The last time W&H spoke to magnificent Texan singer/ songwriter JEFF KLEIN, he'd released his brilliantly wrought'n'personal album "Everybody Loves A Winner" and was being critically lauded as a rising star in the all-encompassing nebulous heaven known as 'Americana'.
This time round though, Jeff has returned with a fine, soulful piece of work called "The Hustler." It's much more a band-oriented, dare we say POP-addled album, with smoky horns and lush keyboards cutting a swathe through a number of the songs: perhaps not surprising when you consider W&H's favourite man about town, Mr. Greg Dulli, co-produced the record in his favourite N'Awlins. All of which was more than enough to tempt us into another call to the Lone Star state for a chat about how to make songs sound like The Zombies meeting the Monkees and why Jeff doesn't want to be categorised as the next Woodie Guthrie. Y'all sitting comfortably.....?
Hi Jeff. Good to hook up with you again. "The Hustler" is very much an animal of a different stripe to "Everybody Loves A Winner." For starters it's soaked in the heat and voodoo of New Orleans, isn't it?
"Yeah, yeah, absolutely," Jeff confirms.
"It's a much more melodic critter, this one. And that's fine by me, I mean I don't ever wanna make the same record twice, that's paramount with me. This one does indeed have a much richer vibe and thanks, at least partly to Greg's involvement, and us changing the setting, New Orleans just seeped in. I was happy to let it do so (laughs)."
Right. Of course, aside from the Crescent City's tradition for blues and jazz, I know both your good self and Mr.Dulli have an ongoing love affair with the coolest Soul sounds around. Was it Greg's involvement that really brought out the new songs' inherent Soul-related stylings?
"Yeah, definitely," Jeff enthuses.
"If I'm on my own, I have a certain vibe, but bring Greg into the equation and that throws the whole thing into a different corner. There really IS a devilish quality to New Orleans and being there helped to realise the whole mood of the record. Besides, being there with Greg was like being in hell with Greg as the devil on the throne (laughs heartily). It was brilliant!"
Remaining with New Orleans for a little longer, the album's title track comes soused in the depravity and the "everything goes" aspect of the city. Hell, the song even opens with the lyric "The city's making love to itself."
"Yeah, it's like this huge, living breathing heartbeat. I mean it really has a tangible pulsebeat. It's like being in Bram Stoker's "Dracula" in terms of mood, actually. In fact, they've shot several vampire-related movies there, and you can see why, the mood is so perfect. It's really strange...you can literally feel the air move in New Orleans....it's hard to put all the sensations into mere words."
I can imagine. But aside from Greg Dulli's omnipresence, several other key players such as Ani Di Franco also make appearances along the way. Was she always someone you had in mind for this record?
"No, not really, it was more of a happy accident," says Jeff plainly.
"It was - again - one of those great random New Orleans things. Our co-producer Mike Napolitano knew Ani and we were hanging round this bar and he caled her. He knew she was in town, but it turns out she was in the same studio complex we were working in two days later and she came in to check us out. She liked what she heard and she suggested she could hear some vocal melodies to me. I was intrigued and she said she'd like to try a vocal or two...I said sure, I was very happy to let her get involved. She's quite a musician...amazing singer and guitar player too."
Fantastic. But let's talk specific songs for a short while. "Ironside" intrigues me. It's got that lyric/ kiss-off line that says "anything must be better than this...paralysed". I'm not sure if you mean this in an emotional or physical sense, but I keep thinking of a character like Raymond Burr's "Ironside" when I hear this. Is that pure fantasy on my part, Jeff?
"No, no, it's pretty accurate," Jeff admits.
"It's true that the content of the song is more an emotional thing, but the title did have Raymond Burr in mind, you're not far away at all. It was kind've an in-joke between Greg and I, and we liked the physical reference in the title. It all ties in to us."
Your vocal sounds really numbed out on that one, too...
"Yeah, I agree," says Jeff.
