Catching Up with Snowden (the Band Not the NSA Guy)

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Jordan Jeffares of Snowden

Tonight, Saturday, June 15th, catch Snowden at Barboza (doors 7 p.m., $10, 21+).

I’m a pretty cruel person to interview a musician before noon. It was 11 a.m. when I called, and Jordan Jeffares had just woken up. Some might say that is the perfect metaphor for Snowden. Having released No One in Control in May after a nearly seven-year hiatus, Snowden has finally resurfaced.

However, Jeffares wasn’t binge sleeping or living off unemployment. There was some label change drama, but it seems Snowden has finally found a home at King of Leon’s label, Serpents & Snakes. He is no longer looking over his shoulder, but rather moving towards a future he is in complete control of.

I talked with Jordan about the best things to do in Austin — tacos and two-step, but also making music that he’s proud of.

I like that you embraced the whole Edward Snowden NSA scandal on your Facebook page, calling it “a wonderful coincidence.” Have you been following the case, either inadvertently or not? Has it been a positive, negative or nonfactor to your band?

It’s been a nice little Google bump. I really dig the revelation, even though at the same time it’s not really a revelation. It’s just put a spotlight on stuff that’s already been going on. Right now, it’s a cool little share of business, a nice name swap.

I’d be worried though that someone would ask me every detail of the situation. It would be a lot of pressure to share that name right now!

Yeah, I’m prepared for some border and body cavity searches on our way back into the country. (Laughs)

Have you run into any mishaps with that?

Well, we still have two border crossings to go, so we’ll see.

Anti-Anti came out in 2006, nearly seven years ago. A lot of people talk about the long hiatus, but I’m curious as to what you all were doing during that time to stay inspired musically?

I moved around a lot and kept looking for the right way to make a record. Actually, not so much make the record — which I’ve been working on for a long time — but mostly trying to figure out the right way to release it in a music and media climate that’s bizarre and more different than it has ever been.

What do you mean by “media climate”?

With records you get one shot, one window. There’s rhyme and reason and there’s also things you can control and there’s things you can’t. If you only get one shot to release a record, I wanted to make sure it got out properly. Properly can sometimes mean financially or sometimes just the recordings having the right things behind it. A lot of pieces have to align.

Was the location of where you recorded it important to you? Why Michigan?

I’d been working on the record for so long that I decided I was going to pick somebody to finish it with and let them be the final say on everything that I had completely lost subjectivity on. It was a trust and release idea. My buddy who lives there has also done all The Kills records and I love those albums.

It seems like you experiment with a lot of new sounds on No One in Control, blending amps and such. Could you tell me the process of creating a song? How does it begin?

It usually starts with bass and drums and some type of vocal melody — I’ll mumble out something. I’ve also heard that Bon Iver does it the same way. So a lot of the times the song will just run with bass and drums, which means that you’re already more than halfway there. I mumble out some words, find some type of chorus, and try to figure out what the song is about from there.

I don’t think you guys mumble though. (Laughs)

When I say mumble out I mean it’s the spark or the catalyst for a song. I’ll listen back to it and then make a chorus out of it. I work backwards.

So the lyrics come later?

Yes. Exactly.

I read somewhere that you had “no musical training whatsoever.” How did you get into music in the first place then?

I have no musical training; I still don’t know what I’m playing. I’ve been meaning to sit down and learn the basics of theory. But instead of doing that I end up learning new software or learning a new piece of gear — which both take up a lot of time. So it’s not something I’ve been able to get around to.

How did you get into music then?

Just from screwing around as a kid on my keyboard. I’ve always played everything by ear.

Were your parents musically inclined?

No… My dad whistles. That’s about it.

I loved your “Fineshrine” – Purity Ring cover. How did that come about? Do you listen to them?

Yeah, I love Purity Ring. I always wanted to try to do something with like a José Gonzales – Heartbeats take. I wanted to take something that was bangin’ and soften it up.

I’m also really inspired by their live performance. The lights and the drum are all very captivating. So it was really interesting to hear that song stripped down.

I didn’t even do that song half the justice it deserves. Those guys are brilliant…and I hate it because they are so young. They knocked it out of the park.

Tell me about the inspiration for the video “So Red.” It’s really beautiful.

I have to give the girls (at Landed) that did it total credit. Not only did they do a great job with no money, but they also thought they were doing the video for “No One in Control.” It turns out I couldn’t edit it down in length for anything that was going to be less than a small movie. So I asked them to edit the video for “So Red”, and they did.

Did you have any say in the concept of it though?

It was a leap of faith. They started off with one idea and the horse thing was supposed to be some sort of loose imagery. I thought it was going to be a love story and then it went into something completely different. And I had no clue until I had the final product. But it was all good!

Do you enjoy living in Austin? I’ve heard really good things about the music community there.

It’s really good living. You know, they call it the Portland of Texas. In 10 minutes you can be swimming in a natural spring and in another 10 minutes you can be downtown. It’s very condensed and small. It’s hot as shit. Great food culture. It’s just good quality of life.

Why did you pick to live there out of all the music towns?

Actually it was a joint decision. I lived my brother at the time and once we made the jump and left Atlanta — our safety blanket — we went to New York for a year. And once everything could be packed into a small van we were like, “Well, do you wanna stay or do you wanna go?” We had friends in Austin and loved that it was a reasonable place to live. I could continue to be a musician there…so everything just fit.

Last question — what are some must-sees or do in Austin? I’m going there for the 4th of July and I need to find some good tacos.

Yes! Great tacos and food trucks. Torchy’s has like 3 locations and they definitely have their shit together. I still say that their Migas are the best and I’ve tried LOTS of places. I drive everywhere for their Migas. That egg on a crunchy tortilla… (Laughs) Veracruz is another place in my neighborhood that is also really good.

Mohawk is my favorite 400-hundred-person venue, because it’s pretty much all outdoors and has a tiered stage. My favorite bar on the eastside is Volstead. There’s a rock club called Hotel Vegas next door that’s owned by the same people. And if you want to hear some like Willie Nelson country with a crowd full of handle bar mustaches…then you could two-step with people in their Converses at the White Horse. It’s all a lot of fun.