Exclusive Glorious Noise Interview with Jay Bennett

I printed this off to read when I have time later, but CONGRATULATIONS on the 50K!!!(looks like there are 2 different places to post a comment here)

kudos! good interview. interesting to get a closer look into the making of yhf and jay's opinion of it all.

I wish Bennett had gotten to mix the thing and I wish they had taken about half of those overdubs out. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was fucked up in production. I mean, Summerteeth was very busy with the instruments as well, but somehow that sounded good. I think YHF is just a little too electronic and thin sounding. The way it was mixed sounds like an attempt to turn its emotional directness and instrumental psychedelia into adult contemporary. In particular, the drums sound really slight. It doesn't even sound like a rock record, really. It's got that Time Warner sound, if you know what I mean. For a record that was rejected by a major label, it sure sounds like an attempt to update/polish/thin Wilco's previously fat sound to make it pleasing to a major label. Overall it's just a limp mix.

That's a great catch Phil!! I just finished the Magnet article written from Tweedy's side last night. I wonder how much that article was painted using excerpts of Tweedy's statements? It seemed to make a portrait of Tweedy claiming "good riddance" of Bennett. It's nice to hear his side of story and it was great to hear him not claiming sour grapes. Can anyone post a synopsis/review of his new album?

Jay's new album is a lush affair. Some might call it overproduced. There are bells on some songs. But there are some really great melodies and nice lyrics, and just plain great songs. It's definitely worth picking up. Especially since I think it retails for like $9.99. Several good, bitter break up songs. And lots of references to eighties pop. It's obvious these guys like Elvis Costello. If you liked Summerteeth, you'll like the album, I think. Jay's voice is like some strange combination of Elvis Costello and Leonard Cohen, or something...

Nice interview, the only downside is the shot about how John was going to be fired / replaced at one point, which I guess is in response to John's quote about how Jay wasn't on as much of the record as he was with Summerteeth. Wilco doesn't need any more turmoil, thanks anyway.For me, the production on YHF is much better than Summerteeth. Time has lent Jay the perspective that he was too close to YHF to mix it objectively and that can be retroactively applied to Summerteeth as well. Not that it's not great, but it could have been better with less production gloss and the keyboards mixed down. The live shows from that period have my favorite versions of those songs.Anyway, I think Jay said it best: all's well that ends well. I look forward to both Wilco and Jay having long and productive careers making great music.

Jake, where did you find Palace at 4AM for "$9.99"? Certainly not at Laurie's Planet of Sound, the very same venue where we saw Jay and Ed do the in-store performance. I bought it there on the day it was released for more than that. I got a real kick out of Jay and Ed's partnership "onstage" on Saturday. They seem to have a remarkable connection to each other, both in their playing/singing and in their witty banter. Not having had the chance to see Wilco perform avec Bennett before the split myself, I wonder if being one of only two guys onstage, and the more dominant one at that, contributes to Jay's very relaxed and in-control stage presence, cuz that little Lincoln Square audience was eating right out of his hand. I'm thrilled that he let you post his answers from what I presume was an impromtu interview (or did your people at the GLONO HQ call his people and set up the meeting?) and really enjoyed his candidness. Only sorry I didn't get to stick around for the entire show.P.S. Is it just me, or are Jay and Ed playing everywhere including your neighbor's Memorial Day BBQ in the next month? Are they overexposing themselves, or do they have the kind of residual Wilco following to support such a schedule?

I'm so glad Jay took the time to give his perspective on the split, and that you guys posted it unedited. It's good to hear the lack of bitterness, at least coming from his side. I still love Wilco and will always be interested in what comes out of Jeff Tweedy, but I've really missed Jay the last few times I've seen the band. I wish him the best with all his musicmaking endeavors, and am really enjoying The Palace.

Great job on the interview, guys! You should forward Jay's YHF track by track credentials to David Fricke at Rolling Stone to hopefully prevent another glowing Wilco article that completely ignores Jay's integral tasks in the creation of YHF.For a guy that was not even mentioned in most of the big press YHF reviews (and let's face it, there is a ton of them), Jay has taken the high road with his departure from Wilco. When you consider various misleading quotes attributed to John and Jeff over the past several months, I don't see the comments here about Stirratt's potential firing as a shot at all. For instance, John claimed Wilco had been practicing as a 4-piece for "a good while" almost immediately after Jay's split. Also, in a recent interview he indicated that they all contributed equally in terms of instrumentation on YHF (huh?). YHF is a very good record, but I like Palace even better. I'm just happy Jay landed on his feet so quickly and teamed up with Ed. I think the future is very bright.

Synopsis of Palace: Great music, strong lyrics (best penned with Tweedy), vocals - unfortunately - are on par with the Marigold Bowl's Saturday Night Karaoke...P.S. Laurie's Planet of Sound closed

Laurie's did not close, I was there last night. It has moved one block south on Lincoln Ave.

For what it's worth, I think Palace is a decent listen. At first I was really turned off by it, but more listening has revealed that the bad parts are just a lot more conspicuous than the good ones. I've had the album now for 2 weeks and I like half of the songs; the other half still leave me somewhat annoyed. It's an uneven album, with some excruciatingly difficult-to-listen-to production. But for every one of those overwrought pieces, there's a great pop tune. Best of all, the album has little to do with the "Wilco sound". (My comments come after having paid for the album--I did not get a free copy through this Web site.)

I agree with you, Sab. I just picked it up and thought the same thing right away. It's a little uneven. But it's still well worth a couple of weeks of heavy rotation in my disc drive!

Derek, Tweedy has made reference to Bennett's drug use in interviews as well. Had you heard that? If you hadn't, would you have asked him about it?

I haven't come across that in any interviews. I would have asked him about if I had. Do you have any links?

I hear it's in the new issue of Magnet.

Yeah, that's where I read it. I don't have it in front of me but it was something about how they were all taking muscle relaxers and what not during the sessions for Summer Teeth and that he just kept on with it long after everyone else quit.

this is really uncomfortable for me to read - jay gave the world a perfectly clear portrait of how arrogant/needy/insolent he was in the film about YHF. instead of playing humble and trying to salvage his dignity, here he is coming off just as whack. a list of every intrument he played on the album? how desperate is that?

bennett was the genius of wilco. tweedy cannot keep guys in his band (not that bennett is an easy hang). without bennett (or other top-notch multi-instrumentalists), tweedy is just a good songwriter. if anything, tweedy is a genius of keeping great people around him to make him sound good. the moment his authority in the band is challenged (possibly in his own head) - he makes them leave. most musicians are very insecure people when it comes to their art. tweedy shows us how it manifests itself in him. since bennett's departure, he's gotten rid of two more band members and added two more.

I wonder how long Neil Young's career would have lasted if he had stuck with Stephen Stills? I think Tweedy's instincts are right on target.

I had watched I am trying to break your heart and was left feeling like jay was a complete tool in the whole recording process and as a person, at least in this film so it is refreshing to see him in a new light.

I agree with bob's post...I dunno...I walked away from IATTBYH feeling Jeff Tweedy was a bit of a dick. Sure Bennett was needy and annoying but still...

FWIW, YHF is my fave Wilco album, hands down.