Phosphorescent

A conversation with Matthew Houck

(February 2009)

Interview by Adam McKibbin

In 1977, Willie Nelson released an album-long salute to Lefty Frizzell, a singer/songwriter called "one of the most underappreciated artists in all of country-music history" by Amazon and "the definitive honky tonk singer" by All Music Guide. Frizzell didn't live to see Nelson's valentine hit shelves; though only a few years older than Nelson, he passed away in 1975 after suffering a stroke.

Now Nelson is an elder statesman and a counterculture icon, a man who hates taxes but loves his weed and independence from foreign oil. Phosphorescent's Matthew Houck has turned the To Lefty formula around on To Willie, as he's a critically well-respected but generally underappreciated songwriter paying tribute to one of the giants. But, hey, Willie isn't so big that he can't gain a few new fans. And like any good tribute album, To Willie leaves listeners wanting to soak up the originals, whether to hear them for the first time or to return to them with new insights. Nelson has no shortage of hits in his catalog, but Houck dug a little deeper, pulling out some gems that may even surprise Willie aficionados.

Houck fielded questions from The Red Alert about his longtime relationship with the Willie Nelson catalog - as well as Phosphorescent's upcoming tour and next record.

You've had a soft spot for the Willie Nelson catalog for a long time.
What made you realize that you wanted to actually release an album as a tribute to him?

I had known that I wanted to record these songs for a long time, but I
didn't know when or how I would do it.  Then, a couple of years ago I
heard Willie's album To Lefty, From Willie, and realized that would
be the perfect form for this abum to take.

Do you remember hearing his songs for the first time - or when he
really made an impact on you?  I had the obvious "On The Road Again"
entry point - my dad liked singing it when he drove.

Yeah, exactly.  One of my absolute earliest musical memories is of
being in the backseat of my dad's car at around age 5 probably, and
hearing "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys" and being absolutely
transfixed by that sad, sad song.

It's called To Willie.  Any word on whether the real Willie has heard
the gift yet?

I definitely sent him a copy.  No word has come back as of yet.

How difficult was track selection?  Did you know going in which songs
you wanted to tackle, or did you dig deeper into his catalog while you
were doing this and discover some new gems?

No, I knew from a long way back which songs I wanted to do.  They were
all songs that had been with me for years.

Were there any songs that you tried and didn't get to work out?

No, just the opposite!   To Lefty From Willie was 10 tracks long. In keeping with that I was going to limit To Willie to 10 tracks as well.  I recorded 11, thinking that one might get cut out,  But in the end it was clear that all 11 of them had to go on there.

You'll be playing songs from To Willie throughout your tour that's
coming up - but there are a few shows, including the one here in L.A.,
where you'll be playing the entirety of the record.  Are you
sprinkling Phosphorescent songs alongside, or are you playing To
Willie start-to-finish in its entirety - and then touching upon on
your own stuff?

We're actually only going to do To Willie in its entirety at two shows.  One at the record release show in Brooklyn, and one in Austin during SXSW for fun.  All other performances on this tour will be proper Phosphorescent shows.  But there are a lot of nights with this
band where the crowd is great and we'll just keep playing.  We all
really enjoy playing together.  So you know, I'm sure we'll end up
playing some of these Willie Nelson songs among who knows what else. When people are really into it, we'll keep on playing til we run out
of songs or fall down.

Willie's most recent star turn in pop culture was alongside Stephen
Colbert, singing an ode to marijuana and wise men.  Songs like
"Reasons To Quit" and "I Gotta Get Drunk" document a hard-living
lifestyle that's well-tied to Willie and Merle Haggard and George
Jones and that gang.  So what's life like on the road with
Phosphorescent?  Could you guys hold your own?

Well, yes, I'd say we do pretty good in that respect.

Any plans to share on when we can expect the next album of new
Phosphorescent material?

We're in the studio right now actually - in the same little warehouse
space where we recorded To Willie - recording the next
Phosphorescent album.

How much does doing an album like To Willie impact your own writing?

I honestly don't know yet but I'm sure it gets in there.  Everything
you do impacts your writing.  So I imagine going deep into another
writer's work is going to have some effect.

Willie reinterpreted Lefty, and now you've reinterpreted Willie.  If the chain continued, who are some folks you'd like to see tackle the Phosphorescent catalog?

Ha!  I don't know.  I suppose I'll have to wait 30 years or so and see
who comes along.

Finally, I read an interview from a little over a year ago where you
were talking about L.A. and you said you had finally started to see
the appeal of it.  What softened you up a little?

Well, I was seeing a girl who lived out there so I was spending time
there.  But it was the idea of year-round surfing that did it.  I lived out there last winter, and did in fact go surfing in December and January which is really remarkable and there is a lot to be said for LA, but after touring all spring I decided to come on back and settle in NYC.  I like it here.