Interview with: Night Beats
A few months before the onset of the pandemic, roughly March of 2020, Danny Lee Blackwell of Night Beats left his hometown in Texas and moved back to Los Angeles. He’s lived here before, in various lengths and capacities, but never when the city was on lockdown. In a time when Los Angeles was at its most antithetical to its fundamentals – bars closed, nightlife done, casual depravity on permanent pause – Danny found solace in sudden isolation and his creativity thrived. Maybe it was the absence of hedonism, or his breakup with alcohol, but Danny’s perspective on Los Angeles had changed. “There’s a focus I find in this city that’s unlike any other,” he told me. That focus manifested itself into “Outlaw R&B,” Night Beats’ fifth LP out May 7th on Fuzz Club Records. A beautiful blending of genres, the album pulls “all these different colors and shades on the sonic spectrum to elicit an unpredictability or a nondescript, undefined sound.” The songs go from Phil Spector pop anthems to bare-boned, haunting country ballads, to classic acid psych jams synonymous with the Night Beats sound. It’s a powerful reminder of the creative burst that oftentimes accompanies extreme change.
Danny isn’t always an open book. I remember interviewing him in the green room of the Echo years ago, and he was quiet, soft spoken, and meticulous with his words. “I don’t really share too much with too many people,” he told me recently. “I use music as my sharing mechanism.” A few weeks ago, I got Danny on the phone on the morning of his album release announcement. We had a generous conversation about his music and the sounds that he now shares with the world. “When I moved here and everything changed, I went basically back to basics.” Which meant writing and recording music. And focusing, despite the pounding heart of a city gripped by a racial awakening. “It’s a beautiful world,” he says, “when you have the experiences in your life and you can take something and make the best of it.” –Maya Eslami
PHOTO: Hamilton Boyce
Inherent Bummer: When did you move back to L.A?
Danny Lee Blackwell: About a year and a couple of months ago. I was in Texas before that.
You’re from Texas, right?
Yeah, I was born and raised in Dallas-Forth Worth. I moved to Seattle in 2007, basically started Night Beats out there and then lived nomadically for around eight years or so after I left. But I went home and took care of my father for a little while. All my family was dispersed at that time, so there was no one really there and he needs an at-home type of care, so I had to go back and figure that out for a couple of years. That was interwoven with tours and records and all that stuff. I was kind of going a little crazy, but we stabilized the situation and L.A. was calling so I came.
What was calling you?
L.A had an appeal to me because of Valentine. Valentine Recordings is a studio that I had worked in briefly, but it basically opened up when I left L.A. the last time [around 2015]. And I really wanted to record again with my friend Nic [Jodoin]. He runs Valentine. So that was kind of calling me, but also I just wanted to be in a place where I could 100 percent immerse myself in what I am about. There's a focus that I find in this city that's unlike any other city. And it's strange because I don't go out, I don't socialize, I don't really do anything... I mean, I used to go to a few shows. And I have some friends here, so that was definitely a pulling factor. My buddy Caleb was in this building here in Hollywood where I live and he was a good force of reckoning for me to actually do it. So I live in this tiny little apartment by my lonesome here. I’m used to sleeping on top of my instruments.
I was going to ask, do you have all your instruments in your apartment?
Yeah, I mean it's only a keyboard, my guitars and percussion instruments, but I don't need much. I'll play great songs I've written with very few means, easily. In Dallas I was getting too distracted by my own bullshit and also my family stuff. Essentially L.A. was a place where I could work on myself but have the option of studios that I’m personally attached to.
Were you going to Valentine during the pandemic?
I'm not sure exactly how much I can say about that. But the record was made at Valentine, during the pandemic. And also the Black Lives Matter protests and the general chaos that was happening specifically in my neighborhood.
How long were you working on the album?
I come to a studio pretty prepared, so I only spent about a week at Valentine. Actually less than that– for the recording process. The writing was done and basically in my head. So yeah, I went in there and recorded all of it by myself. There were maybe two or three tracks that I had someone put the gems on, and it was more to kind of shake it up just to get a different feel. Night Beats is my own creation but I play with the band live and I have other people that I entrust with helping me deliver a message. So that even takes place in the recording process. I don't want it to just be all about me, that can get really boring, it can get really vain, it could turn into a very egocentric process and I don't like that. Listening to your demos over and over again is vain enough. Separating yourself from your product, from your creation, is important. Because you have to live, you have to enjoy life, you have to enjoy the outside world. To a certain extent. L.A. really has a lot to offer as far as places to record, and there’s a lot of musicians in this town.
Tell me about the new album?
Well it’s called “Outlaw R&B”. Actually, that's the sound that I've always been intrigued by, the merging of outlaw country and R&B. And when people hear “outlaw” they need to think about what that really means: it's anti-establishment, it's against the grain of industry; it’s like when Willie Nelson, all those players in The Outlaws, when they created that sound, it was really a “fuck you” to the music industry. It’s for the weirdos, it’s for the outsiders, it's for the people that don't fit in. And R&B is like water. So those two worlds become Outlaw R&B. And I've always been a fan of records that title themselves something that's kind of encyclopedic, like Ray Charles [did with “Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music”]. It’s modern, and country, and Western music. That record is like — you can look it up in the encyclopedia and you'll know exactly what it is, but you won't. Because when you hear it, it's not obvious what he's doing. Outlaw R&B isn't obvious. The first track has a little bit of a Phil Spector feel. A little bit of a Beach Boys, Brian Wilson type of thing. But another song has kind of a Marty Robbins feel and then another song has a Bauhaus feel. So it's pulling all these different colors and shades on the sonic spectrum to elicit an unpredictability or a nondescript, undefined sound. Like when people talk about psych music they talk about, “Oh, this is really psychedelic and whatever because it has reverb…” — now you got me talking about psychedelic rock. I hope you have enough space on your phone to record this. What were we talking about? [Laughter]
Outlaw R&B.
