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Email Interview with Hezekiah Jones
With Jack Rose’s untimely passing and Espers devolving into a variety of solo projects, Philly’s psychedelic folk scene has been waning. Hezekiah Jones seems like the rational next step for the new weird Philadelphia. The development rests in their embrace of the conventional and accessible without compromising originality. Inspired by tried-and-true artists like Will Oldham (Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Palace) and Bill Callahan (Smog), the alternating collective reach even deeper into their record collections, occasionally dipping into Neil Young, George Harrison or Nick Drake. While the songs remain unafraid of sincerity and pretty, almost whispered, harmonies (both seeming taboo in the last decade’s wave of psych-folk) songwriter Raph Cutrufello still coats his tunes with enough unexpected instrumentation to ward off lazy comparisons to Sufjan Stevens or Iron and Wine. But for all their carefully orchestrated compositions the real star of the show is their poetic lyrics reminiscent of early modernists if they were married to traditional folk songs.Philly Venues: Hezekiah Jones doesn’t feature a traditional band line-up. Instead of a steady cast, you rely on a rotating collective of Philadelphia musicians, but everybody seems to lock in to create what sounds like a tight band. How did this collective come together?
Hezekiah Jones: I guess that started out of my fear to be on stage alone. When we first started playing out I was in the habit of just inviting people up on stage with me, sometimes members of other bands on the bill or friends who were there. Eventually, enough people knew the songs, so that for each show I could put together different lineups of the band depending on venue size and what kind of gig it was. For the past couple years we've been trying to keep the same 15 or so people rotating through. Although there are now some full-time members, for the most part: Phil D'agostino, Kiley Ryan, Brad Hinton, Matt Helm, Dean Gorfti, Adam Flicker. And bigger shows we add horns and maybe a second drummer. It definitely gets away from the 'folk' for the bigger shows.
P.V.: Of the songs posted on your Facebook I keep coming back to one called “Cupcakes for the Army,” in particular the line ‘the extremes have become so hairy, they’re shedding like a dog’ and ‘real religion’s in the mind of a child.’ It sounds like the sentiment is ‘not against the soldiers, but against the war.’ Can you expand on this a little?
H.J.: That's the sentiment I was going for. I'm definitely anti-war, just not anti-human. Looking back at the Vietnam War, I felt bad for the guys coming home and being treated poorly after being drafted and having to go and do horrific things in the name of our country. I'm not much for publicly talking about religion or politics. Religion, I feel, is a personal thing and I think politics is just stupid. I guess it's kind of like the guy pointing at the sun but we are staring at the guy’s finger, when he wants us to see the sun. Like a child, whose head isn't filled with all the inane stuff ours are filled with, we need to forget what we think we know.
P.V.: Do you consider yourself a part of the ‘new weird’ or ‘psych folk’ movements? I’ve seen you labeled that way, but the songs seem more traditional and timeless..
H.J.: I don't know. At this point I consider us 'Black Metal Progressive Folk.' Not sure how accurate that is either. I like the label 'music'. I think that cause we use acoustic instruments for the most part we are considered folk music. I guess the labels are important to some extent but I don't feel boxed in by it in any way. I still feel open to experiment or go in any direction we please. We are working on an atonal hip-hop album at this point.
P.V.: You were recently featured on WHYY, you’re launching a tour (with Chris Bathgate) and are getting positive reviews on your new record Have You Seen Our New Fort?. Do you feel like you’re getting some overdue recognition?
H.J.: Yeah, maybe. We have been at it for a while so it's nice to get some recognition. Whatever helps get us more listeners is just fine with me. Bathgate is a good friend of ours and he's releasing his album on April 21st, so we are going to tour with him behind that and our new album. Recognition or not, we are still enjoying it at this point, so that'll keep us going for now.
P.V.: Hezekiah Jones is the tragic hero of poem by Joseph S. Newman. Newman portrayed him as a sort of martyr for atheism who was persecuted and killed for his refusal to accept religious doctrine. Bob Dylan tried to turn the poem into a song and some bootlegs of that still circulate. How do you think you identify with this character and his connection to American literature and music?
H.J.: I first heard the song from the Minnesota Hotel Tapes. most of the songs on it were covers, except one. There is a section of the set that just deals with songs about VD. Interesting. That song was on when i brought a snail home from the pet store. When i put him in the tank we named him Hezekiah. And the band was named after the snail. I'm not quite sure how I relate to him per se, but I do love books (Bob Dylan changed some of the words), and i do love the sentiment of him standing up to the bullying of organized religion. Favorite line from that poem 'There's a lot of good ways for a man to be wicked... '. I also thought that was the most powerful song on that disc.
P.V.: There’s a lot of bands in folk and indie circles that would rather dismiss the bands they listened to as teenagers than embrace that they’re part of their musical identity. I like that you embraced some early Radiohead songs and made them your own rather than shun any memory of the 90’s. What makes you unafraid to embrace that?
H.J.: I don't know. Didn't consider being afraid of it. To be honest, that first Radiohead album, Pablo Honey, is my favorite one. I'm more into songs than anything else when it comes to music. I thought they had some great songs on the album: Thinking about you, Stop Whispering, Ripcord, Vegetable, Anyone can play guitar, etc. Just really liked that one for some reason. I feel regardless of production or 'genre' a good song comes through anyway and can be redone in any number of ways. I just thought stripped down versions of those tunes made sense. I also want to someday do The Lemonheads 'It's a shame about Ray' album in its entireity, another 90s classic, or maybe the 'Temple of the Dog' album.
P.V.: You’re one of those unique left-handed guitarists who plays a right-handed guitar upside down rather than a guitar designed for left handed players. I always wondered how people learn to play like that. Can you fill me in?
H.J.: I grew up as a piano player, writing most of my songs on it til I was about 22 years old. I was in a few bands, and sitting around the house we had right-handed guitars. I would just have friends show me chords from time to time. Eventually I started writing on the guitar. And after hearing some Will Oldham albums where it sounded like he could barely play guitar I figured I could go for the same thing. I am rather limited in what i can get away with at this point on the guitar. I don't really do bar chords. and my C chord is actually a Cmaj7. The strumming paterns are backwards too. so It does get a distinct sound out of the instrument. I've been moving back to piano a bit lately, but do love that guitar.
-Billy Kekevian (Philly Venues Contributor)
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