"PAY THE GREAT WHATEVER"- AN INTERVIEW WITH BLAKE CONLEY OF DRONEROOM
Blake Conley is an experimental guitarist known for his project Droneroom and more recently his group Rabbit Hash with Ohio guitarist Pete Fosco. Conley blurs the lines between minimal glaze and twangy haze. Mikey recently had a conversation with Blake about his history and musical evolution plus some chatting on general tastes and late night nail biting. Gratitude to Blake for giving up some of his time.
-the janitor
Mikey- Blake, thanks for speaking with me. I guess we’ll start at the beginning. Where are you from, what was your upbringing like and how did you get into music/arts?
Blake- Let's see...I was born in Memphis, TN, grew up in rural TN, then have lived in Nashville, Louisville, Las Vegas, and now Memphis again. Time, flat circles, etc. My father was a trucker and most of my 'summer vacations' were spent on I-40 going back and forth to California. Not sight seeing, just constant motion. I like to think that has crept into what I do in some way.
I honestly can't remember why I picked up music/the arts. I certainly wasn't surrounded by it. It just seemed a more interesting alternative to anything traditionally going on around me. It wasn't a natural talent of mine, but I have found a way to express myself in a really pure way and later on many communities that have felt right and true in ways other bonds haven't.
Mikey- What music did you grow up listening to and at what point did you find yourself in the midst of the experimental scene?
Blake- Growing up, it would have been the country music my parents listened to. My favourite being Marty Robbins. It's interesting to me as I find most people with nonsouthern upbringings...it's more like the Beatles are your first band. You come up with the early 60s rock or folk thing. But in the south you end up with country music. Of course when I got old enough to start watching MTV like any good child of the 90s did, I rebelled and got into the alt rock thing. Smashing Pumpkins, Jane's Addiction, Henry Rollins. The perk of this was, if you were a nerd about music, you could use the mainstream MTV fodder as springboard. Follow the roots. Albini recorded In Utero? Well, onto Shellac, the Jesus Lizard, the whole Chicago Scene. Follow the roots is always my biggest advice when finding things.
I'm not sure if you are asking about experimental music as a listener or a performer. If the former then see above. The latter though is a more interesting question. In my musical life, I've always kind of found myself in an interesting one foot in, one foot out scenario. My first band at the ripe old age of 29, was a doom adjacent duo. Now while I love metal, I am not the most metal of guitarists, so I would be coming in trying to synthesize my ideas of metal (mostly derived from the more experimental metal branches. Ones that seemed to combine elements of drone or free jazz into an ostensibly heavy context). So we were sort of...metal, but not. And most bands or projects I have further been in that scenario. I'm often too weird for normal things, but too normal for the more academicly strange. Droneroom isn't purely ambient so the experimental crowd kind of half embraces it. There's elements. I have played those shows. But I have also played solo with metal acts, singer songwriters, rock bands. Despite the weird textures, it's still clearly guitar music. Which is what I like about doing it.
Mikey- When did Droneroom start playing out and recording? Was it a slow build or did you hit the ground running with ideas/performances/recordings?
Blake- Droneroom started around 2012 as sort of a side project to my doom metal band at the time. While I love metal, my influences were equally folk/psych/drone/etc and while i definitely could explore some of those avenues, there were still certain volume things to consider/aspects of free improvisation. Live playing was initially done for show offers the band couldn't play and after a while the band slowed down to the point that I was doing more solo gigs. Then after a move, having a built in solo project made it easy to get gigs and find a place in a scene without having to find bandmates first. So sort of a convergence of convince and the fact that i was starting to get known as 'that drone cowboy' guy resulted in Droneroom becoming the main project.
Recording happened a little slower. Mostly as opportunity presented itself. I have a record completes in 2016 that didn't get recorded and released till 2018, by that time I already had the follow up done. From there I got into home recording and am generally about 3 records ahead of whatever is coming out. Which, at the time of writing, I currently have a duo project with Pete Fosco, named Rabbit Hash on Marginal Glitch, a cassette on Histamine Tapes, and a big project in March that remains unannounced for now.
Mikey- Have you done much touring? Where is your favourite place to play?
Blake- Mostly regional, but did one much further out. Touring of late has more been excuses to see friends I haven't seen in a minute in an area. Favourite place is most definitely Surface Noise in Louisville KY. It's an immaculately curated book/record shop run by one of the most genuine people ever, Brett Eugene Ralph. That place was the first spot to make me feel like a Louisvillian when I lived there and it will always hold a large place in my heart.
Mikey- Do you have any current music, books, films you've been absorbing? Anything else catching your mind these days?
Blake- Book wise I'm reading the new Cormac titles and a book on the Bakersfield music scene.
Film wise I've been a bit behind due to some rampant moving, but I love anything from the 70s, particularly if it is slow in pace and long in open road scenes. Just hits the right nerve for me. Anything Altman, Lynch, Jarmusch, Wenders, or Hellman. 70s Deniro, Cybill Shephard, Hopper, etc.
Record wise, the works of Chris Smith, an aussie musician who seems to merge the best bits of royal trux to the ragged glory of Neil Young. Neil himself is a pretty steady listen for me. Daniel Higgs has been taking up some prime real estate in my psyche of late. Mary Lattimore is a huge fav. Tonight's listening has included the aforementioned Higgs and Smith, along with Cul de Sac's collab with John Fahey, Bill Mackay and Katinka Kleijn's 'Stir', Eleventh Dream Day, and Nick Cave. I also love the new Doug Mccombs solo album.
Mikey- Do you adhere to any sort of spiritual practice?
Blake- Oh, hmmm...practice feels very regimented. I don't have something daily I do to feel right with the universe. Maybe that would help honestly. I mostly adhere to a belief that something in the universe is looking out for me and cares and wants what is best for me. Whether that's God with a capital g, or just the cosmos, who am I to hang a name on it? And I try to pay the great whatever by trying to care about others.
Mikey- If you could tour with one artist, who would it be?
Blake- Oh, well...Six Organs of Admittance would be a great one. Chasny seems like a good hang and a funny dude. Same with Elisa Ambrogio, whether solo or with Magik Markers. Tortoise would be fun. Or even more specifically Doug Mccombs' Brokeback project. Opening for Matt Sweeney and Will Oldham's Superwolves project would be cool as shit. I dunno if I know of any huge artist that I could think of that would make sense to tour with. I like to keep my musical aspirations attainable.
Mikey- What does an average day look like for you?
Blake- Oof. God. It's a mess lately. Been super transient, moving around a lot and a lack of stability. On a good day I wake up, smoke a cigarette, ideally have a cup of coffee if I can, then do delivery driving for a few hours listening to music and a lot of thinking. Get home, unwind to a movie while I inevitably play guitar along with it till it gets later than it needs to be. I'm hoping to be able to settle into healthier routines sometime soon. I live on the edge of an anxiety attack pretty regularly and I worry I don't know any other way to feel.
Mikey- It's completely understandable re: the anxiety. A lot of us are feeling this. Fortunately we have the option to crash, burn then catch the next wave. Fingers crossed our next waves are gentle ones, my friend. Thanks for talking with me Blake. Is there anything else you'd like to say to our readers out there?
Blake- Thanks for reading! If you already listen, thank you. If you feel inspired to listen after, thank you. And take care of yourselves.
Please follow the links for a hefty amount of Blake's music:
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