Soulsavers Interview Part II

[Filter-Mag.com] Discussing a (not so) Broken Record with Soulsavers: Pt. 2
by Lynn Lieu | 08.18.2009

Constantly experimenting and incorporating new sounds into its mix, Soulsavers is back with its third album, Broken, which is being released on Aug. 18. On the verge of another tour, Rich Machin and Mark Lanegan found some time in their hectic schedules to chat with FILTER about the record that’s not so broken to introduce Australian newcomer and collaborator, Red Ghost (aka Rosa Agostino).

How did you discover Red Ghost?

Rich Machin: She contacted us via the Internet. She dropped me a line and sent me some links to some demos she’d done and I remember checking them out and thought they were really cool—like, really, really cool. I wanted to bring in a female vocalist for this record as well. We tried a couple different people out, it wasn’t quite really hitting the spot for me. So, I got in touch with her and said, “Hey, would you mind if I sent you these demos and see what you make of them?” And she did a killer job; it blew me away—it was amazing. She’s incredibly talented.

How did you end up incorporating her into the album?

Machin: She lives in Sydney and she cut the tracks there. Basically she cut some demo ideas for me to check out. The demos are what you hear on the record. She did just a good job on that I thought there was no point on redoing them…and they ended up being the final parts of the record.

So, how did you end up recording "Rolling Sky" as a duet?

Mark Lanegan: Via the mail.

Machin: I put the music together for the track and I sent it to Mark and Mark wrote the lyrics for it. And he put a guy's record down without the initial intention for someone else to sing. I asked her if she'd re-sing it and I ended up splicing it and turning it into a duet — it just kind of came together. That was one of the tracks that was done the new fangled YouSendIt way. It’s not something I honestly do very often, but it worked out this time.

Do you think you’ll do it again?

Machin: [laughs] If it’s going to turn out that good. I still prefer the getting people together but sometimes it works that way and sometimes it doesn’t. I think we’re very lucky and doing it that way worked great.

Did you consider doing it that way?

Machin: We’re too cheap. That’s the problem. Well maybe that was the initial idea if the demos didn’t work out the way they did. But the demos worked out so well it was pointless. When you catch something in a demo and it’s as good as what she delivered, if you go back, it’s never the same; you just have to capture the moment. It’s best to take it rather than rework it.

For more information on Soulsavers and its upcoming album, visit the band’s official website: www.thesoulsavers.com