Interviewed by Wes Hill
Bill Callahan is an American musician who, under the guise of Smog, has been making music professionally for almost twenty years. Callahan is regarded as one of the pioneers of the lo-fi genre of singer/songwriters who flourished in the early 1990s—largely through self funded releases. Taking inspiration from the outsider musician Jandek and the post punk noise acts of the 1980s, Callahan’s early albums projected an angsty and introverted home-recorded sensibility. Twenty years on, he remains a stoic figure in American music and the same sense of independence still permeates many of his albums. In 2007 he dropped the Smog moniker and released an album without the overarching sense of control as his previous releases. In the following interview (finalised in late 2008) I asked Callahan questions relating to this and to how he understands his work overall. I was particularly interested in finding out how his approach might relate to contemporary art practice. I wanted to indirectly generate some sort of perspective on the gaps between these two forms.
Wes Hill: On your album Woke On A Whaleheart (2007) you gave over complete control of the production for the first time. What do you think makes a good producer? You have said that you admired producers such as Bob Johnston (Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen) and Richard Dashut (Fleetwood Mac). Why?
Bill Callahan: I’ve produced almost all of my own records and I’ve produced a couple for other people. I think you have to be able to read then enhance or dispel a situation pretty quickly. I like Richard Dashut just for the Fleetwood Mac records. A lot of it was the band of course... The rest of this article is available to subscribers of Eyeline