Blacklist Royals

During their second last show on the tour with Face to Face, I caught up with Blacklist Royals front man Nat Rufus backstage at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver, BC. As Face to Face‘s Trevor Keith skyped back home in the adjoining room – and threw in a few comments here and there for the interview – Nat brought us up to speed on what the Nashville quartet has been up to the past few months. He talked about their new album, Die Young With Me, his love affair with Christmas songs and why exactly he’s terrified of this year’s Fest 12 in Gainesville.

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Bobby: Tonight is the second last night on the Face To Face and Teenage Bottlerocket tour – how’d it go?

Nat: Oh, the tour’s been amazing. All the bands are fucking great. Face to Face is like my favourite punk rock band and I knew the guys from Bottlerocket before the tour. We were already friends and I loved their band. And Joshua who’s opening up acoustically is awesome as well. And I don’t know, it’s been great. It’s been a great tour. And this is our first time in Vancouver as well which is rad. The city seems awesome, I’ve only been here for like an hour but the city seems pretty fucking cool.

Bobby: You recently did an interview with GhettoBlaster where you said that Face to Face’s self titled is one of your all time favourite records. So what’s it like being able to see them every day for, what, five weeks now?

Nat: I think it’s been like a seven or eight week tour by the end of the day and it’s been rad. I got to play “I Won’t Lie Down” off the record on my birthday with them. It’s been a trip man, I think about learning how to play guitar to that record in my parent’s basement to being on tour and seeing them every night. It’s really fucking cool.

Bobby: It’s a nice little progression.

Nat: *laughs* Yeah ,man. Success, for me, is like a moving target but there are nights where you have to be like “this is fucking amazing.” You know? It’s been awesome.

Bobby: On the second day of the tour, you sat on your glasses and broke them. Were you able to fix them or are you just not allowed to drive the van?

Nat: *laughs* No. They’re just tapped together now actually *laughs*. Yeah, that sucked. It was not a good way to start things off. But yeah, whatever.

Bobby: So its fine for day to day things.

Nat: Yeah man, I got like another week on the road, I’ll just tough it out.

Bobby: The tour’s building up to the release of Die Young With Me. Can you tell us anything about that? Release date, label?

Nat: Nah, I can’t say anything about the label or the release date. I’m hoping for like mid or late fall. We’re looking at some touring options to go around the release and dealing with label stuff right now. But the gears are touring slowly. I’m sure there’ll be an announcement made in the next month or two.

Bobby: Always a slow and steady process.

Nat: Not always steady, but always slow.

Bobby: You guys have said that you started writing this album with a very deliberate change in the writing process, can you explain that change?

Nat:  Well basically after our touring cycle for the first record was wrapping up, Rob and I – who kind of write everything for the band – we started pooling our songs together. He was a cancer survivor. He had cancer when he was a teenager and we’ve done charity work or whatever; it’s been a part of the band but it’s never been something we’ve touched on song-topic wise. So anyway, when we started pooling our songs together, they were all kind of revolving around…..

Trevor Keith (from the adjoining room): What are you guys talking about over there?

Nat: Music.

Trevor Keith: What kind of music?

Nat: Blacklist Royals music.

Trevor Keith: Who’s that?

Nat: Some band that nobody’s ever going to hear off. *laughs*

Trevor Keith: Yeah, probably not.

Nat: But anyway, all the songs were kind of revolving around that anyway….

Trevor Keith: Say hi to Meg Nat!

Nat: Hey Meg! I didn’t know which Meg you were talking about.

Trevor Keith: My Meg.

Nat: Hey Meg.

Trevor Keith:  Nat says hi, he’s the one with the hair and the boots….

Nat: But anyway, all the songs were kind of revolving around that period. So instead of kind of straying away from that; we kind of just said fuck it and went with it. So the whole record is almost kind of like a concept record, from that point up until now.

Unlike our first record, every song I could tell you what it’s about, who it’s about. It’s very specific, very personal songs. Which is sometimes harder to write but hopefully at the end of the day, even if it’s not a literal connection, if we’re writing about stuff that’s more meaningful to us it will mean more to the listener or whatever.

Bobby: Was it difficult opening up in such a personal manner?

Nat: Yeah, absolutely. And I mean it’s weird because once you put something in a song and start playing it, it’s just a song. Like there’s a song about my friend passing away that, to me, is really personal and meaningful; but to other people, it’s like they don’t fucking know. I’ve done acoustic shows where I’ve played it and there’s people talking and you want to walk up and be like “fuck you” or whatever – but at a certain point, you have to detach yourself from it a little bit. It’s just music at this point and people can take it for what they will. All you can do is just try to get it across the best you can.

