What Comes After the Blues = More Blues
By Andrew Clayman
Published in Chicago Innerview, November 2008
Despite being one of the most prolific songwriters this side of Bob Pollard, Jason Molina is a man of relatively few words. In the blue-collar troubadour tradition, he likes to let his music speak for itself—a preference which has arguably made him both a man of mystery and an open book over the past ten years.
Molina completists have had their work cut out for them since the Cleveland area native signed to Secretly Canadian in 1997. After dropping about a dozen records under the name Songs:Ohia, Molina shifted his focus a bit in the early aughts, recording some solo material and collaborating with Will Oldham and Alasdair Roberts as the Amalgamated Sons of Rest. He also transformed Songs:Ohia into the Magnolia Electric Co.-- a Crazy Horse style band that quickly became a staple of Chicago’s alt-country and indie-rock scenes.
The past two years have been challenging ones for Molina and Magnolia Electric Co., as they toured extensively behind the monstrous 4-disc release Sojourner, then went on hiatus following the tragic death of bassist Evan Farrell in a house fire last December. Molina also made a bold personal move, leaving the cozy confines of Chicago for a new home in the UK. Chicago Innerview caught up with the Magnolia front man for a rapid fire Q&A session on where he’s at, literally and metaphorically.
CI:
You’re coming back to Chicago to record a new Magnolia record with Steve Albini. What are the plans for the album, and what have you missed about the city?
JM:
We have a boxcar full of new songs. It will be a thematic record also. I love Chicago, but like most things, I made a decision to move and have to live with it. I'm sorry to be gone.
CI:
Do you feel like your Midwestern upbringing has played a major role in your mindset and subsequent art?
JM:
Certainly. I'm from coal country West Virginia and Lorain, Ohio— the path straight up on the trains to the Great Lakes. I've had the factories, shipyards, mountains, lakes, rivers, prairies-- you name it. And it is all in the music.
CI:
What separates a Jason Molina solo song from a Magnolia song or a collaboration project?
JM:
I don't see any real differences. To me a song is a song. I’ve never lived long enough any one place to keep a band full time. Magnolia is the closest to this, but I still think it's all in the same bag. If I can get together with any group of musicians to try a song out, I will.
CI:
How is the band coping with the loss of Evan and keeping his name alive?
JM:
Listen to the new record. That's my way. Everyone else has their own.
CI:
Obviously, you've been a part of the Secretly Canadian family for a long time. What is it that sets them apart and explains their success, in a nutshell?
JM:
Honesty. They are direct and open and that formula works for anything.
CI:
The Amalgamated Sons of Rest album was actually recorded, in part, on September 11, 2001. How did that impact those recordings?
JM:
That was really very heavy, but for my part I tried to write in the moment and I feel that is reflected on the record all through.
CI:
I once had a friend shed tears when she heard you play “Just Be Simple” live. Is that song still in the repertoire?
JM: I'm phasing that one out, actually, but we have about 30 new ones! So, no need for tears.
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