Vlautin It From The Rooftops

We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River is the charmingly poetic title of Richmond Fontaine’s eighth opus. Hailed as the Portland troupe’s most accessible outing to date, it’s certainly a more cordial venture than its predecessors.

“I think the accessible tag is probably a positive,” laughs amiable frontman Willy Vlautin. “Sometimes I can get so lost in my head that I don’t remember that people sometimes need a walk-through to get the songs. I know sometimes they’re too dark or too odd even for the band, and they’ve known me for 15 years! On this record I tried to write songs that I knew the guys would like.”
As well as embracing a plethora of styles and themes, the album is the sound of a band cutting loose and enjoying the recording process.
Continues Willy: “For the first time ever, we’d taken a year off. I think everybody’s confidence was a bit shaky going back. As a result we kept it close to home and brought in all our closest friends. We worked with JD Foster, who’s produced the last three albums, and Larry Crane who engineered the first four. It was like a bunch of old friends hanging out. In other words, really great fun.”
Romance, debt, nervous breakdowns and addiction are some of the subjects tackled on the album. The fragility of the human condition is beautifully explored through Vlautin’s finely crafted lyrics, particularly on ‘The Pull’, which deals with alcohol dependence.
“It’s something that I’m always worried about,” he notes. “It makes you so mad, the idea that it’s always there. You have to fight it or try to find something that can occupy your time. The poor guy in the story, in the end he runs so he doesn’t have to think. ‘Cos when he thinks, all he wants to do is drink. I’ve had my battles with it, but I’m getting better!”
An established author, Willy’s third novel is due next year. How does he juggle literature and music?
“It depends on which story I’m working on,” he reflects. “With this album, I was also writing my next novel, Lean On Pete, about a boy who lives at a horse track. I was trying to write love songs but couldn’t. I would go in to write a straight up romance number and I would come out with ‘The Pull!’ A different sort of love song!”
In spite of his prodigious output Willy has also found time to produce his first spoken-word piece, A Jockey’s Christmas.
“I’m a big fan of the spoken word,” he enthuses. “I listen to books on CD all the time. I just love hearing stories. Our local library has crime novels on CD. I listen to those when I’m driving around. I think a writer should write at least one Christmas story. Before I die I want to write about each holiday. I had a blast doing it.”
A big fan of horses, Vlautin purchased his own steed last year, but hasn’t had much luck.
“Here you can buy a racehose for about 500 bucks,” he says. “They’re not really desirable, they’re sort of end-of-the-line racehorses. He’d been off the track maybe four years. I thought he’d calmed down but we were out in the mountains and he went a bit crazy. I had a really bad fall and broke my arm. Lean On Pete is based on him!” (Laughs)

We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River is out now.