Mason Jennings Interview

There comes a time in many of our lives when we drop everything and chase our dreams of being free. Free from the constraints of daily life: going to school, getting a job, paying the bills, dealing with homework, deadlines and staying one step ahead of the man.  As surfers we chase our dreams as often as we can.  The surf comes up and we release ourselves from the grips of reality and become as free as the wind.  With that freedom comes a certain lifestyle, one that music plays a major part in.  Many of us can remember the music that played during our very first surf adventure.  How many of you watch surf videos as much for the music as for the surfing?  Without a doubt, the two go hand in hand.  Surfing and music are innately coupled together. They are both unique yet share the same interest, as Mason Jennings puts it, the experience of life.
    Singer-songwriter Mason Jennings has been compared to some of the greats of our time.  He’s an old soul, a storyteller, with a message of hope and optimism and a style all his own.  Jennings, like Jack Kerouac, has the unique ability to tell a story in a way that invites you in to be a part of the adventure.  Each song has an individual sound and feel all its own, yet they all come together well.  Jennings’ music is considered folk/rock by industry standards, but it’s much more than that.  It’s unique, inventive and original.  You’ll just have to have a listen and decide for yourself.
    Mason Jennings’ latest release, Boneclouds, is in stores now.  He’s been on tour in support of his new release and we caught up with him and asked him a few questions about music, life, the new record and what it means to be an artist.   

SurfShot: Your music, sound and songwriting have been compared to that of many greats.  But we can’t really seem to put a finger on your style because you have such a unique sound.  How did you find that unique style, set yourself apart and still draw comparisons to greats like Dylan?
Mason Jennings: I think, for me, it’s just the same thing in life.  You have to listen to your heart. When I play something too derivative, it doesn’t really hit with me ... the last thing I want to do is recreate someone else’s work, you know? The exciting thing for me is going out there alone into the woods and trying to accomplish something that’s fresh to me, current to me, and that explains my situation.  I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m constantly engaged in trying to talk about my experience.  So, I guess, when you do that really accurately you don’t sound like anyone else. Everyone’s got different lives, you know?
SS: As an artist your path is always shifting.  It’s changing all the time.  On your first album you were indie and now you’re signed. What keeps you grounded and what do you do to keep your focus and vision as an artist intact?
MJ: I just try to make art. I have a space I go to; it’s a little room on the second floor of an art center. I go there all the time to record and play stuff.
SS: Who inspires you?
MJ: My kids inspire me, my friends. In the past I looked to people that came before me like Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and people like that.  I really like good songwriters.  I also like really good novelists like Nicole Krauss who wrote The History of Love, which is the last book that really inspired me.  I like Steinbeck a lot and Hemingway.
SS: In your new album, Boneclouds, you can really hear that coming through.
MJ: Good, man.  I think it’s all about being a father, that record.
SS: Now that Boneclouds has been released, what’s on the horizon for you? Any new projects?
MJ: Yeah, I think I might start getting back in the studio pretty fast.  I would like to get back in there in the next couple months and experiment more. We just got back from a big tour and that was fun. I’m just working on some new songs and would like to amass a whole new batch and push it forward some more. And I’ve been traveling.  I just got back from Big Sur and I’d like to get out to New York again real soon. I’m just constantly trying new things.
SS: Let’s focus in on your new album, Boneclouds.  How did the name come about?
MJ: It was a song that didn’t make the record.  I was listening to Joanna Newsome a lot and she’s got a lot of imagery with bones. I just felt that when you’re around life being born, you can’t help but think about death all the time, and I wanted something with contrast like that. Something dead, something alive, something lofty, something grounded, something hard, something soft and I also wanted a word that didn’t mean anything else.
SS: You collaborated with Shepard Fairey for the cover art. How did you connect with Shepard for this album?
MJ: He’s a friend of Isaac Brock who is on the label. He runs Glacial Pace and we got in touch. He was sort of into the music and thought he would just try it for fun and then he really started to get inside the music. After a couple of weeks he kept calling me and was like, “I’m a real punk guy, but this stuff is really resonating with me.” He’s a new father too and we just talked about it. I really wanted it to be like Cuban poster art and he was really into that and I thought he was really the best for the job because he’s the pre-eminent poster artist right now. Not too many people can do what he did with the graphics I wanted, but I think he did.
SS: The album seems to be a much more mature album with many textures and lawyers. There is a lot going on in there. It seems that even though each song has its own story, they all seem to gel. Can you touch on that?
MJ: Right, that’s awesome! That’s what we were hoping for.  Each song kind of holds its own space, but somehow forms a bigger whole.
SS: It’s very yin and yang. From the darkness comes the light and from the light there’s darkness ... it’s all connected.  There seemed to be a very spiritual journey going on and it seemed like you found another big piece of the puzzle.
MJ: Yeah, I think so. I definitely opened myself up a lot more on this album.
SS: In terms of the process, as a musician and as an artist, what goes on?  I remember the last time we met you told me you don’t write down any of your lyrics.  How do you keep all that information together and then, for example, put it into a piece like Boneclouds?
MJ: I just try to get alone enough and go to my space regularly, not even to write necessarily, but just to get my hands on a piano or guitar. When stuff is ready to come out it’s really fast, you know, it’s a real improvisational thing. With songwriting it’s sort of like you have to live your life as a good human being or the songs aren’t going to be good, they’re not going to ring true to people.  That’s my philosophy on it. For me it’s really important to continually grow and become a stronger artist.  
SS: Have you found that it’s harder now that you’ve signed with a major label?
MJ: No, it’s actually easier. The label isn’t expecting me to be a pop musician.  They kind of think of what I do as an art-based thing and they help me a lot.  I actually have more time to do my art.  They take care of a lot of the behind the scenes things that used to take up a lot of my time.  I was expecting them to be weirded out by the rawness of this record, but a lot of the guys at the label said their favorite song on the record is “If You Ain’t Got Love,” one of the most raw songs on there. I thought that was cool.  I was really surprised they were into that stuff.
SS: What have you been listening to lately?  What’s on rotation?
MJ: The Shins have been on non-stop.  The Arcade Fire record, Funeral, Regina Spector’s Kings of Leon.
SS: Who do you hope to collaborate with some day?    
MJ: It would be fun to get with Dylan. I think he’d be a good guy to work with.  I think Joanna Newsom and Bad Plus. Neil Young would be fun.  So many people! Lucinda Williams, I think that would be a good one.