I think in the quest of putting this record together, “Outlaw R&B” just made the most sense to me because I do love R&B and soul music. That's the rib of the band. It was named after Sam Cooke’s record for fuck’s sake. [Sam Cooke’s Night Beat was released in 1963]. I started off as a drummer and I love rhythm and beat and everything that goes into R&B. So the first track that we kind of leaked or released was called, “That's All You Got.” It's not on the album, it's just on the single. I feel like that's a really good representation [of outlaw R&B]. It was co-written by Robert [Levon Been] from Black Rebel [Motorcycle Club] so that was a huge influence in the sense of the meeting of the minds to accomplish this weird magical thing.
PHOTO: Hamilton Boyce
You wrote it with him?
Yeah. He co-wrote it with me. Actually [we wrote it] in the desert, a month before I went into the studio.
Where in the desert?
Joshua Tree. All the rumors are true about that place.
And you intentionally wanted the track to be a single, you didn't want it to be part of the album?
I thought it was too obvious to have on the album. And that's another thing, it's about... it's like my love of onions, it's like...
Your love of onions?
Oh, I love onions. I eat onions like apples, they’re so good. I use onions instead of chips. Like tortilla chips, I just interchange them with onions.
I mean, they are good for you.
They're healthy for you, it's what I hear. So I'm doing something good. But yeah, it's got layers, and its got twists and turns.
Wait, go back to Joshua Tree. What does the desert make you think of?
Space. Honestly. That's the first answer that comes to mind. When I think of desert landscapes and the life of the desert, is that kind of it? Yeah. It makes me look up a lot more, and it's ironic that in a city where we have tall buildings and light pools and statues and all these things, we barely ever look up, have you ever noticed that?
We're less inclined to look up because there’s so much going on.
I could write a whole thing about that, but the desert and that rare beautiful unfiltered light and world makes me connect with the.... the universe, not a great word to use here but, space. This planet that we live on and we die on is just a beautiful canvas and we have the gift of music that can put that feeling and put that connection, the inter dimensional connection between stars and planets and canyons and sand and dirt and scorpions and all these things. It's a weird connection that's hard to describe. But I definitely feel more connected to my previous alien life or origins, I would say. There's just a lot of potential, and it's like seeing something for the first time every time, it's seeing the world for what it is, it’s seeing the sun dancing off the gravel or the dirt or the way that I don't think other places really have that effect.
Have you ever noticed that the sky looks pink because of the color bouncing off the rocks and sand?
Yeah, absolutely. They say the sky is blue because it reflects off the ocean. I did learn something form geography class. But yeah, the beautiful pink textures from Mother Earth are right in front of you. I was just there, too.
Tell me about your trip?
I'm actually scouting for a desert session at the moment so I had an excuse to drive out there and to just go on my own adventure, which I like to do a lot. I took some pictures and I think I found a location for the film. So that's exciting.
For a music video?
For a live performance of the whole set. Other bands do it — not that that's a deterrent because at the end of the day your music is your own thing – but I think it will be special when we do it. I need to find a generator for cheap.
Check Craiglist.
Oh I'm always on Craigslist, I'm a Craig head. This location is beautiful. It's funny though, when I got there I was getting a virtual tour basically on the phone, because I just recently upgraded to an iPhone and it's kind of blowing my mind, it's a little scary but it's all right. Technology freaks me out, like FaceTime! Holy shit. I don’t think I really figured out the etiquette of it though.
Why do you say that?
I’ll FaceTime a buddy and be like, “Hey” and he’ll be like, “What are you doing?” And I didn’t even get a chance to put on my shirt.
Last question. How do you feel about L.A. as a creative city?
I could say a lot about how there’s an image of L.A. and there's an idea of what L.A is, and then there's the reality of what L.A. is, and at the end of the day it is what you want it to be. This isn't my first rodeo. L.A. is a city of bars and rock ’n’ roll lifestyle, so ingrained and intertwined with booze and drugs and partying. And it became so close in proximity to me. I'm still kind of getting used to talking about this. I think it could help other people, that’s the only reason why I would bring it into a conversation. But I quit drinking two months before the... well actually in February [of 2020], so it's a year now.
How does it feel to talk about it?
There's always this fear and maybe shame or embarrassment to people that were drinkers or someone who dealt with substance abuse. And I think it's important to destigmatize that because the only thing that matters is for people to live and to have love in their lives. I was a highly functional alcoholic. I was able to tour, I was able to write, I was able to make records and I was able to survive through that time. It’s a killer for people like me, and when you can share that you are on the other side and you're better and you're stronger and you're happier and you're more of yourself and you got back to a source of joy and thrill, then that’s a good thing.
“Outlaw R&B” drops May 7th on Fuzz Club Records.
