Singer-songwriter Andrew Combs was kind enough to join me after his set at Bob Harris' Under the Apple Tree Roots Festival in London - read on below to find out his thoughts on getting married, playing for UK audiences, and the best kind of songs to write:
Ciara’s Country (CC): First of all Andrew, thank you so much for joining me!
Andrew Combs (AC): Yeah,
thanks for having me!
CC: My first
question for you tonight is how is your year going so far?
AC: It’s been
great. It feels like a whirlwind – I’ve been touring a lot, I just got done
recording a record, I’m getting married in two weeks, we just bought a house,
so this year has gone very fast.
CC: Sounds like
you’ve been extremely busy! Has there been a highlight of the year so far?
AC: Well, it
would be wrong of me to say that getting married wouldn’t be the highlight, but
so far I’ve loved recording and writing and the creative process with the music
business. It was great to get back in the studio, I really enjoyed that so
maybe that.
CC: And you’re
touring here at the moment, and I’d say that this year you seem to have really
broken into the UK market with your headline slot at C2C your tour, and now the
Under The Apple Tree Festival. How would you say that playing to British
audiences compares to what you’re used to back home?
AC: It’s just a
different experience. Here they’re more respectful and quiet which pays off and
is really nice – especially this tour when I’m doing solo shows, so having a
quiet audience is always nice. They’re really responsive of what I do and the
whole kind of country roots Americana thing – whatever you want to call it –
they just kind of eat it up over here and I’m glad to come over and play it for
them. It’s always a good time. It’s like a vacation.
CC: Yeah, it
seemed like you had a great reception out there today! I think one of the
things we really love in particular about country and Americana is that a lot
of the songs often tell stories, and a lot of country music draws on the
backgrounds of their singers and writers – are there ways in which you’ve used
your background to influence your music?
AC: Well to be
honest, there’s always a piece of my songs that are me, but I tend to write on
stories from other people are draw inspiration from literature and films. You
know, I grew up in a White middle class family in America, you know, I didn’t
go through hardships, I had shoes on my feet and a roof over my head. As I’ve
grown older, obviously you acquire more stories to tell so those have made it
into my work, but I don’t have a coalminers daughter kind of thing going on,
that’s just not me. I write what I know.
CC: And once
you’ve got that kind of story, how do you turn it into a song?
AC: Ah, it
depends. I don’t really have a formula to how I write – sometimes it comes with
words first, sometime music, sometimes it’s a title. It’s different every time.
CC: Is there one
of your songs which you think has been the most interesting to write so far?
AC: Well, the
best songs usually come really fast, and the song that’s been really good to me
is Too Stoned To Cry. I mean, it got
me my record deal, but it was a song that barely no one wanted to cut because
it was too far on the fringe, but everyone out there really liked it after, so
it got me in a few doors which was nice! I’ve been writing a lot by myself
recently, so I just kind of get in the zone, go out and get a coffee and go for
it. Interesting-wise, I guess ones that come out, like Too Stoned To Cry that are almost vomited out so fast you don’t
even realise what’s just happened. Those are the most fun to write, but other
times it can take me like a year to finish a song.
CC: What kinds of
things can we expect on the upcoming album?
AC: Less country,
actually. I mean there are definitely still elements of it, I can’t naturally
stray away from folk and country music, it’s just part of what I love, so there
are definitely elements of that. But I’m trying to stretch myself musically and
lyrically – I just don’t want to make the same record twice, so this is just me
exploring different musical inspirations and elements, and a different band,
different studio. I just needed something new.
CC: Do you know
what direction you’re heading in then?
AC: Well who
knows? It’s always changing. I’d literally just finished recording – we hadn’t
even mixed it, and I was already thinking about the next record. I’m always
thinking of making like drugged out rock and roll, but that could change
tomorrow.
CC: So in terms
of like the country Americana genre as a whole, is there one artist out there
who you think is really underrepresented and deserves more recognition?
AC: Yeah, I’m
sure there’s a million of them. You know, I don’t listen to a whole lot of this
world besides my friends, and when they’re you’re friends you’re a little bit
biased, but my buddy Erin Rae whose on a record label over here called
Clubhouse, she’ll be touring here soon and I think she’s totally great. Her
voice is so simple but angelic, there’s nothing fancy about it but that’s what
makes it amazing, and her songs are amazing. I also like the new Daniel Romano
record, I like a lot of the stuff – I’m friends with Caitlin Rose, Margo Price,
I think they’re both great. I mainly keep my head down and stay focused – I
don’t really get involved in the cliques.
CC: Hopefully
with events like this we’ll be seeing more of them come over here more often.
So as we draw the interview to a close, is there one question you wish you were
asked in interviews but never are?
AC: Haha no, I
just wish that no-one, and thankfully you didn’t which is good, asked me what
my influences were. There’s so many ways to ask that in a different fashion, or
different angles, and just coming out and being like ‘so, what are your
influences?’ is the worst. It just happens all the time which is probably why I
don’t like it so much! I like talking about stuff that’s not music, so that’s
always what I wish an interview would veer towards, but I understand that y’all
have a job to do.
CC: It certainly
seems like you’ve got a lot going on in your life aside from music.
AC: Yeah it’s
gonna be crazy when I get back home – I have Americanafest, then I have my
bachelor party, and then I get married, and then we go on a six week honeymoon
which is going to be great. We’re just going to chill out in a cabin in
Northern Minnesota, read and write, and bring the dogs along. It’s going to be
cool.
CC: Sounds
awesome!
AC: Yeah I’m
looking forward to it. It’ll be a much needed break.
CC: Lovely! Well
thank you so much for answering my questions tonight, and best of luck with the
wedding!
AC: Thank you!
Did you enjoy this interview? Let me know by dropping me a message on Twitter @CiarasCountry, and stay tuned for more interviews coming soon!
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