Allston Pudding caught up with Nat Baldwin (you might recognize him as the bassist for Dirty Projectors) this week roadside en route to upstate New York. When he isn’t strumming his bass for the Projectors, ask he’s delving into his jazz routes on numerous solo releases over the years as well as lending some helping hands to Grizzly Bear’s Shields and Vampire Weekend’s Contra. This Spring, Baldwin will be putting out yet another solo record, what he describes as the most minimal and cohesive yet.
Allston Pudding: So it’s January, still fresh off of the New Year, how was your 2013?
Nat Baldwin: *chuckles* Pretty good! I apologize, I’m a little scatter-brained right now, I just got off the road for my show in Hudson, New York tonight.
AP: Looking back on the year of music, what were your highlights?
NB: One of my favorite shows was definitely Angel Olsen. Wait, hold on, let’s see, things are coming back to me…oh! I went to Mission Creek Festival in Iowa City. I got to see Grizzly Bear and Owen Pallett early on in the festival and then got to see Deerhunter which was definitely one of my favorite shows of the year. I also went to Pitchfork where I got to see Joanna Newsom, Angel Olsen, and Phosphorescent. Then in September I went on a tour and played at Pygmalion Festival in Illinois. Those three festivals were my highest points, especially the first two that I got to just relax and enjoy them.
AP: Very nice, what about albums that came out this year? I know for me, Laura Marling’s new release was on repeat a couple hundred times.
NB: Oh! Awesome. I’m so glad you reminded me, I still need to listen to that! This year I was a little slow with digesting everything that came out, it’s hard to keep up. Buke and Gase is one of my favorite bands, they had an album come out early in the year that was big for me. I listened to Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s new album a bit as well. And then of course, that Angel Olsen album Halfway Home.
AP: There’s so much stuff coming out, sometimes I wish we could freeze, catch up, and then let things continue to come out. But it’s a good problem to have.
NB: Yeah! I know! The only real downside if that some stuff that deserves more attention or deserves to be heard more doesn’t because there’s just too much for people to consume. But I guess, like you said, better to have than not enough.
AP: Let’s talk a little about your work with Dirty Projectors, what has that experience been like?
NB: It’s been great. Dirty Projectors is primarily David [Longstreth]’s project. The rest of us are just kind of executing it. Little things can change along the way but ultimately it is his, he writes the songs, he demos them, and then we all put our parts together with some freedom. A lot of the time, the rhythm section will – for lack of a better word – jam together and see what works and what doesn’t.
AP: What was it like to work with them, take a break, and come back?
NB: I left right after a huge tour, and then headed up north to Maine to record a solo album. I retreated up there and once I got board of that *laughs* – I came back. It worked out really well for me, it was great timing.
AP: Going a bit further back in your timeline, how did you first get into playing music?
NB: I first started the end of my junior year in high school. I grew up mostly playing sports but my dad is a musician so music was always around and I was always “into music” but I never played anything myself up until then. I spent most of my time playing basketball instead. There was an upward bass at my school and I became buddies with the music teacher who was a huge basketball fan so he knew me from coming to all of our games. He was psyched when I started to show an interest and took me under his wing. I would borrow the school’s bass and practice maniacally throughout my senior year and ended up going to music conservatory for college in this weird 180 that happened.
AP: Very cool, and now, you’re looking to put out a new record this year! How’s that going?
NB: Yep! I was actually just working on mapping out some of those details as you called. It’s coming out in the Spring. I really hope there will be more information about that soon, both for me *laughs* – and the public. It’s all done, fully recorded and it sounds great, I’m really excited about it and to tour for it later in the year.
AP: For this record did you sequester yourself up north again?
NB: I did go up north again, I live in Maine and met some awesome guys there that run a studio space in Pawtucket, right outside of Providence. It’s called Machines with Magnets. I did it there pretty quickly. It’s a pretty minimal record but it’s got more of a consistent feel to it all throughout than my past records.
AP: Do you purposefully not record in major cities? Do you prefer working in a more calm-paced environment?
NB: Well…most places outside of New York – much like most things outside of New York – are cheaper.
AP: *laughs* Right, right, of course.
NB: So that definitely plays a factor. I’ve only lived in New York for a couple of years ever and there are great things about it but it wasn’t a place where I ever felt completely comfortable. I think the entire time I lived there I only wrote two songs. I think I do my work better with the space so it is somewhat intentional but it definitely has been circumstantial. These guys I recorded with this time, I met on tour so I just kind of jumped at the chance. And it made sense to do it closer to home this time around anyway.
AP: And you’ll be in Boston in a few weeks at the MFA! Recently you were quoted saying that you wanted your audience to be fully engaged, to stop what they are doing and only pay attention to the music. So the MFA seems perfectly suited for your mission there.
NB: Yeah! I agree completely! I don’t think I’ve ever played in a museum before, I think this will be the first time. It’s going to be a perfect setting for me, I’m very excited.
AP: How did you get paired up with Gem Club for this gig?
NB: They just called me up and asked if I could do it. I’ve played with them before. Chris Barnes, from Gem Club, we grew up together in the same town and we reconnected through music in the past few years.
AP: It’ll be a huge night for them, releasing their new album as well!
NB: I know! I’m so excited to hear it! The MFA is going to be a great setting for them too.
AP: So will you be previewing tracks off of your new record or not yet?
NB: I’ll definitely be playing a lot off of the new record. The songs have been around for a while and I have been playing them live here and there. It’ll be mixed up a bit, I’ll include some stuff off of the older ones too.
AP: Great! A whole night of new music then! I’ve just got one last question for you, pudding or jello?
NB: Pudding, definitely pudding.
*Catch Nat Baldwin supporting Gem Club at their album release show at the MFA on Jan. 31st – more information here.