"We were definitely going for a certain, opiated kinda mood. I put myself in character in a way there. I do on a number of the songs on this record, really. I was thinking of Nico with "Ironside"...kinda laid back and opiated. She's a bit of a critical divider is Nico... you either love her or hate her. I'm in the 'love her' category (laughs)."
"Suzanne" is another one I really enjoy. With the fat horn sound, it taps into that soul thing in a big way and it sounds uncharacteristically bright for a Jeff Klein record. It also - to me - sounds like it could be a hit. How did that one come together?
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"That's the oldest song on the album," Jeff reveals.
"I'd been trying to think of ways to make it work and I deliberately tried to bring in the goofy, '70s kinda vibe the song has. I wanted it to be so schmaltzy it was almost comical. It's very different now to the sparse version I used to do live, believe me! But that was the whole thing about the way we made the record, it was all about breaking down and reconstructing songs in the studio. I mean, that's partly because I'm in love with so many bands and musical styles as well as wanting to push myself. I was desperate to have a song with horns the way that one does. Now it sounds like The Zombies meets The Monkees! (laughs)"
And quite gloriously so, if I may say so! But at a tangent, tell me more about "Put You To Sleep". I like the way it seems dreamy, but there's also a pervasive air of menace in there. Was it the intention to make this one sound so threatening?
"Yeah, it was up to a point," Jeff considers.
"Hell...they're all threatening songs (laughs). That's typical of me, I like putting disturbing things in pretty packages where songs are concerned. Like I said, I really enjoyed breaking things down and reconstructing them in the studio and it was like being a mad scientist. With "Put You To Sleep", we'd been trying a number of different keyboard and guitar parts and the end result sounds very spontaneous, which it was, frankly. I like the layers with this record....after all, I've already done the acoustic, coffee house record, and I really don't want to repeat that and get lumped in with everyone who makes those records all the time."
Fair enough, though in a few places - such as with "The 19th Hole" - for example - "The Hustler" does tap into the acoustic vibe that suited a lot of "Everybody Loves A Winner." It's still as confessional, really. Does it bother you that sometimes your lyrics might be a tiny bit TOO personal for your audience to take?
"Well, yeah maybe sometimes, but at the same time I feel I mustn't ever censor myself," replies Jeff.
"Besides, there are always two considerations with me. 1) I love rock'n'roll and 2) My songs are always me trying to deal with whatever's happening in my life and what's going on. I feel I can't shy away from stuff, it's not right, it's gotta be taken on. Besides, when I play the songs enough times, they tend to take on a life of their own, so hopefully they'll have enough of a universal appeal."
Cool. But Do you think "The Hustler" will surprise those who are expecting another obviously 'Americana'-flavoured album from Jeff Klein? Mind you, it seems 'Americana' is such a nebulous sort of tag these days anyway, isn't it?
"Definitely, yeah," says Jeff.
"I mean...what does 'Americana' really mean anyway? It's like being in the US and referring to Donovan and Oasis as the same genre when it's clearly NOT the same, y;know? Besides,I've never wanted to be known for simply one style, I don't wanna be a new Woodie Guthrie. I have Wire in my collection, I have Bauhaus in my collection etc etc, thay're all equally relevant to me. The last thing I want to become is someone's favourite actor who only ever plays one part."
Quite right too. But Jeff, one final facetious one for you. The album's title inevitably makes the Paul Newman film spring to mind: can you imagine yourself as a real life hustler?
"I love that movie!" Jeff fires back.
"I'm thinking of doing a remix album called "The Colour Of Money"," he laughs, making a tongue in cheek reference to the dodgy Tom Cruise/ Paul Newman follow-up film.
"But can I see myself as a real life hustler? Well, being a musician sometimes has elements of it in any case - living life on the edge and fighting to be heard and so on. If you put it that way, I'd say I'm a natural!"
("The Hustler" is out during July on One Little Indian).
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