MC: Can you think of any specifics about the sound of his previous work that was attractive to you?
Jared: It just seemed interesting and tasteful, without trying too hard. It doesn’t seem very “math rock.” He’ll do weird things, and things that are very intricate, but it doesn’t seem like there was a ton of effort put into it, or a lot of thought. He just goes for what feels right.
You kinda hear that with the music, but you really experience it when you’re working with him. He just says something that is so out of left field, and you do it, and it works. It’s like, wow. I think he learned a lot of that from Brian Eno.
Caleb: You know, it was tricky at first. We didn’t know what to think, because he would go from loving something to, when he finally got in the studio, not loving it. We would all wonder what to do. We did a lot of reworking songs, changed tempos, re-wrote stuff. He did everything that we wanted him to do, which was challenge us and push us to get the best.
The other day, I was in the car and one of the songs from our new album came on the radio. I guess I wasn’t paying attention, and I thought that it sounded like Arcade Fire. Then I was like, “Oh shit, that’s me singing.” So he definitely has a style, but he adapts to whatever situation he’s in and changes, and he wants everything to feel raw and like it’s the last album you’re ever going to make. You’ve got to work really hard.
MC: Caleb, when Kings of Leon started out, you had a really deep southern mumble, but over the years your vocals have smoothed out a bit, along with the band’s overall sound, making it more commercially appealing. Have you worked with a vocal coach?
Caleb: Early on, I was mumbling because I was actually talking shit about the other guys in the band and I didn’t want them to know what I was saying. No, I’m kidding... Early on, I mumbled a little bit because I was insecure about my lyrics. When you first start out, you don’t know how people are going to take what it is that you’re saying, critique you and things like that. I feel like there came a point when I realized that I’m a good singer and I’ve been hiding it for a while. Slowly but surely I got to the point where I was singing to my full potential. When I was a kid, I was singing Boyz II Men in the back of a car to a girl, and I was definitely singing really well.
MC: What microphones do you use?
Caleb: We mix it up a little bit. I’ve tried everything from the old BBC microphones that the Beatles used, all sorts of stuff; but really it’s just about getting in there, the vibe and tone of the song, and how close you want to be to it, how much you want your voice to resonate, how much of the crackle and the pop of the mouth sound that you want to get.
I don’t actually know if we settled on any particular mic on this album––I think we mixed it up a little bit. I’m also not very savvy when it comes to that stuff. I could be singing on the same microphone and I would never know. I just walk in and do my thing.
MC: You’ve stuck with RCA throughout––how helpful and supportive are they?
Jared: They’ve been amazing. At certain points, I thought that maybe they were stupid for how hands-off they were. They just let us do anything we wanted and create, and did not put any kind of handcuffs on us whatsoever. That’s probably why our albums weren’t very popular until about four in. They were always just so free.
When we very first signed with them, the Strokes were on the label. The Strokes were very big brotherly to us. They were like, “Don’t ever trust the record label, don’t ever listen to them, they’re the enemy,” and all these different things. We heard that from a lot of older bands––and so we went into it with a huge guard up, and then it just never happened.
Caleb: It’s such an iconic label. So many great artists that we respect and admire were on that label. Really, when we signed with them, it was all because we went to New York and we went and sang for nine labels. We got seven record deal offers out of the nine, and everyone shook our hand. When we went to RCA and sang, they stood up and gave us a hug. As soon as they gave us a hug, me and Nathan looked at each other and said, “We’re going with this label.” It was the first time that it didn’t feel like a business deal, and for us that’s always important.
RCA has always stepped back and let us make our own decisions. We fought and made bad decisions, and they’ve stood by us. To me, they’re a very important label for that reason. They really let the artist be an artist.
MC: Who do you work with in A&R?
Jared: Right now, Dan Chertoff. This is the first album with him. I think he came on during the Mechanical Bulls cycle. He’s been a huge part of this album, and a huge part of the success of this album.
MC: How involved in the recording process are RCA?
Jared: If they do hear updates or if they do hear anything at all, it’s unbeknownst to us. They could be in contact with Markus, and Markus could be sending them things, but I don’t think that anybody heard anything until it was almost completely done, and then they were super-happy with it.
