John Darnielle, the driving force behind the Mountain Goats' longevity, is a hard man to track down.
With the band touring seemingly nonstop through the duration of the summer in North America and heading over seas in October, it's easy to imagine that free time doesn't always come so freely. Still, when the opportunity arises to interview such a notable act, New Times will always jump at the chance, and never halfheartedly. Even if that opportunity to communicate arises on Twitter.
We sent a solemn and defeated tweet out into the universe about how the Mountain Goats didn't get a chance to respond to our interview questions, but never expected such a busy dude as Darnielle to see it. Alas, we learned to never underestimate the power of the tweet! Here is our 140 character a question Twitter interview about vegan eating on the road and songs about Florida with the Mountain Goats' frontman.
To the bands journalists email interviews to: we spend a lot of time thinking those q's through. It sucks not hearing back. @mountain_goats
— C. Townsend Rizzo (@rizzosoandso) June 21, 2013
@rizzosoandso apologies, man - I'm on tour and the time gets away from me.
— The Mountain Goats (@mountain_goats) June 21, 2013
@mountain_goats Twitter interview? I can rustle up a few of the q's i wrote up originally for @NewTimesBroward
— C. Townsend Rizzo (@rizzosoandso) June 22, 2013
@rizzosoandso @NewTimesBroward if you want I'm here at the laptop for the next 1/2 hour probably.
— The Mountain Goats (@mountain_goats) June 22, 2013
@mountain_goats Florida pops up in your songs quite a bit. What significance does FL have to you? What about FL is song worthy?
— C. Townsend Rizzo (@rizzosoandso) June 22, 2013
@rizzosoandso it was the terminus of the story arc for the people who try to run away from themselves by following the 10 fwy to the end
— The Mountain Goats (@mountain_goats) June 22, 2013
@mountain_goats But your songs seem to have this autobiographical narrative. Was it you running? What do you think people find at the end?
— C. Townsend Rizzo (@rizzosoandso) June 22, 2013
@rizzosoandso "seems autobiographical" really only means "is convincingly written/performed" imo
— The Mountain Goats (@mountain_goats) June 22, 2013
@rizzosoandso all the stories from that bunch, the Tallahassee ones, are made-up stories, there's really no autobiographical element there
— The Mountain Goats (@mountain_goats) June 22, 2013
@mountain_goats getting these questions to fit a tweet is quite the challenge.
— C. Townsend Rizzo (@rizzosoandso) June 22, 2013
@mountain_goats how do you choose these people and places for songs? Lyrics aren't coded, but we still take away more than the face value.
— C. Townsend Rizzo (@rizzosoandso) June 22, 2013
@rizzosoandso was reading a lot of John Berryman when the story started, he was a kid in Florida. The people sort of become alive as I write
— The Mountain Goats (@mountain_goats) June 22, 2013
@rizzosoandso many many creative choices boil down to: "well, why not this?" --in this case, "why not Florida?"
— The Mountain Goats (@mountain_goats) June 22, 2013
@mountain_goats Does that same attitude apply when you decided that recording on a boombox or 4-track was something of interest?
— C. Townsend Rizzo (@rizzosoandso) June 22, 2013
@rizzosoandso I should maybe get "there was never a four-track" tattooed on my face
— The Mountain Goats (@mountain_goats) June 22, 2013
@mountain_goats so that's mythical?
— C. Townsend Rizzo (@rizzosoandso) June 22, 2013
@rizzosoandso no, it's bad reporting. People just started saying "John Darnielle and his 4-track" in reviews. I recorded on a boombox.
— The Mountain Goats (@mountain_goats) June 22, 2013
@rizzosoandso but yes. I bought the Panasonic on a lark, because I had a good job and my rent was cheap. Ditto the guitar. Impulses.
— The Mountain Goats (@mountain_goats) June 22, 2013
@mountain_goats those impulses are what make the means available to the artist to create. Speaking of impulse...
— C. Townsend Rizzo (@rizzosoandso) June 22, 2013
@rizzosoandso oh yeah, they're great, no disrespect to impulses. People want to describe them as solemn event-choices though. They're chance
— The Mountain Goats (@mountain_goats) June 22, 2013
@mountain_goats Switching gears-- I was curious, how long have you kept a vegan diet?
— C. Townsend Rizzo (@rizzosoandso) June 22, 2013
@rizzosoandso I'm about outta time here. Vegetarian since 1996.
— The Mountain Goats (@mountain_goats) June 22, 2013
@mountain_goats I just wondered how hard it is to have those restrictions on tour and if you had any advice for the traveling veggie eater.
— C. Townsend Rizzo (@rizzosoandso) June 22, 2013
@rizzosoandso an app called VegOut for the iPhone has been a godsend. In the past it was rrrrrrough
— The Mountain Goats (@mountain_goats) June 22, 2013
@mountain_goats thanks so much for taking the time to do this! Again, can't wait for the show on Monday!
— C. Townsend Rizzo (@rizzosoandso) June 22, 2013
In case a Twitter interview with John Darnielle hasn't piqued your interest for Monday's show at Culture Room, here is another gem offered up by social media. That's right. The man behind the tweets holding a wombat.
What a nice guy.
Mountain Goats with the Baptist Generals, 7:30, Monday, June 24, at Culture Room, 3045 N. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale. Tickets cost $20. Visit cultureroom.net.
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