Cornerstone 2002: An Interview with Jeff Cloud

This interview was conducted by Nolan Shigley at Cornerstone 2002. Jeff Cloud’s a busy man. His main gig is the man behind Velvet Blue Music, responsible for putting out quality bands like Charity Empressa, Other Desert Cities, John Wilkes Kissing Booth, and LN (to name a few). But he also has a hefty schedule as a member of Starflyer 59 and Joy Electric. And then there’s his solo project, Pony Express. Nolan sat down with Cloud and got his future plans, the deal on Starflyer’s new EP, and Cloud’s picks from the fest.

I’ve heard from the grapevine that Starflyer is starting to take off and you have plans to stop playing with Joy Electric.

Correct. Yeah, the new Starflyer stuff is coming out soon. The new EP is called, Can’t Stop Eating. It was suppose to come out in the summer and got pushed back into October. We just put out a 4-song, live bootleg to sell at shows. We just finished up a tour. In October, we’ll be doing a bunch of shows to support the EP. In November, we’ll finish up a few other things and go out on tour with Pedro the Lion. Then we would start recording the new album in January.

So how has your crazy schedule effected playing in Joy Electric?

I just have a little bit too much going on. Ronnie can make Joy Electric happen without me. Whereas, I obviously have to be there for the label (Velvet Blue), I have a lot of involvement in Starflyer, and Pony Express obviously doesn’t work without me. I just reached a point when there was too much junk. I have to spend time with my wife and something just had to go. Joy Electric seemed the least of the evils.

Are you writing anything for Pony Express at this time?

Well, I’ve been working on this frickin’ album forever, but I just feel like a jerk if I’m slacking in Starflyer or Velvet Blue and trying to do my own thing. It’s kind of like, “I can put this Pony album out, but wait, I should put this out because I’m going on tour.” It kind of gets shoved to the back most of the time. There’s not really a huge focus on it anyway.

So you guys are going through EMI now?

Yeah, we’re distributed by EMI and our booking agent is Monterey Peninsula. It’s kind of goofy, but they do the Dave Matthews Band, Fiona Apple, Aerosmith, Chris Isaak, Brian Wilson, and Starflyer. The only small stuff that they do is Starflyer, the Supersuckers, and a couple of others.

Have you ever listened to the western album they put out?

Yeah, it’s a great album. We’re just stoked to be with the same agent. Why they want to work with us I don’t know, but it’s real cool.

How did you land that?

The main girl at the agent was a big Starflyer fan. She was given the position to become a major booking agent there. They let her pick three bands, and so she picked us. It’s great. They’ve been super cool to us. They’re booking is awesome and it’s just a cool deal.

I know you did booking for a long time. Will this put a halt to that?

Yeah, I did booking for shows when we would go to Chicago or New York, or when we wanted to play in a cool place. They never frickin’ call me back. With her, she calls and everyone calls back. The difference is that everyone treats us way nicer at the shows.

Do you see Starflyer touring with larger acts, now?

Yeah, we would like to. We had three dates set up with Spiritualized and Black Rebel. Which is incredible and it ended up being in the middle of our May tour. Unfortunately, we couldn’t do those shows since we were already touring. We had a couple other opportunities, and as fate would have it, they’re all some weird date of another show. We’re usually in some other state. So I do believe something cool will come from all of this.

What are some of the releases you are excited about on Velvet Blue?

Let’s see, the newest stuff is the John Wilkes Kissing Booth, a band that I’m super stoked on. We just put out a thing called Other Desert Cities. For lack of a better word, it’s kind of alt-country. The new Charity Impress EP, which is basically the guy from the Lassie Foundation. I’m still working on the Silver and Blue split series. I don’t know… there’s always something coming out.

Tell me about the new EP, Can’t Stop Eating. Where’d you come up with the title?

Yeah, Can’t Stop Eating has a couple of meanings. One, were kind of old and getting chubby, so it’s literal. Two, eating is the one time when a family actually sits down and gets together. Eating is kind of like the center of a family.

It’s kind of humorous, but serious?

No, it’s not really humorous. We’re not trying to be like Blink 182. It’s not like, Can’t Stop Burping, or something stupid like that. It’s not supposed to be a gross thing. I think we thought it was cool because it is so self-degrading that I don’t think anyone else has the nerve to call their album that.

Each Starflyer album seems to come out different from the last. What kind of direction are you heading with the current EP?

The EP is one new track, two covers, and an instrumental. The last album was a mono, so there is a stereo version of one of the songs off the record.

What covers?

We did a Damien Jurado cover and a Bon Voyage cover.

Which Bon Voyage song?

“West Coast Friend”. It’s kind of a self-cover cover.

Yeah, instead of his wife it will be himself.

Yeah, for the brand new record, to be honest, we haven’t really decided on a certain direction. We usually do decide on a certain direction and try to write the songs toward that. We kind of have an idea of what we want to do, but we’re basically confused at this point. We still have a couple of months, though.

So you come up with a direction for the album and then write toward that direction?

Yeah, like the last record we knew we wanted it to be a huge orchestrated album. We wanted a lot less guitars, even though Jason demos the songs with the guitars. We just changed it around after they were written. Yeah, whatever direction we pick, it definitely effects the foundation of the songs.

With all you producers in the band, who’s going to produce the next album?

I think Terry is going to produce it, again. We throw things up from time to time, but we really like working with Terry.

And that’s going to be on Tooth and Nail?

Yes.

Who are you checking out here at the fest?

Well, I saw Fine China and Twothirtyeight. I’m going to check out Noise Ratchet later, since I heard they put on a good show. I might have to check out Zao, just for the sake of getting my growling in for the week.