Bobby: Yeah, everyone will interpret the song in a slightly different way and will have their own meaning.

Nat: Exactly and that’s what it’s all about man. At the end of the day, if somebody doesn’t really know what the song’s about – if it means something to them, that’s what really matters.

Bobby: Did last year’s lineup change effect the writing process?

Nat: No. Rob and I recorded the entire record ourselves. The dudes here, Brad and Dirk, who are playing with us now, they didn’t play on the album. But our first record, Rob and I wrote and recorded almost everything also. It was kind of weird. We were going for something new with the new album and everyone else who had been in the band… I mean, we’ve been touring for a long fucking time man and we weren’t making any money. You know how hard it can be, being in a punk rock band and touring. It seemed like we were in dire straits and we were trying to go and do something a little more original or what we thought we should be doing and they couldn’t really get behind us or reallly get, I guess, what we were trying to do. So we kind of just said fuck it and did it ourselves.

The guys, Brad and Dirk, who are in the band now – it’s been rad because they get it. We’re playing mostly new songs live and they’ve kind of put their own twist on it. I mean, the recorded versions are different from the version we’re playing tonight because we’re playing as a four piece band. They’ve definitely put their own spin on it and it’s rad.

I mean, there’s like the recorded version with a ton of stuff going on and then there’s a four piece, hard as fuck version of it. It’s cool, it’s really fun.

Bobby: How has the reactions been to the new songs?

Nat: It’s been great, which is cool because we recorded the record eight months, nine months ago and we’ve just been sitting on it, shopping it around and what not. So on this tour, to actually be able to come out and play mostly new stuff and have those songs get – a lot of times – a significantly better reaction than some of the older songs we’ve been playing. It’s been validating and made me feel a lot more confident about it. Because some of the songs are a lot different than the shit we were doing before, so being able to do it and actually see people’s reactions, it’s been awesome.

Bobby: You said that you and Rob recorded everything but you also had a lot of guests on it. You had Greg Kuehn, Trevor Keith, Robbie Huddleston from Ann Beretta, the guys in Less Than Jake. How’d you get everybody involved with it?

Nat: It’s just like random stuff by chance. I mean, Trevor and I had met the year before and he’s been a huge advocate for helping the band. And Robbie – Rob and I actually filled in for Ann Beretta for a European tour and he was in Nashville while we were recording. So he just came in and sang some stuff and played some guitar. And Vinnie from Less Than Jake put out our first record, so we knew those dudes and had done some touring with them and stuff. So we just kind of called in some favours. We were like “oh man, we should put horns on this song” and were like “yo dude, can you play horns for free on this song?” And we were lucky enough to have them all do it and it sounds really rad. All the stuff that everybody contributed, it sounds awesome.

Bobby: Have you had Trevor come out and play the song that he recorded  on this tour?

Nat: *laughs* No, no he hasn’t. We’re not playing it live, we actually tried to learn it the other day at sound check. So if we get it, maybe we can get him to come play guest guitar or something.

Bobby: Like you said, Semper Liberi, your first album, kind of had a Americana, socio-political views where each song had a distinct story behind it, like Jolie Blonde, Churchbells are Ringing and American Heart.  For this new album, do you still touch on those subjects? Americana, working class stuff or is it just all personal?

Nat:  There’s definitely a couple of those types of songs. It’s a little less country tinged punk rock and more kind of its own build. But at the end of the day, it’s the same two dudes writing songs and it is what it is. We don’t stray too far from the original formula. So if somebody was already a fan of the band, they’ll like the new stuff. And if you weren’t a fan of the band, you may like it now. Who knows?

Bobby: It’s been three years since the album Semper Liberi came out. Like you said, you recorded the album eight months ago. Why such a long wait? Record labels?

Nat: Totally out of my hands. Yes, all record label stuff. I mean, Semper Liberi. We recorded that almost a year before that came out. you know, label stuff, stuff gets pushed back, tied up, whatever. It’s like the waiting game a lot of the time for us. Which can be frustrating but whatever, it is what it is.

Bobby: It gets to the point where when the album does come out, your fans are excited but for you…

Nat: Yeah, you’re like “fuck it.” I know, I know. We’ve been on tour… like when I get home it will basically have been three months and we’ve been playing new songs the entire time. So it’s like people are going to be “this is cool, this is new” and by the time the record comes out we’ll be like “yeah… we recorded it like a year ago…” We’ll have like twenty new songs ready to record already. But yeah, it’s just how it goes. We’re definitely going to try and expedite the next release. We’ve already been talking about it, for when the album does come out we’ll maybe do a seven inch a couple months later. Even if it’s just a tour exclusive with a free download or whatever. We’re still in the writing zone from that record so instead of putting it on pause and then going on tour for three years, we’re going to try and keep the songs coming.

