November 7, 2025 • 27 mins
Welcome to the Takin A Walk Podcast-Music History with host Buzz Knight
Join us for an intimate conversation with Eric Pulido from Midlake, the critically acclaimed band from Denton, Texas known for their lush, atmospheric folk rock sound. Eric opens up about their creative process, the evolution of their music from The Trials of Van Occupanther to their latest work, and how the landscapes of Texas have shaped their distinctive sound.
In this episode of Takin’ a Walk, we explore:
• The band’s journey from indie obscurity to international acclaim
• Behind-the-scenes stories from recording their most beloved albums
• Their collaborative process and the challenges of keeping a band together over two decades
• What’s next for Midlake and their evolving musical direction
Whether you’re a longtime fan or discovering their music for the first time, this candid conversation offers rare insight into one of indie folk’s most compelling acts. Midlake’s intricate harmonies, pastoral melodies, and 70s-inspired production have earned them a devoted following—now hear the stories behind the songs.
Takin A Walk is part of The IHeart Podcast Network and proudly celebrates the fine art of storytelling.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Taking a walk day and night.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
You know, again, in between work, we were devoted to writing, recording, rehearsing.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Before we'd even made.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
That first album, band Edsliver Cork that came out in
two thousand and four, we were just very creative and
trying to build and help facilitate this world.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
A bridge connects two places, but what happens when that
bridge leads not just too far, but too far as
in towards something distant and unknown. I'm Buzznight, the host
of the Taking a Walk podcast. Today I'm going to
be joined by Eric Paalito from the band Midlake, a
band that has spent nearly two decades building sonic bridges
between folk and rock and something altogether more mystical.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
Their sixth album.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
We're going to be talking about and we're going to
explore how this Texas band keeps finding new territories to
traverse even after.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
All these years of wandering.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Taking a Walk, Eric, thanks for being on Taking a Walk,
Welcome to the.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Show, good to be here, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
Buzz Yeah. So it's called taking a walk.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
So I have to ask you first if you had
the opportunity to take a walk with somebody living or deceased,
who would you take a walk with?
Speaker 4 (01:18):
And where might you take that walk?
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Man, that's came out with a big one there, guns
are blazing.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Oh wait, that's the wrong way to say.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (01:30):
Yeah, you know, we have as a group that we
were talking with, we have these celebratory lunches and I
usually am the one that has to come up with
the ask, you know, And one of my my ask was,
you know, kind of that that question in essence where
it's like if one person.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Living or dead you could have a conversation with, And
I said Abraham Lincoln, which I know is probably a
very like I don't know, just like a it's an
easy answer, you know, there's probably as I thought, as
I thought more. One of the one of the podcasts
that I listened to a lot is Club Random with
(02:09):
Bill Maher, And I know he can be a polarizing figure,
but I really get a kick out of his the
comedic element mixed with obviously just the weight of the
world and elements that exist. And so I'm gonna go
out on a limb and just go ahead and say
I'd like to take a walk and talk with Phil Barr.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
That's okay, Yeah, I listen, I watch club random. I
just to be official, I'm drinking water first of all,
not any of my booze of choice. And there's nothing
lit up in this room either, including.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Me, right.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
But likewise, but it is early.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
So yeah, and I'm going to talk to you about
the bar where you're situated in later on. For sure,
Abe Lincoln, by the way, is not a terrible one.
I'm friendly with the author historian Doris Kern's Goodwin and
she would always talk about folks like Abe Lincoln like
her guys. You know, those were her guys. So there's
(03:13):
nothing wrong with AaB either, for sure, you know.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yeah, And I and I realized, like obviously, if you
had the opportunity to walk with someone that's no longer
here and you didn't live amongst like you, maybe would
you know, be more poignant's take take that up instead
of someone that you could possibly run into.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
But again, maybe maybe there's no wrong answers. But it's
a it's a big one. It's a that's a that's
a tough one.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
It's a Yeah, it's a big one out of the gate,
but it's a it's a nice icebreaker as well. Yeah,
we're going to talk about the new music that I
want to certainly congratulate you and the band on for sure. Uh,
And I love the music. Your music is always really
it's felt like that it's perfect for long drives or
(03:58):
walks to be able to sort of, you know, get
lost and find great inspiration. Does that satisfy you telling
you that a listener feels that way about the.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Mouth, Of course, of course.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
I mean, you know, I'm an avid walker and runner,
more walking than running these days, but I kind of
mix in both and it's inherently just gets the blood flowing.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
And I feel like I've gotten a lot.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Of ideas while on walks or runs, and I'll stop
and I'll type something into my phone or I'll sing
a melody into a voice memo. And even after the
record's done, going on a walk and listening for mixed
notes or things like that, it's really and there's a
couple other guys that run a lot on the band
and it's it's I don't know, it's kind of a
just a great source of reflection and inspiration that we
(04:50):
find that mix as well. So if that happens on
the other end of folks getting to hear it and
getting moved in a certain way while they're literally moving Also,
I think that's a pretty cool mix.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
So after nearly twenty years of making music together, what
still surprises.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
You about your your bandmates?
