After 20 years and six albums, is a bit hard to reinvent yourself and stay fresh with ideas. There are some artists who live off the memories, and of songs that made them famous, like Foreigner. But for others it's important to avoid repeating themselves, to take certain risks when writing music, either for entire studio albums or singles. For those, the purpose is to not follow rules when you sit down to create, but being spontaneous and somewhat daring, although for some fans this may be controversial.
In this second category we have singer and guitarist, John Dyer Baizley of Baroness, who recently was the guest on Full Metal Jackie's weekend radio show. Although it's a bit difficult for a band not to repeat certain riffs, rhythms, or sound, for Baizley repetition means more than that.
"When I say we don't want to repeat ourselves, well, we are going to repeat the fact that there's a drummer and a bass player and two guitar players, generally, two voices of singing, that's something that you can't avoid repeating. But what I mean by repetition is when we've done something well, and we define well as something that is successful onstage, potentially those songs that people gravitate towards in however they're listening, you know, the fan favorites. And the fact that those songs are obviously good songs that the band and the audience agrees have some kind of special magic."
"But what I'm not interested in is, I'm not interested in figuring out what works, and then providing that for our audience. I'm interested in finding out what's exciting to me and what feels like discovery, what feels like an adventure as a musician, and to help you, as an artist, and as somebody who, ultimately is going to have to play these songs."
Baroness recently announced details of their next album Stone, arriving on September 15th. About being the album that breaks the tradition of color themed releases, Baizley adds: "this being the first record that we've ever released with two consecutive lineups, that was enough to qualify this being a new era" though, it continues having Baizley's artwork. "Stone is a lot more alive, more direct…time and time again, I'm not interested in having a bunch of songs that all feel the same, I want everything to feel different. I want to see how diverse we are as musicians, and I want to see how fluid we can become using music as the language that we choose to communicate,” says Baizley.
Stone is available for pre-order here. Baroness has also announced an insane North American tour, which you can check out below and get your tickets here.
10/13 – Baltimore, MD – Baltimore Sound Stage (w/ Jesus Piece & Escuela Grind)
10/14 – Richmond, VA – Canal Club (w/ Jesus Piece & Escuela Grind)
10/15 – Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel (w/ Jesus Piece & Escuela Grind)
10/17 – Tampa, FL – The Ritz Ybor (w/ Jesus Piece & Escuela Grind)
10/18 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade (w/ Jesus Piece & Escuela Grind)
10/20 – Dallas, TX – The Echo Lounge & Music Hall (w/ Portrayal of Guilt & Escuela Grind)
10/21 – Houston, TX – House of Blues (w/ Portrayal of Guilt & Escuela Grind)
10/22 – Austin, TX – Empire Control Room & Garage (w/ Portrayal of Guilt & Escuela Grind)
10/24 – Albuquerque, NM – Sunshine Theater (w/ Primitive Man & Midwife)
10/25 – Mesa, AZ – Nile Theater (w/ Primitive Man & Midwife)
10/27 – Santa Ana, CA – The Observatory (w/ Primitive Man, Midwife & Agriculture)
10/28 – Los Angeles, CA – The Bellwether (w/ Primitive Man, Midwife & Agriculture)
10/29 – Berkeley, CA – UC Theater Taube Family Music Hall (w/ Primitive Man, Midwife & Agriculture)
10/31 – Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre (w/ KEN Mode & Hoaxed)
11/3 – Seattle, WA – The Crocodile (w/ KEN Mode & Empire State Bastard)
11/4 – Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Theatre (w/ KEN Mode & Empire State Bastard)
11/6 – Edmonton, AB – Union Hall (w/ KEN Mode & Empire State Bastard)
11/7 – Calgary, AB – The Palace Theater (w/ KEN Mode & Empire State Bastard)
11/9 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot (w/ Wayfarer & Empire State Bastard)
11/11 – Denver, CO – Summit (w/ Wayfarer & Empire State Bastard)
11/12 – Omaha, NE – The Waiting Room Lounge (w/ Wayfarer & Empire State Bastard)
11/14 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue (w/ Chat Pile & Empire State Bastard)
11/15 – Chicago, IL – The Vic Theatre (w/ Chat Pile & Empire State Bastard)
11/17 – Columbus, OH – The King of Club (w/ Vile Creature)
11/18 – Detroit, MI – St. Andrews Hall (w/ Vile Creature & Cloud Rat)
11/19 – Toronto, ON – The Danforth Music Hall (w/ Vile Creature)
11/20 – Montreal, QC – Théâtre Beanfield (w/ Vile Creature)
11/22 – Albany, NY – Empire Live (w/ Soul Glo)
11/24 – Cleveland, OH – Agora Theater & Ballroom (w/ Soul Glo & Cloud Rat)
11/25 – Pittsburgh, PA – Roxian Theatre (w/ Soul Glo)
11/26 – Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom (w/ Soul Glo)
11/28 – Boston, MA – Royale (w/ Sheer Mag & Imperial Triumphant)
11/29 – New York, NY – Webster Hall (w/ Sheer Mag & Imperial Triumphant)
12/1 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer (w/ Sheer Mag & Uniform)
