Interview: Jason Lambeth of Red Pants

Not Quite There Yet is out today on Meritorio Records

Alright, today’s the day, Friday, October 27th.  Not Quite There Yet, the new album by Madison indie rockers Red Pants is out and about.  Guitarist/vocalist Jason Lambeth was kind enough to subject himself to my inquisition.  The band came onto my radar via an episode of Dynamite Hemorrhage Radio.  It struck me as odd that a band this good could hail from Madison and go undetected, but I’m a bit aged and they’re a bit reclusive, so there ya go.  Not a slight.  Not every band feels compelled to play shows monthly and put rubber to the road.  Sometimes functioning around life’s obstacles bears the most fruit.  Plus, there’s always been an unexplainable disconnect between Milwaukee and Madison.

First listen I caught the Yo La Tengo vibes.  They’re one of the most consistent and long running craftmasters in the game, but also such a singular thing that it’s not often a band comes close to their sound.  Late-era Sonic Youth shines through as well in the way that the songs perfectly dive into experimentalism without losing focus.  I hear a smattering of Versus, but who knows if that’s intentional or not (Well, I’m sure Jason can answer that –maybe you should ask him because I didn’t).  Not Quite There Yet is a well paced, mesmerizing rollick, and I hope you’ll sit down and give it a spin.  Maybe while reading this interview.  See if it syncs up like Dark Side of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz.    

Burned Beyond Recognition: What was the impetus for the band?

Jason Lambeth: The band started as a recording project after I got a running injury in 2018. After having kids, I got really into running long distances. When I was forced into taking a break from it, I took up songwriting again.

BBR: Why did you decide on a two-piece?

JL: I used to be in a six piece band in the early 2000s and it was amazing. But, I could never imagine trying to organize anything that size again. Since that band I’ve always gravitated towards working with one or two other people on projects. With Red Pants it’s really nice that all we need is a guitar, some drums and our voices to make something happen.

BBR: What were the initial days of the project like?

JL: I had taken four to five years away from making music. So, early on it was a lot of me in the basement trying to see if I could still write songs and trying to remember how my 4-track worked.

BBR: What were your intentions for it and how have they evolved over the years?

JL: Initially I was just going to post songs anonymously onto Bandcamp under the Red Pants name. That quickly expanded into EPs and then an album once Elsa came on board. Of course the pandemic happened and things were weird for a bit. When we were able to get back to recording together, I didn’t want to take it for granted. I also wanted Elsa to be involved as much as she was willing. The new album is our most collaborative yet. She even brought in her own song, “Rockwell Kent” and as usual she’s the MVP of the album.

BBR: Was this planned as a follow up to When We Were Dancing, or did you just decide on a full length because you had enough songs?

JL: We made an EP on my 4-track in my basement and released it about six months after When We Were Dancing came out. So going into it we knew the next release would be a full length. We had a lot of songs and the main goal was to record everything we had and then edit everything down to a solid album. Which I think we accomplished.

BBR: Who’s Meritorio Records and how did they get involved?

JL: Meritorio is an independent record label based in Spain. They really came on my radar last year when they released an album by Sad Eyed Beatniks. I quickly realized they had quite the impressive catalog. They’ve released some really cool records over the last few years. Álvaro reached out to me at the beginning of the summer to see if we would be interested in working with them. Elsa and I happened to be finishing up the album, so I sent him some rough mixes and we went from there. Everything fell into place and it’s been pretty amazing.

BBR: With a label involved do you feel obligated to play live or tour?

JL: No, not really. I don’t think touring would ever be in the cards for us. I’m a homebody and we are both fairly busy with day jobs and life in general. We are all about playing some mid afternoon backyard barbecues though! Luckily we’ve been able to find an audience online and slowly grow that way.

BBR: I’ve seen/heard the Yo La Tengo comparisons bandied around, do you think Not Quite There Yet shakes that off a bit?

JL: Haha. No, probably not. We laugh all the time in the middle of practices about how certain parts of songs are “so Yo La Tengo.” I think there will always be comparisons to them and Sonic Youth. I’ve been listening to those bands for over half my life, I can’t help but rip them off from time to time.

BBR: Did you know “Quiet Eyes” would be the closer as soon as it was written?

JL: Not initially. I kind of struggled to figure out which song would close the album. We had another song called “Say Goodnight” that was going to be the closer, but it just didn’t fit with the rest of the album, so it got cut. Once the end section of “Quiet Eyes” started getting all layered and dreamy like, I thought it might make for a nice way to close the album.

BBR: Are there outtakes?

JL: Oh yeah, there’s quite a lot. I think we had about twenty songs recorded and most of them just needed some vocals from Elsa to be finished up. Not sure what will happen with them. We’ll probably throw them on the deluxe reissue in twenty years.

BBR: How much emphasis do you put on lyric writing?

JL: Lyrics are weird. It’s usually more about the melody for me and coming up with something that sounds good. I usually try not to over think it too much and go with first thought, best thought. I tend to work out a melody while we jam on songs over and over and then finally nail down the final lyrics when we lay down vocal tracks. There are times when everything comes at once, I wish it happened like that all the time!

BBR: Does it make it more personal having your art grace all your releases?

JL: Absolutely. That was actually one of the first things that I asked when we started to work with Meritorio. “Can I make the album art?” (Luckily, they said yes.) Making the art for the vinyl release was one of the most exciting aspects of working with Meritorio. The album art is always one of my favorite parts of piecing together an album, but this feels extra special with the vinyl release.

BBR: Would it feel weird to have someone else do the art?

JL: I don’t think I could hand over the reins to the artwork. It would definitely feel weird. Unless maybe it was an artist that I admire and wanted to collaborate with. That could be interesting!

BBR: Do you lean more towards art or music?  Or, are they both of equal standing?

JL: I just get such an immediate gratification from music. Part of it is collaborating with Elsa. I don’t think I will ever get tired of playing music with her. Don’t get me wrong, I love making art. Drawing, cutting up magazines, it can all be very meditative for me. But, it just doesn’t replace the feeling of being in a room playing really loudly with one of your best friends. 

BBR: Artists or things that inspire your art.

JL: For collage artists: Hollie Chastain and Anthony Zinonos.

For drawing: Aris Moore, Julia Rothman and Kate Bingaman-Burt. They are all insanely talented humans and constant sources of inspiration.

Things: Vintage magazines from the 1950s, ball point pens (before work on the album took over I was doing pen drawings from photos of friends that I took around 10-15 years ago.), Stillman and Birn Zeta sketchbooks (pretty much the only thing I work in).

BBR: Have you found a scene of like-minded bands in Madison or are you sort of a singular unit?

JL: We’ve only played two shows (one of which was in a backyard) in the five years that we’ve been playing as Red Pants. So, we haven’t really had the chance to find any like-minded bands. I have met a couple folks online that I would love to play with, we just need to make it happen at some point.