Built to Spill Bassist Melanie Radford Spent Years on Solo Debut – And Now She’s Already Planning Her Next One
Yesterday saw the release of Sake of Stillness, the forever-in-the-works debut record by Built to Spill bassist Melanie Radford. Its poetic title reflects the care, time and patience the Boise musician put into an exquisite collection made available through Portland, Oregon’s Jealous Butcher Records.
The Bad Penny had never communicated with Radford, who now lives in Seattle and has a second band called Blood Lemon that started in 2018. That is, except for the time we obtained a quote from her in which she commented on Built to Spill’s performance at a Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rally held in neighboring Nampa earlier this year.
So, after seeing Radford perform with various projects at various venues on various occasions over the years, we were revved up to pick her brain and finally get to know her what makes her tick. We had the opportunity to do so on Wednesday, and what follows is the bulk of our conversation.
(Note: Restrictions on questions we were allowed to ask Radford prevented us from learning as much as we would’ve liked about the musician. So if you wonder why we didn’t ask this or that, don’t necessarily blame us.)
How are you?
Oh, doing pretty good. Just running around and getting everything ready for my solo show on Friday [in Seattle] for the album.
Are you nervous?
I am, a little. I’ve done a few solo shows now, but this one is with a full band and a lot of projections. It’s a fully immersive experience that we put together. There’s a lot more moving parts than I’m used to. We’re going to be able to use loops, and the space – Good Shepherd Center – allows you to manipulate the space and make for a much more special experience.
That seem fitting for your record because it places a strong emphasis on environment and integrates field recordings. When you started playing music, did you intend to be a solo artist from the onset or want to be a part of a group?
I don’t think I ever thought about being a solo artist. I always wanted to be in a band, but I also wasn’t sure what it would look like. I didn’t have a lot of confidence in myself growing up, so I didn’t even think it was an option for a really long time. It wasn’t until more recently that I felt the need to make a solo record and a conceptual album.
Can you elaborate on that?
I’ve written a few songs that were meant to be solo songs. Even when I’m writing or bringing a song to a band, it always starts with me and the bass. I either have a bass line in mind or some melody, whether it’s on the bass or vocals. It always starts that way anyway. So it wasn’t challenging for me to conceptualize something where I could just keep it that way, as a solo [song].
Ten years ago, when I was 21, I did like a special performance at a Garden City [Idaho] warehouse. I did this full conceptual performance on vulnerability, and I wrote all original music for it. I [handled] vocals and bass, and my friend [and local musician] Jake Saunders played cello. That was it.
We built out the stage and made it a fully immersive experience. There were no openers, but people showed up. It was great. There were a couple of scraps that I kept with me and brought over to this record. They’re way different now, but the essences still came from that. I remember getting a lot of creative fulfillment out of that. It was really fun to explore that minimalist setup. It was the first time that I was like, “Oh, maybe this might be actually possible for me to do.”
But then life happened. And for 10 years, I put myself back in band settings and focused on just being a good bass player for people. Which I still love to do – but it wasn’t until more recently that I was like, “I think I want to actually get back into [being a solo artist].”
I’ve been to many shows, and there are few bassists I see having more fun onstage than you. You’re always having a blast and have this big, beaming smile, and are bouncing up and down the whole time.
I got more confident and went through some really tough things in my life a few years ago. I needed to process them. A lot of grief had entered my life. Writing this record helped me process a lot of it. So maybe in a way it was an emotional necessity too. Grief is not a linear thing. It’s circular, it comes back around, and we have to live with it. With grief, we tend to grow more than we ever have before. And so I really got to know the different parts of myself better.
[Sake of Stillness] helped me cradle myself and brought some comfort during a really intense time of emotional upheaval. I was also touring nonstop. I needed to be held and for a weighted blanket to be put over myself. My music kind of turned into that. It’s important to listen to the different parts of yourself and what their needs are, even though some of them might be contradictory.
With Sake of Stillness, did you feel it more important to you to share your vision of the world or to share who you are as a person? A lot of your songs are about different cities and places, and you factor in field recordings too. To a degree, it reminded me of literary naturalists like Thoreau and Emerson. For a solo debut, it isn’t very “me-centric.”
Well, I wanted to tell people what I’m all about, but also make something that felt worldly and comforting for other people too. And, of course, I had never been able to express my point of view artistically before. Another big thing is that I really wanted to bring the bass forward as an instrument to be centered around. I wanted to write a love letter to the bass, to show how beautiful and warm of an instrument it can be.
So you kinda wanted to do with the bass what Weird Al did with the accordion.
Haha, yeah.
In the end, did you have fun making this record?
[Long pause.]
I think so. It definitely wasn’t a pain in the ass or anything like that. But it also wasn’t a lot of laughter and having a good time either. It felt like a pilgrimage, a spiritual moment that I needed to be present and somber in. But it wasn’t miserable. I just think I needed a moment of peace. That’s what the whole recording process turned into: It almost felt like I had to adopt monk-like techniques to get it done, and to keep my mindset in the right place for it emotionally and mentally. And I’m really glad that I did, because it spanned this time of centering for me. I’m already working on a second record.
I’m delighted to hear that.
It’s coming out of me, whether I like it or not.
Melanie Radford’s upcoming tour dates:
7/18: Seattle, WA @ Substation (with Califone)
8/12-8/18: Orcas Island, WA @ Doe Bay Resort & Retreat (artist in residence)
10/21: Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (with Built To Spill and Quasi)
10/22: Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (with Built To Spill and Quasi)
10/23: Albany, NY @ Empire Live (with Built To Spill and Quasi)
10/24: Portland, ME @ Live at Madrid’s (with Built To Spill and Quasi)
10/25: Portsmouth, NH @ 3S Artspace (with Built To Spill and Quasi)
10/27: Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair (with Built To Spill and Quasi)
10/28: Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair (with Built To Spill and Quasi)
10/29: Norwalk, CT @ District Music Hall (with Built To Spill and Quasi)
10/30: Ardmore, PA @ Ardmore Music Hall (with Built To Spill and Quasi)
10/31: Ardmore, PA @ Ardmore Music Hall (with Built To Spill and Quasi)
For more information on Radford, visit MelanieRadford.com.
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