Interview: John Stirratt (Wilco)

As Uncle Tupelo was breaking up, Jeff came to Ken (Coomer, drummer), Max (Johnston, multi-instrumentalist) and me and told us — in no uncertain terms — he was interested in continuing the band. We had just gotten some momentum as a five piece and felt there was a certain amount of chemistry, and he was ready to jump straight into a renamed version of this.  It was great as we all were having such fun and it appeared to be ending as soon as it had begun.

I have distinct memories of the first thing Wilco committed to tape, which was the version of "I Must Be High" on record, the first song — we set up, got sound and rolled that song, which came out really good. It was a good beginning.

The other tune I remember most was my song, "It’s Just That Simple", as it was such a blast to play it live with the band as well as Lloyd Maines (texan musician) on pedal steel.

It would be amazing, although now I am fixated on the idea of any Wilco recording happening during this pandemic. But we kicked it around here and there, other voices.

We’ve just announced the Summerteeth reissue, which has got some great bonus tracks and live stuff.  I was happy to see "Myrna Lee" and some other songs of mine make it onto the A.M. reissue, as we were demoing lots of stuff.

That’s a nice question, and I wish I could sum it all up in one story or memory. Something I think about a lot is actually doing the basic take of "Sunken Treasure" during the Being There sessions, being moved by the music to that extent and knowing that, at that point, we were making something lasting, and there was real potential for a career with this band.

I just remember that wonderful Samba Club in São Paulo — how I remember music being in the air everywhere in Brazil. The only thing that comes close in the world is New Orleans.

I believe with the song "Hate it Here", he was making a joke to some extent, as he can be very self-deprecating in a funny way lots of times. I think with that song he was trying to write something very straightforward and conversational, not oblique at all, which is the hardest type of song to write. Like "Passenger Side", for example. I don't think he dislikes the song at all.

I’ve always been into hospitality on some level, hosting bands in the early days etc. And later Airbnb. But seeing the hotel industry finally achieve some sort of individual and smart product by the likes of Ace and the Bunkhouse Group, in Austin, inspired me to create a hotel that spoke to people like me, my age. A lot of similar parallels between making music and hotels, basically like creating a record you would want to listen to, in this case creating a place you’d love to stay.

I found that doing business and being in a rock ‘n’ roll band is somewhat easier than I thought. As your days are completely open preshow, you can get a lot done, especially administrative/deskwork. It’s basically the boredom of waiting to go on stage that's always been the challenge. For anyone with a family, they understand I get much more done on the road then at home.

I do remember Jeff mentioning that, it was very kind. But at this point, I believe Wilco as a brand would almost continue on some level infinitely, as long as he was fronting it.

I think Wilco will try to make a record remotely over this winter, and see how that works. We did try it with the song "Tell Your Friends" and it came out quite good.