That’s Fucking Dynamite: Can you tell me how Let Me Go, Let Me Go, Let Me Go and Fading Trails came to be?
Jason Molina: Initially I set out to do several individual, complete records, which I did. Right before I released Fading Trails I also had a batch of solo recordings that came out as the record Let Me Go. Basically, if I put out every record I would have had five records come out more or less at the same time.
That’s okay, but there wasn’t really a grand idea behind doing it. It didn’t have to come out at one time as all five separate records. So, the label came up with an idea, which was simple on the surface, but was very effective, and that was to take a sampling of each of the sessions and sort of put it together in a coherent fashion, and that’s what you get with Fading Trails. It’s not intended to be a poor man’s version of all those sessions. It’s just that it didn’t occur to me to put it out as a bits and pieces record and the label thought it was a good idea. I had never done that before. I always think that recording is documenting the session, so I really hate to mess with the purity of it. Hopefully the complete session will see the light of day, but so far the fans have been really receptive to the way Fading Trails turned out.
TFD: How has working with Secretly Canadian been during this process?
Molina: Secretly Canadian has to be one of the premiere independent labels on the planet. There modeled to a degree after Touch and Go and after trial and error and hard work they’ve sort of come up with their own formula that’s truly original. One of the pieces of that formula is to let the artist be completely in control of their records. So, when I feel like making a record, I make it and then put it on their desk and it comes out the way I want it to. They don’t say anything about cutting a song, changing the order or anything about the artwork, it’s completely artist control. So, it took a degree of convincing to approach the project this way, because they have never really suggested anything like this before. I was actually pretty open to it as an experiment though, and it shows that giving a little bit of the control up to people that you trust can actually benefit you.
TFD: What will happen with the unreleased portions of the sessions?
Molina: Right now it’s entirely up to the label with what they want to do with it. We didn’t spare any expense with these sessions, we had them mastered at Abbey Road and have completed all the artwork for all of them. So, right now they may be in a state of limbo, but it’s decidedly so.
TFD: What are the realities of touring for an artist at your level?
Molina: There’s a total satisfaction to be able to say, “I can play, everyday of the year.” There are bands out there that really want to gig, that really want to play, so I consider myself in a very special category that I can be playing everyday of the year if I want. So, I’m really excited that people have an interest in this music.
The thing is though, touring doesn’t make any money. In fact touring at this pace at this level, you tend to lose money. By the time that you factor in all your expenses, if you break even, you’re happy.
TFD: How has the digital turn that the music industry has taken affected you?
Molina: For a band at our level, illegal downloading is absolutely devastating. The thing is because I’m an independent artist, and I’ve been doing it for over ten years, I have a formula of how to make a record that has always worked for us. Basically, you want to make sure that the label doesn’t lose any money on the record and ideally you would make a little money for yourself as a band, because if you make any money, it keeps you on the road. But basically, that formula has been shot all to hell because of illegal downloading. If you look at a band that sells, say 30,000 records, which is not peanuts on an independent scale. It’s just enough to keep the band on the road all year if they choose to do that, or keep them in studio working, instead of slaving away at some shit job. If you talk about numbers like that, and then consider that in the first week after we released What Comes After the Blues we found out that over 5,000 people had illegally downloaded it. You’re talking about a large portion of your record sales just going down the drain. On the flip side of that though, it has gotten a lot of people to listen to our music that might not have run into it.
TFD: What’s coming up for you?
Molina: I’m out until Dec. 12, then I come back to Chicago and play a show with Jeff Tweddy, Shellac, Robbie Faulks, Sally Timms, and John Langford. That’s a big benefit show we do here every year. Then at the beginning of January, hopefully I’m gonna be sitting here and writing.