We recently talked with 500 Miles to Memphis singer/songwriter/frontman Ryan Malott about what he and his band have been up to since nearly hitting it huge with their last studio record, We Built Up to Nothing. Great album title! Check the full transcript below …
Greg W. Locke: How long have you been on this current tour?
Ryan Malott: We’re just out for a couple of weeks right now, but in 2010 we did 250 consecutive days not the road.
GWL: It seems like you guys tour a lot. How long have you been keeping up this rigorous schedule?
RM: We’ve been touring heavily for seven years and have been a band for about nine years. When we release an new album we go out for a whole year or so straight, then the following year we taper off touring a bit and start working on a new album. So that’s where we’re at right now – slowing down the touring and playing some of our favorite cities here and there. Fort Wayne is one of those favorites.
GWL: So are you guys at the point where you don’t need day jobs and can focus on touring and writing and recording. Or do you still have to work when you’re not on the road?
RM: Yeah, we’ve been doing the full-time band thing for about five years.
GWL: I see that some members have come and gone over the years …
RM: Yeah.
GWL: Do people just come and go as they can? Or does the lineup change as the sound changes?
RM: Well, as far as people quitting or getting fired goes, the biggest problem is the road – it’s sometimes too hard for people to keep up. Ya know, they just can’t handle it after a while. So people end up leaving or, ya know. We have to fire them. But the lineup we have right now is solid. I mean, we lost a bass player last year – my new bassist is my old guitar player. So I’ve had him and my drummer in the band for five or six years. So we have a new guitarist as of the beginning of this year. But the core group – me, Kevin, David and Noah – has really been around damn near since the beginning.
GWL: When did We Built Up to Nothing come out?
RM: Valentine’s Day 2010.
GWL: Is that still the latest album?
RM: It’s the latest studio album, but we released a live album like a month or so ago.
GWL: I see that you’ve done quite a bit of recording with Erwin Musper. Can you tell me how that partnership came to be?
RM: He came about through my steel player, an older guy named David. I met him through the music scene and he saw our show and liked it a lot. So he ended up kind of coming to us. He just sort of said “I want to produce your next album.” We’ve been with him ever since. He’s great to work with; he and I produce things together. It’s kind of like this unexpected collaborative relationship. We hear the same things – big guitars and big drums. We produced the same way, so it’s great. I have nothing bad to say about the guy; he’s awesome.
GWL: That’s great. I’m curious to know where the change in sound on We Built Up to Nothing came from. Was that an organic progression? How did it develop.
RM: That’s a great question. It sort of happened organically. We were all sort of changing as musicians – all getting into more classical music and jazz. We were kind of getting away from country and rock a bit, and started tinkering around with different things. But we of course came back to the country rock sound, but this time with different influences. Definitely The Beatles. It was really natural, really. We didn’t put too much thought into it. We just knew what we wanted by the time we went into the studio and just kind of did it.
GWL: I know you just mentioned a new live album, and the latest studio album is still obviously pretty recent. But I have to wonder if you guys are working on anything new yet. Or at least working towards something new.
RM: Oh yeah, yeah. We’re working on a new album right now with plans to hopefully be in the studio by January. We’re working with a new producer this time around – a guy named Todd Sullivan who worked on the latest Weezer album. So we’re gonna go out to LA and do the album with him.
GWL: Do you know what label that’s going to come out on?
RM: No, not yet. We’re going to record it and then shop it.
GWL: Do you feel like you’ve been building up to this next album? I mean, do you feel like this next one is the big one – the game changer?
RM: Oh yeah, that’s what we’re thinking. That’s the idea. The new songs are … I don’t know … there are a lot of singles in there to chose from. We’re really stoked about it, though we do have a lot of work to do yet. It’s going to be kind of a throwback record in a way – it’ll be way less produced with nothing orchestrated. It’ll be more like what we do live – just guitar-driven rock mixed with country. So we’re gonna keep it a little more raw.
GWL: Have you been working this new material into sets yet or are you saving it?
RM: Uh, yeah. We’ll work a couple new songs into special shows.
GWL: You’re obviously a rock n’ roll and country style writer, but I hear a lot of pop appreciation in your writing. A clear pop influence.
RM: Oh yeah, definitely. That’s totally there.
GWL: Are there certain artists who really influenced you? Who built your DNA up?
RM: Neil Young, for sure, was a big one. And Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings. Growing up, that old country stuff was three chords and easy to play, so that’s what I started with. And NOFX, for sure. Every song they make it catchy. And obviously Green Day. I’m just … I love that band.
GWL: You guys really seem to be a working class kind of band. That said, I feel like I’m going to see a young, punk type of crowd at your show. So when you’re on stage, what do you see when you look out? Is it a mix of people?
RM: Oh totally. Definitely a mix of people. The young high school kids are up front singing the lyrics and their folks are in the back singing the lyrics. It just kind of makes sense for that generation gap. There’s the punk thing for young people and a real classic rock thing going on.
GWL: That’s such a rare thing to pull off.
RM: Yeah, thanks. We’re pretty happy about that. I mean, sometimes we’re not punk enough for the punk kids and we’re not country enough for the country folks. So sometimes that genre mix works against us. But the people who really get what we’re doing are really supportive – they come to all the shows and buy all our stuff and really make it all worthwhile for us.
GWL: Yeah, that make sense …
RM: Oh, Tom Petty! I forgot to mention Tom Petty. How can you not like Tom Petty? Brilliant songwriting. My main focus is just writing good songs, not writing straight to any genre.
GWL: So you moved from Ohio to Dallas at some point, right? Then to Cincinnati.
RM: Yeah. That was back when the band started.
GWL: What did you move to Dallas for and what was the experience.
RM: That was right out of high school. No real reason. I just went down there to play some music and live somewhere new. I grew up in a small town and couldn’t wait to leave it after high school. I had an opportunity to play with a band down there so I left for a while.
GWL: Are you pretty happy in Cincinnati now?
RM: Oh yeah, totally. Life’s pretty good. I can’t complain.
GWL: What’s your following like there?
RM: That’s our bread and butter. We’ll bring out almost 1,000 people per show in Cincinnati. And it’s always a blast – those shows.
GWL: That’s all I’ve got for you today. Is there anything we didn’t go over that you want to make sure gets out there?
RM: Not really. I’m just happy you were prepared for the interview. That’s really rare and I really appreciate it.
GWL: I was happy to get the assignment. I’ve been listening to your stuff a lot lately and you guys kind of remind me of the Old 97′s early records a bit. But rowdier.
RM: Yeah? I love those guys.
GWL: Cool. Well thanks again.
RM: You too. Thanks bud.
