Soundbooth
Gather ‘round the River Arkansas
Riv’ frontman Mike Clark talks musical growth, a changing world and a short-lived rap career.
By John Bueno
“You want some breakfast?” Mike Clark asks me a few minutes before we meet up at his place to chat about his newest album, You Animal. Far from the sophomore slump some artists end up with, You Animal is a second effort that takes and refines the best aspects and traits of great American art forms like Country, Folk, Soul and Americana music and injects them with an impressive backing and Clark’s own signature down-home croon. The experience of the record is beautifully unparalleled; defiant of any trappings of genre, instead gracefully building on its influences to create a new stamp on music.
When I arrive, I find he was not kidding; breakfast and coffee are in full swing, 60’s psychedelic staple Donovan is on the record player, and Mike’s adorable dog and travel companion Flapjack is charging about the house. It’s this kind of actual down-home attitude and hospitality I have always loved from Mike; A raw honesty that really comes through, bereft of pretense. Mike Clark doesn’t seem to have it in him. And it shows in the food he makes, the way he talks, and in the music he creates.
You stay busy all the time as a ‘Chimes member, a Sugar Sounds frontman and as a solo artist. Do you write different types of songs for all of them, or you just write what you write?
MC: I definitely write differently depending on which project it is. The ‘Chimes get my folkier stuff, but honestly I haven’t written a song for the Sugar Sounds in a while. But we hit the studio next week!
Dang. You’d better start writing then! You love to keep busy, don’t you?
MC: I’m 38, man. I don’t feel like I want to be a road warrior anymore, you know? Now I’m just trying to make a legacy for myself.
So the road isn’t as fun anymore?
MC: Well, when I’m on stage it’s fun. But driving for 5 hours…well, I guess that’s fun too. It’s mostly not fun not having a normal life at all. That’s the problem. It’s hard to leave for a month at a time; I’ve got a girlfriend and a dog and a house that I miss, you know? As much as I like it, I’ve been traveling hard for 8 years. Plus, Colorado is like its own planet these days. You don’t have to leave the state for gigs nearly as much. There’s art galleries and spaces popping up all over the state.
It’s funny, you don’t really see a lot of that here in Pueblo it seems.
MC: I feel like outside people, and maybe even some here, too many, just see Pueblo as this dark place; and it is not at all. We may have an extra tiny touch of danger here and there, but no more than anywhere else. But honestly, I think that that reality makes for a more well rounded community; we don’t have our heads in the sand.
A lot of people who play folk music now started off in edgier bands. Was that the case with you?
Mike Clark: No, I started playing music late. Punk rock never hit Calhan, Colorado while I was there. So I missed out on that. In Calhan, you had to drive an hour to the nearest record store. So we mostly listened to whatever was on the radio or MTV. So like, bands like Bush and the Dr Dre’s The Chronic and 90s hip hop, stuff like that.
So were you rapping in the 90's?
MC: I did! Not in front of other people though. It was mostly in my bedroom. The music was pretty good for a minute then, in the 90’s.
Post election, there’s a lot of people being political through art and music. Do you feel the urge to get in on it?
MC: Me personally? I don’t know what I can even do about it. All I can do is be a good person. It seems like there isn’t any way to beat the money anymore. No one has any money to fight it. But I think if we could try to transform the way people think or don’t think that’s a start. There’s a whole entirely different world out there than what a lot of people think is out there.
How long did You Animal take to come together?
MC: We actually recorded it in March of last year. Almost a full year. We spent a lot of time mixing it, and saving money to press it, getting the art; it really takes a lot of work to put a record out. Plus you want the right time of the year. It was mixed and mastered mid-summer, but putting out a record in the fall is kind of weird. It doesn’t feel like a fall record to me.
What kind of record does it feel like to you?
MC: I don’t know, I guess. I guess it feels like this Donovan record playing now; you can just put it on anytime you want. But you know, not exactly like a Donovan record. (Laughs) It’s hard to explain.
I think I get it. And it definitely does have its own mood to it. Very relaxed, but it builds on itself well. It’s great early morning cooking music to me!
MC: Perfect! That’s kind of how I want it to be, and what I’ve always wanted for the River Arkansas; to be a kind of everyday type of band.
One of my favorite aspects of the record is the musicianship of the band; It really blew me away. Did you do all of the songwriting and arranging for it?
MC: Aww thanks. I start it off, but it’s arranged with everyone else. We cut pretty much the whole thing live, too. Very few overdubs. I come to the band with chord changes and the words, but everyone else definitely bring a lot of important pieces to it. I don’t write music notes, so more often than not I am whistling a string hook to Rachel and Danah, and they modify it and play it back to me almost immediately in tune and in melody. It’s amazing.
So it’s been almost two years since your last record with the Riv. How has the band changed in that time?
MC: It’s changed a whole lot. The girls are singing now, and it’s different because we’ve been together as a band for two years now. Last time, we put out a record in October and were touring by March. But it’s easier now; everyone has an idea of what this band is and what it should sound like. I keep bringing new stuff to the table, and they keep going for it and making it amazing.
The River Arkansas sounds a lot different from what most people would think folk music is now. How do you feel about the prominent Lumineers aesthetic?
MC: They really started something there, didn’t they? “Ho Hey” really punched it to the max. But I actually really like that song. It’s a really great pop song. They tapped into something; there’s something nostalgic about a big kick drum and echo-y vocals.
Do Folk and Americana fans equate you with them?
MC: No, I don’t think so. I feel like they see a banjo and then put you into the folk market either way. Which is a great market to be in; people are always out, going to shows and wanting to hear new music. But is a bit hard; a lot of bands are real wordy bands with a lot to say, and with that popular four-on-the-floor drum beat, it feels like if you bring anything other than that anymore people don’t have the attention span for it. I played with a band at a big festival in California, and every song of theirs was exactly the same; an hour long set of the same beat. No diversity to it. It was like, wow. It’s kind of hard to compete with.
That’s too bad. It seems like folk is losing some of its quiet intimacy that way.
MC: It’s alright, there’s still people sitting down on bar stools doing it; at Red Rocks even! Gregory Alan Isakov is out there killing it, and those are some slow, quiet tunes man. And people are eatin’ it up; sitting there quietly and listening and enjoying them.
How does You Animal differ from your last release for you personally?
MC: A lot is different now. Golden Light was about me really going through some serious stuff; the songs were real sorrowful, and I felt like I wanted to get away from people. But this one feels a lot more hopeful to me; it’s got a few love songs on it, and who doesn’t love a love song? I think it’s also the best record I’ve ever made. Sonically it’s good; the words are good. I’m happy with it.
To my ear, it comes from a real place; it doesn’t sound forced.
MC: It’s definitely not cheesy; I didn’t sit down and try to write hits, you know? It’s two years of songwriting, paired down to the best of them. Playing with the band, see which ones stick with you the best. That’s really the only way I know how.
Songbird Cellars hosts a special Pueblo release for You Animal by the River Arkansas with special guest Willy Tea Taylor on Friday, March 10th. Tickets on sale here.
For more info and upcoming dates, head over to theRiverArkansas.com