Bobby: Speaking about seven inches, you were supposed to do a split with the Street Dogs in 2011 that never was released. What happened there?

Nat: Same shit. Record label stuff, and yeah.. just part of the game dude and it just kind of never happened. It was ready to go but it just never came out.

Bobby: So will Golden Hands ever see the light of day?

Nat: It’s the bside on the new record. We did a different version of it that I don’t think will go on the record but will be probably a bonus track or something. The new version is better anyway. The other version of that, we had actually recorded a couple songs as studio demos that we had lying around so we were like “we need to do something with these.” So there are some early versions of a couple of the songs from the new record that are already floating around. but the actual version that is on the new album is a lot better – in my opinion.

Bobby: With the new record, you said you’ve tried a lot of new things like having Less Than Jake do horns on it. But then on Live To Shrine which started out as a full band song, ended up being stripped down to where there’s not even any guitars on it. What happened there? What does it sound like now?

Nat:  Well, it sounds insane. It sounds rad. I wrote that and there were kind of a couple versions of it floating around and we tried to work it out as a full band thing and then we were going to do it as an acoustic song. And then Greg, who plays keys and does some other stuff on the record, started with just vocals and acoustic and then started piling stuff on top of it and then at the end of the day it was like “well, we don’t even need the acoustic guitar.” It sounds rad, I’m really proud of that song actually. I wish I could play it for you right now.

Bobby: So obviously that’s one you can’t do the same live.

Nat: No, we definitely cannot do that one live. Well, we could do it but it wouldn’t be like the recorded version. A lot of the songs are like that. It’s just one of the things you have to work around where you go “okay, keys are doing this on the record so a guitar can do it live” or whatever. And eventually we’re hoping to add another key player at some point, probably later this year. We’re trying to have a bigger band for the live show.

Bobby: Now despite the Street Dogs record not coming out, you did do the Christmas Vagabond split with Red City Radio. How did that come about?

Nat: I just had the idea. I love Christmas songs. We had one before that we had done and I just randomly started writing one and I had the idea to do this duet type of thing. And we’re friends with those dudes and we’ve known those dudes for a while so we just kind of like hit them up and were like “yeah man, are you guys interested in singing on this free Christmas thing?” And they did and I think it turned out cool. I like that song a lot and I’ve never been able to play it live because I’ve never played any shows around Christmas and I’m looking for a reason to play it because I really like it. The stuff they did on it is awesome; like the harmony stuff they did on it, I thought was really cool.

Bobby: You said you loved Christmas songs, what are your favourite Christmas songs?

Nat: Ah dude, I have this James Brown Christmas record that’s just fucking great. Chuck Berry. I love old sixties, oldies Christmas music. I’ve got this Phil Spector Christmas album. Like me in December, you don’t know even want to be around me. I put that shit on non-stop.

Bobby: It’s like when you walk into a shopping mall.

Nat: Yeah, except I have the choice cuts. I have the stuff that isn’t as mainstream. But I don’ t know. I can’t help it man. I dig Christmas music.

Bobby: Just a few more questions. I’ve seen you guys twice at the Fest the past couple  years and you guys are doing it again this year right?

Nat: Yeah.

Bobby: So what was your reaction when you found out it was pushed from three days in Gainesville to four days in Gainesville and two days in Tampa?

Nat: We’re doing both too. We’re doing Pre-Fest and then we’re doing Fest and then I think we might be doing the after-Fest party as well. So yeah, we were just talking about that. It’s like “we’re going to be in Florida for a fucking week dude.” We’ve been trying to think of an alternate set to do for one of the shows, I think we might do a covers set or something at Pre-Fest and then do the regular Blacklist Royals set at the actual Fest. But it’s always an awesome time. For me, it’s just a chance for me to see a bunch of awesome friends that I don’t get to see and hang out and party and watch their bands and fucking dig on music.

But it’s going to be interesting, extending it to six days instead of three. Because sometimes two and I’m like tapped out bro. Like last year we were going back Sunday and I was just like dead to the world.

Bobby: Yeah, I know that feeling. I’m excited but terrified.

Nat: You’re just like “how much cab money do I have? Is my phone going to be charged? Can I give my credit card to somebody?” you know what I’m saying? It’s that thing. *laughs*.

Bobby: I guess that’s about it, thanks a lot. Do you have any final thoughts you’d like to add?

Nat: Nah, just we’ve got a couple shows left so if anybody wants to come out, then that’s rad. And if not, we’re going to be on tour probably non-stop now. So yeah come see us and check out the new record when it comes out and thank you very much for the interview.