Tex Perkins & The Dark Horses
Tex Perkins & The Dark Horses have united again to produce another stellar album aptly titled Tunnel At The End Of The Light. The album was conceived as a third part in a trilogy of albums, following on from 2011’s Self titled and 2012’s critically lauded Everyone’s Alone. One of The Dark “Horsies” Joel Silbersher takes time out for a quick Q&A to talk about the new album and East Coast tour.
Was it hard finding the time to record an album with the Dark Horses?
Well, you’ve got some very busy dudes (apart from myself, a professional thumb-twiddler), some of whom live miles away, so we just did a day or two when we could get everyone or at least a couple of Horsies together. We’d get a lot done in a day. It was pretty quick, really.
Have the songs been hanging around for a while or has it only come together more recently?
Slide On By, we’d had a crack at recording that for the last album and had played an embryonic version of it at a couple of shows about five years ago, but it’s just been simmering away since then. Since Perko got Garageband, he’s been amassing a bunch of bits and some morph into actual songs, then we do ’em. Also, Murray Paterson writes pretty much constantly and a lot of Dark Horses songs are collaborations between those guys.
Is it a tough job topping Everyone’s Alone?
I’m not thinking about ‘topping’ it. This album is a natural follow-on from the last two. They really are ‘of a piece’. A trilogy. This is better though, than Return Of The Jedi.
How does the creative process work for the Dark Horses? Does everyone chip in their bit or is Tex the focus?
Charlie always comes up with very strong parts that stick. We are all good improvisers also.
How do you know which outfit/guise a particular song is suited to? Is it a voting process? Trying jamming it to see if it works?
The songs diagnose themselves. A Beasts Of Bourbon or Hoss or Cruel Sea song is not going to be a Dark Horses song, for the most part.
Did anything particular influence this collection of songs?
I’m guessing having more kids, the bush, the elements, getting a record player for the first time in years, farts…I didn’t write any lyrics so I’m guessing. My guitar playing was influenced by tooth pain and reflux….and Sterling Morrison of The Velvet Underground.
Are the Dark Horses more collaborative now than ever before?
It ebbs and flows. The people playing the songs certainly shape the outcome more than a lot of other bands.
Did the recording process/studio experience present some challenges to overcome?
Always, but this was a relatively quick extraction with a minimum of pain.
Do you find you still learn a lot about yourself when you’re writing and recording a new album?
That Roger Bergodaz is a very nice and capable man, and that I am not. I learn that a few times a week.
What is the song They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? about?
It’s the first cover we’ve done for years. By a band called Racing Cars, I think. It’s inspired by a play about a town that dances itself to death. I’m going to the video store today to rent out the movie version on Perko’s recommendation. Sounds dark.
What’s your favourite song off the album? And why?
Today, I like All is Quiet. It was very easy to do and set the mood for a lot of the session. Also, it has the line “The horses are glowin’”, which is pleasing to me.
Are you looking forward to getting back on the road to tour this one?
Of courses! It’s Horses!
Is the new album being played start to end?
Don’t know yet. We have done that once and didn’t get booed offstage. People seemed to love it. Then we got back up and ladled some all-time classics on.
What’s the next challenge for the Dark Horses?
We are buying a boat together but only Charlie is allowed to drive it.
Whether it is rummaging through vinyl at record stores such as Clarity and Title finding hidden gems to scouring the internet to find that album by the next big thing or chasing bands to get that elusive autograph and photo his passion is music all the way.
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- Sick Of It All - January 19, 2017
- Refused - January 11, 2017
