LAST HURRAH


Richmond Fontaine


LAST HURRAH : Did you grow up in Portland?

WILLY VLAUTIN : I was born in 1967 in reno nevada, in the western united states. I lived there until I was 25 then I moved to portland to get in a band. Reno is a small gambling town. The music scene is very small, and not very good. It was hard to be in a band in that town. The locals would often criticize any music that was different. They'd yell at you, throw things at you.

LAST HURRAH : Why did you choose Portland? Did you think of L.A. or San Francisco where they have bigger music scenes?

WV : At the time I chose portland because it was cheap, and I knew there were houses there with basements so you wouldn't have to pay for a practice space. I used to go to the library and read the papers of all the big cities in the west, and portland seemed like the easiest place to move to. When I moved to portland all I wanted to do was be in a band, unfortunately, I was working for a trucking company six days a week because I was broke from the move, but eventually I quit the job and started playing music with guys I'd met through going out and asking around and started up the band.

LAST HURRAH : What were your early musical influences?

WV : I became really interested in music when I was maybe 11 or 12. When I was a kid I liked all kinds but I really liked Bruce Springsteen, the Jam, the Who, and as I got older I really liked punk rock.

LAST HURRAH : Please tell us what kind of music you have been listening to from past to today.

WV : I've been listening to Tom Waits, but I've been doing that for a long time. Been listening to the Band, the Jayhawks, Bettie severret, op8, Bob Dylan.

LAST HURRAH : Do you remember your first band?

WV : When I was in High-school I was in a band called the Woodburns which are a bit like Richmond Fontaine, just much worse. It was country/punk. I've always played the same sort of music. I've always loved it and it makes sense to me.

LAST HURRAH : Did you have any ideas what kind of music you want to play with R.F.?

WV : I've always wanted to play american roots music. folk music, music that you can tell a story to. I've been influenced by different kinds of things, and I enjoy all types of music, but in my heart, I love folk music.

LAST HURRAH : What does Richmond Fontaine mean?

WV : Richmond fontaine was a man our bass player, Dave met down in mexico. He was a janitor from a city in wyoming, u.s.a and came to mexico to party. He spent his live savings on prostitutes and cociane.

LAST HURRAH : People often compare R.F. with Uncle Tupelo. How do you feel about that?

WV : I don't mind, they were a good band. Some people get a little crazy about them, but it doesn't bother me. I feel we're a real different band playing the same genre of music. We're a much more story oriented, darker moodier band. We're definitey a more western band.

LAST HURRAH : Is it sage to say that the backbones of R.F. are hardcore punk and country music?

WV : You are right there. I like mixing the two because in my mind they make sense. Punk is full blown anger, and country, at least the ballads, are deeply sad both are very emotional, and they both are extreme. My mood swings a bit like that I guess.

LAST HURRAH : Who influenced you the most in hardcore punk and country music wise?

WV : Well, there was a band in reno called the Boston Wranglers, and they were a great country punk band. I really liked the Long Ryders, Llone Justice, X, the Blasters, Dave Alvin. Green on Red, Rank and File. Also I really liked Soul Asylum, they were great, that album made to be broken was a great punk/country record, they were great back then. Husker Du, Grant Hart was my favorite songwriter when I was in high-school.

LAST HURRAH : Is it rare for young people to listen to country music as well as hardcore punk like you?

WV : I think most Americans are aware of country and of punk, I grew up around a lot of guys listening to country, but then I knew people who only listened to punk. Country's hard because it's such a conservative type of music in many ways. I had a hard time with the people who listened to it, but the form it self is great.

LAST HURRAH : What does country mean to you?

WV : The thing I like about country is that you can tell a story around it. I really like Irish music as well, they are story songs, heart felt songs by common people, poor people, working people.

LAST HURRAH : Many musicians, like Fernando, Luther Russell, are moving to Portland, and I've heard that there's a roots rock movement by young generation in Portland. Is that true? If it is, do you feel you're a part of it?

WV : Yeah, there are some great Portland country rock bands, and it's a wonderful thing. Fernando is great, we just got back from a tour with him, and Luther produced our last record. There are some great bands around here. All the bands in this area do shows together, use each other for recording projects and things like that.

LAST HURRAH : Why did Luther Russell produce your latest album, "Lost Son"?

WV : Luther is a good friend of Fernando and we met him that way. We would meet and talk and he is a great producer, and had some good ideas. We told him we wanted an old SST sounding record, and he understood and it worked out pretty good I think.

LAST HURRAH : I've heard that you are highly estimated as a storyteller, and I agree with that too. Especially having listened to "Fifteen year old kid in Nogales, Mexico". What kind of people do you describe in your song?

WV : My characters just come to me. Some are more me than others. The 15 year old kid is me in a lot of ways. I, however, didn't have the courage to leave, and he did. I think I was trying to talk about this kid's viewpoint, his eldorado, his safety is a fictional mexico he'd probably seen on tv or read about. he has a hard home life, and so he leaves expecting safety once across the border, but then there is no eldorado, there is no safe place.

LAST HURRAH : Is your story based your experience?

WV : Well I use a lot of descriptions in my songs so if you do like them they can stay with you longer. so you can listen to it over and over and pick up the small things, the discribtions that will help round out the song. Most of the songs are based on a feeling an emotion and I'll either recount a story in my life or a story in my head that fits that emotion.

LAST HURRAH : I'm interested in Blue Oyster Cult T-shirt and Minutemen poster in your lylics.

WV : My girlfriend has a Blue Oyster Cult T-shirt that she wears around all the time, and I'm a fan of the Minutemen, and my bass player, Dave, is a huge fan and so I sorta put that in there for him, and to describe what kind of music the character in the song listens to.

LAST HURRAH : Please tell us your future plan.

WV : We're currently touring our new record lost son, and we're also demoing our new songs getting ready for our next record which I hope is out in the summer or fall.


(Interview : TOMOO YAMAGUCHI)

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