Speaker 2 (05:10):
You know, what surprises me is that it's it's like
riding a bike when we get together and play music.
We don't you know, obviously we're we're older now or
you know, have kids and and and have other elements
of our lives and dynamics that just it's not like
it was when we just you know, played music every
day and went to the bar every night and just
hit reset, you know, every every day with a job
(05:34):
maybe mixed in. But now it's it's, uh, it's it's
it's it's really nice when we're able to get together
and I'm always just encouraged by no matter how long
it's been, we just just click right back in and
just know one another very well musically to where it
(05:55):
it's not forced.
Speaker 6 (05:56):
You know.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
We we wrote a lot of this, uh remotely. We
would get together and have some writing sessions when we
could and we were all in one one place. But
it really was the making of the album when we said, okay,
here's the collection of demos that we have no real
priority of order, but let's just start, you know, going
(06:17):
through and everybody respectively doing their own you know, listening
and having ideas and such. And then we got in
there with our the producer, Sam Evan, and we just
played in the room while he, you know, he was
tracking everything and it was just real freeing and not
forced and hopefully that comes across in.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
The recording totally does So. Tell me about your earliest
musical inspirations personally.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
My folks were into music at an early age, and
there you know, there was always records around and and
you know, I just remember my dad was always a
big fan of albums and bands from yesteryear, you know,
sixties and and so I knew of that stuff growing up.
But I was also you know, growing up in Houston,
(07:07):
Texas in the eighties and very well were well aware
of country music going on at that time as well,
and just the evolution through the years. I just ate
up everything. I always loved music and was just a
self taught musician. You know, I didn't really know much
of anything outside of I love just to sing and
(07:29):
I love to play and kind of I had a
piano that was more like furniture at the house growing up,
and my step grandmother would come over and have a
piano lesson book to teach me just the rudiments of
some songs, some easy songs, and it was kind of
like the first step towards Wow, I can take this
(07:49):
thing that I've heard and really love and just sing
along as anyone would and try to put it together
in notes and then eventually getting a guitar and learning
cores and you know, singing and whatnot. It actually wasn't
until I graduated and moved to Denton and took some
classes at U and T because the rest of the
guys were so well schooled, you know, with the background
(08:13):
of jazz studies. At that I feel like I was
playing catch up, you know, because everything before was just
self taught. So I'm probably somewhere in between at this point.
But but yeah, those early introductions of just pop music,
you know, through that Golden era was really what set
my foundation and I and obviously you could even say
(08:36):
our band has harkened back to some references from those
years ourselves and inspiration and reference with albums that we've made.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
And then speaking of musical journeys and journeys. Obviously the Denton,
Texas part of place that's you know, rich in musical history.
How has that specific place Denton had that influence.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
It's been a great influence, and especially early on on
UH with such a community of folks that not only
maybe went to school at U and T, but then
you know, ended up sticking around forming a band. Maybe
kind of this collection and community of artists and bands
that would you know, play around and and and try
(09:18):
to also get out of dodge and see, you know,
where that journey could take us. But it was always
and has always been even we used to record out
of the house that we all live together. Once you
get married, that's kind of harder to do. And we
got a studio just a stone's throat from this bar
that I'm sitting at now, and it really just became,
you know, a part of the bedrock of of where
(09:39):
we physically are, you know, every day, and and and
the sites that you see and the people that you
run into. Obviously that's evolved some now over time. As
I said, not everybody lives in the same town. We
all have respective you know, other obligations and such. But
I still feel like that exists here and it's kind
of another generation's to carry on.
Speaker 6 (10:01):
We'll be right back with more of the Taking a
Walk Podcast. Welcome back to the Taking a Walk Podcast.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
You know, the band has always been known for this
meticulous craftsmanship and taking a long time between between albums.
