Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but things are a little bit bigger in Texas. The land. The hats. And, also, apparently, the sound of the state’s slowcore bands. The band I’m thinking about here is the Lubbock-incepted power trio Shallowater, though I should clarify a bit: The Shallowater sound is expansive—tracks have been known to run over eight minutes long—and airy, not unlike the endless Lone Star terrain. They are the perfect complement to an evening of eating BBQ alone and in absolute silence. In a world with no lack of contemporary slowcore groups, the band’s punishing, country-informed sound stands out for its plodding dynamism. In our interview, Shallowater extrapolates on all of the above and more—they tell us about the “dirtgaze” genre, which they came up with, and they drop some American highway knowledge. Read it, and listen to the band’s great new record, God's Gonna Give You a Million Dollars, below.
Explain what it means to be a “dirtgaze” band.
Shallowater: We formed the band in Lubbock, Texas. Dust storms blow into town and tumbleweeds stack up on people’s front doors. Dirt and dust are an ever-present thing in West Texas. It’s in the air, it’s in your house, it gets in through the windows, it’s everywhere. I’d like to think what we make is a representation of where we’re from so the name just came about one day and it stuck.
Tell us about “Highway.” Do you have a favorite highway in America?
I was trying to think of what the most impersonal interaction you could have with someone is and I came to the conclusion that it’s when you see someone coming your way on a two lane highway at night. You have to acknowledge those two headlights coming your way and you have to rely on the person acknowledging you as well. You don’t see them. It’s a completely anonymous interaction that last three seconds but both of your lives rely on it going well.
Favorite highway is Highway 1. We’ve never driven it.
What kind of music have you been listening to in the van on tour lately?
The new Agriculture album, Geese and Chanel Beads have been the soundtracks for this tour so far.
What is it about the sound of slowcore that you think makes sense in Texas?
When you’re out of town on the road in West Texas it just feels like a massive liminal space full of spiky grass and mesquite trees. It feels like it goes on forever. It doesn’t really inspire very happy or fast-paced music. So much of Texas country is terribly sad. Townes Van Zandt and George Jones made some of the most gut wrenching, heart breaking songs I’ve ever heard.
What is the best part about being a power trio?
It makes writing so much easier for us. If a song needs something we don’t have to think too hard. You can just ask yourself “what can I do to make this better?” And you don’t have to worry about stepping on anyone’s toes since we all do different things in the band.
Let’s talk BBQ. Do you fuck with it? Who has the best in Texas?
I think the last ten times I’ve had BBQ it’s been a sandwich from Buc-ees.
Your new record has a few songs that go over eight minutes long. Any plans to write something that pushes the ten minute mark? What do you like about really long songs?
Yes absolutely. Usually when we write it’s never the plan for a song to end up that long. We always start with a few riffs and if it feels cool to play the same thing for 2 minutes straight that’s what we do. We don’t realize how long it is until it’s done. Most of what’s on the record is actually a trimmed down version of what we originally wrote! “Duk Koo Kim” is one of my favorite songs of all time and it’s 14 minutes long. It never gets boring and I never feel the urge to skip it. A whole world gets built in that 14 minutes.
Who is your favorite Texas rapper?
BigXthaPlug.
Photo Credit: Graham W. Bell
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