The Sound of Modern Protest Music: Labrador Interview

I got the wonderful opportunity to talk with Pat King, frontman of Labrador, about a wide range of topics. From the scene in Philly, to unexpected influences, and, perhaps most exciting, their new album. One thing I can say that's certain about Labrador is that they're not just another indie band. Their influences are eclectic, their sound unique, and all around just doing their own thing. You're probably bored of me talking though, so without further ado, let's get on with the interview!

Interview edited for clarity and conciseness

Wax: For those who don’t know, what is Labrador (the band not the dog)?

Pat King: We’re what I’d like to call a “Maximum Alt-Country” band based in the great city of Philadelphia. It started out as mostly a solo acoustic project, with the help of our guitarist Kris Hayes with some occasional leads and textures. In the years since our early releases, we’ve incorporated some of the music I love into our specific stew—a little alt-country, ‘60s mod, soul, power-pop, punk, and some psych elements.  

Wax: As an alt-country band in Philadelphia, do you think being in the Philly scene has been rewarding for you guys?

Pat King: Being a part of the Philly music scene is tremendously rewarding, regardless of being tagged as an “alt-country band.” The bands that we feel a kinship with seem to come from a place where they are willing to play with different forms and are open to accepting musicians who let their freak flags fly, for the lack of a better term. It has helped in ways because I feel like we can cross the boundary line and play with both more folk-based groups and louder rock bands.  

As far as that genre signifier goes, I feel like the term “alt-country” could have applied more to us with our record Hold The Door For Strangers, as it had a mournful, late-night, sad-bastard balladeer quality to most of the songs. Not to mention the fiddle playing of our old member Grace Kim. There were elements of soul back then and I was very influenced by people like Jonathan Richman, Van Morrison, and, believe it or not, The Blue Nile with my songwriting. But the foundations were certainly my love for Neil Young, Wilco, Lucinda Williams and Jason Molina, there’s no doubting that.  Our sound and my songwriting became more broad and all-encompassing with our last record, My Version Of Desire. I think I’ll always have a little country in my singing voice, that’s because I really learned how to write songs emulating people like John Prine and Bob Dylan. These days, I just want us to be viewed as a band that can pull from different genres I love into a sound that’s all our own. 

Wax: You mentioned that you want your style to be all your own so you're able to experiment with everything. Is there a genre you haven't tried yet that you think would fit into your atmosphere? Or maybe one that's a complete 180?

Pat King: I have had a goal to one day learn how to play piano proficiently. I think it would be cool to include a jazzy torch ballad on a future record. The title track of My Version Of Desire was inspired by my love of dub and reggae music, especially with that farfisa organ lead. It would be cool to explore that influence some more. I would also love to write a blistering hardcore song in the vein of Minor Threat or Negative Approach. That would be a blast. 

Wax: Do you have any recommendations from the Philadelphia music scene?

Pat King: Boy, there are so many! My bandmates Will Hochgertel and Steve Kurtz are both in a ton of amazing projects: Sun God, Lippy, Public Beach, and possibly a few more I’m leaving out.  Lowercase Roses is a band I’ve probably seen more than any other since moving here. Matt Scheuermann is a tremendous songwriter who makes music that reminds me of artists like Grandaddy and Sparklehorse, but also has this otherworldly quality to it. His gorgeous voice, lyrics and instrumentation conjure the feeling of isolation where you are either trapped in a dream-state or floating out in space with nothing tethering you to gravity. His record Mover was my favorite album of last year.

Golden Apples is a band that I am also a huge fan of. Their head songwriter Russell Edling and his partner/bandmate Mimi Gallagher are both such inspiring artists who really push themselves with each release. The sounds they get and Russell’s art direction always peak my curiosities and I’m always so enamoured with everything they put out. For my money, they are the best capital “I” indie-rock band in the city, and maybe even the country. On the more out there side of things, I’m a big fan of the space-rock band Writing Squares and the face-melting art-punk band Cartoon.   

Wax: Who would you say are your biggest influences, and how do they show up in your music?

Pat King: I think the influences that actually show up in our music share the same kind of bleeding on your cranked-up-tube-amp style of songcraft that I enjoy. People like The Kinks, The Who, The Replacements, Big Star, Neil Young, and Cheap Trick. But If I were to choose the two writers that I view as my north stars for this band it would be Robert Pollard of Guided By Voices and Paul Weller of The Jam. I think the first time I heard GBV, and learned about Pollard’s story, it changed my life forever. Not only from his phenomenal and one-of-a-kind songwriting style and countless kick ass tunes, but for his approach to putting music out into the world. My father is a painter and had been a public school teacher, like Pollard, so that working-class ethic of clocking in to a job to fund your art really speaks to me on a profound level. We’re taught to think that there is a barrier for entry whether it’s with putting out music, writing a novel, or making a film. The truth is, there are no rules. You can start your own record label TODAY. No one is stopping you from making the art you think should exist in the world and they are a prime example of that.