Let's talk about just in general the creative process and
then what it looks like these days, especially, you know,
talking about the new music.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
So early on, you know it it was a different process,
and like I said earlier, some of that is it's
a double edged sword because you have this time. You know,
obviously nobody knew who we were. We were trying to
hone whatever you know, sound or or what we wanted
to be, and a lot of that obviously revolved around
(10:57):
our cheap singer songwriter, Tim Smith, and we were all
it was just five of us at the time, day
and night.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
You know.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Again, in between work, we were devoted to writing, recording, rehearsing.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Before we'd even made that.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
First album, Band Need and Silver Cork that came out
in two thousand and four, we were just very creative
and trying to build and help facilitate this world. Two
thousand and six, when band Occupanther came out between that era. Also, Uh,
not only was it a time of unknowing what we
were going to be or have as a label anymore,
(11:37):
because our first record didn't go so well, but also
starting to reference something that, even though it's ubiquitous now especially,
it was kind of like a new era I think
of inspiration for younger bands of this indie folk type
of renaissance and digging into some of those bands of
(12:00):
seventies especially, and it really struck a chord. And we
were taking aback because our label was based in the
UK and Europe, and so we were doing better over
there than we could even in our home country, much
less state, you know, and so we were just traveling
a lot over there and playing and growing. We start
(12:21):
seeing people singing the song back to us, and it
was it was awesome, you know, just so cool to
see what was being built and then the pressures of like, okay,
where do we go from here? We toured for about
two years, and I felt like, especially if you just
looked at the albums of two thousand and six and
(12:42):
then you didn't put out an album till twenty ten,
that definitely wasn't always you know, writing and recording because
we didn't we didn't switch gears.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Well, we were either.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Touring on the road or we were at home, you know,
going into the studio like a day job and kind
of just work on music that way, because by that
time we had a studio that wasn't at the house,
but still our own gear that we'd kind of added to,
and we were also changing some of those that evolution
(13:12):
of reference where you start to go into some of
it's still folk, but it's like British folk, you know,
and really diving into that and you can hear that
on the courage of others. And then touring that album
was really successful as well, and now having a few
albums under our belt to kind of share and choose
from the discography and a live set. It was that
(13:35):
next two years trying to make the album that was.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Going to be called Seven Long Suns, where.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
We were spinning our wheels, we were playing out more
and that was actually kind of fun to play while
also working on music, and then coming back to the
studio and going, man, we just can't capture that song
that we did live like that in the studio, and
of course you could say, well, well you're not live
in front of an audience or they're in a studio.
You know, that's just kind of cold and and not
(14:03):
as alive. And and so we really struggled through those
those two years, even though I felt like we were
capturing some cool moments, and ultimately, you know, as you
may well know, uh ended in and tim departing, and
that was a huge obviously a gut punch in a way,
(14:25):
not in a personal way, but more of like what
do we do now?
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Where do we go from here?
Speaker 2 (14:31):
And I think, as I've said before, it's probably part
you know, stubbornness and and hopefully just some diligence and
and and and responsibility and saying no, I want to
I want to finish what we started, whatever that might
look like, if it's that album or or we had
made an agreement with our record label and and we
said we're working on music, so let's just start working
(14:55):
on a whole new album. And we did that and
wrote and recorded in six months Antifon, and that was great.
I mean, it did feel like, you know, we recovered,
but also felt like we need to land this ship.
Like it's just we were able to do what it
would many maybe didn't think we could, but we went
(15:15):
through the cycle we're done, and we did. So we
put the ship and dockeded, and I think all set
on different journeys. That was very intentional and purposeful, whether
that be starting a family, whether it be doing other
collaborative projects, solo projects, just taking a pause from Midlake.
(15:37):
It had been for me anyway since two thousand and
one without really stopping. Even though there were gaps in
between records, we were always working on mid Lake, and
so it was nice to have a reprieve, if not
just a finality, and do those other things. And I
think it helped inform what would or could come next,
(15:57):
and of course that was Bethel Woods, and I think
after we did that album, it kind of helped set
up the possibility to do.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
This last one.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
I think the industry and of itself is one, as
you probably well know and any artist knows, it could
be one difficult to kind of navigate. But we always
felt like if we could do something we felt proud
of and come together and create, we'll do that. And
I'm just glad it didn't take as long, maybe longer
(16:28):
than it should. But in between these two albums, I'm
glad to follow up and now be going out and
playing some shows again with the guy. So I know
that was a long winded answer, but I wanted to
cover the basis well.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
But people don't understand.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
I believe the complexity of dynamics, of creative process, of
creative pressure of the road, so all these things really
factor in personal lives, you know, other priorities. So I'm
really appreciative of you sharing because it's it does give
(17:07):
us a glimpse inside the dynamics that are, you know,
unmistakably challenging.
Speaker 4 (17:14):
I think for bands, you know.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Sure, yeah, it's I'm thankful for the guys past and
present it you know, as you know, I mean, I think,
you know, relationships are so key and how you travel together,
how you communicate with one another. It becomes paramount when
you're you know, thousands of miles away and just with
(17:37):
the same folks every day, and and you're young and
emotions are running high, and most of the time is
that it's only an hour or two of playing. And
like I said, we've always been able to play well together.
It can sometimes just be the other, you know, twenty
three hours of the day.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Well, which is why you're sitting in a pretty cool
looking place in Denton, Texas that we were talking.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
About before we started.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
It's a collective place otherwise known as a bar that
you guys own, right.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Yeah, it's called Pascal Bar, and we opened it in
twenty eleven. So it was actually while we were making
the record after Courage, and we had a little money
in the bank, and I think we were all aware
at that time of we need to do other things
and try to be you know, good stewards of this
(18:32):
business as it were, of just like we're a group
of guys that have collective money coming in. Should that
just be something that we all split up? Do you
save it, do you invest it? Do you create another business?
And we didn't know, We didn't know what we were doing.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Really.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
I think it just seemed like possible and something we
would selfishly enjoy whether it was a good day or
a bad day, like let's go to the bar. And
like I said earlier, it was we were glor if
I'd interior decorators. We loved in our travels seeing different
types of decor and obviously historic decor and European pubs
(19:10):
or you know, just castles in mid century you know,
elements of furniture, and so it was just kind of
fun to find things collectively and kind of build out
a space within an old building. This building was built
in eighteen seventy seven and dress it up in a
way that we thought would be cool. And then my
(19:31):
brother actually, who was living in Houston, moved up here
and helped run the bar, and collectively we just kind
of figured it out. Like most people do. It just
kind of just jump and then it's kind of how
it was with the band. Just jump and then hopefully
the parachute will deploy it.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
It's deployed for sure. Talk about what you're most proud
of on a Bridge to far.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
You know, outside of just being able to to make
the album, because to be honest, after the last album,
and I know this seems like a recurring theme with us,
if not other bands, you kind of especially because I
would never want to give less than what I feel
is merited. If you ask yourselves collectively, as friends who
(20:20):
love one another and and and respect one another, like,
do we have it in us to do another album?
And I say that, I know that someone might roll
their eyes at that, but I say that because it's
not We're not the Beatles, obviously, we can't just make
an album like there's gonna be expectations of us to
promote that that album and go support that album, and
(20:41):
there's a lot of that that is joyful, but I know,
given anybody's respective situation on their own, there's other elements
packed into that. And so I think it was something
that we kind of took and started to write based
on a conversation that we had collectively had with our
management as well, and that that's actually was the inspiration
(21:03):
for the song ghouls, because we had a talk about
our goals. We're like, let's talk about our goals, and
so I kind of thought of you a fun you know,
pun to kind of in a way kind of like
demonize it, but also say, don't be afraid of of this.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
This demonized you know goal.
Speaker 4 (21:20):
You know.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
So that that one.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Obviously was the first one released, and it was I
thought it was apropos that that it did come out first,
because it was the first of the inspiration of making
the whole.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Album, and it kind of over.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Those next couple of years just we kept working through
those ideas.
Speaker 4 (21:36):
I mean, I find the song haunting but also hopeful
you know.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
That that's usually the juxtaposition that I like to have, well,
or at least I hope that hope is on the
back end of every sentiment in a song. I mean,
I definitely we're not a band that wants to be
doom and gloom.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
But I understand that.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
Minor key songs can sometimes bring out the melancholy. But
I think even in that sentiment, there's there's hope on
the other side of it. And again, that was the
song was to say, don't fear these things. You know,
there's there's a light at the end of the tunnel.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
Don't you feel this time.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
In terms of how independent and folk and Americana is
growing in acceptance, don't you feel in particular, it's a
really great time to be in the zone that you
guys are in.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Yeah, I mean I hope, so I don't I always
genres are tricky, you know, and obviously I'm I'm as
I guess, familiar or or guilty as the next too.
As you well know, with what you do is like
you're trying to convey something you know to somebody else
(22:59):
saying it's sounds like this, you know, and it's you know,
an indie folk rock, psych, you know, like so on
and so forth, and you start adding kind of monikers
to to describe something. Then you say, oh, just it
sounds like this band or this band married this band
for better or worse.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
I feel like, well, I feel like we have.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Evolved in reference different things over time, but I hope
there's been a commonality, you know, that that that someone
that's listened to our music can can hear I've probably
lost all objectivity and can often revert back to, oh,
we're an indie folk band, you know, And sometimes I
(23:40):
sit back and go, are we like is that what
this sounds like? I do think there are there's a
lot of music in our discography that fits that bold,
but I hope there's also elements that kind of live
beyond that and and kind of evolve into something that says, oh,
it's just Midlake.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
You know it sounds like Midlake.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
Well, I find myself stopping short sometimes in the genre
exploration because then I stop and go, Okay, I know
what it is.
Speaker 4 (24:08):
How about that it just sounds really good?
Speaker 1 (24:10):
You know that's a that's a good one too. It's good.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
It's just good, just good music, you know, absolutely, you
know in closing, I know this new album it's it's
a testament kind of to the bond, you know, believing
in something beyond reach and what for you personally is
(24:35):
something reaching you know, beyond believing in something and reaching
beyond that that reach.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Well, I mean kind of like you said, like I
want to believe that that goodness wins. You know that
that there's a path. There's always a path, even though
I know it's not the same for for every one,
and that's not always physical, it's mental, it's it's emotional.
But even in that song A Bridge too Far, it's
(25:08):
it's the belief and and and and hopefully even a
vessel to say, you know, there's there is goodness, there
is there is hope, and to almost try to collectively
embrace that over elements that get thrown at us all
the time, uh, in this world and waking up and
saying I'm just glad to be alive and to see
(25:31):
this big ball of fire come up every day, and
and and my expectation of it, saying well, I should
be grateful, you know that that what we do have
and what I have and part of these songs are
sometimes many times just reminders to myself, you know, and
hopefully someone else in their own walk of life can
(25:54):
you know, take from that, maybe their own meaning, but
but ultimately one that I is for good.
Speaker 4 (26:03):
Eric.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
We are grateful for Midlake and all the great music
you continue to give us. Some congrats on the sixth
album Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
We got there, Lucky number six.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
Yeah, go get them. Thanks for being on Taking a Walk.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Eric, Thank you, buzz I appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (26:21):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends
and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking
a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
and wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
Taking a Walk is made possible by the support of
our great sponsors, and we thanked them, including Chase Sapphire Reserve.
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Taking a walk day and night.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
You know, again, in between work, we were devoted to writing, recording, rehearsing.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Before we'd even made.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
That first album, band Edsliver Cork that came out in
two thousand and four, we were just very creative and
trying to build and help facilitate this world.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
A bridge connects two places, but what happens when that
bridge leads not just too far, but too far as
in towards something distant and unknown. I'm Buzznight, the host
of the Taking a Walk podcast. Today I'm going to
be joined by Eric Paalito from the band Midlake, a
band that has spent nearly two decades building sonic bridges
between folk and rock and something altogether more mystical.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
Their sixth album.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
We're going to be talking about and we're going to
explore how this Texas band keeps finding new territories to
traverse even after.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
All these years of wandering.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Taking a Walk, Eric, thanks for being on Taking a Walk,
Welcome to the.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Show, good to be here, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
Buzz Yeah. So it's called taking a walk.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
So I have to ask you first if you had
the opportunity to take a walk with somebody living or deceased,
who would you take a walk with?
Speaker 4 (01:18):
And where might you take that walk?
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Man, that's came out with a big one there, guns
are blazing.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Oh wait, that's the wrong way to say.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (01:30):
Yeah, you know, we have as a group that we
were talking with, we have these celebratory lunches and I
usually am the one that has to come up with
the ask, you know, And one of my my ask was,
you know, kind of that that question in essence where
it's like if one person.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Living or dead you could have a conversation with, And
I said Abraham Lincoln, which I know is probably a
very like I don't know, just like a it's an
easy answer, you know, there's probably as I thought, as
I thought more. One of the one of the podcasts
that I listened to a lot is Club Random with
(02:09):
Bill Maher, And I know he can be a polarizing figure,
but I really get a kick out of his the
comedic element mixed with obviously just the weight of the
world and elements that exist. And so I'm gonna go
out on a limb and just go ahead and say
I'd like to take a walk and talk with Phil Barr.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
That's okay, Yeah, I listen, I watch club random. I
just to be official, I'm drinking water first of all,
not any of my booze of choice. And there's nothing
lit up in this room either, including.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Me, right.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
But likewise, but it is early.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
So yeah, and I'm going to talk to you about
the bar where you're situated in later on. For sure,
Abe Lincoln, by the way, is not a terrible one.
I'm friendly with the author historian Doris Kern's Goodwin and
she would always talk about folks like Abe Lincoln like
her guys. You know, those were her guys. So there's
(03:13):
nothing wrong with AaB either, for sure, you know.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yeah, And I and I realized, like obviously, if you
had the opportunity to walk with someone that's no longer
here and you didn't live amongst like you, maybe would
you know, be more poignant's take take that up instead
of someone that you could possibly run into.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
But again, maybe maybe there's no wrong answers. But it's
a it's a big one. It's a that's a that's
a tough one.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
It's a Yeah, it's a big one out of the gate,
but it's a it's a nice icebreaker as well. Yeah,
we're going to talk about the new music that I
want to certainly congratulate you and the band on for sure. Uh,
And I love the music. Your music is always really
it's felt like that it's perfect for long drives or
(03:58):
walks to be able to sort of, you know, get
lost and find great inspiration. Does that satisfy you telling
you that a listener feels that way about the.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Mouth, Of course, of course.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
I mean, you know, I'm an avid walker and runner,
more walking than running these days, but I kind of
mix in both and it's inherently just gets the blood flowing.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
And I feel like I've gotten a lot.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Of ideas while on walks or runs, and I'll stop
and I'll type something into my phone or I'll sing
a melody into a voice memo. And even after the
record's done, going on a walk and listening for mixed
notes or things like that, it's really and there's a
couple other guys that run a lot on the band
and it's it's I don't know, it's kind of a
just a great source of reflection and inspiration that we
(04:50):
find that mix as well. So if that happens on
the other end of folks getting to hear it and
getting moved in a certain way while they're literally moving Also,
I think that's a pretty cool mix.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
So after nearly twenty years of making music together, what
still surprises.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
You about your your bandmates?
Speaker 2 (05:10):
You know, what surprises me is that it's it's like
riding a bike when we get together and play music.
We don't you know, obviously we're we're older now or
you know, have kids and and and have other elements
of our lives and dynamics that just it's not like
it was when we just you know, played music every
day and went to the bar every night and just
hit reset, you know, every every day with a job
(05:34):
maybe mixed in. But now it's it's, uh, it's it's
it's it's really nice when we're able to get together
and I'm always just encouraged by no matter how long
it's been, we just just click right back in and
just know one another very well musically to where it
(05:55):
it's not forced.
Speaker 6 (05:56):
You know.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
We we wrote a lot of this, uh remotely. We
would get together and have some writing sessions when we
could and we were all in one one place. But
it really was the making of the album when we said, okay,
here's the collection of demos that we have no real
priority of order, but let's just start, you know, going
(06:17):
through and everybody respectively doing their own you know, listening
and having ideas and such. And then we got in
there with our the producer, Sam Evan, and we just
played in the room while he, you know, he was
tracking everything and it was just real freeing and not
forced and hopefully that comes across in.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
The recording totally does So. Tell me about your earliest
musical inspirations personally.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
My folks were into music at an early age, and
there you know, there was always records around and and
you know, I just remember my dad was always a
big fan of albums and bands from yesteryear, you know,
sixties and and so I knew of that stuff growing up.
But I was also you know, growing up in Houston,
(07:07):
Texas in the eighties and very well were well aware
of country music going on at that time as well,
and just the evolution through the years. I just ate
up everything. I always loved music and was just a
self taught musician. You know, I didn't really know much
of anything outside of I love just to sing and
(07:29):
I love to play and kind of I had a
piano that was more like furniture at the house growing up,
and my step grandmother would come over and have a
piano lesson book to teach me just the rudiments of
some songs, some easy songs, and it was kind of
like the first step towards Wow, I can take this
(07:49):
thing that I've heard and really love and just sing
along as anyone would and try to put it together
in notes and then eventually getting a guitar and learning
cores and you know, singing and whatnot. It actually wasn't
until I graduated and moved to Denton and took some
classes at U and T because the rest of the
guys were so well schooled, you know, with the background
(08:13):
of jazz studies. At that I feel like I was
playing catch up, you know, because everything before was just
self taught. So I'm probably somewhere in between at this point.
But but yeah, those early introductions of just pop music,
you know, through that Golden era was really what set
my foundation and I and obviously you could even say
(08:36):
our band has harkened back to some references from those
years ourselves and inspiration and reference with albums that we've made.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
And then speaking of musical journeys and journeys. Obviously the Denton,
Texas part of place that's you know, rich in musical history.
How has that specific place Denton had that influence.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
It's been a great influence, and especially early on on
UH with such a community of folks that not only
maybe went to school at U and T, but then
you know, ended up sticking around forming a band. Maybe
kind of this collection and community of artists and bands
that would you know, play around and and and try
(09:18):
to also get out of dodge and see, you know,
where that journey could take us. But it was always
and has always been even we used to record out
of the house that we all live together. Once you
get married, that's kind of harder to do. And we
got a studio just a stone's throat from this bar
that I'm sitting at now, and it really just became,
you know, a part of the bedrock of of where
(09:39):
we physically are, you know, every day, and and and
the sites that you see and the people that you
run into. Obviously that's evolved some now over time. As
I said, not everybody lives in the same town. We
all have respective you know, other obligations and such. But
I still feel like that exists here and it's kind
of another generation's to carry on.
Speaker 6 (10:01):
We'll be right back with more of the Taking a
Walk Podcast. Welcome back to the Taking a Walk Podcast.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
You know, the band has always been known for this
meticulous craftsmanship and taking a long time between between albums.
Let's talk about just in general the creative process and
then what it looks like these days, especially, you know,
talking about the new music.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
So early on, you know it it was a different process,
and like I said earlier, some of that is it's
a double edged sword because you have this time. You know,
obviously nobody knew who we were. We were trying to
hone whatever you know, sound or or what we wanted
to be, and a lot of that obviously revolved around
(10:57):
our cheap singer songwriter, Tim Smith, and we were all
it was just five of us at the time, day
and night.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
You know.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Again, in between work, we were devoted to writing, recording, rehearsing.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Before we'd even made that.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
First album, Band Need and Silver Cork that came out
in two thousand and four, we were just very creative
and trying to build and help facilitate this world. Two
thousand and six, when band Occupanther came out between that era. Also, Uh,
not only was it a time of unknowing what we
were going to be or have as a label anymore,
(11:37):
because our first record didn't go so well, but also
starting to reference something that, even though it's ubiquitous now especially,
it was kind of like a new era I think
of inspiration for younger bands of this indie folk type
of renaissance and digging into some of those bands of
(12:00):
seventies especially, and it really struck a chord. And we
were taking aback because our label was based in the
UK and Europe, and so we were doing better over
there than we could even in our home country, much
less state, you know, and so we were just traveling
a lot over there and playing and growing. We start
(12:21):
seeing people singing the song back to us, and it
was it was awesome, you know, just so cool to
see what was being built and then the pressures of like, okay,
where do we go from here? We toured for about
two years, and I felt like, especially if you just
looked at the albums of two thousand and six and
(12:42):
then you didn't put out an album till twenty ten,
that definitely wasn't always you know, writing and recording because
we didn't we didn't switch gears.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Well, we were either.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
Touring on the road or we were at home, you know,
going into the studio like a day job and kind
of just work on music that way, because by that
time we had a studio that wasn't at the house,
but still our own gear that we'd kind of added to,
and we were also changing some of those that evolution
(13:12):
of reference where you start to go into some of
it's still folk, but it's like British folk, you know,
and really diving into that and you can hear that
on the courage of others. And then touring that album
was really successful as well, and now having a few
albums under our belt to kind of share and choose
from the discography and a live set. It was that
(13:35):
next two years trying to make the album that was.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Going to be called Seven Long Suns, where.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
We were spinning our wheels, we were playing out more
and that was actually kind of fun to play while
also working on music, and then coming back to the
studio and going, man, we just can't capture that song
that we did live like that in the studio, and
of course you could say, well, well you're not live
in front of an audience or they're in a studio.
You know, that's just kind of cold and and not
(14:03):
as alive. And and so we really struggled through those
those two years, even though I felt like we were
capturing some cool moments, and ultimately, you know, as you
may well know, uh ended in and tim departing, and
that was a huge obviously a gut punch in a way,
(14:25):
not in a personal way, but more of like what
do we do now?
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Where do we go from here?
Speaker 2 (14:31):
And I think, as I've said before, it's probably part
you know, stubbornness and and hopefully just some diligence and
and and and responsibility and saying no, I want to
I want to finish what we started, whatever that might
look like, if it's that album or or we had
made an agreement with our record label and and we
said we're working on music, so let's just start working
(14:55):
on a whole new album. And we did that and
wrote and recorded in six months Antifon, and that was great.
I mean, it did feel like, you know, we recovered,
but also felt like we need to land this ship.
Like it's just we were able to do what it
would many maybe didn't think we could, but we went
(15:15):
through the cycle we're done, and we did. So we
put the ship and dockeded, and I think all set
on different journeys. That was very intentional and purposeful, whether
that be starting a family, whether it be doing other
collaborative projects, solo projects, just taking a pause from Midlake.
(15:37):
It had been for me anyway since two thousand and
one without really stopping. Even though there were gaps in
between records, we were always working on mid Lake, and
so it was nice to have a reprieve, if not
just a finality, and do those other things. And I
think it helped inform what would or could come next,
(15:57):
and of course that was Bethel Woods, and I think
after we did that album, it kind of helped set
up the possibility to do.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
This last one.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
I think the industry and of itself is one, as
you probably well know and any artist knows, it could
be one difficult to kind of navigate. But we always
felt like if we could do something we felt proud
of and come together and create, we'll do that. And
I'm just glad it didn't take as long, maybe longer
(16:28):
than it should. But in between these two albums, I'm
glad to follow up and now be going out and
playing some shows again with the guy. So I know
that was a long winded answer, but I wanted to
cover the basis well.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
But people don't understand.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
I believe the complexity of dynamics, of creative process, of
creative pressure of the road, so all these things really
factor in personal lives, you know, other priorities. So I'm
really appreciative of you sharing because it's it does give
(17:07):
us a glimpse inside the dynamics that are, you know,
unmistakably challenging.
Speaker 4 (17:14):
I think for bands, you know.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Sure, yeah, it's I'm thankful for the guys past and
present it you know, as you know, I mean, I think,
you know, relationships are so key and how you travel together,
how you communicate with one another. It becomes paramount when
you're you know, thousands of miles away and just with
(17:37):
the same folks every day, and and you're young and
emotions are running high, and most of the time is
that it's only an hour or two of playing. And
like I said, we've always been able to play well together.
It can sometimes just be the other, you know, twenty
three hours of the day.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Well, which is why you're sitting in a pretty cool
looking place in Denton, Texas that we were talking.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
About before we started.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
It's a collective place otherwise known as a bar that
you guys own, right.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Yeah, it's called Pascal Bar, and we opened it in
twenty eleven. So it was actually while we were making
the record after Courage, and we had a little money
in the bank, and I think we were all aware
at that time of we need to do other things
and try to be you know, good stewards of this
(18:32):
business as it were, of just like we're a group
of guys that have collective money coming in. Should that
just be something that we all split up? Do you
save it, do you invest it? Do you create another business?
And we didn't know, We didn't know what we were doing.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Really.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
I think it just seemed like possible and something we
would selfishly enjoy whether it was a good day or
a bad day, like let's go to the bar. And
like I said earlier, it was we were glor if
I'd interior decorators. We loved in our travels seeing different
types of decor and obviously historic decor and European pubs
(19:10):
or you know, just castles in mid century you know,
elements of furniture, and so it was just kind of
fun to find things collectively and kind of build out
a space within an old building. This building was built
in eighteen seventy seven and dress it up in a
way that we thought would be cool. And then my
(19:31):
brother actually, who was living in Houston, moved up here
and helped run the bar, and collectively we just kind
of figured it out. Like most people do. It just
kind of just jump and then it's kind of how
it was with the band. Just jump and then hopefully
the parachute will deploy it.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
It's deployed for sure. Talk about what you're most proud
of on a Bridge to far.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
You know, outside of just being able to to make
the album, because to be honest, after the last album,
and I know this seems like a recurring theme with us,
if not other bands, you kind of especially because I
would never want to give less than what I feel
is merited. If you ask yourselves collectively, as friends who
(20:20):
love one another and and and respect one another, like,
do we have it in us to do another album?
