Interview with Patrick Carrie of Limbeck

February 16, 2006

Phone Interview

Leah Weinberg: What city are you guys in today?
Patrick Carrie: We’re in Austin, Texas today.
L.W.: And you had a day off yesterday, is that right?
P.C.: We did.
L.W.: What normally goes on on a day off for you guys?
P.C.: Yesterday was the weirdest day off we’ve ever had. We actually really don’t like days off that much because, you know, it’s like money out of your pocket, you don’t play a show and usually you just drive a lot. But we didn’t have that bad of a drive and we haven’t had any real days off on this tour yet since the 27th, so it was kind of necessary. The lucky thing was, we had never been to Roswell, New Mexico before. So we scheduled a trip there, which is where UFO’s were sighted and stuff. So we went there and it was kind of more of a check off of the list rather than a really cool thing to do. The cool thing was the street lamps were all alien heads. That was pretty cool. Then we ate some really good Mexican food in Roswell and then drove for a long time. And then, I don’t where this came from, there’s this drinking game that our manager found out about in college where you take a shot of beer on the minute for an hour. We videotaped ourselves doing it and it made for a really interesting night. So yeah, it was a fun day off. We didn’t get to go to college, so we’re taking it in at every point we can.

L.W.: Rolling Stone has called you guys “punktry.” How do you feel about that label?
P.C.: I don’t know. Labels are so hard and maybe just a little bit too much time is devoted to thinking up unique labels for things that don’t really need labels, that are kind of just better off being heard. So it’s amusing. I’ll say that. I mean, yeah, that could classify. I guess we just kind of call ourselves a rock band in general. It’s just a little bit easier and it might leave a little bit more to people’s own perceptions. So yeah, that was kind of amusing. I mean, we came up, we were hardcore Lookout! Records fans in high school and our first band was like a Mr. T Experience/Green Day rip-off. But we did get into country music which we probably never thought would happen. If you told us in high school that when we were 22 we would be listening to country music, we would probably have laughed at you.
L.W.: How did that happen?
P.C.: You know, it was just kind of a random chance of events. I think us getting bored with music, because we were tired of what we were listening to, didn’t really know what to do. Well, we did know what to do, we bought records at thrift stores and really stocked up on a lot of classic rock, a lot of Bob Dylan and Gram Parsons stuff. It kind of just opened some doors up for us and we got more into that stuff, got more into current country rock stuff like Old 97's and Whiskeytown. It’s pretty cool. It’s opened us up to this whole new side of music. I think we’re just more open-minded in general now because of it. Did you ever hear people who when asked, ‘What kind of music do you like?’ were like ‘Everything but rap and country?’ Did you ever hear that?
L.W.: Yeah, I’m one of the people that says that. Well, I would say I didn’t like country.
P.C.: Well that’s what I always said. And I always heard that being said, but now I’m really open-minded and I’m pretty proud of it. I think we all are. It’s a good thing. Like music is music and we’re not so scene-y as we used to be. In high school, having a scene was so important and maybe it still is to some people but good music is good music, even if it’s George Jones singing bad country ballads. It’s all music and it’s good.
L.W.: It’s funny that you brought that up because I would always tell people that I hated country music. And now I find myself really getting into bands like you guys and Lucero.
P.C.: Oh hell yeah.
L.W.: I think it’s really interesting and I think it’s probably the case that you guys and Lucero are kind of bridging the gap between people who normally wouldn’t listen to country and those who do.
P.C.: Yeah, definitely. I love being thought of as any type of gateway band who open people up to a whole other side of music. That’s what it took for us, but it was like Bob Dylan’s more country side that really opened us up to other stuff. It spawned so much great things to be in our record collection. It’s awesome. It’s funny because it even led us to discover The Replacements. We had really never heard The Replacements and people kept reviewing our records and saying it sounded like The Replacements, and we were like, ‘Oh, that’s cool. I guess we should pick that record up.’ And now we’re all huge Replacements fans. It worked out for us.

L.W.: Do you think there’s a certain reason behind this growing interest in alt-country bands?
P.C.: I don’t know. I couldn’t tell you. It’s just kind of a newer thing. There’s a lot of people, like Jenny Lewis’ new record is pretty folky and Bright Eyes has a folky thing now. I can’t explain it. It’s just really good music and it’s kind of soulful and you can feel it more than–everything has it’s own mood. Not to say that that’s the one thing for me at all, like I could be in the mood for whatever but I like playing more that kind of music just because it feels right. And maybe that’s what everyone else’s opinion is of it, too. That’s a hard thing to put my finger on.

L.W.: Do you find that a lot of people are surprised that a band that sounds like Limbeck is from Orange County?
P.C.: Yeah, we get that a lot, which we’re kind of happy about. Orange County has got such a specific sound that’s tied to the geography and people just always guess that we’re from the Midwest or maybe Texas or something.
L.W.: Yeah, I assumed you guys were from the Midwest.
P.C.: Yeah. It’s cool though. We dig Midwestern people and Midwestern bands so it’s a compliment to us. So, we’re maybe semi-Midwestern transplants or maybe retro-Californians.
L.W.: But you guys started off as a punk band?
P.C.: Yeah. It was easy. You hear records like the Queers and Mr. T Experience, those records are so good, they’re Ramones-ish but a lot more melodic with harmonies and cool melodies. We took a lot from that off the bat. It just seemed like a thing we could pull off so I guess we kind of went for it. That was the first round of the Limbeck band.

L.W.: And you guys brought the alt-country sound into the band before it was really popular. What was the reception like when you first started playing shows?
P.C.: It was a little weird. I don’t think everybody was really happy about it. We probably honestly should have changed our band name. We had been together for a long time, so we thought we might as well stay the same. We didn’t really want to change the name and throw everybody off. A lot of people do that and it’s like, ‘Who are you trying to fool? You’re still the same band.’ I don’t know. Maybe that works for some people, but we just thought it would be a bad idea. So we stayed Limbeck and yeah, some people weren’t exactly hyped on it, which is fine. We’re just so much more comfortable now. It’s just being comfortable doing what we’re doing and if that means some people are kind of bummed out, we’ll have to roll with the punches on that. For the most part though we’ve gotten semi-good reception on it, so it’s alright.

L.W.: 3 words that describe Limbeck
P.C.: Oh man, that’s hard. Can Mexican food be one word because there’s a dash in between it?
L.W.: Sure.
P.C.: Mexican-food. Wow that’s such a hard answer to put in three words. Mexican-food. Camp. And friendly. Is that alright?

Related Links:
Official Website