J. Roddy Walston and The Business have never been afraid of getting their hands dirty.
The band played hundreds of shows in support of its last album, Essential Tremors (2013). When it came time to record Destroyers of the Soft Life, instead of "going into the studio," the guys built a studio...in an old grenade factory, they tell Q104.3 New York's "Out of the Box" with Jonathan Clarke.
Since then Walston has become a father, the band is back on the road and the album has received heaps of critical acclaim.
In fact, it's getting their hands clean that's been the problem.
Walston and the band recall months of "warehouse hands," a grimy, clammy feeling that stayed on their hands for the duration of the building and recording process at their makeshift studio. And then there's being a dad...
"I'm way more familiar with human fecal matter," Walston laughs.
But becoming a parent changes your perspective, and Walston admits that it affected his mindset while he was writing the new album. He won't explicitly define what the term 'soft life' means, but he suggests that it has to do with how much we control—or try to control—our lives.
"I didn't make a record that was like me talking to my kid. But even in the sense of thinking about the way people use computers and all that kind of stuff. I think I'm the only person on the planet—at least the only one that I know of—that there's an absolute rule: No pictures of the kid on the Internet."
As an artist, Walston has chosen a deliberate life—something he wants his child will have as well.
"The Internet is real, the Internet I think is here to stay. And I think people are making decisions for their kids before they have the ability to talk about it."
Watch the whole interview in the video above. J. Roddy Walston and The Business also perform an acoustic versions of "Numbers"!
Get all the tour dates here.
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Watch J. Roddy Walston and The Business perform "The Wanting" on Conan here: