Aaron Dessner joins Elton John on Apple Music 1 for an interview to discuss the forthcoming Big Red Machine album ‘How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last’? Aaron reveals how the first Big Red Machine project came about, and shares why The Band is such an influence on his work. Listen to the interview with Aaron Dessner on-demand here.
Aaron Dessner Tells Elton John About How The First ‘Big Red Machine’ Record Came About…
Elton John: It’s such a pleasure to talk to you because you’re one of my favourite musicians/ producers. And I just love what you do. And I was a huge fan of the first Big Red Machine. And “Hymnostic” was never off my playlist. It was so incredible. You have a new album, ‘How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last?’, and it’s probably even better than the first one. Tell me how you made this record and when you started making it.
Aaron Dessner: Thank you, by the way. It’s such an honour that you would listen and appreciate what we’re doing. I think the first record kind of came out of our friendship. And many times we just loved to get together and play music without really thinking about what we’re doing. I kind of think of it almost like structured improvisation or something. And so that was quite loose in a way. But we had so much fun making it, that as soon as we finished the first one, I just started diving into making another record, and maybe putting more thought into it and more composition in a way. And I guess, it’s more ambitious, and it features a lot more of our friends. And it feels more fully realised, this one.
Aaron Dessner Tells Elton John About Being Influenced By The Band…
Elton John: You’ve already released a single featuring Taylor Swift, which is doing really well at American radio. You’ve got Ben Howard, who I love, and you produced his last album, which we featured on the show… And for people who don’t know about Big Red Machine, this album is really full of wonderful music. And even on the first album, there are instances where it reminded me of ‘Music From Big Pink’ by The Band.
Aaron Dessner: That’s a very good point, because actually, where I live in New York, it’s not far from the Big Pink house. I live across the river. And I think, with this new Big Red Machine music, and in particular, you hear it on “Latter Days” and on “Phoenix”, you can kind of hear me channelling The Band. What I loved about The Band was that there were different singers in The Band. And you had Levon, and Rick Danko, and Richard Manuel, and this kind of multi-voice communal feeling to it, and the way Dylan used to get up. So maybe this is my pipe dream of trying to be in 1968, or 1971, or something.
Elton John Sends Brandi Carlile’s Well Wishes To Aaron Dessner…
I wish you all the luck with the album. And it’s already on my turntable. And by the way, I have Brandi Carlile staying with me, and