And I say that, I know that someone might roll
their eyes at that, but I say that because it's
not We're not the Beatles, obviously, we can't just make
an album like there's gonna be expectations of us to
promote that that album and go support that album, and
(20:41):
there's a lot of that that is joyful, but I know,
given anybody's respective situation on their own, there's other elements
packed into that. And so I think it was something
that we kind of took and started to write based
on a conversation that we had collectively had with our
management as well, and that that's actually was the inspiration
(21:03):
for the song ghouls, because we had a talk about
our goals. We're like, let's talk about our goals, and
so I kind of thought of you a fun you know,
pun to kind of in a way kind of like
demonize it, but also say, don't be afraid of of this.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
This demonized you know goal.
Speaker 4 (21:20):
You know.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
So that that one.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Obviously was the first one released, and it was I
thought it was apropos that that it did come out first,
because it was the first of the inspiration of making
the whole.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
Album, and it kind of over.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Those next couple of years just we kept working through
those ideas.
Speaker 4 (21:36):
I mean, I find the song haunting but also hopeful
you know.
Speaker 2 (21:42):
That that's usually the juxtaposition that I like to have, well,
or at least I hope that hope is on the
back end of every sentiment in a song. I mean,
I definitely we're not a band that wants to be
doom and gloom.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
But I understand that.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
Minor key songs can sometimes bring out the melancholy. But
I think even in that sentiment, there's there's hope on
the other side of it. And again, that was the
song was to say, don't fear these things. You know,
there's there's a light at the end of the tunnel.
Speaker 4 (22:19):
Don't you feel this time.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
In terms of how independent and folk and Americana is
growing in acceptance, don't you feel in particular, it's a
really great time to be in the zone that you
guys are in.
Speaker 2 (22:39):
Yeah, I mean I hope, so I don't I always
genres are tricky, you know, and obviously I'm I'm as
I guess, familiar or or guilty as the next too.
As you well know, with what you do is like
you're trying to convey something you know to somebody else
(22:59):
saying it's sounds like this, you know, and it's you know,
an indie folk rock, psych, you know, like so on
and so forth, and you start adding kind of monikers
to to describe something. Then you say, oh, just it
sounds like this band or this band married this band
for better or worse.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
I feel like, well, I feel like we have.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Evolved in reference different things over time, but I hope
there's been a commonality, you know, that that that someone
that's listened to our music can can hear I've probably
lost all objectivity and can often revert back to, oh,
we're an indie folk band, you know, And sometimes I
(23:40):
sit back and go, are we like is that what
this sounds like? I do think there are there's a
lot of music in our discography that fits that bold,
but I hope there's also elements that kind of live
beyond that and and kind of evolve into something that says, oh,
it's just Midlake.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
You know it sounds like Midlake.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
Well, I find myself stopping short sometimes in the genre
exploration because then I stop and go, Okay, I know
what it is.
Speaker 4 (24:08):
How about that it just sounds really good?
Speaker 1 (24:10):
You know that's a that's a good one too. It's good.
Speaker 3 (24:14):
It's just good, just good music, you know, absolutely, you
know in closing, I know this new album it's it's
a testament kind of to the bond, you know, believing
in something beyond reach and what for you personally is
(24:35):
something reaching you know, beyond believing in something and reaching
beyond that that reach.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Well, I mean kind of like you said, like I
want to believe that that goodness wins. You know that
that there's a path. There's always a path, even though
I know it's not the same for for every one,
and that's not always physical, it's mental, it's it's emotional.
But even in that song A Bridge too Far, it's
(25:08):
it's the belief and and and and hopefully even a
vessel to say, you know, there's there is goodness, there
is there is hope, and to almost try to collectively
embrace that over elements that get thrown at us all
the time, uh, in this world and waking up and
saying I'm just glad to be alive and to see
(25:31):
this big ball of fire come up every day, and
and and my expectation of it, saying well, I should
be grateful, you know that that what we do have
and what I have and part of these songs are
sometimes many times just reminders to myself, you know, and
hopefully someone else in their own walk of life can
(25:54):
you know, take from that, maybe their own meaning, but
but ultimately one that I is for good.
Speaker 4 (26:03):
Eric.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
We are grateful for Midlake and all the great music
you continue to give us. Some congrats on the sixth
album Yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
We got there, Lucky number six.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
Yeah, go get them. Thanks for being on Taking a Walk.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Eric, Thank you, buzz I appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (26:21):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Walk podcast. Share this and other episodes with your friends
and follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking
a Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
and wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (26:39):
Taking a Walk is made possible by the support of
our great sponsors, and we thanked them, including Chase Sapphire Reserve.
My gateway to the world's most captivating destinations is from
Chase Sapphire Reserve, Claude AI try claud for free at
Claude dot Ai, Slash Buzz and Lexus Experience Amazing at
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