The other main influence for me has been Paul Weller of The Jam, The Style Council and his own solo work. Starting as a kid, he brought about a mod revival in the rise of punk in the UK, a musical movement that was so deadset on turning their backs on the old heroes of the rock and roll era. Weller never bought into that, instead he embraced the useful energy of punk while he professed his love for mod bands like The Who, The Kinks, and Small Faces. He was also a big fan of reggae, jazz and, of course, soul music, which oozed into his later work more noticeably. His musical adventurousness and his political messages in his music are such a prime example to follow as I make my own music. I could only wish to be a fraction of the well-rounded songwriter that he is.           

Wax: You mentioned how Pollard and your father share a working class ethic, do you feel that energy in Philly more than other places?

Pat King: I do. My wife and I lived in New York City for over a decade before moving here. While it was an amazing experience that I wouldn’t trade, it was just so hard to actually live there. In Philly you can actually take the time to breathe and to not be constantly reminded about things that are out of your reach as a working class artist. 

Wax: If you could be the opener for any band who would it be, and why?

Pat King: That is a very good question that I may have too many answers for. Seeing Wilco on the A Ghost Is Born tour in high school made me want to live a life of being in bands and they are still incredible live to this day. A part of me would ascend into heaven if I ever got the news that we would share the stage with Wilco. I do also think we share a lot of influences with Daniel Romano and The Outfit. They are one of the most electrifying live bands out there and I would love to try and keep up with their energy.    

Wax: You have a new album coming out (I’ve heard it by the way, and it’s something you don’t want to miss). What’s the story there?

Pat King: The album is called The Rosy Red World and it has some of the most immediate songs I have ever written. By that I mean, typically my songwriting process takes a lot of time. I usually have a basic sketch of a song and toy with my word choices to get the lyrics as far away from cliches as possible and to inject more of my personality or sense of humor into them. This time around, I was just feeling so disgusted with the way of the world and with those who hold all of the power that these songs just arrived in a very short amount of time. I feel as though the lyrics are more to the point in my dissatisfaction and my need to not cloud my true feelings about the fascists ruining our country. Our last record came out just under a year ago and this is a pretty quick turnaround for me. I don’t really view myself as a prolific writer, as much as I’d like to be, so having another record so quickly is very exciting for us. Two of the songs, “Wagers” and “Waiting To Be Useful,” are old ones that I felt fit with the spirit and anger of these new tunes. It ends with a cover of The Van Dykes song “No Man Is An Island.” I’m a massive reggae fan, so I was inspired to cover that song after listening to Horace Andy’s rendition of it. Our version has a kind of mod-meets-Thin Lizzy quality to it that I’m really happy with.  

In terms of the recording, we did most of the tracking live in one weekend with Matt Schemelfenig at their studio The Bunk. It was the most pleasant experience staying up there as a band and just hammering out these tunes as a four piece band. We’d exhaust ourselves throwing out ideas during the day and then hang out in Matt’s idyllic Poconos home, order food, and watch Austin Powers films on VHS at night to unwind. You couldn’t ask for a better recording environment!     

Wax: You recorded this new album much faster than your previous ones, did doing that make you feel different about the final product?

Pat King: I was a little nervous going into the studio, I have to be honest. I’m usually obsessive about making sure the band is practiced to death until I’m absolutely confident in the arrangements. This is tricky because three of us live in Philadelphia, while Kris, our lead guitarist, lives in Asheville, North Carolina. I shouldn’t have been worried because he’s a phenomenal guitar player but I think the uncertainty just spiked my control freak tendencies a bit. The band has really gelled and understands my modus operandi with the songs I’m bringing to the table. Being relatively fresh from My Version of Desire, we just dug a little deeper.   

I was also curious to see if the lyrical content seemed too “of the moment” than our other songs. While I do reference horrific things happening in the world today, I feel like the album can really speak to many decades of the American government not answering for the blood on our hands, whether that is through deadly intervention abroad or cruel class division at home. A sad realization, but I feel like these songs have more importance to me for that reason.

Album Cover of their upcoming album

I want to thank Labrador so much for this interview it was a great time and honestly one of the most insightful conversations I've had since starting WAX. That record again is "The Rosy Red World", and as I hinted earlier it's so worth your time. In fact, I'm listening to it as I write this. If you're into any indie-folk, indie-rock type acts then this is right up your alley. There's also a certain thing to his voice, I suspect it's the John Prine influence he mentioned, that just stands out in a sea of sort of monotonous indie voices. Their so much more than just indie though, and they pull from a ton of different styles while still managing to keep to their air-tight formula as a band. If you're into (as Grace Robins-Sommerville puts it) "Rollicking protest songs that refuse to look away from the horrors unfolding on the world’s stage every day." keep an eye out for this one!