When Birmingham Box Set last spoke to A.A. Bondy, the former Verbena frontman was in the process of recording his second solo album. That CD, When the Devil’s Loose, released Aug. 31 and was our featured album in September. We caught up with Bondy (and enjoyed a few laughs, thanks to one rather Southern name and his excitement at seeing a 205 area code) in advance of his Tuesday show at Bottletree.
Birmingham Box Set: This is Carla Jean Whitley at Birmingham magazine.
A.A. Bondy: Carla Jean?
BBS: Yep! I’ve got a very Southern name. (laughs)
AAB: I don’t know. Carla Jean could be like a drive-thru, you know like old style Oklahoma in the 1950s. Carla Jean.
BBS: Well, I’m named after my granddaddy, who was a race car driver.
AAB: Ten points for the name, 10 points for the source of the name.
BBS: Ha, thanks. Anyway, let’s talk about your new album and the changes you’ve faced–if any.
AAB: I’ve got people riding with me now, playing with me. That’s the biggest difference. I think we can get a lot more done. It seems like I’m on the road all the time. I bought a motorcycle. That’s one thing that’s different. I moved to Mississippi, a town outside of Oxford. Those are the primary differences.
People ask me a few times, I guess because in the press release it says something about having a full band. On the last record there were a lot of songs that were just guitar and voice. I think the main difference is just that there are other people playing those instruments.
BBS: Are there any differences we should expect in the live show?
AAB: We’re a little different than we were the last time we blew through, in some ways a lot different. It’ll probably be a lot louder than we were last time. Dreamier and louder.
BBS: Who is playing with you on this tour?
AAB: I have a guy from Birmingham named Macey Taylor, he plays with a lot of people there. This guy Ben Lester, who is from Wisconsin.
BBS: While both albums are folky and dark, this one feels less apocalyptic. What influenced the songwriting this go-round?
AAB: Everything. Weather. Conversations. People. Everything. I don’t ever go, oh, I want to write about this and write about it. Or it doesn’t feel that way. It’s so internalized at this point, I don’t know that it’s conscious that I’m pointing myself in a particular direction.
BBS: What’s ahead for you?
AAB: There’s no time for anything else, really. See the odd movie or get the odd hike, go to the odd beach. But mostly it’s just odd. But it’s been odd for so long that I guess it’s threatening to become normal.
BBS: I guess your individual reality defines what’s normal.
AAB: Oh yeah it does. People have walked on the moon.
A.A. Bondy plays with Elvis Perkins in Dearland at Bottletree on Tuesday. Doors open at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 and are available by calling 533-6288 or online at thebottletree.com.