"Good Morning, Magpie," by Murder by Death
Tonight. The Tractor Tavern. Be there! Murder by Death, based out of Bloomington, Indiana, will show you how it's done with "Old West murder ballads [that] mingle with rock-injected Western classicism." Here's my email Q&A with the lead singer of MBD, Adam Turla.
Okay, to jump right in, you all seem to have such diverse musical interests. How did you meet and decide to play together? Did the instrumentation just happen or were you looking to have a cello added into the mix?
We were drinkin' buddies and thought it would be fun to start a band. Didn't have any plans--Sarah just happened to play cello!
Your music tends to have a theme, a message, or even a story consistent throughout an album. Does the overall idea for a record come naturally, or do you plan out the story ahead of time and wrap the music around it?
I like to write lyrics and then feel out what the story is going to be from the first few songs I write. Never have a plan from the get-go. I'm always adjusting.
With the exception of Good Morning, Magpie (in stores April 6th), I know you draw a lot of your ideas from books and films that you are interested in; what movie do you wish you could have written the soundtrack to?
Cool question. Hmmm. I would really love to work with Tarantino or Rodriguez. Our song was in the trailer for Inglorious Bastards, which was awesome, but I would have loved to make the cut of the movie! Best film I've seen in years.
Speaking of soundtracks, I'm really excited about the idea of an album written to accompany a book. What did you think about the experience of writing/recording in conjunction with Jeff Vandermeer's Finch? Were you a fan of his work beforehand?
I loved it! I was not familiar with him, but read the book and had a great time. He reached out to us as a fan, and we thought it was a crazy enough idea that it could work. It was really fun to make music to each scene.
I managed to watch Murder By Death [the film] last night; why did you decide to change your name from Little Joe Gould?
We wanted to focus on darker material, and we liked how the name was dark but with a sense of humor.
You've been on tour in Seattle before, so what do you think of the Northwest fans? Do you think they appreciate what you're trying to get across?
Northwest fans are (in my experience) not as rowdy as Midwesterners, but there's also a lot more music coming through the NW. Hard to have your socks blown off when you can see whatever you want!
I grew up in the boonies outside Louisville, Kentucky, and it looks like your musical friendships reach out that way as well. What do you think of the music scene in the Kentuckiana [Kentucky/Indiana] area? It's been a while since I've spent more than a week out there, but heard it's really picking up steam.
Love it. Sarah, our cellist, is from Kentucky, and we spend a lot of time there. We love Louisville--great town with a lot of personality. We have a lot of close friends there, including Sarah's little brother Max, who is in an awesome band called The Ladybirds.
