KJZZ is taking a listen to local bands across the Valley for our Tiny Desert Concert series. This week we hear from American Longspurs, an alt-country band from Phoenix.
The band’s music fits into lots of different categories, and incorporates elements of bluegrass, modern country and other Americana sounds.
American Longspurs’ Zach Zimmerman and Chester Carmer visited the KJZZ studios to talk about their music and play a few songs.
They’re playing Oct. 7 at Last Exit Live.
Full conversation
CHESTER CARMER: Each different song has its own feel. You know, you could classify some songs as much more like a kind of radio country, and some is more like rock and roll, and some is a more older kind of sounding country.
MARK BRODIE: Is that kind of liberating when you're writing, knowing that you don't have to sort of have a certain sound, you can sort of range between different, for lack of a better word, genres?
ZACH ZIMMERMAN: Absolutely, absolutely. We're currently writing a new album, a full length album. And the cool thing about it is that we've got some songs that are pretty damn rock and roll, then we have some songs that are very mellow and very minimalistic. But it's really liberating knowing that, you know, yeah, we can put anything we want on this record, and it'll all kind of fit together, because that's what we do.
BRODIE: Can we hear a song?
ZIMMERMAN: Yeah, absolutely. A song that Chester actually wrote, called “Tearing Down.”
(Music)
BRODIE: Does this place in particular influence your songs, your style of play, your music, in general, anything like that?
ZIMMERMAN: Absolutely. It's necessarily something that you're going to hear in the lyrics. But a lot of times when I'm writing we've got a song where I'm painting some imagery of a, you know, somewhere where I'm going. And when I was writing it, I was thinking about just driving through the desert and making my way up to Pinetop. You know, just how cool it is, how quick the scenery changes. And not to get super cheesy on you, but like, how quick life changes and but yeah, I'd say that that plays a huge role in my writing.
BRODIE: Chester, how about you? I mean, you've moved around a little bit, but as you said, you spent a decent amount of time in the Phoenix area. Does this place affect the way that you play, as well as some of the other places you've been?
CRAMER: Well, that first song we played, I wrote that one, and it is some direct imagery. I kind of wrote about my experience here, moving back, going back to school, here at ASU, and the general sense of loneliness that one might feel not being a traditional student, but still attending ASU.
BRODIE: So something that I think is kind of traditional about country music is the story and sort of how the song is written. And I'm curious, sort of, what your guys' process is for writing songs, and if you consciously try to tell a story, and if so, like, if there's a kind of story that you try to tell?
ZIMMERMAN: I don't know if I ever consciously set about writing a story. It's just kind of the way that I've always naturally written. And as far as a type of story, it just if that's the way that the song goes, I kind of just let it go the way that the song naturally wants to go. I'm a big believer in, if you sit down and you try to write a song, you're going to fail, and usually a song needs to be written at a certain time. Really, I think what country music is to me, and what I think it could be to everyone, is it's always reminded me of something simpler and slowing down. And I think that that translates wherever you are.
BRODIE: Can we hear another song?
ZIMMERMAN: Yeah.
(Music)
If you’re in a band or know of one you’d like to hear on air, send us a note at [email protected].
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