ, bass, drums and even cello - only add to the reflective theme Ward takes in his musical exploration.
Ward is a very busy man indeed. He has also recently been performing shows in a solo capacity and released a solo EP titled Quiet late last year which showed another side to Ward’s many sided muse. Joe Matera recently caught up with Jim Ward to discuss his new project, songwriting and how playing solo compares to playing within a band framework.
Ultimate-Guitar: West Texas is musically a stark contrast to what you’re normally associated with in Sparta. What influenced the direction you decided to take on this album?
Jim Ward: There were a lot of influences, everything from Bob Dylan to Tom Petty to Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers. I’ve seem to have got into that sort of music more and more over the years. And I found I have like this connection to that sort of Americana music.
It seems that for most artists, once they reach the age of 30 like you have, they tend to veer off into a musical direction other than what they’ve come to be associated with, so do you think that this was a natural evolution for you?
I do feel like that. I feel that it has grown inside of me and that I’ve nurtured it and that it had come time to show the world this other part of me. And I think, once you reach your Thirties, you just tend to start to look at other things that will satisfy your musical ambitions. For me it has been really important that I have had the chance to make a different kind of record. You know, I would never make like a Sparta kind of country record. But it has been good to have outlet for this kind of stuff.
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| "Once you reach your Thirties, you just tend to start to look at other things that will satisfy your musical ambitions." |
One of the first songs written for this record was first written way back during the last tour undertaken by At The Drive In?
Yeah, it started with that and grew over the course of years. So there is a kind of wide variety of, and evolution of, my love for this sort of music. Over the course of the songwriting period, I would revisit the songs too. Some of the songs were recorded three or four times. And there was a process of building them and redoing them on my own during my down time. And when I had a finished song, I’d take it and record the drums with the drummer and then go home and keep working on them in my studio. And I would send stuff off to people too. There are a lot of people who kind of just show up on this record.
I notice that one of those guests on the record is your Dad, Jeff Ward?
Yeah he plays bass on the record but he won’t be on the road with me. It was really good having him. Also on one of my early live shows my brother-in-law also played even though he isn’t on this record. It [the record] is very much about family and it is that sort of music which is multi-generational.
What was the recording process like for the album?
The only time I actually left my house, was to record the drums [Matthew Schmitz played drums] and I did them in this big second-story loft with dome ceilings in El Paso. Then I would take it home and basically start chipping away at it. And when it came to choosing the mikes to record the acoustic guitar, I used a SM-81. The acoustic was a 1968 Gibson J-45 acoustic and that is really the basis of all the acoustic stuff on the record. I also had another acoustic that was given to me by a friend of mine that I used also on a couple of Sparta records but I don’t know what it is because the name has been scratched off. It is like this very bottom row of Martin line, the Martin cheap brand. But I love that guitar. I write a lot of songs on that acoustic and record with it a bit as well. The electric stuff was mostly a couple of Fender Esquires and a 1961 Les Paul Junior for the beefier riffs. A Vox AC-30 was the only main amp I used. Some of the extra guitar playing was done in Los Angeles by a guy named Chris Heinrich, who also plays all the pedal steel. So when he visited my house when he was in town, I’d put him through a Fender Twin and soak it in reverb and it was done.
How does your live set-up differ from the studio set-up?
Usually I have my Vox AC-30 with me as it is a good to amp onstage my Gibson which is basically D-I-ed.
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| "There are a lot of people who kind of just show up on this record." |
When you’re on the road do you jot down ideas for songs?
Yes, I travel with a Mbox and Laptop and so if I have an idea it is important for me to put it down. I used to be all about working on songs until they were written and I’d never recorded them. I’d just keep playing them until I figured out the way I’d like them to be. Then I went through a big phase for years where I recorded everything that I thought of and then go back and try to piece it together and make new things out of it. And now, I’ve sort of gone back to having these songs in my head and just playing them at sound check. And it is very easy now because it is just me.
Were there other songs recorded during the sessions that don’t appear on the record?
Yes, there were a couple of B-sides recorded. I’m also starting this thing where I’m going to do 7” inches with printable and collectable sort of silk screen covers. So there’ll be a b-side on that. I’m almost done with that project though and it will be out like in April as well as the record. There was a ton of songs that I wrote and so I’ll just keep putting out records.
What inspires you in general when it comes to songwriting?
It is definitely a combination of books and music. I have real short attention span so I kind of like consume quickly and move on. I have a hard time sitting in one place. And lately I haven’t really been sleeping a lot so I have been reading a lot and watching a lot of movies too as well as listening to a lot of records.
When it comes to playing as a solo artist, do you find you’re more in an exposed and revealing space musically than when you’re in a band and have others you can sort of hide behind and not reveal too much of yourself?
I found it totally different. It has been some of the most horrifying and scary moments that I’ve ever had onstage. And like recently when I was opening for Incubus in front of a couple thousand people standing there, I’d come out with just the guitar and it was frightening. But I was excited to feel that feeling again. You know, you can get used to all this stuff and forget what a rush it is to be faced with that sort of challenge where you are like winning people over with your music.
What is the status with Sparta. Will there be another record from the band?
I’m sure there will be another album with Sparta but I think at the moment I just need to have a break from it and sort of find some inspiration and to get this all out of my system.
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| "Obviously music is going to be the main part of my life as I don't know what else to do." |
You recently released solo EP called Quiet. I hear it is the first release in a trilogy of EPs you have in the works?
Yes, that was the first one. The second one should be out soon. Hopefully I’ll have it finished in a couple of weeks time. It has just been hard when I have had to finish the Sleepercar record as well. I’m not entirely sure how the trilogy is going to all pan out. All I know is how it begins and how it will end but with the middle part, it has been a little bit challenging because the story is in three parts.
What is the ultimate goal you want to achieve with your music?
I think I would like to find that I continue to grow as a writer. Always my angle has been to make great songs. That is what I always try to do. I just see all of it as this task and I don’t know if I will ever get there, but I just want to write songs and hopefully grow and learn more about orchestration. I’d love to do movie stuff. I’ve done a little bit of background music and stuff but I’d like to do more of that. It is pretty hard to get in to as it is a seriously competitive area of music. But I like to continue to chip away at that aspect. I also like to produce more as well so it is a sort of combination of those two things. Obviously music is going to be the main part of my life as I don’t know what else to do.
Does it annoy you when you get constantly get asked in interviews about your days with At-The-Drive-In?
There have been years where I wish people didn’t talk about it. I think you sort of grow up and learn how to deal with it all and understand why. It is obviously a huge part of my life. And it was a great time and part of life. I’m grateful for the opportunity that it afforded me and the experiences I had. But I also just consider it the first act of my music. Sometimes I think the perspective gets a little skewed on that band because of the way it ended at such a weird time. So sometimes it gets blown a little out of proportion but that is just me, you know.
Interview by Joe Matera
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