MC: As you’ve mentioned, the key to making the record was to track everything live, with you and Zooey singing in the studio as the musicians played. Where did you place your guitar amp?
Ward: The guitar amp was in an isolation booth away from the orchestra. The amp we used the most was a Fender Deluxe. We had the strings in one huge room. But there is some bleed with the drums and the vocals.
MC: Did you have eye contact with the musicians and Zooey as you tracked live?
Ward: Yes, through glass.
MC: Your career, both with She & Him and outside of the duo, is so varied. Do you have a central endeavor and consider everything else outside of that dimension with your recorded output?
Ward: The only central thing I have is being a listener to music. As far as output goes, I will follow my instinct and I am happy to be a chameleon in some kind of way and to support a project that I am really excited about. I don’t take on many projects in life. There are only so many things you can do, but my main relationship with music is being a listener. I get most of my inspiration from listening to older records and older guitar styles especially.
MC: Portland, where you live, must be an interesting creative scene.
Ward: I’ve been here about 15 years. When I first got here it didn’t seem like there were that many recording studios or music venues. But it feels like everything quadrupled over the past decade. It’s still probably the cheapest city to live on the West Coast so it brings in a lot of artists. It’s a great city to do music.
MC: When we interviewed a band from your hometown, the Decemberists, they noted that there is also a physical isolation, is there not?
Ward: It leads to a sense of community. It might bring people together more than other places.
MC: With She & Him, is it difficult to carve out time in your individual schedules to make it happen?
Ward: It’s a matter of finding a few days here, a few days there. Magically it always happens. You’ll always find time in your calendar for things you love to do and I think that’s how it is with the She & Him project.
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